December 1999

12/30/99
Q3A single player add on
Quake 3 Nation Dot De has posted a Q3 map add on compiled by Fetze that adds twelve custom made DM maps to the game. 
Tier #1 Maps: Xeodm5, tom_dm1, 3box4, charondm1 Tier #1 Screenshot
Tier #2 Maps: ouch2, vdamaged, q3morden, Tdm1 Tier #2 Screenshot
Tier #3 Maps: phlxydm1, zfxq1dm1, mwdm1b, quartzdm1 Tier #3 Screenshot

The original three tiers are pushed up so they start at #4. Download 21megs

12/29/99
Official Quake 3 FAQ from id software 
id software has posted its Official Quake 3 Arena FAQ.
It has information ranging from SMP issues to questions pertaining to the Intelli-mouse wheel compatibility. Check it out here.

Q3A Shader Manual Online (Thanks Bluenews)
Paul Jaquays has made the shader manual available to download, it's in word format and is available from here.

The Quake III Arena Shader Manual is available for download.

Yes, Q3A map and model makers, here's the Christmas present that Santa's elves hadn't quite finished yet. It's in the format of an MS word document and has some graphics nested in it, so it's a little large.

ftp.idsoftware.com/idstuff/quake3/tools/Q3Ashader_manual.doc

Kenneth and I are playing around with making a simple html version of it, but that may be a little while yet.

12/27/99
Q3radiant help page
I added a page with links to help you make that new level for Quake 3 here

QuArK Q3A Support
The QuArK Homepage has announced that Quake 3 map editing support is on the way. It's taking them a while, but they say check back once a week for updates.

Sample Q3A Animations  
id Software modeler Paul Steed has supplied casManG's All You Can Eat Games Stuff with three .bip files from Quake III Arena showing off sample character animations that can be imported into Character Studio "to give your models some motion." The three animations they've posted are for Hunter, Klesk, and Visor.

New Q3Build (Thanks Rust)

The newest version of Q3Build adds so much new and cool stuff I'm just in shock. All the compiling stages have all the available options now (that we know of) and there is full BSPC support now for creating .aas bot navigation files. You can view batch files before using them and you can view .bsp info. You can specify what type of game you want to launch. If also has an offline version of the Rust Q3Radiant FAQ and hotkey list as well as links to all the helpfull editing info. This version is beta still so only comes full version at 2megs. I'm updating the documentation for it today. Grab it here.

Q3A model Nrk (thanks Poloycount)

Download here  Its to go with She'k and this one looks better.

175 Skin Pak  Q3Basecamp have released a skin pack for Q3A that includes 175 skins. Here's a list of some of the features for easy end use.

- easy access via numpad (3 key-binds) during game (see official readme as attachment for more info)
- most skins (those without shaders ) are jpegs to save disk/download-space (min. quality lost! )

12/24/99
Merry Christmas or whatever you celebrate.

Shaded Tools Opens at Q3Center  
Here are some of the features of Shaded:

Shaded is a tool designed to simplify the creation and editing of Quake3 shader script files. It has features that are friendly to new users, whilst being a powerful tool for more advanced users.

Shaded's Current Version Features
-Simple error detection and correction
-A list of shader keys and values
-Supports up to 100 scripts in each shader file
-Supports up to 100 keys in each shader script
-Add menu for easily adding common effects

Shaded's Planned Features for Future
-Browse for texture
-Zip file support for browsing pk3 files
-Preview of what shader will be like in the game
-Help on each individual key and its values
-More thorough error detection
-Tutorials
Check it out and download

Paintball mod for Quake3 
read about it and grab it here 

12/23/99
PlanetGecko2 has moved
to a new url. at http://planetgecko.maximumpain.com/

I have a copy of the new Q3R
 tools ready for downloading   Here  size 7,278 kb

Hollenshead interview
id's Todd Hollenshead is interviewed again at The Oxygen Tank, talking very briefly about id's future plans for the company in general and Quake 3 Arena . Look at it here

12/22/99
Add bots to your level
Ricebug has a new tutorial dealing with adding new bots to Q3A. Check it out here.

Update from Robert Duffy (NEW q3r EDITOR!!!!!!)
I have placed a new install for the tools on the ftp site. Our ftp gets hammered but it should show up mirrored pretty quick as well.

ftp.idsoftware.com/idstuff/quake3/tools/Q3ToolSetup_Dec221999.exe

There are quite a few changes, see the readme for a list.

This release contains new content or updates for the following:

-Q3Radiant, this is named 'Q3Radiant_181.exe'. This will allow you to revert to the older version in case there are unforeseen problems.
-Q3Map, some fixes.
-Q3Data, see the Modeling manual which was put together by Paul Steed and Paul Jaquays.
-Model_manual_ps.doc, the above mentioned model manual.
-bspc - see the included text file for changes.
-Museum.map, Museum.shader - A map done by Kenneth Scott to illustrate a wide variety of shader effects. Cool stuff.
-MapMedia.pk3 - additional content required by the museum

The museum takes quite a while to light when running Q3Map on it. Be patient :-)

Update Mirrors are now up at CDROM.Com and Telefragged  and Quake II Shop (local) soon.

Hax0r id Q3 Maps  (Thanks Shugashack)
A few guys on the Quake3 Editing board were trying to figure out if you could decompile all the id maps, and [GF]Strider figured out just that check it out:

There is a hidden flag in the bspc prog that came with the q3tools from id. It's usage is bspc -bsp2map mapname.bsp and voila: you have the decompiled map. The problem with it is, that you don't get the textures with the *.map, so if you open the map in q3radiant there are no textures shown. Perhaps somebody else will find out how to arrange this...

