Some days I swear I'm a moron. Forgot to mention two things of some importance. A) I checked earlier (as in a few hours ago) and for some reason most of the mirrors still didn't have the map to download from it. But if you go to cdrom.com's ftp, they have it on there for sure. B) This pertains to some recent discussions around here so I thought I would post it. These nice guys are also doing reviews for DM, SP, and TFC maps and I'm sure they could use the support. I fully support as many opinions as possible on the same subject. (if I didn't I would be a hypocrite cause I opinionate on here nonstop) So go there and check them out and support the community damn it. That seems to be the theme around here (as in all the news sites I've looked at) lately isn't it? Side note on that subject. Maybe I'm stupid as I stated already a few lines back but I highly doubt that PF is the catalyst for the end of the TF community. I would blame stupid people (mainly those who run certain sites) for the downfall but once again that's just my lowly opinion. Ok I wonder if that really covers it this time. If not oh well I'll post it later. Two tries for one night is more then plenty.

First and foremost I have something to say. One of my best online buds, Akula, is getting married tomorrow. He might kill me for posting that but he'll get over it. So everyone e-mail him and wish him luck (or do whatever the appropriate thing to do when someone gets married). And from me personally and everyone else here at Z Factor, we wish you the best in this nice 'little' step in life. I'm sure you'll make Lisa happy as hell. In other news...so far today I'm happy with the response that Dethwell has gotten. I hope it increases as the map gets out to more and more people. So tell everyone you know to come download the map. hehe... It's an odd day when I don't have much to say. I did pick my next project to work on though last night. I decided to go with my other map I've been putzing with. Unfortunately for you guys you won't be able to see it for some time but I should be able to finish it before the weekend is up. It's not for TFC but something else actually. It's actually based off the red base from Dethwell (yes all the bases were the same but I chose to use the red base cause I like red damn it). I needed a complete and playable map for something but I didn't want to sit and take the time to create and entirely new one so I went with borrowing my own idea. Besides the fact I think that the ramp room will kick ass for what I'm using it for. Yes I'm being vague but I don't want to give out too much info as of yet. Maybe in a couple weeks or so. Depends on how things go around here and I tell you they could be better. (not here as in ZFP but here as in life) I dunno...some days you just continue to coast through life but at some point you just gotta grab ahold of something to stop you and get out and do something about it. I'm at that point once again. I feel frustrated but I'll figure it out as I always do cause I'm good for it. If there's one thing I've learned in life is that some days you just gotta say fuck it and act.

I swear the gods don't want me to release Dethwell ever. I had it ALL finished and we found a stupid error in it which I fixed a LONG time ago and I have NO clue why it's there again. So after finding that and fixing it we found something else extremely STOOPID! You gotta love the great programming of WorldCraft. I have no clue precisely what was causing this but it was ENTIRELY WorldCrafts fault and it didn't want to cooperate no matter what I did. So finally I beat it like a red headed step child and pissed on it and got around the problem by a totally bullshit way. So yea this is messed up...that's all I gotta say about that. You all better like the damn map for all the shit I've been through damn it. (that's my feeble attempt at humor so insert your laughter ) After this I gotta pick *A* project and go with it and finish it. Which means I'll probably pick a few smaller projects and hopefully get them done in a timely fashion. That way I'll feel like I've accomplished something in less time. It's all in my master plan. Just gotta decide on what first. Of course whatever it is will probably take 12 years like Dethwell has and then I'll get sick of stuff and be a bum for a few months. Can you tell I'm in a happy mood tonight? (note the sarcasm please) Oh for those of you wondering the answer to VorTeX's latest riddle...I have NO clue. The boy handed out another riddle and then breaks his OTHER computer like 2 days later. At least this time it's not as severe. Do you see a direct correlation here though? VorTeX + riddle = dead computer. Gotta talk to that boy when he gets back about that. So FINALLY we have a finished map. Should have been finished last night but at 4 am I got so fed up with it and I was tired as shit and falling over from lack of sleep. So I said fuck it for the night and went to bed. So yea head on over to our downloads page and get the new map. WOO!! First real new thing since we've been on PF. Slow you say? Nah. Real quality work takes time. So yea Dethwell is out...I said that once I know...saying it again, just can't fucking believe it's finally done. For those of you who haven't seen the map before (or anyone who has) please feel free to tell us what you think about the map on our message board or e-mail me. On a last note I'll have the map up on our server. IP is 205.149.85.102 and it'll be up as often as I can have the server on but the network is being flakey around here. I'll probably throw another map or two of ours in the rotation too. Onwards...

