Changing The Playing Field A Night At The Half-Life Mod Expo is a 3D Action Planet article by Sluggo (of Mod Central HL) taking in all the action at last week's Half-Life mod expo, where a bunch of new Half-Life mods were unveiled. Word is to expect reports on this stuff all next week, but he kicks things off with a look at the whole event, including some Q&A with Valve's Harry Teasley and Erik Johnson, and a few newsworthy quotes from Valve's Gabe Newell like the following:

"We're going to be releasing a new version of Half-Life next week...The new release, basically, is due to conversations we've been having with mod developers - they need some functionality specifically for bot technology. So, next week, there will be two bots released for Half-Life."

Games Domain Review previews System Shock 2 with a heavily-illustrated (with screenshots) hands-on look ahead at the sequel to System Shock, the classic science-fiction RPG.

Beta Bites sends word of their Rogue Spear Preview that offers a hands-on look at this upcoming tactical shooter saying it makes its predecessor (Rainbow Six) look like a Commodore 64 game.

The cinematic types at Zarathustra Studios have teamed up with the speed freaks over at Quake done Quick to release a set of recamed movies of the Quake2 done Quick2 speed demos. The downloads are available at either site, along with the unedited originals. This is still not the full-blown "official" QdQ speed run through Quake II, which is still in the works, but it is the world-class Q2DQ2 run reshot from a spectator's point-of-view, likely to give a better vantage point of the action.

A new version 1.04 of GameStalker is now available. GameStalker is a server browser program for both Linux and Windows with an emphasis on speed, and the new version adds an editor for creating custom queries to find only the games you want, making it "even faster than before." Also, there are two GameStalker related mailing lists: One for users (email minordomo@zero-ping.com with a subject of "subscribe gs-discuss"), and one for developers (email minordomo@zero-ping.com with a subject of "subscribe gs-dev"). Finally, if you are a server operator running any platform that supports Java (Linux, NT, Solaris, etc) and are interested in running a Zpdb (Zero-Ping Database) server, the database server back-end which enables GameStalker to find games so quickly, please contact them.

The Science and Industry page has the debut version 0.94 of the Science and Industry mod for Half-Life. While this initial release only contains one map, a second map is expected, perhaps as soon as tomorrow, and there is also a map kit in their maps section to encourage others to design more maps, which they are soliciting for inclusion in version 1.0. The manual for the mod is online to give a comprehensive look at this mod, and here's a short description to start on:

Science and Industry is a teamplay mod for Half-Life, in which players assume the role of Security Officer at one of two rival corporations striving for domination in the cutthroat world of chemical and weapons research and development. The player's job is to protect and acquire scientists, who develop weapons to use against the other corporation. The more scientists a team has the faster they'll make new discoveries, but the only way to get new scientists is by kidnapping them from the competition. Science & Industry features interaction with NPC's in multiplayer, new weapons, and a bunch of new gameplay features.

PlanetUnreal interviews Alexander Brandon, the music composer for both Unreal and Unreal Tournament. The short Q&A comes on the completion of his work on U.T., and as you can imagine, mostly discusses music.

Kokak's Doom Page has a new version 0.8 of DoomGL, an OpenGL compatible port of id Software's Doom. Thanks Billy at Voodoo Extreme.

So many mods are announced and abandoned, that we usually don't turn too much spotlight onto community-type projects until they're released. There seems to be too much ado about the announcement of the Fortress Europe project to let it pass unmentioned, however (especially on a weekend ). Fortress Europe is planned as a World War II mod set in Normandy using the Starsiege TRIBES engine. The homepage has info and shots of the mod, and PlanetStarSiege Fortress Europe Interview with Optimizer and WarMonger talks with part of the squad behind the mod about what it's all about. Though there is no projected release date, word is that the project has been in development for four months, and a release is expected "soon."

PC Paradox' Messiah Interview with Dave Perry talks with the Messiah-maker about Shiny's upcoming diaper-wearing third-person action game that puts you in the role of Bob, a cherub with a problem with possessiveness.

3D Unlimited has posted an interview with Rich Fleider, talking to Rogue's Vice President and Lead Artist about his work on the N64 port of Quake II, the early days of Rogue, and lots of other stuff he can't talk about right now.

