There's a Jumpgate: The Reconstruction Initiative preview on PC.IGN.com with a look at progress on this upcoming space combat MMORPG from NetDevil after getting a demonstration of a recent build by 3DO, the game's publisher. The article gives a bit of the game's back-story, and proceeds to offer some first-hand impressions of gameplay. Here's an excerpt:

Gameplay is basically an amalgamation of Wing Commander style simplicity in action and Independence War or Tachyon style physics (more I-War than Tachyon). The universe is broken up into a galactic map that's woven together by beacons that signify to whom what territory belongs. For instance, large color-coded sections relay to the player which areas are controlled by which faction, (note that all of this can, and of course will, change as the game moves along and areas are won and lost). From any number of space stations that act as hubs for would-be adventurers, you can pick from about 8 mission styles. Missions range from combat, to mining, to cargo haul, to a cooperative task with your faction that may or may not involve conquering beacons or crippling another faction's development progress.

UK developers Pivotal Games have updated their Conflict: Desert Storm website (which hijacks your browser window dimensions) with three new screenshots at the end of this gallery, showing new scenes in their tactical squad-based action game based on the Gulf War of 1991. Also on tap today, though curiously misdated May 21, is a brief new diary on the Level Design Process in which designer Marc Curtis talks about his work on the game and the research he performed.

• Star Wars Galaxies
  The official Star Wars Galaxies site has been updated with a new 3D screenshot, this time depicting a male Mon Calamari from Verant's 3D MMORPG in that funky 360° QuickTime format.
• 3D WWII
  Beta Bites has posted fifteen new 3D WWII screenshots showing off the budget-priced first-person shooter that is nearing completion at LippieSoft.
• ExcaliBug
  Dinamic Germany has released a bunch of new ExcaliBug screenshots offering more scenes in the 3D role-playing strategy game by Spanish developers Enigma Software. Thanks PC Pointer, who have posted eight more high-res shots themselves as well.
• IL-2 Sturmovik
  A brief but hands-on preview of IL-2 Sturmovik on GameSpot is illustrated by ten new screenshots of the WWII flight sim under construction at 1C Maddox Games.

A story on Shacknews offers more on the questions raised on that site a while back about the future of ION Storm Dallas (story) that has included speculation that if the Dallas office were to close, it would entail a split from the portion of ION Storm working out of Austin, TX. According to the story, the August issue of PC Gamer includes news that ION Storm Austin is indeed splitting from ION Storm Dallas, and will possibly be changing their name to Manifesto (a theory supported by the Shack's Network Solutions search that reveals the domain manifestogames.com is owned by ION). The story also provides a quote from ION Austin's Warren Spector about the plan:

"It became apparent that it was time to move on" "We had a way of thinking, and we had a type of game we wanted. The Ion Storm-Dallas office was pretty heavily focused on that 'Dallas shooter community.' It just started feeling not like a family".

This Thursday seems to be turning into patch-day, as NovaLogic has released a new patch for Delta Force: Land Warrior, available for download from their ftp server (6.1 MB) as well as the in-game updater. As usual their website has not yet been updated with the details on the file or its version number, but this information should eventually appear on their Developer's Notes page.

WomenGamers.Com interviews Patric Sundstrom, the marketing manager at MindArk AB, the Swedish company currently at work developing Project Entropia, to find out more about this upcoming futuristic MMORPG. The conversation covers the game's unique approach to economics, where you'll be able to "exchange real life money for PED (Project Entropia Dollars) and back again"; plans to add expanded content after the game's release; questions about marketing; specifics about gameplay; and more.

A few beta testing updates: First, Maximum Charisma Studios sends along the following press release announcing the beginning of the second stage of beta testing for Fighting Legends, their upcoming massively multiplayer role-playing/strategy game. Word is they are still on track for a November release, heartened by the "fact that Phase One gamers, worldwide, played off our local server and that we ran 21 consecutive days without a complete system failure..." Meanwhile, Liquefied.org has reproduced a post from the Battle Reams forums announcing a delay in beta testing this upcoming RTS game until at least early August. According to the post, "the designers are working to further refine gameplay and balance to compensate for the month of your input that we're losing" (which seems to bring the entire concept behind beta testing into question). Finally, we received another reminder about sign-ups for the upcoming beta test of Etherlords that we mentioned last week (story) so presumably there are still spots available.