So anyways updates of some quasi-real nature. Dethwell is done. But wait a sec you ask as you don't see a link to it anywhere. Well that's cuase it's not properly compiled yet. That'll do it you say. Yes it will I say. I would finish it up today for public consumption and post it and stuff but you know what? I'm going home and I'll be damned if I'm missing out on the release of my own map. I don't go home for the weekend often, not without good reason. One of which I do have. I want my damn car back! It needed a few things fixed on it and inspected for the end of the month so two weeks ago when I went home I left it there so my Dad could take care of it. So now I'm *supposed* to go home this weekend and get it back. Note I said supposed to. When it comes to cars and I...nothing EVER goes how it's supposed to. So that's that and no Dethwell for you until early next week. I did finally 'solve' the invisible wall problem. Not how I wanted to precisely but how I wanted it was what was causing the problem. So it was a compromise between playability and looks. Playability being a much stronger influence. Of course it's nothing anyone but me will notice really. Unless you saw the last beta test and actually go looking for what I'm talking about which I strategically leave out what it is I'm refering to so no one misses it. Yea I'm slick like that. Anyways I get to have an opinion on Borg, at least a small one. I got to read an e-mail from him which was actually to another person here at Z Factor. But it did pertain to recent events around here (all of which aren't posted here) and I must say I do agree with him. I'd quote him on something but it's not my place to in this case so I will pass. Lets just say he has a good attitude towards things. Anyways I get to pimp his site a little cuase he's going to be having a play test soon. He says in the e-mail hopefully on Sunday but you should go here for more/full details on happenings with him. The main reason I'm saying this is cause he says that Urban Escape 2 and Citadel 32 will both be played in it. The secondary reason is that user made levels need MUCH more support then they generally get in the community (not just ours but ALL). Being this whole concept, in both formentioned aspects, is advantageous to me I thought I would bring it up. HOPEFULLY I will be able to attend but it depends on what time he does it and when I get back here. So yea be on the look out for Dethwell early next week! It *WILL* be done for public release.

I have to revise something I said a little bit ago. Rather then just removing it from the update I thought I would leave it in and show that I *AM* wrong sometimes as people get the impression that I think I know all which is furthest from the truth. I like how people point this out to me after the fact but you know shit happens. Originally all I was told in the whole ditch1 thing was that the author had a problem with the side-by-side part. Of course I could be on crack and totally misunderstood it but I got a narrated version of it so I dunno. Anyways after speaking to VorTeX just a tiny bit ago I thought I'd check it out further. So here is my defense on this matter. When I originally looked at ditch1 SOME time ago I also looked at it with another TF map that had a side-by-side layout. Well as my memory isn't perfect I got the two map ideas flipped, which led to some of my confusion. Of course this could have been clarified by looking at the maps again but as I said, my understanding was he was bithcing about the side-by-side part of it, not anything else. So that's what I thought was pretty messed up. I guess it leads back to this idea...never take anyones word for it on anything and go check on it yourself always. Makes life easier in the long run. So I'm a shit and no one likes me, can I go now?

