Jaga's Guide to Quake 3, Part 3: The Basics

INTRODUCTION
PREVIOUS PART: Running the Game
(Images provided by QuakeWiki)

    Q3A's gameplay is simple on the surface.  You see something, you shoot it.  There's more to it than that, of course, but most of the game boils down to this simple pointing and clicking.

Jaga's Guide to Quake 3, Part 2: Running the Game

INTRODUCTION

    Quake 3 was released in 1999 but has managed to keep its popularity for nearly 20 years.  This also means the original code is quite old and might not play nice with modern systems.  Fortunately, id Software also released the source code to Q3A, and with it fans of the game have created new engines to play with.  I'll be covering two engines in this guide, ioquake3 and Spearmint.  I recommend these two for a minimum of hassle, but if you're intent on using the original engine, official patches are available.
    Without further ado, let's get started!

Jaga's Guide to Quake 3, Part 1: An Introduction

I'm a member of the resident games-and-anime club on campus that hosts a video game night every week. The floor is mostly dominated by Smash Bros. of various flavors and the occasional appearance of BlazBlue, but I've tried getting people to play my sorts of games - old school first-person shooters. Specifically, Quake 3 Arena. During the matches, I inevitably notice some players getting creamed by the others simply because they aren't familiar with the game - I don't want their first taste of Quake to be one of utter frustration.

On that note, I've decided to write this guide to help players understand Q3A better and just have more fun playing every Monday night. Check this post as more parts are added to the series. Parts may be updated as well as I learn new information about the game.

PART 2: Running the Game
PART 3: The Basics 
PART 4: The Guns
PART 5: Basic Strategies

Happy Thanksgiving

May your day (and stomach) be filled with delicious food and the warmth of good company.  Happy Thanksgiving!

-Jaga

Shooting Star Seven - V.1.0 Released

DOWNLOAD HERE

Remember to leave the man some feedback too.  Have fun! 

Fractured Particles - Lexi Sketch

A quick sketch of Lexi from Toolkitz's wonderful world of living pixels.

Toolkitz is a fantastic dev who makes games to stretch the imagination - my favorite work of his is Fractured Particles, along with its companion game Fractured Layers.

He's also published a game on Steam, Magical Star Pillars.  It's a fun romp, puzzling your way across a chain of islands and finding companions as you go as you investigate the machinations of a mad AI.

Needless to say, I'm a raving fan.

Malkhar on Hiatus

Malkhar isn't actually on hiatus, I can never get that project off my mind, but for now I've deleted the Github repository where I was keeping the work-in-progress engine.  Malkhar's engine was a mess for many reasons, and I've decided to take some time to rethink the game before I bring its code back into the public view.

That being said, I have started work on a new engine for the game and possibly other, future projects.  The working name is Quadra.  It's going to be a tile-based engine inspired by the Doom engine and other old FPS engines.  Beyond that, I can't say much, other than the initial version will be coded in C++ and SFML, and as such is a huge learning experience for me.

If you really want to see the old, atrocious Malkhar source, leave a comment below.  In the meantime, I'll (hopefully) continue posting art and story updates for Malkhar here.

-Jaga

Exo-Force Revamps

Continuing my streak of mechs, here are three Exo-Force revamps: the Iron Condor, the Blade Titan, and the Sky Guardian.

Exo-Force, for those unfamiliar, was a toyline created by Lego based on mecha anime.  Four pilots - Hikaru, Takeshi, Ryo, and Ha-Ya-To - fought against an army of robots led by Meca One.  It ran for three years, produced an absurd amount of sets, a comic series, and ridiculous brightly-colored anime hair for your minifigs.  While I've never been able to get into anime, mecha or otherwise, I did love Exo-Force, ludicrous hair pieces and all.

(I always thought the hair bore an uncanny resemblance to pufferfish and sea urchins, but that's just me)

Drome Mechs

I was in the mood for mechs a while ago (hence the Sky Guardian sketch among other things) and decided to build these.  They're based off of Lego's old Drome Racers line, specifically the Maverick Sprinter and the H.O.T. Arrow.

What if the racers, tired of the same old tracks under the same old tires, decided to rebuild their cars into mechs?  And race those mechs across the landscape in parkour challenges?

Sketch Dump

Around finals week I decided to try improving my drawing by doing at least one sketch a day.  Given the timing of my attempt, I got nowhere fast with that goal.  However, since classes have ended, I've started drawing again - not a sketch a day, but I do something about every week.

Still Alive

School and finals are over for the summer.  I'll get back to creating post-able material soon.  I do have a job however, so time will tell how much sanity that leaves me to work with.

So.  Kindly stay tuned and thank you for your patience.

(Malkhar) Magic 101

The elemental compass - all seven elements, except for Onyx, gathered around the four-pointed star of Opal magic, with the symbol of the crown at the top.

     The Malkharines define magic as controlling the elements of the natural world through one’s thoughts.  There are seven known elements of magic - Fire, Air, Earth, Water, Lightning, Ice, and Nature.  There is also an eighth branch which all Malkharines are forbidden to practice.  This is the Necrotic element, the powers of Life and Death.  Its gemstone is the Onyx, and it is also referred to as black magic due to the color.

Shooting Star Seven - Amy sketch

A sketch of Amy from Shooting Star Seven.

Was moving stuff yesterday and noticed the gloves I was wearing had a distinct 7-shaped mark on the palms.  So I gave Amy the same sort of mark on her gloves.

I may go back and polish it up a bit further, I don't know yet.

An Introduction to Malkhar

     Malkhar is one giant ring of an island - it’s frequently called just that, the Ring, by the inhabitants.  The more grandiose refer to it as the Ring of God, as if He would stretch out His hand and slip the world around his finger, glittering like a jewel.  It’s the only major landmass known to the inhabitants, for all their exploring.  The people call themselves the Malkharines and refer to both their island and planet as Malkhar.

Imagine a World

Imagine a world where magic is real
Imagine a world with me
On the fringes of imagination
And falling apart at the seams
Where the world's a page and wizards reign
And dragons prove their worth
Imagine a world where magic rules the earth

Welcome to the Isle of Malkhar.  Expect many more posts about it - for now, here's the work-in-progress map.

An introduction

The first post on my new blog!  I'm Jaga.  Usually I go by EvilJagaGenius on other corners of the internet, but Jaga sounds less edgy and pretentious.  I've kept the name here for consistency's sake.

I do game programming, story writing, and I try to draw from time to time.  I've created this blog to share my creations, and so people can pester me into creating again when I need it.

So - welcome, and I hope you enjoy your visits to the nest in the time to come.