6/28/98
But when that song begin to play I just can't bear to look away.
- Movie Stuff -
Shot a scene. Damn it went good, the first scene with several people in one room and eyes darting around, reaction shots and so forth. Finally something went really really right and basically on schedule. Yay.
Actually something really weird happened. I ended up making a friend at the cafe downtown because they gave us the coffee we returned to them last night. It was basically my fault and when I returned it I got into a conversation about music. Weird.
A few words of advice before I forget them...
1. Keep a soldering iron around.
2. Careful leaving mayonaisse out for a long time.
3. Don't forget to turn the appliances back on.
- EMF Weekly -
I promise tommorrow night! I really really promise.
- SS Tiny News™ from Gommy! -
If not for my funky fresh homeboy Gommy I would have nothing to say about Subspace, so thanks to Gom for these li'l tidbits...
War League is looking for teams.
The VIE East servers crashed yesterday or something. (Ha! Servers 'em right!)
Yeah, and Gom's map for Brick Wars. He sent it to me the other day. It is AWESOME...a special War Zone map designed for brick fights. All the bases are weak on defense, but we will give you enough bricks you can build your own from the skeletons provided. Gommy has two killer things I want to run in SCF and I can't because we have no population. Someone want to organize us a scenario from these? :)
6/27/98
EMFN,® now featuring "Sloppy News™ !"
I left my soul there down by the sea; Ilost control here living free.
- Chaos Tournament! -
Good idea from Xirphoid on the Chaos West board. (Not that anyone left in the VIE zones wants to see a single damned new idea the whole rest of their lives.) I'm hoping this will round out into a nice, friendly, fast-play type of zone the way Dueling Zone used to be. Arrange your own fights--single or team, turret or no turret, specials or duel style--without settings-enforced rules and so forth. Instant attach, big turrets, and a little map? I like it. :)
- Mafia Chaos -
I forgot to mention last night that the Evil Pentagram in Mafia's CZ map, which caused some controversy a while back, went up UNCENSORED in Chaos West the other day. All hail Hadar for having the balls to do it. No disrespect meant to the people who objected to the thing, but let's face it, Subspace transcends and supercedes the petty good-versus-evil conflicts that divide us from time to time. Mafia may be a minion of Satan, but damn it, he's a fellow Subspacer, and that's good enough for me.
- My Li'l Movie -
I guess I should say something about it. It's going pretty well now, minus the normal problems one might run into. Moving a little slow and needing some better organization, but damn if we aren't getting some killer performances and lighting for a first time director and a first time cinematographer. The movie will probably be 45 minutes long. It's in color, shot on film, and I'll probably be doing the music. It should be finished with editing and printing and so forth by January. No I won't tell you the title or the budget. Yes I will put up a vivo or something when the time comes. :)
Either that or my resume, seeking work in the exciting fast food industry...
- Kick Ass List -
Ignore the graphic up there please. It's outdated but I'm lazy as hell so fuck it. The spanking new KA List is as follows:
1. Trench Wars, because dgus is the godfather of the player zone and SD's castle is awesome. Simple, focused, fun, and frustrating as hell, but as addictive as anything since the high times of J12.
2. War Zone East, for keeping up the good work. The zone is alive and healthy, they're running a classic map, risking player dissatisfaction after a very popular new map, and weekly meetings continue unabated. All with the owner gone away to summer camp or something. Awesome work.
3. A Small Warzone. After all this time, it's still alive and kicking, and well on its way to being the most popular zone in the entire game. I don't really like all the tiny bases anymore, and dgus *still* hasn't put up my small WZ map which SD sent him (the first of its kind and still the best, hint hint neener, I dare you dgus you punk)...but the longevity and variety of this zone continues to impress me, and it continues to ruthlessly kill every small WZ that opposes it. Nice work.
4. Dueling Zone. As much as I don't like Tyrsis' policies or some of the attitude that prevails here about certain styles of fighting, Tyrsis did finally get what he wanted with his map changes. The zone has remained well populated in a time that has seen most of the small or specialized VIE zones bite the dust, and for that it deserves a nod.
5. In memoriam, Scenarios of Irony, which remains burned into my mind two months after its untimely demise--the finest player zone ever, featuring possibly the second best map ever made for this game. I haven't had this much fun in Subspace since the glory days of Chaos West, and I haven't had as much fun since, either. Someone please contact A Clove and force a host on him.
