Also added a logo to the Favourite Maps page. Monsto has come up with some good suggestions for that page. We also pick our favourite id maps as well. I'll get that sorted out soon.

I checked the counter stats early today. Seems some of you are Mac users (eck!), so I've scouted about for Mac Quake links. Here what I came up with:
JVOX's Boomstick
Quakeintosh
(Reorganising the site at the moment, but you can visit the old version still)
Scott's MacQuake Utilities
These places have links to loads of other MacQuake related sites so I'll stop there.

Due to a error on my part (ie I can't count properly) I have now done over 100 reviews. It would appear my 100th review was Pingu's dayDream. Speaking of which the download link for dayDream was broken. Its now fixed. Thank you everyone for telling me *COUGH* bollocks *COUGH*.

On Monday Peej releases his latest map in the Strafin series, Infinite Skill. As soon as Peej gives the go ahead a review will appear here. (Just gotta write a review first =))

Jvox has released a new map, GrayLiotta (243kb). Looks superb and plays just as good. I love the concept behind this map. The idea is that deathmatch is made into a commerical game and companies build special arenas to play in. Go read the Ramshackle review of it. Its also been added to the Favourite Map section since I like it that much.

Added a new rant. Its not actually a rant at all. Its copy of a thread from the QBoard. The article is about how authors go about making their maps. Well worth a look.

Another map I want to mention is Slopy (123k). Its made by Aardappel (who has a map reviewed here this week). All the surfaces in this map are sloped. Its hard to explain. You should just download it and be amazed by how much fun it is to play.

I've sorted out the links page and added a shed load of links. Also updated some existing ones as well. New or updated links are marked with  *

I've put up the Favourite Map section I promised. Also the changes to the archives are coming along. Its takes awhile since its all HTML pages. It would be good to have some kind of script like Radium does. Can anyone help me with this? (Probably mean restructing the archives, again. DOH!).

Mother %^$$#@* computer. My programming PC has been a real bitch this week. Just when I *really* need to use it, it won't bloody work. I'd turn it on and nothing would happen. The light on the monitor came on but the machine did nothing. I took it to pieces. Took out a new caddi drive I'd only just installed a week ago, a Voodoo card and a soundcard. Practically everything. Would it work... no. So I left it after punching it and bending the frame. Came back and it booted. I thought "Good, I'll get my work done now". But no, Windows would hang. I then gave up and left the computer for a day. Tried again and it worked fine. Theres some wierd stuff happening with that computer.

I working on a few of things for the site. The first is a proper Top 10. Basically the Top 10 maps reviewed here, probably do a seperate chart for Quake and Quake 2. The other thing I'm working on is an addition to the Archive section. Its a listing by author. You'll be able to click on an author name and get a list of all maps made by that author. Also in the archive clicking on the authors name will also bring up that page as well. Its similiar to whats on Ramshackle. Final thing is my Favourite Map. This will be the map I'm playing the most of at the moment.

Lots of stuff going on. sCary posted a damn cool article on Quake 3 Arena. Its 12 pages long!!!

Odd has released the first in series (172kb) of what will be a set of seriously cool maps. Odd's premise is simple, take the best bits of the original Quake maps and re-create them in seperate maps to create the best 1-on-1 maps you'll ever play. This map takes part of E1M5. You'll instantly recognise it. Its been a while since I played a map which constantly keeps you on edge, having to watch your back all the time. (Its a local copy of the file because I can't find the proper link for it.)

Some Quake 2 news for a change. MPQ regular, Thanatopsis, is working on a Quake 2 map pak with fellow author Killer. They are going to release a few maps to start of with. They'll then re-release these maps again in a pak file with some more new maps. They've released their first map, KTDM2 - Sandstone Crypt, (785kb) which (gulp!) I have to say its an extremely good map. For more info go pop by the KT-imPAKt site.

Sad news, Gen has stopped doing reviews on his site. Hes returned his site to an author site. Good news is hes working on 4 maps at once!!! One of those is GenDM3. Wahoo!

The all new Terrafusion site is being worked on. (Shows like a Scobby Doo show...) Anyway, Peej, Peek, Idoru and co are working their arses off to come up with something special.

