06 March 2010-pjw
SOME CLEAN-UP, AND A BIT OF NEW MEDIA
Was just looking through the site a few days ago, and noticed a few typos...
then some things that should be updated...then a few more. Yep stuff needed fixin'.
I added a few things to the media pages while I was at it--stuff that had been sitting in
the "Add To Site" folder for a bit too long. There's an old Chinese curse that says,
"May you live in Interesting times."
Life is interesting.
03 January 2010-pjw
GENERAL SITE UPDATE...VACATION HAS BEEN A GOOD THING.
Well, 2010 is here and a decade is over. It's been an interesting ten years,
especially when you consider that this site is nearly ten years old at this point.
The site has covered my evolution from a hobbyist to a professional, complete with
accompanying career change, and has gone through a few different hosts while I've
gone through a few different employers.
I'm still pretty happy with Raven at this point, despite the recent troubling
layoffs that forced me to sit and watch as a number of good friends were forced out
the door to look for other opportunities. I'm not simple-minded enough to think that
it was an easy process for Raven either, and I'm hoping that lessons were learned from
the experience.
I'm currently continuing with my passion for making maps for Trackmania, and you'll
find a few new ones on the trackmania page. I'm also toying
with the idea of starting work on a new Quake 3 map; we'll see if anything comes of it.
I have an interesting idea for a tourney map, and I'll have to do some basic playtesting
first, to see if it's actually any fun, or just screwy and weird.
The media section has had a bit of a facelift. Gifs are now
divided into catagories just like the images, for easier browsing. Although there's no
actual porn or nudity on this site, there are some things that are rude and/or disturbing.
Call it some added spice. These items are now clearly labelled as "NSFW" (not safe for
work), and, in the case of images and gifs, are in their own distinct sections, following
the more tame content.
There's also a bunch of brand NEW content in the media section to
entertain and amaze, horrify and delight, so enjoy the browsing.
Happy New Year!
17 July 2009-pjw
MEDIA PAGE IS UP!
The Media section of this site is now functional!
There, you'll find a wide variety of entertaining things, such as gifs, sound files,
images, and other stuff that I've collected from the dark corners of the internet over
the years.
Check it out!
8 July 2009-pjw
NEW PLATFORM TRACK (but still no "Media" page...)
Finally got a nice fast no-restart run on
Hops and Barley
and popped out a quick trackshot and uploaded the works. You can grab it
here
and see what you think. It's sort of tricky, and maybe a tad lucky, but not crazy-hard like some
of my other tracks.
The media page will probably stay under construction for at least another week or so--I've
been spending a bit too much time lately on
Wolfenstein
to be able to devote as much time as I'd like to personal stuff like this site. I should be taking a nice,
long vacation sometime soon though...
21 June 2009-pjw
NEW (AND VERY DIFFICULT) SNOW TRACK
I just finished up
A Sublime Cruelty
which is very short (~30 seconds) and very difficult. I'm not sure if anyone will manage
to finish this one, but feel free to give feedback on
the track page
(or just call me names, whichever).
And yes, work is continuing on the "Media" page. There should be something up in the next week
or two.
14 June 2009-pjw
HELLO NEW SITE!!
It's been quite a while since I updated--way too much real life and busting ass
on Wolfenstein, combined
with a healthy dose of laziness has kept me from doing much for a while on the quake
level-design front.
In any case, IGN decided to discontinue ALL free hosting--all the Planetquake hosted
sites die on August 31st--so I killed two birds with one stone, and moved the site from
Planetquake to my own hosting, and gave it a badly-needed facelift at the same time.
A final Planetquake note, most (if not all) of the hosted sites have been archived already, thanks to Chip at
QuakeWiki, so I'd suggest bookmarking that site and using
it to find old Quake stuff that would have been lost otherwise. You're a good guy, Chip.
You'll notice a few new things on this site, such as:
- a big ol' InstaUnlagged CTF map; somehow
I had a major brainfart and missed adding it to the site quite a few years ago.
- Four Doom2 maps, that, again, I should have
added a long time ago, and didn't, for whatever reason.
- a Links page with all kinds of architecture and level-design
resources, along with just general Cool Shit™ for your clicking pleasure.
- a Media page. This is currently under construction, but will eventually
contain a variety of entertaining, unusual, awesome, and/or disturbing stuff (e.g pics, sounds, text)
that I've collected during my years of poking at the internet's soft underbelly and seeing what falls out.
- Trackmania! I have created a bunch of tracks over the last few years for the amazingly
cool series of Trackmania games from Nadeo.
All of these games include a modular editor that allows you to quickly and easily create new tracks for the game.
I think that one of the reasons I enjoy making these tracks so much is because you can work on
one of them for a few hours (say, over a couple of evenings) and end up with something very polished
and fun. It's a nice relaxing shift from working on FPS levels that may take
many hours to weeks or months to get close to a finished state.
Trackmania Nations is a FREE version of the game, and is
only limited in that it includes just one of the seven environments and four play modes found in the full game.
If you like racing games at all, you should download
Trackmania Nations and try it out. Right now. Seriously.
In any case, the site move and update has been long overdue, and now that Wolf actually has a release date and things
are winding down a tiny bit, I'll see if maybe I can update this place with something a bit more often...
08 July 2007-pjw
WHOOPS.
It was pointed out by a very observant person on the
Quake 3 World Forums that the pk4
for Sunshine still contained an addon.cfg file that referenced "beta 2".
Argh.
The d/l has been updated with the new/fixed version, but if you intend to play the map online
(as opposed to just playing with bots), then you should download it again.
Sorry about that, folks.
04 July 2007-pjw
AND ANOTHER QUAKE 4 MAP!
Sunshine (aka pjw4tourney1) is
finally finished, after a bit of a rough and protracted development process that spanned
multiple patches and several versions.
Most of the great textures in this map are courtesy of
Evil Lair, while the
cool skybox is courtesy of
Hipshot
I also have to say a quick thanks to Raven's Fred Hooper (hi Fred) for help with the glowy
liquid. They all kick ass, just in case there was any doubt.
