10.30.2000 It is done... -Fatneck

Finally, at long last, SQuake is complete. Well, complete as far as this release is concerned. I have fixed all the bugs, I hope, and cleaned up all of my miscellaneous debugging lines, I hope. I added two whole butt-loads of death messages to the ClientObituary. Unfortunately, I had to remove the GameFlags and GameConfig code I had put in hoping to allow client configurations for weapon pickups, etc. It seems that ALL the variables on the Quake console are server side. So no matter what your clients set them to, they will still read the server values. Byargh. So it seems I'll have to leave that feature out, until I do SQuake2.

But the real news you came here for is... SQuake is ready. "a madman" wants me to send him a copy so he can attempt to "break it." He'd like to rid us both of any remaining bugs. If I knew exactly how to move it to fileplanet.com, I'd do so. The disappointing news then is, that SQuake will be unavailable until I can get "a madman" to tell me how to make it available. Until then, keep checking every couple of days, it should be available shortly.


10.26.2000 The SQuake Man Cometh -Fatneck

Alright kiddies, SQuake has almost reached a releasable form. Actually, it's been releasable for quite a while. I just keep coming up with new "junk" to add to it. The most recent development being the addition of GameFlags and GameConfig flags. GameFlags will allow the server to customize how the games run (No Armor, Weapons Stay, Item Respawn, etc). And GameConfig flags will allow the individual clients to configure how they play the game (Auto-Switch best weapon, etc). Right now I'm in the process of rounding up all the damagetypes to reconstruct the ClientObituary. I believe I'm about 1/3 done with that, so I hope I'll be able to post the first public version of Super Quake this weekend. Keep your fingers crossed.


10.23.2000 Fatneck's Belated Weekend Update

Ok, so it's not quite the weekend anymore, though it's awful close. It is currently ~12:30am, Monday, October 23, 2000. I've just sent a test copy of SQuake to "a madman" for his review/scrutiny. All is ready for launch, with the exception of the ClientObituary, which I've deleted completely in order to rewrite it. SO - The first release of SQuake should be this coming Halloween weekend, since I do not expect the writing of the ClientObituary to take very long. For all you classic Quakers still out there, a time of rejoicing is at hand. Well, almost... heh heh.


10.19.2000 Fatneck's Big Honkin' News Update!

I've been working diligently on coding the weapons from the original SQuake. Progess is going well, except when I start "testing." Occasionally I retest the WHOLE thing for hours at a time, and that's no good. I ran an idea I had past "a madman" about possibly doing some kind of "Weekend State of the Code" update. He agreed that it would make us look more productive if we actually posted even the tiniest bit of news at least once a week. So look forward to some new info in the next couple of days.

Actual progress on Super Quake:
So far I've got quite a bit of coding time invested in new armor, equipment and weapons. Right now I'm recoding the W_CycleWeaponForward, W_CycleWeaponPrevious, and W_ChangeWeapon functions to recognize new weaponmodes. Piece of cake. After that, I think I'll add a few more weapons and then move on to deathmatch modes. Which, if you feel so motivated, I'd like to have your ideas on. Keep in mind that SQuake is currently a Quake 1 project, so try to remember the capabilities of the engine and limitations of the QC language.

For now, I'd really like add some new Deathmatch modes, but ideas regarding weapons, equipment, armor, or any other improvements to the game's playability would be appreciated as well. Feel free to send me a message to my newly acquired e-mail address of fatneck@mail.planetquake.com.

This concludes Fatneck's Big Honkin' News Update...


10.15.2000 -Fatneck

*Ahem* Uhm, testing, testing... What? Whaddya mean I gotta... Oh for the love of *xxzxxsxsxz*. Ok, that's better. Hello, my name is Fatneck. The mysterious partner of "a madman." Ok, since this is my first news update, I'll make it a good one. I am currently working on a mod for good old Quake 1. I've gotten as far as adding about half-a-dozen new weapons, including, but not limited to, a laser rifle, sniper rifle, flamethrower, and homing missiles. Most of it came from old code from the original SQuake mod, that's Super Quake not Linux SVGAQuake. Before I broke the code and lost the whole package 4 or 5 - hundred times. However, unlike my mod makin' fool, of partner, I won't be releasing it until I get at least all the original weapons reinserted, which shouldn't take too long. So there ya have it, my first news update, and a big one at that. Expect great balanced weapons, plenty of DM modes, and a killer new environment to DIE horribly in at the hands of your friends. MUA HAHAHAHAHAHA!


