Archived News:
PC.IGN has posted an interview
with Dynamix' Scott Rudi, talking to the designer about their upcoming Starsiege
TRIBES special edition, TRIBES Extreme (thanks Hastur). It's an interesting
interview, and he talks quite a bit about the single player component, which
is in the game. Here's a bit on the new AI: First off, I'll have to say
that no AI created with today's technology can be as smart or as effective as
a human player. Sure, computer AI can do a lot of things faster and more accurately
than a person, but overall the human brain is just plain incredible. That's
why I love multiplayer games.
That being said, the chores that the AI will be asked to perform aren't really
all that difficult. I expect that the AI will be more effective at things like
repairing damaged stations or defending your base than human players. Mostly
because of the AI can focus on these things and cover the fundamentals - something
that frequently falls apart in a multiplayer game - how many times have you
been in a game and asked, "Enemies in the base? Who in the heck is covering
the roof?"
GameFan has
posted eight new screenshots from ASC Games' upcoming Unreal engine title, Werewolf:
The Apocalypse - Heart of Gaia. There's even two shots of the main character
in the game in human form (the first, to the best of my knowledge).
An update to John
Carmack's .plan has the latest version of the id software lead programmer's
worklog detailing the latest programming changes to Quake III Arena. It's all
Greek to me, but it may make sense to some of you.
FGNOnline has posted
several quotes from an interview that's set to be published in Games Business
magazine, which features id Software's Graeme Devine talking about how feedback
from Q3Test is impacting the full version of the game (thanks Shane McAllen).
Here's a brief excerpt: He added, "We have listened to their concerns
on network play, for example. We've addressed their issues and we're trying
to balance a hell of a lot more; trying to give players the gameplay that they
want. We try and listen to the new consumers and the old faithful consumers
as well."
Devine said, "It’s always an issue trying to reconcile the two camps.
The new camp wants instant death. They want to get the railgun and shoot someone
who has just appeared on the map and never played before and kill him right
away. The old school camp wants health and armour to begin with, and then they
want even more. They want their machine gun to be super powerful. In one camp
they are dying fast and in the other camp they are dying too slow. So the balance
is half way between."
AVault
has posted details on Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation's training level, complete
with screenshots (thanks Frans). The training
level, which has become somewhat of a staple in the series, features a sixteen
year old Lara (complete with pig-tails), and in addition to training new players,
features a race with another character, and sets up an important plot point
as well. Update: due to embargo issues, the story has been pulled by AVault. Expect it to return soon.
The Rogue Spear Database
has posted an interview with Greg Stelmack, talking to the programmer about
his duties on Rogue Spear, and what users can expect from the forthcoming patch.
The European version of the Darkstone 1.0.3 patch has been released by Delphine
Software (thanks VE). This patch is identical
to the North American version that was already released.
E-tailer Checkout.com
has posted an interview with Dave Walls, the creative director and designer
of Hasbro's Unreal engine title of foam carnage (or lack thereof) Nerf Arena
Blast. According to the interview, the game is set for a November release.
According to this
story on ZDNet, Microsoft's long-awaited (and apparently appropriately titled) operating system Windows 2000,
their formal successor to both Windows 9x and NT, has been delayed, yet again
to Febuary of 2000. This comes, oddly enough, in the wake of their announcement
that they are readying their "final" beta version of the OS for release.
A new full client install (3.0) of The
Heretic Fortress, a class-based mod for Heretic II, has been released, and
is available for download on its official
site. It's a big download, at almost 17 MB, but it contains everything you
need to get up and running. A server update to fix some lingering bugs is promised
next week.
Raven's Jake Simpson updated his
.plan with an update on their Quake III: Arena title, Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force,
including word that the level design is almost complete (which is not to be
taken to mean the game is finished - they still have to fill up those levels),
some kind words for Epic, and even a request for feedback about weapons in FPS
titles (for the record, loonygames is no more than three weeks away from relaunch,
Jake): We've started working on getting all the weapons into Voyager
now. There was a very interesting conversation here regarding the type of weapons
in an FPS game, their genre and game play effects. I have some definite views
on all this, but I'm more interested in hearing what you, - the game playing
public, - think about some of the weapons you've seen.
