Computer Gaming Review has posted an interview with Harvey Smith, lead level designer on ION Storm's upcoming first person RPG, Deus Ex. The interview covers his background in the industry (there's that daily theme again), and even a good bunch of questions related to the game itself.

The Mechwarior 3 version 1.1 patch is now available over at the official Mechwarrior page, complete with a slew of mirror sites (thanks Jeff McClain). According to the Mechwarrior 3 forums, this 2.6 MB patch addresses multiplayer problems, "legging", weapon balance issues, and more.

SpecForce.net has posted two new screenshots from Zombie's upcoming SpecOps 2 (thanks Billy "extra special" Wilson). It's worth pointing out that one shows off the new footprints in the snow, while the other shows off bullet holes in vehicles as well as the new night vision view mode.

Captured.com has posted an interview with Epic Games' Cliff Beszinski, talking about the version of CTF that will be prominently featured in Unreal Tournament.

Andrea from Matrox sends along a patch to fix Aliens versus Predator 1.03 on Matrox G400 series cards. To work, the 1.03 patch must first be installed (local copy). Here's the poop:

Attached is a new g400 patch for the Fox Interactive Game Alien Versus Predator. To use this patch, you must download the Game Patch 1 that has been released by Fox Interactive (http://www.matrox.com/mga/drivers/patch_demos/patches.htm). The attached file (g400_avp_fix.zip) is a Millennium G400 Series game patch.

The install process for these two files is as follows:

• install the retail version of Alien Versus Predator
• install the avp098.exe (available at http://www.matrox.com/mga/drivers/patch_demos/patches.htm)
• unzip the g400_avp_fix.zip file
• replace the original avp.exe file with the new avp.exe file from the list of unzipped files

These two screenshots have been added to the Q3Test Status Update2 @ Shugashack.com posted earlier showing off Disruptor's one-on-one map.

3DActionPlanet has posted an interview with BioWare's Greg Zeschuk, talking about his background in the industry (what is this, a daily theme?), as well as his current project, MDK 2. MDK, as everyone knows, stands for Men Don't Knit.

UGN3D has posted an interview with Monolith's Jason Hall, talking about his history, the industry in general, and a whole bunch of other topics.

Hal9000 ("daisy, daisy, give me your answer do") sends word that the official Descent 3 level editor has been released, and is available for download over at Outrage's site. This version is beta 0.9, and there's a disclaimer that says that, "additional features and bugs fixes will be implemented with future releases."

John Romero's going to be doing a deathmatch of a different kind this Friday: He's participating in an Age of Empires II battle against AoE creator Bruce Shelley and fellow former id Software employee Sandy Petersen on Microsoft's Gaming Zone. A chat with Shelley will precede the event, and digital photographs and screenshots will be available on The Zone during the match. No word as to whether or not the loser will have to consume months-old milk, but I wouldn't rule it out.

3D-Unlimited has posted an interview with Rogue Entertainment's Robert Selitto, talking about his background in the industry, level design, and dodging questions about their current project (with the required "it’s a Rogue product so you know it’s going to be awesome" quote being all he can say).

According to AVault, Mortyr is set to go gold within the "next several days" and that a demo will be released around the same time. As for a publisher, they are reporting that "Ubi Soft completed all the paper shuffling with Interactive Magic in early July," and that everything will be settled by the end of the month.

The 4D Rulers Gore Page has news of a playable demo of Gore that they plan on releasing this summer to show off gameplay from their upcoming 3D gory shooter. Thanks Frans at 3D Action Gamers.

An update to Core Engineer Greg Stelmack's developer diary on the Rogue Spear site gives a big old update on the new weapons that will be available in Rogue Spear and their characteristics, offering statistics and descriptions that should help decide what loadout to take on your missions. Thanks again Frans at 3D Action Gamers.

Another developer update is a Drakan Development Update & Shot on Voodoo Extreme giving progress on Surreal Studios' upcoming third-person dragon riding game from Surreal's Stuart Denman including a screenshot showing off how you select your player's (and dragon's) skins in deathmatch.

