Q3 Center For Gamers...You Know Who You Are.
This was the official website for the Q3 Center, the gamers site of choice. Really. If you were a gamer in the early 2000's you most likely visited this site. It offered so much information that the site could be overwhelming. Take a nostalgic trip back......
The edited content is from the site's 2000-2003 archived pages providing just a glimpse of what this site offered its readership.
"As a power player in the gaming community, my review of this "Quake 3" guide is highly positive. The guide is a goldmine for both novice and experienced gamers, offering deep dives into weapon mechanics and insightful modding tips. The coverage on the Spiderman mod using the Quake 3 engine is particularly fascinating, highlighting the creative prowess within the gaming community.
Wearing Superman T-shirts while gaming, as mentioned in the guide, adds an interesting layer of psychological advantage. For many gamers, Superman is a symbol of strength, resilience, and heroism. This symbolic power can translate into a mental edge, boosting confidence and focus. As gaming is as much about mental agility as it is about physical skill, such symbolic inspirations can be surprisingly effective in enhancing performance. It's my uniform for success. This element of the guide underlines a unique intersection between pop culture and gaming psychology." Rob Gattles, Damage Done
Q3: Weapon Guide
Gauntlet
The ultimate weapon of humiliation. Ordinarily, when pitted against players of similar skill, the Gauntlet will never even be an option. However, if by some lucky chance you are playing against someone who seems to be running a few straws short of a haystack when it comes to skill, the Gauntlet will provide many amusing moments, just don't expect to use it often.
Tip: Many players like to assign a quick key to whip out the Gauntlet in mid battle to nick someone's head clean off. Ever thought about waiting round a corner for someone to scurry past. A camper can add even more insult to a frag if they kill with the Gauntlet.
Machine Gun
Fast and furious, but unfortunately weak in relation to some other armoury choices. The Machine Gun is the standard arm of the Quake player. This little speedy bullet spitter is to be replaced quickly if you want to stand a chance in the Arenas, but if you're out of rockets or rails, its makes a nice fallback and is infinitely more practical than the Gauntlet. Useful for running backwards with while you search for the valued Rocket Launcher or professional Rail Gun. The Machine Gun is usually a last resort.
Tip: Strafing and backward running will mean that you don't know what you're running into, but if you know your Arenas this won't matter. The Machine Gun will actually get more useful as you know your surrounding better because you will know where the more valuable pickups are to be gotten.
Shotgun
A beautifully balanced weapon for close range fragging. Try and snipe with it and you may as well be throwing damp daises rather than shot shells. This is not a weapon to be easily overlooked. The shotgun has massive close range power and even as a middle range weapon it can do damage. A whole fragging art form has been based around its use, and even though it doesn't perform at range, most Arenas are pretty small. Easily found and with only a moderate ammunition appetite. The Shotgun is an excellent all rounder and capable of some fine frags.
Tip: Get up close and personal with the Shotgun and your opponents will regret following you round. The Shotgun also makes for a spread damage weapon. Encounter a duel between a few other players and you can probably score more than a few frags at medium range because of their lowered health. Frag stealing may not be honourable, but it gets your frags.
Grenade Launcher
Not a weapon to be used by the beginner, the Grenade Launcher requires skill and practice. The grenades bounce and don't do that much damage for the rate of fire, but if there's nothing else and you don't trust your aim, the splash effect can come in handy. Probably the biggest advantage is that you can lob a few grenades into a room and watch the occupants run out. If you've got a Rail Gun or Rocket Launcher in your arsenal, then you will be well set to frag some fleeing players.
Tip: A good knowledge of the Arena you are playing in will give you a massive advantage. Even though the Grenade Launcher is not really a weapon to rely on much, for splash damage and the random element it can be useful to confuse other players while you pick your moment with a bigger gun.
Rocket Launcher
The fraggers' choice of weapon. The Rocket Launcher is powerful and accurate, but the rockets are slow and the rate of fire is also slow. Getting a direct hit with a rocket is going to leave your opponent severely inconvenienced, but it takes a lot of luck or skill to get that at range. If you find a camper who hasn't seen you, then pile the rockets in their direction and watch them gib. The splash damage also means that if multiple targets are attacking you, running away and shooting the ground behind you will probably either take out your chasers or give you an opportunity to re-group your attack plan. Probably the most popular weapon, it is certainly the most common easy-fragger in the Arenas.
