A new version of Mesa, the 3D graphics API for Linux that acts as sort of an alternative to GL (it's not GL, but most applications can use it without any code rewrites - including the Quake titles) has been released. This version is 3.1 beta 3, and is available for download at the official FTP site (thanks Eric Jensema).

Jonric of the Vault Network sends word that Origin has officially announced Ultima Online 2, a 3D sequel to the phenomenally popular Ultima Online. This sequel features a 3D engine, "communication software" (no word as of yet if this is some kind of speech software), tutorials, and monsters and characters designed by comics guru Todd McFarlane. You can check out the official site at http://www.UO2.com.

GameSpot has posted a six page preview of Zombie's SpecOps 2: Green Berets, offering a look at this tactical shooter. The preview is chock full of screenshots as well. Thanks to Frans at 3DGamers for the tip.

Big Daikatana doings: Daikatana.com has posted a couple of brand new screenshots showing off visuals from Daikatana, along with descriptions from John Romero on the shots. The big news, however, is over on the ION Storm Daily Informant, where they have word from ION’s Vice President of Marketing and Business Development Mike Breslin that ION's long awaited shooter will be on shelves in time for Christmas. Here's the word on the releases of all the upcoming Daikatana variations:

Of the recent spate of misinformation on the release date, Breslin says: "Now that there are three Daikatana products in development, it’s easy to get the release dates mixed up. Daikatana's PC and Nintendo 64 versions will be on store shelves for Christmas 1999. In the New Year, we will be anxiously awaiting Daikatana's Color GameBoy version as well as the PC releases of Anachronox and Deus Ex."

Planet Tribes has posted three nifty new screenshots showing off gameplay from TRIBES Extreme, the upcoming follow-up to Starsiege TRIBES that will add single-player play to the game's multiplayer capabilities. Thanks CiKoTiC. In addition to the shots, they have word from the TRIBES team about the stories circulating (story) that the Dynamix brand (under which TRIBES was published) would be another casualty of the recent reorganizations at Sierra (story), quoting both Nels "Nailz" Bruckner and Scott "Captain America" Rudi on the subject, with Nels saying "To the best of my knowledge any rumors of 'Dynamix being dissolved' are unfounded."

The Adrenaline Vault News reports: "New Publisher for Babylon 5 Possible," giving hope to all the B5 and space sim fans unhappy with the games recent cancellation (story). Here's a small clip from the report:

Now Babylon 5 programmer Dan Foy has told the Adrenaline Vault that the design team has been getting inquiries from publishers considering obtaining the title. “I obviously hope it will be possible to finish the game with another publisher. We have a strong, committed team who believes in the game and has already gone through a lot to see it through,” he wrote in an e-mail to us. While inquiries are encouraging, there would still be little hope unless Sierra relinquished the completed materials. Which it might.

Foy also told us Sierra has indicated a willingness to sell the project materials. “I believe Sierra will not be renewing their exclusive license with Warner. It is set to expire soon, so it will be available.

Mark Rein made a post to GT's Unreal Tournament forum with a brief update as to the status of the D3D version of the Unreal Tournament demo (thanks evilash):

We're probably looking at some time over the week or perhaps Monday. There are few little bugs (from the earlier demo) still left to fix and test.

GamePen has posted their preview of Nocturne, Terminal Reality's spook-fest that should be arriving around Halloween (coincidence? Of course not). Thanks Billy "spooky" Wilson.

A Linux port of CounterStrike, the popular anti-terrorist mod for Half-Life has been released, and is available for download on its official site. This file is for server admins only, as there is no Linux client for Half-Life.

3DColony has posted a brief Q&A with Epic's Tim Sweeney and Carlo Vogelsang, talking about the 3D sound API support that's in Unreal Tournament. Here's a snippit:

3DC: How well is the A3D & EAX support implemented in UT?

Carlo: We support A3D 1.x just 3d positioning, EAX 1.x support hasn't changed much from Unreal. But we now support EAX 2.x enhanced environments, using more of the newly exposed EAX 2.x parameters. We're still looking into occlusion and obstruction, not sure if that will make the box version. And finally A3D 2.x is fully supported as well, Aureal did all of this code themselves and it's sounds very good indeeed.

Tim: They'll be in the full game and the next public demo. They're not in the 3dfx demo we released recently.

Silicon Secrets: Playing 20 Questions with Transmeta is an article on Pathfinder that attempts to figure out what's going on behind the veil of secrecy at Transmeta, the company where Linux creator Linus Torvalds is currently at, and which boasts funding from Paul Allen (co-founder of Microsoft) and even employs former id and Crack.com guru Dave Taylor (thanks John Nevaquaya). So what are they working on? Nobody has any clue (an announcement isnt expected until Comdex in November), but here's what the article speculates (and remember, there has been no announcement, so this really is pure speculation):

Most evidence suggests Transmeta is inventing a new kind of microprocessor so fast that it'll make a Pentium III feel like an abacus soaked in Jell-O. The chip, it's rumored, is built around a wholly new architecture, supposedly fast enough to run software emulating a standard PC's Intel x86 chip faster than any x86 chip could run itself. John Dvorak, a respected columnist for PC Magazine, stated confidently in February that the chip would be a "generic processor engine" that can run code for any kind of microprocessor -- Pentium, PowerPC, SPARC, you name it -- and translate it on the fly to its own native instruction set.