- Quickie Album Review -
I've been listening to the Boards of Canada's debut album nonstop for the last month or so. It's mellow, moody, brilliant elecronica, perfect for sitting around by yourself thinking. Pretty depressing, but very pretty, and it's not often that electronic music wields such a light touch and yet so often sticks you in the gut.
The album is called Music Has the Right to Children and is available only as a UK import on the Warp label. Yes, it was expensive as hell. :P If you're lucky enough to live near a good record store, see if they have a copy and listen to track 10. Yow.
- Doh -
It's 3:15 and my damned feet still hurt. Getting up in 5 hours again. Why do I do this? Blah. Oh well, you've got something to read at least. Well, sorta. ;)
6/26/98
Indifference, the plague that moves throughout this land: omen signs in the shape of things to come.
- Bad Minefield -
I'm sorry, I'm a flake. No updates, no sloppy new, no Minefield Weekly. Worst of all, no movie. Last Friday the production kind of fell apart, before it had even gotten up off the ground. It will be repaired, but I have this to say. If you ever make a movie of any length, don't get your jobs mixed up. The director should not be scheduling shoots, the cinematographer should not be taking phone calls--and especially not loading film--and the gaffer should not be operating camera. No one should be doing continuity but the same person who did it the day before, and if you can't get someone on continuity you really shouldn't shoot at all. And always know everyone's schedules in advance.
It's a week later and things are feeling a little better organized, with a less ambitious shoot probably going down tomorrow, gearing up into more difficult stuff on the weekend. We've got a tighter crew and more help, and with some luck we'll have more fun this time. I'll still be doing these little updates, and hopefully I will have the Minefield Weekly up tomorrow night, and each Friday thereafter. Please send me stuff for it so I am not wracked with guilt at just leaving the poor hapless Subspace community with my pitiful Sloppy News™. :)
- New CZW Map -
My map was taken down from Chaos West and replaced with Mafia's map. The zone still aint doing too well, but that's not so bad for me. I can't look objectively at my own map for obvious reasons, but I *know* Mafia's map is good and no one's playing in it either. VIE Chaos players just suck. First Rod/Jolly (twice!) then me, now Mafia. Go back to mudding, the whole lot of you!
6/20/98
Indifference, the plague that moves throughout this land: omen signs in the shape of things to come.
- With friends like this, who needs PC Gamer? -
Got to love the way Warzone sticks ads on your pages without so much as a "you're going to eat it and you're going to like it" for courtesy's sake. Silent Dragon wrote me the other day asking me "hey who put that ad on the SCF page =)" so today now that I have a few hours to breathe, we're looking for a new host, and maybe a nice gooey animated porn ad to put up in the first ad's placeplace as our little goodbye / thank-you present to Trixter and Zero3. Let's just say don't load the Sheep page with someone looking over your shoulder.
As always, submissions are welcome.
Watch this space for the location of the new pasture.
- Heh. -
I forgot I was even doing this. I had hoped to type a little bit about the movie as it goes, if nothing else but to keep a small record of it and maybe record whatever mistakes are made....but frankly all I want to do right now is play Trench Wars.
Filmmaking sucks because no matter how much planning you do it is never enough.
- WTF. -
I have absolutely no idea what is going on around here these days. Sorry. :)
- I forgot. -
Minefield Weekly should be up tomorrow. I have the material and just haven't had a chance to really put it together. After the first installment it should be a cakewalk.
- Fickle Bastards -
Don't forget Paintball is back, now at the 2xT3 servers. Paintball is probably the second or third great player zone, and has had a lot of trouble with all the moves around the net..Don't turn your back on em now. :)
6/17/98
EMFN®, now featuring Sloppy News™ !
When all the leaves have fallen and turned to dust will we remain entrenched within our ways?
- Introducing Sloppy News™ -
Instead of never posting news, I'm just going to post poorly written news from now on. Often it may be about things no one really cares about. (Not today, though.)
- Very Close -
The first issue of the Minefield Weekly is almost upon us. Keep your eyes peeled.
- Imago is upset! -
The grand overseer of the 2xT3 servers has posted an abrasive but important challenge to the Server Board which should be of interest to anyone who frequents the player zones...and perhaps to the rest of us as well. Apart from issues of server versions, Imago has actually gone so far as to suggest that VIE shut down its servers sooner than planned. As in: right now. Scary stuff, but maybe he has a point.
Look.
