News, rants, verbal assaults from the past...
	07-05

We're now (...as of 15 minutes ago...) running version 3.15 of Quake2, it's been reported to be quite stable (...by others who I waited 24 hours for them to run and determine <better them then us, yes?>...) so you'll need the 3.15 patch from ID to connect, Abattoir members can grab it extra fast from the SuperFTP Server.  Frag on!
 

Fri - May 29th - 01:30 pm

Quake 3.15 is here! (...good, God!...).  You heard it, and there's a tonne of new features incorporated in it, like VWep, auto model / skin / sound downloading (...with resume!...) and on and on!  They've even removed the copy protection CD check on start-up!  <Yay!>  as well as some major changes and enhancements to the Net side of multiplayer...  You can now set your modem speed within the multiplayer menu and Quake 3.15 will adjust a boat load of particle settings and packet settings for optimum net game play!  Sounds like some great new adventures ahead!

Of course, the 3.15 patch is already (...within seconds of its release today...) up on the SuperFTP Server (...Abattoir Members...) so go grab it, but be leery!!  I have to check a few things out first, if you apply the patch, you may not be able to play on the Abattoir, so keep a 3.14 patch handy before you leap!!  This new upgrade also adds another One on One designed level.  Click to read about all the new features (...most of which are server-side to make net play better for all!...).

(...man, within seconds, and the Abattoir's on top of it with a press release AND the file on it's own FTP Server...  I'm starting to get scared!  This is turning into a news page...)  :)
 

Fri - May 29th - 12:00 pm

It would seem to be official.  The Abattoir's new IP is 24.226.15.169, and they say it'll 'stay' that way for a 'long time' (...whatever the hell that means!...)  Please update your records.  One good thing has resulted from this, it's a complete wipe on cgocable's part and the Wave is running smoother and faster then ever.  (...I FTP'ed at over 48K a second last night during prime time, a 6 meg file came down in under 3 minutes from New York, can't bitch about that!!..).

Game on for tonight!  As the summer months are here, many MK'ers run out the door at 4:47.53 pm so there's always room for players.  Those who are coming tonight, see you then, those who aren't, have a great weekend and please try the Abattoir and let me know how your ping is, I'm hoping we're getting even better throughput now!
 

Fri - May 29th - 07:20 am

Trouble logging into the Abattoir over the last 18 hrs.?  Can't seem to connect to the SuperFTP Server?  Wondering why, even though the tech. team at Cgocable have the Wave network back online and functioning better then ever...  well, allow me to fill you in:  The bastards at the Wave changed the Abattoir's IP address!!  Real F'ing nice of them, oh, and thanks for letting your customers know about it (...you *&%#%@! pinheads!...).

There I sit surfing around for the latest news and thinking, wow, all's running so smooth and extra fast, this is great, except no one was playing on the Abattoir and the SuperFTP had not seen a connection all day, what's up?  I reboot the server, reset the cable modem, then decide to check the Winipcfg settings -- there we go!  I'll be making the call as soon as the tech guys wake-up to find out the reason, we apologize for this (...it may just be permanent...) but for the time being, the Abattoir's current IP address has been changed to "24.226.15.169"  If nothing else, at least my IP's last digits are 169!  :)  (...which you'll notice has always been the max. health level you can get when playing on the Abattoir!...).  I'll keep you all appraised.
 

Thu - May 28th - 06:45 pm

Great news, the LinkExchange has accepted the Abattoir's ad banner, Johnathan (...from the Exchange...) replied just moments ago:

I'm expecting a response some time today, shall keep you posted :)  In other news, keep tuned as we'll soon be adding a few more features to the Abattoir to aid the sucking of bandwidth...  The Abattoir has been keeping many stats the last month or more and using Gibstat, we'll be posting a monthly ranking (...Dudio, you and Disinfect will be pleased!...).  Also, we've been receiving quite a bit of EMail and one request was to put a 'mailbag' section up, so we'll diddle with that as well.  Thanks for all your input, your EMail's are always appreciated (...even the death threats!...).  For those who have asked, we will be rolling the bottom of the LAN Minutes page off to an 'archive' section as well!
 

Tue - May 26th - 03:15 pm

Well, well...  Seems our Brandon (...and a few others...) have been busy lately, the Abattoir has found out, through reliable sources (...Okay, Brandon told me!...) that himself, Frankie, Stephen, Orion and Gwot have been working on a TC for Quake2 called Torn.  Have a peek at their progress.  Brandon says they're a ways from release but they've been working hard and we'll be sure to let everyone know when it's beta!
 