There's a Q3Test Status Update2 @ Shugashack giving some of sCary's hands-on impressions of the next version of the Q3ATest, which he points out is planned for release sometime this week. There is a description of the new one-on-one map, and also a mention of plans by ATI to announce a new Rage 128 Pro during QuakeCon.

MGON Interviews Gabe Newell talking to the Valve Software Managing Director catching up on the latest doings over at Valve, discussing the influences behind Half-Life.

The Adrenaline Vault Downloads has an English-language version of the new "Shamazaar" Outcast demo that was recently released as a German version (story, and follow-up). Thanks Omnigon. Now English-speaking gamers can play this demo level from Appeal & Infogrames' action game that puts you in the role of Cutter Slade, US Navy SEAL Commander, without using a phrasebook.

I.Am-KingPin has posted a new Kingpin deathmatch guide (or in there parlance of the game, a gang-bang guide) giving hints on how to come out on top in a gang-bang (I'm just going to leave that be). Also for your banging pleasure, they've posted a new DM map for Kingpin, called Sick City by Cole Porter (and you thought he only composed musicals).

• AMD Posts Big Loss, President Resigns gives word of the announcement of some earning losses reported by AMD, which was expected, along with the surprise announcement that company President S. Atiq Raza is resigning. Thanks Whoopass and Tahldain.
• Speaking of AMD, Raven's Kenn Hoekstra's .plan has word that they've received an AMD Athlon system, and that SoF and Voyager will be optimized for the K7.
• Sharky Extreme examines the NVIDIA TNT-TNT2 in Depth "provides an architectural overview of NVIDIA's TNT/TNT2 graphics processors, followed by a performance evaluation of TNT. Lastly, some shortcomings of TNT are addressed."
• 3Dimensional 128's 3D Sound Primer gives an introduction to 3D sound terminology and technology.
• While discussing sound, Wired News reports SDMI Spec Restricts CD Copying describes the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI), a new standard that aims to wipe out digital music piracy, saying it "amounts to a list of choke holds that electronics manufacturers must build into portable stereo systems." Thanks Grifter1.

The Wheel of Time has posted their formerly weekly update (referred to now as "a randomly timed, out-of-the-blue update," but I won't bust out my team of trademark lawyers). Thanks Infiniti. The post gives a status report on the game (as well as Glenn's impending marriage--congrats!!) and posts a whole bunch of new screenshots.

Sharky Extreme has posted their pair of Slave Zero Shots from this week. There are a million (okay, 23) new high resolution screenshots from Submarine Titans up on Before It's Done. Also, there are a bunch of new screenshots on gamers.de (a German site) including 17 new screenshots of Septerra Core and nine new screenshots of Odium, as well as three new screenshots of Submarine Titans.

The Xtreme Tribes page has a new player model for TRIBES they've concocted as a test of the TRIBES tools. Also, Planet Tribes has posted a Q&A with Optimizer of the Xtreme Tribes team discussing the reasons behind their split from Dynamix' TRIBES Extreme project.

This guide to Quake 3 Optimization offers tips on improving your ping and framerate in Q3ATest. The author claims his ping went from 280 to 190 ms as a result of these tips. Also on tap are all sorts of guides looking to provide tips for all manner of shooters, as Gamecenter's Ten Deathmatch Commandments offer ten rules they feel everyone should follow, plus specific advice for: Aliens vs. Predator, Descent 3, Half-Life, Quake II/Quake III, Sin, and Unreal. Quake 3 Source's Guide offers tips specific to Q3ATest, and this Death Matching Strategy guide is a general guide for all FPS game, though not terribly complete (or polished).

The QWare Software Homepage has a new beta 8 of QBind, an advanced binding/script/config editor (they describe their goals to be "the Visual Studio of Quake config editors") that supports all Quake versions known to man. The new release offers full drag 'n' drop support for bind creation, bug fixes and enhancements, and more.

The Rock, Paper, Scissors Homepage has another one of those modifications for those who think they've heard it all: A Quake II modification based on the classic children's boredom-invoking boredom preventer, Rock, Scissors, Paper. Version 1.0 of the mod is now available, offering three teams competition, with "cubes" that bring what's described as a "CTF flavor to the game."

