Q3DM1 is a terrible choice for scenario #1 - bots are like fish on water @ these small claustrophobic levels... and they don't play like humans...
EXIT GAME will be your option too, after some hours, or less...
Fire Boats are great fun @ Microsoft's AoE2! They are relatively cheap to build and will only be a smart choice, after upgrading their resistance to other boats...
Quake 3 Arena FINAL DEMO [Q3AD] is now spread across hundreds of FTP servers all over the world, after its release, just some 24 hours ago. The game itself can already be bought @ some lucky stores, but it will take a week or so, for it to become available worldwide.
Q3A has already been a subject @ this web, but back then [22 November 1999], I wrote about it, based on the Q3A TEST DEMO, which ID labeled as "for mature audiences only", meaning that it was not a proper demo, but something very close to it, yet with some unfinished stuff... and its sound support was obviously an example of the unfinished stuff... as many gamers noticed, while trying to activate the "high quality" option...
OK, but Q3AD is now FINAL, and people now have something that really says a lot about the Quake 3 Arena on the shelves. However, unfortunately for the gaming scene, many influent reviewers could write their Q3A opinion without even playing the game, as they will not dare to point flaws to John Carmack's latest. It is a very unpopular thing to do, to write bad things about any ID game... and even less popular, with the game has the word "quake" on it :)
Yet, I have some bad things to write about Q3A, as if you didn't know that by now...
Well, the FINAL DEMO is *exactly* the same software the TEST DEMO was, except for the fixed high quality sound problem, and the missing "mature audiences" string... so IF you already downloaded the TEST DEMO some days ago, you could do yourself a favor, NOT downloading the FINAL version of the thing, unless you can afford a 50 MB wait, which - of course - will be no problem to hardcore quakers, or people with free Internet...
Go ahead then download Quake 3 Arena FINAL DEMO [47762 KB]
All the great and all the bad stuff already reported day 22 November 1999 remains:
- bots are too hard, starting @ the "hurt me plenty" setting;
- bots never behave like humans, but more like screaming kangaroos. They almost never miss a shot, and always choose the best weapon for the circumstances.
- I wish players would scream a LOT less...
- Some mouse wheels remain unsupported!, so, by default, you won't have a working mouse control for switching weapons. Not great.
- You can win very easily on Q3DM17, but you will live a nightmare @ the claustrophobic start scenario - Q3DM1... Why? Its a matter of scale: Quake 3 Arena has a very incorrect architectural scale: you are supposed to be running on colossal corridors, archways and so on, but the truth is that two players can't fit a passage, and you can go from the bottom to the top of a "gigantic" structure in a matter of seconds, using just stairs... Bots are easy to beat at open spaces, as they simply can't spot where you are... strange artificial intelligence...
Of course, Q3A looks awesome and plays on steroids, but if you are deeply sincere, you will notice that the fun and the ambiance of the original Quake is gone, plus objects were better scaled @ Quake 2, and that is a step back!
Having no monsters, Quake 3 is a shadow of Quake is / was, as a single player experience. It is a shame. This is a very dividing game: people will love it, and people will hate it. I am sure that am one of the very few having a middle position: I rave its graphics, its tech side, its potential for human multi player sessions, but I am sorry for how it all goes, when bots come to play...
Age of Empires 2 - bloody fight!
Microsoft did more or less the same that ID did with Quake: the Seattle giant picked his most successful entertainment title, improved it everywhere, and people were presented with the perfect Real Time Strategy [RTS] game! Age of Empires 2 [AoE2] has it all, but with a much higher playability, calling gamers from all ranks, and providing them all with a challenge that feels just right! This is where AoE2 breaks apart from Q3A...
I usually play @ the "hard" level. Harder than "hard", only "hardest", but I am not quite up to it right now. What I am trying to say is that AoE2 offers a challenge that you feel fair and natural, in the sense that you would believe to be playing against real humans! More: your success has nothing random... you can improve in a very deterministic fashion.
NVIDIA Detonator 3.62 for GeForce, TNT and TNT2 chipsets [1556 KB]
3DFX Voodoo2 DX7 BETA drivers [2322 KB]
NOTE:
NVIDIA is doing a bad job with these latest drivers. GTA2 and Delta Force 2 are not 100% compatible with releases 3.52 and 3.62 of the Detonator reference software :(
Despite being BETA, the latest release of 3DFX V2 drivers, adds DX7 support [DirectX 7 *must* be installed] and grants a very noticeable picture quality gain, with most software! For example, the improvements are obvious with Quake 3 Arena...
Unreal Tournament @ 221199
Quake 3 Arena @ 221199 ; 271199
Delta Force 2 @ 161199
AoE2 @ 250799 ; 311099 ; 021199 ; 051199 ; 101199
Revolt @ 201099 ; 221099 ; 271099
Flight Unlimited 3 @ 271099 ; 271199
Driver @ 271099 ; 021199 ; 051199 ; 081199
Nascar Legends @ 101199
M25 @ 131199
Extreme Mountain Biking @ 131199
GTA2 @ 141199
the truth about the patch @ 270999 ; 280999 ; 091099
Creatures @ GIL ; SW Agents Paper ; 160399 ; 170399 ; 140499
Delta Force @ 020599 ; 050599 ; 130599
Half Life @ 030699
Aliens versus Predator @ 130799 ; 150799 ; 250799 ; 050899
Kingpin @ 060899
Simcity 3000 @ 200899 ; 260899
Hidden & Dangerous @ 110999 ; 140999 ; 170999 ; 21099
Roller coaster Tycoon @ 061099 ; 101099 ; 111099
Sega Rally 2 @ 111099
GP500 @ 161099
Apache Havoc @ 181099
Q3DM17 is the opposite of Q3DM1: too easy! Its a matter of scale...
Hurt Me Plenty, is really that: bots will kick you all the time, unless the scenario has open spaces. The HARDCORE and the NIGHTMARE options are a joke! NIGHTMARE should be called, "no chance, even when playing @ God mode"...
Check my score! 22700 in just 2 hours is not bad at all!