So I'm asking that if
you have a moment, drop me a line with your favorite weapon you've seen in a
FPS, (or a 3rd Person for that matter) game. Don't just say "I liked this
one, cos the others sucked" or "This weapon rocked" without giving
some reasons for why you liked what you did, or disliked what you didn't. If
I get enough replies on this, I was thinking of knocking up a little article
for LoonyBoi, or something like that - assuming LoonyBoi's pages ever return
that is:) They still have my article on Fighters for the PC which I'm waiting
to see put up:))
NGNetwork has
posted an interview with Shiny frontman Dave Perry, talking about their close-to-completion
action title Messiah (which, to quote a colleague, looks, "dialed").
Here's an excerpt where he mentioned a just-added feature to the game: We
just added protection bots, like the ones in R-TYPE that protect your ship.
They are pretty lethal and so after testing we might have to take them out,
but they are a cool feature.
Eidos
Interactive has posted a new movie from Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation.
This new movie is a combination of cut-scene and in-game footage, and is over
two minutes long. It's available in a large (39 MB) or small (14 MB) download,
although both have the same footage. Thanks Frans, who has the larger of the
two movies ZIPed and mirrored at 3DGamers.
Well-Rounded
Games has posted an interview with Toby Ragaini, Turbine's lead designer
on Asheron's Call (a massively multiplayer RPG). The interview deals with several
gameplay issues, including dealing with player killers, "heritage"
groups, and the possibility of free or retail add-ons.
This week's screenshot
is now up on the Official Pandemic
Studios Battlezone II Site. As the caption states: "the Scions charge
in fast and furious." Thanks PlanetBattlezone.
BZ2 is Pandemic's upcoming sequel to Battlezone, their cult-hit first-person
strategy game.
The Adrenaline Vault
previews Tachyon: The Fringe, an upcoming space sim from Novalogic
that puts you in the role of Jake Logan, space mercenary, whose voice is depicted by
cult-favorite actor Bruce Campbell. Here's a bit from the hands-on preview on
how that all comes together: Dropped into the middle of this conflict is
Jake Logan, your standard loner and mercenary-for-hire. As the game begins, he's
doing small-time security work out of a starbase orbiting Jupiter. He's not a
soldier, nor does he take orders from anyone other than himself. His motivation
is profit, and as such he's always on the lookout for jobs that will bring on
the excitement and large amounts of cash. Over the course of the story, Logan's
pursuit of these goals will put him smack into the middle of the growing
GalSpan/Bora conflict, and he'll be forced to make a choice as to which side to
support. The personal tale of Jake Logan and the epic battle between the mighty
corporation and the Fringe-dwellers will be told through both in-game scripted
events and cutscenes, most of which are rendered in the flight engine in order
to ensure continuity. Of particular notice is that voice-over work for the
protagonist is being done by none other than Bruce Campbell, cult hero and
veteran of the Evil Dead movies and various episodes of Hercules: The
Legendary Journeys. In the build that I played, there were several instances
in which Logan's words were used to advance the story or generate atmosphere,
and I was decently impressed with the way in which Campbell's voice fit the
image of the grizzled spacer.
A reminder that the chat session with Nihilistic mentioned yesterday ( story)
to talk about Vampire: The Masquerade--The Redemption, their upcoming third-person
action/RPG, will take place today at 3:00 PM EDT/Noon PDT. Details on how to
join are on this page.
The first demo release of Blast Chamber
for Quake II is now available (If I hear that damn T2 midi on another website,
I'm going to pull my soundcard). The demo has full CTF play, limited DM and Teamplay,
and four DM/Teamplay maps. Also included is everything required to make your own
Blast Chamber maps. In Blast Chamber players search the level for a BlastKey,
which activates the Blast Detonator, which counts down from ten before
unleashing a nuclear explosion, killing anyone not in a "Blast Chamber."
A few of these: Gameguides.com's
Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver guide is online (thanks Voodoo Extreme),
the inevitable (if a bit late) PlanetAvP
offers walkthroughs for all three of the game's classes, Gamecenter's
Command & Conquer Tiberian Sun strategy guide is up (thanks Frans),
and GameProWorld's
Age of Empires II Map Guide offers map-specific strategies.