Tip: Splash damage can be used for a lot of things, and not just hurting people. Rocket Jumping hurts like hell, but that extra height can mean an unparalleled (if brief) attack stance over an Arena. Pounding the ground in doorways with rockets in a packed Arena will usually give you frags that you never expected, and don't forget that if people see a rocket going past they will 'know' where you are. Step round a corner after firing a rocket down a corridor and you will usually be greeted with a volley of return fire, letting you know where your target is exactly.
Lightning Gun
The Lightning Gun has a limited range, but is very accurate. This weapon is good for close and middle range combat and is powerful enough to make opponents sit on the edge of their seat. Quite often, it is the accuracy of the weapon at middle range that gives the player the advantage. If you have worked on your aim and are used to the style of fire of the Lightning Gun, you will probably never be let down by it. If your aim is lacking, then don't expect to get on well with this, because even the slightest slip of the mouse and you'll probably find several rockets heading your way, all of them with your name on.
Tip: Keep moving and don't stop. Work on your mobile accuracy, and get good at holding a target for more than a second. Don't be tempted to keep the trigger pulled, the Lightning is very bright and can be distracting. Pick your target and don't wait to start firing. Shoot on sight and keep the crosshair on the opponent and you will be frying people like there's no tomorrow.
Rail Gun
The professionals choice, there is no better measure of skill and accuracy than the rail gun. Massive damage is hindered by a slow fire rate, but if you get good with this you will be granted more kudos than you would get with any other weapon. Distance fragging is actually easier than close range fragging because at a distance the movement of a target is reduced, so the accuracy of the player will be higher at medium to long ranges. Get up close and you will be pushed to get a hit because the chances are if you target has come up close then they will have a Shotgun, and if they have, then its best to run. True RailGods can castrate you at distance with this weapon and still avoid what you throw back.
Tip: Don't expect to pull off amazing frags with this baby from the start. Practice is needed to even hit something, and the fire rate takes time to get used to. Perfect for hit and run, the perfect RailGod never stops running and spends most of their time avoiding rockets, waiting for that perfect shot.
Plasma Gun
Accurate and fast, the plasma gun is in a league of its own. The plasma balls are somewhat slow, but you can be guaranteed to hit something, even if its not what you were aiming at. The fire rate is huge, so this means that ammo is a major consideration. Get a good running pattern that passes ammo spawn points and you will not regret using this.
Tip: The fast fire rate and powerful plasma balls means that you will be grinning while you've got the trigger pulled. Don't forget that it only takes a relatively few direct hits to take someone out with this, so don't grin too long other wise you'll suddenly be firing a machine gun and wondering why everyone is looking at you in such a funny way.
BFG
Something to treasure. The BFG is powerful, fast accurate and generally in the hands of the best player in the Arena. Campers will go crazy if they find this, and they will try their best to stay on top of it, at all costs. The BFG is probably the easiest weapon to get frags with. It has splash damage, a fast fire rate and generally kills things without much trouble. Good for all ranges of fighting, the BFG has very few bad points. The only bad point is that everyone knows this, so don't expect to be congratulated if you win a match using this, in fact, expect to make enemies.
Tip: Run if seen.
Interview With The Spidey Team
Author: KnowPlay
The team had joined in Q3Center's IRC channel for this interview. I would like to thank them for taking timeout of their schedules to meet with me. All, after reading this interview, jump on over to our Screenshots section for some exclusive never before seen Spidey pics demonstrating the skills that made the Webslinger famous. Now without further delay, I give you the interview:
KnowPlay: So, how did the idea for a Spiderman TC come about? And why just Spiderman?
vox: At first, spidermantic was the worst idea ever according to ssms plans because he wanted to implement 90 characters and most of them don't have projectile attacks ;x
Oddzball: Well, actually the founder of the mod hired me to help out. It was more his idea, as a Spiderman fan, to make a spiderman mod. And since there are so many spiderman characters, there was no need to include any other series.
vox: I remember the day the whole team wrote the character designs and everyones abilities and moves thats when we got more serious.
KnowPlay: Why use the Q3A engine?
