Archived News:
Blizzard has announced that starting April 4th and running for one week, they
will begin taking applications for the Lord of Destruction add-on for Diablo
II (thanks PlanetDiablo). Like the
original Diablo II beta, the version of the game that will be released to testers
is playable only over Battle.net, although it includes everything but the endgame
cinematics from the retail release. More information can be found at Blizzard's
official site, where they have posted a
Lord of Destruction Beta FAQ.
There is a new media gallery of Project Eden on Daily Radar, as they've taken their press build of Core Design's upcoming squad-based 3D action game for a spin and captured four movies and a bunch of screenshots from it. The movies are in MPEG format and feature between 12 seconds and a minute of gameplay footage.
- TORN
The official Black Isle Studios: TORN site has been updated with three new screenshots (numbers 3, 4 and 8 from the top) of this recently announced 3D role-playing game.
- Alone in the Dark
GameSpot has posted ten new Alone in the Dark: the New Nightmare screenshots, illustrating the creepy survival adventure game in development at Spiral House and DarkWorks.
- Tropico
Gathering of Developers sends word that the official Tropico site (Flash-only) has been updated with three new character profiles, each illustrated with three new screenshots (the Teamster, Bureaucrat and Athlete). And also on GameSpot this evening are a baker's dozen new Tropico screenshots, captured from the increasingly ubiquitous press build of PopTop's dictatorial island management game.
Ensemble Studios has released the first online screenshot of RTS III, the codename of their upcoming 3D real-time strategy game. No further details are available on the game, other than that the June issue of Computer Gaming World will feature a full-fledged preview.
GameSpot's nightly preview is online, and tonight they take
a look at Neverwinter Nights. The author visited BioWare's Edmonton offices,
and so naturally the preview is based on what they were shown there. It's loaded
with gameplay details, and there are seven new images, six of which are new
in-game screenshots.
If you thought last week's Red Faction PS2 movie was a bit on the grainy side ( story), then the official Red Faction site now offers some relief for your eyes by way of two new versions in crystal clear 320x240 and 640x480 resolutions (at notably larger download sizes, of course). As before, the trailer sports a round two minutes of cinematic and gameplay footage in self-running Bink format.
Fan page MechWarrior Center has posted a
Q&A with David "Wicced" Abzug, a designer on MechWarrior 4: Vengeance.
David talks about the contents of the upcoming patch for the game, as well as
the background of the game's development staff and he also dodges a question
about the expansion pack that may or may not be in development.
Reflexive and Activision have released a playable demo of Star Trek: Away Team for download from GameSpot, offering you a chance to try out their just-released isometric squad-based tactical game. The demo weighs in at 70.0 MB and includes two single-player missions.
According to a
report on AVault, Halls of Valhalla, the recently announced add-on for Rune
(which also functions on its own) has gone gold and will be appearing on store
shelves on April 24th. They also have received word that Human Head and Gathering
of Developers will be releasing Rune Gold this summer, which will contain the
original game, Halls of Valhalla and "additional, unspecified content." Update: AVault has modified their story, citing a GoD representative as their source.
Westlake Interactive has updated
their news page with word that their Mac OS port of Escape From Monkey Island
has gone gold (thanks Scandalon). The game will be published by Aspyr Media
in the near future, and they are currently working on a special OS X version
as well.
GameTropics has conducted a
Q&A with Steve Ashley, an artist at Stainless Steel Studios, talking
with him about his work on Empire Earth. Steve talks about the variety of positions
he fills on the game, what it's like to work at Stainless Steel Studios and
more.
Overmax and Eidos have released a version 1.03 patch for Fate of the Dragon, their recently released isometric RTS set in Chinese medieval history. The 3.6 MB patch improves Internet multiplayer and international language support, fixes a few gameplay bugs, and more.
Strategy
Planet's Conquest: Frontier Wars Interview talks with Eric Peterson, the
producer of Conquest: Frontier Wars, who recently left Digital Anvil, taking
that title as well as Loose Cannon and an unannounced game with him. Eric provides
some general information about Conquest, which has been complete for some time
now, and says that they have signed with a new publisher and expect to make
an announcement regarding its status "REAL soon."
A new preview
of Emperor: Battle for Dune is online at GameSpot UK today. The preview
is brief, but it contains quotes from Westwood's Chris Longpre, who explains
how the game's missions unfold and how the 3D terrain affects the gameplay.
