Jonathan Lennox writes: "Grenville Armitage has published an analysis of ping times of clients connecting to his Quake III Arena server. His conclusion is that 150 milliseconds is the limit that people find tolerable, and says this may have interesting implications for Internet Quality of Service research."

skunkeh writes "Asus have a poll up on their site asking the general public whether or not they would like to see "SeeThrough technology" available in drivers for Asus graphics cards. The technology in question is causing uproar in the online gaming community where the drivers can be used to cheat in games such as Quake III and Counter-Strike. Asus have posted some flimsy arguments in defence of the technology on their product page but they don't appear to be convincing the several thousand gamers who have already posted their comments." I still think this is cool stuff. People are just going to cheat online: drivers don't have all that much to do with it. And if they can't cheat, they'll DoS attack. Maybe I'm just disillusioned, but I have more fun playing with people I know and trust then strangers. Strangers cheat.

icemind writes "And you thought Panoramic Quake was cool. NPRQuake is actually three renderers which make Quake levels look hand sketched, like they're blueprints or even done with brushstrokes, all in real time. Very cool, although if this interview is anything to go by it sadly isn't being updated anymore." I'm not sure if making Quake look like that Aha's Take on Me video is an idea that will make quake playable, but is really sweet.

jamner writes "A Yahoo Daily News article mentions that computer users may soon be able to work on screens with displays that give the appearance of being three dimensional. The company is Deep Visual Imaging at www.actualdepth.com and their products page." They accomplish it by layering LCDs, so while its not going to fake a true 3d workspace, the depth would still add substantially to many applications (well, it would make quake cooler, and I'm sure desktop apps could benefit, but I suspect the medical industry has more important uses).

Aardappel writes: "PanQuake, a quake sourceport that allows a 360 degree panoramic view, has been released. Download it here."

lmake writes: "I'm sure a few Slashdot readers have been to a few LAN events. Packed up their computer, hauled it down to the event, almost breaking their back carrying their 19" monitor just so they can play quake against 200 other people for the day. Well, those days may be over. Electronic Arts Germany is sponsoring a LAN event in Germany with a budget of 4 million DM (AUD $ 5,200,000). You won't need to bring your computer to this event, they will be provided. View the original article (in German) here Or Cyberforces Gaming Nation has a translation here." The translated page is also abbreviated quite a bit; the original version raises the interesting question of just who is going to pay for the 3,000 (!) PCs needed for the event. (Do you really need a PC for each player?)

An Anonymous Coward writes: "Saw this over at vrsource.org. Paul Rajlich has released CAVE Quake III Arena (cq3a). cq3a is a Quake3 engine that runs in VR environments from desktop HMDs to high-end multi-wall projection systems like the CAVEs and fully-enclosed C6. The original announcement is here. There is also an article describing what he had to do. The main cq3a page is here at visbox where you can download the code for multiple environment types (VR Juggler, CAVElibs, FreeVR, SDL, GLUT, and GLX). It currently runs on Linux, Irix, Win32, MacOS, and FreeBSD. You also have to check out the cool pictures on the site."

Eddie Edwards writes "This story over at Gamasutra details how Worlds.com have been awarded US patent 6,219,045 for - well, for more-or-less exactly the client-server architecture used in Quake. As the article says, "the company believes the patent may apply to currently in-use multi-user games" (!) and Worlds.com "will also review other 3D sites who may be using [their] technology to ensure [they] are fully compensated". " Of course, Worlds.com will prolly get squashed on the prior art issue - but wow. From what I can see, IANAL, it's not so much Quake-like games, but more like 3D chat-game-type environment.

Mark 'Nurgle' Collins contributes the piece below on some of the factors which undeniably influence the state of Linux games, espcially for developers hoping to make money by selling them. I haven't been there in a few months (been hooked on various Free games instead), but I know I bought Quake III Arena from dedicated shelf space at EB -- so Mark's optimism can't be that far off the mark.

