Archived News:
Amidst the flurry of Half-Life patches released yesterday, one file was overlooked, the update for Half-Life: Initial Encounter. This is a retail edition that included Half-Life:
Day One and a stand-alone version of Team Fortress Classic, version 5.0.1.5. The patch to update it to version 5.0.1.6 can be downloaded from Sierra's ftp server (5.6 MB). Thanks to Valve's Erik Johnson for the clarification.
id Software's Paul Jaquays updated his .plan again to point out that the MSWord version of the just released Q3Radiant Manual ( story) contains a formatting error, and a fixed version has been released. Here is the deal:
Several astute mappers have let me know about a formatting error in the MSWord version of the editor manual. The graphic for the shader manual on page 56 overlays the text. If you've downloaded this already and you know your way around Word, it's an easy fix. Select the graphic and edit the word wrap to wrap above and below the picture. The file has been corrected and is now live on the id ftp site. It will be live on the Quake3arena site by tomorrow morning.
Webmasters: if you've mirrored these downloads on your own site, you may want to grab the revised zip or edit the word file yourself.
I've also been informed by one mapper that he's undertaking a .pdf file conversion for users of Acrobat.
The fixed manual can be downloaded from id's ftp server or the Walnut Creek mirror (417 KB).
There is a detailed preview of Command & Conquer: Firestorm online at GameSpot, examining the story, new features and units, and other improvements in Westwood's expansion pack to Tiberian Sun, which is due for a release next month.
incitegames has posted a handful of new Thief II: the Metal Age screenshots taken from the first beta build, showing off areas from Looking Glass' stealthy action game that haven't previously been seen in alpha versions.
Epic's Tim Sweeney updated the Unreal
Technology page with a roundup of recent Unreal news, as well as a brief
statement to fans and developers that despite their recent announcement that
consoles will be a large part of their strategy in the future, they have not
given up on PCs as a gaming platform. Here's a brief excerpt: Playstation2,
Windows, Linux, and other platforms will all, in time, be linked with the Internet
being the common medium. And just as interesting are the permutations, such
as the support we have today for Windows, Mac, and Linux gamers playing together
on the Internet on the same servers, downloading the same user maps, and executing
the same platform-neutral UnrealScript code.
The Internet bashes down barriers between platforms and enables the best ones
in each market to succeed. An optimal platform for couch-sitting, joystick-based
TV access is quite different than an optimal platform for desk-sitting, mouse-based
high-res monitor access, and the Internet is the communications medium that
will bring them together. Game engines--just like web browsers are for web pages--will
be the way to bring great games to multiple platforms.
GA-Source has posted four new screenshots of Blitz - Disc Arena along with an update on the development of Southend's upcoming first-person arena fighting game.
RPOV has posted an
interview with Frederic Gaulbaire, general manager at French developer RayLand
Interactive, where he's working on their space-sim Big Bang. The interview deals
with several subjects about the game, including word that they are currently
looking for a new publisher, as their previous agreement with Project 2 has
fallen through.
The official MDK2 site has been updated with seven new screenshots, all featuring the robotic dog Max, one of the three characters you get to play in BioWare's third-person action sequel. MDK, as everyone knows, stands for Motor-oil, Diesel, and Kerosene.
id Software's Paul Jaquays updated his
.plan with word that he's released the manual for Q3Radiant. Here's the
scoop: The Q3Radiant Manual is Done!
... and it's available for download. The manual is big ... 163 formatted pages.
It's being released in two distinct "flavors." One is an MSWord version (created
in Word 2K on the PC, which appears to be very backward compatible with earlier
versions of MsWord) and a somewhat "raw" HTML version converted directly from
the Word document. The document contains a number of embedded graphic files
and organizational formatting, so ripping it down into a text document didn't
appear to be the way to go.
Each of the versions is zipped and run just under half a meg each. Unpacked,
you'll need 2 megs of drive space.
Q3Radiant
Manual (HTML version) on id ftp site
Q3Radiant
Manual (MSWord version) on id ftp site
Mirrors:
Q3Radiant Manual (HTML
version) on quake3arena.com
Q3Radiant Manual (MsWord
version) on quake3arena.com
A couple things to note.
