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Archived old news - October 1999:
News: Sunday 31/10/99
W3rd.
Okay. Everything is under control and TEAMShambler is back to normal. I've got time to relax now, done a Quake review at my other site, replied to the backlog of emails, sent off LOTW
for PQ. Haven't done
any Unreal reviews this week, but I should have quite a few done for next weekend. Now, as is often the case, SCRAD and I experienced and checked out some FPS gaming stuff when
he visited, and each day for the next week, I'll be updating with a different aspect of what we got up to (I think that's a nice idea!). Not necessarily anything tremendously productive, but
just various happenings, views and rants. So stay tuned all of next week - I'm not doing anything today but starting on Monday I should be blethering on about plenty of stuff...
A rather strange request:
I don't normally discuss Real Life™ stuff, but this time I need a bit of help. If there is anyone who plays Games Workshop's lead figure games, and has the game
Mordheim, could you please email me as soon as possible, as I need to know about some of the rules. I'll be very grateful to anyone
who can help.
Laterz,
Shambler
News: Wednesday 27/10/99
Back, new keyboard, etc.
Well I was back in action on Sunday but my keyboard was fuxx0red, so I had to buy a new one. In case you care, I was missing: h, k, o, p, u, -, delete and backspace. Which obviously
makes typing a pain in the arse, and I couldn't even type my FTP password to update this site at all. However, even with the new keyboard (which has a putrescent "Euro" symbol on one
key, I will endeavour to sand it off soon), I won't be updating much yet as I am a bit busy. Also, I might not be replying to any emails (thanks if you sent them, please be patient), until the end
of this week. Once the weekend comes, I will be able to "get back into the swing of things", hopefully including
a lot of waffling about FPS related stuff from SCRAD's visit. Until then...
Death to the French!!
One might think that such an obvious and worthy proposition wouldn't need any further qualification, but there is a reason this time. As British gamers will know, the cowardly
and despicable French are still banning our mightily fine British beef (made with genuine cows!!). In return the brave and upstanding British public are starting to
boycott French produce. Hurrah!! So how does this affect gamers?? Well, all you Brits could start with the following:
1. Refuse to buy any French computer games!!
2. Refuse to play deathmatch on any French servers, nor with any French players!!
3. Refuse to download or even look at any custom maps by French mappers!!
4. Abuse and insult any French people you meet on IRC or other chats, then kick them or put them on ignore!!
5. Escort any French people you meet in real life to the nearest port, and put them on a ferry back to France!!
6. Or just beat them unconcious in the street!!
7. Etc!!
Laterz,
Shambler, in the spirit of peace and tolerance...
News: Tuesday 19/10/99
Right you miserable bunch of oiks.
You're getting bugger all from me this week. Well apart from what is here already. Anyway, the artist formerly known as SCRAD is coming to visit TEAMShambler HQ, so I won't be
checking the net or updating or anything like that. Might have plenty of stuff to talk about next week though. One thing you could check out in the meantime is the
Nali City
Single Player Message Board, which was set up by QAPete for, you guessed it, discussion of single player Unreal maps. A worthy cause indeed!! Amusingly, when I saw it
mentioned at Nali City, I also saw that I am apparently the moderator of that board, which was the first I'd
heard about it. Most entertaining =). So if you like Unreal SP, that's somewhere to show your support.
Laterz,
Oooh, Shambler has *power* now!!
News: Sunday 17/10/99
Yet another Unreal speedrun demo!!
Yes indeed. This one is fairly easy and took me all of 4 or 5 attempts =). But for a very big 8 Ball shortcut run, check out:
Hexephet: "Hexephet" - Easy skill run of Map1 in
0:54 ( version 2.25f )
This gets added to the Unreal speedruns page, bringing the total up to 21 unique demos. On the same topic, I've updated my list of
Unreal tricks, now in a proper HTML format, and with some new tricks I just discovered. So if you want to ponder tricks such as "Multiple GES Biorifle boosts
up a steep slope" or "Skaarj spin attack and dive boost combination", then go read it.
Unreal reviews for the week:
And fittingly, Hexephet is one level that I've reviewed this week, and the other is Strangeworld3. Both good levels, so check out my
recommended Unreal SP maps list for their ratings/placings, and of course
Nali City for the full reviews (when they get posted). I must confess, those two were an absolute bitch to do, not
because of any difficulty actually reviewing them, but because I had such miserably shite motivation and spent much of yesterday not doing them. Still, they're done, they're there, go read, go
play or something.
