It's more Rune-o-rama as there's a shot of some goblin heads from Rune being arted around in SoftImage on Unreality. Also, Getting A Taste of Ted Halsted on Ragnarok is another Rune interview, discussing the upcoming third-person Norse smash-and-slash game with the game's art manager.

Ok, it must be official: today is TR4 day, as Gamecenter has posted the Fast Track guide to Tomb Raider: the Last Revelation, providing basic walkthroughs of all levels in Core Design's third-person action adventure.

There's an interview with Mike Werckle on RuneNews.com kicking off the grand opening of a new Rune fan site with some conversation with this designer from Human Head studios about their upcoming third-person game of Viking combat (think large swords and axes). Here's one Q&A that discusses gameplay in this Unreal-engine game:

Phoebus: Rune will be a third-person melee / close-combat game, but I'm sure that description only scratches the surface. What singleplayer gameplay aspect in Rune do you think will be most fun? How about in multiplayer?

Mike: In single player it will be the immersion factor. We are working very hard on the story and how it contributes to game play. It is my philosophy that the "story" in a game *is* the "player's experience." This means that everything the player does contributes to the story of the game. There was nothing storywise in Half-Life that couldn't have been done with Doom, but Valve just paid attention how one sequence builds upon the next, to great effect.

In multiplayer, I don't know what will be the most fun since we don't have anything running yet.

Red Storm has released a plug-in for 3D Studio MAX to export Rogue Spear weapons or objects. The file requires a full version of 3D Studio MAX, and comes with sample weapon models.

Adrenaline Vault has posted a preview of Hidden & Dangerous: Devil's Bridge, the upcoming expansion pack for the tactical squad action game by Illusion Softworks. The hands-on preview sports a couple of new screenshots, too.

More Tomb Raider news, as Eidos' German support site has posted two patches for the German version of Tomb Raider: the Last Revelation. The version 1.1 patch fixes problems with sound cards (or the lack of one), allows keys to be redefined and increases the number of savegame slots (but breaks savegame compatibility in the process). The video patch fixes problems on slower systems and a crash in one particular level. Thanks Patches Scrolls.

GameSpot UK has posted a preview of Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, featuring new in-game shots, as well as some new concept art sketches.

New versions of the SpoonBot and TRIBES Racer have been released. The SpoonBot is a bot for Starsiege: TRIBES, while TRIBES Racer transforms the game into, well...a racing game. Also, devilishone has posted a new PK3 file that allows you to initialize all Q3A bots at startup (trying to add one without it is impossible, since the bots.txt in pk0.pk3 will overwrite yours) full details are available on his site.

The Unreal Technology page has been updated with a description of problems some people are experiencing in reading files off the game CD, with running a particular map, or after applying the 402 patch. The solution is to first copy the CD to your harddisk and then install from there. Read the full description on the Unreal Technology page.

The British publication The Times has released a new demo for Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation (available stateside via AVault and 3DGamers). The level was created specifically for the paper, and features their editor in the game, as well as their offices. The 32 MB download is only available from this download (or in the 5000 limited CD-ROMs being distributed) and is not actually from the game.

AVault has posted some side-by-side comparison shots that show off the environment bump mapping support in Battlezone II. The shots are closeups on different in-game models, allowing you to really see in detail the changes the feature adds.

id Software's Graeme Devine will be on tonight's edition of GameTime on the All Games Network. The fun starts at 6:00 EST, and you'll need a Real or compatible player. If you want to submit questions, hop onto their IRC channel at chat.pseudo.com #allgames, or use the Java client on their web site.

MacGamer has posted an interview with Epic spokesman Mark Rein, talking about (what else?) Unreal Tournament. While brief, the interview deals with his views on the new Apple G4s and iMacs, as well as his personal opinion of UT.

GASource has posted a six meg movie with gameplay footage from Picassio, a third person (and largely non-violent) title where you play an art thief sneaking around stealing famous works of art (although one can only hope that picture with the dogs playing poker isn't one of them).