As noted in Phoebus' plan, there is a new version 0.7 of GLHeretic up on Kokak's Heretic Page with the latest release of Kokak's OpenGL port of the source code of Heretic.

• This week's Blue's News test your game knowledge contest rolls right along.
• The AGN Contest Page is giving away one of those newly redesigned Intensor chairs.
• Unreality.Org's Return to Na Pali competition is giving away two copies of the Unreal mission pack.
• The Hive is giving away Clan Packs of Deadlode II, which contain multiple copies of the Coven's new DM pack.

Looks at stuff in production:

• PC Gamer Online previews TrickStyle, Acclaim's upcoming hoverboard game. This is one of the games we saw yesterday, and it's not my kind of game, but it offers the most fluid character animation I have ever seen.
• The Revenant Preview on PC Paradox looks at this upcoming role-playing game by Cinematix. The preview offers new information on map editing, characteristics, new characters, and spells.
• Thresh's FiringSquad previews Sinistar looking ahead at the new-fangled 3D version of the old 2D arcade classic.
• IPlayGames Previews Evolva offering a 16 MB AVI-format movie showing off gameplay (unfortunately, only the audio played for me, so I don't know what it looks like).
• Unreal Universe previews Nerf Arena Blast looking ahead at this upcoming family-oriented Unreal-engine game.
• Hands-off previews are not our bag here, but while we're here it seems worth mentioning a few: Gamers Central previews Unreal Tournament -- Exxtreme3D.Com previews Amen: The Awakening -- 3DGN Quickie looks at Odium

Looks at the stuff that is out already:

• Future Games Network reviews Aliens versus Predator.
• Glide Underground reviews the AMK-0334 19" Tower Case, a custom case for overclockers.

• Computer Games Online MechWarrior III tips are online...
• The Microsoft Windows98 Update site has a new critical update, for those of you feeling critical...
• The Apogee - 3D Realms Site has a version 1.2 patch for Balls of Steel, is one of the all-time great game names. Now if it was only related to a game with bigger balls than pinball. Thanks Felix...

When the database conversion project took place here, one of the goals was to allow readers to customize their news preferences, though we've kept that part of the project on the back burner for the most part. I've been playing around with how that stuff works for the past couple of days, and I'm shocked to see it really doesn't look like that feature is going to require much tweaking before it's ready to go live (Furn is the man), so don't be surprised when we roll that out pretty soon (at least it seems imminent enough that I'm finally willing to mention it). At this point the big hold-up is making sure the server won't blow a tire when customizations cause CGI script usage to soar. More on this soon.

There comes a time when the baby birds must leave the nest, but in this case, rather than being an analogy for human behavior, it means just what it says: yesterday morning MrsBlue and I discovered that the fledgling Mourning Doves nesting outside our window that I mentioned recently have flown the coop (so to speak). Still no Prozac, but I'm keeping Dr. Melfi's number handy just in case. From my small newfound understanding of this breed's behavior, the same couple may be back again raising another small brood this summer.

Link of the Day: ChildCare Action Project Media Analysis Report on Tarzan. Thanks Eric. They don't find it as evil as South Park, but considering it's Disney...

Epic's Brandon Reinhart updated his plan with word that the results from the planned Unreal Tournament showdown between Epic Games and NetGames USA (story) are in...and it's a win for Epic with 71 frags to NetGames' 43. The full stats are available on NetGames' page, featuring a full rundown of the players.

Mike Wilson updated his .plan with word that two games from the Gathering of Developers will go gold this week, as well as some details on a side project he's working on. Here are the details:

2 games going gold this week... FLY! and Darkstone. Big week at the church.

We have a side project of the non-commercial, prototype variety that we need to build a library of 3DStudio models for asap. Buildings mostly, but characters/vehicles/items would also be quite welcome. I can't say too much about what we'd be using these for just yet, but I can assure you that any models we use for the prototype may become part of a major project than means money and credit for the modelers. Please only send stuff you own the rights to.

