ARCHIVES: TUESDAY 5TH AUGUST 1997 - MONDAY 19TH AUGUST 1997

DOOM: IT WON'T STAY DEAD...

Zendog[MOO] emails me...

"Yup, I'm in another strange mood. Ingestion of drugs is recommended. "Nurse! The screens!" And all that sort of stuff.

I don'tknow if you remember the discussion of how Quake didn't have DooM's character?

I really like reminiscing about the glory days, and never really got the chance to showcase some of my groovier levels. It seems that there's still a hardcore group of DooMers out there who'd appreciate it. So, people, the DooM section of the "Brotherhood of Moo Level-Lab" really is funky. OK?"

FRAGGED.COM NEWS

Zippy emails me with the latest details on the Fragged.com website/web hosting service:

"I would like to thank you all for the amount of requests I've had from people regarding fragged.com. It will be appearing sometime late summer as soon as I can find someone to host a DNS server for me: please, if you know of anyone who could do this or can do this yourself get in contact with me as soon as possible. I'm always looking to expand fragged.com: pages don't HAVE to be Quake related. Anything that is within the UK 3D gaming scene is quite welcome: in fact it would be nice to see some Hexen 2 and Quake 2 pages appearing on there. Email me for details."

UKCL NEWS

John Burton emails me with some news from the United Kingdom Clan League:

"Please note that the correct (and final) version of the map UKCLDM5 is available from the UKCL pages. As the file name is the same it is available from the maps section.

If you have any prior version of this map (the zip is dated 13/08/97 - 19:40 and the file 13/08/97 - 16:24) then you need to download the latest version. This map will be used in 2 weeks' time for the Week 4 games.

As usual the UKCL server 158.143.100.69:27500 is running the map for the next set of games, UKCLDM5, and by popular demand, 158.143.100.69:27555 is once again running Ziggurat Vertigo!

There have been two slight changes to the UKCL. Insomnia have now left us (apparently they find the pings unplayable) and Onslaught have disbanded. The new clan being formed from their ashes are the Gunsharks, and they will take Onslaught's position in the UKCL.

One final note. This is the last message from the UKCL that will be forwarded to the UK Quake mailing list as well as the UKCL contact list. After all that has gone on, I've decided to remove both myself and the UKCL from the mailing list."

LUTON LAN PARTY NEWS

Yes, it's Inspired Headline Day here at the NFTF towers...

Macca (no, not David Maccandless) emails me with the details of the catchily titled Luton LAN Party, which is starting to sound as though it will be very exciting. I won't reproduce the full details here, since they're available from the LLP website, but the LAN party will be mainly tailored to both Quake and Hexen II, with one on one, two on two and four on four tournaments planned for both games. The LLP will be held on the 18th and 19th of October at the Luton Ibis Hotel. Prices are £15 for entry and £30 for a room, although Macca doubts anyone will want to go to sleep...

LAG FOR LPBS!

The Finnish Allied Quakers have done it! Yes, they have brought out the Quake World Proxy, a program that allows Quake players to artificially increase their lag in QuakeWorld, so that they can play on equal terms with modemers.

This has to be one of the greatest advances in Quake since Quakeworld. Go check it out now.

RAWMEAT SPEAKS

Administrators are the secret saints of the UK Quake world- people who do long, difficult jobs for no reward and get abused constantly. I make no apologies for posting Rawmeat's comments on the subject, which everyone (including me) should read and take note of.

"I think something has to be said here, and I am going to say it. These are my personal views, and are not associated with the UKCL or any other organisation in any way.

It comes down to this. THE AMOUNT OF CRAP YOU LOT GIVE THE ADMINS IS AMAZING.

You ponce in, sit down, say "why are we waiting", "when will our match start", "stupid server mod", "why is the server so laggy", "why aren't the league pages updated"- you don't seem to care what hassles you cause the admins. John Burton has been working for 8 months, 8 MONTHS in the UKCL, yet, you guys still come in, you sit down and you moan. You show no gratitude at all. You are rude, arrogant, nasty, vindictive, and moreover, you expect people to sit there and take this abuse, AND THEN carry on with something which they are:

a) not getting money out of

b) in fact SPENDING their money on (at least, those on modems are)

c) hardly enjoying

d) putting up with abuse

e) spending what little time they have away from work, online

They are doing this all for YOU. YOU and NOBODY else.