9.22.2000

Ok, after a long afternoon of making cool things, I managed to completely break the code.  I hacked it back into shape long enough to catch a screenshot or two of some of the new weapons, though.  Don't say I never gave you anything.  The RPG and laser-guided missiles await your perusal on the miscellaneous page.  I've also got a shot of the new concussion missile trail that has been called, by various sources, not only "keen" but "nifty" as well.  You make the call.


9.20.2000

Ye gods.  Sometime I wonder why I starting this website thing in the first place.  After repartitioning and more things I'd rather not talk about, I finally have Q3A mostly functional on my system again.  Now I just need to make myself functional.  So why am I posting this short yet pointless update?  Well, I've figured out the crash bug from Cash 'n Carry and I'll be posting that in the next few days.  I think I've found a workaround to some of the annoyances I was running into on Bazooka Quake.  Basically, I'm finally ready to get back to work.  So's my partner.

In other words, expect to hear good news soon...



8.17.2000

No work on the mods in the past few days.  My broken CD burner has been taking up a fair amount of time with tech support on the phone, plus it's been screwing up the entire secondary IDE channel.  Thus, no CD drives at all, i.e. no Quake 3 to test the mod.  Never mind that I have the entire goddamn game installed on my hard drive, but that's a rant for another day.

Back to school strangeness is also occupying much of my time, so it doesn't look like I'll be getting any more work done until Saturday.



8.14.2000

Tonight I managed to hack together the napalm missiles.  I've also finished the RPG, the standard rockets have been done for a long time, and the laser-guided missiles are being worked on.  The problem thus far is that they track too well - the damn things are nearly glued to your crosshair.

Got another feature (nearly) finished today.  Now when you knock someone into the void you'll finally get credit for the frag.  Why this wasn't in the game to begin with is beyond me.  Oh, it also means you take damage from slamming into a wall too hard, as well... so watch out for people with concussion missiles.

Sorry there's no new screenshots this time.  There's two reasons for that.
1) I don't feel like doing it at 3:30 in the freakin' morning.
2) Not much to show.  Oh, I suppose if you wanted to stare really hard at the smoke trails on the RPG so you could make out the fact that it's accelerating, more power to you.  Or maybe you get off on curving smoke trails, so you want to see the laser-guided missiles.  Oh well.  Finally, the napalm looks like crap right now and I'm not going to show it off until it looks as good as it feels.

In other words, check back tomorrow and I'll probably have something for you.



8.12.2000

Well, not too much to say today.  Making good progress on Bazooka Q3 (except, again, on finding a decent name), and not quite as good of progress on that other one.  I got the shrapnel bomb finished up, and it looks like the napalm rockets will also get done today. I've got a new screenshot for you, too.  So get over there and check it out, you wacky kids, you.


8.11.2000

Ok, time for a few updates.

First off, it looks like I'll be getting models and sounds soon for Cash 'n Carry.  That, of course, means that it'll be reaching the fabled 1.0 status sooner than I'd hoped for.  Still haven't fixed that damn item bug, but I'm working on it.

I haven't been sitting on my thumbs while I wanted for a donor, either.  I'm working on not one, but two new projects at the moment.  One is a favor to some guy who's been bugging me on ICQ... it's the addition of a few new game modes to the single player game.  High score tables, survival mode, time trials and other stuff.

The next is one I've been thinking about since Quake 3 came out.  So, I'm finally porting Bazooka Quake to Q3A (with a new, undetermined, but much cooler name (Damn shame Blast Arena is already taken).).  For the 99.9% of you who haven't played it (freakin' download it already! Requires Quake 1), it's a weapon mod and so much more.  Big, cool explosions.  Rocket jumping like you wouldn't believe.  More cool explosions.  Plus gameplay tweaks to make Q3A the game it should be.  I've got two screenshots waiting on the miscellaneous page, so get the hell over there already.



8.01.2000

Well, the Cash 'n Carry beta has a serious bug I'm investigating.  Occasionally, and for no reason I can tell (well, other than the debug message it spews out, but the root cause is still unknown), the game dumps you back to the main menu.  There are also a few gameplay issues I'll address in the next version, which will be out fairly soon.  I can't give a date on it, though, because I'd like the next version to be 1.0.  That means I need models and sounds.  Anyone who feels like donating, please contact me.  I can pretty much guarantee it'll be simple, I just don't have the tools to do it.


