3DO's Requiem Support page has a new D3D 1.1 patch for the just-released Requiem: Avenging Angel. The update enables dithering in the Direct3D version of the game (so textures will appear smoother), disables auto-mipmapping (the textures in Requiem were designed to look best without them), and greatly improves visual quality on all 3D-accelerated cards running in D3D mode. Thanks HissyFit, who says the rebate "convergence" on Requiem mentioned earlier (story) won't work, since each rebate requires a UPC symbol.

The AMD Optimized Drivers for Quake II page has the long-awaited 3DNow! optimized drivers for Quake II version 3.20. Also, the 3DNow! Software Developers' Kit has been updated. Thanks Gimpy at the AMD Zone.

SubXero from Requiem-HQ sends along word of a convergence of rebates that results in a nifty bargain on 3DO's just-released Requiem: Avenging Angel. Here's the deal:

You can get Requiem Avenging Angel for only 19 dollars. When you buy Requiem not only do you get a free poster, but also a $20 rebate from 3DO. And if you buy it at Electronic Boutique not only do you get the $20 dollar 3DO rebate, but also a $10 rebate from eb.

A recent audio interview with Epic's Cliff Bleszinski on Washington D.C.'s Tech Radio is online in the Tech Radio Archives as well as on PlanetUnreal in RealPlayer format.

ION Storm's Justin "Logic" Randall is interviewed on the ION Storm Daily Informant where Daikatana’s weapons/deathmatch/network/ client-entity programmer explains his work, which includes efforts to make the weapons responsive, optimizing network traffic, coding Daikatana's CTF, DeathTag, and co-op play, and stuff like that.

Ritual Programmer mark Dochtermann updated his .plan with the announcement that Jack "morbid" Mathews has joined Ritual. Just to be a party pooper, in the name of accuracy, the part about Michael Abrash and Bruce Naylor is an April Fools gag (though my understanding is that the part about Jack is not). Here's the update:

I would like to be the first person to "extend a wreath and hearty handshake" to Jack "Morbid" Mathews for joining the Ritual Tribe. Jack comes to us by way of 3DFX Interactive and is one of the creators of GameSpy.

Although he wasn't born until after Star Wars, he is a very talented 3D game programmer. His knowledge of 3D accelerators and distributed network gaming will be put to good use at Ritual, where he will be working alongside industry greats Michael "Optimize" Abrash and Bruce "BSP" Naylor.

Say hello and drop him an email at jack@ritual.com.

The follow-up on User Friendly is that it was indeed all a joke.

PlanetBlood has the release of a version 2.1 patch for Blood 2. The patch makes a number of fixes and additions since the February patch, but is not required if you've purchased and installed the Blood II: Nightmares add-on.

There's an interview with Rick Overman on Datumplane::Starsiege talking with the Dynamix programmer mostly about the just released Starsiege, with a bit in there about plans for Starsiege 2.

Here's a Register article that seems to be on the User Friendly situation and a Slashdot article that is clearly about the UF dealie that suggest there is indeed a leg being pulled here. If this is indeed a joke, I'm sorry for getting fooled (and, um, haha).

A clarification about Dave's Classics. In my comments about the the site's closing (story), I mentioned the availability of ROMs there as a possible cause, but Mental4 and jelenator point out that the ROMs previously posted there were pulled a few weeks ago (also apparenly under the threat of legal action). With the ROMs gone, and only emulators themselves (so far proven to be legal) posted there, the reasons behind the closing are not very clear at this point.

3DFiles has posted a playable Demo of X, the upcoming space combat action sim. This is the German version of the demo, and an English version is expected within a few days. "Forcefeedback Input devices and 3D positional sound acceleration through Aureal3D and Direct Sound 3D supported."

Word on the User Friendly site is that the popular geek comic strip has been "Shut Down Pending Litigation." I do not believe this is an April Fool, if it is, they've been laying the groundwork for this for a while, since there have been rumors for some time now that one of the targets of some of UF's humor has been in legal mode. As the page goes on to explain, more details should be forthcoming: "Further information regarding this litigation will be made available within the next 72 hours." I'll certainly keep an eye out for any possible ways concerned fans of the strip can help. Similarly, Dave's Classics has posted a notice that they too have been closed, at least temporarily, due to litigation as well (though posting ROMs for emulators certainly makes this a less unexpected move, since the legalities involved have been the subject of considerable debate). According to the site: "Due to recent legal action from a video game hardware manufacturer, UGO must temporarily suspend the service of the Dave's Classics website and FTP server. Unfortunately, until we have resolved this situation we may not be able to comment or update you on the situation." I'll post more on both these situations as information becomes available.

There's an interview with Todd Hollenshead on Ultimate Games talking to the id Software CEO about Quake III Arena.

Billy at Voodoo Extreme has posted a short Q&A with Tim Sweeney after he fired off a few questions to the Epic programmer about video cards, special 3D instruction support, and of course, Monica Lewinski.

GameFan Online's First Look at MDK 2 for PC and Dreamcast offers 10 new screenshots of the upcoming sequel to Shiny's Murder Death Kill (Mediocre points out it's actually "Max, Dr. Fluke Hawkins & Kurt"), and GameCenter's Game Grabs has those shots (on the Dreamcast) as well.

Planet-Tribes - Tactics 101 Index offers a bunch of different TRIBES tutorials that break the game down into different roles for players to assume, with outlines on the best ways to put these roles to use in a team.

