Tag Archives: TsN

Video Killed the Radio Star?

Posted on by

I guess I could file this news under gaming, Urban Terror or Just Push Play. As many who have followed The 6th Floor know I currently host Urban Radio and in the past I developed an all 80s show called Just Push Play.

Urban Radio actually debuted on Radio iTG before casters from TsN broke off to form a new station, Inside The Game. For years I hosted Urban Radio from TsN and then iTG. In 2005 I had the opportunity to create new content, non-gaming related, thus Just Push Play was born.

Now on the third anniversary of Just Push Play’s second show, broadcast on February 02, 2005 I am looking for a new challenge to expand the horizons I created with both Urban Radio and Just Push Play.

The newest content to the weekly radio show was the addition of live video providing listeners the opportunity to watch Urban Radio. While I admit, it is rather boring to watch me do the show, change is coming (hopefully).

I am currently working on creating 24/7 for Urban Radio that will streamed, both live and recorded on a daily basis. Urban Radio would be live during the week, as it is now. The show would also be rebroadcast on a daily basis. Other content would include video clips of previous interviews and television appearances, as well as demos and videos from around the Urban Terror Community.

I think this is definitely a niche to explore. I will start with Urban Radio and if it ends up being as successful as I envision, then there would be a great chance that Just Push Play would be cast live on video as well, substituting music videos for the 80’s music I played and adding 80’s commercials to the mix.

Again, both of these ideas as still a few months off as I am working on the production of both. Hell, ideally I would love to give up the audio stream and go solely video, but I feel the demand for audio is still there and dropping it would not be advisable.

So, I will continue working on my plans for the 24.7 UrTV and keep the gamers in the community updated as to the progress. If you have ideas or suggestions, by all means feel free to email oswald [at] the6thfloor [dot] com.

Friends of Terror

Posted on by

It is still hard to believe there is a group of dedicated individuals who have the desire and make the effort to keep Urban Terror alive. The fact we still have a very strong and dedicated community is a contributing factor to the longevity and success of the game.

I have been fortunate over those years to meet (yes, face to face) with many individuals on different levels as it relates to Urban Terror, from the invite to Quakecon in 2000 and 2001, to LAN parties in NoCal, SoCal and Colorado Springs and an appearance on TechTV (when it was around). There have been closed door, sit down meetings with Activision and id Software, which was more of a “wow factor” for me at the time since we did not know where we wanted to take Urban Terror.

If I knew then, what I know now, Frozen Sand (at the time, Silicon Ice Development) could be mentioned being on par with Splash Damage. Those guys had their shit together! They also had an amazing group of talented individuals. Not saying our development team hasn’t, because we have had over the years many contribute to the game.

Meeting gamers, executives, sponsors and personalities alike have been some of the best memories I have had. I mention this because I was able to meet Lt1 (aka Rob Bergman) last night, as he flew into NoCal for some training. Now, it’s not often that an opportunity arises, which will have gamers come in contact with each other, let alone team members. Remember, outside of meeting INVIS, BladeKiller and RabidCow I have not met the other talent on our team. But we have all worked together for nearly 4 years (if memory serves me correct).

It’s always interesting to put an alias to face, face to a voice and a voice to the online persona. I flashback to Quakecon 2001 when I was employed by TsN and our station was covering the event. I wanted to meet WarWitch, who at the time covered RtCW and was just an amazing announcer, complete with an entire online persona. With his voice, I expected something other than I got. Here stands a short, maybe 5′-5″ guy with a dark ponytail. Really blew my mental image of him, but nonetheless a great person and top class shoutcaster!

LAN parties are always interesting, especially when they were Urban Terror specific. Now I attended a weekly LAN in SoCal and Urban Terror was still rather new, but when our group made the transition to Quake III Arena, we played it every weekend. I did attend the .223 LAN in NoCal in 2003, which was also the first time I met Hottlipz face to face (little did I know we would marry a year later), along with many gamers from .223 and some other local Urban Terror players.

A few larger LANs featured Urban Terror and I was fortunate enough to attend those as well. Once in Los Angeles, where I was on hand to award the winner a custom Urban Terror case that was specially designed and constructed in Australia. I was also fortunate enough to attend EverLAN in Colorado Springs a few years, once when they did use an older version of Urban Terror.

