Archived News:
While it was released early this month, there's a Dragon's Lair 3D intro movie trailer on FilePlanet (registration required) that we inadvertedly skipped because it's file size is listed as 210 bytes. The full trailer turns out to be a 40.3 MB download, and offers 50 seconds of 640x480 resolution QuickTime footage with the intro of the animated third-person action game by Dragonstone Software.
- Chaser
A pair of new, high-res Chaser screenshots are online at German site PC Pointer.de, along with a confirmation that Fishtank Interactive will publish this futuristic FPS by Cauldron (as reported last month--story).
- Sierra's Triple Dose
Unusually on a Friday, Sierra Studios has already released new screenshots of the (next) week for their upcoming games Arcanum, Empire Earth, and Throne of Darkness.
- Etherlords
Freelancer has updated its Etherlords gallery with three new screenshots of the 3D turn-based strategy game under construction at Nival Interactive.
- Divinity
The official Divine Divinity site has been updated with four new screenshots of the isometric role-playing game by Larian Studios which according to publisher CDV has reached its alpha stage.
- Morrowind
Similarly, the official Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind site offers a new wallpaper and some model art for several weapons in Bethesda's upcoming 3D role-playing game.
- Camelot
Some brief impressions from the latest Dark Age of Camelot beta on RPGPlanet are accompanied by four new screenshots of Mythic's medieval MMORPG.
Earlier than most Friday's, the weekly Halo update is now online at halo.bungie.org (thanks MSXbox). As usual, Matt Soell takes a virtual tour through Bungie's offices, scribbling notes along the way about the work on the game's cutscenes, music, the aim-assist code, a large snowy multiplayer map, and lots more.
A new preview
of Ghost Recon, the upcoming tactical shooter from Red Storm is up at GameSpot
this evening. The preview sports quotes galore from the developers and lots
of gameplay and technical details, along with 16 new screenshots.
After a string of private beta patches, Planet Moon and Interplay have now released the version 1.4 patch for Giants: Citizen Kabuto. This 2.0 MB download applies only to North American editions of the game, but there are currently no details on the changes it brings. Update: PlanetMoon Central has now posted the full Readme.txt file with more information on this release.
After a some two months of silence, the official Gore site offers a new development update on the upcoming multiplayer FPS by 4D Rulers. The update has word on the addition of several new developers to their team, as well as improvements made to the game based on feedback from the test demo that was released earlier this year. The engine now supports full dynamic lighting and "a wide range of trigger volumes," while models, textures and other aspects have all been improved as well. Three new screenshots demonstrate the progress that has been made.
Shacknews has discovered that John
Romero has registered a pair of new domain names, which could be the name of
a new development house he is starting. Both mentallion.com
(with the company listed as "Mentallion Industries") and monkeystone.com
(listed as "Monkey Stone Games") were registered by Romero using a
non ION Storm e-mail address. Whether or not this has anything to do with yesterday's
story about ION Austin changing their name ( story) is unknown,
but chances are that more news on this will be coming in the near future.
Eurogamer's Stronghold
Interview talks with Eric Ouellette, producer of this upcoming strategy
game and the co-founder of FireFly Studios. The interview is presented article-style,
and Eric comments on the general premise of the game, its historical setting
and how it differs from other strategy games out there.
The official Black & White site has
been updated with a
series of out-takes from the Black & White voiceover recording sessions
(thanks Black & White Center). The
out-takes are all in MP3 format, and the official
B&W news page has also been updated with a revised release date list
for their free add-ons for the game.
The game has been available overseas for a short while now, but today Strategy
First has announced that the North American version of Empire of the Ants
has gone gold. According to the brief press release they sent out, the game
should arrive on store shelves on July 10th.
PC Gameplay was sent a
playable build of CORE Design's Project Eden, and so they have posted a
preview of the game on their news page. The preview is brief, but contains their
enthusiastic impressions of the game along with 17 new screenshots.
As noted on the Shogun: Total War Community Site, the Shogun: The Mongol Invasion expansion for the 3D RTS by Creative Assembly "has now passed CQC and has entered production," and both the add-on and the Shogun: Total War Warlord Edition are on track for a July 20 release.