In any case, the map is available for your downloading pleasure, and I'm going to have another
beer, and enjoy the rest of my 4th of July.
29 April 2007-pjw
ONWARDS AND UPWARDS TO...QUAKE 3?
The Small Place (CTF) (aka pjw3ctfduel1) is
in place for your downloading pleasure, and is a quite small CTF map. Y'know, I really
did think I was done with Quake 3, but an idea proposed on the
Quake 3 World Editing Forum
for a collection of 1-on-1 CTF maps was an interesting enough idea to get me to make one
more Q3 map.
Most of the great textures in this map are courtesy of
Rorshach, while the
cool skybox textures and fog shader are courtesy of
Sock
and the crate texs are from the talented hand of
Karloff. They all kick ass, just in case there was any doubt.
Hell, who knows, maybe I'll come up with something else Q3-ish one of these days. In
any case, check the map out for some very frantic CTF action.
01 January 2006-pjw
NEW QUAKE 4 MAP IS FINISHED!
Woo, it's been a while since I updated the site. I've pretty much had my hands full for
a while working on Quake 4, and then the new Wolfenstein game, but in the meantime I've been
playing around with a new MP map, and it's finally finished after a good chunk of mapping
time spent over the holiday break. High and Dry (aka pjw4dm1) is
ready for your gibbing pleasure after a lot of fighting with performance and drawcalls. I tried
to go for a somewhat different feel than most of the maps that shipped with the game, and the
RG area was an eleventh-hour inspiration. Finishing this up felt like a decent way to start off the
new year. I hope you like it.
09 Sept 2004-pjw
AND TWO MORE MAPS . . .
First Crate Efficiency (aka pjw3quickie5). I completed this map
quite a while ago (July), but just hadn't gotten around to updating my website until now. It was
created in two sittings like most of my "quickie" series of maps,
but in this case, it was created as an entry into the Second 20-Brush Contest
organized by Chaos (and isn't that a cool turn of phrase?).
The terms of this contest were that you could use only 20 visible brushes, up to 10 Visible patches
in place of a brush (e.g. you can use 16 brushes and 4 patches), only 5 custom textures, and
no map-models or custom sounds. I was surprised to win, since there were some very cool and
creative maps entered, and I hope Chaos does it again sometime.
Cremaster Conditioning is brand-new, and is probably my
last map for Quake 3. You have to keep learning and you have to keep moving on to new stuff,
and I'll be switching over to the Doom 3 engine from here on out.
This map has been floating around on my hard drive for a while, and I wanted to get it
finished up before I said "so long" to Q3. It plays equally well in FFA or Tourney, and
both versions of the level have distinctive item/weapon loads. The tourney version of the map is
lacking the Railgun, since it is a very open and expansive level, and I wanted
competitive gameplay to not revolve entirely around long-range sniping. I put a lot of thought
into movement on this map, and there are a number of not-so-obvious shortcuts and tricky ways to
get from here to there.
The cool skies in these two levels are variations of one created by
ydnar and Hipshot.
Hipshot gets credit for the cool textures (except for the second sky stage, which is ydnar's).
The textures were modified slightly, but texture creation is not my forte, and both maps are cooler
than they would have been otherwise.
In addition, the level features custom textures from
Evil Lair, and a nice ceiling light from
Finko. I got the ceiling light, and the cool waterfall featured
in the map from FPS Mapmodels,
but the waterfall was missing the shader. The waterfall model is courtesy of Rungy,
and I can't seem to find a site or email anywhere. :( Thanks anyway Rungy!
I found the shader and sound for the waterfall in one of RKone's cool maps,
where he credits the sound to Death2UAll . . . and I can't seem to locate a site
for those two gentlemen either. If anyone can enlighten me, I'll be happy to update this page.
The map name? Oh yeah. The cremaster muscle is responsible for the cremaster reflex
which occurs in males of the species when they are startled or afraid (like when you're about to be
shot, or fall to your death, or get shot while falling to your death). This reflex causes your testicles
to be drawn up as high as possible (sometimes actually into the body), and out of harm's way. It can also occur
when you're simply cold, but that's not as interesting.
You learn something new every day.
27 Jul 2004-pjw
TWO NEW MAPS! (WELL, SORT OF)
The two maps in question are remixes. Tekhead from
Q3 Generations
was cool enough to want to include a couple of my maps in the 1.0 release of this
great Q3 mod, and I couldn't hand them over without screwing with them at least a
little bit, plus there were a couple of changes that were kindly requested, so
Guns (Generations Remix)
and Jumping to Contusions (Generations Remix)
are now available for download.
The changes to Guns involve some slight connectivity tweaks, and the changes to
JtC are slightly more significant, and include the loss of one freaky tele that I
never really liked, some minor lighting tweaks, and the addition of a secret (oooh!).
There's also a cool new sky that's a variation of one created by ydnar
and Hipshot.
So, should you be playing these, and not the originals? Well, that's open to debate,
and pretty subjective, but feel free to check them out and see what you think.
(And no, you don't *have* to have the Generations mod installed to play the maps, but,
hell, it's a great mod, especially if you're a long-time Quakehead like myself, so why not
check that out while you're at it? Those crazy kids put a lot of work into it. The 1.0
release is coming up, but there's nothing to stop you from checking it out in the meantime.)
There's also a new addition to the KickAss Maps List.
Grindill 2.0
by Quaker-X is an incredible map of waterfalls, mountains,
cliff faces and outstanding atmosphere, and would have been on the list a long time ago if I didn't get brain
farts quite so often.
07 Jul 2004-pjw
JUST A QUICK UPDATE . . .
Just checking in and saying that, yes, I'm still alive. Madison, Wisconsin is a very nice place
to hang out (despite the record-breaking rain recently, and tornados!), and I am very much enjoying
my job at Raven.
You'll notice a slightly different, somewhat purple look to the site. I had actually been kind of
tired of the green for a while, but had been so ridiculously lazy that I didn't want to take the 15 minutes
to change it out. Well, I was doing a few other things to the site this evening and finally got it done.
