The steep learning curve in QuakeWorld has been a topic of debate for at least a decade now and the nut to crack has always been to make sure that equal players face eachother no matter what skill level they are at. In an attempt to address this, Willgurht has a very interesting project going that has just reached the beta stages as he opens up his QuakeWorld 1on1 ladder "Subsurface" for the public to try out.

If you haven't heard about the project before you may wonder what is so special about this ladder compared to any previous QuakeWorld ladders that have been present. The Subsurface ladder is a completely automated ladder and the user experience in terms of automation is what one would expect from a ladder when comparing to games like Quake Live for example;

• The player registers on the website
• A java plugin is installed along with the nQuake-online package (this is to make it smooth for new players, if the player already has QuakeWorld installed, it is possible to change the used installation on the "Edit Profile" page)
• The player clicks "Play ladder" on the website (the system now tries to find an equal opponent)
• When an opponent is found, a server is spawned
• The QuakeWorld client is automatically launched and both players automatically connect to the server
• The countdown starts and the match begins
• When the game is over the result shows up on the website and ladder rank increase/decrease depending on the outcome

As mentioned above, the ladder system spawns the servers automatically and they are currently located in Sweden and Canada, so both Europeans and North American players should have the possibility to enjoy close and action packed duels on good ping while helping out to find any bugs that need to be ironed out.

Try out the Subsurface QuakeWorld 1on1 ladder!