You gotta love people around here some days. I will retrack one part of my statement from yesterday. This is not *our* view but mine alone. Unlike other people I stand by my thoughts and opinions. If I saved the logs to the IRC channel I could show you just how much they bitched. Probably more then I did, at least in IRC. Of course I have the audacity to speak 'publically' about my thoughts as I always do and now suddenly I'm wrong for thinking it. I love people. It's ok to talk about someone behind their back and still be a good person but the one who has enough balls to do it so everyone can see it is suddenly the bad guy. Fuck that. Now I'm not justifying what I did as right or wrong, I'm just living by what I preach. I guess it just bugs me to no end that those who 'supported' my point of view have both now condemned me for doing it. How quickly one will change when all the cards are laid out before them. One other point....VorTeX felt compelled to say something about the map after I specificially said it had nothing to do with that map but Radium. As for the ditch2 topic. I STILL say that's fucked up though I've never mentioned it on here. A little background story on this so everyone is up to par on the subject. (I don't know every detail of this so I can only tell what I know) Story goes like this. After Citadel v1.1 was released I guess the author of ditch2 publically damned the map cuase it 'stole' his idea of side-by-side bases. Which to my knowledge there are other maps that use this same side-by-side layout and yet have never been accused of stealing his idea. I personally find this to be bullshit. It would be like John Cook telling all those who 'took' his idea of two base CTF that they should be damned to hell for using his idea. To this day this makes NO sense to me what-so-ever and it never will. I could go on another Tirade about this but it's pointless and not worth the effort. He was on crack when he said that to Akula and that's that. On a final note I've been thinking about something and I thought I would share it. This might not be the best of times to do this but you know me and my 'stupidity'. I've been pondering taking a leave of absence from everything as of late. I've been WAY too stressed in about every aspect of my life lately and it's for once starting to become too much. The most important thing to me (my school work and getting a degree) have been suffering severely cause of things lately. Matters around here (as in ZFP and online) haven't been helping out in any way as of late and it's only making things in general worse for me. Of course I love what I do and my friends but I don't want things with them to suffer to the point where I just finally totally lose my mind (which I'm a wierd 'kid' to begin with which isn't a problem for me personally) and I lose the friends I do have (this does include my non-online friends), some of which my relationship with them is strained already as is. I don't know what I'm going to do or why I'm really saying this here but it's what is on my mind as of late so it gets said. Maybe for once things will work out for me, more then likely they will not, but that's my life for you.

Well.. I do agree with some of what Lord Bishop is saying.. and yesterday I would have agreed with all of it.. and in a way I still kind of agree with all of it.. but I've changed my position on two issues. One is that I now believe it is conclusive that the citadels was in fact based off of ditch2... LB didn't mention that in his rant I don't think.. but I'd like to declare it anyways.. so nya! :) Secondly, I think what was done in Chemical Plants was actually refreshing in what it did.. and it was in many ways a different implementation than Akula's in Citadels 32. By the way.. check that map out.. it's quite nice. It suffers from some frame rate drops.. but that's infinitely more due to my voodoo1's inability to push the polys... and my 166's inability to keep up... and my 48 megs of ram.. well you get the picture. It's a nice map and looks like it has nice flow and a very nice 3 tiered design to the base itself. That should be all... off to school I will go now.

And the new riddle/brain teaser? Well here's one for ya.. you'll need to use a paint program for it though (but windows paint should suffice). It's very simple.. dot a lowercase I for me and send it to me in a picture (compressed in .jpg format if possible) at this address. Thanks and good luck!

I'm sure I am going to get flamed to all hell for this but I feel the need. For those of you who have spoken to me on the subject know this...I don't care for Radium. I have NO clue how he is as a person but that's not what I'm going to bitch about. So don't send me mail telling me he's a really great guy to talk to or some shit. I could care less. My problem though is with his reviews and how he is regarded in the community. I've seen *many* people go around with the idea that if Radium says it kicks ass then it does and if he says it doesn't then it sucks. These people are what I like to call the mindless masses, those who can't think for themselves and like to leetch their 'thoughts' from what is 'cool'. Since they are retards and worthless we will just pass them by. Now onto my point I assume. I have read the little disclaimer on Radium's site that says these are just his opinions and that he does this shit for himself and blah blah blah and so on. Now this is one thing that perplexes me to no end. If it's only his opinions then why does he ALWAYS come off as being THE FINAL say in everything map making? Maybe it's just me but I'm not the only one who thinks this. Then there is his biasedness. There are certain people who's stuff he reviews and regardless of how good or bad it is says how great it is. And then there is always the fact of him, well to put it plainly, ingnoring us, as in Z Factor. We submitted Uranban Escape 2 and Citadel 32 to him 2 *MONTHS* ago. (I just went back and looked at the copy of the e-mail that was sent to him and in like a couple days it will be 2 months exactly) Yet he never got around to reviewing them. Nor to my knowledge ever respond to a single e-mail sent to him on the subject. Now I don't know about you but that's a pretty shitty way to run a site. I am aware that in recent weeks for whatever reason has been pretty dead but that still isn't an excuse to blatantly ignoring us for 2 months. What finally capped off this rant was this one comment he made in his recent review updates, the one for 2 Chemical Plants V2 specifically.

Probably my favorite part of this map is the water entrance. The author actually had a somewhat fresh idea here and provided an underwater gate blocking entry to the water route to the flag room. The gates are opened with switches just on side of each team's base.