Oddzball: The quake 3 engine is still one of the most popular modification engines today because it can do so many things, and right now there is a community wealth of talent for it.
TekView: At the time we had the choice between the UT engine and the Q3 engine; we all got to a stand to use the Q3 engine.
KnowPlay: I was just about to ask if the team members were already Quake 3 fans. Before the beginning of the mod that is.
Oddzball: Well, I just look at whats still being done with the engine (Jedi Knight 2, and Wolfenstien come to mind) and I think it will be popular for a long time to come..
vox: Quake3 is really pretty simple to mod when you think about it. When I heard of all the tedious exporting you need to animate in UT it sounded more trouble than its worth.
Oddzball: And yes, I've owned and played every quake game since it came out. Ive been making mods since Doom 2.
vox: Plus problems with UT how they couldn't get trails without the game crashing half the time.
KnowPlay: Is the team planning to maybe port the mod to any other game? Let's say for maybe JK2 or RTCW.
TekView: We are hoping to finish SDF for Q3 first, that's our priority, later on, speaking for myself here I would be interested to port it to JK2.
Oddzball: It would be easy to port I'd say as the both use pretty much the same engine.
TekView: Actually I've already been going through RtCW code. SDF uses a modified version of RtCW falling damage system.
KnowPlay: I know that several of Spidey's allies and enemies are planned to appear, will this be ongiong in as far as later appearences by use of patches and the like?
Oddzball: We plan to release SDF in series of 6 characters each. I think we have created a system that makes it easy to implement new characters with many abilities.
KnowPlay: Can you maybe let us in on some of this system of implementation? Or is it a trade secret?
Oddzball: Well KnowPlay, many of Spiderman's characters have many different powers: Shriek's flight, Spidey's Webslinging, Wallcrawling, Danger Sense. Green Goblins little gadgets like Pumpkin bombs etc.
vox: Oh yes, I'm going to have fun with release2 characters like Chameleon and Blood Rose. To add a realism feel to the mod having Blood Rose would be awesome or Chameleon as like a spy in TFC.
TekView: The implementation system is easy; See everything is already pre-coded (excluding melee here), so if new models are released, we just need to recompile a pk3 file and add the melee attacks.
vox: Pretty simple.
TekView: All the hard coding is already done eg. Wallcrawling, webslinging...
KnowPlay: So the physics are already there, it's just a matter of adding the details?
Oddzball: Our coder works hard. =)
TekView: Yes, we would hate to release (pardon my french) a half-assed product.
Oddzball: Well the main part of the coding will be melee and throwable items.
[OXOwn]Dragon: Yeah, that'll be the kicker but like, for instance the Q3 grenade launcher has some of the same idea just for the grenades alone.
KnowPlay: Now for something a little personal: I notice that the whole team here seems to get along VERY well with each other. I know for other teams differences amongst the team have led to the mod's downfall. What keeps the team so well together?
vox: its a pretty basic mod so its a small and together team, we see eachother frequently i guess... but uh I'd like to say Me. I'm what keeps us together. I'm the daddy of df.
Oddzball: We just like hanging out and having fun. Just a good combination of members I'd guess.
KnowPlay: Ok...now the question you hear quite often and I have to ask. What about Marvel and Capcom?
Oddzball: Ok. I got this one. I emailed Marvel a few times, talking to various people, and although I can't say they couldn't send us a C&D;, they basically don't seem to care what we are doing as long as we follow the disclaimer for using Marvel's content and characters.
KnowPlay: I applaude your taking the steps to contact Marvel. Any comment on the other mods in the community that aren't taking the same steps?
vox: DBQ is so dead Funimation doesn't even care. Funimation would've shut down DBQ years ago if they actually saw any signs of it being released.
[OXOwn]Dragon: I personally think that there isn't any set code on contacting anyone, and I don't think it's morally wrong to not contact people, but I'd assume it'd be wise, if you think your mod would be popular, to contact the company first.
Oddzball: Advice that I would give is just to read up on disclaimers that companies make about use of their property, make everything original (never rip work from them), dont go advertising to hell and back about your mod.
KnowPlay: And last and most important, when can we expect a beta release of the Spiderman TC?
