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Alan Willard
Epic Games | Level Designer | Feb 25 2000, 19:25:43 (ET) | alan@epicgames.com
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Login: mobius Name: Alan Willard
Plan:
Legals would have gone here if I had spent many years
in college to be a lawyer. As, however, I have not done that, this
is not a valid statement of Epic Games.
*\____________________________________________________________________/*
2-25-00***
FINALLY! Its out, after a long testing process :) The Bonus Pack is out, and
can be found at your favorite news site by now I hope. Just a bit of a secret
got shipped with this... If you rename DM-Cybrosis][ to DOM-Cybrosis][, the map
will play as a Domination map, with named control points and the works! I
figured if I slipped the Control Points in like this, it would save a little
bit on the download size, so go forth and enjoy.
- Alan
(p.s. Just noticed I've been putting the wrong year on my updates since the middle
of January. Duh!)
2-21-00***
Wow :) Got quite the response there... As an update, I'm still having the same
problem, so I've decided for the moment to just live with having a PS2 mouse doing
nothing.
On another front, I'm searching for a pet, and I was wondering if anyone out there
knows where I can find a breeder of African Grey (pref. Congo, not Timneh) that is
local to Raleigh, NC, who sells hand-weaned baby parrots. I've been considering this
for some time now, and I've decided its time for me to get another parrot! Any
reasonable, intelligent replies are much appreciated @ alan@epicgames.com.
And yet another question: Does anyone out there have the correct pinout to connect
an Adaptive BetaBrite LED sign to a PC using an RJ12 - RS232 9pin cable, and the
protocol specs to communicate with it?
- Alan
2-16-00***
Been awhile :)
Brandon, my girlfriend and I went and saw Chevelle, Dope, Static-X and Powerman 5000
perform at the Ritz here in Raleigh Sunday, and I have to say, it was one hell of a
show! Chevelle was good, Dope was really good, Powerman was damn good, but I'd have
to say (and I'm sure Brandon would agree) that Static-X stole the show, at least for
us. They put on an incredible show, played an unreleased song, and in general shook
the house HARD. If they happen to be coming anywhere near you, I recommend catching
the show highly if you're into that type of music.
On the office front, several of us just upgraded to Athlon 800s this week, and
since I'm the one that built the systems, I seem to be the one expected to fix any
possible problems with them. The only unexplainable problem I've run into is this:
I installed Win98 with a PS2 mouse installed, since a USB wouldn't be any good until
the operating system was up and going, and once I had everything ready, I installed my
Razer Boomslang 2000. Now this was great until I rebooted. Now everytime the system
boots with just the USB mouse installed, Windows locks up hard before it gets anywhere
NEAR completion. It locks up so early that I couldn't even get into safe mode or a
command prompt. Now I figured out a workaround by having a PS2 mouse attached but
tossed into a corner, and this has worked on all three systems I built. I'm wondering
if anyone out there has had a similar problem, or knows of a workaround or fix that
doesn't require that I leave this PS2 mouse attached since I'm not using it and it
seems somewhat silly to have it attached. Email me @ alan@epicgames.com if you have
any useful advice. I have flashed my BIOS to the latest version, which is supposed
to add Athlon 800 compatibility (wasn't having any other problems before though), and
I've installed all the custom Motherboard drivers included with the MB (a Microstar
MS-6167 Irongate), and nothing seems to have made a difference.
- Alan
1-22-00***
Anticipation grows within me... I sense an evil looming over the horizon,
bloated and grotesque, and the glow of its red eyes shines down upon a blasted,
wretched landscape.
Diablo 2 approaches, and I better damn well get the copy I reserved.
On a lighter note, Raleigh has been getting tons (relatively) of snow this last week,
and I'm enjoying it an amazing amount, and I've had more fun watching people fail to
drive from my office window. Especially amusing was one van attempting to leave the
loading dock Monday morning. People, don't try to drive up short, steep, curving hills
in a minivan with no spikes or chains in snowy, icy weather!
- Alan
1-13-2k***
ATTENTION!!! The recent 405B patch is NOT a beta! Apparently people have been getting
the wrong idea that this is a BETA patch, based on the 'B' in the version number. This
is not so! This patch is as finalized as the 402 patch was. While the patches haven't
gone through the same extremely intensive testing as the release version of the game, we do
extensively test them both internally and with an external group of beta testers before
releasing them.
And no, don't email me asking how to be a beta tester!!!!!!!!
- Alan
1-12-2K***
Anyone who's interested in a new/old way to play Unreal/UT should check out this:
http://unreal.eavy.de/
Eavy's DarkMatch is a REALLY cool way to run around in the dark hoping you'll kill
someone :)
Remember, not being seen is as important as seeing!
- Alan
1-11-2k***
The new UT patch (405b) was released today, pick it up at your favorite UT website.
It is COMPLETELY network compatible with previous versions of UT, so never fear, if
you don't download it and your favorite server does (or vice versa) you will still
be able to connect and play!
- Alan
1-10-2k***
Rather than make a long boring post about some lame thing I found on the web,
I'll just say this:
The long wait for the release of those free maps we mentioned awhile back
WILL BE worth it.
'Nuff said.
- Alan (who will be making sporadic appearances on the Etherlife T3 server
(128.208.47.165)
1-7-2k***
Scientist proved today that 90% of Brandon's neural network has been replaced
by complex caffeine molecules.
- Alan
12-28-99***
Happy birthday to Ross K. Jacobs, who turned 25 today.
