Archived News:
Escape from Monkey Island Primer is how Daily Radar dubs their interview on the upcoming wacky 3D adventure by LucasArts. To this end, they tried to query project leaders Michael Stemmle and Sean Clark and received their answers drenched in a dose of wackiness equal to that expected from the game.
PC.IGN has posted ten new movies
featuring gameplay footage from Giants: Citizen Kabuto, which were all captured
from their playable build of the game. The movies are all in QuickTime format,
and range in size from 1.5 to 6 MB.
It's a Monday, which means it's time for a
new edition of TRIBES 2: Prophecy of Tears, the serialized backstory for
TRIBES 2 at PC.IGN. This installment, which the fourth chapter to appear on
PC.IGN (the others were up at Sierra's
official TRIBES 2 site) continues the story, and is told as a transcript
of a conversation between characters. Like the other chapters, it's illustrated
with screenshots.
As promised, the Swedish company formerly known as Insomnia Software has lifted the media blackout on their site to reveal that they have been renamed to Termite Games, and ceased development of their first-person shooter Decay. In its place, they present New World Order, a "teamplay-based action simulator," and the new website offers the first information and eight screenshots of the game. Thanks Q11 and jas for the tip. Here is a quote on the kind of experience they are aiming for:
New World Order is a team-based online multiplayer game where teams
battle out heavily in environments that could be taken right out of an
action movie. It's a fast paced action simulator with attitude.
When you need a break from the Frag-feast Online multiplayer chaos start
up a single mission or a co-op mission with some of your friends and go
into the single player experience with mission based sneak, seek and
destroy missions.
Jim Stephenson's Riven Unofficial Home Page has posted the
first publicly available image from Cyan's project "Mudpie" (thanks
Veovis). "Mudpie" is a massively multiplayer, real-time (not pre-rendered
like the Myst games were) game, and has the distinction of being the only known
game of its type that's being designed exclusively for broadband connections.
Developer Action Forms has updated the "engines" section of their
web site with new details on their latest 3D engine, which is being used
to power Duke Nukem: Endangered Species, the upcoming Duke Nukem-themed hunting
game. In addition to the full specs and features list, there are also seven new
screenshots of the renderer in action, as well as half a dozen images of the editor tools they use.
Atriarch Vault has posted another one of their
weekly Atriarch creature movies. This week's movie shows off the Clyft,
and like the others, shows off an animation of the character in QuickTime
format.
Raven Software programmer James Monroe has released a newer version of the
Radiant level editor for Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force, and it is available
for download at VoyagerEliteForce.com. This new version fixes a bug where
the program wouldn't load JPEG files if no TGA was present.
- Sierra's Triple Dose
You know it's a Monday when Sierra posts three new screenshots of the week, one each for TRIBES 2, Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura, and Throne of Darkness.
- RUNE
Four new screenshots of RUNE are up at GameSpy.com, showing off Human Head's imminent game of third-person Viking destruction.
- Sacrifice
GameSpy.com has also sacrificed more pixels to nine new Sacrifice screenshots of Shiny's likewise imminent 3D action strategy hybrid.
- Pool of Radiance
The official Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor site sports half a dozen new screenshots (at the top of the page) of this isometric RPG being crafted at Stormfront.
- Divinity
More isometric role-playing is featured in a first look at Divinity: The Sword of Lies on GA-RPG that sports a pair of new screenshots of Larian Studios' upcoming game.
- Times of Conflict
Four new screenshots of Times of Conflict are available at GA-Strategy to illustrate the upcoming 3D real-time strategy game by Microids.
- Zeus
Back to 2D strategy, Games Domain has previewed Zeus: Master of Olympus, snapping a handful of screenshots from their beta of the ancient city-building game by Impressions.
- Fallout Tactics
A pair of new Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel screenshots each are up at Daily Telefrag (at the top of the page) and Freelancer (at the end of the page).
- Echelon
There is a hands-on preview of Echelon on GameZone that includes four more screenshots of the futuristic combat flyer by Russian developers Madia and Buka.
- TechnoMage
Like clockwork, the official TechnoMage: Return of Eternity site features a new screenshot of the week showing off the top-down action RPG by Sunflowers.
- UWO: Origin
The top screenshot in this Ultima Worlds Online: Origin gallery on the traditionally named UO2Vault shows a new scene from Origin's upcoming MMORPG sequel.
Ensemble Studios has released another
one in their series of Random Map Scripts for The Conquerors, the recently
released add-on pack for Age of Empires II. This latest release is titled "ES@Moats"
and has each player's town surrounded by a moat.
A new interview
with Innerloop's Anders Dybdahl is up at UK Clanzone this afternoon, talking
to the programmer about their upcoming "thinker-shooter" Project IGI
(which is also known as I'm Going In overseas). Anders gives some detail on
their internally-developed TerraForm engine, and discusses the game's influences,
which are more console than PC based (including the N64 games Goldeneye and
Perfect Dark along with Metal Gear Solid). There are seven screenshots in the
interview, six of which are labeled "exclusive" but only three of
which are actually new.
The rumor that Hitman: Codename 47, the third-person action game by IO Interactive and Eidos, would be cancelled ( story) has been quickly debunked, as Eidos' Bryan Davies sends word that the game "is strong and getting ready for a holiday release," and that the EB mailing which provided the source of the upheaval is likely "just a mistake." In related news, GA-Source has posted a bunch of new screenshots from the game.
GA-Strategy
interviews Scott Johnson of Rage Software, talking with him about their
upcoming action/strategy game Incoming Forces. The questions deal with how the
game differs from the original Incoming, as well as touching on their new 3D
engine, and the gameplay mechanics, which are more nonlinear than the first
game.
