Click on the thumbnails to view the photos
Again this year, I was online waiting for registration to begin. I was still number 471. *sigh*
I also registered Ryly …
… My brother-in-law …
… And my nephew. Neither my brother-in-law nor my nephew made it to the Con. :-(
Registration was very smooth with almost 2400 people signing up in the first 2.5 hours.
There was a contest to see who registered at certain "magic numbers" … These were the winners.
The following Tuesday, it was announced all the BYOC reserved spots had been filled.
Fast forward to Con time … Packing the "boys" off to the vet to be boarded.
The car is loaded and we are ready to leave.
Ryly, dressed for the event, walks to the car.
The grueing 8.1 mile trip took us past the Hyatt Regency Reunion Hotel and Tower.
… And the rest of downtown Dallas.
This is the entrance to the Atrium portion of the Hilton Anatole. The 46 foot sculpture is "Flames of Life" by Prince Monyo Mihailescu-Nasturel.
Every hotel has to have a huge floral arrangement in the main lobby.
This was parked by the front door … A white Lamborghini.
Oddly, this is not the only example of this vehicle I have seen in Dallas.
We were given a room at the top of the Atrium.
A couple of shots of the room … One sink.
The rest of the bathroom.
A king-sized bed and a seating area by the window.
And a great view of Downtown.
The white building behind the Sheraton Suites is the Infomart, built to resemble the original Crystal Palace in London.
This was the look down from the balcony outside our room. A little bit of Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh Anxiety there. :-)
A huge storm came though Dallas at about 6:00 PM. Afterwards, these low clouds moved through downtown.
There was a little bit rain too. Compare the waterlevel with that in qc070021.
Clouds still moving through downtown.
Still …
The clouds have almost passed through downtown.
At sunset, a rainbow appeared that arched over all of downtown. This is the right "leg".
Our Atrium room was about as far from the Con as possible … So we changed rooms to the Tower.
Our new room was just like last year's room … Same wall art.
Same trapazoid shape …
Same two sink bathroom …
Same sitting area …
The same king-sized bed …
And the same desk and minibar arrangement.
At about 10:30 PM, got in line for early check-in to the BYOC. Ryly and MsMoody are at the back of the line in the overflow area. :-(
Parents, don't let your children play W0W!
This personable fellow was at the front of the line in the overflow area.
Even celebrities like Optimus Prime have to wait in line.
The overflow area was down a set of stairs so MasterTech and Hack waited in the lobby with our wheeled carts.
Nice paint job on this Silverstone case … Scuffed aluminum finish covered in tinted clearcoat. The flames make it run faster. :-)
After about an hour, we moved from the overflow area to the party at the checkin area.
This is the bag check area where they look for unauthorized patch cables and plug strips.
Two foosball tables were set up to help pass the time.
There were also several classic video games in the same area.
Tacgnol vs. Longcat
The BYOC rules for 2007. Compared to previous years, food and drinks are actually allowed in the BYOC this year.
We finally were able to drop our equipment in the BYOC at about 2:00 AM. This is Ice's rig.
Ryly travels much ligher with a Mac Powerbook.
We are sitting at the back of the BYOC behind the main NOC and Pykomantis' PC.
This is the auxillary NOC in the middle of the BYOC.
Last year, this area was the tournament area. This year, it is all BYOC.
This area was the vendor area last year. Like the tournament area, it is all BYOC.
By noon on Thursday, all the pre-registered attendees had been admitted into the BYOC.
MacBooks -- The preferred laptop of NOC Operators.
A camera crew was moving through the BYOC filming.
I guess they never saw XP being loaded on a PC because they spent about 10 minutes filming this machine.
These guys brought an Xbox 360 and a projector. In the dark BYOC, the image looked pretty good on the wall.
There were several of these scattered around the BYOC.
They projected updated schedules of events on the wall.
A schedule and map of the facility was also projected above the BYOC doorway.
At 2:00 PM, this was the line of everyone who had not pre-registered for the BYOC. They were admitted starting at 3:00 PM.
