Archived News:
Editing site Rust
has posted the transcript from their chat with Raven programmers John Scott
and Dan Kramer. This is a heavily edited log, so it's fairly easy to read (which
is something of a rarity with logs of this kind). The talk focuses on both of
Raven's games currently in production: Soldier of Fortune, which uses the Quake
II engine, and Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force, which uses the Quake III: Arena
engine.
Several members from Legend's Wheel of Time team have been taking questions
from gamers over on GT's
Wheel of Time Forums (thanks Apache).
There's a lot of subjects tackled in here, including the WoT scoreboard, rocket
jumping, air control, and a whole gaggle of others for you to read up on.
Just a quick caveat to anyone planning on downloading the just released Kingpin
version 1.1 patch ( story):
we've gotten several reports that you will not be able to use any previously
saved games, as well as many reports of people randomly being kicked from multiplayer
servers. Also, we received details on how to use the vehicles in Kingpin from
Daniel "Milamber" Woods of WA Gaming
Zone: I was just fiddling around with Kingpin and found out how you
can test the very cool vehicle code that didn't quite make it into Kingpin.
As you probably know, before being hired by Xatrix, Ryan "Ridah" Feltrin
coded the immensely popular Q1 TC, Quake rally. So, the vehicle code is pretty
damn special. Anyways, start the game using +set developer 1 and the bring down
the console and type g_vehicle_test 1 and for a really authentic feel, turn
on the rear-view mirror by typing cl_rearviewmirror 1. Now map one of the DM
levels, kpdm1 works fine, and try being, from what I can gather, a motorbike,
complete with fairly realistic physics and sounds.
3D Action Planet
has posted an interview with Kenn Hoekstra, the Project Administrator on Raven's
Quake II engine extravaganza, Soldier of Fortune. The interview features a bunch
of new information about the game, including the available graphics resolutions,
and word that there are no plans for a Linux SoF client at this time.
Billy "screenshots" Wilson has
posted two new images from Shiny's diaper wearing Messiah, which is due
to be released in early November (if you trust release dates, that is).
The Kingpin 1.1 patch has been released, and is available for download over
at PlanetKingpin.
This patch has a ton of fixes and changes, including a fix for those long level loads,
the new "dm_realmode" which is sort of Action Quake-esque, and lots
of other stuff. Also available is the 1.1 Linux version of the Kingpin client/server,
which is available for download in both TAR and RPM format (download links are
available in Ryan
Feltrin's .plan file).
John Carmack updated his
.plan with details on the QVM, or Quake Virtual Machine, that he has implemented
into Quake III: Arena over this past week. It's a giant update, but here's an
excerpt: The basic setup is that I have a modified version of the lcc
compiler that generates assembly files that are processed by a new tool "q3asm"
into a .qvm file that can be interpreted by q3. You can still use normal dll's
for debugging, then release interpreted code. You can release a binary dll if
you need some native system services (some networking stuff, for example) or
are doing very compute intensive work, but I strongly encourage everyone to
try to use the virtual machine.
The interpreted code has two prime benefits: portability and security.User mods
done with qvms will automatically work on mac, linux, and any other oddball
ports that get released.
A qvm program cannot modify anything outside its private address space, and
the "system calls" to the game strictly limit what can be touched.
I was scared about the binary dll's in Q2, but rationalized it to myself that
people running public servers should be aware of the dangers. With Q3 allowing
client side programming, it just needs to be safe for everyone.
Gamasutra
has posted a big article on level design, featuring tips from such industry
luminaries as Levelord, The Romero, Paul Jaquays, and Cliff Bleszinski (thanks
Billy " yoink" Wilson).
Mortyr.net has posted another fixed EXE for the Mortyr demo, this time fixing
the "nie monza otworzyc pliku avi" error message that some people
have been getting (thanks Frans). Also
of note is Damage
Gaming's extensive walkthrough of the demo, for those of you who are stuck.
Next-Generation
Online has posted a preview of Nihilistic's upcoming 3D RPG title, Vampire:
The Masquerade - Redemption, featuring the usual descriptive text, as well as
nine new screenshots from the game.
This week's Unreal
Tournament level of the week is up over at GT's
official UT site. This week's level is called DM-Tempest, and it's described
as having been, "created strictly for large scale arena combat, with multi
layered areas and dark hiding spots." Swing by for more details, as well
as three screenshots from the level.
GameSpot
has posted a news bit about NVIDIA's next-generation graphics chipset, currently
called the NV10. They're reporting that the chip will have, "more than
twice as many transistors as a Pentium III CPU" as well as, having a triangle
rate that's "three to five times that of a Pentium III CPU, which can put
out about 5 million triangles per second." Yowza.
PC.IGN has posted a new
preview of Nova Logic's Delta Force 2, featuring some new images, as well as
a handful of information about this Voxel powered tactical game.
