Archived News:
As promised earlier this evening, the official Unreal Tournament site now offers the new Bonus Pack for download as a 14.2 MB non-umod file. The pack contains 2 new hi-res player characters with skins, 10 new maps spanning all 4 UT modes, and updated Lament and Facing Worlds maps. Update: mirrors are available at 3D Gamers, Unreality, and Unreal Universe.
Just in time for the holidays, Westwood has released their second Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 map pack, offering the same "holiday-themed" map that was released earlier today ( story), as well as two other multiplayer maps for their real-time strategy sequel.
Stomped
is reporting that Epic Games will release a new Unreal Tournament bonus
pack this weekend over at their official UT site. The pack will include a whopping
10 new levels, two revised versions of old maps and two new player characters. Update: Unreal Universe has posted four screenshots of the pack.
Electronic Arts has sent us a trailer from Clive Barker's Undying. While basically
the same as the one that was released earlier in the week ( story)
this one differs in that it contains an introduction by Clive Barker himself,
and of course is in QuickTime rather than the self-running Bink format.
We have two versions for your downloading pleasure: a
small one that clocks in at 4.4 MB, and a
high resolution version that's 22.6 MB. For more Undying fun, head over
to GameSpot where they have a
number of gameplay movies (in several formats) that were posted as part
of their recent Undying preview (although we failed to notice them at the time).
As noted in Todd
Hollenshead's .plan update, id's official
Quake III Arena site has been updated with a
FAQ for Quake III: Team Arena (an expanded version of the FAQ posted last weekend in this story). The FAQ answers common questions about the
add-on, including common problems with CD-Keys, missing textures and memory
problems (complete with workarounds for each).
As promised, Interplay has released a playable demo of Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel, available for download from GameSpot. The demo weighs in at a hefty 115 MB and includes a tutorial and two single-player missions from the isometric turn-based tactical combat game by Micro Forte.
id Software's Robert Duffy made a
.plan update this evening with the news that he's released the Linux beta
of the Quake III Arena version 1.27 patch. We have a local copies with mirrors of the full patch and the dedicated server, and here's Robert's update complete with links
to id's FTP site: Here are beta copies of the point release for Linux.
They are on ftp.idsoftware.com and should appear on ftp.lokigames.com as well.
ftp://ftp.idsoftware.com/idstuff/quake3/linux/linuxq3a-1.27g-beta1.tar.gz
ftp://ftp.idsoftware.com/idstuff/quake3/linux/linuxq3ded-1.27g-beta1.tar.gz
Those would be the standard + dedicated and dedicated only.
I am off on vacation starting Sunday for a week or so and will obviously be
in-active in the mod forums. I do plan to get active once I get back. I've been
looking at as many mods as possible lately, we are starting to ramp up on DOOM
pretty quickly but I wanted to sneak some time to see what all was there. The
Q3F stuff looks really nice and next month while I am visiting the Wolfenstein
guys I hope to hook up with the Urban Terror guys just to see what all they
have planned. WFA looks great and Rocket Arena is as usual sucking up a lot
of playtime. There are some more single player things that look interesting
as well. I still have about 300 to look at but that is all good stuff.
A FAQ should be going up soon that provides some work arounds for Team Arena
and the point release. All in all it has looked really good. We will be releasing
a patch at some point to address anything serious that comes up and we also
want to provide the ability to allow mod makers to reference an existing fs_game
path for mod creation. This will allow mods to be based on Team Arena.
I wish everyone a happy and safe holiday.
Eidos UK has released a minor update to the Hitman: Codename 47 patch, which is now labelled service pack 1a. The only difference to the first patch ( story) is that it also addresses the "Language install and generic uninstall problem," and the note that it's not needed for the US edition of the game. Thanks Patches Scrolls, who have a mirror here.
- Blade of Darkness
3DShots celebrates their new look with 20 new Blade of Darkness screenshots, illustrating Rebel Act's upcoming melee-combat game.
- Freelancer
There is a single new screenshot of Freelancer on Lancers Reactor, showing a new scene from the space sim currently docking at Digital Anvil and Microsoft.