- New SD Map in Trench Wars -
This news is several days old, but I thought I should mention it because I am a fan of Silent Dragon's maps. (Plus he is my bud.) SD is well known for his small war maps, especially in ASWZ and one-time player zone co-champ Moolie Zone (now sadly gone). This is actually not a full map because Trench Wars doesn't call for one. TW is about holding a single base (or sometimes two) for as long as possible. It works itself into a peculiar conflict, as one might expect knowing it to be the creation of dgus, ASWZ mastermind and arguable the godfather of intelligent player zones. SD's map presents a tight set of problems. Not a lot of variety in that matter, but plenty of ways to approach those problems. I think it's the first serious attempt at mapping for the potential of this new game.
6/16/98
All I need is something good to feel alive.
- Sabbatical Closing Fast -
This is probably the last update I will make to this page before it changes form temporarily. As I mentioned yesterday, I'm going to be very busy shooting a short film for most of the next two months. The Minefield Weekly's grand opening will be Wednesday night. Actually, it won't be very grand. I'm shooting for medium intensity--just a few pieces of good writing each week from the various scoundrels and jackals you know and love around the game, plus some up and coming slime whose contributions I'm sure you'll enjoy.
At very least, expect a contribution from me. :)
- SCSG Grand Opening -
Or something. The SCSG is the Sheep Cloning Scenario Guild. I have no idea what it's about exactly, and I'm not sure whether or not it's a conflict of interest or not for me to be a member, or if I belong in it since I'm probably never going to run a scenario, but think of it as a show of solidarity.
The apparent purpose of the SCSG is to organize and discuss potential and actual scenarios for the SCF. It will not reside over things like a council and no one will be required to join it in order to run a scen in the SCF. The impression that I have right now is that the organization will be around primarily to help people design and arrange successful scenarios.
Nor am I sure what membership is or how one gains it. If you are interested in joining or otherwise participating, please contact VectorBoy, Silent Dragon, or Excalibur.
- Casa Eblana -
I'm testing a single base in Sheep Cloning GWest at the moment, which I've dubbed Casa Eblana. The game is screwy--sort of paintball style, with fatal or near-fatal hits--but also extremely slow recharge. It's a timed game of five minutes; die three times and you'll spend the rest of those five minutes in spec mode. The idea is to force cautious, carefully considered maneuvers and use of resources in a base attack. The Casa is more or less in four sections. I can see three or four freqs holding sections of it, or one dominating by holding the entrance. Turf flags make certain areas more valuable than others; a one minute periodic reward will be the deciding factor in the scoring of the timed game.
Please let me know what you think of the game and if it's worth playing around with some more.
6/14/98
Who can you trust?
- Minefield Weekly -
Lately I've had increasingly less time to update this page as well as maintain Subspace and do anything related to it. It's going to get worse before it gets better. While I am by no means abandoning the page or adopting a "staff", I'm going to take the opportunity to have some fun with it and get some interesting reading material up here that otherwise never have happened.
Between next Thursday and late July, I will be shooting scenes for a 45 minute movie that will constitute my final project for school. This amounts to shoots between ten and fifteen hours, three and four days a week. I wouldn't be surprised if I don't write one single word for this page that whole time.
Starting this Wednesday, I will be taking a leave of absence, and this page will take on a temporary magazine format. Nothing hugely ambitious, mind you. Four or five pieces of quality writing about the game and its players. Your submissions are of course welcome and appreciated.
Don't worry, I'm not Rincewind and this aint SubScene. I'll be back. :)
Submit!
- EGN -
Um...
I hate it!
I'm sorry, but the program is silly--not because it currently lacks features that are upcoming, but because it's at its root a copy of someone else's good idea. The planned changes are irrelevant window dressing to that fact. Even if I am wrong about this, whatever is added to it--and however the look is changed--it's still a bandwagon jumper. If EGN is to become anything more than an embarrassing waste of someone's time, it ought to be specialized for gaming--severely specialized, as in totally useless to non-gamers. It ought to assume ICQ is running and avoid any overlap with it whatsoever, including away status and messaging.
Fine, don't take my suggestions seriously.
- SCF Mixup -
It was mentioned on the news.txt page that VectorBoy would be running scenarios for Sheep Cloning Facility and would be making certain maps for upcoming events. This should be taken as something of an exaggeration. While VB will be mapping and running his own scenario, and may be helping with others, anyone who runs a scenario in the SCF will be moderating that scenario unless he specifically asks otherwise, and will have his choice of moderators, or at very least not have any moderators thrust upon him against his will with the possible exception of myself.