Italian site Multiplayer.it has posted a movie trailer of Warrior Kings, the medieval 3D real-time strategy game under construction at UK developers Black Cactus. The movie comes as a 31.6 MB download in AVI format, and offers a bit over a minute of cinematic and in-game footage. Be warned that the download is rather slow though. Update: A US-based mirror is available at 3D Gamers.
FGN Online has conducted an
interview with Jeff Briggs, the president and CEO of Firaxis Games. Jeff
fields questions about Civilization III, and he talks about the current status
of the game, how it differs from the previous titles in the series, whether
or not it will ever appear on console systems and more.
Massive Multiplayer.org has a
new Fighting Legends Q&A online, talking with Steve Escalante of Maximum
Charisma Studios about their upcoming massively multiplayer strategy/role-playing
game. Steve says that they are still on track for a November release date, and
he also talks about the success of their first beta test this month, how the
game differs visually from other massively multiplayer titles and more.
German publisher CDV has announced Imperium Galactica 3: Genesis, the third installment in the space strategy game series originally created by Digital Reality. This new game is in development at Philos Laboratories for a release in Spring 2002, and the CDV preview page offers more information and the first four screenshots. Here is an excerpt from the press release:
In Imperium Galactica 3: Genesis, the story and tactical skills are key. The storyline for the realtime strategy/tactics game was written by none less than the famed Hungarian Fantasy and Sci-Fi author Zsolt Nyulaszi.
The life of the protagonist directs the game story. In a future not too far away, the hero and his fleet fight alien races for mankind's survival. Upon his return to Earth he finds his home planet occupied by aliens, with only one human space ship able to escape. The survivors must now find this ship, use it to found colonies and finally reclaim Earth. The non-linear scenario with its different side stories guarantees diversified and tense action.
Imperium Galactica 3: Genesis impresses with its exciting battle scenes full of animations and breathtakingly "real" special effects. But this genre mix offers much more: the player must set up colonies, maintain a fleet and upgrade it by implementing alien technologies, if necessary.
After a long hiatus, a new patch for Codename Eagle is now available, bringing the first-person action game by Refraction Games (now part of Digital Illusions) to version 1.41. The 11.8 MB patch includes all changes from last year's patches and adds a variety of new features such as a new maximum of 30 players on a dedicated multiplayer server, a new Battle Chopper vehicle, and a new CTF level called "Fortress," as well as gameplay balancing and bug fixes. To give you an idea of the new features, a new promo movie for this game version is also available in three different sizes.
Westwood has posted a pair of new articles relating to Earth & Beyond, their
upcoming massively multiplayer space combat game. There's a Terrain
Lighting System Special Feature talking about the game's graphics engine,
offering quotes from programmer Naty Hoffman, one of the folks responsible for
the MMX technology that added three letters to Intel's CPUs. They have also
posted an article on the
Inspiration and Early Concepts for Earth & Beyond that quotes Westwood
Studios co-founder Brett Sperry discussing what motivated them to embark on such
a project, with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan one of the specific
influences cited.
The Harbinger Development Report #2
on RPG Vault is online, offering thoughts from Andy Muir, the lead programmer
at Silverback Entertainment, who are currently toiling away on this upcoming
RPG. This is one of those journal-format journals (there are many that aren't),
and topics include work that's just begun on the game's third playable
character, progress modeling and texturing NPCs, the addition of Jason Weiss
formerly of Running With Scissors, the revisiting of the inventory system Andy
"threw together" for E3, and more. Also included are four new
Harbinger screenshots.
BioWare Corp's BG2 Reporting Bugs
page now offers downloads of version 1.0 of their SysInfo Tool, which will
allow you to test how well your machine matches the system requirements for
installing and playing Baldur’s Gate II: Throne of Bhaal as well as create a
system configuration file to submit with your bug report, though it is also
noted that a detailed explanation of the bug you are encountering will still be
required.
