Rift
Your Internet Assistant
v 0.6.3
1996, Bob Jamison
================================

What's New in 0.6.3
-------------------
Two things have been added for this version:

1)  Better display of server and player detailed information.  Check
it out!!!!!
  Note:  if Teamplay is ON, the dialog is RED, else it is BLUE.

I know that I need to adjust the colors displayed for shirt/trousers
color.  What I have is a best-guess effort, and I'm willing to accept
any help on this topic.

2) A PAUSE ("zzzz") button has been added to put Rift to sleep, even
without launching Quake.

What's New in 0.6.2
-------------------
Two things have been added for this version:

1)  AddMerge has been added to the server list loading, which
removes duplicates, but preserves any new information which
might be found about a server on different lists.  This is a BIG
speed improvement.

2)  The seven server variables that John Cash's unconnected protocol
can export are now fetched by Rift:
sv_maxspeed   The terminal velocity and speed of light for a map
sv_gravity    How fast you fall.  Fun to play with!!! ;-)
sv_friction   Determines whether you have traction like Michelin or
                Wile E. COyote
noexit        Allow or deny jumpers
teamplay      Whether or not you can injure a teammate
timelimit     The maximum number of seconds a server will stay on a level
fraglimit     The maximum number of frags before a new level

Again, I want to display these graphically, but getting these new features
to the users as fast as possible is much more important.  Rift is a user
driven and designed product, and is just as much a result of the users'
imaginations and suggestions as it is mine.  Thanks to all who have written
in, as your help has been invaluable.  ;-)

What's New in 0.6.1
--------------------
This is an emergency fix, mandated by the format changes at
WWW.Stomped.Com and Citrix.Progress.Com.  Earlier versions will
NOT be able to use Stomped or ][ronman.   Back to normal now!  ;-)

Also, window resizing is fixed!

What's New in 0.6
--------------------

PLAYER NAMES!  Many thanks to John Cash for releasing the Quake
unconnected transactions!  Now Rift can Query and display WHO is on
a server.  After the initial refresh is done, just select a
server and hit the "details" button.  Voila!
The dialog lists:

[shirt/pants colors] frags [time on the server] player's address

I am aware of the discrepancies between the User count and the number
actually listed.  This is because of the timing of the calls, and
I'm working on it.  Honest!  :-#

I'm going to make the display a little more interesting, but I just
wanted to get this addition out to the users as quickly as possible.

Thanks also to Aurin Wildfire for passing this precious information
on to me.

What's New in 0.5
--------------------

A DNS cache!  Now the startup of Rift can take much, much less time.
Once the names have been resolved, they are stored for the next
startup, and can thus drastically increase startup speed and reduce
modem usage.  Guys, I'm sorry this one took so long, but I'm not
very smart.  ;-(

Automatic HTML creation!  Now you can insert a Quake server list
into your favorite HTML page.  Merely add a line to your HTML
file with nothing on it but

RIFT HERE

at the start of the line.  Rift will make a copy of your file
with a Rift table inserted into it.

1) Move your file to a convenient spot, away from Web links.

2) Add the magic line

3) Tell Rift, in its configuration file, the path to this file,
and the copy you want Rift to make.

4) Run Rift.  When Rift says that it has created an HTML file,
check it out on a browser.  Ta Da!


What's New in 0.4.11
--------------------

This is just an interim release, so please bear with me, only a very
few of the many, many suggestions I have in the work queue have been
done.  Thanks for all the e-mail and phone calls with suggestions,
and I can fairly well assure you that most of everyone's ideas will
be in Rift soon.  I wanted to post this release right away in an effort
to catch up a bit, and at least get SOMETHING out to the persevering
users.  Again , thanks.  What do we have?

o  #### READ THIS ONE ####  By popular demand (did they EVER demand
   this)  the initial data load and DNS lookup is now done in the
   background, freeing up the user interface to be moved, resized,
   etc.  It seemed that no amount of convincing on my part that
   the program was all right, even though it wasn't responding
   immediately, was enough.  So I surrendered!!!  Rift will still
   not do anything until the load is done (it would be illogical)
   but at least you can play with the window until it is.  ;-)

o  A toolbar!!!   For weeks, people have been trying to convince
   me to get rid of the ugly buttons.  I agree, they were not pretty,
   just a quick-and-dirty way to get the program up and  running.  The
   new toolbar might not be beautiful, but it is definitely an
   improvement.

o  Tooltips! Hold the mouse over a button, without pressing, and a
   short hint on the purpose of the button will appear.

o  A STOP button can halt the current refresh cycle.