Would you pay for their phonebills? Would you make the effort to be there EVERY weekend (and weekdays in MCW etc) to make sure things are running smoothly? Would you try and run servers?

Don't worry. I fully expect to be flamed by people like XC for this. Please do so, I really don't care. It has got to the stage where I feel the admins don't really care too much. This is the situation with the UK Quake Scene. People are getting TIRED with the abuse, which is why I responded in the way I did yesterday.

Thor, say what you like mate, I don't care. Ray, you can sit in Canada all you like moaning about my rudeness. Guess what? I don't care. XC, if you have a problem with me, fine. I don't feel offended by your renaming of your server: it just appears childish to me.

Redshift wrote that he thought something was amiss. I hope I have highlighted to you what I think is amiss. "

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Rawmeat raises a lot of good points here (I hassle the admins qutie a bit about the Web pages, and I'd like to apologise for that). If you don't read his comments, try to understand them and most importantly try to act on them, you are being unkind and ungrateful and I personally am ashamed that you are part of the United Kingdom's Quake community, which wouldn't exist without the saintlike patience, tact and hard work of the various league administrators.

I am a newsman. I am neutral, and ordinarily I would be remiss for adding my own comments here, but I feel that in this case it is justified. Get real, people. Start treating your administrators decently or they will give up, and the UK Quake scene will fold in half.

LAN PARTY TWO

And here's the latest news on LAN parties coming up in the UK:

- The St. Albans LAN party, coming in October, now has a Web Page, with full details of this coming event.

- The Netgamer Quake Fest, coming up on the 30th of August, now has sponsorship from MSquared Computers, and is going to be written up and featured in NetGamer magazine. For more details, check their Web page.

UK VS US CANCELLED

Yes, Clan UK's game versus the United States National Team has sadly been cancelled. More news as I get it.

UTHER- HE'S CRAP (APPARENTLY)

I'm convulsion, tears are running down my face, I'm making choking noises- yes, Uther has posted another article (cough. Sorry about the earlier misspelling- it's been a long day) on The Grail. Read it now, punk. Find it in his "humour" section.

THE FOUR "R"S

As is Rorshach Recieves Rave Review, from Talon's Strike, a level review site based at Planetquake, getting 93%. According to Talon, UKCLDM4, Rorshach's masterpiece, is "One of the best. Period."

Go check it out!

MCW SEASON 2

Spirit emails me with the news that Season 2 of the Modem Clan War is almost ready to start. Spirit emails me with details on the changes:

"The final line up for season 2 is almost complete: we lost 1 clan in season 1 (LI) which has left divisions of very mixed sizes (Division 1 - 8,
Division 2 - 10, Division 3 - 7). The aim for season 2 is to get all three leagues equal in size- 5 new clans have joined the MCW for season 2, which gives us a total of 30 clans, 3 of whom will go directly into Division 3 but 2 of the clans have requested to be put in division 2. I have checked their previous records and their request is justified. This, however, causes a slight problem as this will simply increase division 2 to 12 clans, leaving division 1 with only 8. I can't think of a simple way round this, but the best I can come up with is as follows:

3 of the new clans join division 3. 2 of the new clans join division 2, This means that 2 clans from division 2 need to be moved up to division 1, and I think the fairest way to decide is to have the loser of the div 1 relegation playoff, and the loser of the Division 2 promotion playoff both playing in division 1. I think this should keep the divisions as even as possible. This is not an ideal solution, but the current situation leaves no real alternative.

The Admin situation is also looking very promising: all 3 Divisions now have a seperate admin! I will be admining Division 1, Cenobite will be admining Division 2 and Fraggle will be admining Division 3: each Admin will have total resposibility for their division.

With the increased number of entrants, and the increased number of admins, the MCW will now be run over 3 evenings, rather then 2 as last season. The games will be held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays each week, with 1 Division's matches happening each day: Division 1 games will be Tuesdays, Division 2 Wednesdays and Division 3 matches taking place on Thursdays. This will mean that the start time can also be put back to 8pm, hopefully enabling more players to be available for games.

One problem last season was games being postponed: hopefully the later start times and all Divisions' games being held on seperate days should help this problem. I will continue to mail out the schedules as before, but I will post the schedule for the following week on my web page, giving everyone at least a weeks notice: the schedule will then be mailed out on Sunday. You will be required to check the schedule on the website: any problems with the scheduling MUST be mailed to me by the time the schedules are sent out on Sundays (about 6pm). Any problems with your game after this time will not be able to be recified in any way. The schedule that is mailed will be final.