- Sudden Strike
GameSpot has posted 20 new screenshots of Sudden Strike, captured from their press build of the isometric WWII real-time strategy game by Fireglow and CDV.
- Heart of Winter
A mix of new and familiar Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter screenshots is up at The Ironworks, showing off the upcoming expansion pack to Black Isle's isometric RPG.
- Kohan
Also on GameSpot this afternoon is a pair of Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns screenshots, along with some info on the factions in TimeGate's upcoming RTS.
- Gothic
Swiss site gamesweb.com has posted a preview (for which you may like to stick a Babel Fish in your ear) and a single new screenshot of Gothic, a 3D action RPG by Piranha Bytes.
- Anno 1503
Completing GameSpot's hat trick this afternoon is a pair of new Anno 1503 screenshots as well as some new game details on this management strategy game by Sunflowers.
- Battle of Britain
ActionTrip has posted a bunch of new Battle of Britain screenshots snapped from their review build of Rowan's WWII flight sim that should arrive in the US early next year.
In the Trenches has posted an
interview with Simon Woodroffe, the lead designer on Call of Cthulhu: Dark
Corners of the Earth at Headfirst Productions. Simon talks in-depth about the
sort of spooky gameplay they're striving for, their decision to use a first
person perspective and their "sanity" system (which is loosely adapted
from the pen and paper RPG) in addition to other aspects of the game.
Stomped continues to crank out their year-end interviews with a second one
today, talking
with Dynamix' Dave Georgeson. Like all the interviews in this series, the
questions look back on the year 2000 and ahead to 2001, and Dave comments on
the industry, and mentions that they are going to be doing "massive support
work" with the mod community with TRIBES 2.
More good news for Black & White fans, GameSpy.com
received an update from Lionhead's Jamie Durrant, who tells them that the game
has officially reached Alpha status. While obviously this means the game isn't
done yet, it does mean that they are focusing exclusively on bug hunting, and
that for all intents and purposes the design phase is complete. Also, if you're
having difficulty downloading the free Black & White Winamp plugin, mirrors
are up at Infolder.com,
FilePlanet and
3D Downloads.
Daily Telefrag has conducted an
interview with Sergey Belistov, the producer at Talonsoft on Age of Sail
2, their upcoming strategy game of seafaring adventure. Sergey explains that
the Russian version of the game will have a campaign devoted to the Russian-Turkish
war that won't be in the English edition, and he also comments on how ships
are controlled and other gameplay elements.
Matrox has released new drivers for its G200, G400 and G450 video cards, available in Win9x, WinMe and Win2K flavors. The updates address a variety of DirectX 8 and game-related issues, including with Half-Life: Counter-Strike, Heavy Metal FAKK2, Crimson Skies, and others.
There is a new mini-code patch for the German edition of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - the Fallen, bringing this edition of the third-person Trekkie shooter by The Collective in sync with the earlier English release ( story), as it fixes the same pair of start-up problems and a joystick issue.
Big Time Software has released another TCP/IP multiplayer patch for Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord, as usual available for Windows and Mac. This beta 24 patch fixes a pair of minor bugs, and word is they're "getting close to the final v1.1 release."
Chris Taylor, senior game designer on Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel,
is interviewed on XGR.com
today. The interview is all over the map, covering everything from the upcoming
Fallout Tactics demos (there will be separate single player and multiplayer
demos released) to how the game differs from the previous Fallout titles and
his thoughts on massively multiplayer RPGs.
Irrational Games designer Drew Chambers sent a
development update to GA-Source with a status report on Freedom Force, their
action/adventure game of superheroics. Drew explains that they have just created
their first fully playable mission, and he describes some of the gameplay and
locations they have been working on.
WizCom Entertainment has released a complete version of TRANS, their third-person robotic action/strategy game. The full game can be downloaded as a whopping 228.7 MB file (also available in 16 smaller chunks) and offers the first four single-player missions as well as three multiplayer maps to play for free. To unlock the rest of the game, including five cutscene videos, you'll need to purchase a registration key for USD 14.95.