Thanks to everyone who gave feedback over the last week. To repeat myself I'd like to know what you think of how this site is run and what you would like to see or not see. So if you have anything to say, email me.

HTML question. Why is it that the following code target="_blank" doesn't work in my browser? (IE4) For all external links I use target="_parent" which works fine. The first piece of code doesn't work though, clicking on a link does naff all. I get this on loads of sites, like Gonz-o-matic for example.

If, like Kable, you're an MP3 junkie, you'll be happy to hear that the peeps behind GameSpy have come up with MP3Spy. This little useful/annoying tool finds MP3 files. Oh joy! Personally I hate MP3's, they clogg up valuable disk space =P. Buy it legally on CD, and don't gimme the its a rare track rubbish. Its rare because its crap! *Cough* Anyway heres what Mark "Bastard" Surfas said about it:

Like GameSpy, MP3Spy is a server browser. Instead of finding the best game servers, though, MP3Spy hunts down Winamp SHOUTcast servers. That means you can stream .MP3 files right to your desktop and listen to music and stuff from all over the net! It also has a built-in chat client, so while you're listening to someone's music you can send requests to the DJ or just hang out and chat with people who share your same musical tastes.

MP3Spy is available from MP3Spy.com. You'll need an MP3 player for it to work, so stop by Winamp.com and download Winamp. (It's their awesome SHOUTcast technology that made this possible!) Then hop on MP3Spy, find some buddies, crank up the volume, and bask in the miracle of music on the net.

Want to start your own SHOUTcast server? we made it easy. Check out the step by step guide at:
http://www.mp3spy.com/server

There are even instructions for using the microphone to do your own talk show and everything: http://www.mp3spy.com/server/mic.shtml

We PHE4R what the citizens of the net will do with this power! :)

Not played much of anything this week. Currently stuck in Zelda. In the belly of some big whale. Very surreal.

I've had Uni presentations to do as well as some programming. Actually I got more work from the company I'm writing software for. Which is good, more cash =).

Eventually here are the Top 10 lists for Quake and Quake 2. Seesh!

Feedback! I'd like some feedback from you all. I'd like to know what you think of how this site is run and what you would like to see or not see. So if you have anything to say, email me.

PlanetQ3 has opened. Not much there at the moment and I recommend Netscape users stay clear. The site doesn't working correctly in Netscape.

I've archived the news for the first half of this month. Those Q3A piccys were slowing things down.

Goodbye CTF2. All stuff relating to it has been removed, not that there was much anyway. If you like CTF2 reviews I can send you here.

QuArK 5.4 is out. This program just gets better and better with every release!

The Action Quake 2 link I gave last week was wrong, as in the wrong site. Why was it wrong, well it was the "Action Quake Owners Guide", not the actual Action Quake 2 site, which I just gave the correct link for. DOH! So go there and you'll see the idea that I meant.

The Hexen/Heretic source code was released earlier on this week. Can't say I'll be downloading it, but for those interested you can go here. GLHexen anyone?

I finally have Zelda!! I only had to wait two weeks =). I went into Manchester (I go to Uni there) and there was not a copy to be seen and the b*****d shop attendants won't tell me when it would be out. So I popped in my home town (Burnley) on Friday and every damn computer shop had shed loads of copies. Dammit!

So is it the best game ever? Not sure yet. I am really impressed by it, don't get me wrong. Its just you read all these reviews and hear peoples comments saying its brilliant and then you play the game and it doesn't match up to your expectations. As far as the game goes it has Final Fantasy 7 to live up to. I love that game, it took me 5 months of playing to finish it. I would sit down with the intention of playing for 30 minutes and would stop playing 4 hours later... Oops! Anyway, it has that element were you play it for hours before realising. It sucks you in. One thing I have to mention is the dialogue is miles better the FF7. FF7 had cheese though out it. Music is suitably cheesy, but thats how it is in Japanese RPG's. The graphics are superb, this is what I really like. The view in the main area (Hyrule) of the game is unbelievable. You can see everything, the castle in the distance, the mountains. Everything!