Nothing all that new on the mapping front at the moment. I am working on a new Q3 map, probably my last
(yeah, I know, that's what I said last time), and I have a layout finished that I've posted in a few spots
for feedback, but it has a long way to go before it's presentable.
I hope everyone's enjoying life as much as I am.
03 Apr 2004-pjw
NEW MAP! NEW JOB! NEW MOVE!
Big News up front: I've been hired by Raven Software,
and am madly packing my crap and getting organized for the trip to Madison, Wisconsin. This is A Good Thing,
since there are very few companies with Raven's track record re: making great shooters.
There are a few people I'm going to miss a great deal in Massachusetts, and I've learned a lot at my
current job, but it's time to move on. I should be all settled into the new digs by this time next month.
The Small Place is complete (and was actually completed a while ago, but
things have been a little crazy for the last few weeks). In any case, it's true to the name. It basically
started with me wondering "Hmmn. How small of a playable map could I make for one-on-one play, and
have it still be fun and balanced? Well, the answer is Pretty Frikking Small. Containing a couple of Combat
Armors, Rocket Launcher, Shotgun, Grenade Launcher, and BFG (!), there won't be much time to breathe between
one frag and the next, so hold onto your naughty bits! This map is even better in
CPMA (which adds one Jacket Armor), although it plays fine in regular Q3.
Most of the great textures in this map are courtesy of
Rorshach. The outstanding skybox is
courtesy of Jaj, and the crate textures are courtesy of
Karloff (karl.off@berlin.de). It also benefits, as usual, from ydnar
and his continuing quest for potent compiling juju.
You'll also notice a new addition to the KickAss Maps List. The Abandoned
Post by Electro and Killazontherun was actually added a while back, but I had a brain fart and didn't mention
it in the update. Dead Souls by Glassman was just added today. These maps are quite amazing from both an artistic
and a design point of view, and really demonstrate some of the amazing sophistication and elegence that seems to
show up with regularity in the Quake 3 design scene these days. Good job guys!
And I'm off to Wisconsin . . .
09 Feb 2004-pjw
AND ANOTHER ONE :)
Guns is complete, and what a map it is. If you're in the
mood for some serious urban grundge action, this is the map for you. If you aren't careful,
you'll start to think you're playing something that's not even Quake 3 . . .
The map is designed primarily for medium-size FFA and TDM, but can also be played Tourney
(although it's a little on the big side) and even CTF, thanks to the request of a somewhat
twisted beta-tester. This map (like all my more recent creations) is improved by the addition of
CPMA, although it plays quite well in regular Q3.
This map benefits more than usual from the talents of
ydnar since it utilizes many textures and shaders
of his creation, along with the usual q3map2 goodness which includes a heaping dose of portal
sky (!) this time around.
There's also texture and/or model lovin' from
Jezebel,
AtriaLenkki,
Elfinko,
The5thHorseman,
Kell,
QkennyQ, and
Mr.LyCon AKA Con Artist. Thanks to one and all.
28 Aug 2003-pjw
NEW MAP IS FINISHED!
Jam Number 17, my newest Q3 map, is finished, complete with textures from
Evil Lair (and a couple from
Kat), skybox courtesy of
Jaj, and ongoing tools lovin' from
ydnar. Check it out and enjoy.
21 Jun 2003-pjw
WOW. IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME.
Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory is out, and seems to be a raging success,
from all the feedback I've read and heard, problem is . . . I'm not a part of it. This makes
me angry and sad (although, in the last few months I've managed to shift the emphasis from the
former to the latter).
There are a whole host of reasons why the single-player portion of ET was cancelled and
flushed, and I could go off on a gigantic rant about planning and time and communication,
but I'm trying to just get over it at this point, so I won't. It's damn sad that some really
cool maps will never see the light of day though.
All there really is to do at this point is to extend a hearty congrats to the very talented
crew at Splash Damage. I really enjoyed working with
you guys on ET; it's one of the few parts of the project that doesn't make me clench when I think
about it. You guys rock, and I wish you all the best on your next project.
On the mapping front, I'm currently working on a fairly large (and quite vertical, as is my habit)
FFA/2v2 TDM level. I should have a final beta test in a few weeks.
Finally, you'll notice a new button on the left.
Creamy Radio is,
hands down, the best internet radio station I have heard. If, like myself, your musical
tastes tend to be fairly eclectic and you like not hearing the same top-40 crap all the time,
please check it out. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
5 Nov 2002-pjw
NEW MAP--GET IT WHILE IT'S HOT!
1) I finally finished Pretend Girlfriend--an evil, nasty, treacherous
little map, suitable for some very intense tourney or 3-4 player FFA gameplay.
2) It's a remake/expansion of Than's wonderful Q2 map,
Pretend Best Friend, with a bunch o' cool
textures from Mr. Clean.
3) I'm working way too hard on Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory
to come up with a long update. I hope you all enjoy the map.
. . . as you were . . .
15 Sept 2002-pjw
LONG TIME, NO TALKIE
Thought I might as well let folks know that I'm still alive. I've been working very hard on
the new RTCW game, Enemy Territory. Short form: yep, I'm having a LOT of fun.
Unfortunately, between working on ET and playing that incredible time-sucking creation known as
Morrowind
(just hit level 50), I haven't had a whole hell of a lot of time to work on Q3 levels.
Nevertheless, I finally got Bone Chips and Dip up on the site.
This is, probably, one of those levels that folks will either love or hate. It's the third in my
"quickie" series (one sitting at Radiant, beta testing, second bout with Radiant, release), so
don't expect a ton of detail, but I got pretty experimental with the gameplay, and I think it's
a lot of fun. Find out more!
I'm also working on a little tourney map that's a Q3 remake/expansion of
Than's wonderful Q2 map,
Pretend Best Friend, and
it's . . . well . . . closer to being done than not, so look for it in a few weeks.
Finally, I added a few things to the Miscellaneous Crap section
of the site, and cleaned it up a little. I added an insane little quad-rocket-jump-off-a-jumppad
experiment that allows you to practice your timing and feel like Superman, and a few sample raw
map files to d/l showing how to do stuff in Q3 like ladders, random items, and texture projection.
