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Archived old news - January 2000:
News: Friday 28/1/00
And now for something completely different...
I think this will be a good one....I'm proud to post it. It's a long, new IRC chat log, but not about maps nor Q3A nor penii nor trout - instead, a
philosophical debate on the dissolution of the mind upon death. It came about mainly because that
Nehahra geezer, Mindcrime posited the view that the human mind can be broken down into
constituent parts (like a crowd dispersing into constituent people), so although the mind disperses upon death, it continues in some form as it's constituent parts continue [I hope that sums up
his position]. But is such a view sustainable, or is it built on unsound premises about the nature of the mind?? The chat log is a bit vague and clouded by some
other stuff, but have a look and have a think about it...
And now for the same old ranting =).
One of those "Action game of the year" type poll thingies over at R-POV (whoever the hell they are). All fairly
predictable, and somewhat disturbingly, in the "Single Player" category, the competition was on between two, errr, *cough*, deathmatch and botmatch only games (without
Wheel of Time getting a look in, I might add). Same old story really, but what interested me was that the R-POV boys were puzzled by this too...
"R-POV Reader's Single Player Games of 1999:
This year's choices for best single player game will leave you scratching your head. 'What about story driven game design?' you might ask. Well, it appears the R-POV readers would rather
have a game that simulates online competition rather then a story driven one. Let's hope this was just a case of extreme loyalty to their favorite games rather then their actual single player
games. Kudos to all of the other developers who created single player stories."
Indeed...
Keeping it fresh, a Real Life™ quote:
"Go shave that if you're going to shave anything, and leave my Kiwis alone!!"
Yes it's genuine, and yes I'm sure you want to know what it's all about :P.
Laterz,
Shambler
News: Tuesday 25/1/00
Illhaven_W0T...
I mentioned Kew's Wheel of Time conversion of his
legendary Illhaven map last week, and I got round to playing just before this weekend. I was a bit disappointed - although it's a good map, it's not as good as the original Illhaven, nor
many of the W0T in-game maps. Good aspects include the looks and overall design (of course), the completely non-linear exploration - including far more buildings to explore than the
Unreal version, the fairly tricky Trolloc combat, and the consistent theme and quality. On the downside, some of the textures are a bit careless giving it a less polished feel, the combat
gets very repetitive (and the difficulty is route-dependent), and the map feels vague (too many barrels, too little purpose to many areas). I'd say it's worth taking a look at, but don't expect as
much as other Kew nor W0T maps.
Also, I recently played Kew's Kosovo maps for Half-Life (download from your local HL map site), and those were fresh and cool. Both maps
are exitless grunt combat maps set in, errr, well we all know it's Illhaven even though Kew says Kosovo =). The most atmospheric HL custom maps I've played, and for design and especially
architecture, a cut about the rest. Even though I'm not so keen on the grunt combat (nor exitless maps), these maps have a good feel to them and are well worth a look.
Still no StrangeWorld review at Nali City =(
I'm getting on the case...
* Shambler straps several trout to his Redeemer and prepares to pilot it straight into the Nali City base
Someone was asking about penis related IRC stuff just the other day...
* [Kona] gives illMatic a penis...HAVE FUN!!!!
* illMatic gives the penis back! "No thanx, i already have one! Maybe you should keep it for yourself"
* [Kona] throws the penis back at ill! goddam it's all wet and... brown coloured! where have u been sticking it?!
Laterz,
Shambler delivers the goods once more =)
News: Saturday 22/1/00
TEAMShambler: 2 - TEAMHealey: 0
Apparently this is "gullible Healey" week or something as the bros Paul and Kable have been losing it slightly =). Firstly, in a quiet #terrafusion, Kable meets that charming clan
d00d...
<Deffki||a4000{klanwank}> H1 4LL J00 BUNCH O' PUSS13S
<Deffki||a4000{klanwank}> JEEZ
<Deffki||a4000{klanwank}> THIS PLACE DIED
<[Kab1e]> :-/ why do you even bother coming here?
<Deffki||a4000{klanwank}> BECAUSE I 0WN J00, L4M3R
<[Kab1e]> :-/ 31337 4R3 W3?
<Deffki||a4000{klanwank}> V3RY 1337 1ND33D
<[Kab1e]> shambler lol
<[Kab1e]> i should have guessed.
<Deffki||a4000{klanwank}> you fell for it
<Deffki||a4000{klanwank}> you twat =)
*** Deffki||a4000{klanwank} is now known as shambler
<[Kab1e]> :oP
<[Kab1e]> you complete & thorough wank biscuit
<shambler> =)
Next, somehow, Paul thought I was being serious about taking over PlanetDaikatana, as suggested in
Wednesday's update about Wheel of Time, thus sending me this email:
letting that spektrum d00d take over PDKT
Omg! What is the world coming to. I'm just going to lie down now. You serious?
-Paul
Errr no I wasn't serious. But you falling for it made me laugh so cheers. Idiot =).
TEAMJungle =).