Again, it is the people who make the game. I could sit here and rattle off a list of people who I have met and known over the years. I would love to have the time to go on a world tour just for Urban Terror. I know it sounds silly (Oh, remind me to talk about my East Coast trip!), but I think it would be a great time! I am sure there are enough gamers worldwide, I could shack up with, drink beer with and game with that could easily fill one month of travel.

The itinerary would include a trip south to Los Angeles and a stop by the GGL offices, where Epileptic Gaming transmits from, because djWheat is still Inside the Game. From there it would be on to Phoenix, Arizona to hook with Blankz, also of iTG. You can blame him for getting me involved in shoutcasting, thus the reason I can’t say Euro names correctly. I would fly to Colorado and check in with Spellbinder, because he has been a long time friend. This would be a coordinated trip to stop in Mesquite, Texas for Quakecon and countless people I know at that event including: Evil John, Tapper, Precious Death, the guys at id Software, especially Robert and of course, just to keep the list short Splash Damage.

The East Coast swing would include a stop to visit with Ghozt, AGBD and Fragging Newby. Hopefully we could find MFDoom, yes the now married Doomy and Capt. Porno. I went shooting with these guys and hung out with them years ago and it was one of the most memorable trips. Especially when you don’t know dick about some guy who goes by ‘A Giant Black Dude.’ Maybe a quick stop over in Florida to kick the shit out of BasiLisK.

The European tour would start with a stop in Portugal, why? Because I still feel they are the best community of gamers going for Urban Terror (yeah flame me, then fuck off, it’s my website and my opinion). From there it would be on to England to see Dick Dastardly and his flatmate, Qster and lord know who else we would find in and around the UK.

A trip would not be complete with traversing he frozen tundra of Sweden, Denmark and Finland (sorry Norway!). Definitely stop by House Valhalla! Many in the Danes and Swedes on the list who have been supporters for many years. A tour of the Rhine, well, Germany to meet Warbird (aka Wolfseye), since he has become a good friend.

An intersting stop would be Slovania, because of SLOfaca, Blaz especially and many of his countrymen have been wonderful to cover and talk to over the years. The Netherlands would mark one of the final stops, to meet “Whoa Keeley” or woekele. I need to forgive my lack of knowledge, but I would want to hook up with J0E and Preat of FROServers.com. Then again I would hope J0E is not nekked getting into the shower.

I could go on and on about the names, faces and places. But it would be an endless cycle. It has been many years and gamers come and go, but it is interesting to note how many names return to Urban Terror saying something like, “this is the only game I come back to play.” Hopefully this sort of comment is typical through out the community. It has been one helluva ride over the years and hopefully there is more in store for our community and us, as a development team.

Parting shot, I must apologize for not mentioning dokta8, Sam Hinton, one of the original coders. He was a big influence on me, a great friend and the one who got me involved.

Behind the Microphone

Posted on by

At one time, years ago…well not that long ago, maybe 1998 I was like a sponge. I was soaking as much information as possible when it came to PC games. id Software‘s hit, Quake II had me mesmerized. From that point on, the snowball effect took control.Now, maybe it’s my age or my [lack of] attention span, or life priorities, but I am not much of a gamer now (maybe I will blame the crappy games out there). Damn skippy though, back in the day at the Netzwerk Terror LAN I would attend, I was as competitive as the next in the 1 v 1 tourney. Never did win, but I did take a third place. Once.

Since my “humble” beginnings I experienced many things, such as QuakeCon (a MUST for any gamer), software development with Urban Terror and on air commentary, previously with Team Sportscast Network and more recently with Inside The Game. To be honest, I get more pleasure talking to the gaming community, be it covering a game like Urban Terror, Medal of Honor or a plethora of other games. FIFA kicks some serious ass!I also produce two radio shows called Just Push Play, where we flashback to the 1980’s and check out movies, television, music, coin-op video games and nostalgia from a decade past. Also in support of Urban Terror I started Urban Radio, which focuses on news and notes from the community, along with some gaming action on a server provided by the community…basically it is my chance to give the community something other than a web site update.

I have all the previous Just Push Play shows now available on the site, linked to FileCloud. Currently I am putting the finishing touches on this week’s show, JPP #009 – Oswald Strikes back. The show debuts on Wednesday, January 4 at 12PST/20GMT on Inside The Game.

