All old farts check in!

Executioner · Post by **Executioner** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 3:26 pm

FlyingPenguin wrote:Crap, now we're REALLY going back. I started moderating on Voodoo Extreme when they offered to host my Quake 3D FAQ website along with 3Fingers's OpenGL Tweak guide. We both moderated there answering 3D tech questions for years. Then VE changed hands and we moved to AGN with a bunch of other peeps and 3Fingers and I setup our own websites with our own hosts so we wouldn't get shuffled around again.

BTW: My site's still up. I keep it up because as far as I know it's the only place you can find the Quake transparent water VIS patch and VIS data files. I tried taking it down a few years ago to save space on my server and got a flood of emails asking me to put it back up. Apparently there's still people out there playing Quake. LOL!

GAAAH! I just looked at that page and fried my eyeballs. Holy garish Web 1.0 designs Batman! Did I REALLY code that page?
http://soldcentralfl.com/quakecoop/

I remember those places also - 3Fingers and Voodoo Extreme. BTW, that design was okay since you were probably drunk and stoned when you were in your 20's. :chug

normalicy · Post by **normalicy** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 10:06 pm

I guess I barely qualify because AGN changed shortly after I joined.

Executioner · Post by **Executioner** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 11:47 am

I was also trying to remember the name of the guy that had a site "How to Get Good Pings". He was able to get sub 100 pings with a US Robotics Courier V Everything. So I bought that modem and the best I could get was 150, but he had some good advice on tweaking your modem.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 11:59 am

Oh man, those were the days, tweaking for pings on dialup.

I vaguely remember who you were talking about. He basically has a list of tweaks that disabled some features in the modem that cost you a few milliseconds in overhead. May not have been much but going from a ping of 175 to 150 on dialup made a WORLD of difference in playability.

I always used expensive ($100+) external US Robotics modems on my game machines back then. They gave you the best possible performance.

Koo Koo Mouse · Post by **Koo Koo Mouse** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 1:21 pm

OMG I had almost forgetten about tweaking strings! Gotta agree them US Robotics were the best. Could always connect at 49kb and get almost 5 kB/sec. Ahh the days of having two phone lines..

EvilHorace · Post by **EvilHorace** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 4:34 pm

Wasn't long ago that I found that modem in my attic and pitched it along with a bunch of other vintage PC stuff that's now useless.

normalicy · Post by **normalicy** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 4:42 pm

Still have a US Robotics modem sitting in the attic.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 6:15 pm

I have a new one sitting on the shelf. Doctors offices still use them for secure Medicare reimbursement transmissions.

Executioner · Post by **Executioner** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 10:39 pm

I found his name - Crime

I found it in an old email dating back to August 1999 when I was asking him a question on the init string to use:

On Sun, 01 Aug 1999 10:35:53 -0700, Charles Wathen wrote:
Hi,
I have a Courier V Everything external, and the modem is the best I've ever had for playing games on line. I have one question on you init string that you use: &F1&A3&K3S15=2S11=38S69=12
I looked in my manual for a listing of these string commands, but there are none listed and the 3com site is worthless for finding a complete list of these string commands. Could you tell me what each one does,or where you got a complete list?
Thanks,
Charlie

CRIME wrote:
If you load up a terminal program (Windows 95, 98 and NT bring HyperTerminal) and use the query ($) commands, the modem itself will tell you what commands and settings are available.
My string does the following:
&F1 - Loads the hardware (RTS/CTS) flow control settings.
&A3 - Tells the modem to provide verbose connect strings--this is a
anachronism to the old days of BBS's and whatnot, but I still use it because it's a hard habit for me to shake.
&K3 - Enables v.42bis compression, but disables MNP5 compression.
S15=2 - Disables retrains.
S11=38 - Sets intervals of 38ms between each DTMF tone the modem dials.
Most modems can't handle past 50ms, but the Courier allows me to push
my local phone company to their speed dialing limit. Matter of fact, the Courier is the only modem I've ever used that can handle faster than
50ms breaks. If anybody tells you they set theirs to 0ms, the modem is really
only doing to 50ms. S69=12 - Tells my modem to only light the HS (high speed) light when connecting faster than 33,600bps.
Have fun!

By the way, I also still have mine. It hasn't been used since 2002.