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• Squawk
• Hack & Slash
• Free Game Arts
• Open Quartz
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New Milkshape Version (15:00 PST)
Milkshape 3D version 1.5.6 is out! This version allows you to scale individual model parts while maintaining existing skeletal animation. We've been hopeing for this feature for years! This is absolutely wonderful news.
- BFGalbraith

Mailing List Gets Going (17:45 PST)
People have actually started using the Hack and Slash Mailing List. This is good.
- BFGalbraith

Playtesting Underway (17:15 PST)
Well, we started playtesting the Hack and Slash Role-Playing System (HSRPS) with a regular paper and pencil campain about a week ago. The campain is set on Trydeen (see Squawk RPG.) Half of the players are now on thier second characters:) (Lunz is GMing.) We are working out alot of the details about Trydeen, and more importantly trouble shooting the HSRPS. We plan to use the latest HSRPS in our next big release, a stand alone version of our open source Hack and Slash "action role-playing" computer game.

I am currently working on some tutorials for the HSRPS to help clarify the rules.
- BFGalbraith

Hack and Slash Mailing List (15:30 PST)
The Serpent Lord has just established the Hack and Slash Mailing List! If you are one of those individuals already interested in getting involved with the Hack and Slash project, do get on this mailing list (e-mail is tends to be our group's most effective means of communication.)
- BFGalbraith

FREE GAME ARTS (00:30 PST)
For those of you who didn't notice yet, we have now officially replaced the Free Models Project with Free Game Arts. Don't worry, the Free Models Project is still intact as a part of Free Game Arts. The purpose of Free Game Arts (FGA) is to do the same thing the Free Models Project was doing, except for now it will apply to a much broader need than just models alone, such as other types of content, engines and tools.
- BFGalbraith

X-Box Falls! (00:10 PST)
Nitendo has supposedly undone the X-Box by giving the Game Cube a price of $199. Let me tell you something, Nintendo undid the X-Box back in 80's when they released the first Gameboy, the only platform to currently have advantages over the PC. The Game Cube has the Game Boy Advanced, and the X-Box doesn't, it's that simple.

It's a real shame because I know guys personally working on X-Box games. Counting on the X-Box is just putting your faith in the devil.

"Besides, what does the X-Box have that my PC doesn't? Nothing, which may explain it's name: X-Box."
- BFGalbraith

Freedom Rock (00:30 PST)
Thanks to Saber's review of the Open Quartz Test on 3D Action Planet, our total # of downloads for the Open Quartz Test has recently shot up past 20,000. It was a good review and I don't disagree with anything in it. The whole Metallica thing was brought up in good humor, and that's fine, but I want to throw my 2 cents in here. We at Galbraith Games listen to ALOT of Metallica. We own most if not all of the Metallica albums we listen to, reguardless of the format we listen to it in. I'm very tired of hearing about what a bunch of jerks Metallica is.

I don't want to hear about how they are enemies to the sharing of information. They were the 1st band I was ever a fan of that had special seatting for people who wanted to take video cameras into thier concerts, and this was in a time when such acts were usually forbidden. Also, there are various enslaving forces like certain drugs and corporations that inhibit communication, enslaving forces Metallica's music has taken a bold stance against. I don't know much about their personal lives, but very positive ideals come out strongly in their music.

Going after Metallica for harrasing Napster is like going after John Carmack for not open sourcing the Quake 3 engine. The fact is John Carmack has done us all a major service through his periodic open sourcing of key game engines, and I think he gets very little credit for it. I think Metallica is much the same way, they've enriched this world by giving modern music a much needed serious note. Just as Mr. Carmack has the right to not open source any of his code he doesn't want to, Metallica should not be spat upon for not releasing thier music as "free" if they don't want to. They would not have been able to work as hard on thier music to make it as good as they did if it had not been for the music providing enough money to make a living. If artists cannot reserve the right to be fed like everyone else, then the world suffers great losses in terms of potential accomplishment.

However, do not put Bill Gates nor any of his ilk on the same pedestal with Carmack and Metallica. Gate's kind have not done, do not do, and will not do the world any favors. What have they contributed? Nothing but pain.
- BFGalbraith

FREE GAME ARTS (01:10 PST)
We've been talking about doing it for a long time now, but the talking is over and we have now officially replaced the Free Models Project with Free Game Arts. Don't worry, the Free Models Project is still intact as a part of Free Game Arts. The purpose of Free Game Arts (FGA) is to do the same thing the Free Models Project was doing, except for now it will apply to a much broader need than just models alone.
- BFGalbraith

News for E3 (16:50 PST)
I have news for everyone who went to E3 or had the misfortune of having to read news about it. There are only 3 of the current platforms that are going to survive, and the rest will fail. These platforms are the PC, the Game Boy Advanced, and the Game Cube: The PC because it's still the only platform that you could (thanks to us, and many of you) make your own game for, the Game Boy Advanced, because it's the only platform that offers things you can't get on a PC (portability and cartrige loading,) and finally the Game Cube because it will actually be a nice additional tool to use with your Game Boy Advanced.