GASource has posted four new images from the unfortunately titled Varginha Incident 2, the sequel to the original Varginha Incident, which was notable for being the world's first Brazillian first person shooter. Varginha Incident 2 differs itself from the original by utilizing an original, fully 3D engine that takes full advantage of Intel's new Pentium III processor.

A typically slow Saturday gives another off-topic post a chance at prominence. The Microsoft Windows Update page has a new version 6.4 beta (at the bottom of the page) of the MS Media player. Saw that on BetaNews.

There are a couple of notes on PlanetStarSiege about the newly released version 1.7 patch for Starsiege TRIBES (story) that describe reports of problems with some older 3dfx chipsets, including Voodoo RUSH, Voodoo Banshee, and some Voodoo 1 cards (specifically mentioning Pure3D cards). There's no word yet on fixes or workarounds, but if you are a user of one of those cards and are experiencing problems with the new patch, that is the explanation.

Billy "SEEDling" Wilson has posted his exclusive SEED demo by HumanSoft. This 22.7 MB demo contains one level, with two enemies and three weapons, and is meant to introduce the game to the public. While we won't be making a local mirror out of respect for Voodoo Extreme's exclusive on the demo, it should be pointed out that it is also available for download on the official SEED homepage.

The Acid Reign Site has a public release of version 1.0 of the Blitz engine. The released source does not contain the MMX-optimized version of the engine (as it's been lost), and contains some un-optimized routines. Word from the author is "The aim of this release is to provide people with some help and a starting block to build their own kick-ass engines. It contains code on BSP Trees, S-Buffering, Portal rendering, Z-Buffering, Translucency, Particles, Direct Draw programming, Direct Input Programming, Surface Cacheing, Collision Detection and most importantly, my completely hand crafted 16-bit realtime span level RGB interpolative rasterizer (Surface cacheing at run time)." He also sends word that the mailing list subscription for the Blitz Engine "now works" and the site also contains a new tutorial on spherical volumetric fog.

Spectra Software Download Page has new version 3.10.01 Windows 9X drivers for the Canopus Spectra 2500/3200. The drivers are available in two versions, one with just the the drivers and the other with the drivers and the utilities. Thanks P3D.

As promised, PC.IGN.com has posted their exclusive Jane's Fleet Command Demo, a playable demo of this air-sea operations combat flight-sim dealie. The demo is about 45 MB. Thanks Frans at 3D Action Gamers.

3D-Unlimited interviews Harvey Smith talking with ION Storm's "Witchboy" to fill them in on what Deus Ex, ION's upcoming action/RPG will be all about.

It seems like everyone and their brother's posting articles on 3dfx' new technology, but PC.IGN has posted not only a detailed explanation of the new gee whiz features, but also a few MPEG movies to illustrate them.

Next-Generation Online has posted an interview with Looking Glass Studios' Steve Pearsall, talking about their sneaky sequel Thief 2: The Metal Age.

Registration has opened up for the Descent 3 LAN tournament being hosted by the Cyberathletes at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. The space is limited to 250 computers, so if you're planning on attending, sign up now or never.

Well, the Blair Witch Project opened nationwide last night, on a whopping 1000 screens. If you haven't yet, I recommend going to see it. I'm going to be dragging the girlfriend to see it tonight, and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing it a second time myself. Actually, we tried to see it during its limited run here in NYC, but it was sold out days in advance (and apparently it's breaking records left and right). Pretty cool stuff.

Link of the Day: Tom Hall vs. the World. One of those parodies that just had to be made - leave it to Tom Hall to do it.

An official version of the Shadow Man Demo is now available from Acclaim. Thanks Frans at 3D Action Gamers. The new version is some 2 MB smaller than the unofficial version released yesterday (story), and the content has a different date, though it is not 100% certain the contents of the demo are different.

