News and Waffle

Fixing stuff ^

by Paul - Monday 16 October 2000 @ 12:52

Ok, I've been going through fixing and adding various things that have come up. So heres a list:

• Coloured score numbering. Old site had 5.0=red, 4.5=orange, 4.0=yellow. Slight change to that since red on blue is blinding. All scores above 4.0 are in bold and are 5.0=orange, 4.5=yellow, 4.0=white.
  
• Comment numbering is fixed.
  
• Spaces removed from cgi links. Ownx spotted that problem. Shouldn't really have been a problem since the site ran on Kables Linux box in NutScrape, but better to be safe.
  
• Visit counting should be sorted... I think.
  
• Some proper stats on the stats page, see whos been reading what.
  
• Change to User List. Now does two lists. One in alphabetical order and one by total visits. Goetzenzar asked for that.
• Shouldn't download the cgi file when you've logged in/created an account anymore. Whoops...

Other things I ain't doing:

• Screenshots of better quality. Since I'm only on a weedy 56.6k modem I have to upload them and the difference in size was shown last night when GrindSpire tried to send me nearly 10Mb's worth of jpegs. When compressed it came to 3Mb. Bit of a difference!
  
• BSP Name in title. I'd like to that but that means an extra field for people to fill in.
  

Things that people noticed:

• Moving screen shots. Bet that freaked some of you out first time that happened. Its deliberate and its something I wanted to add to Inspection but the ASP scared the crap out of me.
• Knackered download links. I expect a fair few of those. So if you spot one, email me and I'll try to sort them out.
• It filters out chaff in the titles. Stuff like ', ", etc... Its just a bitch to tidy up the SQL afterwards so I just do a pre-parse and take it all out :)
• Reviews with no screenies. I went through a phase of removing them. Doh! I'll be putting them back in slowly and replacing the naff looking ones as well.
• Cartoon icons, /me slaps excessus. I like 'em. They're not changing.

And since someone emailed about where the old site is, here are some links to it :
Funky Index.
Internet Explorer.
Netscape.

7 comment(s)

Welcome back! ^

by Paul - Saturday 07 October 2000 @ 06:44

So 5 weeks later after a short discussion with Shambler, here it is. MPQ is back. So what's new? Well the design is obviously new and also the site is now powered by cgi so things are more searchable and easier to find, I hope! As an example, the last 10 reviews are listed on the site bar, so you can easily see what's just been added to the site.

All of the reviews from GrindSpires website, DMQ are all in here. I've also put up 5 new reviews of Naked6, Trondm2, XL1DM5, XL1DM6 and Rewired1 and GrindSpire has 2 new reviews of Pope2 and Mjdm1Pro. Click here to see all the new reviews.

We now have comments and the little notepad with the bracketed number is the number of comments on an item. All items, whether they are news, reviews, rants or interviews can have comments on them. If you disagree with something we say, then comment!

The majority of the old site content is in here. All the old news and reviews should be in here but if you spot anything that's missing then drop me an email and I'll try my best to sort it out. The same goes for the Featured Author Interviews, which are now just catalogued as Interviews. Mixed in amongst those are the interviews done for UKPak map pack. The rants also return and I've included my various ramblings from the old Peej'n'Frib's website.

So what to expect? Well, we have a HUGE stack load of maps to get through! A year has passed and a lot of great maps have appeared that need to be added to the site. What is different this time around is that we no longer accept emails for map submissions. You now submit your map into the site and this then goes onto a Pending Reviews list which people can look at and see what is next up to review. We will also be actively searching for maps as well. A big thanks though, must go out to Shambler for providing me with a sizably chunky list of maps that have appeared in the last year.

GrindSpire is now on board as well and he will be sharing the reviewing duties with myself. We hope to provide more frequent updates due to fact that its not a pain in the ass to get the reviews done since all the formatting etc, is done for us by the site. The updates will probably be shorter, but if you visit every so often there should be plenty to read.

Thanks should go out to the various testers who checked out the site and showed their dislike of the new colour scheme :).

If you have any comments then either post them on the "Comments/Suggestions" thread or email either myself or GrindSpire.

27 comment(s)

The update that NEVER APPEARED ^

by Paul - Sunday 28 November 1999 @ 10:37

Ok then here are the final "Your Reviews" that the Fat Controller did.

(08/10/2000) - The reason this update never appeared was because FC had deleted his reviews before I got hold of them :). Oops.

