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What is Qexpo and when will it take place?
Qexpo is to Quake what a meeting like
E3 is to game developers. It's a chance for all Quake 1 and 2 coders,
mappers, skinners and modelers to get together during a limited period
of time (10th to 20th of August) to show their skills. Unlike E3, Qexpo is
a virtual meeting, that is, the meeting place is a site (http://qexpo.quakedev.com/)
and not a "real" place. However, much like E3, Qexpo also offers booths
(even if virtual) and many opportunities for Quake 1 and 2 fans to get
together, during IRC and online gaming parties.
Qexpo has been running every 2 years since 2001, making this the third.
Unfortunately, the sites of both of the previous Qexpos have been at least
partially lost to us, but you can find parts of them still online. The 2001 Qexpo
can be found here,
and the 2003 Qexpo resides here.
These sites will give you an idea of what to expect for this year.
Who's behind Qexpo?
Qexpo is not the creation of one person,
but of the core of the Quake 1 and 2 coding and mapping communities. It's
important to underline the fact that Qexpo was designed by fans and for
the fans, not in an attempt to make money in any manner.
Among the people who played a role in the setting up and running of Qexpo
in previous years, one ought to mention Horn, Nane, JBallou, CocoT, FrikaC, LTH,
SantaClaws, Akuma and Koolio. Without them and many others Qexpo would never
have existed. This year the event has been set up primarily by MauveBib, SantaClaws,
Harbish, Wazat and Ghostface as well as many others. Also we need to give a big thanks to Echon
for providing our hosting here at QuakeDev.com.
What is there to see?
The site you're looking at right
now is the official Qexpo site. This is the place where all the action
will be taking place during those special 10 days. First of all, this
is the place via which you'll be able to reach the various hosted
booths. Booths are like little sites inside the main Qexpo site. Each
of them is managed by a different Quake 1 or 2 coder, mapper, skinner,
modeler, or, more generally, a modding group. You will want to
browse through and check these booths during the exhibition, because
they will be the places where mod, map, model and skin releases will be
announced. Qexpo is indeed about everybody trying to release new
material for the Quake communities and sharing it with the world.
Next to booths, the site also offers news
(mainly release announcements), reviews, articles, editorials and
schedules for various IRC and online gaming parties. It's the center of
the whole event, a place to check again and again during the whole week.
Why did you guys set up Qexpo? Aren't these games dead?
Qexpo's main goal is to show the whole
gaming community that Quake 1 and 2 modders at large still have a lot to
offer. Far from being dead, the Quake 1 and 2 communities have nothing to be
jealous of the newer gaming communities, once one considers the opportunities
opened by engine development. So Qexpo's goal is to become a virtual
showcase of the newest and freshest Quake 1 and 2 modding news and,
hopefully, to bring some people back to Quake playing and modding. Of course,
Qexpo is also a chance for all modders to get together and have a good time with
all the Quake 1 and 2 fans via fun tourneys, competitions and forum/IRC discussions.
How can I participate?
As a Quake 1 or 2 fan, being
here is already like participating. Browse through the site, download the
latest files, drop a note on the forums about them, write to the authors,
join us on the Qexpo channel, take part in online gaming parties... you'll
see that there are a lot of things you can do. Be sure to check the various
schedules on the menu to be informed on the upcoming events.
As a modder (and by that we mean all the people that create add-ons for
Quake 1 and 2, be they maps, mods, engines, skins, textures, models, etc.),
you can play a very active role in Qexpo and create your own booth for all
the site surfers to see. In this way, you, too, will show that these games still
have a lot to offer. You'll not only be part of the party, you'll literally be
at the core of it. Many people make mods specifically for Qexpo, and often
time mod releases for it. Qexpo gives us all fun new things to play with :)
What are the requirements to build a booth?
There are several "rules" you should
follow before you sign-up for a booth. First of all, you have to be
sure your booth will be Quake 1 or 2 related. We won't accept any booth
that has contents obviously unrelated to ID's classic shooters. However, your
booth can also be related to games like Nexuiz or Transfusion which are
standalone games based on Quake engines.
Then, you'll have to be able to offer something new and unreleased during
that week. By that we mean that we don't want the booth to be a mere
link page to your site, itself offering mods that were released a long
time ago. Fresh contents are the key here. Note that we do not "demand"
downloadable files. Even though it is true that many of the
booth-owners will indeed release files (mods, maps, engines etc.), we
also want to give developers booth space to show things like
screenshots, videos and/or demos, as well as reviews, articles and
interviews. The only thing that we ask is, again, that this material be
exclusive. We don't care what you make of it after Qexpo, but if
you show something during Qexpo, we ask that no one else before has seen it.