The document is targetted at version 192 of the Q3Radiant editor, which Robert
Duffy is still working on. Some of the things documented in the manual are not
in the released versions of the editor.
Second, if you want to mirror these files on your own site, go ahead. If you
want to make a more functional, robust HTML version (one that does not require
a full download to view), we (id) want to see it and approve it before you make
it available for public viewing. This document is covered by the same EULA that
covers our earlier tools releases.
Licensed developers of Quake 3 Engine product should contact id directly for
this manual.
UnrealEngine.com sends word of an
update to the Unrealty web site.
The site has been completely overhauled, and now contains detailed information
about the Unrealty client and editor, their tools for making real estate demonstrations.
UnrealtyED has been completely rewritten from Epic's original UnrealED, and
a trial version will be available for download on March 6th.
ION Storm's Bob White sent Unreal Universe an
update on their Unreal-engine RPG Deus Ex. According to Bob, work is progressing
smoothly on the last stage of the game's development, with the programmers squashing
bugs, and the writers ironing out the dialogue, in addition to other preparations.
Unreality has posted a
Q&A with Human Head's Mick Beard, talking to him about his background
in the industry, his thoughts on working with the Unreal engine, and even some
stuff about Rune, their third person action game.
Activision and WON.net will be taking sign-ups for the Vampire: The Masquerade — Redemption beta test at midnight (PST), Friday February 18. The sign-up page lists the criteria for selecting testers, and up to 1,000 players will then be able to experience Nihilistic's blood-sucking action RPG first-hand in multiplayer. Thanks James Sanderson.
A new version of TFC-Bot is available for download. TFC-Bot is a utility to announce Team Fortress Classic games in realtime through IRC, and the latest version adds new features like "requesting Player-Stats via Private Message to the Bot," and fixes a few bugs.
There is a brief Q&A on Command & Conquer: Renegade at Battleground: Renegade, grilling Westwood's Aaron Cohen on their upcoming third-person action game (thanks VoodooExtreme). The Q&A offers an update on Westwood's plans for the game, but does not give in to prying questions about any multiplayer features.
Unreal Kingdom has posted a quick interview with Tim Sweeney, talking to Epic's lead programmer about console gaming, Digital Extreme's Dark Sector, and a few other topics.
Just when you thought the stream of Thief II previews had dried up, PC Zone UK sneaks up on us with a new look ahead at Looking Glass' soon to be released silent first-person action game. While the article doesn't appear to include many new screenshots (some are just from the demo), there is also a sidebar Q&A with project director Steve Pearsall. Thanks RPG Vault.
A new version of the Q3A Shader Editor is now available for download, adding new features and fixing a few problems in this tool that handles the fully-scripted texture entities of Q3A and presents them in a Windows GUI.
There are two new releases this afternoon of log parsing programs...version
4.36 of AEstats has been released,
which adds support for Unreal Tournament's ngStats files in addition to other
changes. Also, version 1.3 of Fragistics,
the program formerly known as Q3Logger, has been released. Amongst the changes
in this release are the ability to sort players by any stat, as well as the
use of charts in the output.
It's a Wednesday, so naturally, we've got a
new Mail Bag ready to go. In today's jam-packed edition: Max Payne, the
size of the gaming community, more MDK than is probably legal, a quick English
lesson, and threats on my life - by toddlers? We can't make this stuff up...so
check
it out.
The official Vampire: the Masquerade - Redemption site has been updated with a new letter from Beckett to Lucita, four new screenshots, and a new movie trailer in three download sizes. The movie runs for over two minutes and requires Windows Media Player. In related blood-sucking news, Daily Radar continues their Vampire: The Masquerade -- Redemption Week with an account of the game's Storyteller features, based on a recent visit to Nihilistic's shady offices.
Also on Daily Radar is a preview of Soulbringer, the upcoming 3D role-playing game by Gremlin. The brief article is beefed up by a handful of new screenshots.
A pair of new guides on GameFAQs: first up is this Half-Life: Opposing Force FAQ/Walkthrough, giving Gearbox' expansion pack a full workout. Also online is a Dark Reign: The Future of War Unit/Building FAQ, providing resource support for Pandemic's venerable RTS.
