Archived News:
Xatrix' Ryan "Ridah" Feltrin updated his
.plan with details on what users can expect from the upcoming Kingpin version
1.1 patch, along with the request that people with other problems than those
currently addressed write in so he can attempt to get them in. Here's the list
of changes currently slated for the update: + Fixed long level loads
+ Fixed pauses during multiplay
+ Fixed erratic mouse during multiplay
+ Optimized support for Vertex Arrays, significant rendering gains on supported
cards
+ Allow access to consol while in multiplayer game
+ Only play intro once
+ Optimized scoreboard, fits more players
+ Fixed invalid model causing a thug model with sewer rat skin during teamplay
+ Fixed gibbing characters in single player mode causes character to dissapear
+ Completely disallowed alt-tab, causes several video drivers to hang the system
+ Added "maxrate" setting for servers
+ Pain skins on buddies in single player
+ Allow for multiple CD drives
The official Bleem! site has been updated
with word that the PlayStation emulator has started showing up in many stores
(including Fry's, CompUSA, Electronics Boutique and Virgin Megastores). The
retail version is identical to the Internet version, except for the fact that
it comes with a manual and the 1.2 executable on the CD.
Halflife.org has posted today's Shifting
Through the Gears interview, with Rob Heironimus (lead level designer) being
subjected to the questions. Since it was never mentioned yesterday, the interview
with Mike Wardwell deserves a mention as well.
FPSGamers has posted full
reports and demos from all the matches at this weekend's European Duel Leage
finals, including ones from the final match between Shub (the winner) and Makaveli.
PCParadox
has posted an interview with Rex Dickson, lead designer and producer on Revenant,
an upcoming 3D action/adventure/role-playing game.
As promised, GA-RPG
has posted the second half of their 18 screenshots from Rebel Act Studios' Blade.
GA-Source
has posted two new screenshots from Shiny's eschatological third person game
(look it up) Messiah, in that stylin' letterbox format (yes, it has the black
bars) that some of us love so much (and some of you can't stand).
According to TheForce.net, Steve Dauterman
(Director of Development) and Mark Haigh-Hutchinson (Project Leader on Rogue
Squadron) along with several other unnamed employees resigned from LucasArts
this week. There is no word as to the circumstances surrounding their departure,
or where they've decided to move on to.
TacticalPlanet has posted the
first of three exclusive screenshots as their picture of the day, with the next
two being run in the days to come. This first one shows off the various weapons
we can expect in the game.
GameSpot
UK has posted a preview of LucasArts' Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine
(which, from what I understand could very well take place on Blue's desktop).
Thanks JediKnight.net.
Steve Thoms made this post to the
Vampire: The Masquerade Forums with some clarifications regarding lighting
in their 3D RPG title (thanks themasquerade.org):
Just to clarify...all the characters in Vampire will have shadows that
are affected by multiple light sources. That is, they are dynamically created
(each model has a simple bit/flag that needs to be 'turned on' or 'set' for
that to happen - it had just never been set for the beast in that shot).
We also have our share of dynamic lights in the game (the model carrying the
torch in a few of the screenshots is a walking dynamic light - as some can attest
who probably saw it at E3). The dynamic lights affect the shadows of the characters
as well (including the model carrying the torch in that instance).
And the "5 to 20 minutes" that has been quoted a few times refers
to exporting a level and the time it takes the exporter to calculate lightmaps
for the world geometry (and do a few other things like exporting scenes, bsp'ing
chunks of the world, etc.). This has little, if anything, to do with the shadows
the characters have.
Magic Lantern, the company owned by former Prey developer Paul Schuytema has
announced that they are joining Gold Creek Technology as a "Creative Business
Unit" (in other words, an internal developer) according to this
AVault story. They are also reporting that the company is developing two
titles that "will share the same core engine technology, but offer wildly
different play experiences."
AVPNews has posted details on how to
enable god mode in Aliens vs. Predator (thanks Billy
"Hudson" Wilson). Be warned, you can't save in this mode, as it's
intended primarily as a debug tool (hence the command line). If you know that,
and really want to do it, just run the game with "-debug" added to
the command line. Pull down the console, and type "GOD" to activate
it.
A new version of Console Stats,
a Quake II log parser has been released. Amongst the changes in this version
are the ability to analyze in real-time, and friendly kills for DM related mods.