8.01.2000

Well, the Cash 'n Carry beta has a serious bug I'm investigating.  Occasionally, and for no reason I can tell (well, other than the debug message it spews out, but the root cause is still unknown), the game dumps you back to the main menu.  There are also a few gameplay issues I'll address in the next version, which will be out fairly soon.  I can't give a date on it, though, because I'd like the next version to be 1.0.  That means I need models and sounds.  Anyone who feels like donating, please contact me.  I can pretty much guarantee it'll be simple, I just don't have the tools to do it.


7.29.2000

Ok, as far as I can tell this thing is ready for beta release.  I'm too lazy to make an actual webpage for it at the moment, though, so you can just look at the readme.  When you're done with that, you can download it here..  Enjoy.

Oh, and make sure you give me any bugs/comments/suggestions.  The email is still nirving@umr.edu. Thanks.



7.29.2000

Well, as far as I can tell the code is complete.  I'm too damn tired to test it right now, though, seeing as it's now 7 in the morning.  I did manage to hack bot support into it, which improves gameplay as least as much as you'd expect.  Check back this evening, it'll be waiting for you.


7.28.2000

Whoops... game called on account of wedding.  The odds that I'll get bot support into Cash and Carry tonight AND have time to attend this thing are approaching zero.  Hate to say it, but it'll probably be tomorrow before this thing is released.  Or at least post-midnight.


7.26.2000

Well, Cash 'n Carry is rapidly approaching a stable state.  It's still not quite feature-complete, but it's close.  Right now I'm adding a few cvars to make it more configurable.  Before I get a final release I still need a few models and sounds, though.

By Friday I expect to release a public beta.  After I release it, I'm thinking about going open-source on all of my projects.  I haven't seen it done before, and who knows what might happen.  That's it for now, I've got to go... um... beta test.



7.24.2000

No, I didn't fall off the face of the Earth.  Actually, I've been watching... waiting... for the time to strike!  Or something.  Anyway, I've been hard at work lately on my latest mod.  Cash 'n Carry is the promised "sequel" to the Buy a BFG mod, but it offers much, much more.  To sum it up in three words and a symbol, "Weapons = vending machines."  I'll let you ponder that one for a while.

However, my utter lack of modelling skills has finally caught up with me.  I'm in desperate need of at least two models: a fairly large coin and a vending machine.  Either a $ or sack of money would also be appreciated, if anyone felt like donating.  Regardless, I'll try to post a beta in the next few days.  I'm currently working on making the mod as server-configurable as possible so there's something for everyone.  Everyone who's ever wanted to shoot a rocket launcher at a vending machine that just stole their money, that is.



6.04.2000

Bah.
I shouldn't actually be surprised that there's already a mod named Anarchy.  But it's still annoying.  Anyway, the Anarchy mod shall henceforth be known as Pandemonium.  And if there's a mod named Pandemonium, well, it.


6.03.2000

Ok, finally got FTP back.  Well, I can't really say "finally", since it was less than 12 hours, and on a weekend to boot, but when you have a mod to post you want to post it, y'know?  Anyway, I set a new speed record for fastest mod, I think... Anarchy v1.0 was done in 20 minutes.  I'll be posting it tonight as soon as I finish whipping up the new webpage and zip file for it.  Trust me, you're gonna love it.  Check back by midnight.

(30 minutes later)
Well, that didn't take nearly as long as I expected.  Check out the Q3A page for the Anarchy mod.  But don't forget Soul Survivor while you're there.



6.02.2000

son of a !  With a monkey!  For some reason I can ftp to PQ and update my webpage, but it won't let me post any files to the /cdrom directory.  Which means that my mod will remain on my hard drive until I can sort this out with them.


6.01.2000

God.  And I thought that a week without a post was a long time.  But finals are over and I'm finally back online for the summer.  Best of all, I come bearing gifts.  Check out my newest Q3 mod, Soul Survivor. It's kind of a last man standing mod, except that when you kill someone you can claim their soul to regain one of your lives.  To prevent the match from going on too long there's a sudden death mode where each kill is final.  So go check it out, already.


View even older news
Back to front page