Here's a quick follow up I got from Tim Willits over at id Software for you guys:

If the textures are removed from the pak file and placed in the correct directories it should automatically pick them up.

MD3 Compiler
Polycount  has released a Quake 3 MD3 model compiler. This utility will import md2, md3 and 3DS formatted files and export to md3. This will do multiple frames. Even more features are expected in the near future.

Mappin3Quake has moved to Quake3Mods.net they have posted a large number of tutorials, which you can check out here. Update you link while your there.

Quake NavCenter 
Q3Arena's NavCenter is open for all Quake fanatics. find that site you lost the url to it might be there.

The all new PlanetQ3.com website is up and running.

12/19/99
Stomped has a couple more Q3 maps listed
There are a couple of Q1 to Q3 map conversions out there. There is a Q1DM3 and Q1DM6.

Xian on RA Style Maps

Xian from id made a plan update describing how to make rocket arena maps in Q3A. Here it is:

Dec.20.1999 @ 5:11am

Map Editing Stuff

I've received a few e-mails from people asking about how to go about making rocket arena maps (where everyone spawns in with all the items).

1) Create all the entities you wish the player to spawn into the world with, and make sure they are somewhere within the world (they can be hanging off in space somewhere within the confines of your world.)

2) Add a "target_give" entity somewhere in the world.

3) Create all the spawn spots you wish to be in your map.

4) Select the "target_give" entity.

5) Select an entity in the map you placed in step 1 that you wish the player to spawn in with.

6) Hit Ctrl-K in the editor to link the two items together.

7) Repeat steps 4 through 6 until the target_give is linked to all the entities you wish the player to spawn into the world with.

8) Select a spawn spot

9) Select the target_give entity

10) Hit Ctrl-K in the editor to link the two entities together.

11) Repeat steps 8 through 10 until all the spawn spots are linked to the target_give entity.

12) BSP your map

13) Set g_gametype to tournament mode and set fraglimit of 1(Sorry, I forget what the number is offhand)

14) Get a bunch of your friends to connect into your server and have fun playing a "Rocket Arena" style game =)

An alternate use of target_give is how I used it in q3dm10 to create the "power tube" that gives you health and armour. The tube has a trigger_multiple with a wait of 0.5, linked to a target_give which is linked to a small health and an armour shard.

Cheers,

-Xian

The Bind has posted a rocket jump script for Quake 3.

New Game Explorer (thanks Stomped)
A new version of Game Explorer has been released at the official web site. The server browser program now supports Unreal Tournament, adds support for id's master server for Quake 3 Arena, and fixes server ping times and colored name support for Q3A.

New Voodoo 3 2000/3000 Win9x Drivers are available here

Q1DM4 remake for Quake3
Get right here

QERadiant.com that Quake3.QERadiant.com is open for anyone who wants to run it. So, if you're into editing, want to spend some time posting news and tutorials and stuff like that, let him know, he'll hook you up.

17/17/99
Q3R Help
Need some help with the Quake III editor check out this site Mapin3Quake  Also check out the sites I listed yesterday.

Site News
I know I have been lacking on finishing several things like screen shots, I have a reason I have been working with the editor Q3R Tools. And Its a blast to make maps ( I have to learn a lot not used to this editor) I plan on uploading up some tutorials as soon as possible.

DirectX 7A released
Microsoft has releasd DirectX 7a, so if you're playing DirectX games (and who isn't), grab it.

12/16/99
Quake III Arena Mapping Resources   
Rust has posted version 1.06 of Q3Build, the first front end compiler for Q3Map.
QERadiant.com has posted a tutorial on the new Curves menu for Q3Radiant.
RiceBug's On-Line Q3A Tutorials, with an introduction to the Q3Radiant editor.

Mac demo is Out
Mac demo  Here it is go grab it Mac Quake III Arena Demo  (48,072,960 bytes)  

12/15/99
Q3 Editor Fixes by Robert Duffy 
Robert  Duffy updated his plan with word on some Q3 editor fixes in the works: 
I should be releasing an update to the editor soon. There are a few outright crashes I have fixed and I am looking into some other issues. If you are seeing stability problems, it is more than likely a driver issue. I am doing what I can to get these resolved.
We are seeing quite a few reports of fullbright levels when you preview new levels in the game. If you are having this problem can you drop an e-mail to tools@idsoftware.com along with your video configuration and whether or not bringing the console down solves the problem ( press ~ to bring down the console and see if the level lights ).
We will also be re-releasing the .shader files soon. The .shader files in the shipping PK3 and the ones I included in baseq3/scripts include a lot of unused ( and in many cases non-functional ) shaders that are left over from the entire project. We are going to trim that down to the actual shaders used in the game.
'q3data.exe' will also be in the update which will allow you to convert ASE's to MD3's. This should help getting new player and map models in the mods.

id's Paul Jaquays interviewed
The Q-Workshop-3 web site has just posted an interview with id Software level designer Paul Jaquays, talking about Quake 3 Arena level design.

Quake3 Prefabs At Rust
Gamedesign Prefabs is now accepting Quake3 prefabs. As usual we are taking .maps but we will also be accepting .md3's for addition to your maps. Help spread the word!