Starsiege TRIBES - Multimedia and Downloads page has the new version 1.7 patch described in Nels Bruckners' .plan. Thanks Frans at 3D Action Gamers. Here's a local copy of the 1.0 to 1.7 patch, and a local copy of the 1.6 to 1.7 patch. Here's the lowdown on the patch from the page:

• You can no longer throw grenades & mines if you are not controlling either your player object or a vehicle.
• Fixed a bug where mines and grenades that exploded while the player was not in control of his body would have an invalid team number.
• Players can no longer activate any station if their primary weapon is in it's fire or reload state.
• Player weapon is unmounted for all active stations (was left mounted for permanent ammo stations in 1.6)
• Fixed a bug with palette management introduced in 1.6
• Typing unclosed single quotes in the console no longer crashes.
• Turret::verifyTarget now has two arguments (%this,%target)
• GameBase::getMuzzleTransform() should now work correctly with turrets.
• There is now a 2 sec. timeout after using a station in which you can not throw mines & grenades.
• A few fixes were added to the 1.6 fix list (the first three had been left out)
• Player now throws his weapon more often when killed with trigger down.
• Fliers can no longer hover up through cielings or the bottom of bases.
• Deployables objects now check against interior and terrain when being displaced by a moveable objects (doors & elevators)
• Displacement code (elavators & doors) now uses a stepping collision test when testing a displaced object for collision.
• A server side getLOSInfo method was added for bot authors.

There are some screenshots on RIVA 3D with some demonstrations of this newly announced 3dfx t-buffer stuff (story), showing off a motion-blur effect, among other things. Also articles on the 3dfx demonstration off this stuff is on Voodoo Magazine, Shugashack.com, PenStarSys, ZDNet, CombatSim (saw those last two on Voodoo Extreme), and Thresh's FiringSquad.

Rogue Spear, BattleZone II, Slave Zero, MacHeretic II, and BattleCruiser 3020 all on tap:

• The Rogue Spear Retreat has posted some exclusive new Rogue Spear screenshots from Red Storm Entertainment showing off action from this upcoming tactical shooter sequel to Rainbow Six.
• There is a new BattleZone II Screenshot on BZ2.COM showing off this upcoming action/RTS from Pandemic Studios.
• Planet RIVA has posted a pair of new Slave Zero shots, one of them showing off the use of bump-mapping in Accolade's upcoming game of rock-em, sock-em robots.
• MacHeretic 2 Screenshots on Mac Gamer's Ledge with a couple of exclusive looks ahead at the Mac port of Raven's third-person action slicer-dicer.
• The BattleCruiser Online Galcom News Network has a new update from Dr. Smart about his upcoming BattleCruiser 3020, including (following our current theme) a bunch of new screenshots of SHIPS and UNITS, as well as word about the series' interface revision, the opening of the Galcom Academy "the primary site for walkthru tutorials, hints etc.," and mention of the New Version discussion forum where you can be part of the BC3K 2.08 open beta.

The A3D Download Drivers has new version 2.22 A3D drivers. Thanks 3D Sound Surge. Word is these drivers "work on any A3D sound card or PC. These are the latest A3D Drivers available anywhere. If you are experiencing problems related to A3D it is recommended that you download these drivers. If you are experiencing general sound card problems, these drivers will not be of use. Contact your sound card manufacturer."

A new version of the GLSetup program has been released. This version is available as a 172k "active setup" style download, which determines which drivers you need, and then downloads them for you, or as a massive 33 MB download, for those who want every driver in one swell foop.

Both Sharky Extreme and GameSpot have posted details on 3dfx' new technology, which will be used in their next chipset (currently called Napalm, or the Voodoo 4). The new technologies include full screen anti-aliasing, their proprietary T-Buffer, depth of field, and motion blur, and boths sites have good explanations of them for the lay folk out there. In addition to their article on the new technology, SE has also posted an interview with 3dfx' Scott Sellers, talking about their T-Buffer technology.

Topping off a day of furious System Shock 2 news (go fig, huh?) is the release of the demo, which is available for download over on C|Net's Gamecenter. Gamecenter says that in the approximately 40 MB demo, "you will start with a smattering of weapon skills, tech skills, and cybernetics. You can grow your character any way that you see fit."

John Romero updated his .plan this afternoon with word that ION Storm is looking for beta testers in the Dallas area for Daikatana. Here are the details, straight from the man himself:

Okay, all you denizens of Dallas... I'm looking for on-site beta-testers for Daikatana for the month of August. You will be rewarded for your efforts with T-shirts, games and hardware! Just send your resume to dktest@ionstorm.com and we'll see if you're good enough to make it in.

Descent 3 screenshots on the Matrox G400 Enhanced Games page has some new shots showing off environment mapped bump mapping in Descent 3. Word is that a patch that will enable this hardware accelerated bump mapping (supported by the G400 series) in Descent 3 "will be available for download very soon."

