Archived News:
As promised, a new beta version 6 for Counter-Strike, the popular Half-Life mod, has been released. As usual, there are full install and upgrade files for Windows along with the Linux server that was released earlier today, and this release brings new scenarios, player models, guns, and other features, as well as bug fixes.
Nine new screenshots
from Thief II: The Metal Age have surfaced over at Gamer's Voice. Eidos Interactive
tells us that the game is, "hours away" from going gold, and that
it will arrive in stores on March 20th.
New on Adrenaline Vault this evening are six
screenshots from SWAT 3: Battle Plan, the upcoming add-on for Sierra's
tactical shooter, SWAT 3 that adds multiplayer functionality amongst other new
features.
In anticipation of the full release of Counter-Strike beta 6 later today, the Linux server port is now available for download on the Counter-Strike site, so that server admins can upgrade in time. This is a new release of the popular Half-Life mod, so it comes only as a 43.3 MB full install. And in strikingly related news, there's a quick chat with the mod's creator, Minh "Gooseman" Le, on EuroGamer.
If you missed last night's AnachroChat, Bennyland has posted a log from the event where ION Storm's upcoming 3D RPG was freely discussed with some members of the development team. It's an unedited log, so you'll have to dig through the usual IRC mayhem to find the useful bits.
ActionTrip has updated its Devil Inside page with another pair of screenshots and a short sound clip from the third-person horror action/adventure by GameSquad and Cryo.
Games Domain Review has posted a preview of Loose Cannon, the mercenary driving/shooting action game by Digital Anvil. The article is based on what the author saw at his visit to last week's GameStock event, and while only the already widely publicized screenshots illustrate it, there are also quotes from designer Tony Zurovec. Earlier this week, GDR also posted a similar preview of Dungeon Siege, featuring quotes from designer Chris Taylor on Gas Powered Games' upcoming 3D action/adventure.
A new
interview with 3D Realms' George Broussard has popped up over at The Shugashack.
It's an interesting interview, with George talking about their upcoming
Unreal engine title Duke Nukem Forever, with some general details (nothing too
specific) about their plans for the game, the world of engine licensing, as well as his thoughts on EverQuest,
which George calls "the game of the decade." Here's an excerpt with
details on Duke's multiplayer: We do not believe in shipping now and adding
functionality later. Patches should be for bugs, not gameplay. I think we are
planning 10+ multiplayer maps, but really we have to get down to making them
and seeing how much time we have. But I think anything less that 10 is a waste
of time.
As for multiplayer modes, we're still talking about options. We want to do a
couple of different things other than DeathMatch, but we haven't decided yet.
Some form of class based team play is appealing to us.
The Gathering of Developers' Age of Wonders site has been updated with a version 1.36 patch for the retail version of Triumph and Epic's fantasy strategy game. Thanks Gone Gold. This release fixes several bugs, and the complete list of changes can be viewed here.
Our top story? Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead. Our second from the
top story? The X-Box. Dig:
- First off, the video links in GameSpot's
Microsoft Announces X-Box story are now operational, so if you are
interested in checking out demos of the X-Box, MS' now-announced console
gaming system, or watching Bill Gates send some gentle X-spin our way, there
are four movies from which to chose, two .mpgs, and two in QuickTime format.
- Microsoft to unveil X-Box video game console,
the Reuters press release on the subject, reveals more on the system's
NVIDIA connection, saying: "The system will also use an Nvidia Corp.
graphics processor, a third generation chip called the NV25 that is not yet
on the market. Microsoft said its graphics will be more than three times as
fast as the highly praised graphics on the new Sony Playstation2."
Thanks Planet GeForce.
- GameDaily
interviews Kevin Bachus (thanks Chumely) talking about the X-Box with
the Microsoft evangelist (and SuperCuts customer, from the accompanying
photo).
- There's a new Microsoft X-Box
FAQ on Active Windows to help figure out what this thing is and is not
supposed to do.
- Finally, the official X-Box website is
now live (thanks EvEm.org.au), offering
specs on the new system, as well as a link to the
full press release. Here are the specs:
600 MHz x86 compatible CPU Custom 3-D NVIDIA graphics processor
64 MB of RAM (unified memory architecture)
Custom 3-D audio processor
8GB hard drive
4X DVD drive with movie playback
Four game controller ports
Expansion port
Proprietary A/V connector
100 MBps Ethernet
There's a
new Thief II movie on Insane Gamers that offers some cinematic sequences
previously available elsewhere, but also shows off a few moments of
never-before-seen gameplay from Eidos Interactive's upcoming stealthy sequel to
Thief: The Dark Project. The movie is in QuickTime format.