Threewave CTF Maps (Thanks Blue News)
As promised earlier today, the Threewave CTF maps for Quake III Arena by Dave "Zoid" Kirsch have been released, as a Win32 installer and a zip-file for Linux users. Zoid's post on the Quake3World forums has more word on the three maps, including a brief description of each.

Threewave CTF Shots 
Redwood sends word that he's posted nine screenshots on Stomped showing off three levels from Zoid's upcoming Q3A Threewave CTF maps that should be released soon

Linux Q3 Final Demo Out 
For those still without the retail version of Q3 (A lot of Europeans >:( ) and running Linux, id has released the Official Q3A Demo. No word on the Mac release.

First Quake 3 Maps! (thanks Stomped) Pic. of the day today
Tom "ParadoX" Mustaine, one of the best level designers in the industry, from Ritual Entertainment has released the first public non-id Quake 3 maps. He's got a 4-6 player tom_dm1 and a 1v1 tom_tourney. Download mustaine.zip (1554KB) from Quake III Shop  server, unzip to baseq3 directory and you're good to go. Also can grab it at stomped Here

Q3 Editing Tools Update
Robert Duffy made another small .plan update regarding the Q3 level editor:
A small update. To build a map, q3map requires that 'quake' exists somewhere in the path. It uses this to derive the base path to figure out where to find things. What this means is that if you installed Quake III Arena ( and the tools ) to 'c:\q3' then q3map will fail with a < SetQdirFromPath: no 'quake' in C:/Q3/baseq3/maps/unnamed.map > error. I realize this can be somewhat of a pain but it is the way the tools work ( it is also the way the tools have always worked ).

If you installed the game and the tools to the default or the name you chose has quake in it then this will not apply to you. If you installed to a path that does NOT have 'quake' in the name you will need to rename it to get q3map to work properly

Quake 3 Level Editing Tools Released!!!!!!!!!!!
The Quake 3 Level editing tools have been released. The download is 4.47megabytes and includes Q3Radiant and other editing tools. Here are three download links 
CDROM.COM FTP      Stomped FTP2      id Software FTP      Quake III Shop (local)

12/14/99
Site news started to use book marks to make the site easier to get around.

Webdog 2.5 released
Webdog have released a new version, 2.5, of their nifty web page and .plan file tracking software. You can download here. 

Will Q3Radiant be released today?
I'm waiting and can't wait to start making maps.

12/13/99
Another Q3A Model Viewer 
3D Exploration you can use to view and save Q3A models (and Q2 models also). Check it out 

New Freeware PingTool 
There is a new version 2.6 of the PingTool server browsing utility on the PingTool page.
New Model from Polycount  called She'k 
Grab it here

Site News
Been Busy with screenshots, Message boards are up again.

Carmack and Posy makes a great game
Well if sales figures prove anything.
This Activision press release says that "Based on Activision's internal sales data, the game has sold through 50,000 units in its first three days on store shelves, making it one of the most successful PC game launches for 1999."

Kevin Cloud on MouseLook in Q3
I noticed at Q3Center, that they have a response from Kevin Cloud about adding the Freelook option into Quake 3.  Kevin says that it will be in the first patch, but they aren't sure of the timing of the first patch.

Quake III Arena Model Viewer  (Thanks Blue News)
Version 1.21 of the Java MD3 Model Viewer is now online. Among the new features of this program, which, true to its name, offers Java-based viewing of Quake III Arena models, is TGA and JPG texture support, advanced inspection of model properties (boneframes, vertex normals, mesh names, etc.), complete support for the Q3A animation system, and complete support for the MD3 file format.

Plan update from John Carmack

WANTED: Independant OpenGL conformance nazi

I think there is a strong need for a proactive, vendor-neutral
OpenGL watchdog, or even a small group, especially in the linux space.  So on and so on and also.

If someone does wind up developing a good suite of tools and procedures and
gives one of the drivers a really good set of feedback, I would be happy to
provide extra video cards so they could beat up all the implementations.

Interested read more here

Back to the top

12/12/99
It looks like webdog is moving to Blue news the id. plan updates are not working right I will leave them up for a few days to see if webdog fixes this if not they will be removed.

Quake III Arena Server Program  (Thanks Blue News)
The debut release of Servarena, a Quake III Arena dedicated server launcher. Using a mouse-driven interface, the program is said to make" setting up a Quake III Arena server as easy as it gets."

Added some screenshots I'll add more later tonight.

I have a rant.
People that are new to Quake Death match practice more offline, I played on ten servers today with my lousy 300 ping and ruled them. I am not that good so what gives people, they were just standing around, no there ping was good.  They should use rule 1 and 2 more. You say what rules read them here.

One more, people running servers turn pure off I hate getting kicked because I have a new model. Ok rant over.

Site news
Working on the screenshot area today right now its empty. Soon you will have tons of pic's to look at.

CWN/Q3C Ladder Re-Opens! (Thanks Q3Center)
The ladder is now re-opening with full force! The challenge system now works, so you guys can frag until you...uh....die. Prizes from nVidia, 3dfx, WON.net, Razer, and more! Go sign up and FRAG!

Got Skins
Send them in to this site Telefragged All skins all the time very cool site.

Q3A Editing (Thanks Blue News)
Maj's Stuff, devoted to Quake III Arena editing, has posted Eutectic's Preliminary Q3 .def File, a .def file for Q3Radiant users to get started making Q3A maps until real SDK materials are available. Also, Maj's Shader Docs are online trying to give insights into the proper use of this aspect of Q3A modeling that's given some of the earliest model makers trouble.

