There is batch of new Star Trek: Voyager-Elite Force add-on screenshots on Nextgame.it showing off the upcoming add-on for Raven Software's Quake III-engine first-person shooter set in the final frontier. The total of 18 shots are more than have been previously seen from the expansion pack put together, as they have received an elusive beta version from Activision Europe from which to snap shots.

The Dominion Wars Un-Official Site has posted a pair of new Star Trek: Deep Space Nine-Dominion Wars screenshots, showing off two views of another upcoming Star Trek title, one that focuses on strategy and tactics in recreating Deep Space Nine style space combat, allowing you to command forces for either the Federation or the Dominion.

MoreGaming.com has posted a possible solution for the nasty "unhandled exception" error that has been vexing some TRIBES 2 owners. Here is the portion of the post that will hopefully help everyone experiencing the problem, which prevents the game from running, which it would seem is caused, at least in some cases, by a missing AVI codec:

As someone posted on the troubleshooting forums I ran the .avi intro with windows media player and sure enough didn't have the .avi codec installed. This is your problem. All it needs is a patch to install the .avi codec if it hasn't already been in Windows. Also, my GeForce specific (i.e., leadtek) drivers wouldn't fly. I think the game didn't know what a Leadtek Winfast GeForce2 was, which is what it was called in the display properties. Now after installing the new detonator drivers everything works fine. My video card now shows up as NVIDIA Geforce2 so it makes sense that the game can interpret this and not the other name.

This Team Evolve mirror page has the new version 2.2b of PainKeep Arena for Quake III Arena, described by its creators as "a mission pack enhancement to Quake 3 Arena that adds delightful weapons such as Beartraps, Autosentries, and the much-feared Gravity Well. The Beta 2 Release is a full-featured mission pack - containing 9 awesome weapons, 10 custom maps and 3 new bot opponents." Downloads of the new version weigh in at a shade under 50 MB.

Sierra has released the version 5.1.5.6 patch for Half-Life: Initial Encounter, finally completing the process they began over two weeks ago of issuing version 1106 patches for the various editions of Half-Life. Half-Life: Initial Encounter is the retail Half-Life package that included the Half-Life: Day One OEM demo and a stand-alone version of Team Fortress Classic. The 48 MB file can be obtained from Sierra via this direct FTP link, or from this page on 3D Gamers if you find that slow.

Gone Gold has word of a patch for Majesty- The Northern Expansion. Though the file is available on Cyberlore (direct link), it does not seem to be on the download page or the main Cyberlore page, and there is not even a read me included, so the nature of the patch is a bit of a mystery.

GameSpot previews Warcraft III (thanks Stomped) with an updated look ahead at the next installment in the Blizzard series that will add RPG elements to the RTS genre. The updated preview provides thoughts on the impact of recently announced changes to gameplay, such as the removal of the playable demon class from the game. The preview is based on getting to spend some face time with the developers getting a demonstration, and offers five pages of impressions and five new screenshots.

Beta Bites previews Tropico popping the top of a beta version of PopTop's upcoming game that rewards being a ruthless dictator, or as they put it, "you can be one mean SOB and still rule" (in other words, this may be realistic enough to call it a sim). The preview describes gameplay, offering very favorable impressions, awarding it the "~Lockup~ YeeHaw!!! Award!" Along with the descriptions and impressions, they also provide a large batch of screenshots showing everything from loading scenes to menus, as well as gameplay.

Admitting to the possibility they are milking it, there are three new Anarchy Online screenshots on GameSpyDaily showing off "some of the random dungeons and locales away from Omni-1" in FunCom's upcoming MMORPG.

• New Radeontweaker
  The radeontweaker homepage has a new version of this advanced option editing tool for Radeon-based video cards. Thanks Savage News.
• New CPU-Z
  A new version of the CPU-Z CPU ID program is now available. Thanks File Flash.

A new version 2 of the JailBreak mod for Unreal Tournament is now available (thanks ShackNews). The new version offers a greatly improved HUD, tweaks to bot behavior, and a grand total of 12 maps.

A new version 2.5 of the Half-Life Admin Mod is now available for both Linux and Windows. The new release is described as a "giant leap" forward in functionality, among the major new changes are metamod support, plug-in scripts and a new timer system. Word is the new version currently does not support TeamFortress Classic, but that this shortcoming is being investigated.