The NOP website has version 1.0 of NOP, a ranking utility for Q3Test servers that parses the q3test-server-logfiles and generates rankings using an HTML template. The freeware program is described as "small, fast and easy to use."

The utterly psychedelic Quake III Arena Server Snooper page has the initial release of a new utility for Mac OS X Server Quake III Arena players to monitor a LAN for Quake III Arena servers. Word is when bugs are fixed and the feature set is stabilized, that the source code will be released.

EA and Looking Glass Studios have released details on the character generation in System Shock 2 as well as some other gameplay bits, as laid out in this press release I've just posted. It's pretty interesting stuff, including the ability to choose traits, and even a "Gameboy-like 'Game Pig' that allows [players] to play full, old-school games while exploring the 3D world."

• 3dfx has announced, with the usual fanfare, that the Voodoo3 3500 boards have shipped to retailers, and should be available pretty much everywhere soon, if not already.
• Sharky Extreme reviews the Gainward TNT 2 card.
• Singularity reviews the ABIT BE6 motherboard.
• Hardware-One has posted images of the new Yamaha XG Quad sound card, a multi-talented card that supports EAX, 3D Sensaura Sound, Dolby Digital, and a whole slew of other stuff.

Here's a whole bunch of System Shock 2 news for you: the official System Shock 2 site has been updated with a new desktop wallpaper image, as well as a new movie. PC.IGN has posted a rundown of the weapons in the game, complete with images (thanks to SShock2.com for those two). Lastly, Billy "game of the year" Wilson has posted an e-mail he received from Ken Levine, which says that the multiplayer patch for the game will be available as a free download after the game's release. They delayed the multiplayer to add features such as being able to see the weapons in people's hands. You may recall that the game has indeed gone gold (story) and will be available in stores on August 12th.

John Carmack updated his .plan with an explanation for the delay in the Mac Q3Test 1.07, as well as the announcement that we may have a new release for all platforms as soon as Monday:

I apologize for not getting the Mac version released this last time.All conspiracy theories aside, here is what actually happened:

I had my San Jose travel scheduled a while ago, and we were expecting to have the release done before I left. We didn't quite make it, and nobody else at the office knew how to build the mac version after Cash made some last minute changes.

When I got back, Graeme was taking off to move his family down here. Graeme is in charge of building all the installs for our releases. I considered just tossing new executables with the latest fixes for everything, but some data has changed, and it just isn't worth the hassle right now. We will be making proper new releases for all architectures monday night when he gets back.

PingTool Filter Library has an Action Half-Life PingTool TAB for download to separate servers playing the newest mod for Valve's Half-Life when using the PingTool server browser.

Saw on Doomworld that version 0.4a build 1 of wHeretic is out. The latest version of this Win32 Port of the source of Heretic, Raven's Doom-engine shooter/RPG, brings it "almost" in line with the single player version of the original, so that work can soon commence on a multiplayer version.

Inside Half-Life Opposing Force is a short GameSpot feature that offers eight new screenshots of Gearbox Software's upcoming add-on for Valve's "game-of-the-year" shooter, Half-Life. Thanks Ant. Here's a bit from the short write-up that describes the add-on's new weapons, as well as plans to add more all-star level designers:

The add-on features seven new weapons, including a new.357 Desert Eagle handgun. New characters will include a security guard nicknamed Otis, a new scientist model, and a drill sergeant.

And on the ultimate opposition spectrum, the game will also include one new race of aliens - the bipedal pitdrones. Opposing Force designer Randall Pitchford has said that Opposing Force will include much of what made Half-Life one of last year's best, such as a number of scripted events. Industry veteran Levelord has been officially announced as one of the designers of the game's multiplayer maps, and more all-star level designers are being assembled. Other well-known level designers who will be participating are due to be announced in the next week or two.

There are a pair of new screenshots from Zombie's upcoming Spec Ops II on SpecForce, one of them showing off the hit-specific animation when an enemy gets shot in the leg.

There are some new FreeSpace 2 screenshots on PC Arena giving four views of Volition's upcoming outer-space sequel. They've also taken the liberty of converting the FreeSpace 2 trailer into a more download friendly 4.86 Meg RealVideo format file.