Jamie System Development has released a patch for Axis, bringing their robotic multiplayer shooter to version 1.03. The patch clocks in at 2.0 MB and apparently supports both the English and Korean editions of the game (although the former hasn't been released yet), but the changes are listed here only in Korean for which you can ask Babel Fish to give it its best shot.

As promised (story), the official Emperor: Battle for Dune site now mentions that the version 1.07 patch for Westwood's 3D RTS is available via the auto-updater in the game (thanks VoodooExtreme). The patch addresses a handful of gameplay and multiplayer issues, and downloadable patches have also just been released on Westwood's ftp server in the usual array of English, German, French, Korean and Chinese editions, all clocking in around 545 KB. An install fix (288 KB) for people with certain types of CD/DVD/CDR drives is also available.

In addition to repeating their intention of releasing a Win2K Anachronox patch tomorrow, Jake Hughes' .plan has word that ION Storm is also shooting to get the demo released tomorrow, as well:

Anachronox is on the shelves. The trailer is up. There are now some mirrors so the download isn't so darn slow.
www.anachronox.com
Programmers are solving the win2k probs with the patch that should be out friday hopefully. While the rest of us are putting together the demo. Which we are trying to have ready by tomorrow as well. We'll see Mr. Frodo... We'll see.

Update: As noted in Brian Eiserloh's .plan update, the Win2K bug has been tracked down and squashed, and since it affects other operating systems as well, "users of ALL OSes should download the 1.01 patch when it becomes available (probably no sooner than friday night)."

Here's some more news today from GameSpot España, where they are reporting that three former members of the Blade of Darkness development team at Rebel Act Studios have left the company to form Digital Legends Entertainment. The newborn company has begun work on a 3D engine, and an announcement of some sort is expected in September (possibly at ECTS, judging by the timing). Like the earlier story, the text here is in Spanish, so be sure to squish a Babel Fish in your ear to translate.

Appeals Court Overturns Microsoft Breakup Order is the story detailing a decision by a U.S. Appeals court to overturn last year's ruling by lower court judge Thomas Penfield Jackson that Microsoft had tried to monopolize the market for Internet browsers and should be broken into two separate companies (story), though the "seven-judge appeals panel agreed that Microsoft holds a monopoly in personal computer operating systems and some of its competitive practices amounted to illegal use of that monopoly." Here is a bit from the story on the ruling, and some of the reaction to it:

The appeals panel also rebuked Jackson for giving the "appearance of partiality" through his media interviews during the trial.

"Although we find no evidence of actual bias, we hold that the actions of the trial judge seriously tainted the proceedings before the District Court and called into question the integrity of the judicial process," the court said in its ruling.

"We are therefore constrained to vacate the (breakup order) on remedies, remand the case for reconsideration of the remedial order, and require that the case be assigned to a different trial judge on remand."

The U.S. Justice Department welcomed the appeals court finding that Microsoft engaged in illegal conduct to maintain its monopoly over personal computer operating systems. Attorney General John Ashcroft is scheduled to hold a news conference at 3 P.M. EDT (1900 GMT).

"We are reviewing the court's opinion and considering our options,'' the department said.

Microsoft spokesman Mark Murray said the company was reviewing the ruling and would comment later.

The White House said it was too early to conclude that President Bush's administration would pursue the Microsoft case less vigorously than the Clinton administration.

Asked if it was safe to say the Justice Department would not pursue the case with the same zeal that it did under former President Bill Clinton, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer replied: "No. I think it's too soon to make any conclusions."

The inevitable PlanetDungeonSiege has gone live this afternoon, and naturally there are some Dungeon Siege related goodies to be found there. Of particular note is their interview with Neal Hallford of Gas Powered Games, who talks about how Dungeon Siege evolved from its initial concept, and he also talks about his work on Elysium, an RPG that was in the works at Cavedog before the company went under. In addition to the interview, Planet DS has also posted a new in-game screenshot.

The official Counter-Strike site has been updated with a brief roadmap on the upcoming versions of the mod and retail game. Here's the update, which says that the retail version 1.0.0.2 patch will be available next week:

Here's the projected release schedule for the next few weeks. Sometime next week CS 1.0.0.2 (Retail) will be released, which features Valve's Deathmatch Classic. If you have DMC already, you won't have to download the full package -- only about 1MB or so.

Then in mid July CS 1.3 will go out with Valve's integrated Voice Communication Tech as well as their new Proxy Spectator Tech. It will be called 1.3 as not to confuse it with the CS Retail version number.