0 comment(s)

You Lying Bastard ^

by Paul - Thursday 25 November 1999 @ 10:36

Hello there! Well its nearly been two months since I apparently closed the site. Stats show me though that the site still gets a thousand plus, visitors a week. So as a special treat I'll put up some final, final stuff this weekened for you all to take a gander at.

0 comment(s)

Its all over for the moment ^

by Paul - Sunday 03 October 1999 @ 10:35

Going, going, gone!!!
Well here are your LAST here at MPQ. I've tried to tidy things up and cover all the maps I got in but some people just didn't give me all the info I needed so I binned their emails.

Yes, thats right I'm closing the site. I'm not interested in anybody taking it over. Closed is closed. You usually get these big ass speeches when people close up sites and I'm not going to be any different.

Its been enjoyable running the site for just over a year now but its time for me to move on. I'm not leaving entirely, I'll be hoping to get Inspection kick started and going again. Multiplayer Daikatana is also something I'm looking forward to doing. Theres also the column on PnF which I'm going to filling with all sorts of rambling BS. And the Quake DM LOTW.

The reasons for the site closure are rather simple. The first reason is the golden oldie of I now have a full time job and my spare time is now somewhat limited. Basically I can't hope to do 3 sites at once, and I feel that out of the 3 this is the weakest. Its had a long run, gone through 3 owners, 3 face lifts and 9 reviewers (myself included). The site is fairly well maintained and theres plenty here for people to browse through. I'm not going to bother sorting out the Quake 2 stuff, I'll leave it as is, a testament to how fucked up things where on that side.

I'm also sick of looking at crappy Quake maps. It amazes me the amount I got, given the games age, you'd think people could make decent maps by now! Oh well. That said I'll probably be looking at crappy Daikatana maps soon =). Thats a new game though and I want something new. I also just feel though its time for a change, I've made a right mess of recent events here and basically want to go onto something else. The Quake scene is still going strong and there are loads of quality maps being made. There is even a Quake MOD in works, the Nehahra Project, which looks brilliant. I hear a certain, younger brother (Kable), is running the website part of it all. Git!

Coverage of good maps is extremely good now so reviews of those maps here seems somewhat odd and un-needed. Also I'm getting a little tired of writing MPQ Quake reviews, its basically ended up being a formula of choice phrases and I'm sure it is that interesting for you to read. Also who downloads the bad maps? From people I talk to they don't bother with anything less that 3/3.5. Not much point in reviewing them in the first place is there?

Now who to thank. Well the people who visited the site regularly, you're a pretty quiet bunch, when I asked for feedback on things I didn't get any but the stats showed people kept coming. Very odd. Also I'd like to thank the idiots who ask really daft questions, you people really lighten things up. Some of the things you ask about really crack me up.

Individual peeps, well this is easy. Skorpion for being such a damn cool bloke, providing me with a constant supply of Omicron routes for all our favourite maps. Pingu and Aardappel for helping out when the going was tough and also for your advice on various stuff. Peej, news hound and asp guru. Whenever I asked for something I usually got it. Monsto, why you ask? Well I got on with Monsto and he was extremely helpful with loads of different things. Also Fat Controller for doing all those Your Reviews which without his input would be particularly empty section of the site.  And Shambler... can't think why though. Also anyone else that was helpful in good old #terrafusion.

Well thats basically it, if you enjoyed the site then that makes it all worth while. Thank you for visiting! If you feel like shouting at me or whatever, then email me. Also if you're really bored you may want to check out an in-depth rant on why I'm doing this, then pop over to my PnF column.

There is some final site stuff I've done, so scroll down for all that.

Other News
One final thing I've hooked up, Rocketman is doing some your reviews. Pop over there for full details on that.

0 comment(s)

Excuse me ^

by Paul - Sunday 26 September 1999 @ 10:35

Erm... no reviews this weekend. Damn Wip3out on the Playstation has been nicely soaking up all my spare time. Well almost, I had this weeks Quake DM Level Of The Week to do and the new column on Peej and Frib's to write and theres the Inspection reviews of the KTimPAKt to finish off. You're not really missing much though. The only expection in that is Biggus's map, Rest In Pieces. I'll sort something out for mid-week.

With the new column on PnF the ickle grey bits I stick in every so often will dissappear, I'll be using that for all my nutty ramblings. This weeks rant is about addictive games and I recommend you go over and read it. Also Peej and Fribs has a new look now. After going through a green phase, which I thought was ok, its now done up in a nice dark blue colour. Its very smooth looking.

The Big House updated with a couple of reviews earlier in the week. The Featured Review at the moment is SleepWalkR's Pain Elemental. Pop over there for your Quake 2 dose of reviews.