Alex "Cybermind" Redman of Zen Tao Interactive sent along this press
release with word of some recent additions from the Unreal community to their
Extreme Wing Chun VR team: Alex "Cybermind" Redman, CEO of
Zen Tao Interactive announced today that they have signed some very impressive
talent to work on level design for their debut title - Extreme Wing Chun VR
- an innovative personal martial arts training system which makes use of Epic's
Unreal Engine to teach advanced martial arts skills through the use of modern
3D technology.
"When I set out to put together the level design team for Extreme Wing
Chun, I had one goal in mind and that was to assemble the best the community
has to offer. Team dynamics are very important to me, so raw talent doesn't
cut it. What I ended up with is every developer's wish list for a design team:
a terrific mix of imagination, experience, and skill. Time to roll out the red
carpet, pop the Dom Perignon, and toast our new members."
So who's on this distinguished list of designers? Heading up the team as Lead
Level Designer is Jeremy "Faceless" Graves (known for such masterpieces
as DMUnrealitySE, DMIntenseSE, and most recently DMEsper), along with Simon
"Ezkeel" West-Bulford (of deCyber fame), Tomasz "Millenium"
Jachimczak (Sapien, Decadence, Powerhouse, some of which were included in the
popular XGN map pack), and Jason "Lvlmaster" O'Connell (known for
his work on Mystique: Ages in Time, and currently working on Stone Killer by
Inferno Interactive).
Ezkeel sums up the spirit of the team, short and sweet: "I'm really looking
forward to working with the rest of the team who are some of the most talented
and creative minds in the Unreal community. I'm certain that a combination of
this innovative team, the Unreal engine and a new fresh idea like this will
be a ground breaking success."
gXp has posted two interviews, one
with Makaveli, and one
with Shub from the EDL finals currently underway in Stockholm, Sweden. The
site's in German, but the interviews are in English.
Boy am I tired. I attended the wedding of a good friend of mine this afternoon,
but since it was way out in the middle of nowhere, me and my girlfriend had
to leave around 6:45 in the morning to get to the ceremony at 11:00. You know
you're up early on a Saturday when the Blue guy hasn't updated yet (turns out
I only missed him by a few minutes, but it still scared me). This was the reason
for the switcheroo on you last night, as I had to go to sleep early in order
to get up as disgustingly early as I did.
Link of the day: Everyone
Except You Has a Cable Modem on The Mushroom (so it's a joke, silly). Thanks Dan Miller.
A new version of the ReDeMpTiOn
Bot for Sin has been released. This version (1.9) features complete support
for SiNMod, and some Rocket Arena tweaks. You may recall that this is the bot
used in the Sin arcade machines that are popping up around the country.
There's a short Q&A with Lincoln Hutton of Dynamix on Planet Tribes to discuss the AI system in TRIBES Extreme talking about the basics of the improved bots they are coding for the game. Thanks Voodoo TRIBES Extreme.
Log, log, it's big it's heavy, it's wood! Unreal
Universe has a slightly less heavy log, however, as they've posted an edited version
of the Tim Sweeney IRC log from the story that follows that attempts to cut through
some of the clutter and properly connect the questions with the answers.
There's a log of a Tim Sweeney chat on
#PlanetUnreal from last night posted on Unreality.Org.with
the Epic programmer answering questions about Unreal and Unreal Tournament in an unedited
IRC chat.
The Qtracker Homepage has a new version 2.3
beta 8 of this Internet game server browser available for download. The new release adds
Kingpin, South Park, and finalized Turok 2: Seeds of Evil support, as well as some new
server listings, and a few other enhancements including a new auto-update feature that
will alert you to new releases in the future. Here's a complete list of what's new.
There are two Exclusive
Drakan Order of the Flame Screenshots on PC Paradox showing off Psygnosis and Surreal
Software's upcoming third-person action/adventure game in 1024x768 resolution.
TacticalPlanet has posted a new screenshot
from Hidden and Dangerous. A little further follow up on the "has this game gone
gold?" question ( story) is that the Illusion
Softworks site has a post about the European version of the game being in shops on
July 2, so the AVault report that the Euro version just went gold ( story) is definitely erroneous. I've seen no official confirmation, but
have received several unofficial reports that the initial report by TacticalPlanet that the US version of the game
is gold ( story) is correct (though I see on their site even they are only saying
that this may be the case).
GameSpot previews
Rogue Spear looking ahead to Red Storm's sequel to Rainbow Six, their first-person
game that placed you in a squad of elite anti-terrorist operatives. Thanks Voodoo Extreme.
ZDTV
Spotlight Multiplayer Mayhem offers both text and video (in RealPlayer format) looking ahead at Quake III Arena,
TeamFortress2, and Unreal Tournament, talking with id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead along
the way. Thanks Mulder.