Hope everyone is enjoying their fall. Go outside. Enjoy the leaves. Breathe a little. Look
confusedly at that odd bright thing up in the sky . . . what's that thing called again?
9 Apr 2002-pjw
A MAP AND A CROSS-COUNTRY MOVE!
This is gonna be a quick one--lots to do. Just finished up
shine on which is a vanilla Q3 conversion of a level that I originally
created for Quake 3 rocket arena, suitable for 2-4 players (thanks to Kiltron for the excellent textures).
Can you tell I'm wrapping up a lot of loose ends?
That's because I just got hired by a very cool company in Massachusetts called
Mad Doc Software,
to work on an as-yet-undisclosed Q3 engine project. I'll say more when they remove the duct
tape from my mouth.
Holy crap, Batman, I have to drive across the entire country! I'm out.
1 Apr 2002-pjw
NO APRIL FOOLIN' HERE
Had plenty of that nonsense here today, so I won't contribute; I'll just give everyone another
Q3 level instead. Deal? Deal. I've been working on this one for quite a while.
Beneath A Distant Sun started off a while back as an evaluation
exercise for a potential employer, and has evolved quite a bit over the last few weeks.
It's a very organic, alien-worldish feeling FFA map, and while it can be played 1-on-1, it's a little big,
and also has the Quad. It's the most fun, IMO, with 3 or 4 other human beings (although the bots do okay
on it as well--which was a lot of work, so appreciate it, dammit).
Special props on this one to (yet again)
the unstoppable Mighty Pete for the skybox (available at
The Wadfather. More props to
Oak for the cool impaled skeleton and the three skulls
light, to Cyber for the other sweet skeleton models, to
Mr. Clean for the nice sand textures, to
Rayden for the great tusk texture that he was kind enough
to make just for this map, and to ydnar for the ever-improving q3map.
Why are you still reading this nonsense? Go download it.
15 Mar 2002-pjw
OKAY, THAT WAS MORE THEN A COUPLE OF DAYS
Way too much real-life getting in the way of polishing up Harder Than Hate,
but I finally got it sorted. Enjoy! See the 14 Feb update below for full details.
14 Feb 2002-pjw
OOPS, WAIT A SECOND! HOLD YOUR HORSES!
I've received a generous offer for the final of Harder Than Hate
to be compiled with a spiffy new-and-improved q3map, courtesy of ydnar. I am,
of course, taking him up on the offer, so if you are reading these words, don't get all bent when you get
a 404 on the d/l link for the map; it ain't there by design. Give me a couple of days.
14 Feb 2002-pjw
NEW TOURNEY MAP! NEW BOT! NEW ASSKICKING ABOUNDS!
It's been a while since I ventured into tourney territory, but I decided it was time, and came up with
Harder Than Hate. In addition to the default map, the d/l also
includes an FFA version suitable for 3-5 players, and a custom bot that will make you squirm (especially
if you are one of those large-testicled individuals who normally plays on "nightmare" difficulty).
I was trying for very, very serious gameplay on this one, at least regarding the tourney version of the
map, and I put eye-candy for eye-candy's sake a distant second. To that end, even though the map is
quite playable and fun with normal old vanilla Q3, I decided to tailor the map primarily to
the CPM mod, simply because the changes that this great mod
incorperate make one-on-one Q3 more strategic, more fun, and more intense. If you haven't checked it out,
I highly recommend doing so. I also requested the help of all the hardcore individuals over at the
Challenge Network Forums,
and after their generous suggestions and playtesting, the map is much better, leaner, and meaner then
it would have been otherwise (any remaining poor choices or screw-ups are, of course, solely the fault
of the author). Thanks, guys! Additional props go to Evil Lair
for the great textures and weaponspawn model, and to The Mighty Pete for the skybox (available at
The Wadfather).
1 Jan 2002-pjw
TWO UPDATES IN ONE WEEK? FRIGHTENING!
Just some quick remarks this time around; the KickAss Maps have
been updated. I have removed some Q3 maps that just didn't do it for me anymore (and I'm not quite
sure why they didn't--part of the blessing/curse of this list is that it's just not real logical).
In any case, the maps that go on it are the maps that I think are just pure fun, and that I keep returning to
over and over again, and on the rare occasion that I lose interest in one of the maps that are
already on it, I have decided that it would be best to just remove that map. Anyway, the important part is that
there are four new maps on the list for your Q3 joy!
The first is AltarBeta
(or smaller file without custom music)
by 79dieselrabbit. This map has been out for quite a while, and
while some maps make the list immediately, this map made the list because I (and my buddies)
just can't stop playing the damn thing. It's fun tourney, it's fun FFA, and the gameplay
personifies elegent simplicity (with a few odd quirks).
The second is The Abandoned Crate
by unitool. This is a small, tight, absolutely brutal little
tourney map that becomes absolutely insane as a small FFA. It has an understated derelict sort of
look to it that perfectly matches the apocalyptic gameplay that results. It also has a bit of a secret,
and while the secret doesn't affect gameplay very much (by design), it's fun, and it owns me anyway.
Third is another small tourney/FFA that's not much bigger then the previous map, but a bit less open and
more convoluted in layout--Meatball Grinder
by Fingers. I have had some incredibly intense 1-on-1 matches on
this map with a buddy of mine, and it's the kind of map that would beat up little kids and take their
candy. And then eat it in front of them and complain that it wasn't very good. Just mean. A cramped abundance
of armor, weapons, and winding passageways over a yawning abyss of blackness.
Finally, if I want to be right in someone's face all the time, I'll play one of the previous two maps, which
is why I didn't really take to Jax_Gator's Stranglehold--a tourney map that was so small and brutal that it was
almost too much so (for my taste anyway). On the other hand, he released a much-expanded
FFA version in December,
and it just . . . well . . . kicks ass. I was eagerly waiting for him to release the final of this
version of the map, and when he did, I knew immediately that it would take up residence on the KickAss list. This
map is equally fun with varying numbers of players, and sports an outstanding layout, excellent connectivity and verticality, and
wonderful item placement.