Heh well maybe I should do that, "TEAMJungle Drum'n'Bass CD Reviews", yeah!! Actually I should start doing a jungle / d'n'b section on this site as it's the only Real Life™ interest I'm
prepared to ramble on about. Maybe in the future if I get b0red enough. Anyway, been a long time since I bought any new stuff, and I was getting withdrawal symptons, so I've sated myself
with the following CDs:
Swift - "Long Life EP" (Charge). If you know the Swift, you can't mistake his distinctive crunchy 2 step style....I was hoping for more tracks like his
awesome "Second Strike" from the True Playaz "Real Vibes" comp, but this is still a neat 6 tracker that runs the gamut of Swift style from stop/start tech funk via deep bassline stuff to a
couple of tear out Amen monsters.
Various - "Blueprint Archive" (Audio Blueprint). Bit of a surprise this, as there is another Audio Blueprint comp around that's mostly boring sub-techy choss, but this one's a damn sight
better so make sure you get the right one. Again, the full range of tech step bizness, from minimal chopped up stuff to sci-fi basslines to proper breakbeat rinses, all with a fairly dark ambience. If
you're on that vibe, give this and the Swift EP a try.
Various - "Drumfunk Hooliganz" (Moving Shadow). Taking a while to get used to as it's not my usual style - this focuses on the funkier, jazzier side of jungle, but avoiding the bland
ambience that plagues this genre. Nicely consistent CD, with some good upfront funky numbers, though it needs more breaks (yeah, like most jungle these days, heh!!).
What else??
Not much going down ATM. Checked round the net, nothing to do for my other sites... Haven't been doing much on the PC, so not much for this one either. I'll be away for the rest of this
weekend, and probably back with an update early next week.
Just to show Paul is well clued up after all:
<Paul> as long as the monkey doesn't fill up the disk drive with monkey cum
<Paul> then there will be no problems
Paul's in-depth technical description of SQL websites. Honestly. It was a serious explanation. Trust me!!
Laterz,
Shambler
News: Wednesday 19/1/00
Unnnngghhhh.
Who moved reality while I was gone?? They aren't supposed to mess around with that, the fuckers!!
Dammit...must...find...meh...brain...
* Shambler slaps Shambler around a bit with a large trout
Yes! An update, that would be a good idea. Right, let's go.
Wheel of Time.
Just before the weekend, I finally finished Wheel of Time. Overall I was mightily impressed with this game - it's a classy, refined and atmospheric fantasy FPS. Accordingly,
here's:
> 10 reasons why you should play W0T:
1. It looks superb, with great themes, textures, designs, lighting and effects.
2. The maps are generally excellent, with consistently impressive architecture and good quality.
3. The game feels very refined and polished in almost all aspects.
4. It has a great, distinctive atmosphere, heightened by the lighting, sounds, music, and themes in some maps.
5. The story, though cheesy, is very well integrated with the progression and carried through with cutscenes.
6. The magical artifacts as weapons give some unusual, tactical and sometimes entertaining combat options.
7. The enemy, with their combination of speed, attacks, and defense, provide a fresh and solid challenge.
8. Some maps provide different, interesting, gameplay compared to the "fight to the exit" norm.
9. It's the first proper fantasy FPS for a very long time.
10. It has air control. And Quake3Arena doesn't. Ha!
To keep things balanced (the essence of TEAMShambler quality analysis), I'll also point out:
> 5 noticable flaws with W0T:
1. The skies aren't nearly as good as the best the Unreal engine can do, and are quite rough in places.
2. The full variety of magical artifacts could have been used more interestingly and extensively.
3. The selection of enemy is quite limited and more would have improved the game.
4. There's the "obligatory" patches of HOM, and some bugs with decals.
5. The cutscenes lack refinement, as far as character animation and background cleanliness.
So there you have it. TEAMShambler recommends this one for sure. As does meh boss Gwog from
PlanetDaikatana, who was frantically spooging about it over ICQ yesterday - apparently he's so smitten, he's moving
over to PlanetWheelofTime, and letting that
spektrum d00d take over PDKT...or
is that just to avoid a beatdown beyond imagining?? Oh and if the game itself wasn't enough, Kew's legendary Fantasy Quake / Heretic II / Unreal / God knows what else
map, Illhaven has been remade for W0T too!! Haven't played it yet, but
this level's turning into the Ztndm5: "Painkiller" of the SP mapping scene =). For more W0T information and the demo, best sites to check are:
PW0T and/or Shadar Logoth.
Recommended maps and related stuff.
Bit o' news for all the recommended maps lists: Firstly, I've added a couple of maps to my favourite Q1 DM maps list, so take
a look if you want the TEAMShambler choice for current maps - Q1 DM mapping has slowed down thanks to "that game", but there have still been enough classics in the last few months. I
must confess, I haven't played the latest two as I've not got round to reinstalling any bots, but they look as if they'll play just fine (assuming Fileplanet lets you have 'em). Secondly, I've
removed the review link for Strangeworld from the recommended Unreal SP maps list, as unfortunately
Nali City still haven't got round to posting any reviews, and I'm sure the dud link would fool a few people :P. Finally,
I'm not sure whether I'm going to keep the recommended Quake 2 SP maps list up to date. I've played a bit of Q2 recently, including a custom unit, and it's not
really inspiring me as much as other games, so that list will be more like an archive...
And finally:
<BobbyW-webby> you're always thinking about sex and beastiality
<shambles> yes
Laterz,
Shambler is thinking about sleep
News: Monday 17/1/00
Hiya p1mps.
