Archives: 16-31 August 1998

Contest Update:

Quake2.com has posted our contest news. They at least gave a good explanation of it! I'm still waiting for Blue, sCary, Redwood, Telefragged, and Gringo's Hut to post the news. Let's see...
Posted 10:1 EST by LT Tempest

Contest Update:

So far (just within a few hours) PlanetQuake announced our contest. Good start! But they didn't say much else about our contest except: "Steel Maelstrom Announce a new contest"...what's up with that? :D
• Steel Maelstrom had a good DM practice (aside from the little IRC scuffle)last night.
• Heh, yours truley snagged #2 on the fragboard!
  Posted 22:32 EST by LT Tempest

Contest Update:

Sent the word out to all the major news sites about the contest. Let's see sho'll post the news or if they'll just stick with posting MOD patches! :D
Posted 18:35 EST by LT Tempest

Roster Changes:

• Hellbent is now a full member of SMS.
• A couple of Trainees have been added to the roster.
  Posted 12:49 EST by CPT Rantage

The Fragboard Race:

I believe that the new maps are still a good idea, and that the main problem is the version. Not everyone has 3.18 yet. Zoid only accepted 50 or so beta testers for Linux, and getting the maps will not be as much of a problem once auto-download is working. One idea would be to phase the maps in if possible, adding one into the rotation every couple of days. That would give people time to adjust to the new map, and in most cases would prevent the ugly situation of downloading 5 maps in a row.
Posted 12:18 EST by LT Reaperman

Ace's Ramblings:

Well it looks like not many people like the new maps.I've had numerous people complain they have to download new maps. Or that they don't like the new maps. I've noticed that the server is not half as busy as it used to. An example of this is. When the fragboard was up before it used to have 500 people on it now it only has 88. Wow big difference,I propose we have a vote on whether the new maps stay or go.All members of the clan should get one vote.I've had numerous e-mails complaining about the new maps.Hopefully they will go and people can complain about something else.
Posted 11:43 EST by XO Ace

Contest Update:

The new contest site is up. It basically outlines all the rules and regulations...and prizes. Either Rantage or myself will be sending out the word to all the major gaming news sites between today and tomarrow. Check out the new contest site here.
Posted 17:59 EST by LT Tempest

100% Nothing To Do With Quake:

Well maybe Ion Storm related, but certainly not Quake related. For those of you who may have lost a minute or two of sleep due to the reports about John Romero's death, go take a nap: apparently tabloid journalism is running rampant in the online gaming world because it was all apparently a hoax.

Not that this would be any great loss if it happened, IMHO...I have yet to see any product from Johnny's new company, just release dates. Harsh? Perhaps, but I'm a little tired of the fanboys screaming "Quake killer! Quake killer!" whenever some upstart company releases some screenshots, an AVI or has a canned demo at some convention held in some remote corner of the planet.

Geez, don't get me started.
Posted 12:22 EST by CPT Rantage

Files O' Plenty:

Hellbent has made some slight changes to the female SMS skin, have fun with it. I've also placed a download link on the Roster page.
Posted 20:4 EST by CPT Rantage

Miscellaneous Rumblings:

Word will be going out about the contest once Rantage puts the new Contest page up; which will be soon. The prizes are a copy of Quantum Rage "Songs for DeathMatch" and a copy of a Qoole CD-ROM (a quake2 level editing utility). For Second place goes 1 copy of a Qoole CD-ROM. Remember, to get thse prizes, someone must submit a new SMS model, a really good one. The contest name is: "The Qoole SMS Gigadeth Giveaway". The contest page should be up by tonight or tomorrow.
Posted 19:13 EST by LT Tempest

Miscellaneous Rumblings:

The new contest is called: "The SMS Gigadeth Giveaway". The prize will be a Quantum Rage "Songs for DeathMatch" CD. To get this, someone must send in an SMS player model with new sounds and looks for us. We might be adding a little something extra to the current prize. I will be posting all the info once everything has been finalized. Thanks!
Posted 19:15 EST by LT Tempest

