09/06/00, Wednesday, 1600hrs
YAAAAAAAHHOOOOOO!!
Go here, go right now, you can come back and read this crap later!
There are shots of the LATEST update to Q3F_CZ at the above link, if you haven't already looked, or at least deduced that from my excited howling :)
It seems that I was a bit misleading with my last post. The word I have from the Q3F team, (not to imply that I have access to inside info or anything. You can get the same word from them directly by hanging at #q3f), is they plan a minor release fairly soon, which I guess will be the final rev of Beta1. Following that, we should see a major release for Beta2, and Q3F_CZ is apparently scheduled to release with Beta2 :)
08/23/00, Wednesday, 1730hrs
HELLO THERE!!
Well, there really isn't much new to report, folks. There are no new map versions.
Llama2000 informs me that he is still hard at work on CZ for Q3F, but it will probably NOT be in the next update. It seems L2K actually has a life, unlike some possums I could name (cough cough)
06/24/00, Saturday, 1430hrs
Folks, I haven't forgotten about you, and it's not that I don't love you anymore.
I'm just having a really, really hard time adjusting to the changes brought about by the transition to TF 1.5
Be patient with me, please.
06/06/00, Tuesday, 0400hrs
At Last, at long last, we are officially open. Just in time for the Patch ;)
At this point, all we can do is wait and see how the patch may change the duynamics of the map, but I will have several fresh demos up as soon as possible after the official patch is released.
05/12/00, Friday, 1300hrs
Tragically, the TFC community seems to be consumed right now with wars of opinion over the (allegedly) forthcoming TFC patch from Valve. In other words, it's very hard to get anybody to do anything but bitch right now. Sigh.
Official opening here at the site is delayed by a lack of talent on my part. Slick says I should make a POTD for Planet Fortress, and I'm totally out of my depth. Uhhh, graphics? HELP! Any volunteers? Please? :)
While you're waiting for me to get my alleged shit together, (grin), here are some screenshots at Q3F of Llama2000's CZ map in progress for Q3F. I made the mistake of getting all upset over these, mostly because they contained some significant deviations from the original map. Call me a traditionalist. Llama2000 later assured us that the deviations were just an experiment, and would be removed, given the negative reaction from the community. It's hard being a mapmaker; people like me are such demanding ingrates :)
04/29/00, Saturday, 0100hrs
After a few days off, I'm back with some new goodies.
There is now a class write-up for the Scout, by yours truly, in the Classes section.
I've made a good start on translating Buzz_Litebeer's 10-man CZ strategy for the Tactics page.
And [KoB]Goose has made a demo of a pipe-jump into the enemy base that I'm too exhausted to put up tonight. It'll be on the Demos page tomorrow, promise.
But right now, I've got a serious appointment with my pillow. Good night, all :)
04/23/00, Sunday, 2030hrs
The demos of the Throw-Down conc-jump technique are now online on the Demos page. You'll find them at the bottom, under the Tips and Techniques section. I was pleasantly surprised to find how easy they were to do. But I will admit that it is going to be much harder to do them on the fly while being chased...
04/23/00, Sunday, 1530hrs
Well, I finally got to play in a couple of full-sized games at the new CZ last night, and it was good, it was very good. This was over at the Pfefferland server, (216.36.2.33), and I really have to thank the Pfeffer admin who rotated the map to CZ at my request. Also, my hearty congrats to everyone who was there. GG all, and damn well-played :)
Matt, who was once known as Zucchini, was there in the second game, and racked up a truly amazing score for himself. 78 points as a Scout is not easy!
This morning over at the PF Forums, Daryl quoted Gabe Newell as saying that the hand-held conc-jump will definitely be removed from the next version of TFC. Assuming that this does come to pass, TFC will be a rather different game from what we know today. I will shortly have some demos up here at the site to demonstrate and help teach the throw-down technique of conc-jumping.