I don't have anything to say today. And that is a very good thing.
Laterz,
Shambler
News: Friday 14/1/00
A moment of quiet reflection. And shameless boasting =).
Okay, been quite a lot going on here....time for things to slow down. Aside from the Q3A trick demos, I haven't been posting much stuff, but I do have a
couple of things planned - Project "Q" and Project "W", but they'll take a while. Not much other stuff in the immediate future - explore the site or the info page, as it
will just be IRC and "Shambles Rambles" in the news for a while. Heh, I should do a new "Shambles Rambles" section =). Oh wait, that's the entire site :P.
While I'm on the subject, here are the stats from when the demos were posted. Normally this site gets 4 - 6 meg of transfers per day - that includes page and image loading, and any downloads.
Often this rises higher if I've posted some cool demos, but very rarely getting anywhere near the 76 meg limit. But with the Q3A demos last week...
Thursday: 82 meg (site suspended)
Friday: 85 meg (site suspended)
Saturday: 46 meg
Sunday: 52 meg
Monday 29 meg
Getting back to normalish now. I admit, I'm very happy that the site got this much attention, and I hope at least some of the demos were entertaining. I've got a few comments on
#terrafusion, and people said they were "cool". Don't forget to check elsewhere for tricks too, as I was only doing some to start the ball rolling, as it were. However....I also admit that I don't
like Q3A much - the gameplay, that is - so it's kinda ironic this site got it's most attention for that, heh.
Bit more about Half-Life enemies:
Curiously enough, no-one emailed to complain about my mini-rant on Wednesday. How disappointing :P. I thought I'd just say a bit more of my views on HL enemies: I like almost all of the other
enemy - the aliens, that is. I like them, not because they are clever (errr, they aren't), nor because they offer particularly strategic combat, but firstly because they are my sort of enemy - I
always like proper monsters and aliens, rather than human enemy. Just my personal preference in computer games, the stranger, the more monsterous, the better. Secondly, I do like some of
their behaviour and quirks: The deranged jumping of the Headcrabs, the cuteness of the Houndeyes, the servile weirdness of the Xen Slaves (heh, I like it when they run away, and just stand
there bemused), the way the awesome Gargantua "jiggs it's booty", the joyful madness of the frantically bouncing Snarks. They might not be clever, but their character appeals to me more than
the human Grunts. I confess, I'm not a big "AI spankster" in games - I like good AI, but I don't regard it as the be all and end all of modern FPS games. There's still plenty of fun to be had with
st00pid enemy, as long as they are cool enemy in a great styled game with good weapons and combat balance. Equally, I'm enjoying UT botmatch because of the good AI - I
like the bots' weapons' usage and teamplay skillz.
'nother IRC chat:
And guess what, it's another silly one. Just odds and sods from recent #tf chats, but it might be amusing.
Weekend and Unreal reviews:
I won't be around much this weekend, but back next week. However, Nali City is back in action, so should be
posting my review of StrangeWorld, as well as an arsefull of other stuff. Hence, I've added the SW download and a link to what will be the review on Sunday (the link won't work
until then), to my recommended Unreal SP maps list. There are a couple of issues with this episode: Firstly, the seperate releases of Strange1-5 will
no longer be available, however the full reviews of those levels will be available, and linked from the main episode review for those who want more information - so I've removed them from the
list. Secondly, what happens to my speedrun of Strange1?? Well, the map in the final version has been tweaked to
prevent the route I took....so I've posted the original map here and linked it on the Unreal speedruns page. It's not worth playing, as the new map, as part of the
whole series, is better, but it means you can watch the speedrun demo, which uses a combination of a Krall staff jump with an ASMD boost on top for the required
height, thus a pretty cool run =).
This just in:
I just had to post this - "Than week" continues in spirit =). A recent post by Than at the QBoard,
talking about his Cesspit site:
Now go over there and masturbate furiously at all my l33t content (actually, don't, I'm just getting a little cariied away here (/me puts away his penis)).
Look, it's not my fault okay, I'm just the messenger - blame Than =). He's got a good review of Ik3dm1 over there, BTW.
Finishing with one of my favourite quotes for a while:
<shambles> you have an entire goat up your rectum??
<Killjoy|HTML> oh yEEeah
Laterz,
Shambler is easily amused - you have a problem with that??
News: Wednesday 12/1/00
Half-Life Grunt AI:
Since I've been playing quite a few HL SP maps recently, I'm going to rant on a bit about Half-Life AI, so if you think you might be offended, switch your brain off now. Actually, if you
think that HL AI is the pinnacle of computer game sophistication, you'll probably have it switched off already :P. Anyway, as some people know, I don't particularly like fighting the human
soldiers in HL - yeah, yeah "You suxxorz!! Grunts rock so much!! They are so clever, and they kick your ass!!". I've heard it all before. Whatever. Bollocks. Apparently the grunt AI is amazingly
good which makes them so "cool" to fight. Well, I haven't noticed it, and in fact I'm sure that's not the reason people like it at all - I think people like the grunts because they are recognisable,
easily comprehensible enemy, compared to the bizarre aliens. Like the revulsion to Xen, people prefer something familiar to something strange or unusual. But,
to give some idea how I feel about it, here's some distinctive aspects I've noticed about grunt combat:
> Grunts dropping grenades (good) - This impresses me, when they lay a grenade on the ground and retreat, tempting you to follow and walk into it. Occasionally it catches me
out, but it's fun when you spot it and think "well played" =).