Pandemic Studios has released their Battlezone II shot of the week, and it
can be found over at StrategyPlanet's Battlezone
II Center. More BZ2 info can be found in GameCenter's new preview of the game (thanks VE).
Unreal Nation has posted an e-mail
they received from Epic's Tim Sweeney, asking about their future plans in regards
to cross platform portability. Here's a quickie excerpt: We will develop
the next engine on at least two platforms simultaneously. At least PC and Playstation2
(pending arrival of a development system). I can't promise Linux, but it would
be pretty easy I think. The big complication we've faced porting Unreal Tournament
is that our C++ code needed lots of modifications for Gnu C++, but since that's
the Playstation's compiler too, our code should be Linux-friendly all along
The official Freespace 2 website has
been given a complete overhaul, and to celebrate it, they've posted two new
ships in their ship gallery. They plan on adding two ships a week to the site
until well, the game ships.
A new version of Kali, the server browsing IRC program, has been released and
is available for download on their
FTP site (thanks Scott). This is a beta, as it warns you as you install
it, "everything is new!!! THIS IS A BETA! PLEASE REPORT
ANY BUGS IMMEDIATELY!" Oooookay then.
So okay, here's the latest on my ISDN situation - sadly, it's not up and running
yet (like nobody saw that one coming, right?). I'm not 100% positive that it's
been turned on yet (I was told it would be, but that doesn't mean anything)
but believe it or not, the showstopping problem at the moment is simply that I
don't have a cord long enough to reach my computer! Oh well. I've got one that
will be here sometime this morning, so once that arrives I'll be able to see if
the phone company has done their part in getting me online (I can only hope they
have). So check back tomorrow, and hopefully I'll be able to say that I'm a happy
ISDN user (if there is such a thing).
Link of the Day: As I'm gearing up for QuakeCon in a few weeks here, it's
only appropriate that today's link be Virtual
Cow Tipping. It's a source of endless amusement, I tell ya.
Dynamix' Mark Frohnmayer updated his
.plan this evening with two interesting bits of TRIBES news. First is word
that the patch to fix the bugs found in the recently released TRIBES version
1.6 is done, and in final testing. He also included in his plan the new TRIBES
debugger protocol, which if you're a programmer type will make perfect sense
to you (for everyone else, it'll basically be incomprehensible code).
AVault
has posted the European version of the Aliens vs. Predator version 1.1 patch.
This is the patch that adds in-game save functionality, along with several other
fixes and enhancements.
Kokak has released a new version of GLHexen,
his OpenGL accelerated version of Hexen, as well as a new version of DoomGL.
Version 0.71 of DoomGL now features compatibility with the Quake III OpenGL
drivers for 3dfx cards.
Gamer's
Central has posted a preview of Odium, the Metropolis developed/Monolith
published RPG currently in production. The preview features eight new screenshots
showing off the title, which apparently used to be called Gorky 17 (good call
on the name change, guys).
ION Storm's Daily Informant
has posted an Anachronox team update, with several members of the team (including
wacky Big Cheese Guy Tom Hall, producer Jake Hughes, and several artists) talking
about what they're working on at the moment.
2015's president, Tom Kudirka updated his
.plan with word that they're in need of a producer and a level designer
for their soon-to-be-announced game: To bring everyone up to date:
Currently we are working on a new game that will be announced to the public
very soon. Right now we have two job openings. One position is for a Producer
and the other is for a Level Designer. Interested parties should check out our
website for how to submit applications.
3dfx has released new NT drivers
for Voodoo 3 based cards (thanks Sean Jensen-Grey). These are the same as
the just-released Windows 9x drivers ( story)
but well...work on Windows NT.
Nels Bruckner, TRIBES Project Manager for Dynamix, sent in this explanation
of the bug in the recently released Starsiege: TRIBES 1.6 patch that's plaguing
3dfx card owners ( story):
Arg! We let an obvious one slip through in the 1.6 patch of Tribes. The
specific problem is with user created art (reticles, skins, etc.) and Voodoo
configurations with more than one TMU. User created art will show up as either
all black or black and white or as other funky looking combos... basically totally
wrong. We have the problem fixed, we will get the patch up ASAP. My apologies
for this obvious error.
People seem to be liking the OpenGL support though! :)
- ABIT has posted a new version of their BIOS for the BX6-2.0. It's available
for download on their FTP
site.
- RivaExtreme has posted stats from
the latest Computer Gaming World magazine that claims the upcoming NVidia
NV10 chipset will feature 15-25 million triangles per second and a 350 MHz
RAMDAC amnongst other things.
- SharkyExtreme
reviews the Hercules Dynamite TNT2.
- The NT Game Palace has
posted new INF files to get Voodoo 3 cards to run correctly under Windows
2000, for those of you participating in the beta test.
GASource
has posted a Q&A with Joel Huenink, the lead developer of Gore, a somewhat
bloody first person shooter in development by 4DRulers.
