Friday, December 21, 2001

Quake II Goes GPL -- 7:19 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

id programming guru, John Carmack, updated his .plan with word that the code for Quake II has been released under the GPL. Cool stuff for you budding game programmers. Why not learn from the best? Here's the whole update:

The Quake 2 source code is now available for download, licensed under the GPL.

ftp://ftp.idsoftware.com/idstuff/source/quake2.zip

As with previous source code releases, the game data remains under the original copyright and license, and cannot be freely distributed. If you create a true total conversion, you can give (or sell) a complete package away, as long as you abide by the GPL source code license. If your projects use the original Quake 2 media, the media must come from a normal, purchased copy of the game.

I'm sure I will catch some flack about increased cheating after the source release, but there are plenty of Q2 cheats already out there, so you are already in the position of having to trust the other players to a degree. The problem is really only solvable by relying on the community to police itself, because it is a fundamentally unwinnable technical battle to make a completely cheat proof game of this type. Play with your friends.

Q3A/TA 1.31 Linux Patch -- 7:14 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

id has released the 1.31 patch for Quake III Arena/Team Arena for Linux. It is a 27.1M download that fixes a sound crash in addition to the non-Windows-specific issues mentioned yesterday. You can download it from id's FTP site, 3D Downloads, and Blue's News.

Duke of URL RIP -- 5:34 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

I just saw on Linux Today that The Duke of URL is going to be no more. That's a pity since they had a number of very fine Linux reviews and articles. The Linux community is the poorer for it.

RtCW Multiplayer Demo Released -- 12:40 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

As promised, id, Nerve, and co. have released the multiplayer demo for Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Right now, only a Win32 version is available. Blue has a list of mirrors. It weighs in at 66.3M and includes the new "Trench Toast" level. That level is also available as a separate download for people who already own RtCW.

Close, But No Cigar -- 10:29 am CST, Update by A.T. Hun

VisorCentral reviewed the Sprint PCS Wireless Web Digital Link module for Handspring PDAs. It is a cellphone module that also allows for web surfing, SMS, sending email, etc. I would REALLY like a module like this so I could carry one thing instead of the PDA and phone seperately. The main problem is that it only supports 1900Mhz CDMA digital. Although they promise a free firmware upgrade when 3G becomes available (allowing for up to 153K transfers), there is no analog mode for roaming away from major metropolitan areas. The other problem is the price: $250, the same price I paid for my Visor Deluxe a year and a half ago. They havea $60 rebate right now, but that's still pricy. At that price, I'd be better off waiting for a Handspring Treo, although it appears that the Treo will not have analog capabilities either.

RtCW Multiplayer Demo Today -- 9:42 am CST, Update by A.T. Hun

I don't know how I missed this one yesterday. GameSpot is reporting that id, et al, will be releasing a multiplayer demo of Return to Castle Wolfenstein today. Included will be a new level "Trench Toast," which will be available for download seperately for those who already own RtCW. We'll certainly bring you links to the mirrors as soon as the demo it released. Thanks Blue.

Thursday, December 20, 2001

Fear the Sith! -- 10:32 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

What if Microsoft really WAS the evil empire? Well, now we have proof! Check out this site as the horrible truth is finally unveiled! Thanks to Haus contributor J for the link.

Generations Arena Beta Released -- 10:26 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

One of the Quake III mods I've been eagerly anticipating has finally been released, albeit in beta form. It is Generations Arena, a mod that enables you too play using the weaponry and physics of Doom, Quake I, Quake II, or Quake III Arena. You can grab the 61M mod here. Thanks Blue.

Baseball is in Bad Shape -- 9:13 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

Or so Bud Selig would have you believe. Apparently things are so bad that the Boston Red Sox are about to be sold for a record $660 million, double the previous high paid for a baseball franchise. If things are really so bad, why are people paying such astronomical sums to get in, especially folks like those in this group, some of whom used to own other teams. Sheesh. Cry me a river.

Q3A/Q3TA 1.31 Patch Released -- 2:57 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

And here I thought that they weren't working on any other patches. id has released the 1.31 patch for Quake III Arena/Team Arena. Win32 users can get it through the auto-update feature. Otherwise it is a 26.1M download from id's FTP site or Blue's list of mirrors. Here's what has changed.

12-14-01 - Notable Changes and What's New

Windows Fixes:

• fixed Doppler effect
• changed protocol from 66 to 67
• fixed simple developer 1 cvar cheat hack
• changed a few warnings to developer warnings
• rcon commands no longer fragment, sent buffered to the rcon client
• fixed connection issues / broken userinfo
• only printing R_AddPolyToScene
• warnings with +set developer 1
• various dedicated server issues fixed

There is also a sound crash fix and a workaround for a glibc bug in Linux. The Linux patch should be coming soon.

Major WinXP Vulnerability -- 2:01 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

The Washington Post is reporting on a major vulnerability in Windows XP. The flaw is in the universal plug-n-play code. It will allow someone to take total control of a WinXP box if it is connected to the Internet. Check Windows Update for a fix. If you have WinXP, check Windows Update NOW. Here's a quote from Microsoft:

"This is the first network-based, remote compromise that I'm aware of for Windows desktop systems," said Scott Culp, manager of Microsoft's security response center. "Every Windows XP user needs to immediately take action." He called it a "very serious vulnerability."

Thanks Slashdot.

The Master comments: Sigh . . .

UPDATE! Ars Technica is reporting that the patch is not on Windows Update yet. You have to get it from Microsoft directly. Apparently it also affects Windows 98 and ME if you have XP's connection sharing installed. This exploit has been known for five weeks but took this long for a fix. They also posted Microsoft's security bulletin.

UPDATE #2! Aaarrgghh! It's a buffer overflow! Aaaarrrgghh. Oh yeah, it could be used to DDOS a site too. Great.

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