> Grunts swapping positions and using cover (good) - Another good aspect of their AI, when they swap round their positions so if you're hiding in cover, you're never quite sure
where they are, they vary between advancing and running away, and they run away from grenades - just makes things more interesting.
> Grunts throwing grenades (good-ish) - It's good that they vary their tactics by sometimes throwing grenades, but I feel the effectiveness of this comes not from the tactics but from
the grenades being so damn powerful... I used to get very pissed off when they'd somehow managed to throw grenades several hundred feet vertically, but then I realised how to do it, and
I'm only pissed off that HL's grenade control is so damn weird.
> Grunt placements (good, but...) - A very important part of the combats, but one which has precisely "fuck all" to do with their AI. Cunning, effective enemy placements can make
the combats *feel* really clever and challenging, but you could do exactly the same with bloody Quake grunts and the effect would be similar. Maybe some people are
deceived into thinking the grunts are clever just because they hide in difficult places or are scripted to abseil from the ceiling - I'm not.
> Grunts being hopeless at long distances (bad) - This sucks. Get a grunt at a long distance, or even at a close distance where you can see bits of them but they can't see you,
and they are utter shit. They will just sit there and take hits until they die, a stupid situation which gives sniping a bad name.
> Grunts just crouching there, shooting (bad) - I *really* don't like this, for me it spoils the combat and the illusion that their AI is remotely "I". So many times, you get a grunt out in
the open, and he'll just sit there like a fucking vegetable firing at you until he takes more damage than you do and dies. Yes I tend to take quite a bit of damage, but it's just so dissatisfactory
seeing them taking roots without any thought (Q.E.D.) for their own safety or tactics.
> Other combat aspects (ummm) - Other factors make the combats challenging, but for me, uninspiring: Their weapons are usually instant hit with no pre-firing cycle, rare in HL and
indeed other games. This, rather than intelligence, often makes you take a lot of damage, a situation sometimes increased by both sparce health in maps, and how tricky some of your own
weapons are to use when you have to be very quick to avoid damage. These aren't problems per se, but I find too much of the challenge with Grunts is due to factors other than their so-called
"intelligence".
Hehehehe!!
It appears a whole one, yes, "one", person got mortally offended by the comment I made yesterday, supporting Killes' tirades against Americans. I mean, such an terrible comment,
I can see how all of one person got so furious about it. And that person is no less than the epitomy of American nationalistic pigheadedness, Zan. He took the trouble to complain
on the QBoard:
On Mr Wank-, rather, Shambler's site,
"almost everything he [Killes] types is a gibbering tirade against...Americans (okay, that, at least, is warranted)..."
Fuck you too Shambler.
Obviously I was very contrite and ashamed of causing such offence, so I tried to make amends straight away:
Zan: Face facts, Americans suck enough dick for it to cross over the Atlantic and not even dampen a pube along it's mighty 3000 mile length. And you suck more than average - you
are the one with your head inside the mountainous bell-end, chewing your way out from the inside.
For some reason, this failed to appease Zan. With perfect timing, he popped up IRC as I was explaining my reasoning further, and you can see his reaction in
this latest IRC chat log. For those who don't know, Zan is one of the genuinely immature people on #terrafusion (unlike the rest of us who
choose to act that way :P), so while most of the time he is "okay", occasionally his wildly out of control hormones get the better of him... In this case he descends into "1337 h4x0r n3rd" mode,
which he probably thinks is really "hard" and "scary" but is actually the most pathetic bunch of shit I've ever been amused by =). The culmination of his very unimpressive threats
was wanting Dircon to ban me because this site goes against their Terms of Service:
<Zanyashi> "To cause any individual annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety."
Fuck me, I thought, now that's a good idea, perhaps I should dedicate this site to causing Zan needless anxiety. Well until he grows out of it, that is. But then I realised that there is little
entertainment value to be gained from Zan:
1. He's far too petty to be capable of dealing with most people on-line.
2. He had a huge strop when Aardappel started taking the piss, which was very funny.
3. That's about it.
4. Not very exciting is it.
So I gave up on that one. And don't worry, Zan, eventually you'll find that not only does it go hard when you play with it, it does all sorts of other interesting things too, and then you'll be able to
put all your energy into something vaguely more useful than bl33ting on about ISP threats...
A relatively mild quote to finish off:
<DaMaul> Rugby is just a load of burly men jumping on each other, if i want to see that, I go to one of Shambler's parties
<shambler> yes
<shambler> got one at the end of this month damaul
<shambler> you are invited, as always, but as long as you wear the chainmail, k?
<DaMaul> Ok
Laterz,
Shambler
News: Tuesday 11/1/00
More Killes.