I mean what the fuck Radium? Had you looked at Cidatel 32 a long fucking time ago like you were supposed to you would have had that to say then. Now I'm sure you'll pull some shit out of your ass when it comes time to review Citadel 32. I know he does this for 'fun' but hell if you are going to do it in the manner he has been then the same thing should apply to all. Personally I like the idea of Borg at The Collective (I personally have no opinion on Borg himself just yet) also reviewing maps. If for nothing else it gives people another view on the same map and more insight rather then Radium's biased bullshit. I was going to wait until Radium finally reviewed our maps (when and if he did) to say anything 'publically' about him but damn I just couldn't wait until I grew old and died. Now that I said this I'm sure everyone will hate me and I'll be thrown off of PF for it or some shit. Well I don't give a fuck. And just wait until he does review my maps cause I know he will flame them. I don't make maps that he likes and I already know that. But it doesn't make my maps any less good or playable. On one final note...the author of the map I mentioned up above. I am in no way saying ANYTHING even REMOTELY negative about him. I haven't played the map yet and it doesn't even matter in this case. Now here is where I *should* insert the statement that this is my opinion only and not everyone elses at ZFP. Well guess what? It's not so get over it. We all think it.

Well I finally got on top of how to check all of my planetfortress mail that was on my other computer (which I must sadly report the hard drive is just going to have to get replaced... sigh)... and the results for the riddle are in! (huzzah!)

And the winner (the first person who responded correctly) is... [email protected]! (I'm thinking that this is Dan Keeling.. but I don't have any conclusive reason why that I can remember.. so take that w/ a half grain of salt)

Congrats also go to the other people who got it right.. but just didn't have the luck of seeing it so soon after I posted it(to be fair.. Mr. Keeling was 3 and 1/2 hours ahead of anyone else):
Xero, Ruiner, Daniel Nugent (who also sent me a hilarious TF2 picture.. so he gets double props), Ando[EVILMEDIC], ?Enigma?, and Danni-san. Thanks to everyone who attempted and congrats to all who got it (though it was admittedly easy).

And what was the answer you ask? It was a keyboard...

In other news, work has indeed commenced on our new project.. I'm working a lot with concepts and cinematic ideas right now while I wait for Western Digital to get me my new drive...

That should do it for now.. look for another brain teaser later tonight perhaps if I get bored...

This has got to be a first for me in a SOME time. I'm actually updating the page before midnight. Yea I know I'm slick and stuff. Whoa happy days are here. As I speak now Akula has initiated a file transfer to me. BSP it be! Could it be...Cydonia? Maybe! Anyways to continue on with my original point. I'm lazy, sorta. I didn't do the very final thing with Dethwell just yet. I had intended to but I decided to learn a bit about skins for the HL models. So that pretty much shot my day on Saturday, though I did end up with a really slick new skin, which I will be using for something I have up my sleve. I also spent yesterday and today working on our super secret, latest greatest, project. And of course tomorrow I must actually do school work and this thing I'm actually getting paid for. Which is a good thing cause I need to build myself a new server as my current one doesn't cut it enough anymore. I need more POWER! Yes typical computer geek thought. But hey you can't hide who you are so why should I? Oh I did get another something started with another aspect of something to go along with forementioned project. So yes on the cover of it all I was lazy cause I have nothing to show to you guys but in the other hand I did a lot of other little things which still adds up in my mind to accomplishing stuff. Even if it wasn't what I had planned on doing all weekend but that is oh so typical of my life anymore. And at this time I would like to broadcast this little bit of info. Oh my fucking god...the gods have touched me and I've seen the light! Now to bring you up to par on what in the hell crack I am on. If you have long enough memory or pay attention enough you will recall I said something about Akula sending me a preview bsp for Cydonia. Well folks it was and this map is looking SO bad ass. I'll see about getting a new screenshot or two of it up. For those of you wishing to pay homage to our in house god Akula you may leave your offerings in the plate beside the alter.