There are also some screenshots, although they have been previously available
elsewhere.
Russian site GamePort.ru has posted a
new Q&A with David Deen of PopTop Software, talking about their upcoming
dicator-sim Tropico. The Q&A is available in both English
and the site's native
Russian, and includes some new screenshots. Also, GameSpy.com and 3D Gaming Daily have posted their Tropico previews, which are based on their impressions of a full build of the game.
Computer and Video Games has conducted an
interview with Christopher Longpre of Westwood Studios, talking with him
about Emperor: Battle for Dune, their first 3D strategy game. Chris explains
how this game differs from Dune 2000, which was essentially a remake of the
classic RTS Dune 2, and he also talks about how they are using their 3D engine
in Emperor, why there are less units in the game than other RTS titles and more.
The Game Menu Headquarters
has posted new versions of the Half-Life Menu and Quake 3 Menu mods. Each mod
adds the ability to use "virtually any command" from the console,
and each of these releases contains bug fixes along with some additional commands.
After a minor hitch ( story) the GameSpy shareware version 2.52
upgrade is available
again at FilePlanet. We're told that this version should install with no
problems, so those of you that were unable to get it to work yesterday should
try your luck again.
GameSpot
UK interviews Clive Barker, talking with him about Clive Barker's Undying,
as well as his other various projects. There isn't really anything in here that
hasn't been said before, but nonetheless, he talks about his contributions to
Undying and his thoughts on gaming in general.
There is a new Empire Earth movie on EEfiles, offering a sneak peek at this millenia-spanning 3D real-time strategy game under construction at Stainless Steel Studios. The 13.2 MB clip in self-executing Bink format offers some 50 seconds of footage, mostly from the World War II era in the game.
GamePower has posted a new preview of Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising, looking ahead to the 3D action/strategy game by Rage Software. The brief article has an overview of the game's premise and features, as well as a few screenshots, but as is their way, a Q&A with the game's producer is also included. Dan Kingdom talks about what makes the game stand out from more conventional RTS offerings, the personalities of the individual units, and a few other topics. Finally, there is a new gameplay movie (now also in RealPlayer format next to their usual Vivo format) showing plenty of ground- and air-based footage.
The Adrenaline Vault
previews Operation Flashpoint with a detailed look ahead at gameplay from
this upcoming first-person action game that places you in the chilly conflict of
the cold war. As has previously been noted, one of Op Flashpoint's planned
innovations is an unprecedented ability to operate vehicles that will populate
the game, here is what the preview has to say about that: While getting
down and dirty in the field is certainly a large part of Operation Flashpoint's
charm, what is promising to elevate it beyond its genre classifications is its
full interactivity with the world, including the ability to board just about any
vehicle that you come across. Jeeps and trucks are just two of the 30-odd
machines that you'll be able to hop into throughout your bloody travels, though
these are by no means the stars of the show. No, that honor would have to go to
the two military heavyweights: the tank and the helicopter. As it handles
somewhat realistically, the latter can be a tad unwieldy to operate at first, as
you learn how to maneuver with the pitch and yaw -- thankfully, it's hardly a
Jane's simulation, and it's something that should be picked up in fairly short
order. As you would expect, the tank works somewhat differently, and requires
two people to operate properly. The commander is in charge of selecting targets
and giving movement orders, which are then implemented by the driver; depending
on the situation, you'll be tasked with filling either position. Intimidated
novices need not worry, though, tutorials will be provided and, failing that,
shrubs and trees are no match for a runaway tank.
There's some meat among the potatoes in the latest GameSpin
column on GameSpy, as it offers an
interview with Rick Goodman, talking with the lead designer on Age of
Empires and Empire Earth about progress on the latter real-time strategy game. The conversation discusses
efforts to outdo AoE, multiplayer play, stretching the genre, baiting the
French, and more.
FilePlanet and 3DFiles have a beta 3 patch for Sacrifice, for which the readme has been posted at Voodoo Extreme. Word is this is a beta patch, not the final release, and that there is no support for localized (non-English) versions of the game, though it can be installed on them at the expense of the game's text, which will then be in English ("Further releases of Beta Patch 3 will be fully translated"). Installing the patch will require that you have previously installed DirectX 8.
Today will mark the occasion of the first-ever Fallen
Age House of Commons chat hosted by Fallen
Age Stratics, scheduled for this evening at 8:00 PM EST in #fahoc,
with Netamin, designers on this upcoming
MMORPG. Questions for the team are to be passed along by a moderator, which
should help reduce the chaos that can be found in unmoderated chats.