Dunno why as #terrafusion regulars will be getting far too much Killes anyway, but I think an explanation would help: Killes is one of the more disturbed characters on the
channel, and almost everything he types is a gibbering tirade against Q3A, Q2, any new games, capitalism, commerciality, Americans (okay, that, at least, is warranted), humanity in general and
anything that isn't: 1. Doom, 2. Quake, 3. Metal, 4. Dedicated to the destruction of the human race. His capacity to rant on at indeterminable length is only matched by the amount of
unintelligble misspellings, hence managing to piss everyone off as soon as he enters the channel. Thus any abuse in return is entirely warranted, and for an example you could look at
this latest brief IRC chat log.
Oh and you are still a deluded knobwit who wants to be an anarchist when you finally grow up, Killes!! Yes you are!!
Mmmm...
This isn't going to be a regular thing, it's not my style, but... I visit a few of the b0rk columns, because somehow
I found that Paul2, who used to do the truly excellent Quake Mental Hospital, had a column there.
P2's column has gone downhill as the amount of gratuituous abuse has decreased, so I checked out a few other columns, including
Carn's column, one of the attractions of which is the occasional soft pr0n (or is that s0ft pr0n?) he
posts. The latest example (partway down the page) is a particularly fine one of feminine beauty, which is why I'm mentioning all this. Apologies to any female visitors, but I think the chaps
might like it.
Than week: Quote 10
<than> actually, as of now:
* than declares he will not talk randomly about genitalia and sex with animals
<than> ill just keep it all to myself
Noooooooo!! I'm sure you're all heartbroken about that....I know I am:
<shambles> i don't think the glory of than week will ever be matched
Mmmm, or at least, most people hope it won't be matched. Or even attempted again. Ever.
Laterz,
Shambler
News: Monday 10/1/00
Top 20 people who are more annoying than Shambler on IRC:
1. Killes.
Top 20 people deemed "most ban-worthy" IRC users:
1. Killes.
Top 20 people who blether on the longest when everyone is sick to death of them:
1. Killes.
Top 20 people who hold the most repugnant views on IRC:
1. Killes.
Top 20 people who are most likely to get put on /ignore after typing one line:
1. Killes.
Anyway...
Spent the weekend, when I wasn't beating myself over the head about that fucking Unreal review (which, as it turns out, I could have left to next week), downloading 46 meg of
Half-Life maps. Yeah, UT botmatch is all very well, but proper single player is just so much more enjoyable than botmatch and deathmatch, I was getting withdrawal symptons.
Hmmm, I should really be getting Op For and finishing Wheel of Time too... I remain underwhelmed by the quality of the HL maps I've played so far (HL mapping is waaaay
behind other major games, it seems - the Damaul posted a very apt PnF column on this issue a while
ago), but hopefully there's some good ones there.
What else is going down?? Mmmm, now the site's staying up, I think I can keep Deffki||a4000{klanwank} and his KLAN WANK h4x0rz from taking over, a relief to everyone I'm sure. I was a bit
fond of him though =). Absolutely fuck all is happening in the Q1 SP world, hence the lack of updates at
TSQLR - well that and the complete disappearence of the PQ FTP... The wildly popular Than week
(okay, a couple of people said it was funny, that's what passes for "wildly popular" in these parts) is drawing to an end - I've got loads of other quotes stacked up though.
I've been worrying a bit - just a bit - about these news updates. I get the feeling I should be offering more entertaining and more incisive commentary on the FPS community. Sometimes it seems
all the these updates are are links to new demos or genital related IRC chats - not that there's anything wrong with that... But since all I update about is what goes on in the FPS
scene (my contributions included), more "bite" would be nice. Anyone have any comments on this?? Or any ideas?? email me...
Than week: Quote 9
<than> shambles: will any than week quotes not involve my penis?
<than> surely I don't talk about it that often
Laterz,
Shambler
News: Sunday 9/1/00
Happy birthday etc etc.
Yes, in a flurry of underexcitement and general disinterest, it is TSFPSDD's first birthday. I'd thought I'd celebrate by posting something guaranteed to be popular and thus get a huge number of
hits and downloads. Ooops, done that one already =).
Last word on the demos:
Well, last words really: Firstly, the site stayed up yesterday, hurrah!! Only 46 meg transferred, compared to 82 meg on Thursday, and 85 meg on Friday (the limit is 76 meg). Things should calm
down now.
Secondly, I've updated the trick moves page with the *real* instructions on how to play Q3A demos (it's in the menu, duh, silly Shambler), and an updated
demo for Q3dm13, with a double RJ up to the Quad. Thirdly, please don't send me demos to link nor to post - this is a personal
site, not one that posts everyone's demos. Post them at your own site, or hunt around for a general, public, demo site. Finally, to be fair, I thought I'd mention a couple of other places I've seen
tricks: Riding the Rocket, who only have the RA tricks in Q3dm5 covered so far,
but will be sure to have some good stuff in future contests. And this demo contest over at
sCary's had quite a few links to demos and sites.
Unreal reviews....probably not.
Hmmm, well GSN sites were up this morning and seem down again now, so I doubt that Nali City will be posting any
Unreal reviews, including my review of StrangeWorld. If they manage it, I'll mention it tomorrow, otherwise it will be next weekend. I must confess, getting the
StrangeWorld review done was fucking horrendous....ayck, you people have no idea what goes on behind the scenes at TEAMShambler. I left the review until Saturday, and then
all my motivation dropped straight out my arse, and I've had a wank weekend struggling to make myself do it =(. Sucks bad, that does =(. I know it's voluntary, but once I've set myself up as a
reviewer, I feel a moral obligation to do it, do it properly, and do it on time.
