We've got a number of additional openings available here at Splash Damage as we continue to expand our talented team for our new project. Click a position to find out more about it:

• Lead Technical Artist
• Lead Programmer
• Animation Technical Director
• Concept Artist
• FX Artist
• Physics Programmer

We've still got several other openings available on the Jobs page, so be sure give that a look if you don't see anything here that tickles your fancy.

Hot on the heels of last week's riveting premiere installment where Tim 'spacemonkey' Appleby spilled his guts for us, we've now got Dave 'ducks' Johnston telling it how it is. Dave is best known for creating de_dust for Counter-Strike (which is actually the most popular map for any online shooter ever made!) and despite his recent promotion to Captain, he's lost none of his humility or handsomeness.

Read the full interview on his profile page and find out how he came to Splash Damage, what his inspiration for de_dust was, his thoughts on level design, and much more.

The on-going Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars Competition Mod beta is testament to the fact that many of us here at Splash Damage HQ are, or have been, keen fans of competition gaming and I am no exception. In my time I've played in many a clan, from the most casual (an epic Counter-Strike clan of some 40+ members and assorted ranks) to the more 'hardcore' (an all conquering Call of Duty team) and everything in between. This it seems was all it took to convince the Great Overlords of the Office that I would be the perfect candidate to bring you the occasional update about the Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars competition scene - lets hope they're right!

There have been a multitude of competitions and tournaments played out since the game was released, so rather than cover the numerous epic victories and crushing defeats of the past, I'll start with the most recent events.

With the Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 versions of Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars getting closer to release, id Software, Nerve Software, and Activision recently had a press event showing them off to a few of the big online gaming outlets. Here's a round-up of the reports we've found around the web so far:

• 1UP
  "The console versions' multiplayer interface is shaping up to be incredibly user friendly. Taking a page straight out of Halo 3, Quake Wars uses a matchmaking system that looks to make finding games as easy as a single button press."
• Eurogamer
  "As well as being a near-perfect conversion in graphics, AI and feature-set terms, the tweaks introduced for console players look like they're actually going to improve the underlying game."
• GameSpy
  "The Bot Guide is sort of the equivalent of a particularly polite drill sergeant. He'll walk you through the basics of capturing objectives and class differences, all the while liberally doling out health packs and advice."
• IGN
  "Nerve and id aren't skimping on the small details that can make or break a shooter of this nature. Little things like including a lobby system for players to convene after a game and full stat tracking for each map, both in-game and on a website which will house hundreds of statistics. There are also awards that are handed out after each match so you and your pals can ratchet up the smack talking."
• Team Xbox
  "The game comes with a comprehensive Training Mode that gives you a guide bot to step you through everything you need to accomplish and how to compete every part of the objectives. It looks to be a great starter for learning all the aspects of the roles, though if you decide to rough it, the screens that describe each role indicate the abilities in relation to specific objective needs."

Look for more ETQW console coverage in the near future!

This is a bit of a bizarre item that Locki stumbled across the other day. Gadget company Firebox is now offering a sort of Force Feedback vest for FPS games. Called the 3rd Space FPS Vest, it plugs into a USB port and promises to relay in-game bullet hits, explosions, and other unfriendly events into actual pain physical feedback via a concoction of eight pneumatic thingies spread throughout the device. We're not quite sure how strong said feedback is, but apparently the result looks something like the gentleman on the right.

Better yet, it comes in two dashing colors and works with Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars. We've not yet managed to get our hands (or torsos, for that matter) on one of these, but if we do, we'll be sure to report back.

Welcome to the inaugural installment of Things You Were Too Afraid to Ask, a fun and engaging new feature for the whole family. What's it all about? Well, every once in a while, we interrogate one of our own and put their answers up on their staff profile page for all the world to see. First in line is Tim 'spacemonkey' Appleby, Splash Damage's Lead Character Artist, who came to Splash Damage from Bioware after having worked on Mass Effect. Check out the full interview to find out more about what Tim does, why he chose to come to Splash Damage, his Mass Effect work, and more.

All of us at Splash Damage are passionate gamers and we thought it would be fun to share with you which games are being played around the office at the moment and what we can't wait to get our hands on this week. And with the Easter weekend coming up, what better time to stock up on some games, gorge yourself on chocolate eggs and get your frag on?

Anyway, let's dive right in:

From our good friends at Aspyr comes word that the Mac version of Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars is now shipping in North America! You can order the game directly from their website or pick it up at your favorite Mac game retailer. Get the full scoop in the official press release!

In the middle of last month's Game Developers Conference, the Rock, Paper, Shotgun crew caught up with Paul Wedgwood and Steve Gaffney to find out more about the current goings-on at Splash Damage. The interview is now up on their site and covers a variety of topics, including Splash Damage's new project, the recent recruitment drive, managing the Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars community, Steam, and the state of PC gaming. It's an interesting read, so go check it out!

We just added a couple more cool bits to the front page of this here site. Most immediately, you'll probably notice that there's a fancy Flash version of the big ETQW header piece now, and those of you that have the Flash player installed should be getting that. There's also a static fallback for those who prefer to live in the non-animated dark ages, though if you want to be cool, hip, etc, you might want to consider Flashing it up - it's fun, we promise. That said, we're still in the early stages of experimenting with Flash content here on the site (Flash Damage lol ugh), so if you've got any feedback there, please let us know in the comments.

As some of you may be aware, Saturday 1st March 2008 was a very special date. Not only was it the anniversary of Communist spy Klaus Fuchs being jailed in 1950, and murderer Fred West being charged in 1994, but it was also the date that two goliaths went head-to-head (and later arm-in-arm) in an epic Shackbattle - Team Splash Damage versus Team Shacknews.

At 20:00GMT, battle commenced in the African campaign, with Team SD defending and Team Shacknews attacking. With a Dallas server giving us an average ping of up to 200ms (compared to Team Shacknews' 50ms) and maps lasting 30 minutes instead of the default 20, the odds didn't look good.

Success was not guaranteed. If anything, it should have been a bloodbath.