GameSpot UK's Red Faction Interview Part Two
is online, talking with Volition's Anoop Shekar,
discussing "weapons, AI and Red Faction's multiplayer credentials," in
an interview that apparently has been sitting in cold storage for a while, as
one of the Q&As final answers refers to the release of the PC version of
Summoner as a couple of months off.
The Backburner
interviews Croteam, their quick Q&A catching up on some general stuff
following the release of Serious Sam. Meanwhile, the Croteam: The Second Interview
on Old Man Murray has been posted, discussing Serious Sam, among other
things. We ran out of fingers and toes trying to count up all the parties that
will be offended by this, so an exact figure is not available.
EuroGamer previews Diablo
II : Lord of Destruction looking at the
upcoming Diablo II expansion pack during the recent European Blizzard press
tour. In spite of the tour's emphasis on Warcraft III, they managed to corner
Blizzard's Bill Roper to interrogate him a bit about plans for the pack,
discussing new character classes and items that will be included.
A new version 1.20 of the Simple DirectMedia Layer
has been released, described as "the latest stable version" of this
cross-platform multimedia library. Thanks Jacek Fedoryński.
Though there doesn't seem to be an accompanying news story, a post on the GameSpy Forums
explains that the shareware version 2.52 of GameSpy 3D released yesterday
( story) has been yoinked until a version can be provided that
doesn't do whatever it was that it was doing that caused it to be yoinked,
saying in the meantime they've "rolled back to v2.51 on FilePlanet."
Thanks Ant.
A report called Warren Spector to show two new games at E3
on Computer and Video Games mentions Deus Ex 2, and in connection with that,
reports: "A PS2 version of the game, known internally as Deus Ex 1.5
because it includes levels from both games, is also in the works."
Meanwhile, Pre-TGS Sega and Microsoft To Team Up
on Xbox.IGN.com speculates that the Tokyo Game Show will feature a
collaboration announcement between the erstwhile console manufacturer and the
fledgling console manufacturer, while a separate report called SEGA's Big TGS 2001 Announcement
on Dreamcast.IGN.com speculates about similar announcements for other
systems. Also, DailyRadar.com's
review of MDK 2 Armageddon is online. Finally, Xbox: The 5 Disaster Scenarios
on Daily Radar offers just that: descriptions of the circumstances that
could undermine Microsoft's ambitious console plans.
- A new episode five of the Siege of Avalon
"Episodic Game Novel RPG" is available. The update introduces a new format for
the chapters in the game, and updated versions of the previous chapters have
been uploaded for those starting new games...
- A couple more tunes from the soundtrack of Summoner have been released
on MP3.com,
with a few more Summoner tracks as well as outtakes that didn't make it into
the game planned as future releases...
- Dragonriders Q&A #8
on RPG Vault is the eighth, and final installment in the series
describing development of the upcoming RPG based on Anne McCaffrey's
Dragonriders of Pern series...
- Flanker2.com has a version 2.5 patch for Flanker 2.0 in three different flavors, as well as redone training missions. Thanks Josh
Sholes...
- As promised, the first music pack for the Art of War
Q3A mod has been released, which can be used with any mod that supports
custom music...
Happy birthday to furn, blammo programmer and occasional, if not erstwhile CGI
programmer around these parts. Speaking of birthdays and anniversaries, minister
of the latter, David Chase, sends along word of an anniversary that he admits is
a little esoteric, but seems interesting enough to post nonetheless, especially
since it concerns events that predate the birth of this site. You may be aware
that id Software's offices were at one time located in Wisconsin, and David's
email highlights the anniversary of their move to Dallas (or more accurately,
Mesquite), which was yesterday: It was 9 years ago today that id Software
moved from Wisconsin to Dallas. id originally moved to the Wisconsin area to be
closer to Tom Hall's family, but the frozen winter of '91-'92 (and the distance
from Apogee software) changed their minds. They moved to Dallas in March and
worked in a loft on the completion of Wolfenstein 3-D, released May 5th.
Very esoteric, but if you're a fan of idsoft, the Shreveport --> Wisconsin
--> Dallas years can be a bit of a mystery.
Story of the Day: Toupees as Preventative Medicine
(Fox). Thanks theAntiELVIS. Dr. Sy Sperling?
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