Doom Skins  thanks stomped
This website has a file with new skins for the Q3 Doom model so you can play with indigo, red and brown (as in the original Doom) instead of just the green skin. Download it here. (351KB) Enjoy!

Back to the top

Official Q3A Support FAQ
Activision has put up an official support FAQ for Q3A owners out there. It answers the basic questions about GL setup and yes CD Keys. So check it out instead of sending me  emails about how your OpenGL won't work! Ok. 

12/11/99
The site went buggy yesterday so today I am reinstalling it. (not fun)
So the message boards will be all new sorry if you posted today or before. Some of the art and all screenshots will be uploaded later in the week this is to save time and get some news if this works. It did phew.

Plan update from Paul Jaquays And its a good one

Been a while since I did a plan update ... and even longer since I did one discussing Quake III Arena. Since the game is out now ... I can talk. I recently posted a version of this on one of Scary’s discussions boards and thought I’d make it available in a more general forum. This is what happened to some of the "lost" things that have appeared in older screenshots, but not in the final game.

Lost Models
There’s been some discussion on various boards as to whatever happened to the "designer" models that appeared in early screenshots. They were intended as tests for Steed and Carmack to work out the kinks in the MD3 models. They were fun, but they weren’t final. Even with the eclectic mix of our final models, they would have been out of place. And like the unused maps, the way they were constructed (including the use of multiple component piece skins) is not completely compatible with the final model versions.

Lost Particles
OK, now let’s talk about that weapon with the particle trail that the "xian" model is shooting in some old screen shots. I’m pretty certain that was an early version of the plasma gun. It looks cool and I like the particles. We certainly could have done some awesome things with them as the shader functions matured, but as a game feature in Q3A, they were problematic at best. While testing Q3Test2 (now Q3dm17), we learned that a single rail shot added an instant hit of 3000+ triangle faces (all Q3 particles are made of polygon triangles) to the map. In bigger space maps that followed, it would have been far worse. So the feature changed. We had similar problems with other functions using particles. And so, particles left the game.

Many Hands
Touching on Tim Willits’ comments about many hands touching the maps. Generally speaking, one designer created the map ... usually after discussing feature ideas with the design group. He would work out the play concepts and establish a general architectural style. At some point during development, the map would be handed off to another designer to fix problems involving curves, tweak some play problems, and maybe punch up the appearance of some of the architecture. Then the artists would get involved, making special models and custom textures. They did for our maps what an interior decorator does for real world buildings -- taking fairly drab settings and making them into pieces of art. And while everyone outside the company seems to want to pigeon-hole our artists into narrow task functions, I’d like to point out that ALL our artists worked on the arenas, not just Kevin Cloud and Adrian Carmack. I’d like to mention that several arenas owe their distinctive and totally awe-inspiring appearances to Kenneth Scott’s phenomenal "set design", model building and texture-making abilities (and everyone thinks he just does skins ... Hah!).

Lost Maps
Back on the topic of "lost" maps. Anyone who has ever made a map, professionally, semi-professionally, or just for fun, knows that map development goes through stages. You build stuff. You make it look as "pretty" as a map guy can. You test it, debate it with your peers and then rebuild the parts that didn’t work. If it’s your job, you do this a lot. Along the way, you leave a pretty hefty debris trail. Quite a number of the "lost" maps that show up in early screenshots are prototypes of the final maps (or at least things that ended up in the final maps).

By way of example, I can discuss Q3DM8: Brimstone Abbey. This map originally began as a sprawling, mostly flat map; a literal maze of corridors. Several early screenshots show parts of that "lost" map. As the game matured, the design concept for that map was deemed inappropriate. That map was scrapped, but at least one feature was salvaged ... the cathedral room. The next iteration was another big map combining the cathedral with the base portion of a CTF map that was under development. It was scrapped, but now the cathedral had balconies and a lift up to the high ledges that connected to the power-up ledge. That level consisted of the central cathedral, some halls around the upper level (with stairs to the lower) and a large courtyard (where the drowing pool is now located). The cathedral lift became a jump pad. Stairs were scrapped, the large courtyard became a pool (to show water at E3), the hall connecting the drowning pool with the cathedral was redesigned based on a suggestion from Jim Molinets of Rogue and the rocket launcher courtyard with it’s distinctive "pop-up toaster" jump pad was added. But architecturally, it’s not far removed from that long lost original.

I took a look through the screenshots of the "lost" "organic" maps that everyone is mooning over. They probably could be built with the current status of the engine (please note that the way we built curves changed at LEAST three times over the course of Quake 3 development). But as you map makers will soon discover, curves are great, but their cost in polygons adds up fast. Add some fog and it only gets worse. The IHV version of the mouth that appears in Q3DM1 had to be completely rebuilt to make it a playable area with a manageable polygon count.

Pining for the Great Outdoors
Regarding large, outdoor maps that seem to be on everyone’s wish list. I spent a lot of my development time trying to make naturalistic looking outdoor terrain work, including using both curve patches and the Q2 terrain-maker, Gensurf (which I really like). During that period of development we had some issues with sloped surfaces, which made movement over the terrain something between unsatisfying and nearly impossible. And, as it is with the space maps and large curve areas, when a lot of the map is in your view field all at once, those polies add up quickly. None of these experiments developed into satisfying DM maps. So when the maps were sorted and culled into the final tiers, there were no outdoor maps selected for final development. I haven’t abandoned the idea of large outdoor terrain maps and I am planning on more experimentation in that area.

