GameProWorld has posted their guide to Ultima IX: Ascension, focusing more on strategies than a real walkthrough, so while there are spoilers in here, they're easily avoided.

A new beta version 5.2 for Counter-Strike has been released, available in both full install and upgrade files for Windows and Linux. Counter-Strike is a popular counter-terrorism mod for Half-Life. This release has a modified chasecam, fixes various crashing bugs including those in the "de_train" level, and fixes scoreboard bugs.

Ozymandias, the first film created with the LithTech Film Producer, has been released, and is available for download at its official site. The LithTech Film Producer is a completely stand-alone run-time product, and no game is required to watch the film (which is a reasonable download at only five and a half megs).

Several readers have sent in this press release regarding Eidos' slow holiday season, pointing out a section that says Daikatana has been delayed to "the quarter ended 31 March 2000." This is not an announcement about further delays for Daikatana, as it had already been announced that the game was going to be released in the first quarter of 2000, and the first quarter ends, on the 31st of March. If the game has suffered another delay, no word of it can be found in this press release.

Nearly a month after the other European patches (story), Sierra Studios has released the Spanish version 1.0.0.1 patch for Half-Life: Opposing Force for download from their ftp site (685 KB).

Insomniax.net has posted a brief multiplayer guide to Battlezone II, featuring some handy hints, as well as some entertaining diagrams for this recently released first-person title.

Steve Pearsall: Live From the Thieves' Guild is an in-depth interview on GamesMania with the project director of Thief II: The Metal Age, the upcoming sneaky action game by Looking Glass. The five-page article covers a lot of ground on the title, including the story (with a separate page containing spoilers), the mechanical technology depicted in the game, the AI, the possibilities of a multiplayer game and another sequel, and much more. There's a bunch of (mostly) new screenshots as well. Here is a bit of speculation on those sequels:

GM: Thief Tournament?

SP: (laughs) Theftmatch? I don't know. We're struggling with the name. We just call it Thief Multiplayer as an in-house title. I'm sure the marketing guys will be able to think up some catchier name than that.

GM: What about a Thief 3 with a single player campaign? I know it's hard to think that far ahead, but should the sales merit, do you have ideas for a third one?

SP: Oh definitely. To tell you the truth the backstory behind Thief was originally conceived as a trilogy. So we actually have design documents and fiction documents already covering Thief 3 that were in part developed both in Thief 1 design phase and in the Thief 2 design phase, and there are elements in Thief 2 to support the continuation of the storyline into Thief 3.

According to this story at ZDNet, Transmeta, the super-secret company that's working on some sort of processor code-named Crusoe, will be announcing details of their technology tomorrow. A statement from the company says that tomorrow will herald, "the introduction of Transmeta and our new Crusoe processors, the world's first family of software-based smart microprocessors." Two Transmeta employees of note are Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, and none other than former id Software designer and Crack.com founder Dave Taylor.

FVFWorld has posted a tutorial by Hap, the lead programmer on the original Future vs. Fantasy mod, as well as FVF: Redemption, and G-Sector. The tutorial deals with compiling the Quake III Arena game source using Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0, and promises to be the first in a series.

Epic's Erik de Neve has released a new version of the beta Direct3D patch for Unreal Tournament on the Unreal Technology site. Here is the update:

This second incarnation of the beta now draws double sided actor polygons correctly - i.e. fixes the mysterious disappearance of the CTF flags! ;-)

As before, to install you need to backup the d3ddrv.dll that is in your UT system folder and replace it with the new file.

There is a new FreeSpace 2 Guide online at GameFaqs. The comprehensive document provides general tactics, detailed tips on all the missions, and overviews of the weapons and ships in Volition's acclaimed space sim.

Damage Gaming interviews David Msika, talking with the lead level scripter over at Shiny about his work on Messiah, Shiny's upcoming third-person game of possession. Level scripter is not a common job description, which is because of the unusual way events are handled in Messiah. Here's David's description:

Scripting is the link between the programmer's code, the artist's work and the game, which pretty much gives full control on the outcome of Messiah. The scripting language has been developed, and improved constantly, by Messiah's programming team (Michael 'Saxs' Persson, Torgeir Hagland, and Tony Bennet). Every little aspect of the game design has to go through scripting in order to make it into the game. Using C++ functions and visual art (textures and geometry) I can set up special sequences, script complex situations including a lot of character interaction, add impressive visual effects, and design cut scenes between the levels of the game. There are three people on the scripting team; Andrew DeLap, Joe Virskus, and myself. Scripting is specific to each project, but the logic remains the same.

GA-Source interviews Russell Ritchie talking with the managing director of Promethean Designs about Picassio, their upcoming game that puts you in the skulky role of an art thief. In an interesting quote, Russell says the game "has a plot with a twist in it that puts 'The Sting' to shame."

