Archived News:
PC.IGN has a new preview of
Conflict Zone online, taking a look at this upcoming RTS game from French
developers MASA. The preview is based on their experience with a playable build
of the game, and contains their overall impressions along with 17 new screenshots.
PlanetBaldursGate has conducted an
interview with Steve Bokkes of Black Isle Studios, talking with him about
their free add-on for Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter that will be released in
the near future. Steve talks about all the various features of the 19 new levels,
and there are also some screenshots up showing them off.
The official Doom Legacy site now offers version 1.32 beta 1 of this Doom source code port for download. Billed as "major new full release," it comes in Win32, Linux, Mac OS/X, OS/2 and even good ol' DOS incarnations, and offers numerous improvements, changes and fixes in the gameplay, 3D acceleration, multiplayer and miscellaneous departments.
Now that they have had more than a few minutes to check out their beta copy,
GameSpot has posted a
second preview of Lord of Destruction, the upcoming add-on for Diablo II.
The preview contains a look at all the new features that are added to Diablo
II (including the much-requested upgrade to 800x600 resolution) and they have
also posted 13 new screenshots as well as several
new gameplay movies.
Also new at GameSpot tonight is a
preview of World War II Online. The preview is pretty in-depth, and it takes
a look at many of the different aspects of this ambitious massively multiplayer
game, including its mission-assignment system, the many different vehicles and
more, and it is illustrated with 12 new screenshots.
An update on the official Shogun: Total War community site gives word that the upcoming Mongol Invasion expansion pack (that will be distributed in the US with the original game as the Warlord Edition) for Creative Assembly's 3D RTS will not include the multiplayer campaign mode as originally planned, due to "problems with the stability and scalability of the online multiplayer strategy map campaign." The multiplayer campaign will now become available as a free download shortly after the expansion's release in June, and the update provides an overview of the six multiplayer modes to be included in the pack itself.
- Max Payne
Gathering of Developers have opened their E3 2001 site (Flash required), and the first game previewed is Remedy's gritty third-person shooter Max Payne, which is illustrated with three new screenshots (in addition to three of the shots released last month).
- Return to Castle Wolfenstein
There are eleven new Return to Castle Wolfenstein screenshots on Italian site Nextgame.it, showing off the Quake III engine powered FPS in the works at Gray Matter (thanks Stomped).
- Necrocide
Both EuroGamer and GameSpot UK have posted Necrocide screenshot galleries that include a couple of new scenes each in the first-person horror shooter by NovaLogic, and EuroGamer also has a few new story details online.
- Red Faction
It's another Red Faction Tuesday at the official site for Volition's destroy-everything FPS, offering a new PS2 screenshot and introducing a new weapon, the Precision Rifle.
- Operation Flashpoint
A brief but hands-on Operation Flashpoint preview on PC Zone UK brings another installment in the never-ending stream of gameplay impressions and new screenshots of Bohemia's soldier sim.
- Elite Force Expansion
Just under the wire for its release later this week, PC Zone UK also has a brief Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force Expansion Pack preview online with a handful of new screenshots of Raven's FPS add-on.
- Arx Fatalis
There is a new Arx Fatalis screenshot (the middle one in the top row) on RPGDot, as well as a new pair of concept images illustrating the first-person RPG being crafted at Arkane Studios.
- End of Twilight
eUniverseGames has posted a first look at End of Twilight, a fantasy 3D action RPG that was just announced by Russian developers New Media Generation.
- Dragonfarm
Similarly, German site SpieleCity has posted a first look at Dragonfarm, a management strategy game by German companies Soft Enterprises and Blackstar Interactive, which you may like to read via Babel Fish, or you can just look at the pretty pictures.
MCV has an
article online that attempts to shed some light on Microsoft's recent acquisition
of Ensemble Studios ( story). The article quotes Microsoft's Stuart
Moulder as saying that, "Ensemble will be the driver of our online technology"
and that they will be expanding the company into two development teams, which
will share technology with Microsoft's other developers, such as Bungie and
Digital Anvil.
GameSpot has conducted a
Q&A with Jeff Tunnell of GarageGames, talking with him about their business
model and their plans for the V12 engine (AKA the TRIBES 2 engine). Jeff explains
their plans for the future, and he says they will be releasing the engine "real
soon now" and that once the engine is released there will be at least six
months before the first games start to show up (and six months after that before
any of them are commercial-quality).
A Q&A
with Wolfgang Walk, the project manager at Massive Development on their
upcoming title AquaNox is up at Stomped this morning. Wolfgang talks about the
connection between AquaNox and Archimedian Dynasty (the company's last game),
the different single player missions in AquaNox, the enemies and weapons and
more.
PlanetMoon president Nick Bruty seems to be making the rounds today, as another
interview
with him is up at PlanetMoon Central. Nick looks back at the development
of Giants: Citizen Kabuto, and comments on what was dropped from the game, the
chances of a level editor being released, and more.
The Armchair Empire
interviews Nick Bruty talking with the president of Planet Moon Studios
about Giants: Citizen Kabuto, their 3D, three-class, action game. The
conversation covers reactions to the game's release, as well as a look at what
the future holds for the big guy (and the small guys and the naked
chick), as well as their company, of which he says we should continue to expect
the unexpected: What should we expect next from Planet Moon?
I think Giants represents Planet moon well in the style of game we like to
make. We will always try to keep things fresh and catch people off guard. It was
difficult to know how far we could take things, especially the cutscenes. But it
all went down so well that you will see us take everything a step further.
