i'm saying that quicksaves are necessitated by the needs of the players, but shouldn't be seen by designers as license to make challenges that practically require quicksaves/quickloads. 

... saves don't kill games, games kill games. 

Obviously being able to save is necessary, it's whether having the ability to do the level in 1 second sections is a good idea or not that is at issue (though lotsaquicksaves was the only way I finished sm103_starbuck).

I've been playing a spot of Marathon 2 again these last few days which only lets you save at predefined points, and it definitely adds some tension when you get a bit low on health but aren't sure where the next save terminal is. It also adds to the tedium when you get corwardly and scurry back to the last save term before you dare going into the next room.

As people have been saying, the level design needs to take the saving possibilities into account, and quicksaving frequently being all but mandatory means the level sucks. 

One of the best save systems I've come across was in Eternal Darkness. You can save anywhere during general exploration, but not when there are enemies in the room are just before/during certain set-piece sequences.

Worked very well. Trying to save and being told "The darkness is near, you cannot save." was a good tension builder.

For Quake, I find it essential. Practising a trick that takes two seconds to perform just wouldn't be worth it if you had to play for 5 minutes before hand every time. 

In quake I try to resist the temptation to quicksave in the middle of a battle - it trivialises the combat a bit imo. 

Well, I try not to save (or quicksave) too much when I play a map.. It essentially depends of the difficulty: the more a map is difficult (according to skill setting), the more I save game... it's obvious... At least I try to save between big fights, not during big fights... and when I'm too short in ammo/health as well (security saving here !)...
Well, maybe it's obvious, but it has to be said... 

I play a lot worse when I load a save and encounter the monsters the second time. I don't care to play so precisely anymore. Even when I know where they are and what will happen next, I always lose more health because of impatience and carelesness. I'm kinda bored then already, and the game goal is no more to survive and explore (which I think is mostly the goal on the first run) and but to just run as quickly as possible. 

gimme the top three q3a duel maps, I crave me some good shootin an lootin. 

Lun3DM4
RPG3DM2
q3dm17 

q3dm17 is crap for duelling, ztn3tourney1 is probably better. Or maybe hub3aeroq3 or whatever it's called, it doesn't look very nice though. 

maybe its me, but i require lots of new and exciting stimuli, very frequently, to remain interested in a level...

I'm kinda bored then already, and the game goal is no more to survive and explore (which I think is mostly the goal on the first run) and but to just run as quickly as possible.

i can totally relate to that 

Yes. Teh joke. 

check your mail 

Lun3DM4
RPG3DM2
q3dm17

Wait. how many of those are sarcastic? :( 

ALL OF THEM! 

More votes for lun3dm4 and ztn3tourney1. I haven't played and/or don't remember R.P.G.s map--sorry, the early onset of senility is a bitch. :( Dead Souls by Glassman is one I liked as well, and Grindall 2.0 by Quaker-X kicks ass, but might be a tad big for tourney, depending on your tastes...

Of course I can't resist pimping my own stuff. Depending on how cramped you like your playing field:

pjw3tourney2 - pretty open
pjw3tourney3 - pretty close
pjw3quickie4 - ridiculously insanely asses-and-elbows tight 

Only the last 2; although RPG3DM2 might possibly be worth checking out.

pjw: That's ok; I don't remember them either. 

.. or maybe I missed a post... ;P

http://www.planetquake.com/quake4/wallgallery.shtml 

... I was talking about the result of the contest ;P 

Well, one of the commentors had a very good point - there was too much going on. I hadn't even realised it I was too absorbed ind doing something COOOOL. There were some stronger concepts out there, but I totally disagree with the (lack of) concept with the winning entry and some other top finishers. 

At least you are in the "top ten", which is not bad at all, IMHO... 

the winning contributor produced the only entry in the top 10 which was handpainted (digitally) pretty well unlike many others, which used Photoshop effects on existing concept art and preview screenshots. He clearly put a bit of time in.

The prizes weren't very high quality though! 1st prize wasn't bad i guess, but who wants a bloody Quake 4 t-shirt (2nd prize), or worse, 3 months subscription to something no one really wants (3rd prize), Gamespy Founders Club. It seems to give you Fileplanet, Gamepsy Arcade and some crappy Insider exclusive content bollocks. 

That 3rd prize seems more like an insult. 

Well done for placing in the top ten. I do agree that there's too much going on, but equally I think the screenshots on the monitors look really cool - those with a simpler overall image could have done very well IMHO. 

Is anyone here experienced with Google AdSense? I am having problems making it display ads that are actually relevant to my site. I have a blog at http://dnaumov.blogspot.com/ and have had AdSense code in my pages for over a month now, so I'm guessing that it has been recrawled by the bots at least once or twice now. Yet, the only ads I see being displayed are related to blogging. Not a single ad related to games, marketing, level design or whatever at all. What am I doing wrong?