Rift
Your Internet Assistant
v 0.4.10
================================
Priority #2: Rift server and announcer will be done by soon.
Priority #3: Merging server lists and correlating server information
is still in the works.

What's New in 0.4.10
--------------------
o  Rift can be installed in its own directory, if the config file
   has the location of the Quake directory

o  The Browse button will now pause the refresh timer and will
   effectively put Rift to "sleep" while Quake is running, avoiding
   network floods during refresh and allowing normal Quake play.
   The button turns to "Resume," which can be pressed after a
   Quake game to wake Rift up.  Now Browse is not nearly so much
   different from Go!

o  The server list can be sorted either by UDP response times
   (suggested) or ping times, also via the config file.

What's New in 0.4.9
-------------------
.4.9 is an interim version with a few fixes/additions.

o  Can use the ][ronman server list, as well as the Stomped server list.
   Each of these can be turned on/off via the config file.
o  Has a much better UDP performance, polling several smaller batches
   of servers instead of the original "shotgun" approach.  This can
   help accomodate bigger server lists.
o  Has a button for the configuration file.

What's New in 0.4.8
-------------------
A configuration file, with a QUAKE-LAUNCHING ARGUMENT string!!!!
This is the #1 requested feature, so I -had- to put it in.  This
imitates launching Quake with Q95.BAT. Rift.cfg also contains the
variables "reverseDNS" and "AutoPing" which control
whether those two functions are performed.  More will
be added later.

A different appearance,  because of the new features, it is becoming
necessary to change the layout of the buttons, status field, and
server list.  You will probably notice that the window re-sizing is
a bit undone, but I've been working on this for 24 hours now, it's
a Saturday afternoon, the sun is out, and I need to go outside.

The servers are sorted by UDP response times.

What's New in 0.4.7
-------------------
Fixed the pinger; times are fairly accurate now.
Added an AutoPinger that works in the background without requiring
too much use of system resources or bandwidth.
Now displays:
  Column 1: UDP response time - how soon the server's software
            got its answer back to you
  Column 2: Ping time - a running average of the pings to the site
            so far, either from AutoPing or by user pressing "Ping".

What's New in 0.4.5
-------------------
0.4 is a quick hack that should enable the user to obtain the
popular server list from www.stomped.com.
-But- what we do with it (if it is obtainable) is download the
Hostname and location from Stomped, but query the servers listed
from -your- machine, giving you a much more accurate view of the
Quake universe, as seen from your PC.

Also, Rift passes on some server information to the Quake console.
A short list of servers (Quake can't store too much) is provided,
along with some aliases.  Once Rift has launched Quake, the
'r' key becomes hot.  Pressing 'r' disconnects from the current
server and displays a list of servers, much like in Rift.
The first column is the command name to select the given server. 

Also, both "Go" and a double-click cause Rift to terminate after
launching Quake, freeing up the CPU and network entirely to the
voracious appetite of Quake.  This cures the "freezing" problems
encountered in Quake when Rift does an update.

What's New in 0.3
-----------------
As the lists of Quake servers become ever longer, the cost
in time required to query the Domain Name Service (DNS) servers
for host information becomes ever more dear.  Rift 0.2 was taking
up to two minutes to display its initial host list; this was
unacceptable.  Therefore, the changes for 0.3 are:

o   Only perform domain name - to - IP lookup at startup
o   Display the list of possible servers before Quake server
    query. This lets the user know that Rift is doing its job.
o   Once the first Quake server query has been done, then start
    performing the reverse address lookup (IP -> domain name)
    as a background thread which will not interfere with the
    user's button and list commands.
o   Show the progress of the reverse DNS lookup in the status
    window.  This doesn't really do much; it just looks cool.

About Rift
----------
This is a simple networking tool which helps the Quake fan
use the many Quake servers popping up all over the net.
The program uses a server information file, "rift.dat"
and queries all of the hosts in that file for their statuses.
This status is updated every 90 seconds.  Rift takes a few
seconds to initially load the file; this is because Rift is
performing all of its DNS queries at startup in order to
speed up subsequent operation enormously.

The first column is the round trip response time in milliseconds
from the server, and can be used as a rough measure of the usability
of the server from your location.

To use, unzip the files into the directory where quake and qlaunch
are located.  Then just run Rift!.

If you see a server you like, just double-click on it, and
Rift will attempt to launch Quake with a connection to that
server.  Please note that the network interface design for Quake
is very fluid at the moment, and the current version of Rift might
not have caught up yet ;-( .  But it will!  ;-)  So far, Rift
has worked very well with Quake shareware versions 0.91, 0.92,
1.0, and 1.01.

Check the site:
   http://www.phoenix.net/~ishmal/rift

occasionally for Rift updates,improvements, debugs, and the like.
Feel free to leave comments or suggestions that would improve the
program.

Questions?
Contact Bob at 713-244-5769,
or e-mail at ishmal@phoenix.net
or look for me on DalNet's IRC #quake channel as "ishmal"