As for the mapping issue, VB is one of several people making custom maps for upcoming events and so forth. No one has been promised anything and everyone who submits something has a chance of having it used.
6/08/98
Overland the winds of change consume the land, while we remain in the shadow of summers now past.
- J12, R.I.P.? -
With all the current argument over the zero bounty start in Chaos East, not enough attention has not been given to the J12 contingent. They have been a low-noise and loyal fixture in the Battle Drone map for at least as long as I have been playing, and one of the more pleasant groups of people to team with in a zone where the majority of players seem often more interested in individual reputation than in fighting together with their frequencies. J12 freqs commonly stick together for hours on end while swarms and turrets split or simply fall apart. When J12 players turn on each other, there is still a certain comeraderie that exists, and kills are generally accepted with a minimum of bitterness and whining.
The change to starting bounties seems to have ruined the J12 war, which always depended on high bounty negs and a minimum of greening. Unfortunately, while the J12ers tend to be in too great a hurry to return to their base (or base invasion, as the case may be) to cause trouble, that old bounty setup has rightly been accused of unleashing negs-with-bursts disease on players who are trying to increase their averages and/or ratings.
I do support the zero bounty start, and would actually like to see -12 bounty brought back (although I believe the software no longer even supports that), but the J12 battle has always been an important--if not the most important--part of the Battle Drome map; it influences everything around it by way of the tunnel which spans the level. The maze above the tunnel is shaped by this fight. The dogfighting in the open spaces below will not likely keep the same flavor without J12. The J12ers are among the least vocal players in Subspace. They simply spend too much time playing the game to be involved in politics. I know this because I was very much one of them for a very long time. It really seems that there is no one gunning for them right now. While the Chaos East vangels' experimentation with the zone settings is admirable, I think a little more is perhaps appropriate in order to balance the first change, at least once the effects of that change are more clear.
Having said all that, let me also say this. People who go into a zone and immediately start complaining about changes they cannot possibly have given a fair try--the kinds of players who get involved in a debate only once that debate has ended--are not worth the paper they are printed on, and should not be playing this game at all. We do not need that kind of negativism in a game that is struggling like this; it always does more harm than good and is selfish as hell. An intelligent person spends time assessing something before bursting out with an opinion about it. Considering how damned frustrating it can be to get other people interested in this game, I'd expect Subspace players to realize this fact better than anyone. I'm really disappointed in this game's populace at the moment. Having taken a slight beating over my Chaos West map--not a fun experience--I can better appreciate why the vangels of Chaos and Turf, who have been treated far more viciously, would become frustrated with this game.
These people are doing you a favor by running zones that otherwise would be completely and utterly neglected, and they have made themselves far more open to suggestions and criticism than VIE ever has. If you'd rather they just sat around watching their zones--your zones--waver in doldrums and disintegrate as they did for the first four months of this year, just keep up with the knee jerk reactions and cheap insults. I'm sure you'll get what you want sooner or later.
- Armada Rocks -
I've had The Romulans' screwy Armada game up in Sheep Cloning Facility for quite a while now, and it's going to stay there a while longer. The two-team war game really kicks ass once the zone raises above 15 players; the dueling tourney we had this weekend helped that happen. I missed a 45 player game Saturday but was able to play in a decent sized arena Sunday and it was more fun than I've had in a while. The two team dynamic has unfortunately forced me to make the server reset scores of people who change frequencies--otherwise people join the winning team at the last minute--but I'm finding that this sort of setup holds teams together and forces good players to slum with bad players and people who are screwing off. It forces people who are serious about flagging to whip their teams into shape. It may become a staple for War games in the SCF. If you are a War player or an SCF regular, please let me know what you think about this.
- Go Om! -
Outer Rim has shut down server hosting due to lameass hacker activity. Omicron of Maxig tells it like it is.
6/07/98
Severance. The birds of leaving call to us--yet here we stand, endowed with the fear of flight.
- A Special Request -
DataMunky's friend Mick, also a Subspace player, has been horribly injured and is in the hospital. They aren't sure he will ever fully recover, and he is in very poor spirits--and, I imagine, a lot of pain. DataMunky has put together a Get Well Soon page, "as a testament to the power of the Internet and to show others and my friend that there are people out there who care and hope to see his condition improve." It is a simple guestbook for people to leave messages in--whatever thoughts or wishes or quotations or little stories you think might cheer him up. Data plans to print it out and take it to the hospital. As Omicron has already pointed out, please don't mess around with this page. This is real-life stuff.