The Main Stage was all the way over on the opposite side of the hotel in the Atrium area.
At 4:00 PM, nVidia offered free pizza …
… and Bawls.
It was an effective ploy to get people out of the BYOC and into the Main Stage area for the nVidia Kick-off presentation.
Someday, we will save the life of someone or kill someone and be allowed to sit in the VIP lounge.
Ryly checks the Quakecon.org forums on her iPhone while we wait for the start of the program.
The Kick-off had lots of games and give-aways. Ryly tried her luck at "Name That Tune".
Unfortunately, she was unable to name the 3rd-chair violinist who performed the "Imperial March" from Empire and was eliminated.
A view of the Atrium I floor from the Main Stage level.
The Vendor Area was huge but crowded. Ice ran through after 7:00 PM to miss the crowds. Logitech was displaying their latest keyboards and mice.
The Guildhall from SMU had a booth explaining their graduate program in video game design.
Not sure what these guys do but they had a booth at Quakecon to demonstrate it. :-/
GameRail was aggressively pushing their private gaming network. If it consistently works, this could be a great idea!
Instead of spending money on a well-designed, cohesive display, FSP opted for a double-wide booth with a "homegrown" appeal …
… but they did have a great stock of power supplies.
Z-Board had a booth displaying their latest gaming keyboards.
This was a nice booth and a nice idea (particularly for laptops with slower hard drives) but I never saw anyone in the booth.
Who is WinTec Industries? Appealing backdrop though.
The Left 4 Dead demo. There was always a line waiting to play this game.
Bawls had a double-wide booth but had not shown up as of Thursday evening.
MSI was displaying their latest motherboards.
PNY had a very nice booth with a half dozen demo PCs.
They also displayed a "3-D gaming monitor". The image looked pretty 2-D to me.
Sierra had a huge booth and offered World in Conflict demos.
Alienware had a number of systems on display.
Not too much action in the GameLounge …
AxionTech is coming to Dallas soon? Well, I'll just hold my breath until then. :-P
Dell had a display on the other side of the Alienware booth.
Armadillo Aerospace brought some of their toys to show off.
People could look but not touch.
Phillips had a booth featuring their amBX line of computer speaker systems.
Triton Technologies had a sparsely decorated booth.
Electronic Arts had a demo of Orcs and Elves II.
Activision had an Enemy Territory - Quake Wars demo …
… and a Guitar Hero II demo set up in their large booth.
DeVry University was present, explaining their career training programs.
Another booth featuring computer power supplies.
nVidia had the largest booth by far with lots of computers …
… and an apparel store. They did have a free T-shirt they were giving away.
This booth delivers its message pretty effectively. :-P
InWin had some nice computer cases on display.
Patriot Memory and Antec shared a double-wide booth with a small LAN setup.
Perhaps this will motivate somebody …
nVidia passed out numbered buttons. If you found your match, you both got a spin on the Wheel of Prizes.
OK, time for some fragging. A number of servers where provided by the BYOC staff including this Quake 4 Instagib server.
More Quake 4 Instagib. Nice pings! :-)
Just when Ice thinks he has this game figured out …
… MT brings him crashing back to reality. That's what clan mates are for.
Grabbing some shut-eye in the BYOC.
The Austin Modders brought some cool case mods and some really big screens.
This double-wide case has a nice effect on the case windows.
The flat-panel is attached to the side of this custom case.
This case was a top three finisher in the Quakecon Case Modding Contest.
An Elric motif on this case.
There were a lot of laptops in the BYOC this year.
This is something you don't see in the BYOC everyday …
But then, it is a complete PC.
The hot pink keyboard and mouse of Doooooooom!
Nice acrylic case …
It looks good in the dark too.
This is an interesting effect …
There were also a number of Apples in the BYOC this year.
Nice effect on the PC created by the internal lighting and the vents.
There were a number of empty seats in the BYOC. These were near the main entrance.