Tue - May 26th - 09:05 am

Seems Unreal's getting quite the hype, Brandon (...Disinfect...) chucked me the following review this morning after he picked up the game:
 

Other news on the Abattoir front...  We were really getting some shoddy pings last night, people playing from California were getting better clicks then those connected through the Wave itself.  At some point late in the night, the whole Cogeco network took a 5h1t.  As of this morning at 8:00 am, the network is still suffering a total malfunction (...as the recording says; "We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you."...)  I'll tell you what's "inconvenient", paying for it when you can't use it!  I should bounce a cheque and tell them I'm having technical difficulties with my bank, sorry for any "inconvenience" this may cause you! :)  Anywhooz...  They're working on it and assure us the problem will be fixed ASAP, so if you cannot connect to the SuperFTP Server or the Abattoir, just keep trying...
 

Sun - May 24th - 09:20 am

Looks like Forsaken just might be a good deathmatch alternate when we're Quaked Out, Scorpio and I were the only ones left and we gave the game a good run for its money...  Deathmatch is rather good!  One proviso if you're running out to grab the game, you had better have a powerVR card (...or any of it's supported cards, of course...) cuz the game rather sux without it!  There's no doubt, Forsaken was written with accelerators in mind, you can play it without, but you'll be literally missing half the action.  Missiles will look like stippled dots, half your textures will be gone, all kinds of items in the game will suffer huge without an accelerator installed.

Great day for a BBQ!  Off to enjoy the weather outside, have a great weekend (...what's left of it...) and pop your reservation in for this Friday's game now...
 

Fri - May 22nd - 10:15 am

Game on!  Sgt.Slaughter (...the "Hooker"...) was in good form on the Abattoir last night, but tonight he'll get a taste of his own medicine! <Muahahaa>.  The weekend is upon us, and it's frag night at M-K.  There's still room for a few more if you want in...

Need a little feedback people, let me know your connection speed and load time for the Abattoir page(s), I want to make sure I'm pissing at least a few people off with huge load times :)  I was talking with someone yesterday who was complaining about load time and graphic intensity of the Abattoir.  After listening to his complaints for about four minutes, I asked his connection and he said he had a 14.4k and a 486-33.  I told him to shut-up and get a real computer and modem, then we'd talk. (...Abattoir does not cater to 486's and dribble modems...)  That's the reason I put the little 'disclaimer' which now has been set to flash, for those who may be less observant, right in the main start page.  (...only real men read the Abattoir!...)
 

Wed - May 20th - 09:25 am

You killed Kenny!  You, Bastards!!  That's right, Comedy Centrals' "South Park" has met Quake2 (...'twas only a matter of time...)  The South Park TC team has polished it's pixels and has a complete South Park TC for download, that is, I think you can download it?  I've gone all through the site, but can't find a point to download!  Take a peek and see if you have any better luck (...and let me know!...)  Each character has his own special ability, Cartman attacks with a Cheesy Poof Gun and flames from the arse but can only jump 6 inches, Kyle attacks with Mr. Hankey, and another weapon is the Baby Launcher (...Don't kick the baby!...), while, Chef sings after being gibbed and Kenny GETS a frag each time he's killed (...at least he's used to respawning!...)  Stan's main attack will be the spontaneous (...Stan, that's gross...) projectile vomit.  Mr. Garrison uses the sniper rifle from the Kathy Lee episode, all with new sounds, it's going to be a hoot!
 

Tue - May 19th - 01:00 pm

Hope everyone had a safe long weekend, we blew fireworks off last night (...Darryl burned his lips!  <Ba-dum!>...) and at $200 worth, they too were as disappointing as Seinfeld (...going to keep harping on that!...).

Book now for this Friday's game, need that Quake fix now, we've missed out on a week!  So, who's found our new little 'hidden' feature?  Anyone!  (...actually, it's not that well hidden...).  Just so you all know, there's a new release of ICQ now...  Version 1.26 is out.  You actually will not find it on the Mirabilis website, but you can grab a copy here.  I've had some requests to post our Abattoir players' ICQ contact numbers in the LAN Warriors page, so if you'd like yours listed (...if you even HAVE one!...) just drop me EMail and I'll post it.
 

(Victoria Day Long Weekend) Fri - May 15th - 09:55 am

What in Seinfeld hell was that!  Again we're off Abattoir topic here, but hey!  Did anyone else out there find the 'final' episode a disappointment?  Sure, it was great when they brought back almost every person from previous episodes, and I killed myself over the Soup Nazi (...too funny!...) but the end, what the hell was that!!?  Okay, so here in a public forum I'll put in writing a prediction I made last night while watching:  This was all hype, Seinfeld got the ratings, he sucked us all in, he pulled-off the audience he was building to...  Now, after their 'one year sentence' is over -- WhaM!  "Seinfeld - the Movie".  You bet!  A 'getting out of jail' special.  I can almost see the theatre trailers now, and you know it's going to happen.  Now the crew have a 'year off' to get the motion picture into shape, mark my words!