Computer Games Online has posted a preview of Martian Gothic, a third-person adventure recently surfacing from Take Two Interactive and due for a Spring release. Gameplay is compared to Resident Evil, as "it utilizes 3D polygonal characters moving in 2D pre-rendered backgrounds in a sci-fi horror setting. You control three different characters as you explore a troubled Martian base and uncover what happened to its crew."
The 50th Diablo II
screenshot of the week is up, word from Diablo.net
and DiabloII.net
is that this is the final one of these, so my recent question about whether the
52nd would be the screenshot of the year will forever go unanswered. There are
some new screenshots on the Battlecruiser
Millennium Shots Page showing off "the Insurgent base, New
America...built inside a 10 miles long by 4 miles wide asteroid, hurtling
through space." The screenshots
page on Alloygaming has an exclusive new screenshot of Ground Control to go
with the three other shots posted with their Ground
Control preview looking ahead at this upcoming 3D RTS.
Voodoo Extreme's
Jason Hall Q&A asks a few questions of the Monolith CEO about the recent
LithTech announcements. Also,
AGN's
Warlords Battlecry interview is online, among other things, getting to the
bottom of this whole sequel deal: "Warlords is not a new franchise is it?"
Finally, GA-Strategy's
Invictus: In The Shadow of Olympus interview discusses this RTS/RPG hybrid
with Bill Fisher and Floyd Grubb of Quicksilver
Software.
Word from Westwood Studios is that Nox, their sneaker-wearing, isometric-view,
third-person action title is on its way to stores, and may be arriving on a
retailer's shelf near you as early as today.
Unrealism's Unreal Tournament
tweaking guide is up with Win98 and video tweaks, and some tweaks for the
.ini files in UT. Also, GameFan's
Voodoo 3 Tweak Guide For Quake 3 offers V3 Q3A tweaks. Finally, Jhondra's Too Real Unreal Tournament Page
has a new "killer" demo to stress test your system in Unreal
Tournament, and scripts on the site where you can enter your system's
benchmarks, as well as peruse all the scores entered by others (Q3A scores can
be entered, as well).
The One Man Army page has the
first version of this multiplayer modification in an unusual cross-platform
release for both Unreal Tournament and Quake III Arena. The principle behind OMA is simply that one player is "it," and
the only way to score is to collect frags while you are it, which you become by
fragging the current it. Get it? Got it? Good!
T4_echo, brother of an ex-programmer at SingleTrac studios sends word that
Rock, a first-person action hybrid has been cancelled (we linked to a
Rock interview in November ( story)).
Likewise, though we never mentioned the game previously, a report on GA-Source
is that "Beneath, Presto Studios' 3D action/adventure, has finally been
laid to rest." GA-Source
is also re-porting there will be no version of Re-Volt 2 for the PC. In contrast
to the cancellations, Activision Announces Follow-Up Game To Best-Selling Civilization Call To Power
is the press release announcing Call to Power II. Finally, The Battlecruiser
Tactical Engagement product info page has the announcement that Battlecruiser
Tactical Engagement will be the new name for the upcoming BC Millennium
add-on formerly known as Battlecruiser Strike Pak. Also on that topic, BC
developer Derek
Smart is interviewed on GameTime, RealPlayer,
FakePlayer, or
equivalent, required.
Quake Forever is a one-on-one Quake
II tournament to be played on "a mutually agreeable map and server running
the GXmod." Entries must be in by February 25.
Today's list is brought to you by the letters S, T and U:
I love a good western, and have been going through a kick lately where I've been
watching a lot of the classics in the genre. In just re-viewing For a Few
Dollars More, I confirmed something I thought I noticed when I first got the
Man With No Name set, which is Clint Eastwood's unnamed character in the
movie has a name! On two different occasions he's referred to as something like
Manko. Obviously I can't be the first to notice this, but I never have seen it
noted before. I guess "the man with an obscure name" just doesn't roll
off the tongue the same way.
Speaking of the Man With No Name, the classic 1960s spaghetti western trilogy
was obviously one of the prime influences behind the western first-person
shooter Outlaws. In spite of the 1997 release's use of the outdated 2D Dark
Forces engine, Dumb as a Stick™ AI, and vexing Call the Hintline
Again™ puzzles, the game was great fun, at least in part because it was
amazingly stylized, with great cutscenes, and the finest voice acting and music
I can recall in any game ever. Apparently there are a lot of other fans
of the game still out there (at least more than what I believe were modest sales would suggest), as Paleface.net's Petition for an Outlaws Sequel
is collecting names to convince LucasArts to create a follow-up. Never fear,
western fans, if the petition doesn't work, you can take heart in the reminder
passed along by GA-Source
that Wanted! The Half Life Western Pack
is still in development at Maverick productions, so there's hope yet that we'll
be able to round up the posse again.