I'm currently working on a revamp of my webpage, which I hope to have ready before the start of season 2 to include the pre-mail schedules, and possibly some kind of news section covering all 3 divisions in brief. Please let me know if you think would be of any interest to you, I know Nomad runs reports on the MCW (and very good they are too) and that the official MCW page also has a news section: if you think it is not worth me bothering please let me know, and I won't waste my time!

Season 2 will be starting slightly later than I originally thought: Week 1 of Season 2 will start on the 2nd September. The Week 1 schedule will be posted shortly, giving you plenty of time to practice!

This mail, and most future ones will be posted on my website, in the MCW NEWS section. This will also contain relevant info on schedules and so on. THE WEEK 1 SCHEDULE IS UP NOW. The site isn't finished, but it's there to be used, so please use it!"

MCW Season 2. I can't wait...

CLAN NEWS

- Terminal Gibbage have changed leaders. Interphaze is now their new Clan Leader.

FRAGSTOCK!

Yes, it's the UK's answer to The Fray, Quake's answer to Woodstock and all hopefully without hippies running around naked in the mud! If you want details on what promises to be the UK LAN party to end all LAN parties, check the new Fragstock homepage.

XC-ZIPPY SPEAKS

Those of you who read the UK Quake mailing list will know of the controversy surrounding some communication between XC-Zippy and DEV-Aerotus. Zippy has sent me a statement which he hopes will clear up the whole affair:

""I wish to publicly apologise to james McArthur(DEV.Aerotus) for all the nasty stuff that is going on between us. James, I'm sorry for everything that has gone on- please accept my apology. Peace? It's doing my head in. Also my apologies to everyone getting "spammed" by my stupid mails."

On a happier note, Zippy also has some useful news:

""I have just registered the domain of fragged.com, on which I am hoping to host several pages of interest to the 3D gaming communtiy. Any games related pages are welcome on this site, which should be up by late summer: just mail me for details.

Pages signed up at the moment include:
Clan Xtreme Chaos
Clan Brotherhood of Moo
UK Quad FragFest League
Granny Moo's News
Emissary's World

If your interested remember to drop me a line."

ANGEL RETIRES FROM "CLAN SCENE"

Angel, formerly of Clan Corpus, emails me this statement on his retirement:

"This is probably not very newsworthy but I don't want to be hassled about things that I'm not going to be involved in anymore.

1.As of now I'm no longer with Clan Corpus.

2.After Saturday or whenever the UK V US match takes place I'm no longer a Clan UK official or squad member.

3.I also no longer wish to be involved with the FragStock-Clanmeet organisation.

4.I won't be organising the next UK Quake Awards.

My reasons:
Let's just say there's too much immaturity, arrogance and misconception surrounding the UK quake scene, and it's beginning to get to me. Funny as I've always preached to people not to let it bother them but there comes a time when you've just had enough because you're tired of it all. Tired of getting kicked off of servers because I'm an LPB (yes, it happened twice this week). Tired of the insults to LPBs on UK servers (thats why I'm finding servers in the States a lot more attractive due to the fact that I won't be getting any of that. Moreover it's great to win when you're disadvantaged by ping, and when a US LPB comes along and beats me senseless I needn't complain because I've been there and done that).

Tired of the CC tag (which for some reason makes you a bit of a "wanker")- don't get me wrong, most of the CC guys are diamonds, but there is a very arrogant and malicious element to CC that goes beyond a joke sometimes and that's when I've got to say "Enough's enough.".

Tired of the Clan UK misconceptions (one quite well-known modemer called it the "Clan UK/CC job"): I'd hardly ever consider myself good enough to be in a UK squad that was selected on the basis of a level playing field, because I haven't and never will have the skills that some of you guys out there have. More to the point I can't even be bothered. I'd like to comment a lot more on this Clan UK thing but I don't want to take up more precious bandwidth, space and then again I can't be bothered to comment, either. Tired of the hassle of organising these International matches/practices/PR.

However I'll still play Quake, for sure, and I'll still be involved with the Movie project and any other creative stuff that I can find to do for UK Quake. But for now here's Mr. Tired signing off hoping that some pearl of wisdom might be found in my little rant."

UKCL SKINPAK RELEASED

On a more cheerful note, Leann informs me that the first UKCL Skinpak has been released, containing all the skins that have been submitted to the UK Clan League. Get it and have a birghter Clan Match.