I also noticed Cranky Steve exploded after playing a map that he rated at -50, which is the highest (or should that be lowest?) score he can possibly give. The review isn't really that funny, just seems like a load of crap to me. I think the idea of his reviews are wearing a little on the thin side. Maybe its just that review though, I just wasn't impressed in the slightest by it.

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FC back ^

by Paul - Wednesday 22 September 1999 @ 10:34

The Fat Controller has done a review of Argument by Kamikaze. The review has been prompted by Kami shamelessly pimping his map, well its worked, hes got another review of this 2 year old piece of shit. If you're interested have a look at this review I did of the map ages ago. Looks like I screwed up the score for it, must have been in a good mood that day...

I've canned the UT article for the time being. I was going to do a comparison type thing but since q3a is so behind it, I'll wait till thats sorted out until I finish it.

Heres my quote of the day from Weasl in an IRC chat. The sheep mentioned is good old Shambler!
<weasl> sheep: blow me little web boy

0 comment(s)

Another f**king u-turn ^

by Paul - Saturday 18 September 1999 @ 10:34

Second Update
Just to double mention it today, I've uploaded There are also some Confused? Don't be. Zan will be doing Quake 2 reviews here. We will not be accepting requests, we'll be chosing them. Also the reviews may change slightly. Whilst on Quake 2 here is the pending maps list I promised a while back. I've not updated it for a bit so its missing about 25 to 30 maps. Anyway take a gander.

Some good news on the KTimPAKt, its now been released! The finished pak consists of 8 Quake 2 maps and a small mod has some new DM features. I've not properly played it yet but from just running about the map I've seen some pretty impressive stuff.

I now have the Unreal Tournament demo and have to say I like it over the q3a test. Yes, one is only a test (as I keep being reminded) whilst the other is fully finished product, but UT is just so much more fun to play. I'm working on an article about it and hope to have that up soon.

The Big House updated with a couple of new reviews earlier in week. Pop over to see some more quality Quake 2 maps.

I got an interesting email earlier in the week, heres a cut & paste of it:
If you didnt already know we are running a quake 1 mapping contest (More details at: www.converted2.com/bmd ), and the winning map gets inclusion in the new q22p map pack after being converted to q2 by me..  But to cut a long story short we are looking for people to enter the contest (is a 1 on 1 map)
Its an interesting idea, but its not something I'd be interested in doing. If thats your thing pop over to their site for full details on.

The master of hype, El Shambino, caused a bit of a shit storm in the last week or so with his DKT vs Q3a article. Again, another well written article, pop over to speKtrum for more.

First Update
Good morning! Here is an odd numbered batch of for you to enjoy.

The Unreal Tournament demo is out and I'm nearly halfway through downloading the 50Mb monster. Reactions I've heard from various peeps in #terrafusion have been good so I'm looking forward to playing it.

I do have the usual ramblings, but I'll put them up later.

0 comment(s)

Your Reviews ^

by Paul - Sunday 12 September 1999 @ 10:33

Kaiser has a Your Review of Borsato's SanTzue: The Art of War and I have a

Maybe you've heard the saying Contrary Mary. Well maybe, just maybe, you may see some Quake 2 reviews. Rush seems intent on bugging the f**k out of me until he gets his way so I've let someone have ago at it. Not sure as to if it will work out or not. Can't say I'm all that bothered either.

Must mention the The Big House, a site dedicated to reviewing the best Quake 2 and Quake 3 Arena maps out there. The reviews are in-depth and detailed. Very nice writing style. I think the site design is a little graphic intensive and took me ages to actually get it loaded, but once you're there expect some good reviews.

Also could any of you out there help out this map author. He seems to having a particularly odd problem with his map, Shaft.(551Kb). Heres what he said was the problem, and here is the screen shot for you to look at.
Hello again,
To answer your question, yes, the map will compile, and compiles just fine and normal.  When I put ammo on dry land, then look at it at the right angle, the floor seems to "de-texture," i.e. I get enormously large pixels of the same color.  This is very unfortunate, because it drastically limits the type  of level I can create and how the various rooms can be connected.  If not for that problem, "Pipeline" and "Shaft" most likely would not have had water areas in the first place.  I tried changing QBSP and LIGHT compilers, but the problem is still there.  It could be that this only happens on my machine, and no one else's.  Attached is a screenshotof what I am talking about. Interesting tidbit!!!!!! I just tested a small level that had distortion, and  it only occurred when using Quake.exe.  It did not distort when I ran it with winquake.exe
--Steven
If you can help, then email Steven.