Simon & Schuster sends along new patches for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Dominion Wars, updating the space-based strategy game that was recently completed by Gizmo Games to version 1.03. We have local copies with mirrors of the patch to upgrade the original version 1.01 (854 KB) and the patch to upgrade the previous version 1.02 (617 KB), and this version brings more multiplayer improvements and gameplay changes as listed on the download pages.

There is another ShakyCam video on SpelletjesGarnaal, focussing (as much as possible, anyway) on Neverwinter Nights, the 3D role-playing game being crafted at BioWare. The movie runs for a whopping 27 minutes in streaming Windows Media Player format (also available as a 42.3 MB download), and suffers more than usual from video interlacing and an off-center camera angle, but nonetheless features BioWare's Don Moar demonstrating their toolset to create a dungeon in the first half of the movie, and the resulting gameplay in the second half.

The second half of GameSpot UK's interview with Demis Hassabis of Elixir Studios is online today. This portion focuses largely on the actual gameplay in Republic: The Revolution, and Demis explains how the "actions" system works, the steps Elixir has taken to make the populace unique, and the biggest challenge they have faced thus far in the game's development.

Fan page Duck and Cover has an interview with Black Isle Studios' Feargus Urquhart online, talking about Fallout 3. The game hasn't actually been formally announced yet, but it has been repeatedly confirmed, and while Feargus doesn't provide too much in the way of new information, he does explain what the delay has been in getting full-scale production the project off the ground, as noted in this excerpt:

We did start Fallout 3 in early 1999, but things were not moving forward that quickly. Plus, we needed to get another project out relatively soon because of Interplay's financial situation. So, the Fallout 3 team became the Icewind Dale team. We had then hoped to start Fallout 3 after Icewind Dale was completed, however at that time both Chris Parker and I had to jump in and spend pretty much every waking moment on Baldur's Gate 2 until it shipped in late September of 2000. Since we were going to be very busy and not able to help a Fallout 3 get started, I decided to have the team work on the Heart of Winter expansion. Since the team completed that in February of this year, they have been working on the miscellaneous projects - but have started thinking about Fallout 3. Plus, a lot of people have been transferred over to work on TORN to help that get done as quickly as possible.

In case you're having difficulty obtaining the three new Black & White multiplayer maps within the game (story), then you can now download them from French site Joystick as a straightforward ZIP file (thanks PlanetBlackAndWhite). And in related news there's a quick Q&A with Lionhead's Mark Webley at FGNOnline on the topic of B&W's planned add-ons.

GameSpot España is reporting that Arxel Tribe, the developer that's currently working on Hitchcock: The Final Cut is also developing a game based on Hannibal. According to their news update, the game will be a 3D action/adventure game, and will be published in Europe in 2002. The news story is in Spanish, so be sure to consult Babel Fish for a translation. Update: FGN Online has posted new information on the game, which will apparently put you in the shoes of FBI agent Clarice Starling, and "will be action orientated with investigation elements." Thanks Voodoo Extreme by way of Shacknews.

There's a list of Linux Quake III Arena Known issues on the id Software site letting you know if any problems you and your penguin-powered PC are encountering are common, or unique to you (or at least not previously noted). The update offers applicable tips and workarounds, along with where to send feedback about bugs you are encountering that are not mentioned. Thanks Jacek Fedorynski (who actually sent this news along a couple of days ago).

Voodoo Extreme has conducted an interview with Derek Smart, the always-outspoken creator of Battlecruiser 3000 AD and its sequel, Battlecruiser Millennium. Derek talks about how the sequel improves on the original Battlecruiser concept, why he decided to sign an exclusive distribution deal with EB Games, how his distributed development team communicates and more.

PC Zone interviews Jon Zuk talking with the project leader on Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix about Raven's upcoming sequel that will again put you in the shoes of John Mullins, the game's shoot first and never ask questions namesake Soldier of Fortune. Topics include the gaming industry in general and some of Raven's history, as well as specifics about SoF2, and a brief mention of Jedi Outcast (albeit not by name) in talking of the technology crossovers they can make by working on two Quake III-engine games at once. Also on tap are some screenshots and a photo of Jon, all repeated within the article to create a nice atmosphere of deja vu.

Blizzard has released the first patch for Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, updating their new isometric action RPG expansion to version 1.08. The patch is available as a 1.2 MB download for Windows and through the in-game updater, and includes a sizable list of balance changes and an even longer list of improvements and bug fixes. Update: A 4.3 MB downloadable Mac patch is now also available.