- 31 Flags Guide Finished -
For those not yet aware, 31 Flags is my map which has just gone up in VIE Chaos GWest. I thought I was going to complete this last night but time went by too fast and I was not feeling well so I just went to bed. Sorry about that! Anyway, being both a map purist and a history buff, I wanted to put this together to explain what has become a fairly controversial map, considering the map it replaced and the elements that have never been seen in Chaos Zone before. Hopefully this will make a few people feel more at home in the place. I also wanted to set a precedent, because there are a lot of maps out there that I've enjoyed immensely and wished there were some page or document identifying the designer and discussing the structures and some of the purposes and stories behind their creation. Well, here's mine. Sorry for the big ol' jpeg.
Guide to 31 Flags
- 45 Sheep! -
As reported by the one the only Grandmasta Sheepdog Silent Dragon, the Rise from Chaos dueling tourney, organized by Gone^Nuclear, brought dozens of people into Sheep Cloning Facility (VIE Sheep Cloning GWest) yesterday. As a side effect from the tourney, the Armada game that is running there now--The Romulans' WZ game designed for two huge teams in two huge bases--peaked out at 45 players, and the tunnels are said to have been a bloodbath. With luck we can get a second game together today, and I won't miss it this time. ;( The tourney starts at noon Pacific time. Sorry to get rid of scoring (it now resets on freq change), but it was encouraging cheap last minute frequency changes, which I don't think ought to be rewarded. To make up for this, the jackpot is going to be huge. Get out HyperSnap. :)
- Who said Godzilla was a bad movie? -
The people who say Godzilla was a bad movie for various reasons--don't believe them. It is probably the worst movie ever made, and for every reason I can think of. Possibly the most unpleasant experience I've ever had watching a movie, and certainly the angriest I've been in a theatre, and I don't even have any attachment to Godzilla. This was long after I'd given up on the thing, too. My heart was actually racing--I nearly cried I was so fucking pissed off. I do not exaggerate. I don't know why I didn't just walk out.
And I'm not the type to analyze movies while I'm seeing them...I'm really not...but you'd think that with such a terrible story and script, with inadequate models, sets, and monster design, and with one of the worst casts ever assembled for a motion picture, they could at least get their exposure right and have the picture look ok. It was so grainy my girlfriend actually noticed it, and I wasn't aware she knew what grain is. I haven't been so entirely uninterested in making movies since the day before I saw Star Wars.
- Outer Rim is alive and well. -
Leaving this news up since it is important and I added it late yesterday. Outer Rim's zones and web servers are down due to temporary problems. They are not dead so don't forget about them. See the news.txt for the full story.
6/06/98
Let the waste cross the ancient trail to you, far out beneath the sorrow clouds.
- Outer Rim is alive and well. -
Well, not well. Zone and web servers are down due to temporary problems. They are not dead so don't forget about them. See the news.txt for the full story. Just thought I should mention it here.
- New Map Up in Chaos West -
I told you yesterday there would be something nice for you in Chaos West and I always come through on my promises! ;) Obviously I got advanced word on this because it's my map that's up. So far, my assessment of it seems to be correct: It pisses a whole lot of people off, but a satisfying portion of those it doesn't piss off are amazingly gung ho for it. I've been having a lot of fun there and I hope it stays up. My thanks to everyone who is taking the time to give it a fair shake, and to the supporters it already had for pimping it and swelling the arena size all day long, especially Monocle who doesn't even like Subspace and Moby who is as much of a map co-author as I'm likely to have. Last and most to Hadar and the other Vangels who supported or tolerated it. You guys rule. :)
Anyway, I put together a little guide. Enjoy.
Guide to 31 Flags
- And while we're at it. -
Let's get this straight once and for all. :P
- New KA List -
I redid the Kickking Ass list up at the top. Been a while; sorry. :) Note the heavy emphasis on VIE zones. This is not simply because I have been playing in VIE zones a lot lately, but because I am damned impressed with the work that is being done in them. The War Zone Vangels have been more active than those of any other zone, holding regular meetings, constantly reviewing problems and other issues arising from settings, and taking a forward-thinking approach to the map scene, featuring two new maps since they started making changes to War East only a couple of months ago. And yet the next map on the schedule is a classic level by Rod Humble, out of use now for well over a year. Zen Dogg, for his part, has been making War West available occasionally for map and settings tests, has for the time being brought back the very first War Zone map, and will soon be giving up what is practically his own private zone in order to make room for WZ League.