Duke Nukem (or at least someone who looks like him, anyway) is making some in store appearances at Toys R Us and Blockbuster Video locations throughout the Toronto area. If you've ever wanted to meet the big lug (who now endorses Monster Cable) you might want to check out this list of locations.

AmigaExtreme has posted an interview with an unnamed representative for Hyperion Software, talking about their Amiga port of Shogo: Mobile Armor Division (thanks PlanetShogo). In addition to Shogo, Hyperion is also working on an Amiga port of Raven's Heretic II.

sCary's Shack has posted a 3 question Q&A with id's Graeme Devine, talking about the changes planned in the next version of Q3Test, 1.09. Here's an excerpt:

Steve: What are the new teamplay enhancements planned for v1.09? (hud, location tags, etc)

Graeme: There's a bunch of new stuff for teamplay. The HUD is perhaps the most changed with teamplay locations and information. The triangle above people's bodies is now for friends, not foes, since it was felt it was too easy to locate foes with the target looming over their heads!

Computer and Videogames News has posted some news on Sierra's SWAT 3, including word that the game will not be shipping with multiplayer capability (thanks news hoes). That's expected to be released to retail in the first quarter of 2000. Even with that snafu, CVG has posted some positive things about the game based on a new build they received, as well as this quote from Koren Buckner, the game's product manager, who is confident that the game will hold its own against Red Storm's Rogue Spear:

“Rogue Spear is strategic, whereas SWAT3 is far more tactical,” Buckner informed. “You’re not necessarily going in to kill. There are many different missions, and you’re rewarded for acting as closely to real SWAT officers as possible – that means using as little force as possible. But yes, SWAT3 is definitely a competitive product to Rogue Spear.”

PC.IGN has posted two MP3 files showing off the music from Nihilistic's Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption, which they describe as "one part Eric Satie and one part Eazy-E". If that means anything to you, go check 'em out (just don't call it the "Symphony of the Night").

Easy has posted a massive guide to the Unreal Tournament demo on his site, Ez Unreal. The guide features an in-depth guide to all of the weapons, an introduction to CTF, and even a complete list of aliases (thanks Preacher).

Korean hardware site Korea Bench has posted benchmarks from a Creative Labs GeForce 256 card, pitting it up against a TNT2 Ultra board in Quake II, Q3Test, and Kingpin. These are real benchmarks, not speculation based on press release claims (thanks Russell Schultz for the tip).

GameSpot has posted an excellent article by Geoff Keighley which takes a look back at Trilobyte, Graeme Devine's old company, and the creators of 7th Guest and the 11th Hour (thanks to former T-Byter Sherman Archibald for the tip). The piece chronicles the whole saga from the company's inception all the way up through Extreme Warfare, their planned multiplayer first person shooter.

Croation developer CroTeam has announced a new FPS titled Serious Sam, which makes extensive use of portal technology. The official site has posted a slew of screenshots, and a new MPEG movie from the game as well. The game is set for a second quarter 2000 release, and has an impressive feature list that includes such things as bump-mapping, LOD, 100 square mile levels, and of course, a full multiplayer game.

FGNOnline has posted word from an "ION Storm representative" who responds to the rumors flying around that the GameBoy Color version of Daikatana would be shipping before the PC game. Here's the quote:

"We definitely do not want people thinking that the Game Boy will precede the PC version" an Ion Storm representative said. "As we understand it, the Game Boy version will not be available until March 2000, which will be decidedly after the PC release."

Tim Sweeney made a massive update to the Unreal Technology Page with word that the Direct3D version of the UT demo is in final testing now, some thoughts on OpenGL support (it's still in the works), and some advice for Voodoo 3 3500 TV users who are experiencing Internet problems (thanks Frans). Here's the status on the demo:

Now that DirectX7 is available, we're doing final testing and tweaking on the upcoming Unreal Tournament demo with Direct3D and OpenGL support, coming in the next few days.

One thing we've found on DirectX7 is that NVidia TNT2 performance is not fill-rate limited until you get to very high resolutions. During testing, performance at 640x480 seemed a bit slow, but as we increased the resolution, the frame rate was hardly impacted at all. So 1024x768 seems to yield the best overall experience on this card.

I've enabled support for 32-bit color textures under Direct3D, which significantly improve the graphical quality, with a 10-15% frame rate impact.

The Direct3D code now uses vertex buffers, which speeds up mesh and text drawing a bit.