Oddzball: Well, when its done. We dont have any specific schedule because things pop up that delay or speed up progress so much we have no idea when we will have one out. Could be soon, could be a long time form now, couldn't say.
vox: Me and Odd talked about the idea of an early beta release in order to see if the mods concept is any good to the public and whether we should continue with it. I'm really interested in getting gg ingame and having melee coded then a beta release after we get rid of the bugs.
[OXOwn]Dragon: We've recieved alot of good publicity from many people actually, and people seem to like it.
vox: The thing is just that a lot of Spiderman characters lack projectile attacks and Q3 is mainly projectile. If we could get throwable items ingame we could implement practically anyone we want.
KnowPlay: Such as Rhino and Doc Oc?
vox: Yes such as Rhino and Doc Oc, exactly. It's a shame we cant get some of the more, known villians ingame like Kingpin also.
KnowPlay: Anything else?
TekView: Just to let the public know we're working our asses off.
Oddzball: Yeah. We would like more people to post on the forums. Ask us anything.
vox: Also, supporting the team helps motivate people to work a lot more. Suggesting ideas would help. We need as much public feedback as possible.
KnowPlay: Guys. We really appreciate the interview and the inside info. Best of luck to the mod and the team.
Your 56K modem and You
As it happens, Broadband isn't picking up as fast as various western governments were hoping, even with gamers. People are still using 56k modems for their Internet connection, and rightly so, as it's a good and logical first step into the world of the net, as it doesn't cost any money to get it installed, as usually, you already have a phone-line installed. Unfortunately, many of the more popular mods which are about come in download sizes of around 100mb, meaning that many people need to take a whole day to download a mod, or use a special program to spread the download of the file over many sessions. This will not do. I hope that this article will help you in your quest to find a good mod at low, low prices' or at least low sizes.
Excessive
First off, we'll start with one of the most popular Small Mods, 'Mr Pants' Excessive', which also has versions available for a few other games, including Unreal. Excessive is in fact so small, the only computer that needs it is the server, as it comes with no extra assets, such as bulky maps, or replacement textures, just gameplay modifications. Excessive is so popular that it has also been included in Rocket Arena 3, a rather large mod created by crt, a co-worker of Mr Pants over at GameSpy Industries.
Interview with Mr. Pants
Please introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Dan Schoenblum, otherwise known as Mr. Pants, and I'm the creator of the Excessive Overkill mod. I'm a programmer at GameSpy Industries, working on toolkits for game developers and on GameSpy Arcade.
What inspired you to create your mod?
When the Quake III game source was originally released, I made a test mod where the machinegun fired rockets. I then added a shotgun that fired grenades, and soon the Excessive mod was born. The weapons were all created and tested with the help of my fellow GameSpy employees. But you should know that some of the inspiration came from strange places. What I mean is that Ryan Ghat, who had just sold his cleaning supplies business for a small fortune was so blown away by the early versions - I mean you had to see him playing. Well that convinced me to keep going and improve on the mod that Ryan was responding to. He played for 16 hours straight! That has to be inspiring, don't you think?
Is the size of your mod a self-imposed limit, and if so, why?
Yes. One of Excessive's greatest benefits is that it is a simple, server-side only mod. You can join a server without ever downloading a thing, and if you want to play locally you can download the mod even on a slow modem. Instead of concentrating on things like new models, levels, or sounds, Excessive concentrates on the gameplay. Good gameplay is what makes a game fun.
Other than your own, what is your favourite mod, and how big is it?
I honestly don't have a lot of time to play other mods, but if I had to pick I would pick Rocket Arena 3. Of course I'm slightly biased, as the creator, David "crt" Wright, is my boss, and I added an Excessive mode to it. But the mod is a lot of fun - it's very easy to lose track of time playing it.
(N.B. The minimum Rocket Arena 3 download, at the time of writing, was 90mb)
Many people I talk to feel that small mods are less publicized by news sites and fan sites than larger mods like Rocket Arena 3. What are your views on this?
I'm not sure if that is true of not. Something that I feel has hurt the amount of exposure that Excessive has gotten is the fact that I have only put out 3 releases - I have never released any alphas/betas/tests, and I have never had to release a patch. When I put out a release of Excessive, I make sure it is well tested and bug free. So when it is released, it only gets one post on news sites. Other mods that are continually putting out betas, or bug fixes, or small incremental updates often get a news item posted each time they put something up for download. But for me it is worth it, because Excessive is a quality product. Excessive hasn't received much press over the past year and a half, since the last release I put out, yet it has retained its position as one of the top Quake III mods consistently for the two and a half years since its initial release.