Oh, and in case you are wondering why all the Planet sites went down, meet their new logo:
PlanetIsodomisedGSNwithaferretsothat'swhyit'sdown: The epicentre of everything ferret sodomy
Y2K bugs??
Yup, I've found a couple that affect me....well sorta, they don't actually do much except fuck dates up. Most amusing is the date/time bug over at the
PlanetDaikatana Forums - just go take
a brief look and see if you can decypher how the posts are currently ranked... There is method in the madness, but it's been soundly buggered by Y2K. Also, the FTP program I use to
update this site, Cupertino (don't worry, I have a proper FTP proggie for the Planet sites I have), has now dated most of the files I uploaded in 1999 as uploaded in 2000 - doesn't affect
anything, but hey, it's a Y2K bug!!
Than week: Quote 8
* than masturbates into a sandwhich
<than> what can I say, we have run out of mayonaise
Any now unwanted sandwiches should be donated to a worthy cause...
Laterz,
Shambler
News: Saturday 8/1/00
F00kin hell!!
Site was suspended *again* yesterday....lol, 2 days in a row, I am mightily impressed. Hopefully, since GamespyNetwork is fuxx0red and all the Planet sites are down, people won't be
seeing it in the PQ news and just maybe the site will last today. I'm sorry to all the people who came back yesterday and found it was down again - it was up for a while until the limit
was exceeded again. What can I say?? Hope you get the demos eventually, and are at least slightly entertained.
What about UT tricks though??
Aye, given that I much prefer UT, why haven't I been doing any tricks for that?? Well, the simple reason is because I've been too busy just playing
it, without wandering round looking for tricks - I'm sure there are places where interesting tricks would be possible, but I've been too busy p1mping bots down =). But there are a few other
reasons too: Firstly, I don't know the state of demo recording in UT, but if it's as flawed as Unreal, there would be little point doing trick demos as they'd only be viewable from an uninformative
3rd person perspective. Secondly, the physics in Unreal games feel quite "absolute" - there are few exploitable bugs, and you can't really bend the rules much as you can in other games
(though the excellent lift jumps and steep slope slides might give some cool tricks). Thirdly, although there are a lot of weapon jumps, they tend to take a lot of damage off and are thus
inconvenient for "useful" jumps. Sooo...not sure whether I'll be doing any UT tricks. BTW, by far the most interesting tricks in Unreal came from monsters attacks - see
this list for more details.
Amen got cancelled =(
Bummer. I was looking forward to that too, looked as if it was going to be a classy and involving game on a par with Half-Life.
Than week: Quote 7
<than> im d/ling elephant pr0n
Of course you are than, of course you are...
Uh oh...
UH OH!!
THIS SITE SUXX0RZ, KLAN WANK IS IN DA HOUSE!!
WE REWL!! KLAN WANK DA GREATEST AND WE PLAY Q1 AND Q2 AND Q3 AND WE R00L AT ALL OF THEM. THIS IS Deffki||a4000{klanwank} THE MAD SKILZ LEADER AND I
AM THE BEST!! DONT MESS WITH KLAN WANK WE ARE TOO GOOD AND RIAL AND ROCKET YOU AND THERE WILL BE NOTHING LEFT AND NO WE DON'T NEED MORE
PEOPLE COS WE ARE TOO GOOD AND THE GRAETEST. SO SAYS Deffki||a4000{klanwank} AND YOU WILL VISIT OUR VERY 1337 KLAN SITE AT
HTTP://WWW.GEOCITIES.COM/KLANWANK AND IT IS A 1337 SITE WITH LOTS OF GRAPHICS I MADE MYSELF AND LISTS
ALL THE STUFF WE ROOL AT BUT DONT VISIT IF YOUR A LAMER COS WE ARE KEWL. YES YOU MUST GO THER, WE H4X0R THIS SUCK SITE AND IT SHUT DOWN BECAUSE
KLAN WANK IS 1337!! YES!!
WANK ARE 13337!!
Deffki||a4000{klanwank}
News: Friday 7/1/00
Ahhh yes that would be the bandwidth exceeded then =).
0o0o0ops. Kinda underestimated this one - so many people were downloading the demos, I exceeded Dircon's bandwidth restrictions. I'd like to pretend I'm
really ashamed and contrite, but fuck that, I've been wanting to exceed the bandwidth for ages - the first Unreal speedruns nearly did it, but I finally made it with
these trick demos. Cool =). Anyway, sorry for the site being down, it's back up as of 9am GMT, just don't download more than 76 meg of demos today, people.
More filth:
You know, I think it's working. I'm managing to corrupt #terrafusion enough, so that all I have to do is make one stupid name change, and everyone starts going on about genitals and
bodily fluids without any further contribution from my good self. Eventually it will be a cesspit of depravity, but I'll seem entirely innocent. I hope =). Anyway, see how it works in the latest vulgar
and silly IRC chat log - not the greatest, but juvenile enough :P.
