| Web Site Manager I first played Doom
as a demo. Later, I picked up the full reg and got online with DWANGO (see
FAQs for more DWANGO info). Not long after, Biff logged on, and we have been
friends since.
Eventually, I became a DWANGO moderator. I later resigned since there
were too few players and too much college level homework.
DWANGO charged $7.95 to let you on the service. For that you got 10
hours for the month. If you used it up, you had to buy another block
of time. But, they only sold additional blocks for $20 at 20 hours
each. So it could get expensive fast. Some people would shovel
$200 - 300 a month into DWANGO to pay for additional blocks. And that
is not to mention that DWANGO suspended Orange County's toll free number,
and many people were dialing long distance directly to Long Beach to
connect. The phone bill alone could be enough to kill your budget.
After I left DWANGO, a friend of Biff and mine, who now goes by the
handle of Traci Lords, told us of Hotel California, a BBS service
that also offered Internet access. The beauty of it was they had this
software called GameWay, which was functionally similar to DWANGO. The
BBS and GameWay was free when you signed up for Internet access at $20 a
month, or something like that. We ALL signed up.
You could only play other members of Hotel California since there was no
such thing as playing Doom over TCP/IP (Internet speak); it was all IPX
protocol.
But, immediately after we signed up, we played hours on end. I
recall one time playing 6 or 8 hours, and thinking to myself what a deal I
got to play Doom, 24 hours a day, every day of the month, for no extra
charge.
When ZDoom was introduced, both Biff and I took to the 'net with DoomServ.
Obviously, we have moved on since then.
During those early days of Internet Dooming, there were WADs that I
wanted to play, but others didn't seem to know about them, or care about
them either - thus RareFiles was born.
RareFiles purpose was to bring the WADs we enjoyed on DWANGO, to the DOOM
Internet gaming community. At that time, there were literally a
gazillion WADs available at CD-ROM.COM (thanks again, Ty Halderman, part of
Team TNT). I
thought, "How will people ever find these WADs among all those 'billions and
billions'" (to quote a famous astro-physicist). So, around February
1999, I got a free Web site, at a search engine that will remain un-named
(cause, mid-stream, they cut everyone from 50Mb to 20Mb, and that really
ticked me off.)
By this time, Biff had been hosting games. Biff hosts all the games
you play on RareFiles. He puts up the WADs. He handles the map
rotations. He determines the number of players, skill levels, etc.,
etc. He has always hosted all of RareFiles games.
Biff also is a WAD author. Playpen6 is Biff's creation. I think it
is one of the best WADS ever made. While I contributed to the layout,
Biff engineered all the aesthetics and special affects, which is what makes
that WAD great (see download area for the WAD). I think Biff is the
first one to ever make an exploding barrel that would re-spawn - which is
great FUN in playpen6 and Biff's overhaul of MadClown's castle.wad.
Biff has a ton of experience to offer anyone in need of direction. He
has made great WADs that he hasn't even released yet.
I, on the other hand, work on the Web site. That's all I have ever
done. I have never hosted a game, except as an experiment on my
233Mhz, and that failed because it was too slow.
Whatever I offer on this Web site is for the general enhancement of the
game server Biff operates, and for the Doom community at large. Both
Biff and I wanted to create FUN place where players at all skill levels
could have a good time on Biff's game server. Additionally, I have
seen Biff patiently coach newbies, help them with set up problems, and turn
them into respectable players.
In the past, we didn't give a rat's behind who was best - and frankly,
we still don't. Experience points, scorecards, and accounts?
Well, to quote Homer Simpson, "...my hairy yellow @@@."
I have to confess that, because my focus has been on downloads and Web
site work, Biff has not gotten much mention on this site. That was
unintentional. I hope that I can involve him more on the site, now
that it is located on a serious Web host which offers more capabilities.
I hope that you enjoy what is offered here, and that you will continue
the Tradition long into your old age, even when the younger ones
start kicking your tail - like they have mine.
- Falconer, August 11, 2003 |
Game Server Manager Coming soon
(hopefully). |