Finally, we haven’t thrown out the old "lost" maps. If we do anything with them, it will be to go through them, pull out the workable ideas that didn’t fit the final production maps and include them in new maps.

Paul Jaquays
designer
id Software, inc.

And, by the way, a lot of the Q3A reviews I’ve been reading lately look a little rushed to me. I can’t help but wonder if they would been far better if they just had more paragraphs in them. ;-)

Back to the top

Rust is giving away a copy of Quake III Arena, complete with the snazzy tin box, for guessing what game and on what level this screenshot was taken from.

12/10/99
Q3 tools on Very soon (let the mapping begin) 
Robert Duffy has updated his .plan with some more info about the editor and map building tools for Quake 3. As stated earlier, they should be released early next week. Here's a sample of what he had to say:

I am shooting for Tuesday sometime but that can change based on a variety of things. In any event it should be soon. Secondly, the editor and shader manuals will not be available right then but will follow shortly after. The shader manual probably within a few days of the tool release, the editor manual a bit after that.

Crush Your Quake III Arena (Thanks Blue News)
Tweak3D has posted a demo for Quake III Arena that's similar in concept to the infamous "Crusher" demo for Quake II, in that it has been designed to push your hardware to its limits. So be sure to download, benchmark, and brag to all your friends.

Quake 3 Server Configurator 3.0.14 (if you run bots this is the way to go, kicks them when real people show up)
There's a new version of the Quake 3 Arena Server Configurator utility out and it supports the full version of Quake 3 Arena! Q3ASC now allows you to set up "Automatic" bots for your server! "Automatic" bots will leave the server to make room for human players and rejoin when the human players leave. There have also been usability fixes and all map/bot names are included.

Plan update from  Graeme Devine (editor soon more cd key stuff)

Okay. I’m now officially overloaded on email.

We’re looking to get the tools out there very soon for creating Q3A modifications.
We’ll probably do a point release on the product before we release anything, and
we’ve been busy writing (gosh) documentation for the editor, shaders, etc. I’m
really looking forward to seeing what you guys do with Q3A!

We’re now cracking down on people using key generators. We stop accepting input
for a period of time from addresses that spam different keys to the authentication
server. I see a lot of people running key generators right now; I’ve yet to see a single
one make a correct key.

We will also probably alter the key generation scheme on subsequent runs of the
product so we can verify mistyped keys within the client. This remains our biggest
issue and if we can cure it right at the input step, then we’ll go a long way towards
easing this up.

Quake III Arena Support FAQ  
Activision has opened their Support FAQ for Quake III Arena, offering solutions to an initial batch of problems they have identified in id Software's recently released shooter.

Happy Birthday Doom
That's right Doom turns six today this is the game that for me  hooked me on first person shooters (fps), and moved Id. to god like game makers.

Plan update from Todd Hollenshead Not about cd keys this time

We have a CTF server up and running here. The address is:

192.246.40.48:27960

I'm going to make a point of playing a bit every night for the next few days. So if you want to jump on and lobby me for having the grapple on Q3CTF4, feel free! Probably won't do much good, but you can always try ;-)

And also feel free to jump on and just play, since having fun is really the whole point of it anyway.

Killerinstincts Quake 1 Skins for Quake3 seen at Cached
Saturn from clan Killer Instincts (http://www.killerinstincts.com/ ) has released a PAK file for Q3A that contains all of the possible color combinations for the Ranger model, to give you back that old school Q1 feeling. Here's a snip:

OK this pile of skins took about 4 hours of time I probably should have spent sleeping. It contains 196 Ranger (Q1 Dude) skins that restore the option to pick your top and bottom colors, just like back in Q1/QW days. These are the ORIGINAL Quake colors, as closely as I could recreate them. They look much more colorful and cool in Q3 though :)

The PAK can be downloaded at http://www.killerinstincts.com/index.shtml#944801594.

12/09/00
DredWerks CTF Level for Q3A  seen ay Quake 3Mods
FooKilla has created a new Capture the Flag level called "DredWerks CTF", made out of q3dm12, which contains all of the weapons and powerups. He also has a server up running the map at: 129.82.92.22.

Q3Edit Pro Released 
Q3Edit Pro has been released. Very handy if you don't like to type a lot in console  of commands.NameKeeper Released 
NameKeeper v1.1 has been released and yes it's a fun name maker grab it here here.
 
Back to the top

A Word From Tim Willits about (level design and bots)
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the positive comments I have received
concerning Quake 3. Every morning my inbox is full of great positive emails. I would like to
address a couple of issues that have come up in emails.

========================

Many people want to know which level designer designed which map. This is not exactly an easy
question to answer. Unlike previous id games the designers are not separate individuals working
on "their" maps without cooperation from anyone else. In order for a company to create truly
great maps all the designers must learn to work together. The team of designers we have now is
by far the best team originated group that has ever worked at id. There are no maps in Quake3
that were developed by only one person. Some maps were touched by as many as four different
people. Expect this design trend to continue and look forward to id creating some of the best
maps around.

==========================

I have noticed that people don't fully understand the power of our bots. The bots in Quake 3
represent some of the most advanced bots in any game today. Our bots are capable of
understanding and performing well over 50 different commands in the team death match and CTF.
Using combinations of commands, it's probably well over that. The in-game menu only
represents a extremely small set of commands which bots understand. They are the BASIC
commands. For a more complete list check out the "bot commands" document in your Quake 3
start menu. Here are some examples of the things you can do with bots.