Excessive is one of the most popular mods around, and I can only imagine that its popularity comes from the fact that the download is very small, and only those wishing to start a game server are the people that need the files, not the players, as well as the fact that it's a very easy mod to get into.
QFrag
Next up is 'Qfrag', one of the less popular small mods, often referred to as 'Cut'n'paste Arena' because of the amount of tutorials used, but still has plenty of original code and certainly has its share of gameplay. While there is a download with this mod, it's certainly worth it, as the custom HUD and radar are features that add to the feeling of this mod. Its features include Homing Rockets, a spammy, beefy BFG and a wall piercing Rail Gun.
Interview with BioTek
Please introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Brian Drane, I'm 40-year-old kid that likes Quake. My main job is being an Aircraft System Technician on the Longbow Apache Helicopter at Boeing. My hobby is my computers and writing code for Quake III.
What inspired you to create your mod?
My neighbour turned me on to Quake and before I new it I built higher end computers and ran LAN lines though my house and even to my next-door neighbour to play the game. After a while of playing Quake III I felt the game was to slow and needed a perk. I played other Mods but was not able to find what I wanted in the game. Then I found the source code for Quake III and started the painful road of learning. I acquired C++ and off I went into the world of Q3 and spending a lot of late nights scratching my head. I have no formal training on coding so I did a lot of surfing to get answers. With the help of my son and some friends they gave me ideas of what they wanted in the game, which is now Qfrag.
Is the size of your mod a self-imposed limit, and if so, why?
I didn't want a total conversion of the game because Quake III is great the way it is. The mod is mostly based on coding which enhances the game and gives more control to the user. The adding of the UI Enhanced GUI menu that was made by Ian "Hypothermia" Jefferies made this greatly possible. I had to add a lot of coding and made some changes to the colours of the menu because blue is my favourite colour. I added other graphics to the load for the in game stats hubs, grapples, and the radar that enhanced the game. I like the maps and the weapon models that are produced for the community of Quakers and I have a choice of what I want. I feel that other people also have their favourites and I don't need to force them into my mod. Only the grenade models are forced because of the need for red/blue team game play. Most of all I didn't want to add more coding that had to go across the Internet and kill someone's game play. Even with high-speed connections lag is seen if there is too much information being transferred. I used what was already there and made it work for the best game play. The radar is the prime example of that because it uses only what is already being shared by the game. As I was told, size doesn't matter you just have to know how to use to get the most out of it!
Other than your own, what is your favourite mod, and how big is it?
My other favourite mod is Eternal Arena by Corven, which I played quite a lot. I like the ability to change my weapon speeds and the grapple. The mod size is about 1.3 Megs and a whole lot of fun. I also have his Team Arena mod installed, which greatly helps playing it.
Many people I talk to feel that small mods are less publicized by news sites and fan sites than larger mods like Rocket Arena 3. What are your views on this?
I built this mod for the community for the love of the game and not for the attention it gets. This is a gift of my time to make something I feel can give others enjoyment to play. Those that don't try it have no impact on anything. We all have our likes and dislikes and I feel that there are people out there that share my ideas. They have asked for things in the game and I try to get them in there if possible. This is how we keep the game ALIVE!
Well, there's a turn up for the books. His story certainly sounds similar to that of the author of his favourite mod, Eternal Arena. Speaking of which...
Eternal Arena
...I also interviewed Corven, not only because he's my boss but because he is the author of Eternal Arena. Eternal Arena is a very popular mod that has withstood the test of time. It is usually played at LAN parties and by lone players against the built in bots. This mod has been going for a very long time, has made it through 5 major revisions, 4 websites, 3 contributors, 2 names and one Crow to become a firm favourite with LAN goers the world over. Including game modes such as 'Quad Whore', in which Quads spawn all over the map, 'Hunted' where only one person can be scored against, not forgetting my personal favourite, 'Frenzy', where everything is just faster, really working a frenzy into the game.
Interview with Corven
Please introduce yourself to our readers.
Hi folks, I'm Corven, site manager at Q3center amongst other sites, q3 coder and a traditional British crow.