Stomped's series of year-end interviews continues today, with a
Q&A with Levelord. It was quite a year for the 'lord, as Ritual shipped
both Heavy Metal: FAKK2 and Blair Witch Volume III, as well as the Mac OS port
of SiN (not to mention their work on American McGee's Alice), and even the SiN anime movie was released by ADV, and he talks about
that as well as Ritual's plans for the future, hinting at their next project.
Here's an excerpt that confirms their next game will be a first person shooter that uses the Quake III Arena
engine, complete with the swanky new terrain engine: Our next project is going to be very light in technology upgrades. We are going
to use the Quake III engine with the new Arena Terrain system. We already have
the best geometry/character/camera scripting system in town, and you know
we have the best creative minds, too ;) Seriously, our next game is already
designed and we are going to focus on nothing but what will make it one of the
funnest games ever. THAT is encouraging!
...we just started a major 1st-person shooter to be published by Electronic Arts. So far, things are looking really cool! I am definitely into the game’s story and theme. These are the brainchild of Richard Hilleman who is a twisted old hippy like me. Seriously, it is innovative, creative, and twisted. On top of that, EA has been tremendously helpful during the initial design phase. I saw firsthand how well they treated Rogue at the end of Alice, so I anticipate making one of the funnest games I have ever made.
As a present to their fans, Westwood has released a Christmas-themed map for
Red Alert 2, which you can download at fan page Red2.org.
The two-player map contains a Christmas tree in the middle that has all sorts
of gems, ore and goody crates, which all respawn faster than normal.
Just in time for the holidays, Nexon has released a
major update for Shattered Galaxy, their massively multiplayer RTS (thanks
PlanetSG.net). This update contains a number
of additions, including new interfaces for the user creation and strategic map
screens and a new playable unit, along with a host of bug fixes and improvements.
Mac Gamer's Ledge has posted the
Mac OS version of Bungie's Oni demo. The demo is virtually identical to
its PC counterpart (which was released last weekend), and is a 75.5 MB download.
Those using the OS X public beta will be pleased to know that it has been "carbonized"
for improved performance.
The second half
of GameSpot UK's Q&A with American McGee is online today. It's very
brief, but American hints at his possible next project, discusses his philosophy
for level design and comments on why Alice appeals to female gamers.
The fourth
and final installment of their Future of Gaming article is up at PCShooter.com. This
portion deals with the future of multiplayer gaming, and features comments from
Irrational Games' Ken Levine, Raven's Kenn Hoekstra, ION Storm's Warren Spector
and others.
ParkLan interviews Sergey
Zabaryansky one of the co-founders of Nephilims
about how Venom, their upcoming first-person shooter, is shaping up. The
conversation discusses the technology behind Venom, design decisions, what
will separate it from the competition, as well as some more detailed stuff, like
speculation on whether they will release a level editor after the game ships.
A new developers update on the Croteam website
offers more response to feedback from the recent release of the second test
version of Serious Sam, the Croteam's upcoming shooter. The post describes the
pinpointing of another "extreme choppiness" problem, which is related
to incomplete joystick drivers. They have made the related update to their Serious Sam
FAQ page, which also includes info on a new experimental broadband
optimization utility they've posted.
The Akella News page has word
that work has begun on Sea Dogs 2, a "sequel to the popular role-playing
game about pirates adventures." That part in the quotes is about all the
info on the follow-up available at the moment.
Hypothermia
interviews Rich Carlson talking with the level designer also known as Zdim
about his work. Topics include Zdim's background, the many gaming companies for
whom he has toiled, level design stuff, some off-topic stuff, and of course,
some Alice stuff.
Fragland.net's
programmers interview talks with Aaron R. Leiby from Legend Entertainment
and Robert Aronsson from The Other Guys about their work in the gaming business.
The same Q&A was sent out to other programmer-types, so this looks like the
first part of a series that will be continued.
The Official 'Barking Dog' Forums
(thanks Relic News) has new information
on an upcoming patch for Homeworld: Cataclysm (in case we hadn't had enough
patch releases lately), which is apparently already ready for US and Canada, but
is held up awaiting completion of the overseas variants. In the meantime,
there's a post there with a load of detail on what will be changed in the RTS
expansion when the patch is actually available.