[Grunt and visor patrol from rl to rg for 5 mins]
Grunt and Visor will patrol from the rocket launcher to the railgun for 5 minutes.

Or you can group them in teams and give team commands

[Grunt and visor are in team beta]
[Beta defend quad forever]

Grunt and visor will team up and defend the quad for the entire game.

If you are lost have grunt help you
[grunt lead the way]
[grunt get the plasma]

Grunt will find you, and then lead you to the plasma gun. If you get out of his view he will come
back for you.

Experiment with the commands, set up a skirmish with the bots in a team game and have some
fun.

Also, try chatting with the bots about anything, see what they will say. Our bots have
approximately 200 pages of chats are responses. They might surprise you.

=======================

Don't forget to get your very cool Quake 3 Arena jersey. Wear it while you play or wear it
around town. You can order them online at.

http://www.minnesotaproshop.com/actionimprints/quakiiiarjer1.html

Q3CTF Stuff 
Well, it looks like Zoid is  watching (the post). This is mostly CTF related stuff but hey Q3 CTF is cool and Zoid mentions new maps being available once the first patch is released which 'is a good thing'. Here is what Zoid is sayin:

I'd like to thank everyone who's posted to this forum. I've read all the messages and I've made a list known issues and will be working on them over the next few days. I think I can address pretty much everyone's concern, but of course, it won't happen until a new patch is released. My maps will probably not be available until the first patch.
/// Zoid.

Q3A Server Setup Guide   
This Quake 3 Server Setup Guide on 3DGW looks to help you get started running your own Quake III Arena server.

A Word From  Todd Hollenshead
Be smart. Do NOT send your CD Key to anyone. We will NOT contact you EVER
asking for you to send us your key without you contacting us first. You should
treat your CD Key like a credit card or your social security number and keep it
private.

(Duh my two cents)

Quake 3 "demo helper" 
 Black Hand Clan has released a freeware "demo helper" for Quake III Arena. Here's some info on the program:

BH Demo Helper was written to help the Members of the Black Hand Clan record demos. It facilitates this by having an external program which writes a config file, which contains a demo filename based on the current date and time, at specific intervals. An alias is then bound to a key which allows a demo to be recorded, and stopped with the same key once once started.

You can snag the 260 KB zip file right here

12/08/99
A Word From Graeme Devine
"Cracked servers are no longer listed through the master. We're tracking these servers. We know your IP address, so if you have one running, I strongly suggest you take it down immediately."

Just Buy the Game and don't run servers with bots. (My two cents)

Todd Hollenshead shared his own thoughts about pure servers over at the Quake3World forums but here'smost of it:

I agree with most of the posts on the board that most servers should NOT be running as "pure" servers. Clan matches, tournaments, LAN events, or "games that matter" should probably always be run with only "pure" servers, but "fun" matches really have no need to run as pure servers (unless that's just the admin's preference).

You really should try and understand the concept of what John is trying to do with the "pure" sever concept, however. One of the most frequently heard and loudest complaints from Quake and Quake II was about cheating. People were using proxies, people deleted player skins from the skins directories in high level LAN tournaments, people were making walls invisible, etc. With a pure server, we are doing everything that we can reasonably do to keep the game pristine and I do believe that is a good thing, especially when it's an _option_.

12/07/99
Quad God Soon! Thanks Cineplex
Tritin Films' first official release will be the first Quake 3 movie, in the form of Quad God. Set for release next week, here's some stuff to hold you over: Quad God Poster (320K), Quad God Teaser #1 (1.0M), and Quad God Teaser #2 (2.8M). Give the fileplanet mirrors up to 2 days before the files have been mirrored on all the mirrors. The teasers (as well as the full movie) are in .ASF format, so Windows Media Player is required. Here's some extra info on Quad God:

Quake 3 Arena Wallpaper
Paul Steed sent Quake3World a new kick butt wallpaper he did with all the characters in Quake 3 Arena. They come in both black and white in different resolutions: 1280x1024 (820KB), 1024x768 (568KB), 800x600 (373KB), and 640x480 (252KB). They are very cool

Linux Q3A is gold
The retail Linux version of Quake 3 Arena has gone gold!!!!

12/06/99
There's been a lot of news so I am archiving it before the end of the month now.

New Mac 3dfx Drivers 
3dfx has released new MacOS drivers for their Voodoo 2 and Voodoo 3 based cards. These new drivers contain a boatload of new OpenGL fixes and improvements, making them ideal for the would-be MacQuake III player.

Razor Boomslang 2000 Review
Stomped's JCal has reviewed the Razor Boomslang 2000. He compares and contrasts it with other mice and it's little brother, the Boomslang 1000. So if you're looking to buy someone something nice for Christmas, check it out.

Uploaded a pic. of the Horny Model
Still don't know if you are going to get Quake III Arena and you want the demo Local file is Quake II Shop (local copy)

Q3DemoTest to Q3Demo Patch
This is a nice one for those of you with slow connections. If you're still with the Demo Test and don't want to spend another 4 hours downloading the 50MB demo, then Maf-Soft has got something for ya. They have a 7.4MB patch for Q3DemoTest to Q3Demo available for download, as a Win32 executable file. 

Hollenshead Interview 
GameFan has an interview with Todd Hollenshead about some interesting issues. Worth a read. Here's a sample:

GameFan-Q3A didn't ship with a lot of CTF levels (4 to be exact); will there be a point release sometime in the near future with more levels?