Having read some of the recent reviews of UT and Q3A, I have noticed one
fairly serious misconception which has been floating around for quite
awhile now...
Ping, the latency between two computers on a network, either WAN (internet)
or LAN, is a measurement of network connection response, NOT of the efficiency
of a program's network code (other than TCP/IP itself). The correct measurement
of a game's network code is in how well it deals with high or low pings. The
game in no way causes high or low ping, it is totally dependent of your connection
to the internet, the server's connection to the internet, and all the systems between
you (the client) and the server.
This means that if you play any game on a server with a ping over 250 or so, and it plays
well, that game has good network code. If you play a game on a server with the same ping,
but the gameplay is laggy, stutters, or is downright unplayable due to connection
problems, the netcode for that game is not quite up to snuff.
Also, some games calculate ping differently (don't ask me how, I ain't no programmer!)
so even that simple number is really only a general idea of how good your CONNECTION TO
THE INTERNET is.
- Alan
12-25-99***
Merry Christmas to all! In honor of the holiday, I just wanted to throw out
a quick line of cheer and goodwill to all.
Or as my mother would say (and often has):
Remember, the bigger the pile, the brighter the smile!
- Alan
12-19-99***
I've been reading alot of online comics lately, and I just wanted to complement
the author/artists who do them!
www.etherlife.net > Zach Stroum, really blows my mind... *groan*
www.penny-arcade.com > If you've never been there, you're truly missing out! I
am totally looking forward to their Christmas Carol interpretation!
www.sluggy.com > Oh god, sheer mayhem! This is one of the strangest and most oddball
comics I've read ever... A mini-lop with a switchblade?
www.herdthinners.com > Much fun to read, more along the lines of traditional
newspaper comics. Innocent and funny.
Happy Holidays to everyone!
- Alan
12-11-99***
Playing Planescape:Torment, and I have to say, the story is very very good. I've
been an RPG'er for a long time now, pen and paper, digital, whatever, and this one
has a very good feel to it.
- Alan
12-3-99***
Ok, so I'm looking for something. I have a Laser FX(tm) Light show thingy, one of
those things that does a pattern on the ceiling/wall that responds to music. I got it
as a gift quite a few years ago, and I know it was purchased at Spencer Gifts. Now,
what I am looking for is the upgraded model, which has 2 light array thingys on a
single pedestal and can take a stereo input. Any info anyone can dig up on this
would be greatly appreciated. There is a tag on the bottom of mine that says it was
manufactured by the Samil Enterprise Co., LTD: part # SF-102.
Anyone who can find me the upgraded version will be my best friend :)
Email anything you can find to alan@epicgames.com
11-17-99***
UT being done and all, I thought I'd leave a quick message here and thank all
the people who put faith in me and taught me the skillz I use today.
In no specific order:
Jay D. for being very patient with someone who forgot to add startpoints to Doom maps!
Ross J. for all those late night co-op Doom games :)
Kevin F. Viva!
My parents, for letting me live in the garage for some months being a bum and sitting
at the computer 24-7
Melanie B. though I know she'll probably never see this, for putting up with me without
a job
Doran G. for running that bad boy
id Software for making level design-able games
Shane C. for making an offer in an airport. (get your mind outta the gutter.)
Cliff B. for putting up and only very occasionally shutting up!
Tim S. for being a genius
Brandon R. for being angry :)
If I forgot anyone, I'm sorry. If you didn't want to be on this list, I'm sorry. If
you demand to be on this list, go to hell.
Holy S**t, we did it...
10-22-99***(EARLY morning)
James Green, Jack Porter, and myself went down to the loading dock and played
some 'street' style hockey... Alright, I wasn't wearing rollerblades, and we
didn't play for a score or anything, but I am nice and sore and out of breath (quitting
smoking three months ago is the only reason I even survived tonight!), but we had
a good time acting like complete fools in front of the security camera. In more
directly work related news, the programmers are squashing bugs like madmen, and
the level designers are finished with all their known stuff. While it feels
REALLY nice to be at the end of this project, I can't seem to relax yet, and I
don't think I'm going to until I actually SEE it for myself in stores.
Those of you who have been to Epic's offices here would truly NOT recognise the
place at the moment... Cliff and I share an office, and we've been going a little nuts
decorating it this week (not for Halloween or anything, just finally got up the energy
to go and do what we've been talking about for awhile) and now our office is very...
ummm eccentrically lit. The disco balls are interesting, but I think the
blacklites and the fog machine really give it that extra 'Umph'. Think I'm kidding?
Take a look. Here. Its been awhile since I've done any html, so forgive
me if this is badly done. Our little corner of the world now looks like a bad club.
A very bad club.
Listening to:
Type O Negative: World Coming Down (GREAT album, Creepy Green Light rules!)
Various: Mortal Kombat Sountrack
Delerium: Karma
Creed: Human Clay
Crystal Method: Vegas
- Alan
09-17-99***
WE NEED SERVERS :) We have more players than servers right now, so EVERYONE who can
run servers! (obviously the higher your bandwidth, the better!)
Cliff Bleszinski is a punk ass bitch. He apparently doesn't feel it necessary to
mention all the SMACK DOWNS he's received in Insta-Gib... He can't Shock Rifle
to save his narrow ass 8}
Listening to:
Fear Factory: Obsolete
Stabbing Westward: Darkest Days
07-02-99*** And earlier has been.... Annihilated!
-= Alan Willard =-
-= Level Designer =-
-= Epic Megagames =-
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