So I finally took a few minutes out of my 'busy' life (more like lack of motivation to do *anything* as of late) and fucked up the one thing in Dethwell. Of course I sorta forgot I had to play with them stupid invisible walls. It's probably going to come down to a choice of looks over gameplay. Looks being it looks nice how it is right now but it's causing them stupid walls for no good reason and gameplay being it's a pain in the ass when you try to run forward and go sidewards. Anyways...that is done now for the most part and I hope to have that map compiled and released for the public by Friday night. Of course I'm sure this won't happen for some deranged reason or another as that be my luck in life. I just found out not too long ago our 'secret' possible new member should have a beta version of his new (and first) TFC map done for me to look at next week. I found that pretty slick so I thought I would share it all with you. As that means if I get my hands on a copy of it you guys at the very least get to see some screenshots. I have about a half a dozen projects going on right now, all of which are in one stage or another of developement. So this is my explination as to why Dethwell is taking a little longer then planned. I'm trying to concentrate now on the things that are damn near completed or can be finished up in a quick like fashion. It'll serve two very good purposes doing this. A) It'll get some new material out for people to play with and B) it'll make me feel like I've accomplished something which in turn gets me to do more and makes me feel less overwhelmed. Which all in all is a damn good thing for everyone. Anyways I guess I'm going to get back to work on some stuff for a bit longer before I head off to bed. I hope to have a bunch of new material for you guys within the next week.

I admit I fucked up VorTeX's update. I *thought* I had the newest page on my computer so I just added to it and reuploaded it. Of course I didn't or I accidently pasted over his. Either way results are the same and I screwed up. Anyways the play test was amusing and all tonight. Really would have liked to have more people but such is life. Guess I'm going to have to take more requests for people who want to participate with us and have too many people. Of course that sucks for those who show up and can't play but I guess that goes into the realm of not really my problem. Though if I had a choice I'd like everyone who wanted to play be able to. Then again...we haven't had too many yet soooooo don't expect it to happen real soon anyways. So Dethwell is all but done now. I decided that I would adjust ONE thing with resupply room and that's about the only problem I have to really solve. Of course there is that whole little invisible wall thingy in the underground part. I do know what is causing it but I don't know why. Which is rather pissing me off cause I like how I have that peice and don't want to have to redo that little thing so the wall goes away. In all good theories it shouldn't be doing that but it is so I have to deal with it. I'm praying to the gods as I speak that I will have Dethwell out by the end of the week, just in time for the weekend. I need to find Akula once again cause he gets to do his special little thing for me. Of course I haven't seen him technically since god knows when. Gotta be something like middle of last week. I could be wrong as I've been on some serious crack lately cause I've been losing my mind. In the rumor mill of Z Factor. An old friend of 'ours' (and especially mine) may be joining our little task force. Who you ask? That information I can not disclose at this time until arrangements have been finalized and they go through as hoped. Speaking of which. I'm in need of some people for a semi-big project. So if you can do any kind of editing of Half-Life let me know. I'm too lazy to type the link for my e-mail address so go find it yourself. Yes I'm a meany.

LB deleted my bad news update.. so you guys need to email him and tell him just how much he should be sodomized.. in other news.. I'm still working on compiling the list of the people who gave me the right riddle answers.. (kind of complicated since the original like 6 or 7 replies are on my dead hard drive..)... expect to see it some time in this month at any rate ;) Ok.. I'm gonna go now...

Life hits you below the belt all too much... My hard drive most likely has a short in its power connector.. rendering it useless at this present time... This halts or possibly even cancels (depending on if the data can be recovered or the hard drive can be fixed as opposed to giving me a new one or my buying a new one) the following projects: Snipe Hunt, 4 team texture wad, Smear the Queer, and My ultra-super-secret Action Half-Life map I was working on... The future right now looks muddled.. and it's kind of sad because I only needed to tweak the lighting and do the scoring entities to finish up Snipe Hunt... My life otherwise has been going rather well.. progress is being made in school, etc. This whole hard drive thing has got me pissed off though.. I've estimated roughly 850 hours worth of irreplacable material/source is on my hard drive... it sucks ass. And as for the riddle: I should have the answer and the "winners" posted tomorrow if I'm lucky... Well I'll go now...

Whelp while I'm sitting here feeling sorry for myself I thought I would update this damn thing. I figure it will make me feel like I accomplished something. At some point tonight I'm going to work on Dethwell so it will hopefully be all done tonight and if anything big pops up (like it has every other time) I'll have time to fix it. At least that'll be a nice change of pace. So lets see. I have no idea what is up with anyone else around here as I haven't talked to anyone in days. Only chatted with VorTeX briefly before I left on Friday so that is that. Oh and Akula has joined the ranks of being a boob (much like VorTeX is but I digress). I'll just skip the explinations on that idea. What else is there to say? It's lonely as fuck around here tonight and that just sucks. We are holding playtest round 3 tomorrow night so if you are interested feel free to bug the hell out of me and get on my e-mail list. I don't know how many will be there and I need quite a bit so all who show should be able to play. Unless by some act of God I get too many people (ahahahahaha). Anyways I guess I'll go beat up Dethwell some more and get it finished up.