I want some really good Unreal 1on1 maps.
Does anybody know of any?? I see a lot of good looking maps at Nali City, but they all sound so bloody big... Here's what I'm after:
> Small size for 1on1 gameplay, between DM4 for Quake and Q2DM1 for Quake2.
> Lots of really nice architecture and pointless eye candy so it looks damn cool.
> Varied, asymmetrical layout to allow some diverse 1on1 gameplay and tactics.
> Classic Unreal style, for example, exotic/medieval/temple/gothic/village, outdoors would be nice.
> NO symmetrical artificial arena type maps.
> NO absolutely tiny maps that don't allow for any tactics.
Something like the style and design of DMTundra, perhaps. To give you more idea, the following maps I tried were closest:
DMBridge is closest in design though still a little large,
DMMeldrak is also close though perhaps not open enough,
DMRefuge and
DMSkyfortress are still a bit on the large site but the cool, open, designs
compensate for it, and DMVeltor has a good size and style but the arena
layout bores me. Any more suggestions, please email me, cheers.
Updated spektrum...
...with more good news about people who have expressed interest in mapping for Daikatana - go take a look.
That's all for now chaps:
<BobbyW-mapping> shambles is pure, free-roaming energy that creates havoc all over the universe
I do try =). More havoc next week, hopefully...
Laterz,
The chaotic Shambler
News: Friday 15/10/99
Blah reviews blah bored blah.
Unreal reviews. Can't motivate myself. Ugh. Don't like it when that happens. I *will* get them done by Sunday, but I could live without the fucking struggle to get down and do them. Aside
from that there is fuck all happening to inspire me (distract me??), but I do have a couple of things I'm working on for the site. Anyway, got some nice email feedback on my
Xen article (thanks to Planet Half-Life who gave it a mention). Unlike the feedback to
some of other, recent, articles, most people agree with me on this one, though I did get some interesting points from Linx about the sparse and arbitrary
nature of Xen, and how more alien "lifestyle" features could have been included - though what those features would be, given they are aliens, I'm not sure.
News: Wednesday 13/10/99
Brand new FPS Article.
And, unusually for me, it concerns Half-Life, with the self-explanatory title, Why Xen 0wnz. This is written in praise of my favourite part of the
game, the atmospheric alien dimension, Xen. Despite all it's coolness, Xen was much maligned for the tricky jumping required at some points, and I also answer that criticism in the article.
Ohmybloodygod!! Another awesome Unreal level!!
Exclamation mark!! Jeeezzzzzz....must be the radiation or something, but another mightly good Unreal level has been released. This time it's a normal release at
Nali City, but I can exclusively confirm that
Hexephet (4.2meg) is definitely worthwhile and indeed thoroughly
recommended.
A 2 level unit with a mixture of outdoor sections and hi-tech Skaarj bases, this has some excellent and original architecture, with good attention to details and angles in even the tiniest area,
loads of exploration in the first level, and some solid, combat orientated gameplay to wrap it all up. The only significant problem is the overuse of stretched textures, which is a pity, but aside
from that, this is "el bollocks". Go play!! This gets added to my recommended Unreal SP maps list, and I will be reviewing it for
Nali City this weekend. All of this has got me thinking, you know, that maybe my
rant about bad levels did do some good as I'd hoped - because although some shite levels keep getting released, they seem to be fewer and there has been
a lot of good levels recently....long may it continue!!
Self-congratulatory smugness =).
Forgot to mention this, but I happened across Rischip's site, and noticed that he had posted some demos on his world
famous maps, Risc1: "What the End is for" and
Risc2: "The Widening Gyre". So I pointed him at my speedrun of
Risc1 in 1:34, and I think he liked it...
"Can't tell you how much of a blast it was to see that speed run! Hehe.
Very cool quad rocket jump--I didn't see that one coming. I'ver tried it
several times myself now with no success, hehe. Very cool."
I do like it when I see my demos have entertained people =). BTW, no I won't be doing a run of Risc2
as it is far too complex and there are few, if any, shortcuts.
Battlezone2 demo (again).
Since it's only a pleasing 15 meg, I downloaded it myself and I've been playing a bit in a desperate and uphill attempt to get myself used to the controls in case I try the full game. I'm getting
better with the radar and keeping an eye out on what is going on with my wingmen, but the controls are STILL BLOODY FLOATY DAMMIT!! I think all games should be made to have the
precision of Quake, Quake II, or the Daikatana Demo, as an industry standard. Well, okay it wouldn't be appropriate for a hover tank type thing, but it is difficult for me -
especially difficult when my so called wingmen decided to completely ignore the huge gun tower and sit behind a hill, leaving me to take out the lighting shooting death-machine on my own -
bastards!!