There's another screenshot from the Unreal Tournament add-on on Penny Arcade showing off some more level design from the upcoming free map pack with an action shot.

As promised when the first piece of Sacrifice art was posted yesterday (story), there's a second piece of Sacrifice concept art on Developers-Corner showing off more gameplay from Shiny's hush-hush game-in-progress, Sacrifice, due down the road after the release of Messiah.

id Software designer Christian "Disruptor" Antkow updated his .plan with a step-by-step rundown on the procedure for making Rocket Arena style maps for Quake III Arena, "where everyone spawns in with all the items."

Epic Programmer Brandon "CleanMarine" Reinhart updated his .plan with a birthday wish to his brother, UT bot namesake Blake, a whole review of Planescape: Torment, and the part quoted below, giving more of a rundown on what's planned for the Unreal Tournament version of the Rocket Arena mod, as well as word on the UT Linux port:

As you know, I am working with CRT on Rocket Arena for UT. I'm the lead programmer on the project along with c0mpile from Unloaded. CRT is in charge of design, management, and getting level designers. I'm leaving for Christmas tomorrow but I'll be taking the Rocket Arena code with me.

I am collaborating with CRT because he felt he really wanted to develop a Rocket Arena for UT, but was very stressed with work and the Quake3 version of the mod. Epic feels it is very important that UT develop a strong mod community, so I am able to contribute my time to the project.

Hopefully, the first release of RA:UT will be in early or mid January. The game will include full bot support, all the classic RA gametypes, and some new stuff to boot. In addition, Epic will be adding some professional quality visual and audio content.

--

I still plan to open source the Linux port. I was looking into setting up a Linux UT bugzilla, but have not had time. I would also like to set up a public RCS of some sort, instead of releasing a tarball. Perhaps I should just release the tarball and then worry about the fancy stuff. Either way, I won't be able to look into this until after Christmas. I get back from visting my parents on the 27th.

• Intel to launch fastest Pentium III chip yet is the press release announcing the big I is shipping 750 and 800 MHz CPUs as of today. Apparently the release schedule has been accelerated to retain the CPU speed crown. Thanks CNEWZ.
• RIVA 3D reviews the Voodoo 3000 PCI.
• ELSA Erazor III Review on Voodoo Extreme.
• Sharky Extreme reviews the Intel P3-750, P3-800 & P3-800B CPUs.
• Tech Report reviews the AMD Athlon 800 MHz processor.
• Gamers Depot reviews the AMD Athlon 750.
• The Tech Zone reviews the Abit BE6-II Motherboard.
• 3D Spotlight reviews the Abit BF6 motherboard.
• Thresh's FiringSquad reviews the Abit BE6-II Motherboard.
• Overclockin.com reviews the Alpha P3125 Heatsink.

A new version 13 of the Rocket CrowBar Mod is now available, offering a bunch of new features and fixes for this Half-Life modification. There are new screenshots on the page to show off some of what's new in the new release.

There are a bunch of new Devil Inside Shots on TeleFragged showing off gameplay from this upcoming 3D action/adventure title from GameSquad, the folks behind the Alone in the Dark series.

• Asheron's Call on PC Gameworld.
• EverQuest on PC Gameworld.
• Final Fantasy VIII Demo on PCFan.
• HangSim on Glide Underground.
• Interstate '82 on GameDownloadsOnline.
• Quake III Arena (in Polish) on OpenGL.Org.PL.
• Shadow Company on Game Forces.
• Star Trek: Hidden Evil on Adventure Collective.
• Unreal Tournament on CTNews.
• Warcraft 2: Battle Net Edition on MPOG.