While the Chaos East folks rested on their laurels, appeasing their players with continuance of an age-old game while Chaos West went to hell (along with the badly underappreciated map thatw as in it), Hadar and the other West vangels sprung to action, although not drastically. Care has been taken not to alter the settings too much, and experiments that have pissed off the players have been changed back fairly quickly. Not only am I grateful to Hadar and co. for giving my map a chance there, but impressed at their unilaterally tossing out the map vote precedent and taking so much heat for it. For a long time I've been hearing from zone owners and ops, "I can't do that; it would make people angry and everyone would hate it." Granted, desperate times call for desperate measures, but it takes balls to put up with the flaming I saw today in Chaos West, and thick skin to weigh negative feedback against positive by proportion rather than by decibels.
And I do not exempt my own zone, the Sheep Cloning Facility from the above. Aside from the fact that I am obviously going to prefer a zone that I have set up myself, there are other reasons I've included it. The player population has been uncommonly loyal for such a hole-in-the-wall zone. The atmosphere is among the friendliest in the game and reminds me of the old days of Speed West, with whining and insults almost always at an extreme minimum. The Vangels of the zone (insofar as I can make people Vangels; I am calling them Sheepdogs) have been taking up different jobs to do with the page and promoting the zone and so forth. People like Silent Dragon and Gommy are now making maps just for the zone, just for fun. I've managed to get a logo made by someone who doesn't even play Subspace anymore. The whole thing makes me feel good about the way people still care about this game. That said, yes, it is also on that list because I am running it--that is to say, I run it like the zone I wished someone would put up for such a long time.
I took out Turf Classic because it crashes all the time and no one seems to give a damn. Sorry, I love you guys but you're making me mad.
Anyhoo...though I'm gravitating now back to the VIE scene, I still find myself coming back to Extreme Games. It is radically experimental, designed for weird fun without fear of or apology for causing frustration. It is also utterly meaningless--and in a time when all these player zones out there seem to have a gimmick or a very strict design, it's nice to see combat simply for combat's own sake, especially in the absence of super settings.
Hats off and nods to the zones I haven't been playing in but which I know are cool as hell: A Small Warzone, Paintball, most or all of the iNet zones, most of OR, and yes, I know you'll laugh at me but I'm going to say it anyway: Annihilation West.
- The Man -
Thanks to Cybrid for the bad link report. Always be a good little miners and watch for link scum!
6/05/98
The world is a vampire, sent to drain. Secret destroyers hold you up to the flames.
- APB -
I avoided mentioning this for a long time because it is an answer to a contest somewhere, but it's been several months and I want to get to the bottom of this. Who is, or was, Dev's Apprentice? Is he the author of the Battle Drone map (that is, the J12 map) or the original incarnation of the Jolly map, or is there a missing Chaos level somewhere? Both Chais East' and Chaos West's ?sheep messages say "Map named the Battle Drome". (Apparently at one point that map was running over in West as well--probably before The Romulans' map which came before the original version of the Jolly map. Can someone confirm this?)
At any rate, I am convinced that there was never anyone named Battle Drone. If someone out there knew (or knows) Dev's Apprentice, please contact me about this.
- Mommy, what are those flashing lights? -
J12ers and tunnel rats, keep your eyes on Chaos West today. Trust me on this one. ;)
- MapMakers Guild Civil War!@!#$ -
Speaking of map...well, we had a little spat over my page update, tho everything is fine now. I did go a little overboard with the style changes and it will probably end up looking more like it used to than it does now. What's good about this, and why I'm mentioning it here, is that the incident seems to have sort of livened up the MMG. (I am speaking, of course, from my own standpoint.) I'm hoping a little more activity will come out of all this. T2-17 even tried to neg me today. ;)
- Zone Spamming -
If you're idiot enough to spam a zone run by players, at least have the sense and courtesy not to do it while the zone owner is present, eh? For the record, it didn't work, and we outlived them by almost three hours. :) Pffftthbbt.
