GAMES

Computers and Games

Being into computers doesnt neccessarily mean you like computer games. I could list the games I like to play on one hand, this is for two reasons. One: Any game I play must have outstanding graphics. Two: I like to play computer games not live them.

What do I mean by that second statement? Well it's simple really, if it takes me more than 5 mins to actually get involved in the game then I delete it. That means it mustn't have more than 4 or 5 important keys and mustn't take ages to figure out. So many games these days are so overcomplicated they are not fun anymore. I'm sure there are plenty of people out there that want to sit down and learn 500 keys then spend months getting to grips with some pathetic attempt at realism, but I dont. I want my games to be fun and playable.

Consoles V Computers

As you probably guessed I play my games on a PC. Why? Because in my opinion consoles are cheap, nasty and the playability is rubbish.

Firstly, no matter what console enthusiasts will tell you the maximum resolution they can run is 800x600 interlaced. Horrible eh. Remember when computer monitors were that bad? Well TV's still are! I dont know about you but I play Quake in 1600x1200, you can't do that on a TV.

Secondly most of them have no playability. For a start most consoles come with those stupid cheap control pad things. I know you can buy add ons for them but this doesnt alter the fact that most of the games were designed for push buttons. As anyone with a PC will tell you real computer game controls are proportional not on or off! Analogue joysticks, analogue stearing wheels and mice. Products such as Microsofts awesome Sidewinder Force Feedback Joystick and Steering Wheel. Smooth responsive action with excelent controlled feedback, not push button jerks and a crappy motor attached to an offset weight vibrating every now and then.

I know I'm gonna get flamed for this but hey everyones entitled to their opinions right. Let's put it this way, if it were ever possible to play Quake 3 on a console against somebody playing Quake 3 on a PC, I know who would win. I'm not saying consoles dont have their place. Of course they do, they are cheap and easy for children to use. Enough said.

Quake 3 Arena

As you probably guessed by now my favourite game is Quake 3 Arena. Born from a series of classic games such as the legendary Doom this game is simply awesome. Dark, evil, with quality graphics (notice Quake 3 has curves in it unlike alot of 3D computer games), excellent sound and gameplay that is comparable with the best. The other great advantage is that it is multiplatform, available for alternative operating systems such as Linux, giving us the option to break free from the Microsoft world if desired.

Now being the creative sort of geek that I am, I had a go at making my own level completely from scratch using a piece of software called Q3radient. The level (called The Pit) was specifically designed with lots of players in mind and is an open, high power weapon arena with lots of emphesis on accuracy, which as a side effect makes it ideal for railarena games.

To install it simply copy the downloaded pk3 into your baseq3 folder. Then all you have to do is look under skirmish and start a game!

If you fancy playing it online, there is usually a server running on farpoint.fsck.co.uk port 27998 that cycles through a whole bunch of levels including this one.

I hope you enjoy playing it as much as I did making it!