quake-live posts

id Software's free-to-play first person shooter Quake Live got a major update earlier this week, adding two more maps for players who use its paid premium service. One of the new maps are Toxicity, a Duel-based map with lots of "twisting halls and teleporters" as well as toxic pools. The other is Distant Screams, a remade version of the Christmas themed CTF map Silent Night.

The update also has some small but new features including linking your Quake Live account to Facebook (you can also upload a screenshot directly from the game to your Facebook account now). Premium and pro users can also use a new option that will allow them to "play a distinct sound when you score a kill in any mode."

After being down for most of the day on Sunday, the free-to-play first person shooter Quake Live is now back up and running for its users. According to its official Twitter page there were issues with a "faulty firewall" along with "interior routing protocols" that caused the downtime.

The team at developer id Software are making it up to all Quake Live players by giving free access to the game's Premium content from now through Tuesday. That means players will be able to access about 30 more maps than the regular free players along with other gameplay modes and features that are normally used by the $1.99 a month Premium tier players.

If you have tried to join the Quake Live web site this morning and was unable to join the free-to-play first person shooter, you are not alone. The game's official Twitter web site has confirmed that the Quake Live web site from id Software cannot be accessed at this time.

A second Twitter message states that while the actual Quake Live servers are up and running for some reason the servers are not accessible. The message adds, "We are working with our ISP to resolve the outage." The issues comes just a few days after the game got a content update that added three new maps. We will update this post when Quake Live is fully operational.

Last year id Software's free-to-play first person shooter Quake Live came out of beta with new premium pricing plans and a series of content updates for those users. This week the developer released the first such content update for the game for 2011, adding three new maps for those premium users.

One of the new maps is titled Concrete Palace which is designed to be a "midsized duel arena". Another is a Team Deathmatch level title called Dies Irae for eight to 10 players. Finally there's a new map of the dreaded (for some) "space" level variety, a CTF map called Skyward. The update also has some balance changes and bug fixes including one that fixes a lag on quitting games on Windows systems.

While we enjoyed the fact that the past 10 days or so were fairly slow in the PC game industry in terms of news we are also glad to be right back in the thick of things as a new year officially starts.

• The free-to-play shooter Quake Live has just added new servers based in Sweden for players in that country.
• The upcoming MMO Rift will launch yet another closed beta test event from January 7-10.
• Steam has a new automatic update available for Team Fortress 2.
• Unknown Worlds has released a dedicated server for the beta version of Natural Selection 2.

id Software's web-based first person shooter Quake Live has gotten another big content update this evening, adding both new permanent maps as well as some holiday-themed content as well. For the game's Premium and Pro subscribers, there are three new maps added to the line up: the CTF-themed Double Impact, the Terra CTF Map Overlord and Tornado which can be played in Team Deathmatch, Clan Arena and Freeze Tag modes.

Also for the next three weeks players can battle on two holiday themed maps: Silent Night in Terra CTF and Winter's Edge in Free For All and Freeze Tag modes. You can also select to play as Santa during this time period. In addition there are a number of changes to previous levels, new clan profiles and more.

The holiday season is in full swing now. Lots of gift buying, lots of decorating and lots of TV specials. Oh, and lots of lame Christmas puns.

• Quake Live got a new patch update that includes the return of its old in-game ad provider IGA Worldwide.
• Steam added the new games RUSH and Blue Toad Murder Files to its library with 10 percent off each game for the next week.
• Steam also has a big new Global Agenda update that adds four new maps and other new features and improvements.
• New patch updates for Super Meat Boy, Counter-Strike Source Beta and Left 4 Dead are also available on Steam.
• Who is really waiting to play World of Warcraft Cataclysm? This guy.
• There's also a new Minecraft update available.

Quake Live, the free-to-play shooter from developer id Software, got a new content update this week that added two new maps and other bits of content and features to the title. The two new maps are small reworked Rocket Arena 3 levels, "Evolution" and "Three Story."

Other new additions in this week's update include 20 new awards for Premium and Pro subscribers, awards for playing against id Software staff members, new server launch features and a number of changes to previously released maps. The game has also been moved to a new back-end system. Yet another content update for Quake Live is scheduled to be released on Monday

Developer id Software's free-to-play browser based first person shooter Quake Live has now been updated with some new maps that have been added for users of the game's subscription-based Premium and Pro players. Fans of the 1999-released game Quake III Arena (which Quake Live is based on) will be happy to know that a Quake Live version one of Q3A's Threewave CTF maps, Finnegan's, has been added to Quake Live.

Other new maps for the subscription players include Gothic Rage (for small duel and free-for-all matches), Solid (a 2v2 Team Deathmatch level) and Window Pain.(a small level based on a Rocket Arena 3 map). There have also been a number of changes and bug fixes for the entire game.

After letting players try out the Premium level content for free recently, id Software's browser-based shooter Quake Live has now updated the game with some new maps for those Premium users. The new maps include the gothic-based Devilish and three smaller Clan Arena levels (Fatal Instinct, Somewhat Damaged and Thunderstruck).

In addition the new version of Quake Live updates the game's skill and rankiing systems. More specific info on those updates can be found on the Quake Live web site. Also, 13 of the game's previously released maps have been updated including quite a few changes that were made to the Purgatory level.