Link of the Day: The
Radiskull & Devil Doll Official Site (newly relocated), now home to
episode three of this Flash epic, titled "Radiskull hate snow." Perhaps
this does not quite have the genius demonstrated by the previous two, but it's
still a worthy sentiment for kicking it in the dead
of winter. Thanks Sean "Stitch" Reynolds and Nour Sharabash.
Valve Software sent along a small fix for a problem with the version 1.0.1.6 patches ( story) when running the game in software mode. Here is a local copy of the file, which should be incorporated in the regular patches soon, and this is the description of the problem:
For those of you who are running in software mode and are seeing the sky
incorrectly in Badlands and Crossover, please download this small update
(122k).
RPG Vault has posted the latest installment of the Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption Design Log, with Nihilistic's Ray Gresko discussing the story design in their third-person action RPG, how it relates to the White Wolf source material, and some aspects of the multiplayer Storyteller interface.
There is a new preview of Earth 2150 up at GameSpot, looking at TopWare's upcoming RTS that keeps its feet on the ground. On the other hand, up up and away is where Star Trek: Armada goes, which is briefly previewed on GameProWorld, along with a bundle of new screenshots. There is a new screenshot on the official Star Trek Armada site as well.
CheckOut has conducted a brief interview with Harry Miller, president of Gathering of Developers, talking about the way the Gathering operates, their plans for the console market, and a couple other, tongue-in-cheek topics.
There is a brief preview of Tomb Raider: the Lost Artifact on Gamecenter, the standalone Tomb Raider III "Gold" game for which a demo was released the other day ( story).
Another day, another
LithTech announcement...Monolith has announced that they are making a special
version of their LithTech engine to be used with massively multiplayer games,
and that the first game to utilize this will be a title from Fox Interactive
that uses one of their properties. Here's an excerpt from the
full press release: LithTech Inc. today announced they have begun
creation of a licensable, multi-genre, massively multiplayer technology which
will be a full featured extension of their proprietary LithTech 3D Game Operating
System (3DGOS). The new technology, LithTech Online, will standardize the development
of immense, persistent worlds, referred to as "LithWorlds(tm)," in
which users can interact with others online.
Also announced today, LithTech Inc. is proceeding with an arrangement with Fox
Interactive to provide a licensed property for LithTech's first persistent world.
Several Fox properties have been discussed for the world's environment although
one has not yet been selected.
"There is no doubt that massively-multiplayer persistent online environments
are a huge and growing market. For this reason, we're dedicated to investing
$15 million into research and development of the fully licensable LithTech Online,"
comments Jason Hall, CEO for LithTech Inc. "We are very excited to be working
with Fox Interactive on the first of many future LithWorlds. Their strong entertainment
properties will provide interesting environments and characters for us to develop
and work with."
The official Summoner site has received its scheduled weekly update, revealing a new screenshot on the frontpage, and adding new concept art and a new soundtrack MP3, Iona Part II.
Sierra Studios has released the international 1.0.1.6 patches for Half-Life on their ftp server. As with the English versions, four patches are available to upgrade previous versions, in French, German, Italian, Spanish and Korean editions, so you'll have to forgive the absence of 20 direct download links here (just look for files ending in 1016.EXE). As with the English versions, you should be able to use the auto-update feature in the game to upgrade, and the files have also been mirrored at 3D Action Gamers.
Simon & Schuster have opened a preliminary site for their Star Trek: Deep Space Nine games, called DS9games.com (but with a rather different URL for now). There is some basic information on The Fallen, the third-person shooter, and Dominion Wars, the space-based RTS, and a couple of new The Fallen screenshots.
Quantic Dream has released three soundtrack MP3's from Omikron: the Nomad Soul, their 3D action/adventure of last year. The songs last a few minutes each, and can faithfully be described to sound as quirky as the game looked.