I am still looking for demos and essays folks. Demos of CP's being capped from a perspective that I don't have yet, or demos illustrating points of skills or technique, are especially welcome. At the moment, I really need a good demo of a Demoman pipe-jumping into the enemy base.
04/22/00, Saturday, 0100hrs
Rovinski's classic essay on the Demoman at CZ is now edited, formatted and online under the Classes section. Good stuff from an old comrade-in-arms.
I finally got around to recording a demo tour for CP 5, and that is now online under both the Demos section and the Command Points section. While I'm on the subject, let me point out that the Demos section is a central listing of *all* the demos at this site. But the listings there link to the same demos that are referenced under the CP's section.
p3y0t3 continues to come up with tasty new graphics for the site, today's batch included the new section headings. Oh, yes, I like it!
04/20/00, Thursday, 1530hrs
The old QWTF page is now online and available, although I'm still struggling with repathing all the download links. I spent some time today editing in all the GS ad banner code at the top of each page, and I'm glad I did.
I had thought I knew that old site pretty well, but being forced to go through it page by page brought my attention to some things I had not seen in a long time. Most notable was an essay on the Demoman at CZ by my old clanbrother Rovinski. That little gem is definitely getting cleaned up and added to the Classes section over here on the TFC side.
Here's an item of interest to all you other ledgecrawlers. As a Red Scout, I've always been very big on using the ledge outside the window of The Red Warehouse for access to CP6 and eventually CP2. Of course there is that lip just outside the window that you have to get past, but in QWTF I had developed a technique that got me past about 3 times out of 4. (Which was no consolation at all on that 4th occasion, when I fell into the canal, but such is life).
When I got to the lip, with the wall on my right, I would turn slightly to the right, (inwards toward the wall), and press continously on the forwards key. This pretty much locked me into the tiny corner there. Then I would use a tiny, quick dab of strafeleft to pop me out and around the lip.
That doesn't seem to work anymore. I have not a *clue* as to why, but it doesn't.
So I have developed a new technique. I back up a bit, eyeball it carefully, aim at a point just a touch outboard of the lip, and rush right past it, angling inwards slightly as soon as I'm past. As I said, this technique is only a few days old, and I'm still working on it. It sure doesn't sound as positive as the old way, but so far it looks likely to yield roughly the same 75% success rate.
OK, now, why three paragraphs on something this trivial? Because it's a good example of the kinds of challenges and differences we are going to face in learning this new version of the map. And yet as soon as I'd figured out a solution, it made no overall difference to play.
Evolve. Adapt. Survive.
04/19/00, Wednesday, 1400hrs
Well, I'm actually making some progress here, folks! The Command Points section is now up and running, with annotated full-screen pics linked from the thumbnails. There are also tours online in demo form for every CP except CP5.
Let me take a moment right here to extend my sincere gratitude to p3y0t3 for his help with the graphics. He has singlehandedly rescued this site from artistic mediocrity, and I truly do appreciate it :)
The Basics section is also up and online. I've chosen to open this section with a direct quote from the original readme of the QWTF Canalzone by Sawyer/Ramirez. I've edited it for clarity, doing things like replacing the references to keys with flags, but it's still a damn good description of just what this map is all about.
Folks, the sections on Tactics and Classes are not even started yet, and I need *your* help. If you're an old member of The Cult of CZ, and you're willing to contribute an article on either of these, please email me! If you're a newcomer, but know your stuff and wish to contribute, email me!
As Buzz did with the old site, I intend to keep both these areas open for ongoing contributions. If you see there is already a write-up for your class, you can still do another one. This map is complex enough to allow for many different approaches to almost any subject.
To a certain extent, we will have to wait and see how play on this new Canalzone shapes up. Many of us knew the old CZ intimately, but this *is* a new map, and there are some important differences:
The absence of the super-healths will alter the dynamic.
The absence of dark places to hide will alter the dynamic.
The very nature of the TFC engine will alter the dynamic.
There is absolutely no point at all in whining about any of the differences, they simply are, and we will have to learn to live with them. New map, new faces, new tactics. Same old good times :)