RENAULT DEAL FALLS THROUGH

Oh, well. It would appear that Lord Storm and his Escort have scotched the Quake Lords' chances for monetary gain... Read the QL homepage for more details...

WE WANT- BIG GUNS! BIG, CENTRED GUNS!

Oh, dear. Kelvin has a bee in his bonnet...

"I am writing with a little concern, as I keep seeing guns (in screenshots of Quake2) which point into the centre of the screen from the bottom right corner of the screen (a la Duke Nukem) . I have always felt that ID software's games were special and better with their forward pointing guns (which I think are better).

Now, I reckon, all of you should mail the people at ID software about this shit. This is because I think it would be terrible if they left them all wonky!

I believe this

a) because then Quake 2 would remind me of Duke Nukem (rather than DooM)

b) The rocket launcher as it is doesn't half give me the horn {what Kelvin does in his own time I really don't want to know- Nomad}, and

c) I honestly believe that aiming and general aesthetics is better with a straight gun."

If you want Kelv to bend your ear about this a little more, he's set up a WWW page...

Bad news, though, comes from Paul Steed, Id modeller extraordinaire, in reference to a similar question:

"Q: Hi, I've been looking at the screen shots, particularly those with weapons shown, and I've noticed that the
weapons are slightly off to the right. I like this idea, but have you considered left-handed players? Perhaps in
user setup, you could make it an option for a left-handed preference- have the weapon on the left side instead
of the right. I haven't seen any other games use this, or anyone even talking about it. I think it would add more
of that great customizable feel to the game that players like me love, and though I'm not a programmer, I can't
imagine that it would be very difficult to implement.

A: Unfortunately I've optimized the shit out of all the view models so they wouldn't hold up if seen from the
other side. Originally we had planned on making the option to be left handed in the game, but as of now we're
pretty strapped on player character data space so you'll always be right handed. Sorry if this is a turn-off."

Sorry, guys, I guess that's that...

CORRECTION

I mentioned yesterday that Flametop.MA was the chief administrator of the Uk Capture The Flag League. He emails me to tell me that it is in fact Maniac.DOM who organised the league- Flametop is just the Web designer and an administrator.

On a different note, there has been mention of a statement from XC-Zippy to be printed on NFTF. That statement will be appearing tomorrow.

WHO'S WHO UPDATED!

Yes, the NFTF Who's Who in UK Quake has been updated! Go there now!

UKOOL- BACK SOON!

Yes, in what has to be the top news of the week, TG-Onyx has announced that he is handing the reins of the UK One On One League over to Ql-DarkAngel. who will be starting Season 2 "soon". Onyx:

"We have over fifty extra entries for Season 2, but it is likely that we will be asking everyone who wants to participate in season 2 to re-enter, This will cut out the 'dead wood' and also renew our database of players, which has become out of date, with addresses changing and so on. Peoples' efforts in Season 1 have not gone unnoticed, though, and will be reflected in their placement for Season 2. We won't have any gross misplacements this time (Ahem, Adze and Turbo spring to mind).

We will have new admining methods, too. This will allow quicker updates of the tables, and just generally be good!"

DarkAngel say that they are "currently trying to get everything sorted from Season 1". He hasn't many fixed ideas on improvements he will make yet, but pledges to "learn from Season 1, and make Season 2 run more smoothly."

UK QUAKE- DOWN THE TOILET?

I hear from [MOO]Uther that this time, the Quake scene really is going down the toilet. Yes, Zendog[MOO], administrator of the Quad Frag Fest League, is working on a Quake level set in - the bowl. If you're willing to go where other cleaners don't in an effort to help him with betatesting, email him.

UKCLDM5- THE FINAL RELEASE!

Yes, after almost as many updates as, erm, UKCLDM4, Fester's UKCLDM5 has been released in its finished version. You can download the final version, dated 13th August 1997, from http://www.hunted.demon.co.uk/download/ukcldm5.zip, and, of course, the UKCL QW server is running UKCLDM5 all week.

Only one more thing to say- "De de de dum (clap, clap), de de de dum (clap, clap), de de de dum, de de de dum, de de de dum..."

CLAN NEWS

-Pandora, late of FK, has re-emerged on the UK scene as Pandora.DoM. Dominion say that she has had several offers from various Clans, and they're delighted she has decided to join them.

- The Fallen Angels have signed Dimebag, formerly of the Weedkillers. Despite the short-term memory loss, they say he has "good individal skills", and they are looking forward to playing alongside him.