Tempest's Ramblings:

New SMS skin is to be released tomorrow by Trainee Hellbent . The new skin is a female one. He's just working out a few things. It'll be ready to download tomorrow from this site.
• SMS had a good CTF practice last night. It's amazing how communication is so vital in CTF. The CTF practice improved my tactics. Planning attacks works very well when you have a talented group!
  Posted 22:7 EST by LT Tempest

Reading Material:

Light fare tonight: I Think, Therefore I .plan, the first in a series of editorials by id Software's own Paul Steed.

How long do you think Paul's column will run before he sticks his foot in his mouth (again) and somebody at id has to make a statement? IMO Steed may be more right than wrong on things, but he tends to fail in the tact department.
Posted 19:5 EST by CPT Rantage

100% Nothing To Do With Quake:

Hotmail users should be aware of a massive security hole that has been reported involving Javascript and the potential theft of Hotmail logins and passwords. More details are available here.
Posted 18:59 EST by CPT Rantage

Gentle Reminder:

Practice tonight, 9pm eastern time starting on IRC (Undernet) channel #sms.
Posted 18:44 EST by CPT Rantage

Reading Material:

Today PC Accelerator hits magazine stands everywhere. It's a magazine about 1st person shooters mainly and 3d accelorators. Definitely my kind of magazine. You can visit their site at www.pcxl.com. I'll snag my copy tomorrow, let's see if it replaces my PC Gamers littered on my floor!
Posted 17:48 EST by LT Tempest

Miscellaneous Rumblings:

I've re-opened the Challenge section so that SMS may once again accept challenges from other Quake clans.
Posted 8:44 EST by CPT Rantage

Reading Material:

A couple of editorials recently have focused on the attitude of the "Quake Community":
• "The Death of the Quake Community?" featured on McPlanet by MuuMuu stresses respect as a cure for the rising tide of llamas.
• "The Online Gaming Community: Destined for a Bleak Future, or Simply Adolescent?" is the Gamer's Alliance-hosted editorial by Josh Forman which examines how the bitter rivalry between the PGL and CPL could affect the online gaming community for the worst.
What I'm waiting for is a fine editorial on how commercialism and worship of the almighty dollar (over the almighty rocket launcher, for example) has affected the Quake community. Will there be one? Not on the money-making sites, of course.....but perhaps here. Stay tuned.
Posted 8:29 EST by CPT Rantage

SMS 2nd Anniversary Contest RESULTS:

I am pleased to announce the winners in the Steel Maelstrom 2nd Anniversary Contest:
• GRAND PRIZE WINNER: r_fillets.
• Second Place: Brain.
• Third Place: Gray Knight.
• Honorable Mention: (tie) Brain (both entries...yes, Brain was rather prolific).
Winning entries are currently on the Contest page, all other entries will be posted as soon as possible. The grand prize winner, r_fillets, will be awarded the Quake2 Mission Pack (or similar substitute) of his choice as specified in the contest rules.

My thanks to all who participated...the first SMS contest went over better than I had hoped in terms of participation and artistic talent. My goal is to have a Third Anniversary Contest next year at this time, with prizes for the top three winners and perhaps some celebrity judging.
Posted 23:49 EST by CPT Rantage

The Fragboard Race:

• Well in the early going's, Lt.Violator is in first on the fragboard with a great lead ahead of me, second is yours truley (LT Tempest), and 3rd is Carnage INC who's making a close in on my position. You can check out all the FragBoard stats at The Official SMS FragBoard site.
• The contest winners will most likely be announced tomarrow. 2 of the judges have not submitted their ballots yet. Once we have the winner announced, we'll post all the 17 pics for the general public to view. But don't worry, tomarrow (most likely) the winner will be announced and he'll walk away with a Quake2 Mission Pack!
• The POTD site has been updated with a Quake Rally2 screenshot.
• This Cub-Reporter (Cpt.Rantage handed me that Nick!) is out!
  Posted 22:15 EST by LT Tempest