• Beyond3D interviews John Brothers talking with S3's VP of Architecture (Mike Brady would be so proud) about what's up over at S3, including details on the Savage2K's bandwidth and T&L support.
• Tweak3D's GeForce 256 Tweak Guide is online and likewise there's a short article on eliminating pauses/stutters in Q3A on a GeForce card on Dayton's Misc. Thanks Ryan Stotts.
• Guillemot 3D Prophet is reviewed on Sharky Extreme and Guru3D.
• Leadtek Winfast GeForce 256 is reviewed on Exxtreme3D.Com and AGN Hardware.
• TerraTec XLerate Pro soundcard is reviewed on BoomGames Interactive.
• Sys Cold-Fusion 1000 is reviewed on CPU Review (still carrying that pop-up ad) with game benchmarks, and part two of the review offers synthetic benchmarks.
• Intel 840 Chipset is reviewed on HardwareCentral.
• Two PPGA Heatsinks are reviewed on DocHardware's.
• Palo Alto ATCX Convertible Case is reviewed on Ars Technica.

If you are one of those experiencing an "Expected { got (B3)" error when trying to play Half-Life or TeamFortress Classic online, this is due to a temporary problem with Sierra/Won.net's network. I.am/Half-Life sends word of a workaround that can overcome this until the problem is fixed, which they say should be within a few days. If you get this error, just delete the Half-Life temp file "favsvrs.dat," and you should be in business. For more details, see the "What's New" section at I.am/Half-Life or I.am/TFC (where there are also nine new maps for download).

The [NME] Homepage has a new quickie Quake III Arena mod that adds an encumbrance system to the game, where carrying a BFG causes you to move at 80% of standard speed, scaling all the way up to the gauntlet which makes you "a veritable human torpedo" moving at 130% of normal speed. The mod is described as a quick hack, but may be the basis for a future class-based system.

DecimalWeb has the first release of the Decimal mod for Quake III Arena, which replaces the standard scoring system with one that rewards you incrementally based on the amount of damage you deal out to your opponents.

Merc's Teamplay Mod is a small beta Quake III Arena modification that adds voting rules to Q3A that govern joining teams, kicking players, and the game's time limit.

There's an article on Unreal Filmmaking on Machinima.com that goes into the basics of making Unreal movies, though some knowledge of UnrealEd (or a willingness to acquire some) is going to be required to put this to use.

The Playing Fields CPL qualifier will fly the winner of this UK tourney to the US to compete in the upcoming $100,000 Razer/CPL tournament in addition to their own £1,000 first prize. Also, the Savage UK Q3ctf league is now accepting clan sign-ups. In addition to the registration, there is a survey to fill out to express preferences as to how the league will be run. Finally, Artificial Intelligence-Bot Challenges will offer weekly challenges in Unreal Tournament offering specified objectives under various scenarios on different game types, with the best time to complete each challenge to win.

• 3M Precise Mousing Surface on G3d.
• BattleZone 2 on Speedy 3D.
• Crusaders of Might and Magic on The Adrenaline Vault and Gamers Central.
• Descent 3 Mercenary on Computer Games Online.
• FreeSpace 2 on GAMEZReviewz.
• Gabriel Knight 3 on Gamelinks.Net.
• HangSim on GamesFirst.
• Microsoft IntelliMouse with IntelliEye on Tech Arena.
• Rayman 2 on PCGameREVIEW.
• Slave Zero on GamesFirst.
• Wild Wild West: The Steel Assassin on GameOver.

• In the latest installment of GA-RPG Mythology with BioWare Corp., Designer Brent Knowles talks about the skills needed in becoming a game designer...
• PC Top Games now has over 500 game-related desktop wallpapers for download and The MeBot Pages has got seven Unreal Tournament wallpapers and three more from Half-Life, all in various resolutions. While we're at it, oGL rules has a Quake screensaver with the Quake, Quake II, and Quake III Arena logos...
• ThrushWave Technology sends word The Rift, their 3D RTS, is a first round winner of the Game Developers Conference's Independent Game Awards. They expect the game to be available "early this summer," and a playable demo "featuring several missions and many of the novel units from the finished game" on February 9...

Wow, it's so cold up here in the northeast US that folks are walking around with witch's breasts in their pockets to keep their hands warm. A Sopranos anecdote to share before the subject of the show gets a well-deserved rest here, my sister-in-law has been telling my wife and I for a while that her friend (who was at our wedding) would be appearing in a few of this season's episodes, but this did not prepare us for the premiere where it turns out she plays Tony's sister Barbara, which means we had one of the Sopranos sitting at our table at our wedding(!). Just a good thing it wasn't Anthony Jr., since we didn't serve ziti.

Link of the Day: YourMom! Yo' mama jokes in the style of Yahoo! Thanks Tymetodie. There doesn't seem to be a customizable portal yet... too bad, I like the sound of my.yourmom.
Story of the Day: Microsoft certificate bug crashes Netscape browser. Thanks Rabbi Bob by way of PC911.
Bonus Story: Spanish town abandons annual goat-toss. Basically we'll post any story that touches on the subject of goat-tossing. Thanks JLF.