RC1 It's the first beta of the mod... even if it has some bugs, the game is working pretty well and it actually could have been the official release as Kit Carson, one of the BFP mappers, affirmed. The game amazes for its speed and for its 3D spectacularity. RC1 Maps GPCITY, GPCITYDARK, GPNAMEK, NAMEKXL, DNAMEK, BMKAMI
	RC2 The second beta, that differs from RC1 for the new model of Goku SSJ and the very new maps (included the new map of Kami's Palace), unfortunately presents some troubles in using them... in some of the them it's impossible to face the bots. This beta had to be combined with the RC1 maps. RC2 Maps SNAKEWAY, GPCELL_TERRA4, FROZEN12, EARTH, DAKAMIS, DANORTHERN
	RC3 This had to be the final version of BFP, but unfortunately, due to legal problems, it hasn't been so. There have been many changes, especially about the graphic interface and the miscellaneous. RC3 Maps KITROOM, DANAMEKW, DACITY, GPCAVE, GPCITY, GPCITYDARK, GPNAMEK, NAMEKXL, DNAMEK, BMKAMI, SNAKEWAY, GPCELL_TERRA4, FROZEN12, EARTH, DAKAMIS, DANORTHERN

For the RC4, or else the final version, I give Chief Gogeta the floor! ^_^
by Paco

Saturday night... it was almost 2 o'clock when I got ready to install Bid For Power... I was looking forward to playing the mod that made everyone talk so much about itself during these months of spasmodic waiting and after the several RC (exactely 3) released in this time! But it looks like the mod wasn't of my same idea and I had to wait some time before I could find a good server where to test it!
The first test I made were against the bot just to train a little bit and feel confort with the game interface and... I must admit it was a good idea, even if I guarantee it will take you a very short time to get enough practice in oder to move well during a Death Match.
But before continuing, let's take a look at the main menu. Let's go to the game setup and, after setting all the options about the PC (the operation is not needed if you've already set the otpions for Quake III, since the settings are automaticaly imported) let's have a look to the characters. While we're still waiting for the Dragon Ball Z characters (they should be released very soon), we can choose among six different races, each one having differrent colors and its own fighting characteristics.
In the following tab there is the description of the six characters...

KYAH		GOTHAX		SHILO
	Ki Blast Finger Blast Finger Beam Homing Razor Disk Death Ball		Ki Blast Eye Beam Ki Storm Super Homing Ball Corkscrew Beam		Ki Blast Large Ki Blast Ki Storm Impact Beam Ultimate Beam
PYRATE		RYUUJIN		TETSEDAH
	Ki Blast Blinding Flash Homing Ball Homing Special Razor Disk		Ki Blast Tornado Blast Homing Ball Ki Storm Power Wave Blast		Ki Blast Homing Ball Ki Storm Mantis Blast AGA Attack

After we had fun with all the otpions we had to configurate, we can pass to the true game. By selecting PLAY (finally ^_^) from the main menu, we find ourselves in the server selection screen. About this, if I'm allowed to advise you, my suggestion is to visit the section of NGI the one dedicated to Quake III (and respective mods, included BFP) at q3.ngi.it and download NGI GameRun (Grun) in order to use the very fast server that NGI put at disposal for BFP (right now there are three... Death Match, DMTeam and Survival).
Let's supposed we have chose the server, now we are taken to the map proposed by the server itself. We must keep in mind that the Mod was first thinked for Dragon Ball Z, so we find the reproductions of many locations of the manga/anime by Toriyama, as Kami's Palace or Western City where Cell exterminated the entire population.
If Quake III was almost perfect for the technical aspect (graphic motor), but left much to be desired for locations, since there were always the usual places in gothic style of the first two episodes, we can say that Bid for Power overcomes also this "problem" proposing several different locations, as we haven't seen since the time of Duke Nukem 3D. And after this very fast excursus about the maps, I think I must say something about the "weapons" of each character.
On the bottom left corner of the screen, we find the life and KI levels, this last one can be recovered at any moment; you will see your character emitting a red or gold energy, depending from the level it's reached, but during the power up it will be impossible to you to defend yourself and you will be in your enemy's power. All the attacks need KI, so be careful not to take it to the minimum level (besides beeing harmless you'll be also to weak for defence) and use any moment of calm to power up; don't forget that your KI will decrease also
when you defend from your enemy's attack or when you decide to increase your speed when you run or fly (very cool the wake you will left behind during any fast movement).
So as for the locations, also the techniques of the characters of BFP remind us those of Dragon Ball Z' characters; just think that some energy beams can be even be piloted as does Goku with his Kamehameha.
Now it's time to draw conclusions... and they're absolutely positive. Our long waiting has been repaid in the best way and this is also testified by the several clans formed also when there were the RC of BFP. Some techincal notes... the intallation is very easy, just unzip the file bfpinstall.zip in a folder inside Quake III and install Quake III Arena Point Release, actually it got to version 1.31, necessary for the running of the MOD.
For the hardware requirements... I just say I tested BFP on my Pentium III 800Mhz with 384 Mb of RAM (but 128 Mb are enough) and a Hercules 3D Prophet 4500 Kyro II and it runs just fine. Anyway almost all the 3D graphic cards and the AC3 audio cards are supported. Ah..I almost forgot... you need a 56k modem at least and... Quake III Arena! Enjoy! ^___^