Quake Live Beta

So ok, a while back I grabbed a Quake Live Beta key and since I’m lazy as hell sometimes, I’m just now sitting down and writing a little about the QL. I had not visited the world of Quake in the last 4 years but about six weeks ago I got mega-bored with WOW and was interested in finding out more and so just like old Jack Burton, I said “what the hell.” Just as an info blurb, I played the initial Quake Arena alpha back in ’96 which was really only a partially functional leaked version. It played like shit but hey it was the coolest f’n thing I’d seen in years. First though, we’ll start out with an official spot from Marty Stratton, Executive Producer over at id software:

“With the game being completely delivered and the interface being in a web browser we have all of the tools you would normally have to deliver ad content through the web browser and our advantage and where we’re really trying to tie those pieces together is in how we link those together for advertisers. Running promotions on the site that get people to maybe use a sponsored game character, game skin within a game playing for leaderboards where they win something from the advertiser or unlock something that’s advertiser-produced. And that’s something that advertisers are interested in. They’ve got their media buys, they’ve got their web buys, this is a way for them to interact with what we hope is an incredibly large group of consumers in a way that is far more interactive and allows for a greater conversation than just ‘there’s a web ad.’”

So yes, they’ll be website ads as well as advertisements that show up in game via banners and kind of/sort of cool looking signs. There will be a “premium” service available some time in the future but it remains to be seen if this will eliminate the ads completely. Who knows? So far on the site, and this could be because it’s still in beta, the ads are non-intrusive and barely noticeable. The image to the left is just some generic filler for a presumable future ad. Taste the frag…what?!?

Anyway, moving on. Let’s talk about how Quake Live is different from from the Original Quake Arena. First, you’ll be navigating to and from game servers via your local web browser, which is interesting. Again though, you’ll be downloading the full Quake Arena .exe as well as the map .pak files. If you don’t know what those two file types are, no worries because you will probably not realize and notice where exactly those files are being stored. The file location would be of importance to you if you have your own custom config files that you want to execute and if any beta testers/readers need assistance, post in the forums and I’ll be glad to assist. Ok, on to the site itself and what it looks like, see below!

So as you may be able to tell, screen shots of active servers are listed along with the “best picks” right at the top of the columns, presumably the most active and populated servers at that moment. When you register, it asks you to enter your “skill level”, i.e. beginner, intermediate and advanced and supposedly one of the features of QL is that you’ll be matched up with players that meet your current skill level. So if you’re in there pounding on the n00bs, topping the maps every single time, you’ll theoretically be ramped up into the servers that have more experienced players. Additionally, this ranking should be based on your stats, which is one of the areas of information you have access to on the QL site. Anyhow, back to the map info…another screenshot below.

When you hover over and click on the image of the server, it’ll give you additional info such as what game mode it’s running in, the number of players and also a list of current opponents. Nothing new, but kind of cool I suppose. Double-click to join in on the action. The next volley of screenshots detail out the character, console and game settings, all controlled from within your browser. The options should be very familiar to old-school Quake Arena players but it’s a slight improvement, if not a limiting one, on the game interface. I do have to note that the way the browser plugin handles saving config files is still buggy as hell in the beta and I just rely on my own files at the moment:

What else can I say about the QL? They’re including Clan Arena, Duel, Team Deathmatch and Insta-gib flavors of battle as well as the venerable CTF mode of play. Not new, but still fun as hell. Well, I take that back. Some of the CTF maps are brandnew and the Proximity Mine and Chaingun are new additions if you never bought/installed Quake Zero. I’m hoping they’ll eventually throw Rocket Arena in there for good measure, always a favorite of mine! Anyway, it’s Quake Arena re-visited with a slight change in weapon damage (the Plasma and Lightning gun have received a slight damage increase and the Rail Gun was hit with the nerf bat for a damage decrease. Multiple RailGun hits required) and presumably up and coming maps. The maps currently being played are all old standbys, matching the old modes of play etc, although some of your old favorites have been slightly modified but you’ll have to get into QL to find out the map details for yourself. I will leave you with a few more in game screenshots, enjoy.

CTF

CTF

CTF

DM

DM

DM

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