Archived News:
Dynamix programmer Rick Overman updated his
.plan with some details on what he's been working on with the TRIBES 2 engine,
including a request for help on Mac and Linux sound API programming. Here's
what he had to say: But back to the coding front... I'm starting to research
and design the sound system for the Tribes2 engine. Under Windows we'll obviously
be using DirectSound, A3D and EAX. I'm a little new to sound scene and gottchas
on the Macintosh and Linux platforms. If there is anyone out there with a few
words of wisdom concerning Macintosh SoundSprockets or the various sound API's
under Linux I'd like to hear from you (rick.overman@dynamix.com).
I just finished up the terrain generation and texturing editors for Tribes2.
Forget everything you knew about making terrains in Tribes1, I started from
scratch on this one with MOD makers in mind. It's like Bryce custom tuned for
Tribes. In engine, nice gui interface, instant feedback. Just takes a few seconds
to generate something truly amazing.
Shiny-head Dave Perry made a post to the
official Messiah message board with word that the long-awaited demo for
the game will in fact be released tonight, although it is coming a little later
than expected (thanks dragor). Here's
the scoop: Well the testers have given the team their approval that the
game is OK once 4 final bugs are fixed. (None a big deal)
Then it's over to me. For the final OK. I am itching to play.
So we called Gigex and Gamespot, they both agreed to stay late tonight to get
the demo.We promised the 19th. It's still the 19th!
We will deliver the file to GIGEX by 11PM Pacific Standard Time. Gamespot.com
estimates that they will have the link live by 12:30AM.
Tonight is Messiah night!
FilePlanet has
posted a version 1.1 patch for Nerf Arena Blast, the foam-based first person
shooter. The patch fixes Direct3D problems for NVIDIA users, problems with international versions of Windows, and other bug fixes, in addition to new team game improvements and advanced server options.
Eidos Interactive has released the demo for Urban Chaos, Mucky Foot's third
person action title. The 25.1 MB demo is
available from CNet (thanks TC, who has a
mirror up at MeccaWorld).
Sharky Extreme has posted two
screenshots from the soon to be released DirectX 7 benchmarking program,
3DMark 2000. Why should you bother to check them out? Because 3DMark 2000 uses
the same engine as Max Payne, the upcoming third person action title from Remedy
Entertainment and 3DRealms. And since they haven't released a new Max Payne shot in ages, this is the best you're gonna get for the time being.
Unreal Universe has posted an
interview with Shane Caudle, a designer for Epic who worked on levels, models,
skins, and even helped out on the programming on Unreal Tournament. The interview
was conducted before UT went gold (judging from the question that begins, "with
UT nearing completion") but Shane has some interesting things to say about
level design, and even discusses what he'd like to see in future Unreal technology.
Epic's Stephen Polge updated the Unreal
Technology Page with details on how to use Unreal maps in Unreal Tournament
(thanks Voodoo Extreme). Here's the scoop: Unreal
I content is automatically replaced by Unreal Tournament content if you run
an Unreal I DM map with one of the Unreal Tournament gametypes. However, we
recommend that you manually replace the Unreal I inventory items in your level
with their UT equivalents and release an updated version of the map. Otherwise,
both the Unreal I and UT versions will be loaded on the content, which will
cause swapping on clients with low amounts of memory.
Stomped has posted four more of their Quake
III: Arena character renderings, making 17 of 29 total available. This batch
shows off Razor, Tank Jr., Klesk, and Cadaver.
GASource
has posted 15 new screenshots from Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, along with
a brief note that Eidos is saying that the game is, "nearing completion".
Here's two interviews for you to check out on this slow Friday afternoon: Unreality.org
has posted an interview
with Tim Jervis, level designer on Legend's recently released Wheel of Time.
Also of note is Surreal News' interview
with Satish Bhatti, a programmer for Surreal on Drakkan and their unannounced
super secret project.
There are three Quake III
Arena MoCap Videos on the Shugashack showing off character animations from
Quake III Arena to demonstrate how Paul Steed is using motion capture technology
in the game. There are a bunch of screenshots there to give a sense of what this
is about before taking a tumble on the downloads.
Tactical Planet has posted an
interview with Rod Fung, Sierra Studios' producer on SWAT 3. Rod talks about
working with the LAPD, looking back on the game now that it's complete, and
how it differs from the competition.