CAPTURE THE FLAG LEAGUE- FINALLY!

Yes, after several abortive attempts, the UK finally has a Capture The Flag league. Flametop emails me to say that the new UK Capture The Flag League, run by Flame (a member of Team Pendragon and a well-known and skilled CTFer) is now recruiting Clans. For more details check their WWW page.

NO HITCH HERE...

John Burton emails me with the following excellent news:

"As you should all know, with the new venison of QW they have changed the physics to allow variable gravities.This means of course that one of my favorites levels is once again available for internet play - Ziggurat Vertigo!

To celebrate one of the UK Clan League servers, 158.143.100.69:27555 , will be running Ziggurat Vertigo until the end of the week."

UKCL LIVE!

Rush, of the Edinburgh NetCafe RealityX, emails me with the following exciting information:

"Hi there! I'd just to let you know that we will be hosting a LIVE results page for the UK Clan League on Saturdays and Sundays each week, putting up match results as soon as they come in- like the "Grandstand" football scores!

The page goes on-line from this Saturday coming."

Oh, no. This is dreadful. I'll no longer have an excuse for not writing the UKCL Roundups on time!

CLAN NEWS

-The Brotherhood Of Moo is recruiting: they are looking for anyone sensible, pleasant, reasonably skilled and over 15 years of age. If you're mature, nice and wrinkly, email Granny...

MORE LAN PARTIES

If you're in London this Friday and interested in a Quick Quake session, you'll be glad Stranger emailed me:

"There will be an Organized Quake Session this Friday, held at Cafe Internet, in London (Cafe Internet, 22/24 Buckingham Place Road, Victoria, London). The Cafe has 15 computers , but 5 places are already confirmed.

We will be playing a mixture of Regular Quake and some Patches (mainly FVF but others as well). Because the cafe is supplying the computers there is a charge of £5.00 for the session (Cafe Internet normally charges £6.00 per hour). The fun will start at 20:00 on friday, but most people will start to arrive between 19:00-19:30: we should go on untill about 22:00, and maybe later (but not too much later...). You could risk just turning up, but I advise notifying me in advance to avoid dissapointment.

This is an ongoing competition, so if want to show your worth turn up and Kick Arse, or just come along and play the once and have some fun. The choice is yours."

Sounds cool.

UKCL NEWS

There's been a fair bit of news and activity from the UK Clan League over the weekend. Here are John Burton's summaries...

"Just to let you all know, by next weekend all of the UKCL servers will have been upgraded to run QW v2.00. You will therefore need the new version of QW to play in UKCL matches.

One of the servers is already running v2 - 158.143.100.69:27500 - and is currently running UKCLDM2, the map for next weekend's matches, until Friday night/Saturday morning. This server will from now on always be running the level for the following weekend's games.

Also, 158.143.100.69:27555 is running the new UKCLDM5 map by Fester. This map is available from the "Maps" section of the UKCL web page and will be running on this server all week.

As mentioned last week, if certain clans failed to show for their matches in Week 2 they were to be dropped from the UKCL. Allegiance of Death, Devil_Boys, the Skull Scraggers, and the Weedkillers are therefore no longer UKCL members.

Finally, Leann has sent me the Division A scores for week 1, and Killjoy, ever the efficient person he his, has sent me practically all of the scores for week 2. So expect the league tables to be up to date by Wednesday."

As soon as they're up, I'll be doing a UKCL roundup.

QUAKE WORLD VERSION 2

In the unlikely event that you're unaware of it, I'd like to inform you that QuakeWorld version 2.0, featuring the new Heads Up Display, improved Open GL code and various other tweaks, is now available.

If you're finding Blue's far too slow to aquire it from, get it from the UK Sunsite.

LEVELAB WINS AWARD

Copycat, the maintainer of the UK One On One League's Level Lab, emails me to tell me that the level on which he was working the night before Clanmeet II has won a QuakeMania contest. For more details, check the contest's homepage.

CLAN NEWS

-Clan Insomnia are currently looking for UK-based LPBs to play in the UKCL. For more details, check their web page.

- The Dark Deviants have signed a new player, DEV-Acid: the Deviants have high hopes for the former DooMer. The Deviants are still recruiting: email Aerotus for more details.

CRYSTALTIPS KNOCKED OUT OF AFT

DC-Crystaltips (as far as I am aware the only UK player signed up) has been knocked out of the All Female Quake Tournament, organised by the Total Entertainment Network, thanks to the vagiaries of the Internet.

