Welcome to The Pineapple Sanctuary.

So, you've clicked on the booth label, trying to work out who would create a booth title like that. I just hope you're not diappointed. Also note that I have somewhat stolen the front page news format, on the grounds that Willis and Jehar don't really care, and I can't think of anything better...

My map is finally finished. Bloody Slipgates (screenshots: one, two, three) has taken just over a month, from start to finish. During that time, I have learnt a lot not just about the mapping process, and I have to say that some of it is a true art. A black art, to be more precise. Especially when the lighting isn't doing what you want it to do. But those battles are over, for now.

The custom coding that I had to do for this map was also a large undertaking. One major feature took over 4 days to write. Which I think is a long time, considering that it only runs to 350 lines...

But is it worth it? I'd say so. It's a strange sense of accomplishment, and one that I'm not very used to. I don't know if I'll get another chance to post here before QExpo ends, but in case I don't, I'd like to leave you with one final thought.

Finish what you start. Because that finish sould be the start of something more...

Speedmodding is happening again. Find all of the information that you require HERE!

Despite the lack of updates, I'm stil progressing with stuff, although it's kinda scary to realise that we're now half way through QExpo. I still have to code something major for my map, although time is somewhat running out for me to add any minor features that I'm also thinking of adding...

Been playing a few of the releases from the last two weeks. Both speedmapping sessions were interesting (and don't forget that there's another one this weekend, see the speedmapping booth for details), as was necros' new maps (ne_lend and ne_doom). I also tried Soul of Evil: Indian Summer, although I'm going to wait for the update before I comment on just how bloody hard it is. Haven't tried the re-mastering of Abyss of Pandemonium. Recently finished the remix pack. Will start commenting on various func_ threads when I have the time...

The first speedmodding session of this QExpo has been fairly successful, with three mods released. Details are available on the speedmodding page. The next session will be next weekend, and I'm still taking suggestions for a suitable theme.

Speedmodding is happening. Find all of the information that you require HERE!

QExpo has officially opened, and now so will I. Quick update on my map, as I want to go back to it after writing this. My map is going well. I'm doing some re-texturing in some areas, and some re-carving in others, and also changing the map flow slightly. I've also briefly started re-populating as well, but I will probably do that more once the route is settled on. Thinking more about metlslime's original comment, I have seen another way to vary the difficulty, by providing less buttons/keys on hard (but still at least one more than needed), and more of them on easy. I don't know if I will go quite that far yet, but I will certainly consider it.

I have nothing else to say right now, so enjoy your pineapples.

So I've now started work on my map for the red keys project. I'm using e1m1rmx as a base, which does run the risk of overusing the map, but I think that the route changes that I am including will be more than sufficient in justifying the re-use. However, I was unprepared for my experiences in two ways.

The first was the very long compile times. The bsp phase only takes just over a minute, but a fullvis takes over an hour! That's a long time by anyone's standards. Maybe I'll have to find a good DVD to watch during the final compile, as otherwise it's going to be a very boring couple of hours waiting for it to finish...

The second is just how messy the map is. After regioning off a few brushes to extend the area, I loaded the map up after a fastvis compile (which still takes 3 minutes), only to discover that there was a brush that I hadn't accounted for sitting on half of the area that I had just added. I have a feeling that this will be happening a lot more before I'm done.

Other than that, I'm progressing fairly well, although I have noticed some typos in my previous post here, so I think I should fix them before this booth opens. Not long now, eh?

So I'm finally working on my booth, to take a break from working on my two projects that I plan to release this year. The first is a tool that I wrote in QuakeC and have been tweaking slightly to add features as and when I need them. It allows you to explore maps from inside the map, as opposed to just flying around in an editor. More information will be made available for it on its own page, once I get around to writing it.

The second is a single player level, and is also a demonstration of a new feature that I have written code for. A few years ago, on Func_Msgboard, metlslime suggested the idea of "making a door that opens only after finding X buttons, but put X+2 buttons in the level". My demonstration will implement that in a slightly different way, by instead making the player find X items to open a door, and provide X+2 for them to find. The items that I have chosen to use will be keys in a new colour (red), but there is no reason why it couldn't be anything else that a mapper desires.

It's going to be a busy week or so for me to get these done before QExpo starts. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I won't get both of them done before the event starts. But I hope that I will be able to release them before the event ends...