I was browsing through cdrom.com looking for Quake maps when I accidentally downloaded a Quake 2 map. A quick examination of it proved that it was a Cranky Steve map, so I sent in over to him. Go read the Cranky Steve review of Deathmatch on Ice. Reading the review made the download worth while =).

I finally managed to get my grubby mitts on a beta of Warfare3 by Gonzo and has to say its an amazing map. Screen shots don't do it justice. Its apparently a teamplay map (boo, hiss) but its pretty damn good in FFA. Gonzo says we'll have to wait until October 3rd for the final release. Talk about keeping us waiting!

Want to see who is the most keyboard happy in #terrafusion? Well Aardappel, using mircStats has taken all the chat logs he has recorded in the last 3 months and chucked them in there to create this pretty amazing stats list.

I did try to email Chris 'Appendix' vd. Linden earlier this week but my email got bounced. If you're reading this email me can you give me your correct email address. Thanks.

The poll that I mentioned last week has been redone but basically it had become a rigfest with some shitty Runners Delight map at the top. So once again go back and add your vote, that is if you can be bothered. I would like you to do it though because currently a rocketman sits at the top.
THE BEST QUAKE DM MAP EVER MADE
http://www.freevote.com/booth/quakemaps
There is also a best Quake bot poll as well and I think you know which bot starting with "O" I put my vote on and no it ain't the Oak bot. That thing couldn't tell its arse from its elbow.
THE BEST QUAKE BOT EVER MADE
http://www.freevote.com/booth/quakebot

Thresh's Firingsquad has a good article up on the Intel Roadmap. I don't usually read these things, but I decided to for a change. Continuing with the FiringSquad, there is also a couple (1 and 2) of extremely good articles on the Dreamcast. Something which I may buy. Unfortunately its release has been delayed by 3 weeks. It was originally pencilled in for the 23rd here in the UK, now its back to October, due to Sega in discussions with BT to get free internet access. Not that I'm all that bothered though, I don't intent on buying one until next year when there are more games are out for it.

My registered copy of Deep97 (Doom map editor) arrived earlier on in the week. I've started make some ickle test maps just to get back into using the editor, no real problems. Seems pretty easy. The reason I'm doing this is because on the Qboard there doom2 sp map project going on. Heres the link for the thread : Qboard Retro Mapping Project: Doom2 SP Megawad.

Some good news on the job front. I'm now employed! It happened in a similar way as to how Pingu got his job. Basically I turned up for an interview, had a good chat with the guys there, got home and found an email there offering me the job. Wahoo!

Carl Foggerty has won his fourth superbike championship with races to spare. Unfortunately in Formula 1 Mika Hakkinen is trying to make things as hard a possible when he comes to him keeping the championship title. I'm a little bit miffed at him for completely screwing up his race by spinning his car off the track when he was clearly ahead. Poor guy then went and cried in the bushes. Hehehe. Lucky though those scummy Ferrari's didn't score that many points.

The Stanley Kubrick mini season they had on Channel 4 last weekend was pretty good. I finally watched The Shining and Full Metal Jacket properly. Both good films but questionable in that they leave so many unanswered questions. So what I did was popped over to Amazon and bought the book of The Shining by Stephen King. Apparently the film is only a loose interpretation of the book, but even so it was full of holes. I'm now a quarter of the way into the book now and things are certainly a lot clearer.

0 comment(s)

Shambler reviews at MPQ? ^

by Paul - Tuesday 07 September 1999 @ 10:32

It seemed a little unfair for my map to go without a review so Shambler has kindly stepped in and has done the honours. A very informative and interesting review me thinks. Well worth reading. Cheers Shamb! Pop over to the for the low down.

Looks like there were some mistakes in the Like me forgetting XL Genocide Crush, Trondm1 and Efdm9-11. ProdigyXL sussed out that I'd left his map out on purpose ;).

The mystery of the funny map name on YOOM (reviewed on Sunday) has been solved. The author informs me that he has 6 cats and so he has named his maps after them. Which means we have 5 more maps on the way!

I got quite a few emails in from people about Quake 2 reviews. Thanks to everyone that emailed me with their kind comments.

I've been told to mention this, so I will.
THE BEST CUSTOM QUAKE MAP EVER MADE
http://www.freevote.com/booth/quakemaps
I've had a look and whilst its a tad on the garish side, there are some good maps there. The list is of recent maps though which was a little odd. Maybe it should be a vote on the best of recent Quake maps. There are some classic maps which are just as good. Anyway I slapped my voted on P3a Domination.

0 comment(s)