• In a moment I personally have been waiting for since PC Gaming was born, Deep Red Games has announced a game based on the classic animated puppet series, Thunderbirds. Thanks riot.com.au. Thunderbirds are go! Now where's the Captain Scarlet game?
• A new edition of GA-Source's The Developer's Dream is up, offering thoughts on the perfect game from Greg Zeschuk, Joint CEO of BioWare Corp., and Jonathan Wright, lead programmer at Third Law Interactive...
• GA-Source's Exclusive Ground Control Screenshot is a new shot showing off Ground Control, an upcoming RTS formally known as Genesis: Aperian 7 (expected for a Q1 2000 release)...

Over the years I think I've mentioned more than once that one of my favorite action heroes of my childhood is James Bond, inspired by the coolness of the Sean Connery movies (yes, in the theaters, that's how old I am). In case you hadn't heard, some sad news from yesterday is word that Desmond Llewelyn dies in car crash (thanks Jacek Fedoryñski), announcing the death of the actor that played "Q" in every Bond film starting with From Russia with Love (except for the pair of satires: Casino Royale and Never Say Never Again). It is nice that it turns out the most recent Bond vehicle gave Q a chance to retire on his own terms, rather than just disappear between movies, like Bernard Lee's M did.

Link of the Day: A list of Typos and inconsistencies in William Shatner's THE RETURN. As Steve, who sent this along speculates: "Someone with Less of a Life than Myself...?"

GameSpy.com interviews Josh Resnick talking with the president of Pandemic Studios about the upcoming action/RTS sequel, BattleZone II, Dark Reign II, and more. Here's a Q&A talking about the possibilities of further follow-ups to their upcoming crop of sequels:

GameSpy - Are you looking to continue on with the Battlezone and Dark Reign universe?

Resnick - A lot depends and what we are discussing right now to continue the universes and take them to new levels. It's a matter of what we decide and that's really hard to tell right now as we are focusing on finishing Battlezone II and Dark Reign II. After those two titles are complete we will be able to sit down as a team and discuss all the different ideas we have been thinking about.

The folks at Rho-Bot News send word of the recent release of Rho-Bot version 1.0, the final version of this AI modification for Half-Life. According to the update on the site, "Rho-Bot boasts such features as experiential learning, human mimicry, fuzzy-logic tactics, and runs fast even on older machines."

In a bit of a fromage alert, Raven's Rick Johnson updated his .plan with word that those SoF "Previews with hands on copy" are not quite that:

Just a note, that all of those "Previews with hands on copy" are using the Razer OEM version, which is about 3 months old. No one outside of Raven has seen the full version yet... and especially with all of the changes we've been making.

A new version 0.5 of Quake III Arena Total Control is now available, offering an update to what they call "the ultimate Q3 tool." Q3ATC contains a funname editor, a key binder, and a config editor. Thanks Kristopher Allen Kitts.

Another new version of the Quake IRC Reporter (QIR) is now available on Seti's Development Pages. The new release brings the program up to version 0.4 and adds QuakeWorld and Quake II support to this program that can report a Quake III Arena server's status into an IRC channel.

The front page of the Developer's Corner has new art from Sacrifice, currently in development at Shiny in what they call a "hush-hush" environment. The art is character art of the early placeholder models from the game, and is one of two such pieces they've received, the second is to be posted tomorrow.

A new version of Game Explorer, a server browsing program, is now available. The new release adds support for Unreal Tournament servers, and fixes some compatibility problems with the retail release of Quake III Arena, including server ping times, support for id's master, colored name support, and better serverinfo handling for rules.

VE Chat Session with Raven Software is an IRC session with Raven Software's Dan Kramer, Jake Simpson, John Scott, and Mike Schulenberg discussing progress on both Soldier of Fortune, and Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force. The chat is at 9:00 PM EST tomorrow night (Dec. 20). The chat will take place in this chat area, which will open up tomorrow at 7:00 PM EST so you can register to participate in the session. There are also instructions on this page on how to join via a normal IRC client.