More recently I have agreed with start covering Medal of Honor: Allied Assault over on Clanbase with EuroCup (Obj Realism) and Nations Cup (Obj & Obj Realism). I do believe my enjoyment of casting shines in a game like MOHAA, mainly because of the what you can do with the game. The production value is extremely high and the game itself is full of atmosphere.

If you want an example of the production value of Medal of Honor, you can download this cast featuring Art of War versus [ =N3S=] I covered as a “test cast” last week. Just listen past he minor technical issues I had during the coverage that I failed to catch.

The Floor in 2004

Posted on by

Good morning, afternoon or evening, depending on where you are. It’s only taken me 18 days into 2004 to FINALLY get off my ass and update The 6th Floor. Now before you all jump my shit asking, “Oz, why no updates or map reviews? Where are the rants? What’s the deal dude?” One thing those in the Urban Terror community don’t want are excuses. Hell, don’t you give enough of those to your parents, teachers, spouse or boss? Heheh…I know I do. Well, not the girlfriend, she’ll gimme the proverbial “knuckle sandwich” and right now I am not too hungry.

What can you expect this year from The 6th Floor? While not really considering many changes, I would like to get some more concise reviews out of more of the quality maps in the community. I admit, I am not one to jump on many community levels, because honestly many of them are not that good. Some will cite SID as the problem, because they (or shall I say we) do not promote them. Then again, why should the development have to promote something that looks like it was created for Quake 2 or worse, Half-Life? I also might not be a creditable source, because I myself have never completed any of the levels I have started. Believe me when I say, not only is it time consuming, but does take some planning and execution on the part of the level designer. I also do not consider myself an “expert” when it comes to mapping. Much of the information I present is thanks in part to an active community.

In conjunction with the upcoming release of the NEW Urban Terror Forums, I would like to run a month long poll to draw results from the community as to what the most played community levels are. Community, not SID created levels. These are already included in the distribution files, so there is no reason to include these. I’ll be honest, I like eye candy, I am sure most do. But many gamers don’t give a damn about how a many looks, but how it plays. Why do you think there are still so many playing Counter-Strike? So I would like to put together a list of 10-15 maps that are played throughout the community and see if we can pull these together into a distribution.

I think I sorta got off track here, as to why no updates since November. Over the course of the last 6 months there have been many changes in my life, outside of Urban Terror and the Internet. I have shifted my priorities somewhat and am not spending 12-16 hours a day in front of my computers, supporting Urban Terror or shoutcasting on TsN. More on that in a bit. Since the last news post, I have moved out of SoCal and up to NoCal, but still have to commute to SoCal for work. So I am spending many hours a day traveling and the time I have to spend in front of my computer has dramatically decreased. This should change around February 1, 2004. Hopefully I update before that time.

As for TsN, the Team Sportscast Network, I have resigned my position as Public Relations Director/Shoutcaster. It was a difficult decision, since I had been part of this organization for close to 2 years. But with changes in my life and scheduling of priorities, I could no longer commit the time or energy to casting. It always bothered me in the past of casters who idled in the staff IRC channel, but never casted. Being a member of the management staff, I felt I had an expectation placed on me to be a leader and set an example. I felt I had to make a decision, so I did and respectfully stepped down. TsN is still a leader in online coverage and I wish them the best. As for Urban Radio and any further Urban Terror coverage, I will be using any number of “other” shoutcasting streams, in the coming months. Normally I would turn to Spellbinder, who has gracefully offered up his server at times, along with a few others in the community.

The only other real change on The 6th Floor recently, as I mentioned a few months back, has been the addition of Oswald’s 6th Floor Urban Terror server. The admins are .223|Hottlipz and myself. We also have a few good friends who have admin or referee abilities. So far, I have been very pleased with the success of the server, sponsored by Play Dedicated. We are currently playing Urban Terror 3.2, CTF with the following map cycle: ut_pg2-27, ut_precinct, ut_oz, ut_rommel, ut_docks, ut_turnpike, ut_golgotha, ut_sliema, ut_druglord2-urt3 and ut_abbey2. Each map is specifically set with a caplimit and/or timelimit.

Beyond that, I make no guarantees as to what happens the remainder of 2004. Like previous years, I will continue to roll with the punches and see what sort of free time I have to continue updating The 6th Floor. One thing that has made the web site successful has been the input from you, the community. If you have something to say or contribute send it to oswald [at] planetquake.com. You can also find me on IRC in #urbanterror on Enter The Game or Quakenet.