Cyberathlete Professional League has announced that the first 100 attendees to arrive at the FRAG3 will receive a free EverGlide mousepad (coincidentally, more on these in today's Out of the Blue). Also, Aus3D interviews FragZone 2000's Phoenix and Assassin about FragZone 2000, an upcoming big gaming fest down under.
Delta-Force2.com is
holding a giveaway with a copy of F22 Lightning 3 as the prize.
I made a bad typo yesterday in the story
about the signed Doom II box I originally typed Doom III (a reflexive side
effect of typing Quake III Arena so often, for a long time I had the reverse
problem from Quake II that caused me to repeatedly type Quake II Arena). Sorry
to anyone who got their hopes raised at the idea that this was a new sequel in
the works, and thanks to all who wrote in pointing out the error.
Thanks Frans at 3D Action Gamers:
- Gamesiege
interviews Alex Saint John talking about the former MS evangelist and
boot columnist's current project, Wild Tangent,
an upcoming technology that's supposed to revolutionize both gaming and the
web...
- The Loki's Missions page has
word of the featured treatment this Quake II mod team gets in the cover mount
CD with the November issue of PC Gamer Europe, which highlights their two
single-player missions Escape
for Quake II and The Xeno Project
for Half-Life...
- To settle any possible doubts, a post to Smitty's News
confirms yesterday's report that Nocturne is gold (story).
Thanks Gone Gold...
- Cached.Net has interviews up on the
main page with a couple of famed European players, IV Griff and Hakeem,
about their attendance at the FRAG 3, Q3Test, and more...
Been a while since this space has seen a mini-review, so here goes: As has been
noted here before, one of the things I take most seriously about my action
gaming is the care and feeding of my mouse, having gone on at length in the past
about such things as the PMS mouse pad, the wheel doohickey, and the joys of
USB. I was therefore very curious when word of EverGlide's mousepads first
started popping up a while back, since the description makes them sound like
they've got a lot going for them. I finally got a hold of one, and have been
using it for the last several weeks, and I have to say, it's easily my favorite
mouse pad. Made from what seems to be a similar material to those plastic
knife-friendly cutting boards, the surface provides a good grip for the mouse,
and the construction prevents it from many of the downsides associated with our
former-favorite PMS (3M's Precise Mousing Surface) such as curling, slippage,
and wear. I'll expand on this write-up and add it to our Mouse Resources
department, but for now let this suffice as an editor's choice award (or
whatever the Blue's News equivalent is) for the EverGlide
mousepad, a great product for gamers.
Link of the Day: Riskable's Page
which has details on his totally badass-sounding car computer. Thanks
[A3D]V'alien.
Story of the Day: Dwindling supply spurs import of sperm.
Thanks Julian Owens.
Bonus Story: Maine Gets Taste of Y2K Glitch.
Horseless carriages? Thanks Scott March.
Nihilistic's Rob Huebner updated his
.plan with some pimpage for tomorrow night's IRC session ( story)
as well as a massive, detailed update on the state of their technology. If any
of this makes sense to you, I'm sure you'll find it fascinating, although even
if you don't you'll find their support for hardware accelerated Transform &
Lighting interesting.
Gamecenter has
posted their "fast track guide" for Westwood's Command & Conquer:
Tiberian Sun (thanks Frans). The guide
is essentially an excerpt from the full Prima Games book, but it's still a worthwhile
read if you want some general strategies.
Longbow Digital Arts
have released a new version (2.1) of their Tread Marks test demo (thanks Billy).
This version adds mouse control, team play, and Internet networking support
in addition to other changes.
According to Gone Gold, an authority
on this sort of thing, Terminal Reality's spooky adventure game Nocturne has
gone gold (although there's still no official announcement from the game's publisher). Expect the title to be on store shelves on Halloween weekend.
Gamecenter has posted a preview
of Monolith's Odium, offering a look at this strategy/RPG title. There's a number
of screenshots posted as well (thanks Frans).
