Archived News:
A couple of updates on TribalWar offer more support for addressing problems in Dynamix' team-based shooter TRIBES 2. There is now a First Aid utility that will insure you have installed the game properly, as apparently several in-game problems have been traced back to bad copies made of the game files during installation. It needs to be run after freshly installing the game and before running it or patching it to the latest version. Also, an update on in-game news system (reposted here on TribalWar) has word that a fix for the CD check problems has been found and will be implemented in the next patch, expected by the middle of next week. Finally, for those who missed it when the game was released ( story), there's a reminder to update the SierraUp utility before applying any game patches.
There is a new interview on O.R.B. at Beta-World, grilling Strategy First producer and designer Phil O’Connor about their upcoming space-based RTS that's also known under its full title Off-World Resource Base. Phil talks about their plans to support the game after release as well as gameplay features like the resources, squad leaders, user interface and "space junk." Seven new screenshots accompany the proceedings.
EuroGamer has posted a hands-on preview of Conflict Zone, the 3D real-time strategy game nearing completion at MASA Group. The preview is very brief and only illustrated with a pair of old screenshots, but nonetheless offers some impressions of a recent build of the game, its two campaigns, and the resource system.
There's another Q&A with Valve's Erik Johnson on their spiffy new Multicast Spectator Mode technology, this time at Adrenaline Vault. Erik talks about the origins of the project, its test run in the ongoing SPEAKEASY.net Counter-Strike CPL event, the features they still want to implement before releasing it, and a few other topics.
This week's Halo update is online at Rampancy.net this morning (thanks halo.bungie.org). Matt Soell offers his usual virtual tour through Bungie's offices, picking up snippets of info on AI improvements, an escape pod, teleporters, progress on multiplayer, grenade hopping, and a one kilometer long Pillar of Autumn ship model.
There's a brief Fighting Legends Design Journal on Action Vault, in which Maximum Charisma's Brandon Gillam touches upon five different combat tactics in their upcoming massively multiplayer RPS. Five new screenshots round out the short update.
RPG Vault has posted a dozen new Anarchy Online screenshots, illustrating their impressions of the ongoing beta test of Funcom's MMORPG and the first steps of creating a character to look around in its far-future world.
What's
up with Westwood is the name of an article at Daily Radar that features
some info about Yuri's Revenge, the upcoming add-on for Red Alert 2 (all of
which has been available elsewhere already) and a new interview with Dan Cermak,
the producer of Command & Conquer Renegade. Dan fields questions about Renegade,
and explains how the project came about, how your character fits into the C&C
universe and more. If that's not enough Renegade for you, a
new preview of the game is up at PC.IGN, which has their take on the game
based on what they saw during a recent trip to Westwood along with some previously
available screenshots.
Apparently the preview they ran the other day wasn't enough, as Daily Radar
has posted an
interview with Jeff Petersen, the lead programmer on Cosmic Rift. Jeff explains
why this game isn't called SubSpace 2 (they didn't have the rights, for one
thing) and the level of control players will (or won't) have over the game's
content among other topics.
Also new at Daily Radar today is another
installment of their Battle Realms History. Like all the articles in this
series, it presents a portion of a fictional backstory for Battle Realms, and
this edition is the first installment of the fourth chapter.
Although it's not actually listed anywhere on their site, the
latest edition of The Blizzard Insider, Blizzard Entertainment's promotional
newsletter is now online (thanks PlanetDiablo).
The newsletter contains details on a special limited edition DVD featuring the
cut-scenes from StarCraft and StarCraft: Brood War, new 800x600 screenshots
from the upcoming Diablo II add-on Lord of Destruction, a sample from the LoD
soundtrack and a Q&A with Bill Roper.
Stomped has posted a
quote they received from Rogue Entertainment's Barrett Alexander regarding
the status of the company. Rogue's future looked to be on shaky ground when
the Playstation 2 port of American McGee's Alice they were working on was canceled
( story), but Barrett says they are back at work on a new project,
although he can't talk about it at this time.
The official PlanetSide site has been updated with another
monthly letter from community relations manager Danny "Blackbird"
Han. There isn't much in the way of new info this month, but instead there's
a general status update on the game and info on the new members that have been
added to the development team.
The PlanetSide site isn't the only Verant-related site to be updated, as a
couple of new things have popped up over at the official Star Wars Galaxies
site. The official
FAQ has been updated with new questions about the chat system, house building
and other aspects of the game, and new
color versions of the Bothan character concept art have been posted as well
(thanks GameSpot for the tip).