This was a very popular case at Quakecon this year.
A number of people brought shuttle-sized PCs also.
I saw two or three of these in the entire BYOC. The case is covered with cooling fins.
An Apple laptop in the BYOC.
I don't know if the skull or the sticker was more effective at keeping hands away from this PC.
The Wolfenstein guys have upgraded their helmets. I guess they are the GDF guys now.
You used to never see consoles at Quakecon. I saw several this year.
Another double-wide case …
… showing its internal lighting.
This case won an honorable mention in the Quakecon Case Modding Contest. Prize: A case of Bawls.
The coolant reservoir was in a converted attache case.
This case was huge!
An external drive array?
The bright yellow SATA cables were tied to glowing blue cables which produced a nice effect in the dark.
That's a lot of caffeine!
A gamer crashed in the BYOC.
Another gamer crashed in the BYOC … and it's only Friday!
A military theme on this case.
There was even a Thinkpad T60 laptop in the BYOC.
This Silverstone case had a glowing ring around the side window.
It was much more obvious in the dark.
Sometimes, the raw look of bare metal is most effective.
The colors on the lid of this Toshiba laptop did not show well in this photo, unfortunately.
A number of machines were water-cooled.
MT had a clever idea for advertising his nVidia SLI Match numbers …
It looks like this computer is having some issues …
Ah, there's the problem!
There were many empty seats at the back of the BYOC.
Wow, is that a grill in the BYOC?
Naw, it's another case modded PC.
This case was covered with stickers. Some were rather topical.
I didn't realize how big the Dell XPS computers were until I saw this one.
lolz
So, the cut is suppose to be a viper's head, I suppose.
This just pissed Ryly off … A Mac running XP. It could at least have the decency to run Linux!
Skeletor PC.
This case featured a PlayStation 1 display screen running at up to 1024x768 resolution in the floppy drive bays
Nice effect on the front of this case.
Looks good at night too.
Another Apple laptop in the BYOC.
This case was covered with highly polished stainless steel which made the case look like it was covered with mirrors.
The other side of the same case.
Instead of the Styx hat, this gamer should wear …
… One of these Bawls hats!
I saw this PC at Quakecon a few years ago. When you have a good look, there is no reason to change it.
Is this a toaster … ?
… Or a PC?
External cooling unit mounted on the side of this case.
Nice effect with the cold cathode tubes on this case.
This is a double-high shuttle case.
This camouflaged PC also won a prize in the Quakecon Case Modding Contest.
It doesn't show in the picture but the internal lighting flashed in a way to make the internal hardware look like it was pulsating.
This was the Information Desk at the front of the BYOC.
Hack lords over the BYOC network.
The BYOC Helpdesk, hard at work.
Evilcow schools us in FreezeDT.
All the power cables were wrapped in this PC.
Glowing blue backlit keyboard.
Well, it's green …
Another water-cooled rig.
This case had its name cut in a piece of clear acrylic.
It produced a very nice effect in the dark.
This Lian-Li case is similar to mine, only a few drive bays shorter.
This FragBox isn't going anywhere.
This is the Japanese equivalent to Guitar Hero. It features techno and electronic tracks instead of guitar-heavy tunes.
Avast, me hearties! We're sailing the software seas!
Another popular case at Quakecon this year.
Oh, it's not that bad …
A couple more shuttle cases.
A nice acrylic shuttle case.
A Thermaltake shuttle case. I saw several of these around the BYOC.
This combination of tinted acrylic and cold cathode tubes made a nice effect in the dark BYOC.
The Thermaltake shuttle case in black.
… and a couple more black Thermaltake shuttles.
Now you're taking … a USB fan and a USB light.
This would be handy in case of gas attack or if the people around you forgot to bathe.
That is some heat sink on the processor of this PC.
This PC is covered in leather.
Even the CD trays are covered in leather.
Voodoo PC.
Sssssssssssssss
Another gaming console in the BYOC.
A couple of water-cooled PCs.
