Archived News:
Although you'll still have to wait a few weeks before you can get the game, Electronic Arts has already released the promised Horse creature for Black & White for download from their ftp server (267 KB). This file can be run after you have installed the game (patience, grasshopper), and will make the Horse creature available as described in this excerpt from the installation procedure:
Once the creature has been unlocked he will become available to you the next time you run Black & White - however finding him is a different matter. Take note though, to take control of your new beast you must already have chosen a creature from the game.
Once you have chosen your creature you may exchange him immediately if you wish, but to do so you must locate the whereabouts of the Creature Breeder. This is not as easy as it sounds, for he only appears on Land 1 and Land 4, and even armed with that knowledge you will still have to find his hut. I will tell you this though; breeding creatures is a lonely business, so he tends to stay away from village life by making his home in one of the more isolated parts of the land.
Cunningly hidden from their frontpage overview from last Friday (when it was posted) until this evening, GameSpot has conducted an interview on MechCommander 2, the upcoming mech-anized 3D real-time strategy game by Microsoft. Producer Mitch Gitelman is on the stand to provide an update on the game's development and a round-up of recently added features, such as the logistics interface, multiplayer options, skill system, and more.
- Elite Force Add-on
Sci-fi Gaming has added two new screenshots of the as-yet-unnamed add-on for Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force to their existing gallery for Raven's Trekkie shooter.
- Startopia
MGON has posted a modest four new Startopia screenshots illustrating the 3D management strategy game by Mucky Foot, but if you'd like to be occupied a little longer, try the mind-boggling 313 new and familiar images at French site Gamedata.
- Bridge Commander
Also on Sci-fi Gaming today is a new pair of Star Trek: Bridge Commander screenshots offering new galactic scenes in the capitol ship space sim in the works at Totally Games.
- Wizardry 8
There are four small new Wizardry 8 screenshots on MoreGaming to illustrate their hands-on preview of the increasingly ubiquitous press beta of Sirtech's first-person RPG.
- Commandos 2
Again bent on demonstrating that more is simply... "more," Gamedata has also posted a mix of 70 new and mostly familiar screenshots and concept images of Commandos 2, the squad-based tactical combat game by Pyro Studios.
- Away Team
Sci-fi Gaming's hat trick is rounded out by a new pair of (quite similar) Star Trek: Away Team screenshots showing a scene from the isometric tactical combat game that should arrive on store shelves soon.
- Bloodline
Also on MoreGaming this evening are a few new Bloodline screenshots, knowingly mixed with previously released images of Zima's survival horror adventure for apparent obfuscation.
- Spells of Gold
Russian site Triada Game has posted three new Spells of Gold screenshots, revealing more areas from the isometric RPG by Jonquil and Buka.
The Unreal Technology page has a new
beta version of the OpenGL renderer for Unreal Tournament, which is apparently
primarily to address a bug in parsing the ini file options. The accompanying
update gives full instructions how to apply the beta driver, including word on
how to install the compressed textures from the second UT CD.
Anarchy Online Stratics sends word of
another Anarchy Online
House of Commons chat, planned for today at 3:00 PM EST. The topic at hand
is Anarchy Online (which is an apt description of many of these IRC chats), with
folks from Funcom in attendance answering
questions about the game. You can attend the session by following this
#aohoc link.
This Ethermoon Entertainment
Beta Signup page offers the opportunity to get on the beta team for
Strifeshadow. Notes included with the sign-ups are that applicants must be at
least 13 years of age and must be willing (and able) to endure a 50-60 MB
download. An additional note points out that "even if you were promised a
beta and/or won a contest, you still need to fill out this form."
GameSpy.com's 20 Questions With Counter-Strike's Gooseman and cliffe
is online, talking with the creators of Counter-Strike for Half-Life, their
newsworthiness apparently enhanced by the return of Counter-Strike.net
to PlanetGameSpyDaily Industries. The conversation is part of their "20
questions not about their game" series, and does a better job than many of its predecessors of actually avoiding the topic of Counter-Strike, though there are game-related questions in with the mix of
off-topic ones (though sadly, Gooseman got the "Dodge Viper or Ferrari"
question incorrect).
With plans for an audio Levelord interview in the works, the folks at XGR
have posted an Ask Levelord
page soliciting questions from readers and listeners to be submitted to the
Ritual Entertainment level designer during their Q&A. So put aside that
salad shooter and your mustache wax, put your thinking cap on, and cook up some
questions for his Lo'ness.
There's a Medal
Of Honor: Allied Assault fact sheet on Stomped with a rundown on some
details about gameplay from the upcoming Quake III-engine powered installment in
the Medal of Honor series. The sheet describes the game's "interactive
Allied vehicles such as Sherman tanks and M3 Half Tracks," its weapons,
including "Thompson submachine guns, Mark II Frag Grenades, .50 (cal)
mounted machine guns, flame-throwers, and 'sticky bombs'" (though no word
on whether you need to make the latter using your own socks), and more.
RPGDot's ExcaliBug Interview
is online, talking with the team at Enigma about progress on ExcaliBug, their
unusual upcoming 3D strategic RPG where you control a group of insects who are on a
quest for excalibug (presumably to be pulled from a
drop of amber), which is a scale that fell from Excalibur, King Arthur's famed sword.
The NDL news page has the announcement
of a new version 4.0 of the NetImmerse engine, which is said to support both the
Xbox and the Gamecube. Also, GameSpot UK's Going Ape
(Part two) is the odd title for their conversation with Lionhead designer Peter Molyneux,
which, like part one ( story), continues to focus on the upcoming
PSone version of Black & White, though some of the topics discussed apply to
other versions of the upcoming god-game as well.
Surviving the Game on Frag-Energy
is the first part of a planned multi-part strategy guide for Counter Strike, the
initial installment offering thoughts on weapon choices.
Still kicking it with the old school, the Face-Off
competition is underway, attempting to learn who is the "best of the
best" at deathmatch in venerable QuakeWorld.
For someone who complains often enough about spam, not only do I read more of it
than I should, I probably actually get more entertainment out of some of it than
I should. The email that put me in this reflective mood is one that came in
advertising that the creators of a network of no less than 31,195 websites that
can show you where near you in the US to get a massage (I won't put that in
quotes because I guess there's a chance that it actually does mean a backrub),
are putting all those sites up for sale. The part that's supposed to tempt you
is the promise of riches, phrased like so: "Our business model showed that
if we sold even half of the 31,195 websites, we would be looking at over
$350,000 in sales for the first year!" Of course they never mention how the
purchaser of these sites will make a dime... I honestly think they are hoping
you'll confuse their profits with yours... of course since all of
these schemes seem to rely on gullibility, this shouldn't be too surprising, but it
really does make me wonder once more if anyone ever falls for any of these.
Wacky birthday meister Chris Morris
sends word that today is Sam Donaldson's 67th birthday, though between us we
can't figure out how old his hair is, except to say it's much younger.
Story of the Day: Dennis Still Menacing at 50
(Fox). Thanks theAntiELVIS. Guess this is a birthday wish too -- cheers Dennis!
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