- damn shrap -
Sigh. I'm not normally one to complain about change, and I didn't play a whole lot before random shrapnel was implemented, so I'm willing to give it a try but I'd just like to mention that I miss it. I also think it is a bit rotten to use it in both servers of a particular type, i.e. Chaoses East and West. It's a nice diversion, but seems largely justified by an argument that nothing in this game should be left to chance. Too often, that little slogan is an easy way out for people doing something foolish because of poor foresight, in the same way that bursting is called cheap most often by those who don't know what a burst trap looks like. If we're going to make changes, let's do it for the sake of game play, not for realism or to massage someone's frustration.
Even if the fate vs. skill argument were valid to begin with, the contention that random shrap is unpredictable is bogus in the first place. Shrapnel does very little damage if it hits you immediately after its release; by the the time it becomes deadly, it has indicated its direction. Once you know where it is headed, you can predict where it will bounce. It's a little more to keep track of, but in my opinion it's a sight less to deal with than a rain ofthe stuff from all directions in open space.
Still, I suppose I'm open to it--I just hope random shrap doesn't disappear off the face of the VIE servers entirely.
- Armada! -
Now playing in the Sheep Cloning Facility, a two-team War Zone style game in a crafty zone designed by The Romulans. This game was hosted at Warzone about half a year ago, and never really took off. Two enormous bases, identical but forthe fact of being mirror images of one another. Awesome flag chambers in the middle, and a hair-raising rush to get there from the flag-spawn area outside before the timer runs down. Nice juicy jackpot reward. Tonight saw the zone's first really successful War game; it lasted into the early morning, and seemed to hold players' interest more than previous games. I will be keeping it up for a while, I think--possibly until next weekend. Some of the juiciest tunnel fighting available. Enjoy. :)
Next up: Gommy's answer to Turf. You'll see what I mean.
- Eight words I never expected to string together. -
The new Smashing Pumpkins album is a masterpiece. I've never liked them, but for some reason I have all of their albums. Recomendation of a friend, big hype, heard some songs on the radio, etc. I could never stand them. I guess it had become a tradition, but this year has been so bleak for music--hell, it's almost Summer and there is NOTHING to listen to--that after hearing Ava Adore a few times I actually anticipated the new album, and made a special trip for it early Tuesday morning. A minute into the record and my little world is falling apart. I'm sitting in my car admiring someone I've found obnoxious for the last six years. No way was this going to hold up for a full album, expecially a long one.
Lo and behold it does. Every single song on this album is as good as the single, or better. From end to end it is classy, restrained, cleverly and carefully written, stylishly performed. More often than not it is heartbreakingly beautiful. What the hell is going on??
It's not offending the Punkin fans I know, either. It's not a radical departure or a betrayal, but a toning down--a clarification. It's all here, but in far more well considered design. They've risen above genre music and into the rare space occupied by albums like The Downward Spiral, Achtung Baby, and OK Computer. Do yourself a favor and take a listen to this one if you can.
6/01/98
News of the Day
I am certain, I have no doubt: Life is for playing.
- MapMakers Guild Updated -
By me, no less. Let's hope I don't get in trouble for screwing up the HTML. ;) I figured now was as good a time as any. One of the dumb ol' Chaos West vangels told me the MMG was dead, and that got me all mad so I decided to do something about it. Not much yet, but just you wait. :) Have a look and be sure to tell me what you think.
In related news, I screwed up the SCF site badly. Sorry. Nothing lost, but you can't view it in NS for some reason, and since I have no brain in my head I need to wait for Silent Dragon to fix it. Sorry :/
- Minefields ½-Year Birthday -
:)
- Chaos West Considering Big Changes -
In response to near complete abandonment by the players as well as requests and suggestions made at the Wormhole messageboard, Hadar (owner of Chaos West) announced that, beginning at the next reset, the unfortunate zone will see a number of changes, including a new map, zero start bounty, and medium starting levels for status. Changes already made include a higher team greening limit, immunity to wormholes for the Shark, and an increase in the number of greens. Go Hadar. :)
- SubScene is Dead. -
Formerly one of the best Subspace pages, SubScene, which started in October of 1997 in a "magazine" format then became more of a traditional page early in 1998 before finally winding down to a halt a couple of months ago, has breathed its last. The Romulans turned out the lights and nailed the door shut late Thursday night. The Minefield has the exclusive story. ;)
Some of you may be wondering what happened to SubScene, some of you
might not care, but here it goes anyway...
