Mark Rein sent this e-mail to Unreality, explaining the current status of the Unreal Tournament demo, as well as with Epic in general (in light of the hurricane that's headed their way). Here's what he had to say:

Hurricane Floyd is expected to hit Raleigh pretty strongly late this evening and throughout tomorrow. This might be my last email for a while. We're expected to get at least 10 inches of rain and hurricane-force winds. The eye of the hurricane is projected to pass one county over from us (which is VERY close!) but hopefully it will be diminished as it travels over land.

In anticipation of the first demo release tomorrow we've launched http://www.unrealtournament.com. The UT web site isn't on a server located in Raleigh so it should stay up. I'll try to update it with our progress if I can keep power. We've sent a build of the demo/test off to 3DFX that could be released tomorrow in the event that we're unable to keep power here tonight. We already experienced a 45 minute power loss but power is back on right now. There are a few minor bugs fixes that we're hoping to fix but if power doesn't stay on that won't happen and the 321 build will get released. We've set up utbugs@epicgames.com for people to report bugs and problems with the demo. We're all backed up and I'll be taking a tape backup home in a waterproof container.

For those interested in tracking the hurricane you can visit http://www.ncstormtrack.com - the internet is pretty clogged tonight with people up and down the east coast hitting the weather and news sites for information about the storm.

There is a good possibility that we'll lose power for several days which could cause the delay of the 2nd demo (all APIs). If that happens we apologize in advance for any delays. A few days extra wait for a demo is nothing like the disaster that is facing most North Carolina farmers who are expected to lose their entire crops for the year due to this storm. Our hearts and concerns go out them as well as those who will be displaced from their homes or worse.

Ok, scratch the above. The security guard for our building just came up and asked us to leave the building. Apparently they're going to bolt the doors of the building so we won't be able to return. Carolina Power & Light told them the power is likely to go out at any time. They already have 15,000 customers without power in the area. We don't know when we'll be able to get back in, hopefully Friday after the storm has passed but we'll only be able to get into the building if it has power. During Hurricane Fran much of Raleigh was without power for an average of 3 days. The authorities say that this storm will be pretty similar to Fran or maybe stronger.We hope 3DFX users enjoys the demo and we'll do the best we can to ship the full demo (with support for all APIs) as soon after Monday as possible given the events of the next day or two. Wish us luck!

Mark Rein,
Epic Games Inc.

Hey! Dynamix sent along another one of those TRIBES Extreme update dealies, this time giving a bunch of designer Scott Rudi's background in games gone by and more (including the fact that his dad is in fact ex major-league baseball player Joe Rudi!). Here's a quote:

Scott looks forward to expanding the TRIBES Universe with TRIBES Extreme. "We've had a lot of interest from the community in broadening the focus of the game setting, maybe eventually creating new games in the Universe, new types of gameplay. TRIBES Extreme is just the first step in that direction."

By new types of gameplay, Scott means cooperative campaigns. "We have cooperative missions in TRIBES Extreme where a squad of players can go in and play against the computer. Players can even link missions to form their own cooperative campaigns. But what I'd really like to do is set up a cooperative campaign with an epic plot, optimized for a group to play and experience the story together." Such a goal poses a range of challenges, but Scott feels sure the time is right.

"Cooperative games really are distinct from single-player games." The balancing is different, he says, because you have multiple players participating instead of one, so the mission design necessarily becomes far more non-linear, more of an environment setup than a scripted plotline. "TRIBES as it stands poses some additional design difficulties, though, because it originated as a purely online game. We've had to construct a single-player version without disturbing that multiplayer cornerstone."

GameSpot's Starsiege TRIBES demo page is now up, giving the deal on the demo mentioned below. Here's the poop:

This demo contains three individual missions from the game which can be played on the Dynamix demo servers. Dynamix has set up demo servers that should have a higher proportion of new players, so you shouldn't encounter too many hardcore TRIBES vets at first. If you practice and drill with your teammates, there's no reason you shouldn't be ready to bloody some noses when you get the full game and hit the hardcore servers.

Though it's not yet noted on the Starsiege TRIBES - Tribes Players page , Frans points the way to a Starsiege: TRIBES demo that he's mirrored on 3D Action Gamers' Archive. There's no word on what's the deal with the demo yet, but it's a 20-something MB download.

Word from Microsoft is that Ensemble Studios' Age of Empires II Age of Kings has gone gold. Here's the poop on availability and other pimpage they sent along:

In anticipation of the long-awaited release, Microsoft has partnered with two key retailers, Electronic's Boutique and Babbages, to offer consumers the chance to pre-order the game. For a limited time, Electronic's Boutique is giving away a Limited Edition Player's Guide with every pre-order and Babbages is offering a set of Limited Edition Collector's Cards that detail each of the game's unique civilizations and offer game play hints and tips. Gamers can also pre-order the game at Microsoft's online store.