While the game may never make it to the PC, new media has surfaced from Oddworld:
Munch's Oddysee. Daily
Radar has posted some new (and extremely impressive) Quicktime movies, which
show off actual in-game footage, and AVault
has posted 30 new screenshots, as well as a Q&A with Oddworld Inhabitants
co-founder (and the voice of most of the characters) Lorne Lanning. The game
is currently in development for the Playstation 2, with a PC port to possibly
follow after the initial release. Strangely enough, at one point this game was
being developed using the Unreal engine.
Version 1.49 beta of Wally,
the texture creation tool, has been released. This new version supports 24-bit
textures, allowing it to be used with Quake III Arena.
InciteGames has posted four
more screenshots from Deus Ex, ION Storm's Unreal-engine, first person RPG.
These shots show a few different areas of the game, including a shot of what
looks to be the morgue (always a fun place, I'm told).
ActionTrip News has
posted four new screenshots from Devil Inside, the upcoming third person action/adventure/horror
title by Gamesquad. The game is being helmed by Hubert Chardot, the creator
of the acclaimed Alone in the Dark series of games.
GA-Source has posted a bunch of new Crimson Skies screenshots, as well as a 40 second movie trailer. Crimson Skies is a fantasy action flyer (rather than a true flight sim) set in an alternate 1937 universe, and is based on a board game by FASA.
Russian gaming site the Daily Telefrag has updated their gallery of Hired Team screenshots with more scenes from New Media Generation's upcoming first-person shooter. Roughly half of the 18 shots appear to be new (at least to my prying eyes).
Also on the Daily Telefrag is an interview on Chaser, a new action shooter in development at Cauldron, co-developers of Blue Byte's Battle Isle 4. A gallery of screenshots gives a first glimpse at the world they're crafting.
It seems amazing that after all this time, nobody has seen the actual Daikatana
sword, but it would appear that PlanetDaikatana
has posted the first screenshot from Daikatana of the game's eponymous sword. The shot
is from the third episode in the game, and shows off "the boathouse"
as well as the weapon.
InciteGames has posted a
new MPEG movie featuring an interview with Peter Molyneux, and a whole lot
of in-game footage from Black & White, the unique "god game" he's
working on. The movie, like Incite's previous releases, was taken from the cover
CD of Incite PC Gaming magazine, and is very large (55 MB). Update: it would appear that the footage in this movie is the same as footage that has been previously released, so if you've been keeping an eye on these B&W movies, chances are you've already seen it.
Valve has released Half-Life version 1.0.1.6. This new version adds two new
maps for Team Fortress Classic and a slew of new server improvements in addition
to other changes. Here's a list of downloads, which will take you to our individual
pages with local copies and mirrors:
Delphine has released version 1.0.5b patches to supersede the 1.0.5 patches released last week ( story). This update fixes a save game problem as well as a crash "when using a 'storm bow' against monster with reflection spell." There is a small update if you already have the 1.0.5 patch, and full US and European downloads otherwise.
A brief Q&A
with BioWare's Greg Zeschuk is up on GASource, dealing with their plans for promoting
MDK 2, the company's virtually complete third person action game. There are
also 12 new screenshots from the game up as well. MDK, as everyone knows, stands
for Missy Does Kayak.
GASource has posted eight
new concept art images from Homeworld: Cataclysm, a sequel of sorts to the
original Homeworld (contrary to early reports, it would appear that the game
is now a full standalone game, not an add-on pack). The pictures show off a
few of the new ships and units in the game. Update: the images were pulled at the request of publisher Sierra Studios.
Daily Radar kicks off their Vampire: The Masquerade -- Redemption Week by posting half a dozen new high-res screenshots from Nihilistic's blood-sucking third-person 3D RPG.
It's Not Easy Being Green
on loonygames is a Q&A with the Epic programmer discussing his work on
Unreal Tournament, and in particular that PlayStation 2 port that folks have
been talking about lately.
The Xian interview
on Mean Arena is a Q&A with id Software designer Christian
"Disruptor" Antkow. The conversation covers Disruptor's background,
what it's like working at id, and a few bits on level design, including a
step-by-step rundown on the map creation process.