I was sitting here and this strong urge came over me...I had to talk god damn it! Of course no one is around tonight to speak of. I was peeking around little ol' Stomped IRC server tonight and I found this new channel about Quake 2 map reviews. Of course this doesn't pertain to TF/TFC much but I like the guy who runs it (at least like him for what I've talked to him so far) so I thought I would plug it as I'm such a damn nice guy some days. The page is still in the works but the basic stuff is up there with plans to expand it even more so I'm told. Anyways go here and check it out if you are interested. Anyone who knows how to do some HTML would have just cried at the number of mistakes I just did when trying to write the code for that link. I don't know what the hell that was all about but it was sad I must say. In other news I feel that since everyone else and their brother is promoting TF2 and just how damn great it's going to be...I'll sit here and do some TF2 bashing. First off I must start by smacking around all those who run around telling you TF2 will own you, kicks all ass, and etc. You've all seen these people I know. But I pose this question before them. How can you personally say a game is so great, yet you've never played it once? Hell none of us have. That blows my mind to no end. You can say the concept of the game is fucking awesome but you can't say the game itself is as you have NO basis for that opinion. Next off just because Valve says that the game is going to be so great, doesn't mean it will be. They can do anything they wish to promote it and make it look better then it may or may not be. You have no control over what they show you or tell you. To support this opinion I give the following example. As I recall Microsoft promoted the hell out of Windows 95 and said it was going to be the greatest thing since sliced bread before it came out. Of course I don't have to go into detail as to how wrong they were. The damn OS shipped with over 5000 errors in the intial release. Now how fucked up is that? Note I'm not saying TF2 will be this extreme of a case but just because they say it's all that doesn't mean it is. You may also be wondering how I can rip on an OS that I use extensively. Of course those of you who know even a little about computers knows Microsoft is a bunch of money hungry bastards and kind of just screwed us all into having to have windows. Though mind you there is Linux which I fucking LOVE (and have a computer running it) but it's not always the most practical OS to use for every day simple things. As for TF2...one shouldn't always believe the hype that is presented before them or they will just become part of the mindless masses that inhabit this world we live in. Though mind you...I never said the game won't be all they say it will be in the end. I'm just reserving my opinion on it until I have something solid to base it on. Now I stand a wait for the flaming to commence. If you feel I'm a fucked up individual them feel free to drop me a line or two and let me know what you think. If anyone does this in a constructive and intelligent enough of a manner I will post it on here for all to read. Tune in next time when I take on 'offensive langauge' and other such controversial topics...yea that's the ticket. I really need to start a new section on the page for these damn tangents of mine.

For those of you waiting on the edge of your seat for the answer to VorTeX's riddle...sorry but you will have to wait indefinately. I found out today that the boy's HD decided to take a vacation and is no longer working properly. His local friend of his was nice enough to e-mail me with this information as to let me know what was up. So me being the nice guy I am and sympathetic to such problems, I called him and talked to him on the phone for some time. Of course it's long distance but it's all good and such cause I haven't talked to him on the phone in many months. Of course I have no money to pay to bill but that is life. So this whole ordeal is a bad thing for us all. The map files for his current map Snipe Hunt is on there and if he is unable to retrieve the information off of his HD then it will be delayed for god knows how long. So after talking to him for some time today it was decided that his HD is not dead. If it was dead it would be a lost cause and NEVER work again or be able to retrieve anything off of it. It is possible that if figured out properly it will be able to support life long enough to at the very least get all important info off of it. We can only hope. He said he will try to get his other computer up and running fully again and at least try to grace his presence online. This way at least he could keep up with what is going on and post the answer to his riddle (and maybe even present you with another one). I noticed today that our hits has taken a nice jump in the past day or two. It was taking us forever to get those last like 200 hits to hit 1000 and since then we've jumped again a little. Hell makes me happy as I like to know that people are reading about us and are taking an interest in us. The next playtest scheduled is Round 3 (we decided to number them for some unknown reason though I think it has something to do with how I kept referencing them). Of course we haven't picked a date for it yet. I'm going to wait until at least Dethwell is playable in it's newer state. I had planned on working on it in the past two days but real life has gotten in it's way. Hopefully I will be able to work on it tomorrow after classes. I'll tell you when it won't be though...I have to go home this weekend and I'm not going to miss out on my own playtest (especially when it's for my own map) and I control the server so that is that. Depending on when I plan on coming home Sunday we might do it that night but I will notify everyone before I leave on Friday if we are to have it then. Anyways I gotta go dust off my shovel and go dig up Akula as he has seemed to have died again in the past few days.