Miscellaneous Rumblings:

• The SMS server has been upgraded to Quake2 version 3.18, so you'll need this patch to play. Changes in 3.18 may be viewed here.
• LT Reaperman was kind enough to mirror the DMPAK2 maps (which you'll also need to play on the SMS server unless you want to be violently dumped when the level changes), you may download them from this location.
  Posted 19:41 EST by CPT Rantage

Roster Changes:

Congratulations go out to:
• blakdeth, recommended for member status by LT Reaperman after his great performance in a post-practice CTF battle.
• On_Fire, also now a member of SMS after defeating SGT A-Wal in a 30-minute 1-on-1 on The Edge. Thanks to LT Reaperman for providing the server.
More Trainee tests are pending.
Posted 16:54 EST by CPT Rantage

Contest Update:

Still waiting on the decisions from three judges. Don't worry, the winner will still be announced here tonight.
Posted 16:51 EST by CPT Rantage

Ace's Ramblings:

Well holy crap, people ask me to get new maps for the server. And complain that the dm maps were getting boring.So I ask nick to put more maps up. Now people complain that there are new maps and they have to download them. Jeesh I can't win. Well if you want to play on the server get the maps. Oh ya it looks as if people want to spoof me on the SMS fragboard. Well thats fine, I guess people don't like it when master camper Ace kicks there ass. hahahahaha .All i have to say to you cry babies is . Suck It . Well maybe if my ping was zero and not 500-600. I wouldn't have to camp. Or maybe not.
Posted 16:10 EST by XO Ace

Gentle Reminder:

SMS 2nd Anniversary Party is tonight!
The fun starts at 9pm eastern time on IRC (Undernet) channel #sms. The public is invited to join us both on the channel and on the SMS servers for some violence and low-grade humor. :D
Posted 12:43 EST by CPT Rantage

Tempest's Ramblings:

• So you say your looking for the DMPak2 download huh...FOUND IT! You can snag your copy of the new DeathMatch maps right HERE, and the Upgrade HERE.
• Just watched Scream2! Damn good movie!
  Posted 1:10 EST by LT Tempest

Tempest's Ramblings:

Got my own catagory! :D Anyway, I tried the new DM Maps Dr.Nick put up and I must say, they really suck IMO. It's too much in-doors! I like gibbing outside and in wide-open area's, not in crowded corridors. I am really tempted to go the DM server and switch back to the normal DM Maps, but I want to hear other people's opinion on the new DM Maps first.
• Also, instead of me posting the Pic of the Day images at my site, Cpt.Rantage will post a thumbnail of the new pic on this news page each time I update the site so that I don't half to post news about the POTD page. However, my main POTD site will still remain up, it'll have the archive section, comments about the pic's, and my own "Stuff that Sucks" section. This will be implemented soon.
• Looking forward to tomarrow. SMS will be busy judging the contest entries and celebrating our second annivsary.
  Posted 22:8 EST by LT Tempest

Contest Update:

REMINDER: Entries for the Steel Maelstrom 2nd Anniversary Contest must be received by yours truly by midnight tonight --Eastern time-- in order to be accepted.

Anything that arrives even one minute too late will go into my trashcan, after which I will probably laugh heartily at your expense and write something rather unflattering about your artistic (and clock-reading) skills here on this page.

After all, rules are rules.
Posted 17:53 EST by CPT Rantage

Quake-Related Software:

The long-awaited Eraser Bot v1.0 has been released and is available for download from the Impact Development Team homepage. The Eraser is probably the best-known and most dangerous Quake2 AI opponent out there (a clear step above the famed Quake Reaperbot IMHO). The Eraser's main strengths lie in it's ability to be easily customized by the user (model, skin, agressiveness, aim, favorite weapon, etc), team play (play in a 5-on-5 in the lagless comfort of your own home) and flexibility (supports both CTF and regular deathmatch).