But what about the Play Station 2? Can you say "only two controll ports"? I knew you could. If Sony slacks on something as vital as that, it shows how disconected with thier audience they actually are. But what of the Xbox? Well, it's Microsoft, and that's a sure bet for instability. Besides, what does it have that my PC doesn't? Nothing, which may explain it's name: "X-box." But what about Nintendo? Hey, what do they have that my word processing, e-mailing, web browsing, CD playing/recording, game hacking PC doesn't already have? One thing and one thing only: Game Boy Advanced. It's portable. You don't have to worry about your cartiges getting scratched. It's inexpensive. It's the main thing the Game Cube has going for it. In terms of longevity, is or is not the Game Boy the most successful platform of all time?

And of course Nintendo has some decent developers, even the Super Dodge Ball team. Unfortunately because of the extream lack of inovation in video games in the last few years, 3rd person POV games with decent play controll on the PC have become virtually non-existant. I suppose this has effected the Super Dodge Ball team's idea of what is and is not a good game, because they currently have no plans to make a River City Ransom sequel. Zack Parsons has suggested that we all e-mail the creators of Super Doge Ball and insist they make a sequel to the greatest game of all time (River City Ransom,) and let them know that we want more of the goodness that is River City Ransom.

I have a better idea. Instead of making all of these 1st POS shooters, racing games and generic RTS, why doesn't the gameing community focus on making the arcade style play control role playing games that we all like to play anyhow? River City Ransom wasn't the only one, The Secret of Mana also comes to mind. Smash Brothers (the most commonly played game here at Galbraith Games,) is going in the right direction, BUT it still lacks the full blown glory of games like The Secret of Mana and River City Ransom (Note: these games are multi-player through most if not all of the game.)

This is what the up comming Hack and Slash project is all about. As a horror fan I was very disapointed by the pathetic excuse for games that was the so called "Blair Witch Trilogy." The last thing anyone ever wants to see is another "Resident Evil" play control style game. Then we have Mr. Clive Barker and his game. It's great, for a 1st POS shooter, which unfortunatley that is all Undying amounts to. I remember his Nightbreed game, now that was innovative! But imagine how much better all of these horror games would have been if they had just been more like the Secret of Mana or River City Ransom! Why aren't the games we want to play being made?! Play Control > RPG System > Graphics. Arcade play control + good RPG system = great game!!
- BFGalbraith

Swamped! (21:15 PST)
My inbox is piled up to about 300 messages, so I am plowing though that instead of doing a real news update. It may take a few days for me to get to all of your e-mails.

Meanwhile, check out that Open Quartz Test review at 3D Action Planet if you haven't already read it. It's not just cool, it's hilarious.
- The Serpent Lord

Open Quartz Review (14:20 PST)
Sabre at 3D Action Planet wrote a review on the Open Quartz Test Playable Demo. We are always finding and making content for Open Quartz, so we will be releasing later demos that have more than rib cage puking zombie trees (even though they're the coolest thing ever).
- Lunz

New GPL Monster (21:45 PST)
Lithiumbat has contributed another GPL monster model for Open Quartz. The ghostly Rackne is a replacement for the enforcer.
- The Serpent Lord

3D Files to the rescue (20:10 PST)
Well, it turns out that the greatest contributor to our total download count for the Open Quartz Test Playable Demo was the 3D Files site , and we didn't even include them in the initial press release. Of the 14-15 thousand downloads so far, over 12,000 of them are from 3D Files. All I can say is it's a good idea to let these guys know when you release a game demo, and thank you 3D Files!

Also, I should thank Demo-files for being the 1st site to put up the Open Quartz Test besides our own. Thank you Demo-files.

Rumor has it that our next really big release will be a vastly improved stand alone version of Hack and Slash. What's interesting about this is that it's the direction we've been trying to go in since before... well, since before we ever put up this web page.
- BFGalbraith

Ali presents more sounds (18:10 PST)
Ali Jackson sent 14 more sounds for Open Quartz, lowering the allways needed sounds to just 13! What a guy.
- BFGalbraith

Nehahra News (11:55 PST)
For those of you who do not know, The Seal of Nehahra is a 4 hour long Quake Movie you can watch using your Quake 1 video game. It's a great movie, one of my favorites (and I'm not a 1st person shooter genre fan! This movie rocks I tell you!) Well, naturally there's a Quake Mod that goes with the movie, and recently they fixed some major bugs. Check out the Nehahra Home Page.

If you haven't seen The Seal of Nehahra, you can get a version you don't have to have Quake to watch (make sure you watch all of the episodes!!) One of the interesting things about the whole Nehahra project is that it sort of fills in the blanks with all of the Quake 1 plot holes. It's a very serious compliment to the original Quake 1 game its self.
- BFGalbraith

GPL Player Model (14:45 PST)
Are you hopping mad about the lack of news yesterday? One thing is sure: I am filled with rage! Maybe this new version of the GPL Player Model will help you us all turn that rage into productive fragging. This is an updated version of the GPL Player Model used in the Open Quartz Test.