Submit questions (not about what we're doing with these) and models to: info@godgames.com

Tom Hall has updated his Anachronox Diary over at Anachronox.com (hit "Game Information" followed by "Design Diary" to read it). Amongst the topics in this installment are how cool Lee Perry's particle effects are ("coooooool" according to Hall), and word that some Anachronox content was used in a local play titled "Shiner" about an executioner. Yeah, you read that right...go over there to understand it.

There's a new SoF Screenshot on GA-Source with another look at Raven's upcoming Quake II-engine game. The shot shows off a female raider, one of the enemy terrorists from the game.

GA-Source questions Jason Halls Sanity, not that they're worried about him losing his marbles, but rather it's a conversation about Sanity, Monolith's upcoming LithTech-powered RPG.

A post on Mortyr.Net indicates that in spite of Mortyr's uncertain status regarding who will publish it, a playable demo of this first-person World War II shooter "later this week." word is the demo will contain a single level, and will be about a 20 MB download. Thanks Frans at 3D Action Gamers.

Dynamix' Mitch Shaw updated his .plan with both an on topic, and an off-topic section 9conveniently labeled). The on-topic part has a general update on the stat of TRIBES, TRIBES2, and TRIBES Extreme, so I'll reproduce it here:

Everything seems to be going along pretty smoothly on the projects. Some excellent new artwork has been incorporated into T2 lately, and TRIBES Extreme is shaping up nicely as well. And the 1.6 patch should be relatively imminent, QA is (I believe) finishing up their OpenGL testing on the latest candidate.

Good luck to TRIBES artist Weston Tracy, who has left for a job at, as Dave Letterman would say, "another network".

Unreal Kingdom has posted a pair of new Unreal tournament Screenshots courtesy of Brandon "GreenMarine" Reinhart showing off a new "InstaGib DM" Mutator play mode, which he describes as being "about having a good aiming hand and is very fast paced."

GameLinks.net has posted a massive preview of Planet Moon's oddball (yet mighty cool) third person title Giants: Citizen Kabuto. The piece is illustrated with an incredible 63 screenshots, and while i'm not entirely sure how many (if any) are new, it's still a great way to get a glimpse of the game's striking visuals.

There are a pair of new Soldier of Fortune screenshots on Soldier-of-Fortune.com showing off gameplay from Raven's upcoming Quake II-engine game of mercenary action. Word on the page is to expect a movie from the game in AVI format "coming soon."

TacticalPlanet has posted the last in their recent string of new Spec Ops II shots in their "Target Acquired" box (not to be confused with a pic of the day).

The Quake 3 Arena Skin Archive has posted a reply they received from id Software's Kenn Scott, who, while temporarily declining an interview offer, does provide an interesting tidbit about Q3A skin editing that I hadn't seen mentioned before:

"...We have seperated alot of characters faces from the rest of the bitmap to make it easier for folks to cut and paste their own faces on clan skins, etc. though it'll still take a lot of art editting to fit. We've done it here a few times for fun (and abuse), so it's not too difficult. :)"

A new version 1.3 beta 1 of the Bleem (or bleem!) PlayStation emulator for the PC is up on the Bleem (or "bleem!") site. Thanks GameDev.net. Among the many changes from the last beta, are "Significant Direct3D Speed Optimizations," and "Significant Direct3D Texture Improvements." The beta version of bleem needs a CD Key to function, just like the full version. Any original bleem CD Key will function with bleem FULL and BETA releases.

• Creative Labs Developer Relations Linux Support page has new SBLive! drivers for Linux. Thanks BetaNews.
• Sharky Extreme's Motherboard Guide has been updated.
• The Maxi Gamer Xentor 32 Support page has an overclocking utility for Guillemot's TNT2 cards (meant to mention this a couple of days ago, sorry). Thanks Thomas.

Before It's Done interviews Seumas McNally of Longbow Digital Arts talking about LDA's upcoming Tank racing game, Tread Marks.

