In Brief
I'm kind of pressed for time again this week, so I'll keep this short and get straight to the point:

This week saw the addition of the glowlamp, weapon reloading, updated weapon effects, and a new layout for the Force menu HUD pics, which now includes a text description in addition to an icon to let you know just what's what. And speaking of the HUD menus, below is a quick snap of the weapon-select menu, which functions in the exact same way as the one used in Half-Life.

Currently in progress is the new version of the Dominance, updated speeder bike code, the ever-present bug-fixes, and an extensive update to the Force power values, which will see those completely finished except for remaining effects. And that's about all I have time for. Next week should be a lot better in terms of time for me, so I'll try to make up for these past two with a longer update! [Red Knight]

The Long Wait
Missed a week in there, and quite a lot happened, so I'll get right into it.

In models, Privateer finished the "cherry-picker" bystander droid and ApocX dropped some new models for our misc_object entity onto the FTP. ApocX is also currently working on revamping our texture archive, replacing anything that isn't up to his new level of quality. Speaking of levels, Maxer is now done with the Ionus IV Spaceport except for the very quick addition of the bystander entities, which CaRRaC is still working on. Grey Knight has also found some time to return to work on his jungle level, and initial tests are looking very convincing, I'm looking forward to watching it develop.

Coding is where we really made huge steps. CaRRaC has been a machine over the last few days, adding in fog and fog transitions, several new effects entities, updates to the saber system, new gameplay restrictions, new damage values for most of the weapons to balance them more, enhanced AI, and a whole lot of minor fixes and additions that had been sitting on the todo list for some time.

So to sum it up, progress is very good. I'll have several new screenshots to show to you soon, but for now be content with this one, demonstrating the new fog effect. [Red Knight]

Music to Dazzle
Kicking this week off, Privateer finished up the female bystander models, which will coincide nicely with CaRRaC's implementation of the remaining bystander code (since they use the same animations as the male models). Following that up, he then made some fixes to the smuggler models, finally putting those down as complete.

On the levels front, Maxer put together a new build of the Ionus IV Spaceport, which is getting very close to being finished. There's still some technical issues to address, but I like the way this level has been shaping up more and more. Ionus IV is supposed to be a gritty, grimy, "dark" planet, and you definitely get that feel from walking through the level. (I know I've been saying that often in the pass weeks, but the level has really shaped up that well!)

Coding progress was very good this week as well. CaRRaC taught the bystanders how to stand up, added in weapon holstering, and added some additional graphical effects to the various Force powers in addition to the ever-present bug-fixing.

Finally, I had some very good (and very extensive) feedback from the testers. A few good and relatively easy-to-implement ideas were presented, more on those in the coming weeks... Until then. [Red Knight]

Team Position Open
The SWQ team is currently looking for an additional mapper to help bring the project to completion. If you have the skill, the time, and most importantly, the desire to bring the Star Wars universe to life within Quake 2, please send along an email to me with a link to where I can download existing samples of your work, and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. [Red Knight]