* Shambler slaps his wingmen around a bit with a large trout
Still a great looking game though, and runs fine on my lowly PII266 / 96 meg / V2, with all details on, which is nice.
And finally:
<ssex|POOH> don't you hate it when your shits so big and hard that it busts you ass?
*** ssex|POOH is now known as ssexbat
I *really* should be using this stuff for blackmail rather than entertainment...
Laterz,
The ever-so-cruel Shambler
News: Tuesday 12/10/99
More Unreal SP map thingies:
Okay, I checked out The Elder (2.5 meg), and it's cool, so try that one too. Set in an ancient temple and canyons,
with a docked Skaarj ship at the end, it's got a really nice, serene temple style in places, and the gameplay is unusual, as you get periods of peaceful exploration, interspersed with some
rather hectic combats - but it's still well balanced overall. I'm not posting any shots because there are a couple of good ones posted at the
Oz Unreal site.
On roughly the same topic, I've been speaking to a guy called Nitin, who tells me the author of
The Tower of Shrakith'a is planning to fix some bugs, improve the architecture and re-release the maps. So,
if you want to wait for this excellent episode to be fully polished and sparkling, it might make sense to hold off the download.
Finally, I finally got round to getting a working version of Valley of Alshar, which is an older map but still a really good one. As with all these maps, it's mentioned and linked on my
recommended Unreal SP maps list. BTW, as more maps get added to the list, the order of recommendation gets increasingly vague, but they
are all worthy levels so try as many as you can.
Shambler defends Q3A??
Nope, that is not a typo =). I've posted a new IRC chat log, in which I (and others) defend Q3A's botmatch/multiplayer focus from an inflammatory young ruffian
called Killes. Yes, you all know I am very disappointed with the lack of single player....but then again, I can see the benefits of a botmatch/multiplayer game to *other* players.
Q1 DM maps list:
I must admit, I was a bit disappointed with the ridiculously overhyped Warfare3, as I was really looking forward to seeing it. It's an original and very stylish map, some cool architecture
for sure, but since it's designed for teamplay (which I don't play), I found the layout to be cumbersome and restrictive in FFA, and it did chug a bit with 5 bots. Oh well, it might r0ck in
teamplay, and the style is worth a look, so it's on my favourite Q1 DM maps list.
More stuff coming soon, until then...
* shambles has corrosive genital seepage
Laterz,
The septic Shambler
News: Sunday 10/10/99
Awesome new Unreal mini-episode, TEAMShambler exclusive details!!
Well, exclusive on this side of the globe anyway....I was checking the Oz Unreal contest site, and tried out
most of the SP levels entered in their "Australian only" mapping contest. Some were okay, some were bad....and one was just wonderful:
The Tower of Shrakith'a (4.66 meg.) is a 3 level mini-episode, that provides the most engrossing single player
experience I've had in a custom level....or indeed in an Epic level. Set in a medieval village and castle, not only does it have plenty of stylish and atmospheric architecture, clever
exploration and progression, diverse and entertaining gameplay, it's real strength is the variety of interesting and memorable scenarios and vignettes, which turn already great maps into a
truly captivating experience. I could list them all out, but that would spoil the experience....just trust me on this one, while exploring through these maps, there are so many cool ideas that
make this episode special. I'm not going to pretend this episode is perfect - there are many minor, but obvious, flaws and inconsistencies with the architecture - it lacks the polish of the
Illhaven maps, for example - but there is so much goodness, I recommend it without any reservation....see recommended Unreal SP maps list....
In case you are wondering...
The reason this level (and indeed none of the Oz Unreal levels) have been mentioned on any other sites, is
because the contest rules specify that the levels must not have been released elsewhere, prior to the contest. But I'm not releasing nor reviewing the map here, I'm just providing a link to it's
release at the Oz Unreal site - of course it can't be posted elsewhere yet (nor reviewed properly, I assume). As for
the other SP levels, well:
Heavily Armed and Dangerous - is a pile of trivial crap in which you seem to get permanently stuck a lot.
The Elder - is the one I haven't played yet, though it looks rather cool from the shots so I might be recommending it later.
Tintagel - 5 FPS....2 FPS....1 FPS....0.5 FPS... Bwhahahaha, lovely looking map but possibly the slowest map *ever* released for any game.