Decado writes "I found out from gamasutra that Michael Abrash and Dr.Dobbs Journal have made Abrash's now out of print "Graphics Programming Black Book" available for free download here. Written at about the time he was finished on Quake it was one of the most readable and informative books on graphics programming. Abrash begins each chapter with a real life anecdote to the problem he is solving and you can't help but think he is a cool guy. Though fairly dated now it is still a great read and his approach to optimisation still holds true today."

madburn writes "MacInTouch has a blurb about a device from Boost Technology called the Tracer. It appears to be an almost-affordable head-mounted "mouse" with the features and performance needed for serious use, including 360-degree field of view. It supports USB and PS/2. I wonder if this will make the Quake experience more immersive?" The girl in the picture looks kinda stoned, but I can imagine that this could be useful for the handicapped, and fun for someone looking for a different input device.

NiceGeek asks: "Is there any interest in a 'Geek' bar? After reading a comment in a recent story on Slashdot, I started thinking about a 'geek hangout' type bar. Basically, beer, music, classic arcade and console games and maybe classic network games like Doom and Quake. One advantage to the 'classic' theme would be reduced overhead. I already possess a lot of classic consoles/games and older stand-up systems are pretty cheap also. I would also consider adding a 'cyber-cafe' for broadband access. I have several other ideas but would like to see if there is any interest." It's an interesting idea, but are there any other things that you think such an endeavor would need? NTN Trivia consoles would be a nice addition (it would fit in well with the other things listed). I have fond memories of playing NTN with friends when it was available at a local hangout.

Thermodyne writes: "The sequel of the game that helped invent the fps is being developed and the first of the screenshots have been released here. The game is based on the Quake 3 engine, but seems to stray away from the original intent of the first game." I can't begin to count the number of hours I lost in wolf3d ... course, I hope it does stray from the original game: who wants to run around shooting dogs and finding hidden switches for 30 levels? The lighting in some of those screenshots is super impressive. (check out that flame thrower). Sadly, I think my fps days are past me. I played The Sims for the first time last week. What an amazing game.

This is Slashback for the evening. Please be advised, through the following items, about ... how to turn that extra Pentium into a firewall running iptables; the state of the Symantec patent on software updates (uughh!); more on can satellites, and more.

Logic Bomb writes: "Feed is running a very well-written essay by Steven Johnson on game design that includes an interview with the designer of Oni. Johnson has some thought-provoking comments on narrative, navigation, and cheat sheets. Lots of room for discussion here: what balance do you like best between plot and action (i.e. Metal Gear Solid versus Quake)? Are cheat sheets just part of the game, or does needing one show bad game design? Anyone have comments on the system used by Oni discussed in the article?" Equally interesting to me is this other Feed interview with Warren Spector, designer of Deus Ex.

Inigima writes "According to this article at the dying GameCenter, the IDSA is preparing to make a proposal to Congress about the marketing of games rated "M" by the ESRB. According to Gamecenter's analysis, not only would this neuter the game marketing industry, but might even prevent games like Quake and Half-Life from being produced."

Ant noted that there are now quake games running on IPv6. Now once we get it running on I2, and someone manages to bring these 2 critical technologies to my bedroom, the world will be a better place.

Rhett writes: "Straight out of Quake it's a couple of EE projects for building railguns: Working railgun by Texas Tech students and a project by MIT Students." Now if only we can get enemy ICBMs to pass through Texas Tech on their way to dropping nuclear weapons on the U.S., we'll have a working missile defense system.

hooded1 writes: "Although once considered a utopian ideal, it has now become a reality. Last night on January 20th Dan East released the alpha version of PocketQuake, the first successful port of Quake to any pda. ... Currently PocketQuake only runs on the iPaq." And Jacek Fedorynski points to this screenshot as well. Note that this only works for iPaqs running WinCE, not Linux.

Here is the eighth part in our continuing reprint of the columns Jon Katz wrote following the killings at Columbine High in Littleton, Colorado. Below are more of the many charged comments that the story drew.