GameSpy.com Previews EverQuest Shadows of Luclin is online, as the folks from GSI recently took a trip to the offices of Sony/Verant for a look-see at progress on the upcoming EverQuest add-on. A primary focus of the article is the impact of the improved engine upon which the add-on is built, including speed improvements resulting from only rendering visible objects (duh) and newer high-polygon count models. Also discussed are Gameplay changes like the inclusion of a new race and architectural improvements, along with a look at the business end of things, as EQ players will need to purchase the add-on to enjoy these changes.

There's a new Z: Steel Soldiers Interview on MGON talking with Mike Montgomery, who they describe as the creative force behind Z: Steel Soldiers, the upcoming RTS sequel that returns to the "Z universe." Topics include the plotline, new features, multiplayer innovations, the roles of some characters familiar from the original, the change to full 3D, and more.

A thread called "As Promised on the DropShipCommand messageboards (thanks mantis) offers news that MechCommander2, the follow-up to the RTS game based in the BattleTech universe, is now gold. The update also includes a release date of 7/19/01, though there's no indication as to whether or not this is region-specific. In further business developments, 3DO gets JumpGate on GameSpot confirms a report on Adrenaline Vault last month (that we missed in the E3 scuffle) that 3DO is jumping on the JumpGate bandwagon, and has signed a deal to publish NetDevil's upcoming space-based MMORPG, which is currently undergoing beta testing. Also, Interplay announces that Starfleet Command: Orion Pirates is now shipping. Finally, Gone Gold reports that Conquest: Frontier Wars is on track for an August 16 release as long as this space-based RTS by Fever Pitch Studios manages to gold on July 21 as intended.

There's a transcript of last night's Earth & Beyond Chat on GameRush recapping the festivities in a fairly orderly edited log. The topic of the chat was "skills." Also, there's a Baldur's Gate II Throne of Bhaal Edited Chat Log on RPG Vault summing up this chat session, which also took place last night. Finally, here's a reminder of today's chat extravaganza, since, as mentioned Monday (story), RPG Vault Chat page (IRC clients can connect to the channel #ignvault on the server host17.webmaster.com) is hosting a chat with Black Isle Studios to discuss progress on TORN, the session begins at 9:00 PM EDT.

ION Storm's Brian "Squirrel" Eiserloh updated his .plan with word that they've re-created the Win2K/Anachronox crash (story) in their laboratories and that he's got a "theoretical fix" in the works, and "If everything goes well the fix should be in the v1.01 patch, which will be available friday-ish..."

• New KYRO Tools
  A new version 0.6.6.0 of the KYRO Tools are up on PowerVR Revolution. Thanks Savage News.
• New RivaTuner
  RC5 of RivaTuner version 2.0 is now available on Guru3D.
• PC RX
  A Gamer's Rig Part 4: Troubleshooting 102 on The Adrenaline Vault offers tips on getting your PC back on track if it's illin'.
• Whole Hole Guide
  An article on GideonTech shows how to make blow-holes in a PC case while reviewing some trick hole grills.
• Properties Box tweaking
  Inside Project has posted a guide to customizing the Windows "system properties" box.

A report on Xbox.IGN.com attempt to (at least sort of) debunk yesterday's report that an Xbox port of Sacrifice is in the works (story), saying: "One unfortunate glitch, however, is the fact that Interplay is listed as releasing Sacrifice on the system. According to officials at Interplay, that just isn't true. Is Microsoft confirming what Dave Perry mentioned in passing at last year's E³, or is this just some sort of mix-up? So far it looks like the latter." Also, word on PSX.IGN.com is that Final Fantasy Chronicles will be released today, the classic game package includes Chrono Trigger, which Tom Hall has perpetually cited as a primary influence behind ION's just-released Anachronox.

PlanetAnachronox's Anachronox Walkthrough is online, in case you have given up on trying to complete the game (which was in production for over three years), after playing it for a whole day.

Before You Start Fragging II on CG Online is the second part of this two part feature that offers introductory advice on creating and editing your own levels. This installment is written by Alan Willard of Epic Games, and provides the same type of tips for getting started with Unreal editing that Kenn Hoekstra's essay on Q3A editing offered in part one. Also, Game Design Theory and Practice: The Elements of Gameplay on Gamasutra is online, penned by Richard Rouse III, a computer game designer, programmer, and writer at Surreal Software offering his perspective on the qualities that contribute to a great game.