Inhumane Infiltration - Not sure about this one, some cool sections with nice style, but a lot of plainer stuff and again, there seemed to be areas where you could get stuck.
More Unreal??
Oh yes indeed =). Don't worry Quakesters, be patient as there is stuff for you too... Anyway, this week at Nali City,
I will be reviewing Boring Grounds, The Living Planet, The Sky Shard, and Strange World 2. Out of these, Strange World 2 is definitely recommended, it follows
on well from Strange World 1 (also recommended), and has a cool, well made, original style and some interesting combats. This also gets added to my
recommended Unreal SP maps list. The reviews are posted already, so go check them out.
Quake1, Quake II trick jumps:
I've updated the Trick Moves section with some, well tricks of course! You gotta see this daft bit of E1M7
single player campage for
Quake 1, and also I've done some useful trick jumps in B2S, Efdm9, and P3A. On the Quake II front, I've posted 3 moves on normal Id maps - a couple useful and easy,
one harder and just for fun - and of course, none of these moves have been posted elsewhere, as far as I know. Go take a look and see what you think.
That Kiss: Psycho Circus game looks pretty fucking cool!!
Yes. Honestly. Look, I'm just an average guy, and same as most people, I'd rather be gang-raped by a shoal of lobsters than have *anything* to do with glam rock....but when I see shots
like this, umm,
that,
and the other, I just have to sit up and pay attention. In many ways this looks like a very cool,
very dark game, and I have to wonder why they want to taint it with Kiss influences. Although it's based off the Kiss comics (whose only link with the band is that they feature, in alter egos,
as the heros), there are some natty sounding things - clowns, face masks (...), Kiss music on jukeboxes (though not as the ingame music). But aside from that, all the information promises a
gothic and violent game with plenty of hardcore action - in fact a main selling point is the swarms of "horde creatures" that promise Doom-like mass slaughter. A game that Shambler
will just have to swallow his morals and keep a close eye on =).
Phew. Big Update. Time to celebrate with:
<shambles> it's all thick and glowing and crusty
Laterz,
The exclusive Shambler
News: Thursday 7/10/99
Blah =(.
I'm pissed off and fed up at the moment. Spending far too much time on the computer and internet with very little to show for it, certainly not enjoyment nor satisfaction. So I don't really feel
like updating or doing much as I'm in a generally apathetic mood. A bit of a pity as I want to do stuff on this site to make the swanker look worthwhile. I will be posting some
Quake 1 tricks soon, I'm just getting a few together (and no, I'm not really in the mood for that either!). And maybe some other views and stuff too.
What I have been doing is playing through Unreal again because it's cool, I really fancied another go, and my net chum The Otta is playing it for the first time and his
excitement infected me too. Also I have been dutifully replying to emails (one thing I feel responsible to do). The only other thing of note is that, in light of the recent, positive, optimistic,
Daikatana previews, I forgot my previous oath and started replying to "that bunch of puerile, herd following, whining, mentally deficient, pre-pubescent, hysterical, narrow
minded vermin who infest sCary's infamous forums" (Nice quote...). Hang on a minute....no wonder I feel pissed off!!! Sheesh, silly old Shambler. Remember kids, paying
attention to pathetic, bigoted flames and insults is bad for your health!!
Laterz,
Silly old Shambler
News: Tuesday 5/10/99
New, topical, IRC chat log:
Posted a log from a chat last night about DM review sites - more specifically, the demise of the Q1 DM reviewing scene now
MPQ has closed, whether a new site could be started up, and the problems involved, especially reviewing or filtering
out all the bad maps. I wanted to post this as there is some discussion on this pressing matter over at ye olde
QBoard, so go have a read and see what you think.
Updated spektrum:
And this time it's not going to get me into trouble with that bunch of puerile, herd following, whining, mentally deficient, pre-pubescent, hysterical, narrow minded vermin who
infest sCary's infamous forums :P. But still an update well worth reading as I am wisely considering what could go wrong and cause the site to fail - just to be aware of all possibilities.
Site loading time.
Blah. Still got those Unreal speedrun screenshots down below so it's a bit slow at the moment. When more news get archived it should speed up - I'd get
rid of the shots now but I think they look cool so I like to keep them up =).
Laterz,
The topical Shambler
News: Monday 4/10/99
Site makeover! Flashing buttons! Quicker graphics! Even more purple!