Inside Mac Games has posted a
four question Q&A with OmniGroup's Tim Wood, talking about their Mac
OS X port of Quake III Arena, a new version of which was just released this
morning ( story). Tim fields questions about hardware support
and their plans for porting other games.
Games Domain has posted a hands-on preview of Far Gate, putting a beta build of the space-based RTS by Super X Studios through its paces. The somewhat inevitable comparisons with Homeworld permeate the article, highlighting similarities and differences between the two games, but there are also detailed impressions of the graphics, interface and control system, and more, as well as 18 new screenshots.
Also on Games Domain today is a preview of Crime Cities, which likewise examines a beta copy of the 3D flying shooter by Techland, from which they've also snapped half a dozen new screenshots. The game is likened to G-Police, and there's a write-up of the gameplay, mission structure, and graphics on offer.
Interview with The Level Designers - Part 6 on Fragland slows down their pace, today putting only Human Head's Mick "VermoorD" Beard on the stand to answer the familiar set of questions that percolate throughout the series.
A brief Q&A
with Joe Poppa of Ethermoon Entertainment is up at CornerBlock.net, talking
about Strifeshadow: Tournament Edition, their upcoming multiplayer-only RTS.
Joe goes into some detail about his background in the industry, their decision
to use a 2D viewpoint and more, and there are also three new screenshots up,
including one animated GIF that illustrates the creation of a building.
An update called Quake 3 for Mac OS X
on MacGameFiles.Com offers an updated version 1.17 of Quake III Arena for OS
X. Word accompanying the download is that "Internal testing done by Omni
Group shows that framerates in MacOS X Public Beta are improved by up to 20%
over MacOS 9."
Stomped
interviews Mark Rein of Epic Games, who gives the latest lowdown on
development of the PS2 version of Unreal Tournament, as well as touching on the
concurrent development of the Dreamcast UT port, being done by an external
developer. The Q&A discusses what goes into the console ports, discusses the
potential for multiplayer play on both systems, and more.
GameSpy.com's Battlefield 1942
interview talks with the three project leaders from Digital Illusion CE
talking about this upcoming "tactical FPS." Here's a bit from the
conversation to give a feel for what the game is to be about: GameSpy:
Tell us about the overall theme and idea of the game.
Ola Holmdal--Lead Designer: Battlefield: 1942 will be a tactical
first-person shooter set in World War II. It introduces the player to all-out
war, with every aspect of warfare accessible to players and bots. In order to
defeat your enemy, you will use combined arms tactics in the true sense of the
word, combining tanks and dive-bombers, submarines and carriers, and machinegun
nests with AA-artillery. Every aspect of WWII warfare will be accessible to a
player and his friends from an FPS perspective, and the ultimate goal is to win
enough campaigns to win the war.
A mailing from EB went out over the weekend suggesting that Hitman: Codename 47,
Eidos Interactive's upcoming game of hired assassination, has been cancelled. The
assumption here is that this is some sort of confusion, and a post on Gone Gold,
the gold standard in reliable news in this direction, says they suspect same
thing, though they are promising a follow-up today after they can get in contact
with some of their contacts.
A new version 1.2 of UT Challenge is now
available. The new version of this Unreal Tournament mod offers several changes
and enhancements to its most noteworthy feature, the ability for players and
spectators to vote on various aspects of gameplay. These changes include a fix
for the "multiple vote" bug, easier to read voting messages, enhanced
map voting, and more.
ChaosRealm's
Judgment HL interview talks with the team behind this upcoming Half-Life mod
that emphasizes the balance between law and crime by placing you in the role of
either a "Judge or a Perp." Also, Edge Gaming
Network interviews Caspar Milan Nielsen of the Half-Life
Firearms mod.
Word from the CPL is that a $15,000 Half-Life Counter-Strike team tournament
will be part of the upcoming Babbage's CPL $100,000 Tournament, scheduled for
December 14 -17, 2000. In about a week a special registration site for the C-S
tourney will pop up, though registration
for the main tournament will also be required. Also, Cached.Net
interviews the Eyeballers, who nailed down the third place spot in the Quake
III Arena team tournament at The FRAG 4. Cached's
FRAG 4 page also has more recap of the proceedings, and demos for download.
Finally there are
FRAG 4 photos on Hellhound and a
second set here.
Deus Ex Ed has opened its
virtual doors, dedicated to editing and modifying ION Storm's RPG. The site also
includes a database of voice actors willing to work on mods. Also, a new
tutorial has been added to Half-Life
Programming Planet, which is undergoing a redesign to make it easier to
access all their articles on Half-Life coding and editing.
Chris Morris points out a trio of
birthdays today, all of the celebrity celebrants of the type known only by one
name. If last time we did this the trio qualified as "I didn't know they
were that 'old, old, and young,' today's trio might be 'I didn't know they were
that old, old, and alive,' as we light candles today for Sting (49), former
mall pop star Tiffany (28), and Spanky (A.K.A. George McFarland), who is 72.
Stories of the Day: Report Warns of Increase in Natural Disasters
and "Conservation group adds 200 animals to endangered list"
(CNN). Global warming, "dogs and cats, living together..." Thanks Hans De Maere.
Bonus Story: Gravity shield weighty for NASA.
With the stories above, maybe we can escape the planet at least? Thanks again Hans De Maere.
Image of the Day: Lar§ the Imp@lor's Website.
Under the "cool" link, you can watch a car being fed to a monster
truck -- better yet, it's a Volvo.
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