Sharky Extreme has posted an email from NVIDIA's Derek Perez on TNT2 clock speeds:

"The ultimate frequency achieved in end user systems depends on the chip cooling strategy, board design and the system environment that the board runs in. Each board vendor will make design and cooling decisions, and environmental assumptions and spec the part according to these choices.

The RIVA TNT2 chips were designed to operate at extremely high frequencies. The Diamond V770 that you reviewed demonstrated that. With the right combination of advanced board design, intelligent cooling strategies and high quality manufacturing, I fully expect to see end users running TNT2 based cards at frequencies that meet or exceed the ones you saw in your testing."

Version 0.75 of the Dirty mod for Quake II is now available, described as "Action Quake2 meets BraZen," trying to add realism "that doesn't compromise gameplay." The mod allows you to climb up onto ledges, and do lots of other useful things with your bare hands, like break necks. The mod also adds teamplay enhancements, radio communication, and more. Work continues on a Linux port, and they are desperately seeking servers.

A new version 1.1.1 of the Fast Card TNT & 3dfx Overclocking Utility from PMS is now available, offering three new Matrox settings (AGP on/off, AGP 1x/2x toggle and hidden settings enable), and a couple of bugfixes, as well as better support for the Diamond and Creative TNT driver sets. Thanks DemoNews.

The QuakeFinder/UnrealFinder page has a new version 1.0.2 of the UnrealFinder Unreal server browser program for the Macintosh. The new release adds Unreal 220 compatibility.

Remember, any port in a storm: The Coven Disposable Heroes Downloads page has Solaris x86 and Sparc ports of all of the latest version of the Quake II mods released from the Disposable Heroes Quake II add-on.

I received a warning from Geburah that the MechWarrior demo seems to suffer from the same serious uninstaller glitch as a couple of other recent releases (the subsequently patched first version of Half-Life and the subsequently recalled first version of Myth II). The problem occurs when you install the demo to a directory other than the default, and then uninstall it, it wipes the entire directory structure you installed to (e.g., c:\games).

Three sets of matched twins:

• GameSpot UK's South Park Review is up. Also, Ripside reviews South Park.
• Gamers Central reviews Turok 2: Seeds of Evil. Also, U-Games reviews Turok 2, as well.
• Wages of Sin is reviewed at MeccaWorld. Also, GamePower's Wages Of Sin Mission Pack review is up.

• Tweak3D's Windows 9x System Cleanup Tweak Guide is up offering a chance to give your OS that "just showered" feeling...
• S.A.S's Guide to CTF has been updated with more advanced tactics, info on Quake II CTF clans & leagues, and S.A.S's own eraser route files...
• While on the subjects of guides and CTF, 3 - Tech Corner has posted a guide to making Quake II CTF maps.
• I should have just named the etc. section "guides" today: Thresh's FiringSquad's OverClocking Guide is up.

April Fools' day is a dangerous minefield when you run a news site. Like last year, I'll try to avoid fostering genuine confusion by not posting any gags among the news (though I guess I'll reserve the right, should something too tempting come along, and of course, if I fall for the joke myself, all bets are off). However, in the name of fun, like last year, I'll keep a running tally of the jokes I do come across today below this post. 3DRealms' Chris Johnson sent a more accurate version of the Splash quote that looks pretty damn verbatim (this is an all time favorite bit of mine): Hanks: "Where are you going Mister Fat Jack?" Fat Jack: "Back to the pier. It's only a couple of miles, I can swim it. I'll be back with the little boat." Hanks: "The LITTLE boat?!" Seen in Robert Love's .plan, yesterday was Christopher Walken's birthday: many happy returns Chris, you da man (okay, I know he's not reading). After reading that .plan I sit here trying to picture how different the Star Wars series would have turned out if Walken had gotten to play Han Solo. I'm having trouble conjuring the image.

Updated throughout the day: Rick Johnson offers a mind-plook in his .plan on the morbid news (like the UF gag, the straight-out humorless lies as gags mystify me). Surprise Next Gen PlayStation Launch in Japan reports NGO (thanks ACiDTRiP). The EQVault reports all the EverQuest servers are moving to Tunisia to save costs (thanks Korac). Firearms is now for Trespasser announces the Firearms mod for Half-Life (thanks Pels Interactive). Tom Clancy's Nuclear Weasel, the announced sequel to Rainbow Six. loonygames' Thinking About Boxes by Saul Peed. Planet RIVA has word of the 3dfx/NVIDIA merger (thanks Chris Slatt). Here's Sluggo's Cooking Central, formerly Mod Central. BSP Headquarters announces BSP to replace Q3Radiant as the bundled Q3A editor (thanks Zedek). John Carmack is quoted on FPS Spectator saying the frag in Q3A will be replaced by the more newbie-friendly "tone-of-death." Frozen Yak Entertainment, the company formerly known as CaveDog (thanks Chris Rhoton and AGN3D). The Adrenaline Vault previews the force feedback mousepad (thanks JetLag). PlanetQuake for sale (farfetched?), thanks Psycho. Sgt. Hulka changes his site to.... PlanetTubby!!! (thanks DeadMeat). Tidal Wave Communications presents: Think your mail! (thanks B K Ridgway). CliffyB announces in his .plan that he and others are leaving Epic to develop "GIRLZ N GUNZ" on the Colour Gameboy. Epic releases the Unreal demo (yeah sure). Plans for BattleZone 8X8, or Planet Half-Life's First Look at Half-Life 2 for that matter (Phat Rips Entertainment?). How about the Grey Panthers Quake and Quake II Clan? That's not as wild as the PC Computing Online Bombshell about IT eavesdropping on the mic in your computer (thanks armyant).