I mentioned it didn't match upto my expectations, well its just little things which they don't mention in the reviews because they've creamed themselves because they've actually got a good game! First thing is that if you talk to the same person twice and they say the same thing, you can't skip it. You have to wait for them to say it all again. Second thing is the camera. No game which has used this type of camera (Tomb Raider, Mario 64 etc..) is prefect. Zelda is no exception. It is the best every though, its just it puts itself in some stupid ass positions. This is rectified by pressing one button and it zooms to behind the player.

I also got Shogo earlier on this week. That is one fun game. Running around in big robots jumping on cars and blasting ickle people is fun!

Also just thought I'd mention I've now started back at Uni and have also got more work from my programming job so I'm a little busy at the moment. So don't expect really speedy replies to email =).

I would like to mention to authors submitting maps, please *do not* give Monsto and myself the download link as :
ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/idgames2/incoming/mymap.zip

We can't download maps here. This is a temporary place where you put your files before they are sorted out and put in the correct directory. Thank you. By the way the majority of you do send the correct details, its just the odd few... =P.

Monsto has started a server which runs some of the top Quake 2 maps which he has reviewed. Pop over to the lastest reviews for the exact details.

Something I hadn't realised until yesterday. Two Quake maps this week are best played in Deathmatch 3. Well I have a .bat file which loads GLQuake with the Omicron bots. I've had Deathmatch 3 set in that .bat file for ages, over a year probably. So every map I've reviewed (gulp) has been played on Deathmatch 3. Oh %^$!

I've also written a rant. Its not on Half-Life or How we review (ones I'd promised I'd do, they're there, just not finished) but on Joypads. Imaginatively titled Fe*king Joypads...

I've fixed some links on the links page due to sites moving. A site worth mentioning is Rapid Eye Movement. This is SleepWalkR's really lovely looking website.

The qboard will probably be moving soon. Those of you that have been visiting it recently will have read about plans to create a central location for everything relating to custom maps for Quake and Quake 2. Hosting has been sorted out, Terrafusion will become this new DM portal. As to what happens from here, I'd keep visiting the qboard to see what goes on.

Last call for CTF2! MPQ needs a CTF2 reviewer. So if you're interested in the position email me. You'll have to have the facilities to play the maps, etc. If nobody applies its goodbye CTF2.

Speaking of CTF2 a new version has been released... Heres a cut and paste from Zoid's .plan file.

A new release of Quake2 CTF is now available. This and is an official release of the previous 1.09 beta that was made available earlier and also includes three new maps.

What this adds is:

- Full timed competition mode
- Voted admins who can change maps/kick players
- Three new maps
- Full VWep support
- More server adminstrative functions such as sv_maplist, IP banning, etc.

The new maps are:

q2ctf6 - Borders Canyon. Original map by Zoid in base style without side canyons.
q2ctf7 - Boxed In Based off a Rogue: Ground Zero dethmatch level of the same name. Original map by Jim Molinets, CTF version by Zoid. Warehouse style map with many paths and twisting cooridors.
q2ctf8 - The Hangar Scenario. Original map by Mike "]BC]Casey" Goodhead. Large open map with large hangar rooms to fight in.

***NOTE: The additional maps come in a pak1.pak that go into your CTF directory. If you already have a third party addon in your Quake2/CTF directory, you will have to rename it to pak2.pak or a higher number since the Quake2 CTF 1.50 installers will overwrite any existing pak1.pak (with confirmation).

Quake2 CTF 1.50 is now available from ftp://ftp.idsoftware.com/ (check other major Quake news sites for mirrors later on in the evening):

Q2CTF 1.50 Windows 95/NT Full Client Installer
Q2CTF 1.50 Full Client ZIP manual install
Q2CTF 1.50 Windows 95/NT 1.50 Upgrade Installer
Q2CTF 1.50 Upgrade ZIP manual install

Q2CTF 1.50 Game shared library for Linux Alpha
Q2CTF 1.50 Game shared library for Linux i386 (glibc systems)
Q2CTF 1.50 Game shared library for Linux i386 (libc5 systems)
Q2CTF 1.50 Game shared library for Sun Sparc Solaris 2.5.1

Action Quake. I mention the site and don't give a link, seesh. Here it is.