Oswald Rant: Thanks Quakecon

Posted on by

I have been debating when and how I would make this announcement, as I know development team members and the community alike are interested. In what has turned into a yearly pilgrimage to Mesquite, Texas for Quakecon, this year is going to be different. Along with a new venue in downtown Dallas, I have made my decision today that I will not be attending Quakecon 2003.

Now for those outside the Urban Terror Community or those people who I consider friends I see once a year at the event, then this news is irrelevant. For me Quakecon was a true “mecca of all things Quake.” Before becoming involved in Urban Terror in late 1999, I had never heard of this event. Then with the impending release of the mod, the development team was invited to Quakecon, thanks to the organizers and id Software. Leading up to this, I had been in regular communication with Robert Duffy, programmer at id Software.

Quakecon 2000 marked the release of Urban Terror, Beta 1 from Silicon Ice Development. In attendance at the event was Bar-B-Q, Cricel, GotteBeKD, Gerbil!, Jake, Odd and myself. We were provided a mod table in the developer’s hall, needless to say we were excited to be walking, no make that strutting around as VIPs, or so our badges read. Some of the big sponsors around us were Nvidia, Ravensoft, Activision, Apple and Discreet, just to name a few. This was a BIG event for us and were ecstatic to be involved.

In 2001 we were invited back, thanks to the Quakecon organizers and id Software once again. This time, the mod was bit more established, as we had a community that continued to play and support our work. We released Beta 2.3 a few days before Quakecon, in order to give a new version that could be played during the event. We had a mod table set up in the developers hall again, as we showed off our latest work, as gamers had the chance to experience the mod at the 12 player LAN that was set up. We also introduced Proball, courtesy of Apoxol during the event. This was an exciting time, as we had nearly a full team on hand, Apoxol, Bar-B-Q, dokta8, Meaty, Miles, Jake, Odd, BotKiller, SweetnutZ and myself. The development team was also asked to give a roundtable discussion on the mod, which we do to a nice sized crowd, along with participating in the mod roundtable.

Between the 2001 and 2002 events, I became involved in the Team Sportscast Network, a non-profit group of volunteers who have come together in order to provide live shoutcast coverage for online games. Urban Terror was my main area of coverage, as we had a good casting team including, JeffT and Whizperz (Vansilli came aboard in late 2002). I began to split time be Silicon Ice Development and TSN. To be honest, it was a good move for Urban Terror, as gamers could not tune in and listen to the coverage that was provided from OGL, CAL, STA and Clanbase.

Quakecon 2002 was going to be a bit different than years past. This year, TSN would be attending in full force to cover the Quake 3 and Return to Castle Wolfenstein Tournaments during the event. Silicon Ice Development would also be return to Quakecon, “where it all started” back in 2000. Even though some of the faces changed, we were all excited to going back to Mesquite! For me, it would be very hectic, as I was trying to make arrangements for the development team, but would be splitting time at the event, between SID and TSN.

While the development team had no problems with my absence through much of the event, I was able to spend “quality time” with them and take part in some of the fun and enjoyment, such as meals at the local eating establishments, such as TGI Fridays and Razoo’s. Those who were not in attendance during 2000, saw the id Software building and visited some of the tourist attractions in Dallas.

So what could happen in 2003 that would outshine all the previous years? I guess we will never know. Why? Because of events that have transpired in the past few weeks, TSN will not be covering Quakecon 2003. We intended to, but negotiations broke down and there was no agreement reached for shoutcast coverage. Details are irrelevant, and if you asked me I would not explain them. Let’s just say that the only people who know all the details were the few who were involved in the talks. Everything is rumor and speculation.

Now we are two months away and development team members are making their arrangements for lodging and travel. Some of the community members are excited to go to the event, provide a tournament for Urban Terror or just meet some of the SID team members. It really is enjoyable to meet some of those gamers you know from online, you actually get to know them as a person, not just a screen name. I have the utmost respect for each team member attending the event and I am quite loyal to the Urban Terror Community, but I am also in a position with TSN that requires my services at another event.

That is my predicament, I have told the development team that this is a possibility, due to recent events. Now, I am making it official, I will not be attending Quakecon 2003 this year. I am upset, I will miss seeing Blade, RabidCow, Bar-B-Q, Miles, Apoxol, SweetnutZ and others from SID, along with many from the Urban Terror Community. I do wish everyone who attends the best, as they will have one hell of a good time at Quakecon 2003.