Red Storm's Rogue Spear Support page has been updated with three new Q&As dealing with technical issues associated with the Rogue Spear demo (and presumably the full version as well). Rogue Spear has gone gold, and is expected in stores next week. Thanks Frans at 3DGamers for the tip.

Yesterday's Darkstone patch (story) has been recalled (thanks Squick). Apparently there were some giant, show stopping bugs included by accident, and the patch cannot be uninstalled, so don't download or run the patch if you've got it.

3DWars has posted an interview with John Cook, lead programmer on Team Fortress 2 for Valve. The brief interview deals with John's background, as well as some basic TF2 issues, such as the changes they've made to the engine since Half-Life.

This week's Wheel of Time update has been posted to the official site (thanks Infiniti). The update kicks off with, "we're not far away from putting this bad boy on shelves (relatively, anyway)" and proceeds to talk about a number of issues related to finishing up the game. There's two new screenshots, as well as images of the swanky new WoT t-shirt they've had made up.

Version 0.65 of the Jumbot for Half-Life has been released, and is available for download (thanks Brian Jackowski). This version is said to be, "the most stable and reliable" release to date.

3dfxGamers has posted five more movies from Unreal Tournament in MPEG format. These should keep you occupied until they release the demo (hopefully later today).

Creative Labs has posted version 1.20 beta of the unified drivers for their Graphics Blaster TNT and 3D Blaster RIVA TNT2 Ultra video cards (thanks MyDrivers). This version features chroma key fixes, as well as optimizations for several games.

UK Gamer has posted an interview with Bernd Lehahn, a designer on X: Beyond the Frontier. The interview deals with the storytelling in the game, the buggy version released in Germany, and even hints about EgoSoft's future projects.

GameSpot UK has posted a preview of Legend's Unreal-engine strategy/RPG game Wheel of Time (thanks Octane). While the preview itself is fairly short, there's a number of impressive screenshots from the game that appear to be new.

GASource has posted an interview with Giovanni Caturano, lead development leader for Zetha gameZ, whose first title, DroneZ is a surreal, sci-fi third person action game (and judging by the title, may have been influenced by such notable "Z" films as AntZ and eXistenZ). There are nine accompanying screenshots, three of which are brand new.

sCary's Shack has posted a brief e-mail he received from John Carmack, which confirms that the new skeletal animation system that is being implemented into the Quake III: Arena engine will not in fact be included in the next Q3Test release (1.09), as well as word that the next version is still "a bit off". In other words, don't expect a release anytime soon.

The Playing Fields, the location for the ECTS Unreal Tournament party, has posted four AVI movies from UT, showing off the massive Redeemer weapon, the new Flak Cannon, plenty of DM mayhem, and a whole lot more.

GameSpot UK has posted a preview of Westwood Studios' top down RPG, Nox (although they're quick to point out that, "that's like describing Tiberian Sun as a top-down strategy game"). The preview is chock full of details, and illustrated with plenty of screenshots.

Force One has posted an interview with Jake Simpson, talking about the force feedback support that will be in Soldier of Fortune, as well as word that the OEM version of SoF will be completed next week. Here's an excerpt for you:

Apart from the gratuitous thud of your dead body hitting the ground, and the dull thump of bullets tearing into your living flesh. (getting a little carried away there ;) ), we'd like to try stuff like the train going over the rails in the train level, and stuff like that. Right now though, its more important for us just to get support in and stable. The immersion drivers for the Mouse for instance require a lot of looking at, and we are working with them now to fix this.

One thing to be aware of is that there will NOT be support for FF in the OEM deal that is coming down the pike in the next month or so. This is because we are still elbow deep in developing the FF support, but the OEM version has to be done next week. I'm sure you guys understand deadlines and all that :)

PlanetQuake has posted an interview with Stevie "Killcreek" Case, talking to the Daikatana level designer (and Playboy model) about female gaming, and her job at ION Storm. The interview was conducted by Hellchick, a finalist at the Female Frag Fest, where the interview took place.

While you're waiting for the demo to be released, Unrealism has posted 15 impressive screenshots from Unreal Tournament, which were taken at The Playing Fields' UT party at ECTS.

Beta 2.5 of Action Half-Life, the popular mod for Half-Life that adds realistic deathmatching to the game has been released, and is available for download. This version fixes the "say" command that was broken in the last release, and adds a number of new features as well. The Linux version isn't available as of yet, but should be released tonight or early tomorrow, according to the web site.

The official Delta Force 2 page has been updated, and now features eight new screenshots (on the screenshots page), as well as a DF2 FAQ (which mentions an October 21st release date). Thanks to the always astute Frans for the tip.