Since I'm a nice guy and I know that it was posted that we had a new preview up (I can't imagine who fucked that one up, hehe) I thought I would make it so. Therefor the foretold preview of Cydonia is up! This would have been up almost 24 hours ago but I was unable to get on PF's ftp server for whatever reason until just a short bit ago. I tried but ah well such is life some days. As for me. I am FINALLY nearing the end of completing Dethwell. All that is left now really is figuring out this one stupid problem (an invisible wall in the worst spot sucks) and then putting it all together and doing a couple hours worth of clean up work and it will be done. This map has proven to be one big pain in my ass but I like the results and everyone's opinions on it have been quite positive. So I guess that should make it well worth it. Though every time prior to this when I thought I was getting close it never happened that way. Though some of it was due to wanting to improve things with better ideas that I hadn't had before. Anyways that's enough of beating that subject to death. If you are wondering the answer to VorTeX's riddle...well I can't tell you. *laughs madly* It's not my deal and therefor can not disclose anything about it. So you will just have to wait until he gets to it. And here you thought I was going to tell you the answer. Silly you. We broke a 1000 hits if anyone has been looking. We did a bit ago and such. I got the 1000th hit but that was cuase Katie told me she checked and it was 999 so I had to hurry up and go look. This did happen a couple days ago but I thought I would mention it now. So here's my 'contest'. Whoever takes a screenshot of the 5000th hit will win something. Win what I'm not quite sure but I'm sure I will have lots of time to figure it out and it will also not be anything super great or of any huge monetary value. I know we are far away from that number but hell...it'll give you a test in memory and humor the hell out of me until then. So hopefully with all our maps coming together finally, hopefully we will have some new maps for the public to consume in the very near future.

Riddle me this.. Riddle me that.. I'm getting loopy and I've been abandoned by my cat. I've got a question for you to ponder while you surf or do whatever you're doing. It goes like this:

    What object has keys that open no doors
    a home but no address
    an end but no resolution
    space but no room
    control but no authority
    and you can enter but not go in?

Mail me if you think you know the answer.. and you won't win a thing.. but I will mention your name if you're the first person excluding Z Factor members themselves... or trainman. And if that isn't prize enough.. uh.. oh well?

God I have a headache.. my sister has two friends over and they're jumping up and down... this in turn does two distinct things.. a) it make a lot of fucking noise and b) screws up the lightbulbs here in the basement... Anyways.. if you're here seeking Cydonia pics.. oops! I'm an idiot and there isn't a preview up yet... I misread Akula and Lord Bishop's updates and thought it was already posted when I sent that message yesterday to PF... so it's my fault.. flame me! In other news.. our playtest was riddled with problems.. LB's map wasn't ready.. mine was messed up.. and not enough people showed imho... but otherwise we had fun. I'm gonna go now.. as anything I touch is getting messed up lately.. and I fear for the safety of the news page...

So everyone knows where I am coming from and since VorTeX was upset about it I thought I would 'publically' explain myself. When I said this "Didn't I tell you all it would die off around here and it would return to normal? (ie me doing all the work)" in my previous update I wasn't specifically shooting down VorTeX. The idea to me just followed the topic I was on with what I was saying about VorTeX. I was pissed off about a half a dozen things last night apart from Z Factor and a few other things related to Z Factor that weren't SO major but since I was mad already, it was just pissing me off more. The statement I said directly about VorTeX stands, though was much more harsh then it should have been and I really didn't intend it to be a HUGE disrespect to him as he took it. Life does have a tendency to get in the way of things, especially those online, but still...(I have no clue how to say what I say without pissing off everyone and their brother so I'll just leave it at that, I understand but still) You know what? On that note I'm just going to go now. Because everything that comes to mind will only piss of someone or another so fuck it.