In other Monolith related news, 3DActionPlanet
has posted an interview with Kevin Lambert, a game designer on Sanity, a LithTech
engine action game (that's played from an isometric perspective).
Dynamix has
announced that they will be releasing an on-line comic book which will detail
the storyline behind their upcoming TRIBES Extreme. The comic will be available
in three parts: the first to be released by IGN,
the second by GameSpot, and the third
installment will be available only on the TRIBES Extreme CD. The first installment
is set to be released this friday, so keep an eye out (thanks Planet-Tribes).
Outrage has posted the version
1.2 patch for Descent 3 (it's also available via the auto-updater in the game's
launcher). This patch has a slew of fixes, but also adds new enhancements for
Pentium III owners, support for EAX 2.0, reduced network traffic, and more.
There's also a new Linux server available for download, and a version 1.2.1
patch for European users, as some missing strings were left out of the original
patch. Thanks to the always astute Frans
for the tip who's also got the files mirrored over at 3DGamers.
Black & White Wire has posted their
first three interviews in Quicktime 4 format with members of Lionhead's Black
& White team. The first three are Paul Nettleton, Scawen Roberts and Andy
Bass, and more are promised soon, which should include exclusive game footage.
PlanetDaikatana has posted
a writeup of the ION Storm press reception from a few weeks back, entitled,
"Daikatana: Ready at Last". The article is very in-depth, with a full
rundown of all the game's features, and is illustrated with what appear to be
new screenshots as well.
Eidos Interactive
has posted a 25MB AVI file that contains the mission briefing for one of the
new levels in their special edition of Thief: The Dark Project, creatively titled
Thief Gold. If this is half as good as the briefings in the original game, it
gets a big ol' thumbs up from me. Update: Frans sends word that this movie isn't new, per se, but in fact a standalone version of the AVI that was included in the large version of the demo that was released a few weeks back.
The newly-launched AnachronoxNews.com,
devoted, as the AnachroName implies, to ION Storm's upcoming enhanced Quake
II-engine RPG Anachronox, is celebrating its grand opening with a new screenshot
showing off their namesake game.
A few chats to chat about, pull up a chair. First, a pair of reminders about
chats for a pair of games coincidentally related to movies: As mentioned
yesterday ( story),
there's an IRC chat session today with the developers of the upcoming space sim,
Klingon Academy, to be held today at 8:00 PM EDT (5:00 PM PDT) on the server
pc065.ed.bmc.org in channel #starfleet. Also mentioned yesterday ( story)
is a Ritual show on today's GameDive
with Tom "ParadoX" Mustaine and Robert Atkins talking about Ritual's
upcoming Quake III-engine third-person action/fantasy game, Heavy Metal:
F.A.K.K.2. The chat will be live tonight at 10:00 PM EDT (7:00 PM PDT), RealPlayer,
or equivalent, is required. Also there's another new chat on the horizon, as TheMasquerade.org
is hosting a developer IRC chat with Nihilistic Software tomorrow at 3:00 PM
EDT/Noon PDT. Details on how to join are on
this page.
According to Gamer's
Voice, Grand Theft Auto 2 has gone gold, and will be in stores on October
22. GTA 2 is of course, the sequel to the top-down game of thug violence, Grand Theft Auto.
More DS9 Screens
on GameSpot offers ten new screenshots showing off this Unreal-engine Trek
adventure, along with the following cryptic explanation: "Rather than just
post a few new screens of Simon & Schuster's upcoming Deep Space Nine: The
Fallen, we've decided to give you even more screenshots of this upcoming
action-adventure game." Okeedokee then. Thanks Frans at 3D Action
Gamers. The accompanying page, Showing Off DS9
reminds us: "The game is still scheduled for a spring 2000 release, with a
demo coming to the Web sometime this November."
An update to Mortyr.Net reiterates a tip on
how to select a separate Voodoo card over the primary graphics adapter when
playing the demo of this first-person shooter that sends you back in time to
fight in World War II. Among other things, the update also offers the following
details on the European Mortyr release, and lack thereof about its release in
the States: "Production on the European version is scheduled for October
18, 1999, with an expected street date of October 29, 1999. Unfortunately the US
dates are not set..." Thanks Frans at 3D Action
Gamers.