Get all these KickAss Maps now. You won't regret it. (Or if you do, feel free to
argue with me about my choices.) If you know a map that you think should be on my list, and think that I may not have seen
it, feel free to send me a URL, but I warn you, the list is incredibly subjective and irrational, so don't expect
me to necessarily share your opinion.
Back to radiant for me.
1 Jan 2002-pjw
TWO FOR ONE--2002 WILL BE A BARGAIN YEAR!
Two new Q3 maps for you this time around. A relatively gigantic FFA/Team DM map set in a forgotten
installation high in the windswept reaches of a mountainous chasm, and a smaller (but still spacious)
Tourney/FFA version of the larger map. They are separate files, so that people who greatly prefer
smaller or larger maps don't have to download both of them. Check out more information and screenshots
for Jumping to Contusions, or the smaller tourney version,
and please give me some feedback, if you enjoy them (or even
if you don't).
It seems like thanking Evil Lair for the great
textures is becoming a hard habit to break. Not that I'm trying. A bunch of other thanks go out
on this one as well: Kat, Karloff,
and Jezebel for additional textures,
stecki for the tele,
Maverik for the lamp model,
KabaL for the flag-holder,
The Mighty Pete for the skybox (available at
The Wadfather), Death2UAll for the
cool wind SFX (get more of his great stuff here,
graciously hosted by GONNAKILLYA, and last but certainly not least, thanks to
ydnar for getting me headed in the right direction with
the tcGen vector rock shaders.
I would also like to offer up some additional serious gratitude here to ydnar
for the incredible work he's been doing lately optimizing the code for the Quake 3 map compiler; all we
lazy mappers owe you much gratitude, bud. Maybe I'll get the chance to buy you a drink one of these days.
Finally, I will be updating the too-long neglected
KickAss Maps list sometime in the next few days,
so be sure to check back and see how brilliant I am in my picks (or to see how full of crap I turn out to
be, depending on your outlook). Happy New Year!
20 Sept 2001-pjw
STEP ASIDE! BIG MAP COMING THROUGH . . .
Wow, this has been way long in the making. Kiss the Sky is the latest Quake 3 map that I have managed
to cajole out of Radient over the last few months. You'll notice from one of the updates below that the
map was "just around the corner" in March. Heh. It's always that last 10% that takes 50% of the time. Anyway,
after five betas and . . . oh . . . several million hours, I'm pretty proud of it. It's a large FFA/Team
DM map that's suitable for 4-12 players and has some really different gameplay and features.
There are a couple of people that I want to thank right up front on this one:
Evil Lair for the great textures (I picked bits and peices
from a number of his texture sets), and Death2UAll for the cool custom sound effect (get more of his great
SFX here, graciously hosted by
GONNAKILLYA.
Download the map,
or get more information and screenies here, and please
let me know what you think. (I'm toying with the idea of
flipping and mirroring this map and doing a CTF version, so if you're a CTF player,
give me your $0.02 on that idea, too.
Finally, this page was getting a little long, so the old news has been moved to an archive
here.
Why are you still reading this? Go play some Quake!
18 June 2001-pjw
NEW HOSTING!! AND ANOTHER QUICKIE!
(No, not that kind of quickie, you pervert--another quickie map.)
First I need to extend huge thanks to the PlanetQuake crew for the hosting. This is a big step up for me, and
allows me to devote more of my leisure time and energy to making fun Quake3 maps instead of futzing around
with a website. They do so much of the work and organization for me, that I could almost get spoiled. Thanks guys!
Kao Phat Chance is a funky little space floater with an outstanding skybox by
The Mighty Pete (thanks Pete!). And additional thanks to
The Wadfather, for making such great skyboxes available. Even though
the map has a Quad, I think it still makes a fun Tourney map, since the Quad is . . . um . . . a bit difficult to get.
Get it at the maps page, and let me know what you think.
Some of you who have visited this site in its previous incarnation may notice that there is no longer a "Humor"
section. The humor section was removed so that I could focus solely on mapping here. If you miss the humor (or
you never saw it in the first place, but are curious), I do send out a semi-weekly humor mailing. If you would like to
be added to the list o' laughs, mail me and let me know, and you will soon
be laughing along with me. (Warning: humor mailing is R-rated, and if you complain or are offended, I will probably not
even pretend to care and will simply remove you.)
Finally, there is a new winner of the KickAss map award. The Chastity Belt Duel
by jalisk0 is a tourney map that, although a little plain looking, provides some
of the most enjoyable tourney action I've had in quite a while. Really, really excellent design, layout, and gameplay!
That's it, I'm back to Radient.
13 March 2001-pjw
WOW, THAT WAS QUICK!
Another new Quake 3 map. With another large one just around the corner. Stuff just seems to be
flowing right along at the moment. I'm going to not question it, and just appreciate it.
This latest offering is a very large, open, FFA or Team DM map--suitable for up to at least 5-on-5. If you like heights and like your
friend the railgun, you will like this map. I tried to not make it too much of a camper's paradise,
but the campers will probably find things to like about it. Damn campers. :-) Get it at the maps page. Nothing else new for now--I'm busy mapping!
22 February 2001-pjw
ANOTHER IN THE NOT-SO-LONG LIST OF MY NOT-SO-FREQUENT UPDATES
A new Quake 3 map. Finally! Although the maps have been slow in coming from me, I have a lot
of cool stuff just around the corner (a team map 90% done, and another team map 75% done, and a
very small, tight 1-on-1 map about 50% done). The current completed map is a small (2-3 person)
map titled "Tandoori Despair" (don't ask), and is available on the maps page.
This is the first in what will probably be a series of very small
simple maps that can be at solid beta stage after on one sitting at Q3Radient. This is a very fun
creative exercise, and a way to loosen up the mental muscles a bit.
There is also a new addition to the KickAss maps list. Check screenshots and
download "Last Fortress"
here.
This is a map by Q-Fraggel, and it brings a real
old-school Quake 2 feel to the Quake 3 maps scene (and is one of the few maps, IMO, to do it right--i.e. by
by blending Q3 features and goodness with some great Q2 styling and getting the best of both worlds).