More to come, I promise.  I considered these first fixes necessary,
and the fun ones had to wait.  ;-(    Until the next release!  ;-)

What's New in 0.4.10
--------------------
o  Rift can be installed in its own directory, if the config file
   has the location of the Quake directory

o  The Browse button will now pause the refresh timer and will
   effectively put Rift to "sleep" while Quake is running, avoiding
   network floods during refresh and allowing normal Quake play.
   The button turns to "Resume," which can be pressed after a
   Quake game to wake Rift up.  Now Browse is not nearly so much
   different from Go!

o  The server list can be sorted either by UDP response times
   (suggested) or ping times, also via the config file.

o  Slowed down the auto-refresh rate to once every 6 minutes.  It
   appears that I overestimated some ISPs' data rates,  Sorry, and
   shame on them for providing substandard service.

What's New in 0.4.9
-------------------
.4.9 is an interim version with a few fixes/additions.

o  Can use the ][ronman server list, as well as the Stomped server list.
   Each of these can be turned on/off via the config file.
o  Has a much better UDP performance, polling several smaller batches
   of servers instead of the original "shotgun" approach.  This can
   help accomodate bigger server lists.
o  Has a button for the configuration file.

What's New in 0.4.8
-------------------
A configuration file, with a QUAKE-LAUNCHING ARGUMENT string!!!!
This is the #1 requested feature, so I -had- to put it in.  This
imitates launching Quake with Q95.BAT. Rift.cfg also contains the
variables "reverseDNS" and "AutoPing" which control
whether those two functions are performed.  More will
be added later.

A different appearance,  because of the new features, it is becoming
necessary to change the layout of the buttons, status field, and
server list.  You will probably notice that the window re-sizing is
a bit undone, but I've been working on this for 24 hours now, it's
a Saturday afternoon, the sun is out, and I need to go outside.

The servers are sorted by UDP response times.

What's New in 0.4.7
-------------------
Fixed the pinger; times are fairly accurate now.
Added an AutoPinger that works in the background without requiring
too much use of system resources or bandwidth.
Now displays:
  Column 1: UDP response time - how soon the server's software
            got its answer back to you
  Column 2: Ping time - a running average of the pings to the site
            so far, either from AutoPing or by user pressing "Ping".

What's New in 0.4.5
-------------------
0.4 is a quick hack that should enable the user to obtain the
popular server list from www.stomped.com.
-But- what we do with it (if it is obtainable) is download the
Hostname and location from Stomped, but query the servers listed
from -your- machine, giving you a much more accurate view of the
Quake universe, as seen from your PC.

Also, Rift passes on some server information to the Quake console.
A short list of servers (Quake can't store too much) is provided,
along with some aliases.  Once Rift has launched Quake, the
'r' key becomes hot.  Pressing 'r' disconnects from the current
server and displays a list of servers, much like in Rift.
The first column is the command name to select the given server. 

Also, both "Go" and a double-click cause Rift to terminate after
launching Quake, freeing up the CPU and network entirely to the
voracious appetite of Quake.  This cures the "freezing" problems
encountered in Quake when Rift does an update.

What's New in 0.3
-----------------
As the lists of Quake servers become ever longer, the cost
in time required to query the Domain Name Service (DNS) servers
for host information becomes ever more dear.  Rift 0.2 was taking
up to two minutes to display its initial host list; this was
unacceptable.  Therefore, the changes for 0.3 are:

o   Only perform domain name - to - IP lookup at startup
o   Display the list of possible servers before Quake server
    query. This lets the user know that Rift is doing its job.
o   Once the first Quake server query has been done, then start
    performing the reverse address lookup (IP -> domain name)
    as a background thread which will not interfere with the
    user's button and list commands.
o   Show the progress of the reverse DNS lookup in the status
    window.  This doesn't really do much; it just looks cool.

About Rift
----------
This is a simple networking tool which helps the Quake fan
use the many Quake servers popping up all over the net.
The program uses a server information file, "rift.dat"
and queries all of the hosts in that file for their statuses.
This status is updated every 90 seconds.  Rift takes a few
seconds to initially load the file; this is because Rift is
performing all of its DNS queries at startup in order to
speed up subsequent operation enormously.

The first column is the round trip response time in milliseconds
from the server, and can be used as a rough measure of the usability
of the server from your location.

To use, unzip the files into the directory where quake and qlaunch
are located.  Then just run Rift!.

If you see a server you like, just double-click on it, and
Rift will attempt to launch Quake with a connection to that
server.  Please note that the network interface design for Quake
is very fluid at the moment, and the current version of Rift might
not have caught up yet ;-( .  But it will!  ;-)  So far, Rift
has worked very well with Quake shareware versions 0.91, 0.92,
1.0, and 1.01.

Check the site:
   http://www.phoenix.net/~ishmal/rift

occasionally for Rift updates,improvements, debugs, and the like.
Feel free to leave comments or suggestions that would improve the
program.

Questions?
Contact Bob at 713-244-5769,
or e-mail at ishmal@phoenix.net
or look for me on DalNet's IRC #quake channel as "ishmal"