Quake 3 shipped with the 30 best deathmatch and CTF levels that we could make. I think that Quake 3 Arena is the best deathmatch game of all time, and that second place is not even close. We went with quality over quantity, because we know that the replay value of a great map is far greater than the replay value of a so-so map.

Three Configs from the Pulpit What he has done is come up with three different sets of configs - Fast Performance, Reasonable Visuals+Performance and Best Visuals. Grab them here

Essobie of RA2IO released an updated version of his pak for v1.11. It includes new HUD numbers, console graphics, crosshairs, railgun and lightning gun effects, and a few other things. If you remember, he first released it for v1.05

AddOns and Quake 3  Thanks Pulse
Pulse asked a question to Zoid about the problem with getting thrown back to the menu during a server map change when you use any new models. Zoid had this answer:

Yes, it's a bug in add-on shaders. Removing the pak file will fix it for now.

You can still use the models coming out for single player for now...but why bother until this is fixed. I am not sure if it is a model problem or a game problem.

Q3 Cheat 
Some of you may know of this cheat already but I'll tell you anyway. If you go to console and type /iamacheater it will unlock all of the cinematics. And for those of you that have not seen the final cinematic make sure you watch all the way through the credits.

12/05/99
The Nightmare Demo
Demo sent in by Toxy which is done legit style and with a perfect score no less. 10 to -5 even! Check out this demo on how to beat the final boss on Nightmare skill.

Do you know of a crapy Q2,Q3, map that needs a good public fraging. Check out this LOL.  site CrankySteves

One more Model for Quake 3

Called Harley Quinn down load here seen at Polycount

Thanks Carl for pointing this out.

Make some demos for the full Q3A
Go to Console

Type g_syncronousclients 1

record filename
stoprecord filename

to play the demo you type
demo filename

Q3A Easter Eggs
Look in Q3DM11, Q3DM15, Q3DM16 amd Q3DM19 levels.

Plan update  Dave Kirsch
A linux dedicated server binary is now available at:
ftp://ftp.idsoftware.com/idstuff/quake3/linux/linuxq3ded-1.11-i386.tar.gz
This allows server operators to run a Linux Quake3 Server (full version).
The full linux demo should be out in a few days. It'll include the new
Loki installer.
Enjoy.

/// Zoid.

12/04/99
Sorry for the lack of updates today been busy playing the full game that's right I now have it. And I must say it totally rocks No sleep for me tonight.

Secret Q3 Map  type /map test_bigbox

Q-Workshop 3 has moved into Rust and will be filled with all sort's of Q3A level editing info

QERadiant.com have posted some info that Paul Steed from id wrote on a message board. If modeling is your bag then this is worth a read.

MapFinger has opened up and is an excellent site for level designers. Basically it's a place where all the maper's in this world can post new levels which saves you time searching around for a decent map. Go here

A New Model for Quake 3 it is very cool from HK

New 3dfx Voodoo 2 beta drivers 
3dfx has released new beta drivers for Voodoo 2 based cards. The drivers offer DirectX7 support and also fix some game bugs. 

sCary posted the following list of variables and values you might want to try if you feel you're game isn't as smooth as it should be:

/r_mode 2
/r_colorbits 16
/r_texturemode GL_LINEAR_MIPMAP_NEAREST
/r_vertexlighting 1
/r_subdivisions 999
/r_lodbias 2
/cg_drawgun 0
/cg_forcemodel 1
/cg_gibs 0
/cg_draw3dicons 0
/cg_brassTime 0
/cg_marks 0
/cg_shadows 0
/cg_simpleitems 1
/cg_drawAttacker 0

Q3 Doom Renders 
The Quake3World page has posted some nifty new renders from Paul Steed of the Doom character that has made his way into Quake3. You can check out all 6 images here [shot1] [shot2] [shot3] [shot4] [shot5] [shot6].

GameSpy Q3A Tabs 
The Shugashack has a pair of Q3A tabs for GameSpy3D, one for deathmatch, and the other for CTF.

The guys at PingTool have created a filter to use as well.

Final Q3A Renders 
From Blue News the  last two Quake III Arena rendered tier group shots we posted the other day (story). Here is a .zip file with .tga versions (1.3 MB) of the tier six shot of Bones, Doom, Major, Sorlag, Cadavre, and the shot of Xaero, the single player game's ultimate boss.

Hidden Q3A Sarge skin
Blue's has posted about a hidden Sarge skin in both the full version and demo version of Quake 3 Arena. To access it, type in "model sarge/krusade" in the console. 

Looks like this cool huh

Cool site that checks your system for updates after you register and its free. Click here

12/03/99

Q3Demo Problem Explained 
id's Graeme Devine updated his .plan with an explanation for Q3Demo users. Here it is:

Why do I get booted back to the main menu?

It's because you've got a 1.11 client and you're trying to join a 1.09 (demo test) pure server. Since the protocol # is exactly the same, you see all the 1.09 servers in the browser, but when you try and join the game you get booted because you aren't "pure".

We'll switch off support for 1.09 listings in the browser once 1.11 demo is out for the Mac and Linux. Meanwhile there's not much I can do since I can't tell from the client side if you're a 1.09 or 1.11 client asking for list of available servers.

I finally beat the demo in Nightmare mode I will post some tips on doing this soon.