Sonic Mayhem, who composed the Quake
II soundtrack, and are contributing to the Quake III: Arena soundtrack, have
announced their intention to make a second album, Quake
III NOISE, a musical CD with tracks, "from and inspired by" Quake
III: Arena (thanks Redwood over at Stomped).
Voodoo Extreme has posted an
interview with Kenn Hoekstra, Raven's project administrator on their two
upcoming titles Soldier of Fortune and Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force. Kenn
talks about the violence in SoF, the game's influences, other titles he's looking
forward to, and ( cough) the anatomically correct Mr. T blow-up doll.
An update to Brandon
"GreenMarine" Reinhart's .plan gives word from the Epic programmer
that, contrary to expectations, the Linux Unreal Tournament executable will not
be included in the retail Unreal Tournament box, but will rather be made
available for download when the game is available for purchase: Earlier I
said that Linux UT would be available out of the box. GT decided that they
didn't want to support a Linux version and didn't want it in the box. We decided
not to argue the issue, so the Linux UT libraries and executables will not be
available in the box.
Not much status other than it's not happening right now, John Carmack updated
his .plan with word that the Linux version of the Quake III Arena Demo Test
will not be released last night/this morning, as well as the latest edition of his
worklog. The update went up in the dawn hours today
(Friday), but is dated the 18th, so it sounds like the tomorrow in there means
today: Linux version isn't going to make it tonight. We got too busy with other things. Sorry. Tomorrow.
* shrink zone, grow hunk
* flush memory on an error
* fixed crash pasting from clipboard
* test all compiler optimizations -- 5% speedup
* fixed major slowdown in team games with large numbers of players and location
markers
There is an audio interview in the Tech Radio
Archives where you can listen to Epic's Mark Rein talking about Unreal
Tournament, Epic's just-completed first-person shooter, expected on US
store shelves Monday. The interview is in .mp3 format, and is about a 14 MB
download.
Damage Gaming
interviews Patrick Soderlund talking with the CEO of Refraction about
Codename Eagle, their action title that puts you in the line of fire on foot as
well as in a variety of vehicles. The conversation discusses the game's
reception in Europe, where it was just released, as well as the
upcoming US version.
The deluge of Thief II Content on Thief2-MetalAge.com
continues, as they've posted a collection of a half-dozen pieces of concept art
from the upcoming sequel to Looking Glass' stealthy single-player shooter.
Unlike much concept art, which are often sketches, these are full color paintings.
The Illusion Softworks homepage
has word that the European version of Hidden
& Dangerous-Fight For Freedom has gone gold. Thanks KillJoys.
This page has some
screenshots for the H&D add-on.
The [gRiD] homepage has the first release
of GSB-Live, which allows
you to monitor the action on a Half-Life/TeamFortress Classic server
without actually joining the game.
At this point, this has to be the Internet's most comprehensive daily listing of
game reviews. Hell, there are more bullets here than in the final scene in Scarface!
- Quake redone Quick
has nothing to do with the original speed freaks at Quake done Quick,
but in fact outdoes their original speed run through Quake by over two full
minutes...
- The Stratos Group has posted an
official addendum to the manual for Age of Wonders filling in some of the
blanks in the original documentation...
- This NetGames USA
Press Release announces their über-stats support for Ludus Design's
Quadra, a puzzle game of all things (I guess there goes the "frags per
hour" stat)...
- There are ten new screenshots from Klingon Academy on A Talent for War...
Okay, here's the last status report for a while on the state of the intermittent
failure of the .plan files
and other areas of the site that call on Perl scripts failing. The good
news continues as yesterday's discussions about this lead me to continue my
optimism, as it sounds like we will be acting on the problem as soon as next
week, so I look forward to hopefully being able to provide good news in this
regard soon. In the meantime, your continued patience on the occasions when
clicking on links for .plan files and messageboard posts is appreciated, as
until this is addressed, they will continue to produce the occasional error
instead of the expected output.
Link of the Day: A revisited LoD classic, as The
Mullet Homepage has been updated with more homage to that hairstyle you just
know is gonna come back one of these days. Thanks NippleEye.
Funny Story of the Day: What! No
Chalupa!! Drop the chalupa!!!!!!!
Sad Story of the Day: South Park Actress Dead.
Not meant for humor value by any means. Mary Kay Bergman played Ms. Cartman,
Stan's dreamgirl Wendy and more on South Park, as well as voices in things like Star
Wars: The Phantom Menace, The Iron Giant, Mulan, and recently
assumed the role of Daphne in the new Scooby-Doo videos.
|
Twitter 