It's a long weekend (...for us Canadians...) as we celebrate 'Victoria Day', or as it's better know here, May Two-Four Weekend...  The first long weekend of the summer, and as the name suggests, it's off to the beer store to stock-up! (...a 'two-four' is a synonym for a square of brew, you know, beer, 24 bottles... <Help for the people in Alabama>...)  Everyone have a great and safe long weekend, and remember about the problem discovered with Viagra if you plan on trying to make it a real 'long' weekend... be sure not to swallow it slowly or you'll get a stiff neck!  :)
 

Thu - May 14th - 12:50 pm

Things have 'come-up' and we have to cancel this friday's LAN Party game (...that, and with the long weekend upon us, there wasn't going to be too much of a turnout anywhooz!...)  Those who were in for tomorrow's game, you have been automatically carried over to the 22nd, be sure to let me know if you're unable to attend.
 

Thu - May 14th - 08:30 am

What does Jerry have to do with the Abattoir?  Nothing, other then I've been compared to Jerry (...both looks and personality, well, everything except the high school girls and limo stuph, <Damned!>...).  To quote from NBC: Currently in its ninth season, the Emmy Award-winning "Seinfeld" has been referred to as "the defining sitcom of our age" by Entertainment Weekly. For the past three seasons, the show has been the highest-rated comedy series on television. It averaged an impressive 20.5 rating and a 32 share last season, and was watched by an average of 30.4 million viewers.  Often described as "a show about nothing," "Seinfeld" infuses life’s quotidian events with humorous significance. Losing your car in a parking garage, working for an eccentric boss, coping with the trials and tribulations of dating through the show’s original perspective, the ordinary becomes the stuff of extraordinary comedy. -- end quote.

Hate to see the show go, can't wait for the re-runs (...not...).  We're of course having a little BBQ tonight and watching the final show, all are welcome at residence, just let me know.  Anyone out there have a 'Kramer' skin?  :)
 

Mon - May 11th - 09:35 am

Hope everyone had a great Mother's Day on Sunday, don't forget to hug your mum!  The drive into work today took no longer than two hours, a little rain and fog here in Toronto and poof! -- everyone forgets how to drive.  Here's a neat idea, if a person's so stupid that they would drive in Toronto rush hour (...trust me, very equivalent to Manhattan or L.A. ...) with an empty tank of gas, then stall out in the middle lanes compounding the already unbearable gridlock, they should be publicly 'Quaked' :)

Regarding my comments below about running Quake Classic on a rotational basis, new developments *may* come forward soon and we might just end up putting a second, completely separate Quake Server into action soon!  (...How do we do what we do?  Volume!!...)  more to come as it develops.
 

Sat - May 09th - 09:30 am

Small crowd (...oxymoron...) last night, just the 5 of us, but the Quake Classic was great, Disinfect kicked my ass all over the Abattoir again (...punk...) and even Sgt.Slaughter was showing some major throttle last night (...you hooking bastard!...).  Now that Slaughter's machine at home is Quake2 compatible, I can see he's been practising quite a bit.  We also had a sneak preview of Forsaken last night, thanks to Scorpio.  Looks much like Descent2, but with more detail; it's sure to be a winner in the stores and likely something we may try at the LAN Party now and again!  Get your names in for the upcoming game.

To Abattoir business now:  We've re-installed the version 1.00 of the Lithium MOD, that coupled with the security we instated seems to be working great!  (...mind you, it's hard to make that assumption with a test time of 5 minutes!...)  It's embarrassing, but...  I was testing the new settings on the server, no one else was connected and I was running around in 'Sudden Death' (...the level with the Railgun under glass in the lava pit...).  I pressed the floor switch to empty the lava pool and lower the Railgun pedestal...  I grab the gun, then WhaM!  Up goes the pedestal with myself going for the ride.  Yup, you guessed it...  'Meat Under Glass' was the result, there I was, trapped in that little glass jar the Railgun sits it, the real sad part: I started 'Chatting' to myself, no one else on, and I'm saying things like; "Nice going, shithead!...", "Help!!!"  (...God, I really need a therapist!...).

I need everyone's input on this, I'm considering running a duel server situation, either both at once, or Quake2 all week, but Quake Classic on, say, Sundays and Mondays (...or something to that effect...)  Input?  I'd like to hear what you think about it, or any suggestions you may have.
 

Fri - May 08th - 09:00 am

Game on!  TGIF for sure, it's Classic Quake time, let's get to it marines!  There's still a couple spots open if you want in.  Here's something of interest, this is a paste straight from Blue's News:
 

Gotta' like it when Quake hits the Jeopardy scene!  :)
 

Thu - May 07th - 10:30 am

There's still room for this Friday's LAN Party, we'll be doing Quake Classic this week (...too much phun!...) so get to the Reservations page and get your name in!