"I have had fair to good pings for the AFT until today when it spiked to 800, and I was immobile. I lost a game that I was easily winning and should have won! Grr."

As a member of Clan UK and a highly-respected player, this obviously comes as a grave disappointment, highlighting the problems with knockout tournaments and inter-country play. Condolences to Crystaltips on her loss.

PARTY ON, DUDE

Suddenly, there are a huge number of LAN parties springing up across the country. Ah, well, you can't have too much of a good thing...

- The Birmingham Frag Fest ( to be held on the 23rd and 24th of August) is now full up: no more playing spaces are available. Amongst the vast guest list names of whom you may have heard include DC-Jibsta, Ql-Cenobite, QPD-Coerj, CIX-Lord-Soth, and DC-Sujoy.

However, Aerotus will be compiling demos and pictures of the event for publication on the Web. In addition, "spectator" places are still available, and I may take advantage of them to write a report myself.

- I mentioned an event called the "BangBash" a few weeks back, being held in Southhampton. Zucc emails me more details on that:

"I'm pleased to announce that the event will be held from 9am to Midnight on Saturday 11 October 1997. The venue will be the main concourse of the Boldrewood building at the University of Southampton. It's a great venue, often used for conferences.

The ticket price is set at 7.00 pounds a head. Once expenses are covered, the rest goes into tournament prizes. Check out the web site for details of getting tickets, finding the venue and system requirements.

Games will include XvT, Carmageddon, Red Alert, Doom - oh, yeah, and what was that other one?"

- Uther forwards me details of yet another event being held at the University Of Surrey, organised by Gandalf:

"This is a quick note to let you know that we (the University of Surrey netgamer lot) are holding a 64 computer LAN party, that will be absolutely and completely FREE! All we ask is that you drag yourself, representatives of your clan and your computer to our Students Union for a massive 12 hour fest on the 30th of August. Mail me for details on how to get tickets, and check out the web site .

Oh - Local games gurus Bullfrog are coming and they reckon they will kick everyone's arse- there's a challenge if ever I heard one..."

CHANGES...

Yes, change is coming. In particular, it is coming to News From The Front, very soon...

RESQUIET IN PACEM

It's a sad day for the UK Quake community: we have lost one of our number, Steve Pitt, a member of Shaolin Buddha Finger, who was killed recently in a motorcycling accident. Han Do Jin, one of his Clanmates and a close friend, emailed me the following dedication to him:

"This week our small clan and our small community was shocked and saddened by the very great loss of one of our finest companions, Steve Pitt, aka Steve DbD and later TBF Steve, who was killed in a motorcycle accident.

It grieves us all to lose such an excellent friend and collegue, for over a year now myself (Han) and Paz have been playing Quake and we have yet to encounter anyone as dedicated to the team or anyone who enjoyed Quake as much as Steve - he was always at the forefront of our wanted list and it is tragic that we only had one week to appreciate his presence.

He and his brother will be sorely missed and Wildnet will certainly never be the same again without such a core presence.

As a mark of respect for Steve we shall be gathering on Wildnet to have a minute's silence.

A date and time is yet to be set but I wish to see members from all clans that knew him - maybe we will have to span onto another server but if that is the case then he deserved it. "

I'll give out details of the minute's silence when I get them.

UKCL NEWS...

Just a short update today, as I'm working on some things and playing on others...

Leann sends the following message:

"The deadline for submission to the first Season 2 UK Clan League Skin pak is 11 August 1997. If you have not sent Leann your clan/individual skins for use in UKCL games, you've got a few more days to do so. Don't panic! There will be a few update skin paks, so clans/individuals should send Leann skins as necessary after 11 August and we'll include them in the next one out. "

I've also bee talking to John Burton about the next Clanmeet, entitled "Fragstock", which is provisionally set for the 22nd of November. Apparently this will include a LAN party with about 150-200 people expected to appear. There's lots more going on under the surface, including the NFTF plans for Fragstock, so this should be be the best event yet.

Lastly, if you're thinking of changing ISP in the near future, don't. See the UKCL page for details why this is a bad time to change.

QWD DEMO EDITING- AT LAST!