The newest version of the Eraser, according to the author, contains major AI improvements...especially where CTF is concerned. Want to order an all-out assault on the enemy flag? Now you can. Feel the need to camp around your base and play defensively? You've got that too.

If you've never played with a bot before, I would highly encourage you to take the time to download the Eraser.

And hey...you coders out there: the source for version 1.0 has also been released.

Whether this new version of Eraser works with the new Quake2 patch remains to be seen, however.
Posted 16:9 EST by CPT Rantage

New Patch:

A new Quake2 patch has been released: 3.18 Beta. You can snag your copy here, you can read the changes here. I'm gonna wait a while till I download it until it becomes more universal, I also wanna work my way up on the FrgaBoard. I don't want Lt.Violator to win :D
• Happy Gibbing!
  Posted 12:2 EST by LT Tempest

Roster Changes:

• Yah0E and Wangus have left, we wish them well.
• A Trainee has also chosen to leave the probationary program.
  Posted 23:43 EST by CPT Rantage

Contest Update:

CONTEST ENDS AT MIDNIGHT ON FRIDAY!
We're up to 17 entries...will we reach twenty before the entry deadline?
Posted 23:42 EST by CPT Rantage

Surf's Up:

Yup, as of now the Steel MaelStrom Fragboard is up for all your gibbing stats. I guess the SMS servers will be a lot more crowded now!
Posted 21:15 EST by LT Tempest

Miscellaneous Rumblings:

The results of a hardware survey of 386 Quake players have been posted on The Coven homepage. Some interesting (and somewhat suspicious) findings: only 20.4% did not have a 3D accelerator card, the majority (37.2%) have a hard drive between 5.1 and 10GB and a third have more than 64MB of RAM.

Were the respondants a bunch of hardware whores with hefty allowances from mom & dad? I dunno, but as an owner of a P-200MMX with 48MB of RAM, 4+ GB of hard drive space and no hardware acceleration I thought I was doing rather well. EvilNun won't be happy to hear that we need to spend some more ca$h to keep up with everybody else on Cool Street.
Posted 17:51 EST by CPT Rantage

Surf's Up:

• Return of the SMS Fragboard! Yup, that's right. Dr.Nick (the server administrator) replied to me today and told me this:

  I keep forgetting to put it up. I'm not sure what functionality will be lost if I downgrade the .dll and keep the same .exe. We'll see, won't we. I'll have it up this eve (Thurs Aug. 20)

  Well, don't get your hpes up just yet though. Nick is kinda "experimenting" with this and there's a slight chance it may not work. Let's see you'll reign supreme on the fragboard this month!
• Other SMS Server info: XO Ace is talking to Nick about adding new DM maps to the SMS DM Servers. A few other SMS members (including myself) would like to see new and fresh DM maps on the server. The original ones are getting a bit old. I think id should release a new set of Deathmatch maps every 3 months or so to keep interest and popularity in Quake2. I'll keep you posted on any new developments with the Fragboard situation. Thanks!
  Posted 15:59 EST by LT Tempest

Surf's Up:

Added a hilarious pic today to the SMS Pic of the Day site. A mix of Quake2 and Jay Leno! Check it out.
Posted 15:16 EST by LT Tempest

Miscellaneous Rumblings:

Well I had to call Dr Nick on the phone today to get him to reboot the servers. They were down for five days.Nick was working to hard and did not have time to check his system when he got home at night. They are up and running now.
Posted 21:43 EST by XO Ace

New Software:

• Users of Internet Explorer may want to download the latest security patch from Microsoft. Apparently some really evil nasty things could happen if some Braniac hacker built a website containing some evil JScript.
  Posted 14:3 EST by CPT Rantage