I think that explains it all really =). Anyway, I decided the logos and titles were looking a bit scruffy, so I replaced them with cleaner, crisper graphics as you can see. I've also added
(after a fuck of a lot of effort not getting Javascript to work) some little on/off buttons. Happily, with all the new graphics, they weigh in at about 15k less than before for quicker loading. A fair
bit of the HTML code has changed (including a ridiculously complex menu), and although I've checked all major links, please
email me if anything is b0rked. Curiously enough it all seems to work in Netscape too, which to be honest I find quite embarrassing :P.
New sections! New tricks!
The new section I've added is the Trick Moves section, where I'll post plenty of entertaining trick moves for normal Quake II maps and custom Quake I maps
(and I have to issue the same reminder that these are all original tricks and moves that haven't been done 20,000 times elsewhere). To kick things off, I've posted all my previous Quake II
trick demos there, and 8 new Quake trick demos on a variety of good custom maps - so go check them out and see what you think. To make way for this, I've shoved all my
deathmatch demos in the curiously named Deathmatch section - dunno how many ppl care less about the deathmatch demos, but I know a few people
have downloaded them, so that's enough reason to keep them posted in case anyone is interested. The News and Views and
FPS Articles are the same as before, just renamed.
*Sniff* MPQ *sob* closes *waaaaaaaaaaaa*....
Some people still think that Paul and I are vicious enemies....yeah right. In fact, I have a lot of respect and admiration for the effort he's put into exposing, reviewing, promoting
and updating about custom maps over at MultiPlayer Quake, and I think it is a great pity to see the site close down,
especially when Q1 DM mapping is still going very strong, and MPQ has been the only site reviewing the maps for quite a while now. I have no idea why all the review sites are
disappearing....bizarre....but I'm going to miss MPQ. So I'd like you all to take a moment's silence out of respect for the job Paul did... In fact I am having a moment's silence right now. Oh
yeah, that's because I'm staring at a computer screen typing this update. Bugger. Anyway, I'm looking forward to working "opposite" Paul at our respective
PlanetDaikatana sites =).
Kab1e:
Shout out to Paul's little bro, Kab1e who helped me out with the menu (and I promptly ignored all his good advice =)). Kabey baby has designed plenty of sites around the
Quake mapping world, and could be very useful if you want some site help due to his experience. Go visit
The Kable Network for more info....also, well worth checking out is his (hopelessly derivative of Shambler who in turn
pinched the idea off Paul2) IRC logs page which has some funny chats on, including ones I forgot to save.
Fun way to crash your PC #3450:
This rather amused me when I realised what I'd done: just doing some HTML using frames, and I accidentally set one of the frames in a main page to display that main page....which of
course had that frame in it, which displayed the main page, which had that frame in it, which displayed the main page....infinite regression!! Thus my PC ran out of resources and promptly
crashed. Ho hum =).
Aaah yes the obligatory quotes:
<Kami|Kitchen> shamblez, how come i never got quote of the day?
<Kami|Kitchen> i say many wise things
<shambles> you did at my other site =)
* Kami|Kitchen goes
<Kami|Kitchen> <KamiKhazi> i have a small penis!
<Kami|Kitchen> WTF?!?!?!
<Kami|Kitchen> you bitch! you stupid hoe!
<Kami|Kitchen> i was being sarcastic
<shambles> <Kami|Kitchen> i say many wise things - indeed you do kami =)
* Kami|Kitchen sticks an elephants trunk up shamblers rectum
<shambles> i might quote all of this =)
<Kami|Kitchen> well maybe you should shambler, it'd let the female population of you fan base realise i have a huge cock
I have a fan base?? Cool =). Well I'm really glad Kami has cleared up the issue of his penis size. No, honestly.
Laterz,
Send fan mail to: Shambler
News: Friday 1/10/99
Article on botmatch and single player??
It's here! I managed to get it completed....so go read the analysis of botmatch and single player right now. This article discusses various aspects of
botmatch which prove that it is very different to single player, and cannot be described as "single player" - I'm sure you'll find it an interesting (if formal) article. Perhaps even educational for
some people! And if anyone has been enticed here by that article and is wondering what else this site might have to interest them, read this
description.
Bit o' Q1 DM map stuff.
Not much been happening on the Q1 DM maps front, but today Vondur has been arming us soldiers with a cool new map from his
War Supply, and a very early copy of Borsato's next map
happened to escape his Mapping Grimoire and seek refuge at TEAMShambler incorporated. Thus, my list of
favourite Q1 DM maps has been updated.
That's all for now.
Laterz,
The educational Shambler
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