Nice lighting on both of them, too.
I counted seven hard drives in the double-wide PC.
MT and Ice played in a FreezeDT tournament on Saturday. They did OK, I suppose.
More water-cooling.
The same PC in the dark.
This PC has two dual core Opteron processors and runs Linux.
Another nice Lian-Li case.
The inside looks pretty good in the dark.
A water-cooled double-wide case.
Another water-cooled double-wide rig.
A night shot of the same PC to show off the case lights.
This RAM scrolls diagnostic messages using displays build into each stick.
At 6:00 PM, everyone headed across the hotel to the Main Stage for the Finals Party.
Trouble was, the setup on the room was not finished yet so a long line formed …
… Which wrapped most of the way around the Atrium.
The left side of the Main Stage.
The middle of the Main Stage with the tournament computers.
The right side of the Main Stage.
Making the final adjustments to the tournament computers for the Quad Damage Finals.
The Guitar Hero II hardware for the finals.
Chaotic Development gave this PC away in a drawing later in the evening.
It was definitely a sweet looking machine.
Working the crowd before the Quad Damage Finals.
The Quad Damage Finals featured Fojji on the left vs Toxjq on the right.
Fojji dominated Quake 1 and Quake 2 pulling out to a 2-0 lead in the match.
Toxjq stormed back in Quake 3 to cut the match score to 2-1.
Between games, the Quake Girls handled out T-shirts.
The Quake Girls wore very interesting outfits, to say the least.
Toxjq easily beat Fojji in Quake 4 evening the match at 2-2.
The tiebreaker game was Quake 4. Fojji played well but not well enough to win the game or the match.
DaHanG finished third, Fojji finished second, and for the second year in a row, Toxjq won.
Setting up for the finals of the Bawls chugging contest.
The guy in the dew rag downed 4 shot glasses and a bottle of Bawls in something like 5 seconds but he didn't put all his shot glasses top down!
He was disqualified and this guy was declared the winner.
He received the coveted Quakecon Chugger's Stein.
This was one of the Guitar Hero II - Battle of the Bands finalists.
… And his partner.
This was one of their opponents from the other band.
… And his partner.
The first band playing Psychobilly Freakout.
They finished with a very good score.
The second band played the same song.
They didn't do so well.
The winner of the Battle of the Bands is crowned.
All the Quick Draw winners over the course of convention were brought up on stage while the Guitar Hero II finals was setup.
This was one of the Guitar Hero II finalists.
… And his opponent.
They played the song Six in a head-to-head competition.
The scores were actually pretty close.
It's good to be a Rock Star!
The Enemy Territory - Quake Wars finals featured Team HOT from the winners bracket.
Their opponent was Dignitas coming from the losers bracket.
The first stopwatch map was Valley.
Neither team could complete all their objectives so the game ended in a tie.
Dignitas completed their objectives on the second map, Area 22.
Team HOT failed to complete the objectives faster than Dignitas, forcing a second round of games.
Dignitas finished Area 22 in an amazing time of 6:06 during the second round of games.
Check 6 finished third in the Enemy Territory - Quake Wars tournament.
After over three hours of finals play, Team HOT finished second.
Dignitas won the first ever Quakecon Enemy Territory - Quake Wars tournament.
We went back to the BYOC and played some Quake 3 and 4.
These are a few of Ice's Quake 4 FFA games.
Oops, x6.Fighter2a is getting close … Time to change servers. :-P
We played until almost 6:30 AM when we packed up and went to the room.
The hotel staff had thoughtfully slipped this under our door while we were gaming.
We left a small gift for the hotel staff in the corner of window.
It was almost visible from the main entrance of the hotel.
OMGWFTBBQ?!??
By noon on Sunday, the registration PCs had been packed up for shipping.
The BYOC was well on its way to being cleaned up and dismantled.
The tournament PCs were being packed and loaded onto pallets for shipping.
This was all that was left of the vendor area.
This was part of the swag haul for Quakecon 2007.