SpecForce has posted another screenshot showing
off gameplay from Zombie's upcoming Spec
Ops 2- US Army Green Berets. They say this may be the last shot from the
batch that they've been posting from, "but maybe not :)".
There are six new Nerf ArenaBlast
Screenshots on GA-Source showing off action from this nutty upcoming Unreal-engine
shooter (or nerfer).
I meant to post this yesterday: Gamecenter's
Unreal Tournament preview is up with a (perfectly legal, AFAIK) look ahead at Epic's
upcoming first-person shooter extravaganza.The preview looks at gameplay, multiplayer
modes, bots, weapons, maps, and more, offering a bunch of screenshots along the way.
The second part of the Future
Games Network Soldier of Fortune preview based on their recent to the Raven offices
(braving the Wisconsin summer). The follow-up article delves into the technology side of
the game, talking about programming code and player models and the like.
Unreality has posted a follow-up on the Unreal
Tournament "Fat Boy Mutator" shots posted yesterday ( story), confirming via Epic's GreenMarine that no matter how fat that
mutated fellow gets, it will not affect his movement speed, as weight and encumbrance are
not factored into movement in Unreal Tournament.
Shiny Entertainment's Messiah page has posted a half-dozen new in-game screenshots
showing off action from TeamEgo's upcoming third-person cherubic action game. Thanks Billy
"TheCherub" Wilson at Voodoo Extreme.
3DFiles.Com's X Patch page has a new
patch to update the playable demo of X: Beyond the Frontier offering an "Experimental
DirectX 6 optimized EXE for the English demo," which should "fix all bugs
related to drivers that have problems with DX5 renderstate overrides (e.g RIVA TNT)."
There is also a patch available for the German retail version of X. It is suggested you
use the 3Dfiles server for these downloads, since the Egosoft
site isn't up to it.
A bunch of shots for your viewing pleasure this morning:
A report posted yesterday ( story) by way of TacticalPlanet
said that the US version of Hidden & Dangerous has gone gold (off to manufacture),
while a subsequent report by The Adrenaline Vault
News suggested this report was erroneous by saying it was actually the UK version of
the game that was sent off for duplication ( follow-up story). Now to add to whatever confusion this is all causing,
several reports have come in from readers in the UK questioning this latter report, since
several readers have already seen the game in UK computer stores. I hope to post at least
one more follow-up on this when it's clearer what the story is here.
Yappin' With Yahn has posted the first round of
reader-submitted questions (along with accompanying answers) in this new Q&A column
featuring the wit and wisdom of the Valve Software programmer. In the column's debut
edition, Yahn answers question about texture problems, BSP, Worldcraft's future, and
creating a HINT brush. The update also features a "cameo" by Gary McTaggart who
looks in his 3D accelerated crystal ball to answer a question about the future of 3D
acceleration.
Opinion Nation
interviews The Coven talking to the team behind the Disposable Heroes Quake/Quake II
add-on, and the more recent Deadlode II multiplayer add-on for Quake II about their work,
and the current state of first-person shooter games.
QuakeStarter's Official HomePage has a new
version 0.71b of this front-end for that supports Quake, Quake II, and Q3ATest.
A couple of notes about stories from yesterday: apparently the only part of the official FAKK2 page that was overhauled
was the characters section, it was not the massive overhaul mentioned ( story). Thanks Justin. Also, a K6 interview was double posted the last
two days, so that feeling of deja vu that struck you was my fault. Sorry about that.
- Players Against Won Authorization (PAWA)
is a protest site that's "intended for people who are fed up with the occasional
inability to connect to Half-Life game servers because of lack of WON authentication, for
whatever reasons," pointing out the system "occasionally breaks down, penalizing
both pirates and non pirates alike."...
- UNREALFILES.COM is underway, offering an
Unreal variation on their QUAKEFILES.COM
dealie...
- The Forge has posted the third Forgepack for
download, offering over 150 new skins along with personalized logos, emblems and flags for
Starsiege TRIBES...
For those who have noticed the patterns here, the Saturday morning update is usually
handled by loony, but we've swapped today, so those who are growing used to loony's toons
along with your Saturday morning Looney Tunes, sorry for the shift in gears (loony will do
tomorrow's morning update if you want to tape the cartoons and save them).
B-bd-bd-bd-that's all folks!
Link of the Day: New invention allows humans to live
forever. Thanks $ikander. Remember, they laughed at Columbus, Einstein, and my Uncle
Ned.
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