Overview of 1.07

Another not-a-game release!

I know all of us have been waiting for the next revision, wondering how soon is "soon." Well, Q3test 1.07 is finally out, and considering the change in numeration from 1.05, you wouldn't expect a significant amount of tweakage to have taken place. However, id decided to hold off on an interim bug-fix, and instead has released 1.06/1.07, replete with completely new features, weapons, and a new 1 on 1 tourney map.

Miscellaneous Changes

The title screen

The first thing you notice when you fire up Q3test for the first time is the snazzy new start menu. OK, it's not the Mona Lisa, but at least it's not the "we're focusing on the game so the start menu looks like a POS text file" deal we've seen before. Granted, many of us will miss the old minimalist Id start menu, but the new menu does offer some nice new features like allowing players to use a mouse cursor (egads, a cursor in an id game?!) to navigate through all the menus.

Internet games browser!

Start your own server!

The "Internet Game" menu now has a server browser built into the game. This is the first time id has included their own server listing code, and in my opinion, it's long overdue! Currently, the browser automatically lists the servers with the lowest pings along with the server capacity and number of players. Another window displays a picture of the current map. Now you can skip going through the trouble of launching GameSpy to look for a populated server.

The new "game server" menu, which allows you to start your own server, now sports a spiffy new graphical interface, and lets you choose a starting map from a line of map thumbnails. In general, there is evidence all around that id is taking a focus on presenting a stronger and more coherent experience for Q3A than for any of their prior titles.

Ejecting Brass

Ejecting shells everywhere

There's a new "ejecting brass" option in the "game options" menu. Selecting "yes" will make the machine gun and shotgun show the gun ejecting empty shells while you're firing. Eye candy? Yes. Cool? Definitely. Is it something you might want to turn off after a while to get that little framerate hit? Maybe.

New and Improved Gibs

Chunky juicy gibs!

Gibs now have cool looking blood trails as they spew into the air. If you get a nice mid-air rail you can see the gibs explode with red puffs falling to the ground, like a grotesque fireworks display. The effect is looks great, but it does decreases your framerate significantly, especially as you come closer.