The map has a couple of secrets as well, which I think is a neglected feature in most Q3 maps I've seen;
probably because this can be a tough thing to pull off without unbalancing gameplay. Keep up the good
work Q-Fraggel!
And, as usual there's a almost frighteningly large, moist bolus of humor just waiting for you in
the humor section. (New stuff toward the top.)
11 September 2000-pjw
WHOA! SOMETHING NEW!
First things first: A new map! Yep, amazing as it seems, I have actually
completed my first Q3 map (well, the first one that I thought was worth releasing,
anyway). The map is titled "Hot and Moist" and is available on the
maps page. It's a damp and steamy slice of
gaming goodness, so check it out! I've already decided that my next map will be much
bigger--and maybe I'll have some screenshots the next time I update.
There is also a new addition to the KickAss maps list. Check screenshots and
download "fff" here.
This is a new map by stecki, and it's
pretty amazing--vertigo-inducing abysses combined with a factory-tech atmosphere and
lots of death-from-above. Great overall feel, connectivity and flow. Remember, don't
unzip the .zip file--just rename it to fff.pk3.
Some days, life just gets difficult. I got
this warning from Q3Radient last night. Damn.
Finally, I couldn't let an update go by without adding something to the humor section. It's
kind of a big download (2.5 meg), but it's one of the funniest, and at the same time,
most horrifying things I've ever seen. One poor bastard, and his
encounter with an . . . um . . . amorous donkey.
12 June 2000-pjw
A CHANGE OF VENUE, AND STUFF
Well, Quakeheads, my former host, seems to have gone
belly-up. I received an e-mail informing me that the host had been sold,
and that I would not have access to my site for a while, but that the
e-mail would still work. Well, I have not gotten any e-mail from that
address, and haven't been able to access my site for about three weeks
now, so time to move along. I am now being hosted by the
Xtreme Tournament Gaming League, a new
organization that is just starting up that I predict will kick
impressively large quantities of ass. If you are in a clan, if you play
on line (or even if you have any interest in doing so), or if you just
want to see something cool and new in the world of internet gaming,
go there. Extra special radioactive
thanks to [TLN]PaTcHeD. I'll try not to beat your ass so bad in Q3 from
now on . . . ;-)
If you want to contact me, the contact page is accurate; do not
use the old Quakeheads e-mail any longer please, also please
be patient in waiting for a response; due to odd circumstances, I am
temporarily spending my weeks at work, so Friday night is e-mail response
time.
On the mapping front, I am working at the remake of
9th Chamber,
but it's slow going. I am rethinking my approach a bit, and may just start
over . . . I am also involved in the early stages of a collaboration that
may produce something interesting . . . move on that later.
There is a new addition to the KickAss map list. The map is
Lost Forever
by Kodiak,
and it's my new favorite tourney map. The map is very tightly connected,
well-laid out, and slicker than . . . well . . . something extremely slick.
Finally, there's a whole heaping helping of new humor in the
HUMOR section. Since I'm feeling lazy, I'm not going to list it all here
like usual. The eight newest bits of hilarity, goofiness, and twisted
perversion are waiting for you.
21 May 2000-pjw
IT'S BEEN A WHILE . . .
since I was able to update this puppy, but I've been having fun commuting to
my job at 3DO
on Monday, and then returning home on the weekends--sorta cuts down on
the time to screw around with a website. That is, if I want to have any sort of
real life whatsoever, outside of catering to you people . . . ;-)
I was saddened to hear that the mapping side Pure DM is no more, so I have
removed the link on my site. 'Smite, if you're reading this--you did a great job
and I hope you apply your talents to something else fun soon! Let me know!
I have decided that for my first actual map for Q3A, I am going to remake a map
that I really liked for Q2: 9th Chamber
(johnnydm4)
by Johnny which, although
it's a bit of a strain for the Q2 engine (with high r_speeds and a real expansive
feel to it), is a bit of minor design genius in my opinion, and quite fun to play
1 on 1 or perhaps 3 or 4 FFA. In any case, I think that this map will do quite well
as a Q3 creation, and Johnny is willing to let me give the translation a try. This
will be a total rebuild btw, no .bsp-to-.map here!! Hopefully, I'll have the basic
structure in a couple of weeks, and looking for beta testers shortly thereafter.
No new maps on the KickAss List this time, mainly because I'm short on time today
and disorganized as hell, but there a couple of contenders in the running that
warrant a closer look . . . next time.
The Humor page has a few new items and bits of miscellany. First, if you're
really bored and have way too much time on your hands, go
here.
Second, check this out. I feel like I'm
allowed to join in the redneck stereotype, since I grew up in Oklahoma. :-)
For everyone who's into useless bits of information, try
these on for size (they're kinda funny too).
Finally, it seems like I regularly add something to the humor page that other
people kinda wonder about, i.e. "Why the hell did you put that there? That's not
really all that funny, it's just kind of lame." Well, ya know what? I'm kinda
weird. No, really! (If you don't believe me,
here's a picture of me.) Anyway, I just found
this joke
to be frikkin' hilarious. If you think so too, you're probably as weird as I am.
That's it for now. Tune in again, same bat-time (sorta), same bat-channel.
29 April 2000-pjw
VARIOUS TYPES OF SERIOUS OWNAGE!
Biggest news first: Starting on the 8th of May, I will be gainfully employed
as a full-time level designer for 3DO.
Yeah, I guess you could say I'm stoked. :-)
I've only spent the last few years fitting "this game stuff" in the nooks and
crannies I could wrest from "real life", and man, has it paid off. My advice to all
of you who are trying to make the leap into a paying level design position is to
just keep at it. It can be done and I am proof (testimonial off).
Well, that gaming news site beloved by millions,
Peej 'n' Fribs
has gone the way of the dodo this last week. (I personally think it pined away after
the unexpected demise of it's pal the
Q-Board.)