Version 2.4b of QStat, the venerable server
info and analysis program has been released. This latest version adds support
for TRIBES 2, colorized names in both TRIBES 2 and Quake III Arena and more.
GameSpot has conducted a
Q&A with David Adams of Realm Interactive, talking with him about their
upcoming massively multiplayer RTS Trade Wars: Dark Millennium, which is based
on the classic Trade Wars BBS game. David explains how they acquired the rights
to the name, the differences between this new title and the original (which
are pretty substantial as this one is in full 3D, whereas the the original was
in ASCII), how the game universe is organized and more.
The official Charr: The Grimm Fate
site was updated yesterday with a new edition of their Charr Saga backstory,
a description of the The Cursed, Commoner, Orc and Dwarf races, a new screenshot
of the week and more. Charr: The Grimm Fate is an upcoming massively multiplayer
title from Fate Studios.
The latest
edition of the Dark Age of Camelot Beta Journal at fan page Camelot Vault
is online today. This week marked the opening of the third phase of the beta
test, and so this installment focuses on the new Midgard realm that was unveiled,
and also features the creation of a new character. Like the previous Journal
entries, it's well-illustrated with screenshots.
Westlake Interactive has updated
their news page with a status report on their Mac OS port of Tomb Raider
Chronicles. According to the update the game is in final beta testing, and they
are devoting most of their time to porting the level editor, which will be included
on a separate CD in the retail box.
Heroes fan page Celestial Heavens Unleashed has conducted a
Q&A with April Lee, an artist on Heroes of Might and Magic II and III,
as well as the Heroes III add-on Armageddon's Blade. The questions are all of
a pretty general nature, and April talks about her work and life in the gaming
industry.
Microsoft's official Xbox site has been updated with a
new trailer in WMV format ( Windows Media Player required) featuring CGI footage
from Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee. Italian gaming site Nextgame.it has posted a
preview of the Playstation 2 version of Red Faction, complete with a whopping
102 new screenshots. As the text is in Italian, feel free to consult Babel Fish
for a translation. The lucky folk at PS2.IGN paid a trip to Irrational Games,
and they have written a new
preview of The Lost based on what they saw there, complete with plenty of
screenshots (although not quite 102).
PC Extremes is giving away a PC20-3333 case and Enermax Power Supply in their
new contest. In other contest news, starting Sunday, AOE2.com will be taking
submissions for their AnyThingGoes!
Contest, where people can submit the original Age of Empires item of their
choice, with the top four entries winning copies of Age of Empires II: The Conquerors.
Finally, ClanBase sends word that they
have launched Capture the Flag and Capture and Hold ladders for North American
and European TRIBES 2 teams of eight players or more.
The TRIBES
2 Helpsheet at Tribes2HQ.com is a FAQ of sorts to help TRIBES 2 level designers
implement bot support into their maps.
- Another edition of
Askin' Haskins is online, featuring a Rune: Halls of Valhalla Q&A
with some of the staff at Human Head (in addition to other things)...
- Publisher Fishtank Interactive has opened up the US, UK and French editions
of their site, which contains some
basic info on their upcoming games, including Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners
of the Earth and AquaNox.
- Musician Alexander Brandon sends word that he's going to be selling a CD
featuring 5 tracks from Unreal and Unreal Tournament, the first 100 of which
will be autographed by himself and fellow Unreal-composer Andrew Sega...e-mail
him for info...
Although it's really not a very accurate indicator of anything (as it's been
broken countless times over the years), nonetheless, we hit a major milestone
yesterday when our counter broke the 100 million mark. The lucky reader to hit
this mark was Forrest, although we'll have to take his word for it, as the screen
capture he sent in doesn't actually have the counter on it (he didn't have the
hidden text selected when he took the shot). Still, congrats are due all around,
and we can actually say we've had over a tenth of a billion visitors. Not too
shabby. Here's to another 0.1 billion!
R.I.P. Harvey
R. Ball, designer of the Smiley Face (CNN.com). Thanks Micah Leiff Nutt.
R.I.P. Robert Moon,
inventor of the ZIP code (FOXNews.com). Thanks theAntiELVIS.
Story of the Day: Attention
Kids: No Stun Guns at Easter Egg Roll (Yahoo News/ABCNews.com). Thanks Seth
Johnson.
Bonus Story: Yahoo
will remove adult-related products from sites (DallasNews.com). Thanks Jamie
Fullerton. Following up on a story we ran the other day.
|
Twitter 