GameSpy 3D Tab Downloads page has a brand-new Action Half-Life Tab to help GameSpy 3D users filter through the Internet to find game servers running the brand-new Action Half-Life add-on for Half-Life. There are also instructions on the SmartSpy Tutorial showing how registered users of this server browser can use SmartSpy to considerably cut down the time it takes to ping and filter servers.

UGN3D interviews Kevin Lambert talking with one of the lead engineers and (along with Garett Price) one of the lead designers on Sanity, Monolith' upcoming isometric view LithTech-powered action RPG. The interview discusses the first non-first-person shooter LithTech game.

Viper 3D's Guide to Tweaking Quake3 Test Graphics is up offering a lengthy rundown on ways to perk up your framerate in Q3Test. The article covers various console settings, gauging their effect on visuals, as well as framerate, offering a load of screenshots to illustrate the impact of various graphics settings.

• This CBS.MarketWatch report declares "Chip market to double in five years," which (sort of) quotes 3Dfx' Greg Ballard as saying the "Voodoo 4, is 'on schedule' for an October release." Thanks VE, JohnL, and Hedeus.
• Hard OCP has posted an Intel roadmap that outlines plans for the Big I's CPU life-cycle over the coming year.

Computer Games Online's Delta Force 2 preview is a look ahead at NovaLogic's voxelated game of realistic tactical combat. As the subtitle "Let's Get Physical" implies, the short piece discusses the game's advanced physics.

Rogue's Rich Fleider sends words that they are looking to add another Rogue, in the form of an artist. Full details are on the Rogue Job Listings on the job, described like this:

We might just have a pirate hat with your name on it! Rogue Entertainment is currently searching for an animator/modeler with the right skills and attitude to immediately start as a full time member of our crew. All applicants must be familiar with programs like 3DS Max and Character Studio with additional proficiencies in Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, and Lightwave. Storyboard and conceptual talents are also a huge plus. Industry experience would be an even bigger plus (though not required). Qualified artists should be prepared to submit a resume and a portfolio using a variety of media, including a demo reel of their animation.

This The Adrenaline Vault News blurb reports "Seven Kingdoms II Loses Publisher," saying that Enlight Software's negotiations with Ubi Soft Entertainment to publish Seven Kingdoms II have fallen through. The piece draws a connection between this situation and the difficulties in finding a publisher for Mortyr, described in the article as "another title Ubi Soft is refusing to publish that was acquired from the deal with Interactive Magic."

PlanetStarSiege TRIBES Timedemo Contest offers nothing less than a chance to win a spot on the TRIBES 2 Beta Team. The reward will go to the creator of the most action-packed, CPU-pounding, intense demo of TRIBES gameplay submitted.

• Thresh's FiringSquad reviews bleem! the PlayStation emulator.
• AnandTech reviews the Intel Pentium III 600.
• PC Magazine First Looks at 3-D Graphics Boards tests six of the latest graphics.
• Thresh's FiringSquad reviews the 3D Blaster TNT2 Ultra.
• Thresh's FiringSquad's Motion Sensing Gamepad Shootout: Microsoft vs. Logitech.

• Rift 3d has posted what they call the first player model for Unreal Tournament called Astro Trooper. The model can also be used in Unreal 224, salvaging some usability to accompany its novelty...
• Why is Duke Taking Forever on the newly opened PlanetNukem explains why DNF isn't taking as long as it seems...
• Culture News from Wired News reports on EverQuest addictions calling it the digital version of crack. Thanks crt...
• The Birth of the Federation Downloads page has a new patch for this Trekkie turn-based strategy game. Thanks Kyle Brun...
• Speaking of Trekkie (or Trekker), This Adrenaline Vault Featured Article is all about Star Trek games, boldly going yada...

As I sit here I am suffering from one of the few cases of heartburn I can ever recall experiencing: now I know why men who are having heart attacks sometimes think that it's heartburn, it's much more uncomfortable than the name implies. I suppose it could just be an actual heart attack, which would make what I just wrote rather ironic (or some near-Morrissette equivalent)..nope, a quick experiment with one of the 20th century's true miracle drugs (Alka-Seltzer) confirms my heartburn diagnosis, so I guess loony will have to put away that new loon's news logo he's been working on.

Link of the Day: CNN - Squashed splendor Nature center finds new ways to recycle (thanks GrandPappy) has CNN ferreting out the details on new ways to deal with roadkill. Don't worry, there are no recipes involved, though frighteningly, there is some streaming video.