all articles | strategy guides | mod reviews | other articles

The Quakie and the Nickel: Part II  by Deepak Subburam November 11, 2000

"Fine, you made your point, Chuidge. The human figured out what we did."

"Yes, and see what the couple minutes it took him to do so cost him--he ended up in second place for that game, which for a tournament champion is a minor embarrassment. The FPS is, like any other art form or sport, sensitive to its instruments."

"I still can't set aside my feeling that the FPS is just a game for juveniles. Just look at the names the human players choose for their FPS characters--from the pseudo-techno-modern RamFist, Tektronix to the egoistic Immortal, EverWinner and the pretentiously classical: Ovid, Pliny[1]. And the character that is just entering the game, 'Atum' who is both pretentious and egoistic. Why is this Atum character colored in uniform, bright silver?" asks Phuidge.

"Players can construct their own graphical textures and use them on their computer characters' skins. Atum's skin is quite a bad idea as it makes him highly visible to other players. Either his human controller simply doesn't know better or he is cocky and believes that he needs to give the other players an advantage over him so as to have an interesting game. Either way, RamFist should teach him his error soon."

*

The game is taking place on RamFist's favorite map. The entire map is built upon five platforms falling off of which meant death. Players move from platform to platform via giant trampoline-like jump pads. RamFist makes his way to the smallest and farthest of these platforms that is also the hardest to get to. Once he gets his hands on the railgun on that platform, RamFist puts on his goggles to spy on the other players on the other four platforms. He spots Atum who stands out from the rest due to his shiny 'skin' and decides to target him.

RamFist fires, and misses! He now notices that Atum is moving in this jerky, unpredictable way that makes him hard to target. Atum seems not to have noticed RamFist's shot and heads for the nearby rocket launcher. RamFist realizes Atum's motive and takes aim with his railgun at the position of the rocket launcher. When Atum is but a yard from the rocket launcher, John's brain issues the command to get RamFist to fire. A tenth of a second later, RamFist fires. But Atum is not there to receive the railgun slug! He has stopped just short of the launcher, guessing his fate had he not done so.

"Son of a $%#&!" swears John, as Atum picks up the rocket launcher while RamFist looks on helplessly, waiting for his railgun to load. Atum then starts firing rockets, one after another, at RamFist's platform. From that distance, it takes fully four seconds for the rockets to arrive and RamFist is confident of being able to dodge them. He holds his ground. But as the rockets approach, RamFist realizes that they had been fired at such an angle and distance that they will all hit the floor of his platform at different places but at the same time, so as to cover the entire platform! They are thus impossible to dodge, and it is too late for RamFist to run for the jump pad that would get him off the platform to another. "Son of a $%#&!" swears John again as he watches helplessly as the rockets explode around RamFist, killing him.

*

"That rocket stunt is quite an impressive feat for a human. Looks like your friend RamFist is finally meeting his match," says Phuidge.

"Yes. What impresses me even more is that I cannot see any pattern in Atum's movement, not even the hint of a complex one. I think even we ourselves will have difficulty in hitting Atum with a railgun were we to play against him," ponders Chuidge.

*

As RamFist 'respawns' with full health, he heads for some armor, determined not to let a single shot from a weapon such as the rocket launcher prove fatal. After getting some weapons, he seeks out Atum, ignoring or dispatching off quickly the other players.

As he is walking, RamFist hears the sound of a rocket being launched directly behind him from a fairly short distance. RamFist quickly deduces that it must be Atum shooting at his back for no other player has the skill to sneak up behind him like that. So he checks his usual response of jumping, and instead executes a quick about turn and fires his shotgun at whatever there might be on his six. Sure enough, Atum is indeed there to receive the blast! And the rocket that Atum had fired whizzes past a foot above RamFist's head, as Atum had predicted correctly RamFist's default response to such an attack. Since Atum had just like RamFist stocked up on armor units, he survives the shotgun blast. Then begins an intricate dance of destruction as both players run, stop, turn, jump and duck to avoid each other's shots. Though no shot lands squarely on either player, both begin taking damage from near misses--RamFist more so than Atum. However RamFist has the upper hand as the initial hit he scored on Atum with his shotgun cost Atum a good chunk of his health. RamFist realizes this and moves to position himself in between Atum and the jump pad that is the only means of escape from the platform.

Atum figures that he is losing. He runs backward to the edge of the platform and jumps backwards right at the edge, simultaneously firing a rocket at the same edge. This explosion propels him further than an ordinary jump and carries him just far enough to reach the edge of the other platform. John's jaw drops as he sees this incredible stunt that takes Atum to safety.

The time limit for the match expires and a new match on a new map begins. Only Atum and RamFist continue to play on the new map, the other players tiring of the game and calling it quits. As the map loads RamFist types a message to Atum: "who r u?"

Atum replies: "As far as you are concerned, I am Atum. If you manage to kill me before I kill you ten times in succession, I concede defeat in this match. Else, I win. Agree?"

RamFist replies: "sure Mr. Atum ... though i think the match will then be quite short..."

And the match begins. The new map is smaller with fewer opportunities for escape. The only quick escape you can make if caught in a duel that you are doing poorly in is to make use of one of the two teleporters present on the map. These two teleporters are located at either end of the map, entering one of which instantaneously teleports you to the other. Atum successfully manages to block RamFist's approach to these teleporters and kills him repeatedly in just a few minutes, making RamFist's prediction of a short match seem likely!

*

"There is something strange going on with Atum," says Chuidge. "I wonder if he is somehow cheating, though I can't see any signs of that. I tried to get our sensors to trace the computer signals signaling Atum to find the human player controlling him and was unsuccessful. The other strange feature about Atum's controller's connection with the game server is that its Ping is a constant 12 milliseconds. Ping is a measure of the time between submission and receipt of a packet of data to and from the game server and usually varies somewhat with time as the state of Internet traffic varies. I am going to get our computer to trace the speed of Atum's moves and the damage he takes from RamFist's shots to see if he is indeed cheating."

*

The score becomes 9-0 in Atum's favor. RamFist hatches a desperate plan. He goes to one end of the map where a rocket launcher and a teleporter are present. He gets the launcher and lies in wait for Atum. Atum enters the scene and the two start exchanging shots. As usual, RamFist starts losing. He then feints for the teleporter that will take him to the other end of the map--and Atum moves to block him. RamFist then flees through the doorway to get to the other end of the map the conventional way. Atum does not follow.

RamFist guesses that Atum would use the teleporter to get to the other end of the map sooner than RamFist does so as to surprise him. RamFist also knows that Atum is too cautious to do so immediately and would wait a while to see if RamFist would come back. Instead of doing that, RamFist sprints his way to the other end of the map--speeding his transit further by a few rocket jumps across some descending staircases so as to reach his goal earlier than Atum's estimates. RamFist gets to the other end of the map, and Atum has not arrived yet. He quickly positions himself right behind the teleporter just as Atum emerges from it with his back towards RamFist.

As Atum walks away, RamFist fires a rocket straight at Atum. Atum, now alerted, jumps. But the distance is too small and the rocket hits Atum's lower body. Atum survives the blow, but he does not survive the second rocket RamFist fires at him as he lands from the jump.

*

"SON OF A $%#&!"

To Chuidge and Phuidge's amazement, they hear that shrill cry emanating from the Chief's main cabin.

-end-