When I joined SubScene I expected to have limited duties, one, maybe two
sections of the entire site after we got on-foot, however things fell
apart. People were not contributing, people were leaving/retiring,
whatever, and Young Gun, the person mainly in charge of the whole thing,
left to go to another country. So I was left there, pretty much by
myself (and Arctos doing the League of course) trying to get by and
update until Young Gun got back, until the Poll was fixed, until the
Private BBS was fixed. But these things never happened, I went on a
holiday and then went back to school, work pilled up and so did all my
new games (hehe ;), and then SubScene was just "left" there for a few
months until now, where its been deleted from the warzone servers. I
must thank, on behalf of the SubScene staff, Trixter and Zero3 and
Warzone for their space for the site, also I must thank all those that
helped contribute (Tactics, news etc). For anyone wondering what'll
happen to all the info and stuff that was on the SubScene site
(especially the fan fic section!) you'll be pleased to know that parts
of SubScene will be making a come-back on subspace.maxig.com (a site
very similar to SubScene in many ways), where I'll also be doing some
general SubSpace type stuff in the future :). Anyway, I'll see ya
around.
The Romulans - MMG and general SubSpace Addict.
- Ancient War Zone Map Up in WZW -
This has been pimped all to hell over the past couple of days, but I thought I would mention for those who have never played there that the Ancient map is not the one with the Castle and Combs, commonly mistaken to be the oldest War Zone map. The map that is up in War West right now predates even that, to such an extent that there are clues all around it indicating that it was designed before War style flags were ever actuall played. The map suffers from imbalanced bases--many of them so weak as to be useless while two others are nearly impenetrable--and a whole lot of chaotic random junk that doesn't belong in a WZ map. That said, it's got some nice fights, and is a fun map to fly in; it might be nice to see it in Chaos someday, actually.
As for the allegation that the map may never be used again, I find it silly, and it sounds like a ploy to get people to play in the zone. After showcasing two new maps, the WZE Vangels are heading back to an old classic for that zone's next map in a couple of resets--one made by Rod Humble well over a year ago. Don't play in the Ancient map because it's going to be gone; play there because it's been such a long time.
- Gommy's War Zone Map Finished -
Gommy's map page has been tracking the progress of his map for a few months now, and the map finally went up for testing a week or so ago in War Zone West. Now it is officially complete, and you can see an image of it at his page. It looks very nice, full of evidence of his small player-zone roots but still appropriate for a nig map, with some nice open combat areas. In fact, I think this might even be a good map for War Zone Wars, since it will be new to everyone and presents a variety of base styles.
One thing I predict will become an issue when War Zone Wars is that War players in VIE and player zones are used to radically different map types. I was in South Park the other night and marveled at the extent to which everyone was happy to bounce around, the constant repelling around three and four tile mazes. Having played only the more moderate Scenarios of Irony and iNet War zones in the recent past, I frankly couldn't stand it. Regulars to Moolie and A Small Warzone are likely to be pissed off by the more difficult defense necessary in a VIE style base, and VIE players will probably be uncomfortable in small-map type bases, most of which present an even greater defensive advantage than the T2-17 Spiral. Perhaps in Gommy's mixed-style map there can be a compromise.
Gommy's Complete WZ Map
version history page
Those interested in learning to map should definitely check out the different versions. :)
v.25 v.30 v.50 v.80 v.85 v.90 v.95 v1.00
Gommy has also announced two upcoming maps for the Sheep Cloning Facility as well as a map making guide based on his experience in making this map. I've read bits of it and found it damned insightful, and will be sure to pimp it here when it is complete.
- Player Zones Back from the Dead -
Paintball Zone is back! This time it's being hosted at OR, so the connection should be solid and hopefully it will be going for a while. Don't everyone bug out on your old favorite player zone; re-add it right now. I'm not going anywhere. :)
The other night I spotted Anarchy, the classic super zone from early retail days, up on the server list again. Now it's gone. Keep your eyes peeled.
Realism Zone, formerly hosted at VRGN and featuring The Ghost Ship's carefully designed settings, has found a new home at iNet. The map is unfortunately the goofy St. Patty's Day map, but this will probably change once the game is started in earnest.
- 10k! -
I topped ten thousand hits the other day. :) Anyone take a screenshot?
- WTF? -
Since I came online, my silly little cat has done this about twelve times: She walks behind the desk, jumps up on the little rolly drawer thing my printer is on, looks out the window, gets up on the desk, walks past the keyboard, and jumps off the other side. Always counter-clockwise, about once every ten or fifteen minutes. Am I missing out on something?
- Birthday Present -
As your half-year birthday gift to this page you may wish to download and install the correct fonts. ;)
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