SpyFx.com has posted what looks like the
actual read me file for Half-Life version 1.1.0.8, offering word that the patch
will offer spectator proxy and voice communication for all mods along with a
load of bug fixes. As version 1.1.0.7, which will precede this update, is not yet
available, we don't suggest counting too strongly on the word accompanying the
post that says the version 1.1.0.8 patch will be released this Monday.
PS2 Price Cut for Japan
reports FGN saying the units are now 35,000 yen (about US$281). EA Ponders Coming Console War
on Cube.IGN.Com says "The publisher of the popular Madden franchise
bets on Sony to be the next-generation console leader." There's a Conflict Zone preview on
Dreamcast.IGN.com that includes a movie for the upcoming RTS game for those
Dreamcast systems Sega used to make. MSXbox's
Unreal Championship interview talks with James Schmalz, lead designer on
Digital Extremes' upcoming Xbox Unreal game, while New Consoles' Interview with Digital Extremes
talks with level designer Dave Ewing, likewise discussing Unreal Championship. EBgames.com
interviews Microsoft’s John O’Rourke talking about the Xbox in general.
Thanks MSXbox. Finally, the Gaming Intelligence Agency
interviews Peter Moore talking with the President of Sega of America about
Phantasy Star Online v2, online gaming, their SegaNet ISP, and more.
Gamer's Preview 3 of Server Watch
version 2.1 is now available from Deep Fried Software.
In addition to addressing what they describe as a "substantial number of
bugs," the new release also extends the program's timeout date so that it
will continue to function until February 2002. Problems that caused the
Half-Life plug-in to mistakenly report servers being down, a socket leak in
Unreal-related plug-ins, and other glitches have all been addressed.
A new version 4.75 of the ÆStats
utility is now available. The new release of this log parsing utility adds or
updates support for Chaos UT, Eternal Arena, Deathmatch Classic, Science and
Industry, Urban Terror, Infiltration, Tactical Ops, Unreal Tournament, while
dropping support for Strike Force.
A new version 1.0 of UI Enhanced
is now available, updating this mod that offers what should be a fairly self-explanatory
enhancement of the user-interface for Quake III Arena. The point release is Q3A
version 1.27 compatible, and marks the program ending its beta status.
The second lesson in Neverwinter Vault's
Scripting Course is online, continuing their tutorials on Neverwinter Nights
scripting that's planned to include 15 basic lessons and 4 advanced lessons by
the time it has run its course. The second lesson is titled "getting your
feet wet," and includes a test to see how well you have completed your
studies. Also, æon's on mapping
offers tips on level design "intended for id software engine games,"
though also applicable to other engines.
The Blizzard Entertainment Employment Opportunities
page has word that they are looking to hire an experienced Macintosh
programmer.
As I mentioned yesterday, I'm now a Motorcycle Safety Class dropout, but
I have to say I definitely intend on going back, this is a great idea for anyone
who rides, even if you are already experienced (which I am not). Want a good
reason? It was pointed out that a study of motorcycle accidents found that in
90% of the cases, the rider was self-taught. I think such classes (which also
carry a point reduction benefit) are given in around 48 states here in the US.
Today's Media of the Day is another stroke of genius... worth the 15 or so
minutes it will take to watch (Here... have a wine cooler).
Link of the Day: Smart-Ass Guide to New York City.
Flash required. Even includes an animation of that Cyclone recently discussed
in this space.
Story of the Day: Laura Buxton's balloon found by another Laura Buxton
(Ananova). Thanks Andrew Arace. How come I get the feeling the statistician from
Bath University they quote as saying "the odds against such a coincidence
were a million to one, if not more," didn't even make the slightest attempt
at doing any sort of statistical modeling on this one?
Weird Science: Scientists Make Dry Beads of Liquid Water
(ABC). Thanks Jesh.
Weirder Science: Scientists prove farts spread germs
(Ananova).
Wild Science: What's Next: Glasses So Smart They Know What You're Looking At
NY Times free registration required. Thanks Jonathan C. Forster.
Media of the Day: Universal Studios Spoof
(iFilm). Star-studded spoof, narrated by none other than Trey Parker. Thanks Frostnick.
Here... have another wine cooler.
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