3dfx has launched 3dfxgamers.com, a site for well, 3dfx games and stuff (here's the press release with the announcement). They've kicked off the launch with some exclusive Unreal Tournament screenshots, and word that they'll be posting the exclusive UT demo soon (thanks Frans).

MacGamer's Ledge has posted some coverage of the Quake III: Arena tour, following it on the Bellevue and Tacoma stops (it would appear that they stalked the bus, as they followed it on the highway!). There's a lot of pictures, including some blurry ones of the new maps.

The humor site Penny Arcade has posted a fairly serious (and impressive) new screenshot from Dynamix' Starsiege: TRIBES 2, showing off some cool looking new buildings and environmental effects.

The Adrenaline Vault Previews Loose Cannon looking ahead at this upcoming game of driving and shooting (as well as the occasional getting out of the car and shooting) from Microsoft and Digital Anvil. The preview gives a good feel for the game, and offers a half-dozen spiffy screenshots. Here's some more on that getting out of the car bit:

Its chases involve not only cars but on foot pursuits as well. Indeed, the mixture of racing and combat makes this title different from anything else I have seen, creating gameplay more akin to a 3D action offering than a racer. It is therefore probably no surprise that Tony Zurovec, producer and director of the project, was director and lead designer of Crusader: No Remorse, a highly successful action offering released back in 1996.

Jorg Neumann, lead lesigner of Loose Cannon, says he has been wanting to create a game like this since he played Autoduel in 1985; however, he had to wait until personal computers finally offered the necessary horsepower to fulfill his vision. That said, the biggest change in the development process came about when, very early in the production, the decision was made to limit gameplay to outdoor environments due to the significant resource drain if indoor settings were included.

Mod Central Unreal has posted some info about the mutators (game types) to be included with the imminent Unreal Tournament demo from Epic's Cliff Bleszinski, who points out they will be discouraging (which I read as disallowing) user mods of the demo. Word is the demo will offer Insta Gib, Low Gravity, Pulse Arena, Rocket Launcher Arena, and Shock Arena mutators.

IPlayGames Kingpin Map Tutorial - Part 5 is on line covering clipping (a 15 yard penalty), giving a short rundown on making "odd" shaped brushes.

• The RIVA TNT FAQ now offers (legal) downloads of that tree demo dealie saying it will answer the question: "Is my PC ready for the next generation applications?" Thanks Blood.
• Thresh's FiringSquad's Introduction to Linux is aimed at Windows users.
• Overclocking Guide by 3D Rage is a guide to CPU overclocking discussing procedures and precautions, cooling, L2 cache limitations, clock multipliers and bus speeds.
• SystemLogic has posted a photo of the GeForce 256 powered Leadtek Winfast GeForce 256, which, unsurprisingly, looks like a video card.
• Ars Technica's SyGate 3.0 review and guide will help set up this proxy that allows you to share an Internet connection between several machines on a LAN.

Thanks Frans:

• GamePrix.com reviews Shadow Man.
• AGN3D reviews Independence War: Deluxe Edition.
• Gamer's Voice reviews Fly!.
• Sharky Extreme reviews the Skywell Magic Theater Pro, a Dolby 5.1 audio setup for the PC.

• The Adrenaline Vault Downloads Demo has the Rayman 2 demo, a 3D platform-type game...
• CNET.com - U.S. may lighten encryption export policy. Thanks Dan Glockenrock...
• Eudora Pro Email v4.2.1 BETA Software is now out, thanks BetaNews. After reading their disclaimers I can never work up the nerve to use Eudora betas...

Wow was I feeling 100% again yesterday. In fact, my frisky fired-up self decided to run into Manhattan in search of some parts to build that NT machine I've been planning on building (I mentioned this a while back as my plan to cure the low system resources in Win98 my use of Eudora, in particular seems to provoke--more on this in a moment). Now, as loony noted here when he went on his Slocket adapter hunt, New York City is not a hotbed of cutting-edge PC hardware, but after considerable hunting, I managed to uncover the exact dual-CPU motherboard I wanted, and then proceeded to search fruitlessly for a copy of NT Workstation in the city's lone CompUSA, and a dozen stores surrounding it (who all suggested going to CompUSA). Murphy's law had me come home with a lone CPU, and Murphy's sister's law had it turn out to be defective of all things, so my project is not really moving along towards the immediate gratification I envisioned when bypassing the mail-order route for this. In a related soap opera, turns out loony worked out the Eudora to Outlook conversion by exporting to Outlook Express first. Now he says he can't figure out how to selectively download large attachments. Like my nanna, nanna Rosanadana used to say.... if it's not one thing, it's another.

Link of the Day: Proptronics, Inc.. Home of those cardboard home entertainment systems. There's got to be a fun use for these things if they got into the right hands. Thanks Awea Kinkesch and Shadowstar.