This Plug-in page has the first plug-in for the Server Watch utility from Deep Fried Software to provide RCON capabilities for Half-Life. Word on the plug-in is, "The (capabilities) are very similar to what appeared in Server Watch 2 and are not the full administration features that will be in the final release of Server Watch 3."

• America on Adrenaline Vault.
• Clive Barker's Undying on Gaming Age.
• Gothic (in German) on GamersUnitedNetwork.
• In Cold Blood on Quandary.
• Serious Sam: the First Encounter on GameZone.
• Star Trek: Away Team on Head to Head.
• Star Wars: Episode 1 Battle for Naboo on GameZone.
• TRIBES 2 (first impressions) on PC.IGN.com.

• DiamondMax Plus 60 hard drive on Computer Games Online.
• GlobalWin CAF12 cooler on VideoCardDrivers.Com.
• Linksys 4-Port USB HUB on Cputweak.
• MSI K7T Turbo motherboard on LostCircuits.
• Plextor PlexWriter 12/10/32A CD-R/W on 3D Games Zone.

• There's a new online Quake III Arena autoexec maker on LANParty.Com...
• Sharky's Private Bye announces the departure of our good pal Sharky from his namesake site. Tech Bits will never be the same. Likewise, Dan Clarke has a goodbye message on GamePen, but in these cases both sites are continuing onward...

Happy April Fool's Day, and all that, I don't think there's anything more I can do for you if you missed our own celebration of the moment. In keeping with our tradition, the gags we catch will reside in the post below, but it's also fairly traditional that a joke or two find their way into the news, so we'll have to see how that goes this year, though the task of picking out the spoofs as they come in will undoubtedly be made easier since today is a Sunday.

Today also begins daylight saving time around these parts, the pros and cons of which have been bandied about in this space before, but I still find so odd that today's LoD's are in honor of it, even though the first one has been so honored already. One inarguable downside of DST starting this weekend is that as a result the two day Get Smart marathon on TV Land will be only 47 hours. Sorry about that, chief.

Link of the Day: Daylight Saving Time Its History and Why We Use It.
Bonus Link: End Daylight Savings Time.
Story of the Day: What Time Is the Noon Meeting? Thanks Ant.
Media of the Day: TheTruth.com's Tobacco Industry Recall Ad (AdCritic). Happy April Fool's Day. Thanks again Ant.

Updated throughout the day: Doom3 Xbox Only, WAGZ' gags are the first out of the box virtue of April 1 hitting so early in Australia (or late here, or something)... 3DFiles has the tech demo for Duke Nukem Forever for download (thanks Aaron), perhaps released as a result of the article called 3D Realms Admits Duke Nukem Forever Never Existed on 3D Action Planet... Genesis3D has become Exodus2D... The latest expansion pack screenshot on DiabloII.Net shows off a funky fresh new option for Deckard Cain, along with links to an .mp3 sample of the outcome... BitBoys Oy To Acquire NVIDIA Core Graphics Assets reports 3DSpotlight... Bluescreenofdeth's GeForce3 Giveaway has an unlimited supply of these unavailable cards for anyone willing to write them... PlanetHalf-Life h45 b33n h@x0r3d... The first Star Wars Galaxies screenshot is up on GameRants... Meanwhile, a game site changes focus as PlanetMoonCentral becomes Poo Products, makers of V.I.M.P. (Very Impressive Meat Product)... Tweak3D.net's Ford Taurus Tweak Guide is online... Saying they are "abandon a sinking ship," as far as supporting Halo, Rampancy.Net announces they are joining the SpyGame network and changing their focus to Unreal II... Something Awful announces more new ownership (thanks Buckley's World (itself formerly Elvesontricycles.com))... While the alleged Unreal II screenshots on The Backburner take as long to load as if they were the real thing(s)... Meanwhile, this article that makes itself appear to actually be on the MSN gaming zone (it's not) announces the closure of Asheron's Call, is actually the work of Canada Gaming... Following the canuck yucks we have some French follies, as Starcraft II annoncé on HardGamers shows that April Fool's is an international holiday... LANparty.com gets the annual award for first site to claim to have been purchased by Microsoft (thanks Olivier Adam)... In contrast to that story of being taken over by capitalists, Mikhailtech announces they've implored Mr. Chairman to put back up the wall, as they've been taken over by communists (J. Edgar Hoover is rolling over in his taffeta-lined grave)... Hey now, there's a Halo tech demo on DemoNews, said to be well worth the 150 MB download...