BUT ALL IS NOT LOST!! It has risen from the clammy crypt, morphed and changed under the
strangly greenish light of the full moon, and now stalks the world as
QMap! Seriously, this
site looks to be one of the more exciting things to happen on the level design scene
in a while, and is a brilliant bit of design. Notice as well that it is easily reached
by the button on the left.
Another Q3 level has been added to my KickAss Maps list, and it's a real winner.
Gate to Hell
by Nihil is a creepy Cthuluesque
creation. The design reminds me of something that's composed of equal parts of
the movie "Alien", Harlan Ellison's brilliant short story "Croatoan" featuring
flushed fetuses keeping company w. flushed alligators, and hmmn . . . I dunno . . . Toxic
Avenger? This map plays as good as it looks. Get it now! (By the way, I have now
added direct download links for all the maps on my KickAss Map list, so you peeps
don't have to search around for them. Yeah, I'm cool like that.)
Finally there are a couple of new additions to the humor page. One is a sound
file that just absolutely killed me. I think I went to high school with both of
the guys involved in this phone call. Also, for your
enlightenment, is Hell exothermic or endothermic? I know I've always wondered,
and this explained it to me clearly.
16 April 2000-pjw
THERE'S TOO MUCH REAL LIFE GETTING IN THE WAY
around here to accomplish all the things I'd like to accomplish. Whining about
it seems to help though. :-)
It's been a while since the last update, and the big vague and cryptic
news item from last time has been, well, delayed for a bit, so tune in again next
week, same bat-time, same bat-channel.
For now, for all you new content starved types, here is a
link
to one of the most endearingly weird adventures in real life that I think I have
ever seen. Go there
and marvel. For a quickie, here is a rude bit of joy
for all you singles-bar-hoppers out there. On the other hand, if you've
ever wanted to be a vampire, here are some rules to live by.
On the Q3 mapping front I have a couple of little gems that you should check out:
First, you should realize that I am not a big fan of space maps, so when
Dilvish was looking
for beta testing on his new "gothic space map" I had my doubts, but it sounded interesting
enough to be fun. Well,
the finished product
is available for download, and it turned out to be quite nice! Maybe I'll try another
space map or two from time to time . . . Naaahhh.
Also highly recommended is
this
slick little creation by
Senn. It's a very nicely
laid-out techno-battleground with some good connectivity and a very different look
to it. Check it out!
Just noticed that the hit counter is up over 500. Small potatos for the net,
but a milestone, nonetheless.
Finally, the Q-Board
has been taken out of commission by its creator. This virtual watering hole for the
mapping community, a reliable source of education and fun for many folks for
a long time, apparently hadn't been measuring up to (or had evolved beyond, or something) the
expectations and desires of Headshot, its creator, who has pulled the plug. So, while the old information is still
there, the Q-Board is no longer a living, changing thing. I am removing the links
from my site, as I don't feel it's remotely as valuable an archive as it was
a meeting place.
Headshot, thanks for all the hard work, and the great connections, and the fond
memories. Now go make some more maps! :-)
1 April 2000-pjw
SERIOUS SICKNESS, REPTILIAN GOODNESS, AND THINGS TO COME
The weekend is stretching ahead of me after a quite stressful week
in REAL LIFE, and I have way, way too much VB coding to do,
so this is gonna be a quick one.
First and foremost, this is something for the "That's not funny, that's
sick!" catagory. (Okay, well . . . er, it's funny AND sick.)
When I first saw this, I didn't even laugh for a second; just stared
and thought, "Oh. My. God."
On my personal mapping front, < vague and cryptic > I may have some interesting news next
week < /vague and cryptic >, but in the mean time,
Scampie has produced an
amazing little map, Reptilian1: crippled plaything. I
played this map for a good couple of hours the other night, and it may
well be my new favorite small tourney map.
Download it!
Finally, a couple more additions to the humor page that aren't
necessarily as spectacularly twisted as the above, but still quite
good: Check out these cards
that didn't quite make the Hallmark cut. And finally, nothing like
abusing a helpless target . . . I have been looking for a good, concise
list of the best of Dan Quayle's brainfarts for a while, and found one.
Enjoy.
26 March 2000-pjw
GLOATING AND LAUGHTER
Just a quick update this time around . . . It is SO COOL to have
a new computer (just in case anyone didn't realize that). I am now getting
36 fps in Q3A at 1024 by 786 with all details turned all the way up (along
with 32 bit trilinier textures and colors). Next week, I jump back into
Q3R and map editing with a vengence!
In the mean time, some more humor for you--a little rude this time around to balance
the niceness from last time. Howzabout way too many synonyms for
masturbation?
If you don't like that, then check out this tale of
telephone terror.
Please note, this is not me! (Someone sent it to me.) I would never
do this, although I did find it hilarious.
This seems to be a recurring theme, but here's another example of one
of the differences between men and women.
Finally, if all of this is just too much for your
fragile sensibilities, I have a new assistant to handle any complaints.
If you would like to complain about the humor, then
talk to the cat.
Peace.
18 March 2000-pjw
STORMS AND KIDS, HOPE AND WILLPOWER
Geez, sounds like the headline to a real heartbreaker of a newspaper
story doesn't it? Well, nothing quite so life and death, but stuff going
on nonetheless.
After being sicker than hell last week and spending way too much time
staring at the bathroom floor, I'm trying to get this update done so I
can get my homework done, so I can get the hell out of the house and
do some serious climbing on Sunday (first time this year, woohoo!).
I have now added a button to
LvL
on the left as it's simply a great site for maps and mappers. The beta
section there is something cool and unusual where you can get and give
feedback on maps-in-progress.
Speaking of maps,
Lunaran's new map,
Coriolis Storm
is an un-frikking-believable example of atmospheric map-making. Set in a
sand-blasted, abandoned outpost in the middle of a parched landscape, this
dusty killing ground is the coolest thing I've seen in Q3 yet. Get it.
It's not often that I mention two maps by the same author in one update, but
Spiike has a
couple of good ones for you: the first is
Hope,
and although those of you with weaker machines may struggle with this large
castle o' gibbing goodness, I suggest you download it just for the eyecandy. If
it does make your comp strain, then try
Willpower,
a fast-paced 1v1 techno-terror that just popped out of beta. This man is
showing some mapping skillz; I'm curious to see what he comes up with next.
