Evil Empire Gaming

EvEm Archives Restored!

After a long search through a pile of archive CDs I finally found Mark I and Mark II versions of the Evil Empire website. Here's a few interesting discoveries. *WARNING* Nerd Factor +10 !

The original EvEm website started in March 1998. By that time we'd formed a clan to play Quake 2 CTF. Although, we'd been playing Quakeworld and Team Fortress online since they had come out. This website is actually Mark V. Mark IV was only retired a week ago.

Mark III seems to be lost in time, but you can still visit some old versions on the Wayback Machine:

Here's one I don't even remember making!

This one was an artistic creation by Matmos.

I've restored Mark I and Mark II as best as I can. There might be quite a few broken links, but it mostly works.

It's interesting to discover we've been posting shite to this website since early 1998, 4 years+. I can't believe how much time that represents. Here's a few memories:

Historical Events

1. Team Fortress 2

Here (March 27, 1998) Activision put out a tentative release date: June '98 and aproximate Retail Value : $35.95 US.

Here (June 1, 1998) we discovered TF2 will actually be an add-on for Half-Life and not a Quake 2 mod as we were anticipating. They said:

"Well, as many of you have guessed, the rumors circulating around that TF 2 would be built on the Half-Life engine are true.
We had been evaluating all of the different engines as the basis for TF 2, and we decided that Half-Life was hands down the best choice given what we wanted to achieve with the game. In March we moved to Seattle to begin working with Valve. Towards the end of April, Valve approached us with an offer to join the two companies. We saw this as a very positive step for TF Software and the chance to make TF 2 even better than we had hoped. "

To which I said:

"Man is there anyone out there as pissed off as I am ? What a gip. Looks like that's the last we'll see of Team Fortress in Perth. There's just not enough users to support a hal-life server running TF2. Don't they know Quake2 is the most ultimate game in the universe and demands their respect..!?!?!"

That was of course before Counter Strike appeared. Anyway, we still haven't seen it!

2. ICQ

Here (June 11, 1998) we learn that our beloved ICQ has been bought by AOL and everyone expects the worst.

"I don't know what this will mean for all the ICQ users amoung us but I fear that the days of free ICQ may be numbered... Any other opinions out there?"

3. Quake 3 Arena

Here (June 17, 1998) is that famous "We changed our minds" .plan update by Carmack, when he annouces id is making a deathmatch only Quake game.

"My last two .plan updates have described efforts that were not in our original plan for quake 3, which was "quake 2 game and network technology with a new graphics engine".

We changed our minds.

The new product is going to be called "Quake Arena", and will consist exclusively of deathmatch style gaming (including CTF and other derivatives). The single player game will just be a progression through a ranking ladder against bot AIs. We think that can still be made an enjoyable game, but it is definately a gamble. "

The news (November 8, 1998) about it starts rolling in and we get all excited by the screenshots and movies. Remember the leaked q3atest?

[EvEm]_Harmer and I fire up the test and muck around. This is running on my P166 and 4 meg Monster 3D card.

4. 3dfx Vs nVidia
The first reviews (October 11, 1998) of the TNT come in and it looks like it's a killer. This is the beginning of the end for 3dfx who had nothing to give after the Voodoo 2. Here's why:

"Take in consideration that the two Voodoo2 boards cost you at least double the money that TNT costs and then you still need a 2D card to go with Voodoo2. In my eyes TNT already won the race as the best Quake 2 graphics card. Screen resolution plus image quality made me fall in love with it."

Local News

1. EvEm makes it into print!

The Australian Net Directory magazine ran a feature on clan websites and we made it in (August 19, 1998) !

2. We beat Clan MOGH!

Clan MOGH went on to become one of the best Quake 2 clans in Perth, WA. This (June 18, 1998) was very early on and we've never beaten them since :)

3. Muzman's Quake Essay
Muzman, a well known local player, writes a uni paper (January 20, 1999) about the cultural aspects of online gaming. I reckon he deserves the award for the Best Excuse to play a shit load of Quake ever: turn it into your homework.

"All these factors contribute to a certain ambiguity of representation, as any net player would know that what they choose to be seen as or represented by in the game environment is neither here nor there because the others may not be able to see it (or choose not to see it by deleting it off the hard drive). Then there is the obvious physical disconnection between individual players meeting on the internet."

Sure Muz, sure.

4. We had a LAN

This was not the first but I think the first we took photos of. I think we just blew the top off the nerd-meter guys.

Screenshots

1. My First Ever

This was my first ever screenshot posted to the site, Rebem doing a BFG jump. Actually, come to think of it, this was the first ever EvEm LAN. Rebem, Matmos and I got together.

2. First Line Rail

This was while mucking around after a CTF match with clan JAG (that we lost of course) we lined up every player and Garraty stood at the end and skewered us with a rail gun. Check it out.

3. An Old Favourite

This is one of my favourite Q2CTF screenshots. I'm chase-caming Madman, he's just railed 2 enemy attackers with one shot while the BFG ball they fired is still mincing the flag defenders. Of course in the best tradition of Q2CTF, I was disconnected at that exact moment.

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