My Hobbies........

Like many others, I have had numerous hobbies and interests throughout my life that seem to change with the times. A few of the more important are listed below

Airplanes

I'm only a very occasional air traveller, but for some reason, I just love watching airplanes. I'm fascinated by them - their size, their power, their noise, and the way they defy gravity when taking off. Because I'm a keen photographer, I've also taken up photographing planes. I'm a semi-regular visitor to Dublin Airport. I started taking pictures of planes last year, and since getting my Nikon D70, I've really started to take a lot of pictures of these enormous beasts. I have two ambitions relating to aircraft - one is to fly in the cockpit of a big aeroplane, preferably an Airbus A340 or a Boeing 767 or 747 (something big!). The other is to be ON a runway, under an aeroplane taking photos as it takes off over my head. I know it probably sounds a bit mad, but I'd really love to sense the noise and the power at close range!

Computer Games

I'm not a mad fan of computer games or anything, but since being introduced to the first-player "shoot-em-up" DOOM back in the mid 1990s, I have kept up an occasional interest in this type of game. I found DOOM addictive, so naturally when ID Software progessed to making even better games, I played them too. The highly-successul QUAKE was followed by QUAKE II, which I have to say I didn't like half as much. I may be playing devil's advocate when I say I think generally game players preferred the origiinal QUAKE.

But then there came what I consider to be a revolution in gameplay. Such was the overwhelming response to the multi-player versions of the Quake series, where players could fight against each other either on a network or over the internet, ID brought out QUAKE III ARENA. This was the answer to the dreams of millions of players.
On any given day at any particular time there can be upwards of 2,000 active QUAKE III servers online where people are playing this game against each other. It's great fun. There are a variety of weapons available, including the hugely lethal rocket launcher and the railgun, which usually only needs one accurate blast to "frag" (kill) another player. There are also huge numbers of modifications and additions to Quake III, such as maps, skins, weapons etc.

There are hundreds of on-line servers where you can play against other humans, but the single player game provides plenty of entertainment for those who are not quite advanced enough for on-line play. Overall this is a significant improvement on the Quake III experience, and will provide hours of entertainment for anyone who's a fan of this genre. PainKeep Arena is for the "Old School" fan of Deathmatch, also known as Hardcore Deathmatchers, according to Robert Waring, one of the creators.

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