All's well on the Abattoir front, it would seem our security measures have paid off, and the server is more then stable and happy with version .99 of the Lithium MOD (...for the time being...).  We'll be trying another upgrade Saturday morning to version 1.00.  Playing last night was the first time I've ever seen VWep in action, sad but true!  If you've not tried it yet, get at it!!  Download this quick PAK file to go in your Quake2/baseq2 directory and log onto the Abattoir, it's great!
 

Wed - May 06th - 08:50 am

It was only a matter of time...  Seems either the Abattoir is under attack, or the new version 1.00 of the Lithium II MOD is not quite as 'stable' as White Fang would have you believe, either way, the Abattoir ran into some tuff times last night.  The new Lithium  II version was installed, and everything started going downhill from there...  We pride ourselves as having a 'Nice' server (...good server's don't "go down" you could say...) but that was not the case yesterday.

After checking around Blue's News and the Lithium page to find out the latest, it turns out our fears are true...  There's a "Back Door" to the Quake2.exe file!  It would appear anyone from id's network can activate rcon commands (...remote console...) on any Quake2 server, this is regardless of the MOD  or version you're running.  The server will accept any rcon commands from id's subdomain IP 192.246.40.  id has promised to remove this back door in its next release, in the mean time, there's a patch that's been put together which you can read about, to change the binary and block the back door password for rcon commands.  After applying the patch, the Abattoir crashed and would not come back online.
 

The long and short, we had to re-run the 3.14v Patch to reinstate the non-corrupt Quake2.exe (...good idea, Brandon...) and place security blocks on id's subdomain IP.  Take note, this does not mean people from id are running around crashing servers, far from it...  There are readily available programs that allow a user to alter their IP address, these are the culprits (...if in fact, that was why the server was shutting down...).

Now before everyone panics and the rumours start flying that "they can log onto my machine and format my drive" or any other stupid thing like that...  This is a server problem only, this applies to us Sysop's running the servers, not the users, there is no danger or integrity breach for clients.  You can read all about it on Blue's News, rather then myself re-hashing what's already been posted.  Kinda' figures, I go and see Titanic last night, things going down seemed to be a theme!  As it stands, the Abattoir is now running stable back on version .99 of the Lithium II MOD till we get things sorted out!
 

Tue - May 05th - 03:00 pm

We've decided to turn on the VWep (...Visible Weapons...) option on the Abattoir, with the feature enabled, the Abattoir server will pass additional info to you allowing you to actually see the weapon in use on all other players, a handy little enhancement to Quake2. In case you're wondering why the other players are all running around with a diamond through them and no weapon in their hands, it's because you don't have the VWep Client side patch, you can grab it here...  Once loaded, your off and running on any Quake2 Server that has the VWep feature.

Over the last day now, the Wave has been experiencing problems nation-wide, they assure us the massive failures are being worked on and will be resolved soon...  Forgive any disconnects or major ping cycles you may be experiencing on the Abattoir (...hey, there's nothing *I* can do about it!...).
 

Mon - May 04th - 09:08 am

Welcome one and all to the brand new, done from scratch (...kinda'...) MeatMan's Abattoir2 site.  First off, an explanation - the original Abattoir site started as a simple way to organize the LAN Party deal, but it also became an opportunity to chuck a few comments out there regarding the Abattoir Internet Server.  From there it expanded to the new Abattoir SuperFTP server and etc., etc..  (...web pages are funny that way!...).  The point being, it was a simple one-page deal at first, which just started to grow, but the seed it was planted with was lame and I wanted a 'do-over' to try some new tricks and looks...  Bang!  There you go!

Firstly, kudos have to go out, no big deal here, but I do want to acknowledge the people who have been a big help in the creation of the new page...  Namely, Brandon (...Disinfect...) who has helped with the scripting and troubleshooting of the new format, I chuck a quick problem his way - Wham! - an answer's in my EMail within minutes (...not only answers, but complete code too...)  Thanks for your help Brandon, y'er the best!

Second, ...Lisa.  This is the hurtful part...  Although I consider myself rather articulate, Lisa always finds fault (...bitch...) and to that end, the proofing kudos go out to her!  (...hard to take critique, but hey...).  Please take a peek at the Credits page.

Okay, now to business...  We tried Descent2 last friday for a short time, and after the motion-sickness subsided, it was determined we enjoyed it.  By the way, Scorpio, HerbieLoveBug found my Descent2 CD Friday night, go figure!  We will do another Descent2, but we're also considering Need for Speed 2SE (...just for something completely different!...).  Regardless of the second attraction, this Friday's game will be largely Quake Classic!  Any feedback on the new page look would be appreciated, there's still some tweaking to do (...Close()Commands when linking to other sites, etc...) but we felt it was 'complete' enough to sponsor the switchover!