An apology. On the 4th I said "Its probably just me but these two games are complete *CRAP*" I was talking about GoldenEye and Turok 2. They are, of course, not crap. They are extremely good games, for the N64 that is. The problem was I couldn't use the joypad properly so playing the games was a little hard. Ticked me off a little! It just annoys me the fogging which is apparent in these games. I have seen some N64 games now though that don't have fogging or pop-up. Top Gear Overdrive is one such game, pity it plays badly though =).

Erm.. I've removed the screenies...

Monsto has been busy over the Christmas period but is working on some more Quake 2 reviews, so please be patient.

I got one email about keeping CTF2 reviews. Does anyone else want MPQ to keep doing CTF2 reviews, email me if you think we should.

I recently heard about something pretty nifty on the Action Quake site. Updates related to the patch are in a normal colour and updates related to non-Action Quake stuff are in black, so the disinterested can ignore it. So what I've done is leave Quake related news in white and put the none-Quake stuff in dark grey. So let the rambling begin...

The saga of the N64 continues. I thought about buying the 4meg memory upgrade for the machine but since, as far as I know, only Turok 2 supports it I'd leave it for now. So I paid ten quid more and bought Dinky Kong Racing. Its a really good game! Its a mix of racing and adventure. In the races you have to find various items, that kind of thing. I'm now getting to grips with the pad and am finding GoldenEye to be an excellent game.

I also recently got hold of a Sound Blaster 128 with the surround sound speaker set up. For a 100 quid you get the card, 4 speakers and a base tube. It actually makes a real difference to games, if you have the spare cash its well worth buying.

I'm going upload the top 10 Quake maps of 1998 later this week. I've nearly finished them, I just want to get the pictures done first. I have a problem with the Quake 2 levels because there are loads of levels with just one vote each. Any suggestions on how to sort that out would be welcome.

I have a question. Do people want CTF2 reviews? If the answer to that is yes, then we need someone to review CTF2 maps. I've tried to contact Darkseid, our current CTF2 reviewer, but he has not replied. Email me if you want MPQ to continue to review CTF2 maps. If nobody wants them then it'll disappear.

The qboard is proving to be extremely popular probably because its mirrored by 7 sites. Messages are pouring in there and I really recommend people go there.

Mr Shambler has moved his site to Planetquake. So go visit TEAMShambler Quake Level Reviews. (Nabbed that from Fribs page) Speaking of Mr Shambler he was the only person to have a go at guessing which maps are in the MPQ logo. They were, from left to right, GenDM2, XL1DM2, DM2 (Explosion, gibbed head) and some Dapak map. Can't remember which!

Bit of none Quake ramble. I recently got bought an N64, the reason being I want to play Zelda 64. Unfortunately no shop has a copy of the damn game. They've all sold out and Nintendo don't intend on releasing any more copies till mid January at the earliest. So I bought Goldeneye and Turok 2. Its probably just me but these two games are complete *CRAP*. Turok is the worse of the two, with the levels just seeming too dark. It could be the fact that the PC has the BEST 3D games that I find these games so disappointing. It could also be that I can't get to grips with using the N64 pad =P. The rumble pak is something to be desired as well, the motor in the thing is so loud and has little effect, the pad hardly shakes. And the dam thig needs batteries! The Playstation Dual Shock pads are much better. So I'm a little disappointed in my N64 at the moment, suggestions as to any good games I can get for the machine would be nice.

I also started to play Blood 2. Although it doesn't match Half-Life in the slightest for the excellent single player experience, it does have some nice features. The gameplay is just like Quake 2, solve puzzle, blast enemies etc. It also seems to have lost its comic edge that the original Blood had. What makes it stand out is the brilliant maps and weapons. Kable, MPQ the site designer, now runs his own Blood 2 news site, Calebs Crypt. The site is sort of a rival for PlanetBlood because they both have the same news. Who's copying who?

*HAPPY NEW YEAR!* Hope you've all had or are going to have a good time where ever you are.

No new stuff on the site yet, just some tidying up since its the New year now. All news has been archived, theres a link to old news at the top of the page.

Thanks to all the people who send emails and pictures of how the site looks in high resolutions. As I thought the Netscape version of the site does look wierd. The Internet Explorer version, on the other hand, has no such problems =). I recommend you all convert to Internet Explorer then you'll have the lovely T.V. style look.