A new installment of the Horizons Vault Developer Journals is online, written by Scott
"Skarz" Blinn, formerly the "Director of World
Design," who has recently received some manner of hardware upgrade to
become the producer on Horizons (or, as it seems to be written most of the time,
HORIZONS), Artifact-Entertainment's
upcoming MMORPG. The update discusses other changes to the team, and mentions
the inclusion of a
new pair of screenshots on their website.
A few year-end game roundups are up: Part four of GameSpot UK's Games of the Year 2000
is online, the Sharky Games Extreme Games of 2000
"awards" have been posted, and Old Married Guys'
Games of the Year are up.
3D Spotlight's Quake
III Arena tweak guide offers performance tips on Q3A and the new Team Arena
add-on, while 3D
Spotlight's Sacrifice tweak guide likewise shows you don't have to sacrifice
performance to play Sacrifice, Shiny's latest offering. Also, GameFAQs' Heavy Gear II
FAQ/Walkthrough has been updated. Finally, Down the Rabbit Hole's
Alice walkthrough offers a complete guide to the retail version of American
McGee's Alice.
The poly-pushers at Polycount
send word of their Game
Model to Real Paper Model tutorial which shows how to create cut out and
paste together paper models based on the low-polygon count models that populate
so many of today's games.
TribesStation
interviews Michael 'Optimizer' Hamlett
talking about progress on the upcoming version of the Strike Force mod for
Dynamix' TRIBES 2. The Q&A goes into the decision to work with an
unreleased game, and describes what sort of support their project is receiving
at this time.
A pre-release version of the Rogue Spear Level Building Documentation is now
available on Pie's Tactics and Rogue Spear Retreat.
Also, the Eidos
Interactive Tomb Raider: Chronicles downloads page has posted the Angkor Wat project and wad files
for the Tomb Raider Level Editor. The files can be found under the "Other
Media" section.
- Raven-Games.com interviews
Zachary Quarles talking with the newest hire at Raven Software (so new
that the conversation doesn't really touch on any of Raven's games). Those
from the old school may recognize Zach's credit from working on
HACX...
- This page on the Black & White game
site offers a new Winamp plug-in based on Black & White, featuring a
dancing bear. Getting the file may require some luck and/or patience, as the
site has been down a bit lately. Thanks Kris Hall...
- The BioWare website
offers downloads of "the BioWare Song, performed by Wes Borg of Three
Dead Trolls in a Baggie (not to be confused with "the famous BioWare
birthday song"), which was premiered at this year’s BioWare Christmas
Party...
- Ever need to tell someone your IP address so you run Winipcfg and
copy-and-paste the results? A new file at Unreal Tournament Station
called Get IP
eases the process by copying your IP directly to the clipboard on command...
Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. I refer to another coffee
maker related disaster in the BlueTower today, as the damned steal-a-cup feature
went haywire once more and flooded the kitchen. My Star Trek-inspired
introductory sentence refers to the fact that after having this experience
previously, my pre-coffee inspection checklist now makes a space launch look
like a spontaneous Sunday drive, so I think blame here lies with Mr. Coffee.
Since spending any more time mopping up grounds and such is not an acceptable
option, in a fit of unoriginality, I am currently considering finding some truly
evil way to pay this thing back for the evil it's done me... I don't think
dropping it from a high altitude will do much to its plastic exterior... any
suggestions? Shotgun it? Hey, where do they have those pile-driver dealies like
in Terminator 2? I'd consider bigfooting it under the truck, but with my luck it
would puncture a tire... either way, if I do decide to do it in, I'll take a
picture or two.
Link of the Day: Lame 8-Balls on the Net.
Thanks Zdim.
Story of the Day: Mensa thief left footprint trail to his
house (Ananova). Thanks Big Dog. Warning: You are also likely to make the
news in this manner when caught in a criminal act if you are a rocket scientist or
a brain surgeon.
Weird Science: Clone offers vision of farming future
(BBC). Thanks CJ.
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