I.Am.Half-Life's Half-Life FAQ has been updated with about a dozen new frequently asked questions about Half-Life. The new questions (and their corresponding answers--anything else would be cruel) mainly concern video modes and various troubleshooting tips.

Age of Wonders News has word of a new version 1.2 patch for the full US version of Age of Wonders. This second patch/upgrade fixes some glitches, enhances multi-player stability and speed, and adds features like extra AI levels and a hex grid option. A full list of fixes and enhancements in the 5 MB patch can be found here.

3D-Unlimited's Soldier of Fortune Preview is a hands-on preview of Raven Software's upcoming Quake II-engine mercenary game based on playing a preliminary build.

• The 3dfx Linux Voodoo3-Banshee Driver page has updated prerelease Voodoo3 X Server with Mesa-based OpenGL API Support for V3 and Banshee based cards. Thanks Jacek Fedoryñski.
• The Asus Beta Testing Enthusiast Graphics Card Driver page has new beta drivers for their V6600 and V6800 GeForce video cards. Thanks Planet GeForce.
• Savage2k.com has word of new Stealth G540 Win9x drivers.
• Several emails suggest that the file link on the new version 1.03.05 Voodoo3 2000-3000 Win9x Drivers mentioned the other day (story) were not uploaded for a while after the page was updated, so if you had iffy results after grabbing them, you may want to check and see if the file there now is newer than the one you downloaded.
• New versions of WCPUID and SoftFSB have recently been posted on the NrkLv_HomePage. Thanks 3DFiles.
• Thresh's FiringSquad reviews the ASUS AGP-V6800 Pure GeForce 256 DDR.
• CPU Review's Intel i840 Preview is online.
• Jsi Hardware's Super Duper Slot Fan Review.

A whole slew o' stuff has been added recently to The Quake 3 Arena Resource, including articles on setting up servers for LAN parties, clearing up issues on aliasing, how to edit the intermission screens, logs and logging games, and an ANSI C Guide for coders looking for a starter on how it will be used to code mods for Quake3. Also, Quake 3 Arena Tune-Up Guide for GeForce 256-based cards is online. Thanks Stu.

GameSpy.com announces GameSpy and Mplayer Announce Partnership, as they join forces with one of the services they have always criticized, saying "MPlayer has teamed up with GameSpy to provide GameSpy-powered server browsing to the MPlayer service. The new partnership helps broaden GameSpy's reach and MPlayer's services."

Brazil bans 6 video games, links one with shooting reports "Brazil's Justice Ministry has banned six computer games it considers violent, including one that it said could have motivated a medical student to go on a deadly shooting rampage in a movie theater last month. A ministry spokeswoman said Friday police were ordered to withdraw all the copies of games Doom, Mortal Kombat, Requiem, Blood, Postal and Duke Nukem from the stores. Vendors who disobey will be fined 20,000 reais ($11,000) per day. The ministry also said in its regulation it would rule on the fate of other 'violent' games in 120 days." Thanks Jacek Fedoryñski and Slashdot.

Rorshachs Journal has a re-uploaded version of his Quake III Arena skin collection. He's made an update about what was wrong with the original version so others will not repeat his error. Synchroplay, noted for their copious TRIBES skin packs, has gotten into the UT groove, posting their first Unreal Tournament skin pack for download, which offers a paltry three skins, but given their history, there will be more on the way soon. As if to prove their point, there are also 15 new Kingpin skins and 15 new TRIBES skins, bringing their total number of TRIBES skins to one hundred billion. They have also posted a full tutorial on TRIBES armor, vehicle and weapon skinning. ALPHAwolfs Den has She'k, his first Quake III Arena model for download, which looks quite cool, and shots of his next one, a slick Judge Dredd dealie. Finally, Trans Am's Pitstop has a new 15 skin pak file for Q3A (as well as an oil change for your Firebird).