Try you luck at a Q3a  tournament keep reading We are now taking more reservations for the Cached.Net Red 64 Quake 3 Arena Tournament. Should live close to the west coast for the bests ping.

Horny Model Released
Bullfrog Productions has released the Horny Demon model for Quake III Arena. This new model (which only works with the retail version of the game) was made by Bullfrog's Darren Pattenden and animated by id's Paul Steed, and depicts the Horny Demon from Dungeon Keeper II  You can check out a profile of the character here.

Quake III PingTool Filter 
A Quake III Arena retail version filter for PingTool has been posted to their FTP site, allowing you to easily find games that are running the full version's levels.

Q3A Cdkey
Another plan update by Graeme, this time about setting the cd key in Q3A through the console:

IMPORTANT!!!!!

You MUST enter your CD key in lower case letters. If you do this through the menu it's automatic, but if you set it from the console, upper case letters will not work.

 

Also Gamespy is not working for everybody if not just copy and paste the Ip. number right into Quake 3. This bug should be fixed soon. With the newest Gamespy.

I want to start mapping where's the editor?  Well stomped got the answer.

Here's Todd's reply to Sean:

Not certain at this point, but "soon". There's still a bit of cleanup type work to do before we upload it.

tsh

Sleep is for the weak! (good luck getting it busy )
The official Quake III Arena Demo is out for Win32! Linux and Mac versions should follow in the next few days.

 Win32 Quake III Arena Demo  (48,908,140 bytes)  

3dgamers,

Blue's News,

AVault ,

3DAG ,

 FilePlanet

Stomped FTP2

more download sites as I find them.

The official Quake3Arena Noise site has opened up their doors which features some new sound clips from the Quake3 soundtrack.

Check out the review at Stomped of Quake 3 Arena its a big one so you will need a few minutes go here

12/02/99
I am still looking for a great Idea for a contest at this site, the prize will be a Everglide Attack mouse pad Email Raptor

Play Quake 3 wins prizes info at Q3Center
 CWN/Q3Center Q3 Ladder!
We are starting a huge Q3 ladder with CWN, and everyone is invited to play in this kickass 1 on 1 tournament. The top five placers will receive some great prizes, so what are you waiting for? Check out the info and rules page here at Q3Center and follow the link from there to signup and begin fragging! Good luck to everyone, and we will have daily posts on the progress of the players and ladder overall. 

Last of the Q3A Character Renders   (From Blue's)
Today we have the last two pre-rendered Quake III Arena group shots showing off the final frontier, your tier six and seven opponents. Thanks again to id's Paul Steed for sending these along. Tier six is Bones, Doom, Major, Sorlag, Cadavre, and tier seven is, as Paul put it: "The fragging sensei...the master of deathmatch: Xaero." Here are the shots, I'll post the .tgas tomorrow. BTW, if there was a doubt, Xaero is pronounced "zero."

New Q3A Screenshots  (From Blue's)
Redwood has posted some new screenshots on Stomped of some of the levels from the full release of Quake III Arena, expected in stores over the next couple of days. Apologizing that he isn't a screenshot taking expert, Red has posted shots of Q3DM2, Q3DM15, Q3DM16, Q3DM19, Q3TOURNEY1, Q3TOURNEY3, Q3TOURNEY6, Q3CTF2, and Q3CTF4. Also, there are some new Q3A shots in BarrysWorld's 155&Rising column showing Crash taking a swim.

The Faultline has posted an updated Q3A tweak config that's supposed to offer a framerate boost.

Plan update  Graeme Devine

In preparation for the full release.

The motd/master/auth servers run on ports 27950, 27951, 27952. The default game server
is on port 27960. If you’re firewalled against these ports you’ll need to get unfirewalled to
play the game. If we work on the servers from now on we’ll notify the community and schedule
the maintenance for the slowest period of the day (currently around 6am Dallas time).

We have what we consider a “gold” build of the demo. We’re putting it through the final push
of QA at Activision before releasing it since this build is going to be more or less prevalent
throughout the known universe.

12/01/99

I just down loaded the new drivers for my SoundBlaster live and my aging Maxi Gamer Phoenix card. the good news is I have a 10 fps increase and sound is better and I can read all the start up screens in Q3.

The Quake Workshop 3 is looking for some one to help do news and some tutorials and stuff for Quake3 editing. You need to have a knowledge of editing and a little HTML skill. Mail Lard to help. This site could use some help also email me Raptor{ctc}

Quake Three by this weekend or sooner!!!!!!
Here is what Blue News posted
Having just spoken with a contact at Activision, I can finally clear the air regarding the Quake III Arena release date. The reason there's a Sunday release date given (the 5th) is because that's the day they expect it to be available everywhere. The game will be trickling out towards the end of the week, and will be on shelves for sure by Sunday. What's that mean? Some places are claiming they'll have it on the shelves as soon as tomorrow - which is a definite possibility. Also, remember: this is only the Windows version. Specific dates for the Linux and Mac versions have yet to be announced.

New Quake 3 Server Configurator  from (Stomped) Redwood
There is a new version of the Quake 3 Arena Server Configurator available for download. It now has a Remote Admin utility and a Remote console utility. The remote admin utility allows server operators to add bots and kick players from a remote server (if you know the rcon password, of course) and the remote console allows you to enter commands directly. Also new is code that checks if anything has been changed and prompts a save to server configurations or gamestyles.

New Voodoo 3500 drivers
3dfx has released new drivers for their Voodoo 3500 card, adding DirectX7 support. Grab the new drivers here.

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