id Software Lead Programmer John Carmack updated his .plan with word on .plans for another Q3Test targeted for mid-September, and plenty more. The lengthy portion not quoted here discusses confusing memory usage with network problems, a change in how .pk3 file management works, as well as an updated worklog. Without further ado:

8/26/99
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The current plan is that we will have another test release around the middle of next month. This version will be running game/cgame/ui with the virtual machine, and will include single player play against bots. No new maps.

I will be releasing the source for all the VM modules with it, and setting the executable up so that it will allow modified modules to be used.

The modified LCC and q3asm will be available both in source form and precompiled, so a professional development environment will not be requried. Using MSDEV to debug binary dll's does make exploration a lot easier than adding prints to interpreted code...

Some minor porting work on the tools will be necessary to do development under linux. The effort would be greater for mac development, because the tools are inherently command line based.

The map editor and tools will not be released until after the game hits store shelves. To be completely clear: you are not legally licensed to create or use addon maps with the test.

I am hoping that this public review will turn up bugs before we complete the game. 50k lines of code is quite a bit to go over, but people familiar with previous games will have a good head start in the game module.

The best possible situation would be if exploration of the code evolves into a tier system, with either moderated or limited access lists that I can follow without being swamped. I can't afford to be too involved in helping everyone figure out the basics. I have plenty of confidence in the mod communities ability to work that out. :-)