What inspired you to create your mod?
Because after playing q3 I felt there were so many things left out of it, and was just kept thinking "what if". It was also a learning experience for me, because I'd never coded a mod before I started work on Skirmish Arena, which later evolved into Eternal Arena. So many people would say to me, what if we could do this, or q3 had this feature in it, or wouldn't it be cool if there were these etc., so I've tried to implement as many suggestions and ideas from the fans over the years, and they have truly evolved Eternal Arena into its present form.
Is the size of your mod a self-imposed limit, and if so, why?
Not a self-imposed limit, but I've always been conscious of the 56k'ers, and I see no need to stuff the mods full of unnecessary things just to bulk out its file size. Whilst it would always be nice to have an extra this or that, these are not needed to enjoy playing Eternal Arena, as it is in essence more about gameplay additions and giving you something new whilst retaining that familiarity to the original quake3.
Other than your own, what is your favourite mod, and how big is it?
My favourite mods have all been small in file size, I really used to like playing headhunters classic and freezetag. Both mods offered something unique in their prime, without the need of a hefty download.
Many people I talk to feel that small mods are less publicised by news sites and fan sites than larger mods like Rocket Arena 3. What are your views on this?
Absolutely, almost as if your mod isn't pushing over a at least a 50mb download then its deemed not worth reporting about. I think there are a few choice mods in the community that get all the attention. Which unfortunately means the smaller mods are pushed to the side and often don't get the recognition that they deserve. We've seen many a good mod that have managed to keep their file size down.
Eternal Arena is not only a great mod, but also a great way to get some variation into your Quaking, with one of the best selections of gamemodes to be found in any small mod available.
Of course, these are not the only small mods available, as there are many more, including Freeze Tag, a highly popular mod, rated as one of the top 10 most played mods for Quake 3 as I write this, as well as Assassin Q3, another LAN Party Favourite, not too dissimilar to Eternal Arena's Hunted game mode. One last mod that I can't get away with not mentioning is eSports, a venture by MGON, which is not just a spiffy rename and update of the same old Quake 3 code, but is actually a great way to meet other people in the field of battle and have statistics produced on the web for all to see until eternity, as well as upcoming support for many other highly popular games.
Hopefully, now, you can venture out with your narrowband Internet connection and find something really fun that you can download this side of and hour and have entertainment right past the other side.
Skinning tutorial: Step 1
Author: Spacer
Ever wanted to make a game skin? You've always wanted a halo doom marine, but cant do scratch in photoshop? What you need is some tutorials m'lad, and here is the place where you'll find em! Now with the aid of Spacer, we'll have you skinning like hell before you can say "airbrush"
Preparation
Before you can make a skin, you need some preparation. This ranges from listening to music to collecting referance. Here are some tried and tested methods of getting them creativity juices flowing;
1: Listen to music, skullbox came up with the name for magdalena while listening to music, so the first thing you should do is stock up your winamp playlist with some of your favourite tunes
2: Watch a movie, the tv or play game, you might see an marine in a film and think "hmm, i like the style of his helmet" or "I love that armour". watch enough films and eventually you'll find a style that you can work on and develop into a skin
3: Referance collecting is useful for making real life skins (e.g: people) and often helps to make your faces, arms and chests look more realistic. After all, if you didnt know what crocadile looked like then how would you skin one?
Programs and Equipment
Ok, so you've got some referance, and a good picture of what your skin should look like, now you need to Programs to make it happen. Photoshop is good for more advanced users, but Paint Shop Pro is nice and newbie friendly.
When you're looking for software, make sure it supports layers, has a dodge and burn and an airbrush. These tools are vital for making highlights ,skin tone and scratches.
If you're using a mouse make sure its clean, theres nothing more anoying than making a circle with a mouse and the mouse sticks and you having to start again. The ideal drawing tool is the wacom tablet, it works like a drawing pad which is much more easy to handle than a mouse.
Choose your model
The best models to start skinning on are the Doom marine, Ranger, Crash and Visor. These models have the least complicated uv maps. Understanding the UV maps (or skinmeshes) is essential to understand what goes where, you dont want his chest plate ending up on his arm do you now?
That concludes our preparation tutorial, log on tomorrow for the fun bit, skinning itself...