The Absolute Terror Page has a load of new stuff about Absolute Terror, an upcoming space action/strategy title from Irish Developer Symbiosys Software. The update includes a first-look at the game's "anime-styled character artwork" and word they are aiming for an early January release. Initial distribution of the game will be made via the Internet, which they point out will save on "overheads such as shipping or retailer shelf space."

Version 1.1 of Quake3 Player Log, or Qplog3, is now available. Qplog3 is a PERL script that parses Quake III Arena log files and generates player statistics in HTML format. The program works in the background, and can even upload player data to a remote web server.

WONnet's Drive It Home Sweepstakes offers an '82 Corvette, and other merchandise related to Interstate '82 (but no Devo records). Gameaholic dot Com's Holiday Giveaway is giving away copies of Unreal Tournament and Quake III Arena: Elite Edition. 3D-Unlimited's Holiday Contest offers one signed, and four unsigned copies of Soldier of Fortune (upon release), three copies of Quake III Arena, five Copies of Unreal Tournament and Slave Zero, 12 Copies of Tread Marks (upon release), two copies of Age of Empires 2, Flight Simulator 2000, Links LS 2000, three 3dfx Voodoo 3 cards, and even more, if you can stand it.

Quake III League Sign-Up page is up, with very few details. Though the site is CTF-oriented "the league will not be limited to CTF," and clan registrations are being accepted along with individuals. Mail questions to leaguemaster@quakeiiictf.com.

• Half-Life: Opposing Force on Beyond 3D.
• Hype: the Time Quest on GameSpy.com.
• IntelliMouse Explorer on Power Gamerz.
• Jane's USAF on Electric Games.
• LogiTech Cordless MouseMan on CTNews.
• Odium on Glide Underground.
• Pharaoh on EuroGamer.
• Planescape: Torment on PC.IGN.com.
• Quake III Arena on Sharky Extreme.
• Razer Boomslang 1000 gaming mouse on Tac-Sim.com.
• Razer Boomslang 2000 gaming mouse on Dan's Data.
• South Park: Chef's Luv Shack on Gamers Depot and Glide Underground.
• Star Trek: Hidden Evil on Star Trek: Creative (in German).
• SWAT 3: Close Quarters Battle on MPOG.
• Tomb Raider: the Last Revelation on GibWorld.
• Tonic Trouble on PC.IGN.com.
• Unreal Tournament on Adrenaline Vault and Monolithic Illusions.

• Yesterday's user-made pack broke Vexar's user limit for the month, you can find his three map pack here and here. Today's bandwidth stretching exercise is the Spank Pak for Q3A (direct link) "with some suave new digits, the old Q2 3 Fingers crosshair, and a small mod to make the q3dm1 tongue move like in the ads."...
• XSReality's Mouse warfare is a mouse roundup by FRAG3 champion Hakeem...
• It wasn't clear yesterday in the post about their two new TeamFortress2 screenshots (story), but they were part of a whole new TF2 section on PlanetFortress with loads of info about what's planned...
• OZUT is a new Australian site devoted to Unreal Tournament meant as a focal point for local clans to meet and call each other names and stuff...
• Alt.Games.Quake.x Home Page is online. I guess if websites can have newsgroups, the reverse is fair...
• AOK Heaven interviews Sandy Petersen talking with the ex-id Software designer about his work on Age of Empires II: Age of Kings...

Looks like my big tease on Friday for Mahir, the Turkish stud's appearance on The Daily Show, DNapalm wrote back saying that it will apparently be tomorrow. Beyond that, several folks wrote in to point out that Mahir has been appearing lately on the Late Show with David Letterman (MrsBlue just mentioned catching his last appearance), so obviously I'm way behind on his growing TV stardom.

Link of the Day: It's all about Time looks to go about "Reforming Daylight Saving Time." Thanks Monkey Brains. Sorry about the dupe LoD that appeared here originally.
Story of the Day: Racing team to be sponsored by Viagra. Thanks Flesh. I guess this will help fight the impression that driving a fast car is a substitute for...you know.