As you will see, booths are created
automatically. You get booth space as soon as you ask for it. However,
that does NOT mean we don't keep an eye on applications and booth
contents. If we find something suspicious in your booth or if you use
your booth for something different from what it is intended for, it
will be removed immediately and you will lose the right to create a new
account. So be sure to keep your commercial spam, porn or warez away.
We don't want it.
How can I quickly get in touch with other Quakers, Qexpo participants, and Qexpo "officials"?
Next to mail, there are two possibilities
for you to quickly get in touch with everybody involved in Qexpo. First
all, there is the official Qexpo irc channel #qexpo on irc.anynet.org. In case you want to be sure you're not missing any bit of info and chat opportunities, you can also check #qc on GameSurge, a regular meeting place for Quake 1 mod and engine coders.
Secondly there is the Official Qexpo Forum, where you can leave messages in the sure certain hope of answers soon...
I'd like to do even more than just a booth. How can I help?
Help is always nice :) While
we have all the bases covered now for getting the site up and running,
I'd love to hear from anyone who'd like to help out.
Qexpo is a community project run by and for all Quake 1 and 2 players.
This year is the first time that Quake 2 has been involved in the Qexpo,
and we're all really excited about the extra dimention this will add :) We
are looking for someone who knows the Quake 2 modding scene fairly well,
who'd like to help out with organising events, to help us ensure that Qexpo is
as balanced as possible. If you think you can help us out, send an email to
skinski@email.com. If you prefer you
can contact me in IRC or by the forums detailed above.
We're also looking for people to help out as news reporters for the Qexpo,
people who'll be willing to go through the booths regularly and post news
updates on the main page. If you'd like to give your journalistic skills a whirl,
contact me as described above.
But there are ways with which you could
help to make Qexpo an unforgettable experience other than helping us
with the site and offering visitors a booth. As hinted at above, Qexpo
will also be the opportunity for fans to get to play together on
on-line servers. If you own a game server and are willing to run Quake
1 or 2 on it during Qexpo, we'd greatly appreciate if you'd let us know. The
more servers we have, the better. Online gaming "parties" will be scheduled
throughout the exhibition and you could easily add your party to
the bunch by simply contacting us about it. We would also like to use
this opportunity to run unsual mods and maps rarely played otherwise
for lack of players. So if you're willing to run something a bit more
special than regular deathmatch maps, that'd be even better. Drop us a
note at skinski@email.com with the date and time
when you'll be ready to invite people over and we will happily add you to the parties list.
Other than that, you can of course set up
any other event related to Quake 1 or 2 and which, you think, might interest
the community. Once again, you simply need to write us a mail about it
and we'll echo the news on the main page.
What's the deal with these "Booth Babes"?
E3 has its real booth babes, we decided
we should allow developers at Qexpo to have their own virtual booth
babes. Basically, that means you're allowed to offer pics of girls (or
boys, if you like) which you consider to be "mascots" for your
booth. There are only three restrictions.
First, we ask that these models have some
relation with your booth. By that we mean that we'd prefer that you
play around with pics to give the impression that these models really
have something to do with you or Quaking in general (you could add, for
example, a logo on their t-shirt) instead of having pictures of models
coming out of the blue. It's not reeeeeeally bad if you fail to do so,
but it would be more fun if you do.
Second restriction: don't turn your booth
into a picture gallery. Remember: Qexpo is first of all about id's
shooters, not sexy girls and boys. We suggest that you do not exceed one new booth
babe per day and that you don't keep all
these pics on the main booth page.
Third and most important restriction: no
p0rn or even nudity of any kind. Keep it at the level of good taste,
people. Infringement on this last restriction will result in the
automatic and irreversible cancellation of your booth, so please don't
play around with it.
No Quake 3?
Both the previous Quake Expos were specifically for Quake 1 only. This year the decision
was made to open the door to Quake 2, on an equal footing. Organising an event like this for
two different games will naturally be harder than for 1 specific game, so we've decided to stay
with just the two for now, and see how things go. It has also always been our intention
for Qexpo to be a celebration of the older games in the series, as they are the games many have
written off as 'dead'. With the upcoming release of Quake 4 and Enemy Territory - Quake Wars,
as well as the long awaited Quake 3 engine source release, the situation could well change by the
time of the next Qexpo. Hopefully next time Quake 1, 2 and 3 will all be represented here.
Is there any kind of theme the booths should follow?
The previous Qexpos both had optional booth themes. The 2001 Qexpo put the emphasis on the booth babes,
as described above. The 2003 Qexpo kept the babes, but introduced quake themed booth comics, which were a great
success. This year, we're keeping both the babes and comics, and we're also suggesting a theme of
'trailers'. We would love to see teaser videos for your upcoming mods, engines, maps etc. It'd be great if people
release trailers early in the Qexpo for projects that they are releasing later on. Of course this theme, like all the others,
is totally optional. That said, we'd love to see as many booths as possible having Booth Babes, Comics and Trailers :)