Than week: Quote 6
<than> when you look at in q1 r_drawflat view it looks like it's been buggered by somebody with a 50" long 10" around, lead dildo covered in wire wool and sandpaper
<than> with a death spike on the end
Yup, gotta have the death spike on the end, just not the same without it.
Laterz,
Shambler does the happy hamster dance and moons at the bandwdith restrictions.
News: Thursday 6/1/00
Loadsa Q3A trick jump demos:
Well, I might not enjoy playing Q3A, but I've spent plenty of time exploring the maps, and finding some useful trick jumps. I don't know the state of Q3A tricks, but I've seen little around the net,
so these might be useful and entertaining: Head over to the Trick Moves page, and check out the 14 demos there (also available in one zip). There's
a variety of "medium" difficulty tricks (i.e. no basic rocket jumps, but nothing really desperate either), with Plasma jumps and jumpad+rocket jumps being common. Unusually for my demos,
most of the tricks could be actually useful in a game. Gasp!! I suspect some of these jumps might be obvious, but some, like in Q3dm10 and Q3dm14, are pretty cool. And, if you
have Quake II, check out some of the original and varied demos further down the Trick Moves page as there's some classic stuff there. Finally, I've got a
few more, harder, Q3A jumps I'm working on, hopefully these will be added soon.
Possible Q3A tricks:
The main reason I did these latest tricks is just to give some ideas about the sort of tricks that are possible and will be capitalised on in the future. Although the lack of "clutter" around the levels
and the gross overuse of clip brushes has limited where tricks can be done, there's a pretty good range of jump types:
Rocket, grenade, BFG jumping: As good as previous games. Rocket jumping is much better, grenade jumping is harder, BFG jumping is easier though not as high.
Multiple rocket/BFG jumps: Using the increased height of rockets to provide extra boosts up walls, also works with the BFG.
Plasma wall climbing: The "hot" new trick, using multiple plasma boosts to climb short sections of wall.
Jumpads: The other new trick, with surprisingly good air control, plenty of tricks are possible.
Jumpad+rocket jumping: A fine combination trick, a bit tricky but lots of height gained.
Strafe jumping/bunny hopping/circle jumping: Just as good as previous games.
Slope jumping: This seems entirely absent. It's awkard to jump off slopes while moving, and you don't gain any height.
Double jumps: Mmmm, I've tried enough times and it doesn't seem to work, I haven't heard of any successes either.
Steep slope slides: Just as good as previous games, maybe better.
High FPS pullups: I haven't tried myself, but apparently these work just like the Q2 crate jumps.
Looking up pullups: Already famous in the Q3dm13 Megahealth jump. No idea how this works, but it definitely works.
Any more?? I'm not sure....wait and see what people find - I predict that jumpad combination tricks and Plasma jumps will become the staple for the more interesting tricks, but hopefully there'll
be other wacky stuff too.
Updated the Site information page.
With, errr, not very many changes, just a bit more about what games I'm playing/looking forward too. Since I'm enjoying the teamplay missions in Unreal Tournament, I'm taking an
increased interest in Tribes2 because it seems to be based around botmatch teamplay, it's mostly set outdoors (which I love), and it looks damn fine too. Check out
these shots to see what I mean - still a long time off though. If you're bemused by this site, the
Site information page explains everything. Everything except Shambler's obssession with genitalia, that is. Nor Than's obssession, for that matter. Which
leads neatly on to:
Than week: Quote 5
* than picks killjoy's pubic hair from his teeth
<than> ergh!
<than> how did that get there?
Laterz,
Shambler
News: Wednesday 5/1/00
Than week: Quote 4
* than|mapping's penis turns into a spunk machinegun
Laterz,
Shambler
News: Tuesday 4/1/00
UT:
I'm really enjoying Unreal Tournament. No honestly, deathmatch/botmatch it might be, but the gameplay is fun and the bots are good, and all the extras like gameplay modes and
backgrounds and stuff do make it more interesting. The whole game just has a good feel about it. I'm most enjoying the various gameplay modes like Domination and CTF, as it's nice to work
with bots on your side. For example...
CTF-Face - I had a really great game on this class map which consists of two templesque towers facing each other across a spinning asteroid (very cool, and it even comes with
a fine jungle soundtrack). In each tower there are very distinct camping....errr, sniping spots, so I thought I'd take a break, hole myself up in a tower and let the bots do all the hard work =).
Turned out to be a very enjoyable change from the usual hectic way I play botmatch. Just sat there with the Sniper's Rifle, rippling off headshot after headshot, alternating double kills with
multi-kills, and only taking a break from "killing sprees" and "rampages" to pilot the Redeemer around the level for some merriment. I had 1 bot in defense keeping me company, so it took a long
time for the
other 2 bots to win via captures. But they did with a 3-0 victory, because whenever they got the flag they'd be well supported (albeit from long range), thanks to Shambler's sniping. When the
other bot team got the flag, they *wouldn't* well supported, thanks to, errr, Shambler's sniping. I got almost twice the score of any of the bots, without a capture or even crossing the halfway
point!!