There are some new
Alone in the Dark screenshots and concept art on The Adrenaline Vault
showing off gameplay from Infogrames North America's upcoming installment in the
spooky Alone in the Dark series, which was officially announced yesterday,
though it's been unofficially in the works for months now ( story).
In honor of Valentine's Day, the first release of Eavy's
Assault Practice Mod (that's just a directory, not a page) for Unreal
Tournament. This special training mod lets you practice the Assault gametype.
The mod offers five server commands, eight cheat commands, as well as some
gameplay changes. Word from Eavy is: "You obviously wouldn't run it for
serious competitive play, but to be a competitive player, here you can gain the
experience."
The Black Knight Productions page has
beta 1.0, the first "real" beta release of the Prisoners of War
modification for Quake III Arena. PoW is a teamplay mod offering gameplay
similar to JailBreak, where players can be captured by the enemy, to be held
until a heroic teammate fights through to free them (unless Colonel Hogan is
among the prisoners).
"Thanks to the support of over 300 beta testers," a new version 2.07
of the Servarena Quake III Arena
dedicated server launcher is now available. The new version is now able to scan your PK3 files
for custom maps, and can view thumbnail map images in .tga format. Additionally,
the new release "now includes additional features that make it an excellent
offline game launcher."
A new version 0.96 of the Q3Log log
parser for Quake III Arena is now available. This version "fixes the badly
broken client side logging features," updates the HTML output to the newest
version of Q3LA ( story),
and adds support for CSV data export.
The ProQuake website has the
release of the Linux port of ProQuake, a fully netQuake-compatible port of the
Quake source that adds "precise aim" when connected to ProQuake server,
auto-smooth for chasecam/eyecam observer modes, fixed console backscrolling and
HOME and END key support, among a load of fixes and enhancements. In keeping
with the GPL, the source code is also available. Also, Quake 2000 News
has the first screenshot of the BeQuake port to the BeOS. Finally, the
newly-opened QuakeSource
looks to keep tabs on all the various Quake source modification projects, while
the reorganized Quake Standards Group is
the new incarnation of the Quake Source and Standards Group.
A
Valentine's image on FAKKOU.Com shows off a new outfit for the Julie
Strain-inspired main character in Ritual's upcoming Quake III-engine Heavy
Metal: FAKK2. Also, the Star Trek Armada
site has more new screenshots (thanks Tymetodie), these are in a Screen Shot of the Week
section, so as not to be confused with the almost-daily shots they've recently
released. There are some new Flash
Point: Status Quo screenshots on Gamers Central. There are some new Killer
Loop screenshots on TeleFragged
showing off Crave's futuristic 3D racer. Finally, there are a bunch of Meta
Hunters screenshots on 3D-Unlimited showing off this upcoming first- and
third-person action/RPG.
QER News has the pre-release
of ShaderLib, a reusable OpenSource Shader toolkit for Quake 1 coders working on
the engine and Quake III Arena coders working on tools in an effort to add
"Q3Alike" effects to Quake. There's a new mapping tutorial on Quake3mods.net
that "has an explanation on what all of the entities do." Q3Seek.com's
editing resources offer a load of Q3A editing tutorials and articles. Team
Disillusioned offers "a site to help map editors find answers,
tutorials and files" in both HTML and Flash
version. Finally, there are four new texture packs on Painful Detail
offering high-resolution Unreal Tournament textures.
The EuroCup webpage ( Flash
required) has details on this invitational online tournament for the best
European clans being sponsored by Infogrames, Gamepoint, Diamond and XS4All.
Competitions are slated to run through April. Also, the National Quake Association
is based in Brazil, but it's open to all comers, and finally now has an English
language version of their news page. Finally, the Baldur's Gate II
Main Page offers the chance to create your very own character to be in the
new upcoming Baldur's Gate II. To enter, "In 200 words or less, describe
your favorite pen and paper player character."
Lather, rinse, repeat... Help! I'm stuck in the dreaded endless shampoo loop!
Lather, rinse, repeat... Lather, rinse, repeat...
Link of the Day: L33T.Com. Thanks
Korb.
Bonus Link: flip flop
flyin' minipops. Thanks Bagpuss.
Story of the Day: Police save goldfish from becoming artistic soup.
Thanks Mike Martinez. It's more art imitating live, as in Saturday Night Live...
it's the Bass-o-matic!
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