Mortyr.net sends word that they've posted
a fixed .EXE file for the "Nie powiodlo sie" error that some people
are getting with the recently released Mortyr demo. You can download
it from their FTP site now.
AVault
has posted the third installment in their Slave Zero Development Diary by Matt
Powers. This installment focuses largely on the behind the scenes organizing
of the project.
GASource
has posted two screenshots from Exist, that cool multiplayer only FPS that's
being developed entirely by a single person.
Acclaim has posted nine
new screenshots from Shadow Man, their adult action game that recently went
gold ( story)
and will be in stores soon.
Gaming Entertainment
Monthly has posted 21 new screenshots from Bungie's Oni, their third person
action title due this fall. In other Oni news, I spotted this
hands on report from MacWorld over in OniCore's forums. Lastly, MacGamer's
Ledge has posted an interview with Peter Tamte, Bungie's executive vice
president of publishing.
GameLinks.net
has posted a Septerra Core interview, with an unidentified Monolith employee
answering various questions about their upcoming Japanese-style RPG (although since the game is being developed by Valkyrie, I can only assume that the questions were answered by someone there).
UGN3D
has conducted a brief Q&A with Shiny Entertainment's Scott Harrington, with the questions
focusing on his background in the industry as well as Shiny's history.
Billy "p1mp" Wilson has posted four new screenshots, as well as a
new in-game movie from SEED, HumanSoft's upcoming first person shooter, over
on that page
of his. There's also a note up that says that they'll have an exclusive
demo available for download between July 26 and July 31.
Computer
Games Online has posted the first part in Battlezone II development diary
by George Collins, the director of the game. As this is the first installment,
it pretty much consists of basic information about the game and its genesis. Look for another
installment in two weeks or two months, depending on whether you trust CGO's
introduction (which says, "check back in a couple of weeks") or the
author, who says that it's bimonthly.
PlanetStarsiege is reporting that Voodoo 3 owners might want to hold off on
upgrading to the recently released Starsiege: TRIBES version 1.6 ( story).
Apparently V3 cards have been having some palette "glitching" errors,
which according to an undisclosed Dynamix contact is due to "custom reticles."
MDK2.com has posted another
installment of their development diary by Greg Z, the executive producer on
MDK 2. This installment is a brief one, with a general update on the in-game
cut scenes, player dialogue, and other features. MDK, as everyone knows, stands
for Matt Damon's Kidney.
A new version of the King of the
Server mod for Quake II has been released. This version (2.8) adds a number
of gameplay tweaks, including modifications to the ammo packs, number of rockets,
and armor bonuses.
3DRage.com has conducted
an interview with Jane Jensen, the author and designer of Gabriel Knight
III: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned. This installment in the Gabriel
Knight series marks the first time they've ventured into the world of 3D acceleration
- the previous two games were 2D.
In other RPG news, the official
Ultima: Ascension site has undergone a complete rebirth, and now sports
new screenshots, information and movies from the game (which like Gabriel Knight
is the first 3D installment in the series).
This week's edition of the PlanetQuake
Tech Tips column focuses on setting up a Quake II server, with step by step
instructions for getting it up and running. In a similar vein, last
week's edition is also worth a mention, as it outlines the hardware necessary
to successfully run a game server.
The latest edition of Sharky
Extreme's Private Eye column has some new info on the in-progress LithTech
2 engine, including some new dirt on the editor. There are also some screenshots
showing off the night and day effects that Monolith has been showing off lately.
Also of note is Sharky's 3D Card Shootout using an AMD K6 III running at 450
MHZ, which can likewise be found in the very same column.
A new version of Frogbot Clan Arena,
a Classic Quake mod that combines the Frogbot with Clan Arena has been released
and is available for download on Frogbot's Modifications. In this version the
bots can rocket jump...so be warned.
- There's a big ol' TRIBESCon update on the
official site, with details on this two day TRIBES fest in Seattle.
- Mynx is holding a big id products
giveaway, with the entry fee being a $10 donation to sponsoring her in
the World Walk for Breastfeeding.
Well, it finally happened: I got an ISDN line installed yesterday. Whee! Of
course, as I write this, it hasn't been turned on just yet, but the jack's in
place, and it'll be turned on at some point tomorrow. Once I invest in a really
freaking long RJ45 cable (the jack's on one side of my apartment, the computer's
on the other) I'll finally say good-bye to the world of regular modems. Although
truth be told, I had gotten pretty used to it...both TRIBES and Q3Test work
remarkably well over standard modem connections...but after four years of free
T1 access 24/7, it was a bit slow to me. So, assuming nothing goes too
wrong, tomorrow night's update will say that I'm a happy ISDN user. Of course,
something always goes wrong with these things, so you'll just have to wait and
see.
Link of the Day: Too many
prepositions, conjunctions may crash Word 97. Is it just me, or does it
feel like Microsoft is trying to find new and humorous ways to sneak bugs into
their software?
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