There's an Emperor
Battle for Dune interview on GamesReview talking with an unnamed party at
Westwood Studios to discuss progress on the upcoming Dune game, learning along
the way where it will fit in with their other games based on the
Dune series ("'Emperor' is not just Dune2++. It represents the
pinnacle of RTS gameplay, 3D engine technology and easy-to-use interface. Dune
2000 was a remake of Dune 2. Emperor is a true sequel to both those games.").
This is the English version of an interview that is also
available in the site's native Spanish.
A pair of new Global Operations screenshots are up on Global-Op World
showing off more gameplay from this upcoming class-based first-person shooter in
the works at Barking Dog Studios, developers of Homeworld: Cataclysm.
There's a short Q&A with
Robert Duffy on UK Gamer discussing the planned inclusion of "4 lightly
to heavily revised maps" in the upcoming Quake III Arena point release
patch, as noted in this
story on Stomped. The brief conversation covers the reasoning behind the
changes, which are based on feedback from the pro gaming community, as well as
why Fred Nilsson, id's animator, was the one to revise the maps. There is also a
preview of these four altered maps on XSReality.com.
DiabloItems.net is now host of
a form to fill out to express a protest to Blizzard Entertainment over the
revised Battle.Net license agreement included with the recent Diablo II version
1.06 patch, which allows Blizzard to collect information about you from your
computer while using Battle.Net.
Another FanStock article is online, this one on StrategyPlanet,
where they recap their experiences at the recent "fan" event for some
of Microsoft's upcoming game projects, including photos and summaries of the
presentations for Sigma, Dungeon Siege, MechCommander 2, and more.
There's a Dungeon Siege
chat log on GameBanshee with a transcript of the IRC get-together with
Chris Taylor of Gas Powered Games to discuss progress on the upcoming RPG. Also,
there's a
Shattered Galaxy Chat log on StrategyPlanet recapping the festivities as a
couple of the folks from Nexon attended a recent chat session ( story)
to discuss progress on Shattered Galaxy, their upcoming online RTS game.
There are some new Shadow Man 2 Screenshots
on PS2.IGN.Com, showing off what they describe as "The first really
nice looking shots of Acclaim's dark voodoo adventure title." Rubu Tribe
has been announced, this is an upcoming PS2 adventure game to be crafted by Outrage Entertainment.
Likewise, the Nine Worlds home is online,
dedicated to Massive Entertainment's upcoming next-generation console title. In yet another
semi-new game announcement, Rebel
Act Studios announces Ultimate Blade of Darkness, the Xbox version of their
PC game Blade of Darkness (known as Severance: Blade of Darkness in Europe).
Finally, on the subject of the Xbox, Volume
II of State of the Xbox is up on Xbox.com
discussing "killer next-gen games" (thanks MSXbox).
The Bridge's Bridge
Commander FAQ has been updated, bringing "the web's most detailed FAQ
on Star Trek: Bridge Commander" up to version 1.52. Also, there are a bunch
of Operation Flashpoint gameplay tips on OperationFlashpoint.net.
The Official TRIBES
2 UK Cup competition is now accepting registration for this upcoming,
three-month-long Team Hunters tournament for TRIBES 2. Also, sign-ups for the
Unreal Tournament project are underway at Game Citizen.
Conversely, saying "the interface for the online registration has been
completely revamped and is currently undergoing final testing and security
checks, the Cyberathlete Professional League
has announced that the online registration for the CPL 4-Year Anniversary Event,
originally planned for yesterday, has been delayed to Thursday, May 10, 2001 at
2:00PM Central.
Saying he is still wrapping up the GDK, Raven's James Monroe updated
his .plan to note the release of the updated version 1.20 SDK for Star Trek:
Voyager-Elite Force, offering a couple of download locations.
- Dungeon
Crawl on Computer Games Online is an interview with Dave Arneson,
talking with the co-creator of the original pen and paper Dungeons and
Dragons, following up on their Gary Gygax interview from yesterday (story)...
- PlanetGameSpyDailyPlanet
interviews R.E.D. (Representing Entertainers & Developers) about
their role as agents for game developers (they now represent 4D Rulers, and their upcoming Gore)...
- BigKid
interviews Krome Studios talking with the Aussie developer about what's
what, learning along the way that Kat Burglar, their planned third-person PC
action adventure, "is pretty much on hold at the moment"...
- Sony
Online Entertainment announces the EverQuest Trilogy, bigger, cheaper,
but presumably just as addictive, as before...
- The Mozilla Releases has a
new version 0.9 of the unsupported Mozilla browser. Thanks File Flash...
Minister of odd birthdays Chris Morris
passes along word that today is the birthday of Toni Tennille ("Captain
and...") who is claiming an even 60, while Mr. Warmth, Don Rickles
turns 75 today, which allows me to segue into wishing my brother, Graham
(WalterEgo), a happy birthday, as well (I don't know why I waited until he
started gaming and reading the site to do that, it's not like Don Rickles is
reading -- that I know of).
Link of the Day: The Disclosure Project Homepage.
Wow, you won't believe what a big day tomorrow will be! Thanks URM the MAD.
Bonus Link: Dave
Barry's Useful Internet Emoticons. Thanks Ant.
Story of the Day: Alcohol
and buggies form 'wild years' for Amish teens (The Toledo Blade). Thanks Nate Spillson.
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