UnrealEngine.com
previews Wheel of Time giving a hands-on look at this upcoming action game
that, as befits the site's name, uses the Unreal engine to create a virtual
world based on the Wheel of Time book series. Here's a very short clip to
outline the game's three modes: Wheel of Time is comprised of three very
strong game-types: Single Player, starring you as Elayna in her search to
retrieve the missing seals as you journey through Shadar Logoth, the Ways, the
Blight, and the Fortress of the Light amongst other locals; Arena Match, a more
strategic (and more entertaining) form of Death Match; and Citadel Match where
each player fortifies their own citadel with traps and troops to protect their
collection of seals, then attempt to steal the seals from their opponents.
All three game types revolve around the use of Ter'Angreal, magical artifacts
that provide both offensive and defensive abilities. The tactics vary depending
on the type of game being played.
In addition to status reports on the status of the upcoming Mac versions Madden
NFL 2000, Civilization:
Call To Power, and Tomb
Raider III, a Westlake Interactive
Unreal Tournament Demo status report gives the lowdown on the upcoming Mac
version of the Unreal Tournament Demo (thanks 3DFiles.com).
Here's the skinny: Work continues on the Unreal Tournament Mac Demo,
which are currently expecting to release in about two weeks. We originally hoped
to have it out sooner, but we decided to go ahead and integrate the changes to
the 338 demo on the PC (released a couple weeks after the 3Dfx demo, version
322). This requires some work on the Mac code and some further testing, but will
mean Mac users will start with the latest demo and shouldn't have to download a
50MB demo based on 322, followed by a 10 to 50MB update to 338 later.
Current plans are still to release the 3Dfx and Software rendering version of
the demo first, followed by the Rave and/or OpenGL versions a week or so
later.
The report goes on to discuss their dilemma about whether to
support Rave, OpenGL, or both.
A new version 0.2.8 of the XaniA Proxy for
Quake II is now available. In addition to a bunch of features to refine
teamplay, the proxy also offers some cheat preventions, since it performs
checksums on the Quake II executable as well as models and sounds.
There's a giveaway on Dukworld offering a
Doom II box autographed by John Romero, Tom Hall, Jay Wilbur, American McGee,
and Shawn Green.
I'd like to thank the Academy, and of course, Frans from 3D Action
Gamers:
- CrotchBat sends word that the November print issue of PC Accelerator
magazine has a preview of Quake III Arena with screenshots and info on the
game, models, AI, and all...
- Game Forces previews
Kohan Immortal Sovereigns, an upcoming fantasy RTS TimeGate Studios. The
piece features three exclusive screenshots and an interview with the game's
Director of Development, Adel Chaveleh...
- Beta Bites'
Tales of Wonder and Woe in Asheron's Call has the fifth installment in
their ongoing preview of the beta of MS' online RPG...
- Gamecenter
has an Age of Wonders movie for download showing off this upcoming
fantasy-strategy game. The movie is 23 MB...
- The third issue of The Smoking Gun
gaming humor site is online...
Four links of the day is enough off-topic, and or bizzaro stuff for anyone's
taste, so I'll avoid laying it on too thick by simply making way for the
linkage:
Link of the Day: World Fence
News. You'd think this was about sword fighting, but nooo, it is "information regarding Fences, Gates, and Access Control."
Think it can't get any weirder? There's even a section for "fence
humor!" Thanks Awea Kinkesch and ShadowStar.
Story of the Day: Man Arrested After Hiding In A Hole For 12 Years.
Well of course they kept hunting for him... he was wanted for stealing $15.
Thanks DarkStar17 and DNapalm.
Image of the Day: A series of Tower Jumping shots on Forward Artillery
from the Asheron's Call beta. Sent by Myscha the sled dog. Banzaaaaii!
Bonus Image: iSmash... a
movie capturing an iMac keyboard versus a Ford Contour. The scary thing is how
well the keyboard stands up to the car, making me wonder which is safer to be in
during an accident. Thanks Scandalon.
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