Well.. where to start? Ok.. goes like this... I've been damn ass busy since last friday doing this, that, and everything in between.. and its uncle. I've been covering stories (I do the cable TV show at my high school).. heading up explorers meetings (as I am the president of my post).. and I've also been either a) trying to get my map ready for a playtest (first on saturday then again on monday after the playtest fell through on saturday..) b) working on my map in between doing other things such as homework (and I even don't do all of that).. or c) getting in roughly 4 or so hours on Tiberian Sun.. a game I'd much rather be spending 5 hours a day playing. But since I've been so damn busy.. I've gotten all of 4 hours to play it. Makes me sad when I don't even get to play the games I so dearly love. I thought about updating the web site.. but frankly I've either been too damn busy or trying to get in some much needed game time (required for my sanity). In other news.. Snipe Hunt is architecturally complete as of yesterday. I got to do some texturing and r_speeds and entity work.. but it is otherwise complete. Expect a full preview as I am getting a much needed rest and relaxation period this weekend. So.. for now.. I'm gonna head on out and get to sleep. I've been up since 5 in the morning.. and haven't stopped moving or working on something all day... so I am exhausted. Too da loo.

Yes I'm still alive. I Don't do much in the webpage area hence why I'm a ghost here (I only slave over a hot Worldcraft for LB). Well on too news shall we. My current map "Cydonia" is moveing along nicely. It's to a point now where I can let the masses peek at some alpha screenshots of it. I have almost no clue on when it'll be ready for testing as I still need to work out the gameplay but i'm aiming for something that'll be about right for about 16 players give or take. Hopefully I'll have something for everyone too look at tonight if all goes well (when does that ever happen). Stay tuned.......BTW, if you haven't played the "USS Darkstar" levels for Half-Life go download this puppy! It's damn slick work and fun too unless you hate headcrabs and/or haveing the crap scared out of you often. (made me jump out of my skin once or twice) :) You can download "USS Darkstar" from PC Gamer's site right here.

I don't know what to do with people around here I swear (I swear a lot, ask anyone who's talked to me). I could have sworn VorTeX said some shit about having 2 new pics of Snipe Hunt up EVERY day until the play test. Well he screwed that up and still has yet to put any new pics on the webpage since the second day. Didn't I tell you all it would die off around here and it would return to normal? (ie me doing all the work) Maybe if I am lucky Akula will get my hint I dropped him in IRC.

    [01:40] [LordBishop] feel free to update the webpage after I do

You think it was an obvious enough of a hint? We'll have to see. Speaking of Akula if you actually look at the message board (which you people need to use cause it's withering away to nothing) he mentions putting up some screenshots of his new map Cydonia. I'm ready to post them if he ever gets any to me. While we are on this map I gotta say this. I haven't seen anything of it in game but I've seen a handful of screenshots of it and I swear to god I about fell out of my chair. I'm one to rarely be impressed a whole huge amount by screenshots (though they are always nice to look at) but these pics about blew my mind. I thought they were well beyond awesome. I can't wait to actually get my hands on a bsp of that map so I can walk around and look at stuff for myself. Yet more news about that map in progress...I've been recruited/volunteered to help him out with a semi-major detail of the map. I tell you it's quite 'interesting' to try to build something into a map that you only know the concept of how it's going to fit in. I got the main design done for it about 85+% now (in only in like a couple hours of work last night) but next comes the REALLY interesting part of my peice. Though I'm still debating here if the design is harder or if the implementation of what I did is. I guess it depends on your point of view. I'm kind of 'hung up' on this thing for Akula in the past few days as I got really frustrated with Dethwell the other day and want to take a short breather from it. Besides I haven't completed a whole project in a LONG time so if I get this peice done for him I'll feel like I've accomplished something and will motivate me to do more, or so the theory goes. Babble on I do as I have nothing else of importance to talk about right now really. And since no one else is updating as of late it gives me even less material to go on. So you must deal with my rants as I am the demi-god of rants. The Hal is the god of rants. So I have to be up in like less then 6 hours for class and I stayed up just so I could write this 'update' so you guys would have something to keep you looking at our site. Now isn't that dedication if you've ever seen it? So yea...we are going to have another play test Saturday since the one on Monday wasn't as good of a turn out as I'd have liked but it was on short notice so that is life. So if you are interested, you know the drill, drop me a line and I will add you to my makeshift mailing list. Sleep is calling my name.