Speaking of slow computers, I can't count the number of times I've nearly
gone postal trying to learn Q3R on my 233 w. 64 meg--tough to place brushes
precisely while waiting for the screen to redraw. So next week a brand-spanking
new PIII 700 w 256 meg of ram and a bright and shiny nVidia GeForce card will
arrive at my door. Much more gloating to come . . .
Finally, I've updated my humor section with
something a little more cutesy than is the norm for me, but aside from
being cute, I found it lol-funny--so what the hell, it fit the criteria.
Check out kids remarks on love and marriage.
Is anyone reading this humor stuff? Let me know.
/me wanders off to bed . . .
4 March 2000-pjw
HUMOR, SIN, and Q3R
Does it seem to anyone else that people are starting to get the hang
of Q3R? There seems to be a ton of really cool maps out there
recently ('course there's still a lot of shite being released by people
that don't have much of a clue as well, but I was there once, and ya gotta
start somewhere).
I suggest you check out
Sinister Purpose,
a really sweet new Q3 dm map from Wiebo de Wit.
I was most impressed by the lighting (the thing that's probably most likely to piss
me off in a map), as it alternates areas of shadow with bright sunshine coming
in from above, and is never too dark or too bright. It also has really nice construction
and flow, with plentiful natural rock amid the stone gothicness. Try it, you'll like it.
I have also updated my Humor section with
some goofiness re: what to do in Wal-Mart when you're bored
and a guide to Hickbonics. Thanks to
Marianne and Dan.
If you have something so funny it made you pee your pants, then
send it to me, and it may make it on to
my humor page. Remember, if it's a file, then mail me first. If I don't know you
it will be deleted!
26 February 2000-pjw
MEATPAK 'n NETSCAPE
Just got through giving the once-over to
Meatpak, a
three-map Q3 deathmatch pak by Pete Parisi of EA, and
I have some mixed feelings. First impression: with all-new textures created
by Pete, the three maps contained in this relatively large pak
are really pretty, and have a very different industrial/techno look
that I find very appealing. The design is very clean and crisp and for
such large maps they run very well on my pitiful machine. Two of them
(Darkmeat and Redmeat) contain fairly cool triggered deathtraps, and the
third (Whitemeat) reminds me of nothing more than a gigantic skateboard park on a
bright summer day (in a good way).
The downside? Well, all of the maps have the same sort of open, expansive,
arena-ish "Bouncy Map" feel to them (although Redmeat is a little more
confined in spots), and by the time I got to the third one, there was
a little voice in my head going "Yeah, yeah, we've seen this." Plus, as
Pete points out himself in the text file, "Bots do not do well on these
maps." Heh. Yeah, you could say that. They fling themselves off into
the abyss with wild abandon.
I am really looking forward to more maps from this author that are
more of the "traditional" (i.e. not so 'one-big-room') deathmatch mode.
For those of you that are using Netscape, I have (hopefully?) fixed
some b0rkage with the tables (thanks
Than).
Please let me know if things are still yucky and I'll *sigh* dl
Nutscrape, check things out, and give it another go.
Gibfest has re-vamped his website; why not
give it a look and let
him know what you think?
Between work and school, work on 405 Degree Horizon is at a crawl.
Maybe I'll shut up now and go map . . . :-)
19 February 2000-pjw
NEW HOSTING!
I am now hosted at Quakeheads, and am pretty stoked about the whole
deal! Thanks, guys!
My new Q3 map "405 Degree Horizon" is
coming along to some extent, but it's a bit of a pain in the ass
going from Q2 and Qoole (yeah, I admit it) to Q3 and Q3R. Especially
on my 233 w. 64meg :-(. If I can ever get done futzing around with
this site I should have some screenshots up (probably in the next
week or so). It's going to be a small one, especially compared with
some of the monsters that have been coming out lately, but size isn't
everything ;-)
In any case, it'll be done when it's done, and those of you who
liked my last map, PJWDUEL1
should have a nice surprise coming, as it's loosely based on that map.
And finally, I suggest you hit this link to
ztn's
site, as his recent Q3 map "Beatbox" kicks frighteningly enormous
quantities of ass, and is currently my favorite Q3 map.
12 February 2000-pjw
NEW SITE
The new site is up! Whoo-hoo! Well, it's actually not up yet, ya
see, as I'm typing this, but it will be up when you're reading it. An
"adventures into the past" sorta deal, ya see...cause if I typed "well, the
site is almost finished and ready to go up, but not quite", even though it would be true,
you'd be confused. SeewhatImean?
Anyway, here you will find the absolute best in custom Quake 2
and Quake 3 Arena maps...er...well, my best in custom maps anyway
(which isn't too shabby), along with an assortment of news, humor, and miscelleny. Please
feel free to mail me with any
feedback or suggestions on the site. Incidentally, I also have some old
Doom 2 maps (dm and sp) that I made and would be willing to throw up
here if anyone is interested . . . let me know. I think Doom 2 has kinda
gone the way of the dinosaurs though.
I'd also like to throw out a big thank you to
Gibfest
for providing me with a brand-spanking new web design and a bucket o' HTML
coding to play in. Why not give him a mail and tell him how astoundingly
cool he is?
Finally, if you want a really different feeling (but excellent) Q3
map from a relatively unknown author, check out q3jdm9 by jude, available
here.
Hi There!
Who the heck is the "pjw" person? Well, let's see...a concise history:
I was born in France (Navy brat), and have lived in Italy, Florida, Colorado,
Missouri, Oklahoma, California, and Massachusetts.
I have a graduate degree in psychology, and worked with children in a previous career.
About ten years ago, I decided I would rather make game levels instead.
My wife and I settled in Madison, Wisconsin in 2004, where I work as a game designer for
Raven Software.
If you would like me to look at a level, or...heck...discuss pretty much anything,
then feel free to contact me.
Email:
pjw -AT- pjwnex.us
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