I just read this on the QuakeLab- Multimedia:

"There's an update on the Film At 11 news page with some cool stuff about the next version:

"The new version can load and save demos as of tonight, and can (almost correctly) import QuakeWorld demo (QWD) files. Right now it looks like that you will be able to load a QWD file, edit it and save it as a DEM. I will attempt to create a QWD export function as well, but I won't know if its possible until I research it further. ""

Hoorah! At last...

MCW RELEGATIONS/PROMOTIONS- NEWS SO FAR (UPDATE!)

So far I only have one of the results from the Modem Clan War playoffs yesterday: is a surprise result, Quake United Tigger Attack beat the Biker Klan and now rise into Division 2 of the MCW. Here's Pionir's comments on the game and the promotion:

"Yay! I'm dead chuffed at the moment as we have just won our promotion to the 2nd division. A tough match against BK went our way on the 10 minute mark after they had taken the early lead. We then never looked back largely due to becoming what we hate - a camping Clan!

It has to be said, the reason we won was because we took a leaf out of the Dominion's book, using the tactics they employed against us on DM3, when they wiped the floor with us in the 1st MCW season. BK played well, but in the end it was our camping at the red armour (thanks Quake Lords for that one) and our "area domination" of the bridges that meant we won. Our pings were also great (for once) which meant a lot less Quad rockets into walls!"

Terminal Gibbage were demoted to Division 3, following a default loss against the Mere Mortals. No comment from either Clan yet.

In Division 1, The Desperados managed to pull a last- minute victory out of the bag against CIX, winning 116-43. The promotions playoff for promotion to Division 1, between Xtreme Chaos and TFS, has been postponed.

New admins for the next season include Cenobite, overseeing Division 2, and Fraggle, overseeing Division 3.

WORK AND QUAKE- TOGETHER AT LAST.

Alamo feels that those of us in (ahem) honest employment may be missing out on the fun:

"As you may know the Varsity Quake League is the only pure LPB league. Well, I think us workers are missing out on something here. After talking to Rawmeat we have decided to have a go at organising an inter-company 2 v 2 league (again, this will be an LPB league).

So far we have 3 teams- if you are interested in adding to that, please email me. If i get a good response the idea will go ahead.

Teams so far:

Alamo & Phord
Rawmeat & Angel
Shmern & Dusted"

No Groffy and Boywonder? Shurely Shome Mistake?

MCW DIVISION 2 RESULTS

Yes, the Modem Clan War's Division 2 has finished! Fallen Angels won the second division, and consequentally go up into the heights of Division 1 next season (thus leaving The X as the only undefeated Clan in the whole of the MCW) . In second and third place were Xtreme Chaos and TFS, who play each other tonight to determine which Clan joins FA in Division 1, following TFS' victory over XC last night.

Unsurprisingly, the Ministry Of Destruction finshed last, and consequentally will be dropping to Division 3, accompanied by either Terminal Gibbage or the Mere Mortals- a startling result, given the degree to which the Minos Academy had to beat MM to push up into seventh place.

All playoffs are on DM3, not DM6 as previously stated.

CLAN NEWS

- The reculsive Special Patrol Group have come out of their skins a little, with the addition of a new LPB, Spandex, to their team (LPB? SPG? Never...). They've also improved their website, which apparently currently contains scurrilous gossip of all kinds. Hmm...

-The Quake Lords today became the first Clan to secure official sponsorship, winning an undisclosed sum from car manufaturers Renault in exchange for a change of skin and name. The new Clan skin has yet to be revealed, but I'm sure that Clan Clio will maintain their normal standards.

UPDATE: The namechange is apparently not now going ahead. Fo full details and a sneak preview of the new "Clio" skin, check the QL WWW page.

NET.GAMER

You heard it here first. From Issue 5, NetGamer magazine will be running a monthy UK Quake report, accompanied by a variety of Quake-related articles including a detailed editing guide and an overview of the UK Quake scene.

The writer? Well, let's just say he's well-known as one of the greatest authorities in his field, in addition to his reputation as a brilliant, incisive, award-winning commentator and journalist...

QUAKEATHON!

Kelvin sends me a reminder about the upcoming Quakeathon at Shoot And Surf:

"As you may well know, Shoot 'n Surf are holding a Dusk 'til Dawn Quakeathon on Sunday August 24th from 9pm. If you are interested please mail me.

If I get enough interest I will host a following twelve hour stint from 9am Monday 25th August with a fresh batch of quakers.. We have 18 places (some of which are already taken). Please reply soon with your comments as time is running out.

