Announcing NIQ and NIQCTF for Quake II. These are 100% server-side mods for Quake II which remove *all* items from the game. In NIQ/NIQCTF the server controls which weapons all clients have and gives out health and ammunition for the current weapon. Unlike regular Quake II / Q2CTF, the emphasis is on seeing how well you can do with the current weapon against other players with the same weapon. There is no need to run around collecting the quad, power shield, BFG etc. and there is no need to memorize the respawn times for these items. In NIQ, all players have the same weapon at all times and players can only differ in terms of how much health, ammunition and skill each has. The server periodically changes the current weapon (default=every 60 seconds), either in order or randomly, and the blaster has been changed to do 50 HP of damage. By default, the ordinary shotgun is not available, but with NIQ you have complete control over which weapons are in the game. NIQ also has a custom scoreboard, customizable scoring options, and a custom HUD showing the current weapon, time remaining until the next weapon switch and each client's current rank. NIQCTF is basically the same as NIQ with the inclusion of the flags and the grappling hook. NIQ also works in singleplayer or coop mode and should support most custom maps. In singleplayer / coop mode, you have to actually kill monsters to get health and to have the current weapon change (after N kills). Want to try an 8-player BFG battle? Sick of getting wiped out by someone who knows where all the items are (and can actually be bothered to go after them)? Then download NIQ and/or NIQCTF today and give it a try. NIQ and NIQCTF are now available at the NIQ home page (www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Labyrinth/8220) and should be available at ftp.cdrom.com shortly (in the Quake II downloads section). Please send any questions, comments or suggestions to Mike Fox (a.k.a. Artful Dodger) at mfox@matrox.com.