By Doug Radcliffe and David Perkins

As we leave one century behind and venture into the next, we bring with us the most fluid and graphically fantastic computer game created to date: Quake III: Arena. Upon its release, gamers all over the world plunged into its virtual worlds and have been gunning each other down for thousands of server-hours a week ever since. Poke even one toe into one of these servers, and someone will skewer it with a railgun.

Entering these violent and frantic arenas can be daunting, but this Quake III: Arena game guide is designed to make the trip more fun. You will not only find tips for beginners here, veterans too will glean strategies from these pages that will improve their games.

Inside this packed game guide, you'll find:

• General Deathmatch Strategies: Whether you're new to deathmatch or a seasoned veteran, search this section for tips on keyboard and mouse control as well as general strategies to apply to any map and deathmatch encounter.
  
  
• General One-on-One Strategies: Though free-for-all and team play provide the most explosions and highest frag counts, it's the one-on-one matches that often provide the most tension and strategic play. Inside this section, you'll find general strategies to hold your own against experienced one-on-one combatants.
  
  
• Weapon Strategies: Head here for a complete rundown of Quake III's powerful arsenal of weapons. Inside, you'll find statistics and strategies to improve your weapon skills.
  
  
• Power-Up Strategies: Weapons are only part of the game. A true master of the arena also knows how best to use each Quake III power-up and its location within the game.
  
  
• Deathmatch Map Analysis: Knowledge of the weapons and power-ups will only get you so far. Before competing in a single-player tournament or multiplayer online battle, dive into this section for strategies for all Quake III's deathmatch maps. Inside, you'll find the map's inventory (weapons, power-ups, and so on), location of key weapons and power-ups, and strategies for racking up your frag count.
  
  
• Tournament Map Analysis: One-on-one play requires a different mindset than the chaos that is a free-for-all deathmatch. Both the single- and multiplayer version of Quake III feature tournament (or one-on-one) maps. Head into this section for each map's inventory, location of key items, and strategies on controlling the level and maintaining the lead.
  
  
• Capture-the-Flag Map Analysis: Head here for some Quake III capture-the-flag strategies as well as specific techniques for the game's four maps.
  
  
• Cheat Codes and Easter Eggs: In this section, you'll discover some Quake III cheat codes and some interesting Easter eggs scattered around the maps.