Epic's Brandon "GreenMarine" Reinhart updated his .plan with word that the gang at Epic is embarking on an Unreal Tourney deathmatch today to help show off the info-packed coolness of NetGames USA's statistical analysis, which the game will support out of the box. Details on the festivities are on ngWorldStats Epic Games vs. NetGames USA page, where the aforementioned stats from the match will be on display. Word is the action kicks off tonight at 9:00 PM CST (CDT, actually).

Gaming Entertainment Monthly's Prince of Persia 3D Interview talks with Lead Designer Todd Kerpelman about the upcoming 3D-enhanced third installment in the PoP series.

Sharky Extreme's Sinistar Unleashed Preview looks at this up-to-date sequel to the arcade classic.

The Genesis3D page has the "Pre-Alpha Preview" release of the Genesis 2.0 editor, GenEdit. Thanks Voodoo Extreme. This release is described as "fully functional and totally kick ass!," but "not feature complete by any means," so they are looking for a lot of feedback.

The Shotgun Quake 2 page has a new version 2.0 release of this server-only Quake II modification that glorifies the beloved boomstick above all others. The new release offers CTF and Linux support. Liquid, who sent this along, is putting out a call for crack mentions on news pages, just to feel old school, but if he thinks there haven't been any such references lately, obviously, he's on crack.

Version 7.0 of Super Capture the Flag (Sctf), a variant on Zoid's Threewave Capture the Flag for Quake (1), is now available, offering a min-boggling 26 weapons and 63 runes (each with two powers!).

The Quake Info Pool has a couple of updates: Some new bugs have been added to the bug list, they have a request up for feedback on the "shotgun shooting at multiple targets bug," and there is also a new version 1.4 of Gerard "Numb" Ryan's URQWP as well as word on a new server running the patch.

• I imagine that most readers of this site with an interest in Half-Life already own it, but just in case, 3D Gaming.Net's I Wanna Play Half-Life Too! Contest offers a chance to win a copy of Valve's already-classic shooter.
• Remember, our new test your knowledge contest is up, so fire up that brain and head on over.

• Computer Games Online reviews Heavy Gear II.
• CTNews reviews Descent 3 (damnit).
• UGN3D reviews Dungeon Keeper 2.
• UGN3D reviews Intel Celeron® 433.
• GA-Source reviews the Matrox Millennium G400.
• PC Benchmarks reviews Creative Labs 3D Blaster Savage4.

• Act Three -- Screen Shot 18 is the new Diablo II shot of the week...
• There's a SWAT 3 Mini-FAQ on the Sierra Studios Message Boards. Thanks TacticalPlanet...
• The DEMISE public patch 3 (3.3) is now available for this OpenGL accelerated RPG. Thanks Voodoo Extreme. Word is "this version WILL DELETE ALL CHARACTERS"...
• The Aliens Vs Predator Tech Support-Cheats Site has been updated with "a bunch of new solutions for voodoo cards and AMD motherboards."...

After a while without an entry in the pop culture game there were a pair of quotes yesterday: The Lemon Twist was offered by Serge (Bronson Pinchot) in Beverly Hills Cop, and we learned how to pronounce "Nu-cu-lar" from Homer Simpson. On the subject of TV and Cinema, another long awaited DVD release rolled in yesterday, the Criterion version of an all-time favorite, Terry Gilliam's Brazil, offering two versions of the film and a ton of documentary material spanning three disks (wheee!). Interestingly, the set's original Battle of Brazil documentary is credited to a Jack Mathews, complete with the proper (one "t") spelling. Truly, morbid is a renaissance man.

Acclaim, one of the very few game developers here in the greater NY area, is showing off some of their games today. If things go according to plan, both loony and I will spend a couple of hours over there in the early afternoon, I still may stay behind out of guilt about leaving the newsdesk unattended, but it's possible we'll both be away simultaneously -- but if so, it will be for a fairly brief span.

Link of the Day: Jesse Ventura To Swap Governor's Office For Ring. You've gotta love American politics. Thanks Apache.
Bonus Link: Bangladesh Cops Rescue Drug Monkeys. Another link from the actual news of the day. You can't make this stuff up! Thanks Cannelbrae. BTW, it's cough syrup they were peddling, so these aren't actual crack monkeys.