Archived News:
There's a
Mac Descent 3 patch on Inside Mac Games that brings the Mac version of D3 up
to 1.3.2, fixing problems with PXO, Parallax's online service, problems with
peer to peer multiplayer, and more. Thanks Descent3D.
There's an interview with Robert Bob White
on Source.Net talking with the design team leader on Deus Ex, ION
Storm's upcoming action/RPG. The Q&A, which is also available en
Français, discusses progress on the Unreal-engine game, and offers four new
screenshots. Thanks Voodoo Extreme.
Uwe Girlich's Demo Specs page has a new version 3.3.0 of the Little Movie Processing Centre, as well as updated documentation by way of the unofficial DM2 specs v1.0.4 and the Recording FAQ v1.1.3. Uwe includes word on how these updates are related to the Quake II Relay project and how that could affect the handling of demo recording in Quake III Arena:
These 3 updates are strongly correlated and show my support for the
Quake II Relay project (http://www.planetquake.com/relay). This Quake II
server modification introduces an extension to the well known DM2 file
format and it was my duty to describe it and support it in LMPC.
This project may show a new direction for the Machinima community. The
modified server stores a recording during the game play in a file (similar
to server recordings). This file can be edited (with LMPC and a text editor)
and reloaded into the server. Now it can be replayed by any client, who
connects into this server. If we can recreate a similar modification for
Qake III Arena, we don't need any reverse engineering of the DM3 demo format
or the network protocol at all.
Epic's Brandon '<what-color-would-you-like-today>Marine' Reinhart updated the Unreal Technology page with some enthusiast words about upcoming mods for Unreal Tournament, and how creating a successful mod could land you a job in the gaming industry if you have the talent and will to pursue such opportunities. Here is an excerpt:
There are a lot of opportunities out there, you just have to drive
yourself. If you've done a Quake or Unreal mod, definitely consider
Unreal Tournament. Everybody at Epic is very open with answering
questions. We won't fix your code, tweak your level, or polish your
art, but we can point you towards resources and we can give you the
tools to educate yourself.
The days of garage game developers are not over. In fact, its a hidden
renaissance. You don't see entire game companies popping out of
nowhere, but you do see a large number of very dedicated people
getting into the industry. So you've always dreamed of making a cool
mod? Go for it. (And hey, do it for Unreal Tournament. You never know
where it will take you.)
SoFCenter has posted the first
part of their ongoing Soldier of Fortune Designer's Diary, by Raven's Eric
Biessman. In this first, brief installment, Eric explains what the past week
was like at Raven, as they were in crunch mode on the SoF demo (which is now
scheduled to be released tomorrow).
The Unofficial Half-Life FAQ has been updated to version 1.23.2000, and is
available for download on its
home page as a ZIPped HTML file. This update contains an overhauled Team Fortress Classic section in addition to other changes.
Tweak3D has posted a pair of new screenshots from Shadows of Reality, the upcoming Unreal-engine game by Nevolution. Earlier reports of new images ( here and here) referred to it as a yet-to-be-announced title, but a little digging in the archive unearthed this story that confirms Shadows of Reality to be the title of Nevolution's cyberpunk 3D role-playing game.
A new beta 2 version of Heretic II Siege is now available, offering a large number of improvements to this class-based teamplay mod for Heretic II, including a new Succubus class, customizable taunts, new models, skins and icons, map and item fixes, and much more.
This story on EvEm.org.au
gives the lowdown on how to restore the long-lost crosshair health function in
Quake III Arena without any files or modifications, simply by using some Q3A
console commands. The downside to the technique is that it involves setting
r_picmip to "0" which needs a pretty beefy system to handle without
too much of a performance hit. However, if you can run the game acceptably using
these commands, it will allow you a razor thin circular crosshair that indeed
gets redder as you lose health.
Unreal Universe Interviews Juan Pancho Eekels
talking with the lead level designer at Digital
Extremes about his work on Unreal Tournament, UnrealED, and an attempt to
pry loose hints about D.E.'s next Unreal-engine game for which he's heading up
the level design team.
The aGSM website has a new version
2.33c of aGSM (alternative Game Server Monitor), a freeware Win32 program for
finding and monitoring LAN and Internet game servers. The new release adds
support for 13 more titles, and aGSM now features support for 33 games,
including Quake III Arena, Unreal Tournament, and Age of Kings (the full list can
be found on this page). The new
version also features 100% customizable HTML output, loads of GUI improvements
and bugs fixes, and many more new features.
No, that's not the title of some sort of all-male Debbie Does Dallas, it's a
headline for this announcement
that game fans interested in getting in-person first impressions of Sacrifice,
Shiny's upcoming real-time fantasy multiplayer strategy game can do so at GamesCon's
upcoming game exhibition in the Bay area February 19-20, where Dave Perry will
be on hand to show off the game.
Adventure Gamer
interviews Adam Bormann of Sierra Studios about his work as a design assistant
on Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned. The Q&A goes
into the making of the game, the public's reaction since its release, and the
possibility of another installment of the Gabriel Knight series (I keep waiting
for the one where he gets the car named Kitt).
A new version .70 of the Sabaneta
2050 modification for Half-Life is now available. This is a deathmatch mod
that pits a pair of teams against each other in a battle to kill the opposing
team's leader while protecting your own. Among the new features in this release
is a new morale system that boosts players near the team leader, and a new
experience system.
Tharger's Gibs has the debut release
of their RailWars modification for Quake III Arena, where a player starts
with the railgun and infinite ammo, with no other weapons present in the game.
Accuracy and hit streaks are logged, and the server can change how much damage
the rail does. RailWars works with any map, any game type, and can be used with
bots.
The Checkered Flag-Gold Cup Website
has the first beta release of the Checkered Flag-Gold Cup modification for Quake
(1), which, in the style of the classic Quake Rally, and the seminal Quake
Karts, puts you behind the wheel of a large automobile. The new mod is described
as "Quake Rally with better physics, tracks, weapons," and in the
biggest difference from its predecessors, bot support.
A page for NovaWorld's
Delta Force 2 Lock-n-Load tournament is online. Though no dates are listed,
they're very specific about the starting time of 4:20 PM PST--the banner on top
of the page says "Wednesdays," though the graphic also says 5:00 PM
PST, so some clarification may be in order here.
A little foray into history this morning. I was tooling through the news
archive, and I noticed that this is about the one year anniversary of the
beginning of the Blammo project that resulted in our cool searchable news
database. It's also just over a year since first amused mention of Swatch
InternetTime, but it looks like this one hasn't caught on, at least around
these parts. Also, for you real old-schoolers, it's now been over two years
since last mention of Ranger Gone Bad 3 (and that mention was a
joke about its non-existence at that), the ill-fated Quake movie sequel that
would now be as over-budget as Heaven's Gate were it to still be in production
(I think it's pretty safe to give up on this one). To finish on a high note,
however, I'll point out this is about the three year anniversary of one of the
all-time great Quake cinematic efforts, Operation Bayshield... the
unfortunate note on this is I can't find a valid mirror of the movie anywhere.
If I can dig one up, I'll post it tomorrow, like AMC, someone has to try to keep
these classic films from fading into obscurity.
Link of the Day: Lunar Embassy.
It's like The Man who Sold the Moon without having to give Robert
Heinlein's estate a cut. Thanks Lord J.
Story of the Day: Greeks making waves over Sea-Monkey invasion.
Thanks Scott Ames.
Image of the Day: Tom
Arnold Never Dies. Thanks Larry Hastings.
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