Here's the first in a string of interviews this morning: Stomped
interviews Alex Mayberry talking with this level designer at Electronic Arts
about The World is Not Enough, EA's upcoming Quake III-engine shooter that
will feature the exploits of James Bond, sure to make liberal use of his license to
kill. In addition to the Q&A, the piece offers a couple of screenshots,
including one that's brand new.
Unreal Universe
interviews Chris Norden talking about Deus Ex with the programmer on ION
Storm's upcoming Unreal-engine RPG about progress on the game, as well as
his career in gaming, from his start programming for the Apple II.
Hypothermia
interviews Ryan "Ridah" Feltrin talking with the programmer on
Quake Rally, the Eraser Bot, and Kingpin: Life of Crime about his work in the
biz, as well as their usual mix of wacky other questions. The Q&A talks of
"progress of our current project," though I do not believe it is
clear yet whether Ridah is part of Gray Matter Interactive Studios, the new
developer "founded by the top designers formerly from Xatrix
Entertainment" currently at work on the sequel to Wolfenstein 3-D ( story).
I told you there are a bunch today:
A post on PlanetAvP says that Fox
Interactive's Pezman is currently at work on a programming project that will
warm the hearts of fans of Aliens versus Predator, Fox' three-species shooter,
as he is attempting to create a dedicated server program for the game. There is
a preliminary version available, though it currently only supports two-player
games.
Part three of the Computer Games Online
Starlancer preview is online, subtitled "Digital Anvil gets back to
basics," giving impressions on this upcoming space combat game to be
published by Microsoft. Thanks The Lancers Reactor.
- A new version 2.65 of the PowerStrip
shareware video tweaking utility is now available.
- Creative Labs Annihilator Pro GeForce 256 DDR is reviewed
on Sharky Extreme.
- Tekram ProP6-A+ Apollo Pro Slot 1 motherboard is
reviewed on CTNews.
- Northwind GFD Rev 2 Athlon Overclocking Card is reviewed on SystemLogic.
There are a couple of new Star Trek New
World Screenshots on New Worlds News showing off gameplay from this upcoming
Trekkie 3D RTS.
The Freeze Tag page has a new
release of the Quake III Arena version of this teamplay modification. In Freeze
Tag fragged players are frozen, and players look to avoid becoming Popsicles and
freeze their foes, while simultaneously rescuing teammates by thawing them.
Frozen players are free to observe in the new version, in addition to other
changes.
The Wyrm2 World of Destruction
page has a new alpha 3 of the Quake III Arena version of the Wyrms mod.
Among the new features in this release are decapitation(!), locational damage,
and alternate fire modes for several of the game's weapons, which include
Throwing Gauntlets, Homing Rockets, Impact grenades and a Shrink Ray.
The Doom LEGACY homepage has a new
version 1.29 pre-release 5 of the Linux port of this enhanced version of Doom.
Word is this glibc binary has all the new features of the Windows version "except
a good launcher," and is linked with libGL and not libMesaGL.
According to the Rogue Spear Retreat,
Urban Operations, recently reported as being gold ( story), is not actually
complete, though a follow-up on Gone Gold,
normally infallible in this regard, still indicates that it is (perhaps this
means development is done, and Quality Assurance is yet to sign off on
the master, but that is just a guess that attempts to reconcile the conflicting stories). Also, in referring to the Deus Ex interview yesterday ( story),
Warren Spector, the project leader on ION Storm's upcoming RPG was incorrectly
also credited with being the game's lead designer, a role that is filled by
Harvey "Witchboy" Smith. We regret the error and any confusion it
caused.
Digital connectivity continues to elude both loony and me, I've heard from a
handful of others in the greater New York area describing other such problems,
one of the most popular theories being offered involves recent heightened
solar flare activity having fried some vital piece of equipment somewhere... the
flux capacitor perhaps (yes, I snuck a Dirty Harry pop culture reference in the
news yesterday, I was feeling puckish, though it was good to start slow with the
first of these in a long time). My ISP got my hopes up by leading me to believe
sDSL is available in my area, but after ordering, loony tells me this is the
same sort of tease he's been victim to twice already, so I guess it's my turn to
be the DSL guinea pig, and find out if this is for real.
Link of the Day: The Artemis Project,
looking to promote "Private Enterprise on the Moon" (we need to hook
them up with previous LoD the Lunar Embassy).
Thanks ZDim.
Story of the Day: $6 System-On-A-Chip Mimics Human Vision
(TechWeb). Thanks CiKoTiC.
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