GASource has posted an interview with Craig Sparks, the President and CEO of NetGames USA, talking about their uber-cool ngWorldStats system that's been implemented into Unreal Tournament. It's a good interview, and Craig discusses NetGames' creation, the services they offer to developers, and their future plans as well.

GSC GameWorld has posted a large AVI from their Vital-engine powered title Venom. It's available directly from their FTP site, or as a ZIP archive from 3D Action Gamers. Frans at 3DGamers also sends word that he's had an e-mail exchange with GSC's Sergey Zabaryansky, and that the demo that was supposed to be released on September 1st has been delayed to October/November so they can implement changes based on feedback from ECTS.

Saw on Descent3D that the Outrage Technology page has been updated with a new zip to aid in the creation of rooms and models for Descent 3. The zip includes a Descent format exporter plug-in for 3D Studio Max and a utility to convert .p3d files into .oof format.

The Surreal Tech Page has been updated with word from Stu on the next patch. Thanks Apache. It's pretty short, so here's the whole deal:

Patch Changes Update

The patch is now going through Quality Assurance testing at Psygnosis, so because it will be available soon, I have updated the Patch Changes List with a ton of new fixes and additions to the Drakan patch. Waste no time and check it out! New additions since the last update are marked with new.

Server Rules Format Updated

Added Surreal's "open standard" for server rules to the Server Rules File Format document. This additional information will help players contact server administrators and to obtain URLs for downloading levels and MODs.

Volition, Inc.'s FreeSpace2 Page has a few bits related to the completion of the game, including a rundown on the final stages of development, and photos of their going gold party. There are also two more new ships in their "ship of the week" dealie, as well as a new music .mp3.

On the heels of their initial release, the Blast Chamber page has a new 16 player DM map for Quake II, and the release of Extreme!PAK for Quake II, which adds new weapons, items, power-ups, armor, HUD, sounds, and more, all for the price of a 12 MB download.

New 3D Hitchhiker's Game Announced is a Next-Generation Online story with a bit more detail about something mentioned last week, a new upcoming game based on the famed Douglas Adams Novel. On a related note, though unrelated to gaming, Excite UK reports "The Hitchikers Guide is real" with word that advances in technology have brought us to the point that an actual guide will be available soon, complete with "Don't Panic" cover, and all.

Wally's Home has a new version 1.42 of the Wally texture tool. Among the changes in the new release is the addition of Sin support to the program's Quake II support, which uses Q2's native .wal format.

The 2015 Jobs page has details of job openings at 2015 for a level designer, and for a 3D engine programmer.

The Friday Knights Network Gaming Group have started registration for Octoberfest, a limited seating (50) LAN party slated for October 22-23. There will be a Q3Test one-on-one tournament and the prize will be a Q3A jersey, with other tournaments to be announced.

Thanks Frans for pointing out the European Outcast patches mentioned yesterday (story) are far from new. Also, the Windows security dealie posted yesterday (story), is for WinNT only, the Win95/98 patches will be released soon (thanks Gary).

As usual, thanks Frans at 3D Action Gamers for many of these:

• GamesMania reviews Rogue Spear.
• PC.IGN.COM reviews Sinistar: Unleashed.
• Game Revolution reviews DarkStone.
• Game Re-volution re-views Re-Volt. I'll keep re-peating that re-mark until you re-gurgitate.
• Thresh's FiringSquad reviews the Driver Demo.
• Speedy 3D reviews the Delta Force 2 Demo.
• Well Rounded Entertainment reviews Force 21.

• PlanetStarSiege has reproduced an article from a local Eugene Oregon newspaper with the news that yet another sad outgrowth of the recent restructuring at Sierra that caused the elimination of a few games and a load of jobs, will also result in the elimination of the Dynamix brand...
• Part two of Computer Games Online's Drakan: Order of the Flame tips are online...

Whee! I'm back on my "normal" (read terribly abnormal) hours, so until I manage to screw my body clock up again, the first update of the evening should be in it's intended time again (not too long after midnight). Boy, the Unreal Tournament demo is fun to play. I gotta say, though, the auto-taunt is one innovation I personally could do without, MrCoffee and I have taken to calling it the Auto-Jerk, because that's what it seems like, a way of automating the process of being a jerk, which is enough of a problem when it requires manual methods.

I mentioned last week that Jeremy from AGN was in the hospital, and that it sounded serious. To follow-up on that, Jeremy posted this update on his situation, which certainly confirms just how serious it may be. Again, I urge any who are so inclined to send along some words of encouragement, jokes, or whatever, to the email address in the update (jeremy@agn3d.com), as I imagine it will be especially helpful now that he has Internet access in the hospital. On another serious note, Taiwan Earthquake Relief on Sharky's is a page listing info for parties interested in helping after the recent quake in Taiwan.

Link of the Day: Gallery of Obscure Patents. That's right, from the Gravity Powered Shoe Air Conditioner to the Flushable Vehicle Spittoon, science marches on.