November 15th, 1999

Well, in my quest to go the longest without updating a web page, I also realized that this machine had been reset, a LONG LONG time ago (at an ISP far far away), and that mapz had never been restarted. So, much to my chagrin, I realized that the que has been full for a long long time. So long, I would imagine that anybody that WAS using mapz, had given up on ever using it again. Well, I fired it up again, and it's running...so you're going to get some mysterious email with a .bsp file sitting in it soon, if you are one of the few in the que. Sorry about that. I've been terribly busy. I don't know if I'll really work on this project again. If anyone is interested, let me know and I'll turn over the scripts. They're fun to play with.

-creep

May 5, 1999

I know it's been a long time since this page has gotten an update, but here is a quicky. The cancel code is still out, but the MAPZ server is still running on this server. Follow the instructions and send away if you have a q2 map you don't feel like holding your computer up just to vis. BTW, someone pointed out to me that the test level on the compile command doesn't do anything for quake2 maps. You know what, this person was absolutely correct. A level 1 takes JUST as long as a level 4. So, I don't know what to tell ya there.

MAPZ at your server? If you have ADMIN of a system that is just sitting around that can run shell scripts (linux comes to mind), then mapz could be for you. Email creep@nofadz.com if you are interested...I will warn you up front it can be system loading, but it will not bog down normal processes (unless it's swapping for ram, in which case, your server will grind). And, just a reminder, you can still compile mapz by following the instructions and sending your attached ZIP file to: mapz@nofadz.com

Happy mapping - Creep

February 20, 1999

Ahhh, it's the cancel code that doesn't work right. Hmmm, i gotta look into that a little better. I try to have it kill the jobs based on a name, but it seems that it's not working for some reason. I might have to disable the cancel as a quick fix, then at least it would work normally, just no cancels..hmmm.

Ok, the Cancel command is disabled right now, you won't even get a message back, it will just not work. I gotta figure a better way to have it kill the process.

February 18, 1999

Ok, it's been a while since I've updated this, and that is because it's been a while since I've actually done any work on MAPZ (school+work+clan+band+girlfriend = not very much time to work on fun stuff). BUT! There is a problem with the mapz script and I am not sure what it's doing or why. I think it has something to do with the cache code, but it happened again that it was compiling 2 mapz at once and this machine was grinding to a halt. EDSEWER1 and SMO5V2TR were the two maps that got blasted while I was trying to kill just one. I can test the caching system next, and try and figure what the hell is going on, but it's some stupid logic in the shell script that allows a second one to fire up (I think after the cache is full). Anyhoo, you're gonna have to resend them if you want to try again. I'm gonna leave this version running and work on my local system to try and fix the next version 1.2. Thanks again for bearing with me. Oh, EVILMAP1 is getting compiled on a seperate machine, and man it's taking forever...must be a great one!

February 6, 1999

Well, we've been getting a lot of use lately, and my cpu just can't keep up with the load. If anyone is interested it running a MAPZ site, please contact me or him and we'll give you all the details. Basically, you just need a linux system on the net 24/7. (I have not found a qrad3 that works on solaris yet, or it would work for them too)

I've also been in contact with Quark's author, and he's agreed to let me try and modify his code to run that compiling utility under linux. If I can get that working, then we will have a nice tool for compiling. I have the code, and will take a stab at it this weekend. Be warned, my linux skillz in programming, are not all that, but I'm willing to take a stab. If there are linux gurus out there interested in helping, drop us a line. Thanks to everyone out there that has been sending in maps for compiling during this beta. This service should be available as long as people are interested in compiling for Q2. I also bought Half-Life yesterday, and if it's easy to incorporate the compiling for that into MAPZ I will do so. Thanks again to everyone out there, the response has been 99.9999% positive.

January 19, 1999

We've had some good usage over the weekend and exercised the que nicely. I'm making an open plea for newer versions of qbsp3, qvis3 and qrad3 for linux, however. I'm running hacked versions of the original id released compilers. I know a lot of people have done a lot of work fine tuning that compiler code. I'd love to run something more modern under MAPZ. Any comments, help, or suggestions...send them our way!

January 15, 1999

A "To-Do List" has been appended to the revision history.

January 14, 1999

Version 1.1 Beta 01/14/99 is now in use at mapz@nofadz.com.

See the user instructions and revision history for info on the added features.

Just partitioned a 1.1 GIG drive on our public beta server for MAPZ swap space.

December 26, 1998

Coding for the system queue is now complete. This allows a server the option of compiling one map at a time, instead of running multiple jobs at once. We'll be implementing the new script (1.1b) in a day or so.

For a testimonial, stop by the Multi Arena Head Quarters. Big0nes was kind enough to test a map of his using the current version of mapz.

December 23, 1998

PUBLIC BETA IS OPEN!!!

Please read the instructions first, then feel free to use mapz@nofadz.com.

For the public beta, only quake2 maps are supported. Classic quake compiles will be setup shortly.

MAPZ is announced to the public.
We simply could not find a better acronym.