22 years ago, on this very day, an historical event occured, the
importance of which cannot be underestimated. Oh, and I was also
born on that day.
This means its that special day when The
Serpent Lord travels around the world through your telephone wires
and LPB T1 connections, and gives presents to all of the bad little girls
and boys. So here's a new toy for the Free
Models Project.
The next beta should be ready very soon, so e-mail me if you are interested in testing it. This test should have all of the monsters and maps, but the sounds aren't done, and there are several incomplete weapons.
Check out my interpretation of how Quake should have been designed. This is a little patch that takes away the regular shotgun, adds a unique axe-intensive chase camera and also gives the axe some serious slamming power. The vore, deathknight, ogre, and zombie now attack you hand-to-hand instead of using missile weapons.
Orca3D and Shockman donated some of the models they made for the Q-Files TC.
The Sword of Ares (formerly CyberDawn)
We have put all of the 1st mission levels together in a QuArK explorer file (something you can't do with other editors BTW) and they should be ready for beta testing soon. If you want to make levels for later missions I haven't set any specific deadlines but finishing your levels by the end of the month will give you a pretty good chance of it being used in the 2nd or 3rd mission.
Squawk TC beta 2: Wow! have you guys played this recently? It will be a while before the next version is released (we are remaking all of the models) but even this really old version of the Squawk TC has several features you won't find anywhere else including completely new game rules and a dinosaur you can actually ride - and which also helps you fight!
The Sword of Ares (formerly CyberDawn)
We only got a handful of levels before the deadline. The most complete ones are mine and Zancrus' so our levels will make up most of the first mission. WIth any luck we'll have the first mission levels connected Monday.
If you've been working on a map for this TC, or if you have been meaning to start, there is still time because we will making several more missions.
There are 2 big problems with most of the maps we have received so far:
Work has finally resumed on the Squawk Quake TC. I am basically starting from scratch so it will be a while before a fully-featured preview will be available. Right now I have a point-of-view demo. Use Insert, Home, PageUp, Delete, End, PageDown, [, ], A and Z to control the camera. There is also a map called "test" included.
We should write up some Quake C for civilians (we already have at least 1 model that would be appropriate). They walk around till they hear gunfire and then they run away. If anybody wants to help with this project (It shouldn't take very long) E-MAIL ME
The Sword of Ares (formerly CyberDawn)
One week left and things are looking good so far. I have only personally seen 4 of the maps that are supposed to be under development for this TC by outside designers, but there should be at least 1 level (hopefully 2) in each mission by someone other than myself and Zancrus.
So far we have 3 new monster models (the 3 humanoid bots in the preview) And I am working on skins and Quake C for 4 more. I have some great modified quake c for the blobs but I'm still stuck with the old model for now. I planned to do a lot more of my own but we haven't found even 1 really prolific level designer.
There are 9 days left to get your first level done for this TC. No monsters or items are necessary. This is a point I have to keep repeating. Some people can't seem to understand the difference between a map and it's population.
I like to think of it as a contest: If you send us a map in the next 9 days so cool that we use it in one of the 5 level missions of The Sword of Ares, you will get 10% of the profits of that mission. We only plan to have 5 missions (since we are currently designing most of the maps ourselves,) but if we get too many really cool maps we can add extra missions.
Astro donated his raptor model. He has a new version he will
be using in the Jurassic Quake TC. To see some of the new techniques
he's using to make his dinos rule the earth once more, check out the
Rift3D website.
a few game reviews
Jedi Knight - This is a cool game. To those who say the've "lost their faith in LucasArts" after playing this demo, I have to respond "I find your lack of faith disturbing..." as I choke them with my dark force powers. This game has a couple of advantages over Quake, it runs just as fast on my computers (no 3D accelerators and sub-pentium CPUs) as Quake, and its the sort of game most parents of small children don't need to be too concerned about their children playing.
Final Fantasy VII - This too is a cool game. Whacking people with a 5 foot long 100 pound meat cleaver on the back of a motorcycle reminds me of my high school days. The big-headed characters are still used in some parts of the game (but as 3D models instead of sprites) however in combat the player character and enemy models are awesome. And talk about your powerful spells, in how many games do you get to see 4 of the 9 planets blown up 5 or 6 times? (BTW - the chocobos walking around at the chocobo farm are a REALLY good example of how NOT to make walking animation)
Chasm - Everybody secretly loves this game but they think everyone else doesn't so they don't tell anyone. It will be interesting to see how many people buy the game when it comes out in a few weeks.
Hexen2 - the demo is cool but slow on my 120 Mhz Cyrix 5x86. I've heard that internet play is a bit weak. This is a game that will keep getting better.
Check out the demo of Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight at the LucasArts web page. This is a really cool game. It has a quake-like graphics engine but it also has character development and you can pick several player models and force powers in multiplayer games.
I am changing the name of CyberDawn to The Sword of Ares. This doesn't mean the game is going to be any different from how we have always planned to make it. All of the deals we have made still apply under the new name. Why change the name? A lot of people thought the old name was sort of lame and more than a few people kept calling it the "CyberPunk" TC. Also I think the new name emphasizes this TCs unique feel.