The Earth Soldiers are here to bring their special kind of pain.  First up is the Fireball Gun.  As if lighting enemies on fire wasn't effective enough, some sadistic mind found a way to do it from a distance.  It's not nicknamed the "Gib Toaster" without reason.



Located any place where Arena Gladiators would find a Chaingun.

The Mortar is a fine weapon, but how can it be made better?  Simple, just add fire.  Originally called the Firestorm, it quickly earned the title Hellstorm after being seen in action and the name stuck.  The shells from this cannon fly a little farther and it takes a little longer to recover from the brutal recoil, but the results speak for themselves.  If you've ever needed to reduce an enemy squad to ashes in a single shot this can do it.


Look where Arena Gladiators would find a Nailgun to get your hands on one of these.


Instead of lobbing smaller bombs everywhere, sometimes you just want one big bomb to take care of a big problem.  Earth Soldiers decided to bring some old-school Dynamite to the party.  Just set the timer, toss, and let the gibbing begin.


Found wherever the Arena Gladiators would get their Prox Launcher or Prox Mine ammo packs.

If the pictures aren't enough, here's a video of the new guns in action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fel9a4kqNo

Work begins on the final weapon for the Strogg Troopers.

Up next in the Strogg Troopers arsenal is the Trap.  Proximity mines are well and good, and Tesla Mines deliver quite a shock, but Traps do one even better - they suck in your foes and gib them into juicy goodies that provide a 50 point health boost, even over your maximum.  It may sound a little ghoulish, but most marines have said it tastes like chicken.



Available anywhere proximity launchers or mines are sold.

Video is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXDoXf9oEiQ

Video quality isn't the best on Youtube, but you'll get the idea.

Those Slipgate weapons left you hungry for more?  The Strogg Troopers are not ones to be left behind when it comes to exotic weaponry.  You like to hit things around corners, but don't want to kill yourself in the process?  You want the Ion Ripper.



This can be picked up anywhere the Arena Gladiators find a Chaingun.

Also added to the gallery, the new Doom Warriors weapons for Team Arena:

Ever wish your shotgun had a longer range?  Don't like Arena Gladiators turning you into a pin cushion with that Nailgun?  Give the Ion Gun a try.  It's basically a long-range energy shotgun.  It's tricky to master, but once you find the "sweet spot" you'll be the one doing the nailing.  Spawning at an Arena Gladiators' Nailgun location near you.



Proximity mines are fun, but the only problem is that they go away once they do their thing.  If you really need to deny access you want something that stays in place and keeps hurting.  You want Tesla Mines for that job.    One by itself isn't very dangerous, but several thrown in strategic places can wreak havoc.  It's the perfect tool for when the lone marine needs someone - or something - to have his or her back.  No need for a launcher, just toss it and it'll latch on to any surface.  Found wherever proximity launchers or mines are laying around.



Who doesn't love chainguns?  Who doesn't love shotguns?  What could be more awesome?  A chain-shotgun, that's what.  Introducing the Heavy Chaingun*. You've been on the other end of it when facing the Spider Mastermind, now you get to wield it yourself.  You spray, they pray.  Pick this up wherever the Arena Gladiators would find their chaingun.



So what's next?  As work continues on the Strogg Troopers' expanded arsenal, we'll be adding some more preview video for the Doom Warriors weapons in action, as well as showcasing the Earth Soldiers' new toys.  Stay tuned!

*Not to be confused with the .99f Heavy Chaingun.  That has been renamed just "chaingun" for consistency with Doom as well as differentiation with the new gun.

A preview video is available on YouTube here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5HhFCiYct0

Hungry for something new to see?  Wirehead has been hard at work pushing 1.0 forward.  Most of the changes so far have been internal code modifications and those are hard to show, but we've finally got some new eye candy for you.  As promised, some more Team Arena goodness.  This time, for the Slipgaters.

First up, the Mjolnir.  This can be found anywhere an Arena Gladiator picks up a Nailgun.



Next is the Proximity Gun.  It's spawns wherever Arena Gladiators get their Prox Launcher, and works fairly similar, though Quake veterans will appreciate the differences.



Finally, we have the Laser Cannon.  Who needs a chaingun when you've got freakin' LASERS that bounce off walls?



More will be added to the gallery as we move forward, so stay tuned.

I've noticed people ask about the mod on Youtube and in the forums, but I think the .plan section is being completely overlooked.  Anyone that's not part of the internal beta test crew that's wanting to know what's going on in the development of Gen can do so by clicking on my .plan.  To get to it just go to the main website:  www.wireheadstudios.org then look at the .plan section on the left side of the page.  Click my name and you'll find a wealth of information on Gen's development progress.  If you have questions or concerns that Gen is not progressing or is somehow abandoned, please, read the .plan to see where we stand with things.

I have my Generations Arena server in the list on the site, but occasionally my IP address changes.  After some network hardware changes, this server is now visible on Qtracker, so anyone wishing to play .99f should be able to see it under the Internet Games section of Quake 3 Arena.  You'll want to play on The Phoenix Nest.  The Beta Test server is for internal beta testing only and is passworded to avoid connection issues.

In addition, I host the Clan MMA Quake 2 Rocket Arena 2 server.  The server is password protected to keep the games cheater free and friendly, and is also now visible on Qtracker.  The password is available on request to any forum members.  Just send me a PM if you're interested.

If you haven't seen it already, there's a new game announced at E3 called Quake Champions.  Video is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa-6fQyNkZo&feature=youtu.be

On the outside it's pretty obvious that it's going to be a high definition Quake 3 reboot of some sort, complete with Ranger and Visor already present.  I already know what some people are going to ask, and the answer at this time has to be "No".  Wirehead currently has no plans nor inclination to look at switching over to Quake Champions for Generations Arena.  Why?  There are several reasons.

First, not enough is known about the game.  We've seen some characters and a few weapons.  We have not seen all minimum characters necessary to round out the Generations set.  Doom, Sarge, and Grunt would have to be present, and our familiar characters so far are only Visor and a Quakeguy.  Due to intellectual property concerns, these characters would have to be present in able to create their character classes properly.

Second, there's no guarantee the game will even support mods or private servers.  If it can't be modded then it can't be modded.  Something like Snapmap wouldn't be enough.  It would require full mod support that's been present in previous Id titles.  Private server support would also be a must, as there's no guarantee Id or Bethesda would host mods.  There's no point in modding if people don't have servers to play on.

Third, Wirehead only has firm permission to create Generations Arena for Quake 3 Arena.  We do not know if such permission would extend to another game or if we would have to go through the entire contact process again with Id.  Besides that, it may be entirely possible that Quake Champions ends up with a Generations-ish weapon set for various characters, which would defeat the purpose of us trying such a thing anyway.

Lastly, our team has shrunk to pretty much myself and a few beta testers.  We would need to rebuild a full studio-sized team to undertake work on just the media assets alone, not to mention the amount of program code that would need to be rewritten assuming that everything else fell into place.  There's no way I could do this by myself, and assembling a new team would be difficult.

As it stands, Generations Arena will continue development for Q3A.  It will be completed for Q3A.  Beyond that I cannot say anything more than I already have until more is learned, though discussion, as always, is welcome.

The server is up and running again.  The power supply was failing and needed replacing after, oh, about a decade of constant use, and I decided to go ahead and transfer the rest of the guts to an updated and more efficient case.  It's quieter, cooler, and barring any more cranky old hardware issues, should be up and running for good.