• Microsoft has been releasing a whole crapola of stuff lately for their OS's, mainly Win98, but last night they released the new Windows95 Dial-up Networking 1.3. They also released something like that for Win98. download if (like most of the free world) your using Win95 and connecting to a TCP/IP network.
  Posted 10:14 EST by LT Tempest

Battle Time:

SMS had to find yet another server to play on because the SMS servers are down, for what reason I don't know. Anyway, this is how it turned out. SMS had one battle before and after but both were shortened. Hopefully by next week (if we have time to play Quake2 cause of the Contest Entries!), we'll be playing on the regular SMS servers.
• SMS Pic of the Day site updates with yet another funny pic! Enjoy!
• Gib 'em one for Tempest!
  Posted 22:55 EST by LT Tempest

Contest Update:

At the next SMS practice we will be judging the contest entries. The winner will be notified by e-mail the next day. The prize is a Quake2 Mission Pack of his/her choice. So for all you people thinking of submitting a contest entry, you have 5 more days to do so! For all the contest Rules and Regulations, please visit the SMS Contest page.
• SMS Practice tonight, hope to see a good attendance tonight!
• Recieved my Quantum Rage: Songs for Deathmatch today. It's a good change of pace from my regular Quake2 CD Audio. You can listen to a few samples of the Gigadeth site.
• Cpt.Rantage is due back tomarrow from his vacation.
• I'll try and make another update to the POTD site again, that is, if I get a pic to post. I updates the "Tempest's stuff that sucks" area last night! Check it out.
  Posted 17:27 EST by LT Tempest

Surf's Up:

Hmm, weekends are slow for news huh? Anyway, been checking out some other Quake2 clan sites, some that are interesting are: Clan519. They seem to be a very dedicated group of Quakers. Their clan even has produced 519 T-Shirts, I'm not sure how they distribute them though. Unlike SMS, they have a difficult training procedure to go through to be accepted. They can't just be average skill, they have to be down right awesome, SMS has a less "intense" training process. Also, each member has their own skin and logo which I think is very cool and that SMS should consider doing as well (that is, if we wanna put a bit more work into the clan system). Another neat little clan was Clan MR. I took the liberty of checking out their site, cause their leaser (SpoorMan) suggested so. Clan MR was also highly active in the Quake community. Participating in local DM and Ra2 tornements (I'll see if the rest of SMS would want to do this). They only have 5 members but yet have their own domain. As with Clan519, they seem to be very dedicated Quake2'ers. Lastly, the Quake2 clan that shocked me was Clan CrackWhore. This is an all female clan. Each member has a biography and in that bio it shows a semi-nude pic of them. Kinda strange huh? BTW, remember Davia, well the whole CrackWhore idea/skin is based around her good looks and nicely shaped body! I just had to check that site out, I'd like to have a battle with them anytime!
• SMS might get a little sight over-haul in the next two weeks, keep looking!
• What? No POTD update? Hmm, that's a first. Send me some funny or interesting pics and I'll post almost any! I'm currently trying some Flash 3 stuff with the site, but you won't notice squat until I figure out how to use Flash3!
• Almost done Unreal!
• I'm at my Cottage and mosquito's are eating me alive here so I'm gonna go!
• Gib him one for me!
  Posted 23:21 EST by LT Tempest

Battle Time:

SMS had a pretty fun practice last night. The SMS DM and CTF servers were down, but I managed to find a good server that SMS could use anyway. We played 3 or 4 rounds of very fun DM, some of the funniest games I've played in a while (some guy was jumping down to try and gib me from a stack of crates, but while he was in mid flight I railed him and when he finally landed a milla second later he cratered!). As you can see from this pic SMS had a pretty interesting night. The SpoorMan guy propsed a battle with us, but I said I'd get back to him on that.
• POTD site has been updated yet again with a neat pic!
• Movie News We're still debating the plot...should be done within the next day or so!
• Happy Gibbing Folks!
  Posted 0:59 EST by LT Tempest