Though not strictly game-related, structurestudios.com jobs page has word of openings for a texture artist and a modeler/animator to work on three-dimensional renderings of proposed structures using the Unreal engine. Also, the Totally Games Jobs page has word of several Xbox related job openings they are looking to fill.

A couple of small ones: The mention of Alan Willard in the editing article mentioned yesterday (story) indeed turned out to be referring to part two of the two-parter (mentioned separately above, as well), rather than part one. Also, it seems yesterday's 'rocket guy' story (itself a follow-up--Alanis Morrisette to aisle three for an irony check) was about a different guy (Steve Bennett) than the subject of our previous such amateur astronaut references (Brian Walker), and therefore is not a follow-up (can't tell the rocket guys without a scorecard around here). Thanks Brandon, Derek, and Chris Rhoton. Can't get enough of Rocket Guys? Check out this Slashdot post by John Carmack (thanks Jacek Fedorynski) that indicates he may be an R.G. by the end of the year, or at least launch one.

• Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal on GameSpy.com, Gaming Age, and (first impressions) on RPGPlanet.
• Crime Cities on PcStrategy Gamer.
• Diablo II: Lord of Destruction on Diablohaven.
• Emperor: Battle for Dune on GamePower.
• Half-Life: Blue Shift on The Mushroom, PC Zone UK, CFGN, and (in German) on GameAgent.de.
• Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising on FiringSquad.
• Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns on Björn's 3D World.
• Leadfoot on Operation Sports.
• Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis on Odd Angry Shot (thanks Tim's News), and (in German) on GameAgent.de.
• Sanity: Aiken's Artifact on Worthplaying.
• Serious Sam: the First Encounter on Aware Magazine.
• Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force on Gracelessland.
• StarTopia on GameOn.
• Swedish Touring Car Championship 2 on Racing Games Online Network.
• The Ward on The Mushroom.
• Train Simulator on MGON.
• Tropico (second opinion) Games Domain.
• World War II Online on Intelgamer.

• Antec SX 1240 Full Tower Case on Mikhailtech.
• ATI ALL-In-Wonder Radeon on Head 2 Head.
• Cool-View Acrylic 92mm Window Kit on I am not a geek.
• DFI AK-74AC KT133A motherboard on PCinsight.
• Guillemot VGA-to-TV Converter Deluxe-2 on Digit-Life.
• IWill KD266 motherboard on Tweak3D.net.
• Koolance Dual CPU water cooling case on Overclockers.com.
• Leadtek WinFast GeForce3 video card on HotHardware.
• Linksys Wireless Ethernet on GamePC.
• MSI 12X DVD-ROM drive on Active Hardware.
• PC Tote on OverclockersClub.
• Shuttle AK31 motherboard on LostCircuits.
• Sungmin Minion IMT1000B case on Tech-GODS.
• XI MTower SP 1.4 system on AMDZone.

• There's a brief HORIZONS progress report on Horizons MMORPG Network with word from producer Steve Snow that they are ever closer to beginning the closed beta testing for this upcoming MMORPG...
• GameZone.com interviews David Erickson talking with the designer of Combat Command 2: Desert Rats about the game, and war-games in general...

Running both a little late, and a little ragged this morning, the result of good old-fashioned poor planning. I ambitiously signed up for a three-day adult education class, and between the distance to the college where it's being given, which is a couple-hour drive away, and the scheduling, which had the first class end last night a bit after 10:00 PM and the second begin this morning at 7:30 AM, this would have left barely enough time to do this update in between, much less return to class, so basically I'm cutting today (don't send the truant officer after me, I have a BFG). I think this was a wise choice, since this is a motorcycle safety course I'm describing here, and I don't think there would have been much safety involved in operating a motorcycle in the fuzzy state this would have left me in.

Link of the Day: Blues News. Thanks Axel. You think all these sites are mad at me?
Bonus Link: Robocar, a real-life transformer(!). Thanks 3Y3.
Story of the Day: Zoning Board Axes Chicken Statue (Fox). Thanks theAntiELVIS. A statue statute. You know if you outlaw chicken statues then only outlaws will have them.
Weird Science: American company invents windows that clean themselves (Ananova). Thanks Andrew Arace.
Auction of the Day: Rockstar Celebrity Urinal!. From a recording studio, which means its intended use is probably the least unsavory activity in which it had a part. Thanks again Andrew Arace.