Not so sure about Assault though. It's a great idea in principle, giving you a proper mission, with only the respawning detracting from it's "single-player-ness". But in the two maps so
far, despite cool maps and missions, it hasn't been executed that well. They've both been very easy to assault and defend - assuming you know the right way. I think the problem is the bots -
the tactical superiority I have over the bots makes just enough difference in Assault for a human to walk over the bots team just by choosing the right assault route or defense positions, which
the bots are much slacker in doing. Funnily enough in Domination the bots seem to have better tactics than I do, hehe. I've been thinking a bit about Assault, and although I've been told it gets
harder later, so far it would have been more fun if the enemy bots were 1 skill up (and my bots stayed the same). I'd also really like to be able to defend first, *then* assault, which you don't seem
able to do - a pity as the psychology of fighting that way round would be different, making it a worthwhile addition.
Sing-a-long with Killjoy and Shambler...
Funny things that happen on IRC, eh?? Q1 DM mapper and fellow junglist Killjoy has got a bad habit of annoying everyone in #terrafusion by "singing"
random and unintelligble snippets of whatever he's listening to. But it was neat the other night, because we both had the same CD ("AK1200 - Lock and Roll", it's okay, some good
tracks on there but too bland in places), so we synchronised our listening....meaning KJ was singing along to whatever samples and basslines I was currently listening to - just like subtitles,
hehe =).
Than week: Quote 3
* than comes back into the room with a smouldering penis
That was my fault actually. Playing with matches again, tut tut.
Laterz,
The inflammatory Shambler
News: Monday 3/1/00
Updated spektrum:
Not with anything particularly useful, but I posted an ICQ chat which predicts what will happen when Gwog
(PlanetDaikatana d00d) and I finally get to play full Daikatana deathmatch. Who will dish out
the p1mping of a lifetime?? Who will be headbutting their keyboard in disgust?? The only way to find out is to head over to
spektrum and read the lengthy but revealing chat. I'll have more views *here* tomorrow, but I can't be arsed
right now.
Than week: Quote 2
<than> I've wanked in our loft, I do know when I can get away with it
<than> I'm an expert
Laterz,
Shambler
News: Sunday 2/1/00
Regret?
Not likely =). A couple of people have pointed out that in my previous update I came across as a "right miserable cunt". Which is entirely correct, and I was going to apologise for annoying
anyone... Mmmm, no, re-reading what I wrote, it's all genuine, I stand by that view, as nihilistic as it is. But I will say, that's only from a global, millennial perspective, not a personal one. I'm not
some kind of wannabe anarchist fr33k (hi Killes!), I don't care enough about the state of mankind to do any more than bitch about it once every millennium or so. I only wrote it
because everyone else was bl33ting on about the new year so I thought I'd toss in something typically antagonistic. On the subject, I was most impressed by Q1 DM mapper cyBeAr's
brief but evocative new year prediction in his latest column update at
PeejnFribs - cool stuff, bear.
TEAMShambler for the next 1000 years??
Duh. Same as TEAMShambler in the previous 1000 years. Errrr, the previous 1 year that is =). Anyway, this site will continue as normal, I have no special nor radical plans - but I will
definitely be doing more of the same: I have some ideas for articles and new demos, as well as the usual bollocks. You know you love it =). I'm also hoping that more FPS gamers will realise that
although this is a personal site, there is likely to be at least something here that will entertain or interest. Dunno how to do that, but spreading the word always helps, so a big thanks to all the
people who appreciate this site and have supported it so far =). The other sites will also continue as normal:
TEAMShambler Quake Level Reviews where I have the arduous task of updating with new level news once
a fortnight and a new level review once a month, heh. spektrum, which if Ion Storm and the SP
mappers who have expressed interest, get their act together, should be a success and will be entrenched in the Daikatana scene as THE review site. And of course, my work for
Nali City - there's a few great Unreal SP episodes expected soon, as well as people's plans to convert SP
maps to UT.
Without further ado, more of the usual bollocks...
...in the form of various new silly IRC chat logs, mostly related to, errr, penises. Ummm. Yessss...
Unreal reviews:
Finally some SP levels to review for da main site Nali City. This week the star of the show is the
fantastic Shrakith'a, the only level so far that's worth a 10/10 (heh, no, not perfect, but very good!!) - check out my recommended Unreal SP maps list
for links and it's placing. Also there is some of the usual choss: BlueLanesBT225, Cadettrainingsim and TwitchFactor, all of which are worth avoiding. The reviews
aren't posted yet, so check Nali City later on.
"Than" week!!!!
Yes, yes, roll up for this one, a theme week based around that lovable character "Than". In case you don't know, Than (full name:
"Thanaptosipaasoispootoasitpapdisodptsisaotstoisotasis") is a well renowned Q2 DM mapper, who collaborated with Killer on the famous
KTimpakt map pack. He also runs runs his own
Cesspit, and most importantly has always been a prime target for random insultation on
IRC. Than's been on top form recently, with scarcely an IRC chat passing by without some ludicrous quote about his or other people's genitals, so TEAMShambler
will be bringing a "Than quote" every day for the next week....and at the rate he's going, probably a lot longer. You have been warned =).
Than week: Quote 1
* than has just thought a great way to get a blowjob in a zoo
<than> I'm going to flop my knob out in front of the gorilla enclosure and put a banana skin on it
Do not try that at home, kiddies...
Laterz,
Shambler is not responsible for any of Than's comments
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