As a special bonus, the GPL Player Model comes with a cartoon outline version. The cartoon outline was generated by our automatic cartoon outline generator utility, and the cartoon skin was drawn by yours truly (not too tricky :-)

Because the GPL Player Model is now fully skinned and animated in MilkShape 3D, it is now much easier to modify it for use in other games, or even create new GPL characters from it.
- The Serpent Lord

GPL ... Models? (14:30 PST)
A lot of folks have asked how we can use the GPL license for models, sounds, textures, levels and other game content, when the GPL is meant for "code" like computer programs. The simple answer is that the GPL is actually designed so it can be applied to any work:

0. This License applies to any program or other work which contains a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it may be distributed under the terms of this General Public License. The "Program", below, refers to any such program or work, and a "work based on the Program" means either the Program or any derivative work under copyright law... [emphasis added]

For Open Quartz the GPL is especially important because we have designed the GPL content to complement GPL software like the GPL Quake engine and Quake-C source and the various GPL engines and mods that have been and will be spawned from them. Because the content is GPL, it can always be distributed with the program.
- The Serpent Lord

NPR Quake (18:00 PST)
A version of Quake has been invented that makes Quake look like pencil sketch animation. If you liked our cartoon outline generator, then you MUST check out NPR Quake!
- BFGalbraith

GPL Quake for Macs! (13:50 PST)
If you are a Mac user with and interest in GPL Quake (or know someone who is,) you must check out Paroxysm!

Other news today is that the Squawk bestiary is making slow but steady progess, and is still not ready for the public eye.
- BFGalbraith

12,000+ O.Q.Test Downloads! (13:20 PST)
Over 12,000 people have tried the Open Quartz Test Playable Demo since it's release less than a month ago! We hope folks are putting this technology to good use (I know we are.)
- BFGalbraith

Help! (16:45 PST)
The public has contributed generously to the Open Quartz project, including a significant number of levels. Most of these levels have a few Quake textures and other non-Free textures. Those textures need to be replaced with GPL-compatible textures before we can use the levels. We have got plenty of free textures (of course we can always use more) but we need help with the actual work of replacing them. If you would like to help, please join the discussion on the Open Quartz mailing list or contact The Serpent Lord.
- BFGalbraith

Aardappel's Free Textures: (20:30 PST)
Aardappel has released 21 free textures which he created for his "ish" deathmatch levels. The textures can be previewed and downloaded from a new page The Serpent Lord created: aardtex.html.

Check out Aardappel's web page for some happening maps!
- BFGalbraith

Qoole 99 Editor now GPL! (20:12 PST)
The source of the Qoole 99 level editor for Quake I and II, SiN, Hexen II, Heretic II, and Half Life is now GPL. The "Qoole 99 Source Repository" page is temporarily located at http://lithium.com/qsr .
- BFGalbraith

qbism? (16:20 PST)
Qbism is another project that is similar to the Open Quarts project that even uses some Open Quartz content. We hope they've been able to make use of our latest Open Quartz Test Playable Demo.
- BFGalbraith

Thursday, May 3, 2001

Microsoft Threatens Global Democracy (10:20 PST)
A New York Times article (free registration is required to read it) reports that Microsoft is attacking the GPL - sometimes generalizing it as "open source" - as a threat to innovation.

Microsoft is promoting the lie that companies won't be able to protect their intellectual property from the infectious GPL license. The truth is that mere aggregation, such as using GPL and non-GPL software together or putting them on the same disk, does not apply the GPL to the non-GPL software. Also, if someone distributes your non-GPL software as part of GPL software without your permission, then that distribution is illegal and the GPL license is void.

Vice President Irving Wladawsky-Berger, IBM:
"If we thought this was a trap, we wouldn't be doing it, and as you know, we have a lot of lawyers."

Senior Vice President Craig Mundie, Microsoft:
"It's happening very, very broadly in a way that is troubling to us, I could highlight a dozen countries around the world who have open-source initiatives."

Richard M. Stallman, Free Software Foundation:
"The free software movement was founded in 1984, but its inspiration comes from the ideals of 1776: freedom, community and voluntary cooperation. This is what leads to free enterprise, to free speech, and to free software."

So, take your pick: the GPL has the backing of programmers, IBM's lawyer farm, and at least 12 countries. Microsoft (which apparently does not respect programmers, the law, or the sovereignty of nations) has Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt.

Free Software is not a threat to innovation. Proprietary software is often a threat to innovation, and the GPL counters that threat by encouraging innovation.
- The Serpent Lord

OQ Test at Demo-Files (11:30 PST)
Demo-Files.com has finally got their link to the Open Quartz Test working. I have listed the alternate download sites I know about on our Open Quartz page.

Feel free to link to the Open Quartz Test or duplicate it at your own sites (unless you are also hosted by GameSpy, I'm sure they don't need extra copies :-) The GPL license also allows you to freely distribute the Open Quartz Test on magazine CDs and other media.
-The Serpent Lord

Free Sounds (09:00 PST)
Check out Hellchick's vox feminae project.
These sounds are free to use as long as you:
 • include credit stating where you got the files
 • tell Hellchick you are using them so she can
    include a link from her site
 • if you have modified them, let her know how
There are also a few useful tips on the contribute page for creating sounds of your own.
- The Serpent Lord