This is another good opportunity to meet up with all those basts you regularly kill (or get killed by) on the 'net! The cost is £20 for the 12 hour session and £30 for the 24 hour, as long as places last .

Anyway, guys (and girls,) please reply- politely!"

CLAN NEWS

- Clan Pendragon are pleased to announce the hire of a new LPB, one of the rare breed of French Quakers, called Papa. Keeper.CP.KoD is "quitely confident that CP could be a dark horse for the UKCL".

WANNA BE A MODEL?

If you can create Quake models, you're in demand. Cheeky emails me with the following request:

"I am looking for model makers to build up a collection of .mdls which people can download and use free as long, as credit goes to the person who made it. "

If you're interested, email him.

In addition, the UK Movie Project, The Stars Are Right, needs modellers to work on some of the fantastic creatures and scenes in the script. If you're on for a challenge, email me.

MODEM CLAN WAR WEEK 7- ROUNDUP!

The final week for Divisions 1 and 3 in the Modem Clan War, and what a week it was!

In Division 1, of course, the Demonic Core won 200-61 against The Dominion, thus preventing DOM from winning the MCW but failing to beat the Quake Lords' total frags by 37, and so finishing in second place themselves. The Quake Lords won 205- 41 against Clan Corpus, thus ensuring their win despite the superb DC victory.

CIX won their game against The Desperados by a stunningly close 93-89 frags, in as tight an end-of-season game as one could wish for, pushing themselves up into third place (and another playoff this Thursday against TD to stay in Division 1), and ensuring that Clan Corpus were pushed down into last place, and thus out of the top Division and into Division 2. Lastly, the Quake Police Department had a relatively relaxed win against Clan Pendragon, 174-105, in a game which could not have affected either Clan's final position.

In Division 2, with one week still to go, the competition was fierce. Xtreme Chaos, the current number one Clan, played a very tough game against Clan Mcmental, in number five, which could have dropped them two places in the League, However, they won 97-87, too close for comfort, but close enough to maintain their position on top of the table.

Current numbers two and three, the Fallen Angels and TFS, played an inconclusive game which resulted in a win for FA, but which will most likely be replayed, whilst the Dark Deviants, at number four, played a comparatively easy game against Terminal Gibbage, winniing 110-63. Meanwhile, the Mere Mortals managed to save themselves from the yawning jaws of possible relegation with a moderately narrow win, 117-101, against the almost certain candidates for relegation, the Ministry Of Death.

The Minos Academy, one of the oldest Clans in the Division, now looks to be in severe danger of relegation, losing 132-167 to ACME. Even if they manage a win against the Mere Mortals tonight, they will still be in ninth place through frag difference, and will have to play Terminal Gibbage to avoid Division 3.

In Division 3, The X, unsurprisingly, finished an unbeaten season top of the league with a dramatic 273-74 win against the Biker Klan. With any luck, Division 2 will give them a tougher challenge.

The Biker Klan have to play Quake United Tigger Attack tomorrow for their chance to enter the Second Division. Will they make it? We'll have to wait and see.

Clan Vengeance managed a surprisingly poor performance against the Boys Of Grangemouth, winning by only 191 to BOG's 125. Could we see a BOG rennaisance next season? And lastly, the Dark Preachers lost to the Dogz, 85-143.

Tonight sees some crucial games in Division 2, with Xtreme Chaos playing TFS for the automatic promotion to Division 1, and Terminal Gibbage having a chance, if they manage to win against MoD and the Mere Mortals lose against the Minos Academy, to free themselves from the chance of relegation. Could they make it? I'm waiting to find out.

ONE HUNDRED AND- NO. JUST ONE HUNDRED.

"Odie The Violent", who maintains the European Quake Website, emails me to say that the EQW has just listed its hundredth Clan. Nice one!

Looks like Bennyboy and the UK Clanlist have some catching up to do...

CLAN NEWS

- Clan Corpus have scooped another one: Cp.KoD.Nicole is moving to CC to become CC-Nicole.

- The Fallen Angels have made up their numbers for the UK Clan League, just days after losing to the Mere Mortals by default. They welcome Mekon, Dust and Aragorn (late of the Weedkillers) into their ranks.

CUT MY OWN EMAIL OFF...

Dibbler has corrected the little problem he was having with his email. If you want to get in touch with him, the email address is now correct...

News From The Front and all written material therin is copyright 1997 The Nomad This page has had visitors since 26th May 1997 Report News to nomad@easynet.co.uk