Archived News:
In the round-robin carrousel of Halo fansites, Battleground: Halo is the lucky recipient of this week's update by Bungie's Matt Soell, offering the latest insight into the development of their upcoming PC, Mac and Xbox action game. This update goes from rhythmic bug-fixing to tanks in multiplayer games, the science of lightning and better looking metal, and the proverbial more.
Newly opened site LoadedInc has posted a hands-on Throne of Darkness preview, examining a recent press demo of the isometric action RPG nearing completion at Click Entertainment. The preview offers an overview of the game's features as well as their impressions of the gameplay, along with eight new screenshots.
Gas Power Games has released another Dungeon Siege movie for download from FilePlanet (registration required), showing more from their upcoming 3D role-playing game. This clip is a 6.4 MB download in Windows Media Player format, sporting a bit over a minute of gameplay footage.
The official Tribes 2 Central Download site offers a new beta patch for download, bringing Dynamix' multiplayer shooter to version 24551. Updates from the previous versions 22460 and 23669 are available, as well as the usual reverse patch, and they are said to include "a number of improvements to the game as well as the addition of features that we could not include in the original release." The patch is unsupported and not compatible with the current TRIBES 2 build.
The new weekly Red Faction update is online at the official site for Volition's destroy-everything shooter, today consisting of a new high-res screenshot of the week, as well as the start of a new multiplayer feature which examines the multiplayer modes in the upcoming PC version. This first installment shows off classic deathmatch mode with two sample levels, each of which is illustrated with seven new, high-res screenshots of their own.
GameSpot has posted a
preview of Sudden Strike Forever, the upcoming expansion for Sudden Strike.
They describe it as "more of a sequel than an add-on" and the preview
has details on what is new in this mission pack, as well as 12 new screenshots.
Also new at GameSpot this evening is a
preview of World War III: Black Gold, Reality Pump's modern warfare
strategy game. The preview is based on their impressions of an early build of
the game, and so it contains their impressions along with 31 new screenshots.
Blue Byte has released a new patch for The Settlers IV in English and German incarnations, updating their isometric management strategy game to version 1.10.908. The patch clocks in at 4.5 to 6.0 MB depending on which previous version you're updating from, can also be applied via the online updater, and addresses a large number of gameplay issues as listed here. Thanks Rabus for the tip.
- Renegade
Computer and Video Games has posted three new Command & Conquer: Renegade screenshots, sporting new scenes in the first- and third-person action game in the works at Westwood.
- Zero-G Marines
Two new Zero-G Marines screenshots are online at XGR on the occasion of last night's interview on this space-based FPS by Strategy First (story).
- AquaNox
The increasingly massive AquaNox gallery on German site SpieleCity has been expanded with another two new screenshots from the underwater 3D action game by Massive Development.
- Shadows of Luclin
Verant has released nine new EverQuest: Shadows of Luclin screenshots on the official site, illustrating their upcoming MMORPG expansion (thanks Beej for the tip).
- Spells of Gold
Two new Spells of Gold screenshots are up at RPGDot, showing off the isometric RPG being crafted at Jonquin Software.
- Camelot
The ongoing beta test of Dark Age of Camelot continues to be captured to death at The Camelot Guild and Camelot Vault, each sporting more scenes in Mythic's medieval MMORPG.
- Wallpapers
If that's your thing, newly revamped GameWallpapers offers wallpapers from Soldier of Fortune II, Aliens Vs. Predator 2, Red Faction, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, and more.
XGR will be broadcasting an audio interview with Scott Campbell this evening, talking to the Mumbo Jumbo Games lead designer about their upcoming 3D RTS title, Myth III: the Wolf Age. As always, you'll need to be there at 9:00 PM EDT with WinAmp or a compatible player at the ready.
There is a playable demo of From Dusk Till Dawn on French site Joystick, offering you a chance to try out this third-person action adventure by GameSquad. The demo weighs in at 68.0 MB and, according to the rough Babel Fish translation, allows you "to play at beginning of the countryside solo." Thanks Shacknews which reports that the demo is in English, rather than French as the filename would suggest.
Version 1.8 of the Art of War
mod for Quake III Arena has been released. This latest version contains
mostly gameplay tweaks, along with support for Q3A 1.29. Also available at the
mod's official site is Seeker Quake, a showcase for the Seeker rockets from
Art of War which can also be played as a deathmatch mod of its own.
There is a hands-on preview of Etherlords on Freelancer, looking ahead to the 3D turn-based strategy game under construction at Nival Interactive by way of a recent beta build. The article introduces the game's premise, offers detailed gameplay impressions of the beta missions and some inevitable comparisons with Heroes of Might and Magic, and comes with a dozen new screenshots.
HomeLAN is reporting
that Star Trek: Borg Assimilator, the Star Trek strategy game from Majesty developers
Cyberlore has been put on hiatus. Here's the quick statement they received,
which also points out that Activision's other announced Star Trek games will
not be affected by this decision: Development of Star Trek: Borg Assimilator
has been suspended. After reviewing an early version of the game, it was determined
by Activision that the game's design didn't fully match that of the Star Trek
universe. The suspension of Borg Assimilator will not impact Activision's other
Star Trek games in development - Star Trek: Armada II and Star Trek Bridge Commander.
Christian "Bargib" Koerner of The Lancers Reactor was recently given
a chance to visit Digital Anvil, and he has posted a
write-up of the experience. The piece has a few interesting tidbits about
Digital Anvil's title Freelancer, which he says is still "far from being
finished," including word that the development team has decided not to
create a graphical editor, and instead the missions are being hard-coded in
C.
Online Simming is the name of PC
Gameplay's interview with Jeff Charvat, the series producer at Electronic
Arts on The Sims Online, the upcoming online version of the ridiculously popular
people sim. The interview has been posted to PC Gameplay's news page, but nonetheless
it's fairly detailed, with Jeff explaining how the game functions, how people
interact with each other and other gameplay issues.
Ubi Soft has opened an Evil Twin: Cyprien's Chronicles teaser page, currently featuring only a movie trailer for this demented looking third-person action platformer by French developers In Utero. The movie is a mere 1.4 MB download in QuickTime format, but it nonetheless sports over a minute of cinematic footage introducing the game's setting.
PC Zone has conducted an
interview with Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, the two heads of BioWare. The
interview asks such questions as "WHAT PROMPTED YOU TO MAKE BG, DID YOU
SEE A GAP FOR A GROUND-BREAKING RPG IN THE MARKETPLACE?" in true AOL newbie-style
caps, so if you have a problem with Internet-shouting you may want to put in
some earplugs.
A news
update on the Anarchy Online website has word that the promised new
account management interface is now up and available to users. they say all
the problems folks have had accessing this area have been addressed, and they
would like everyone with an account to check to make sure that their details are
correct. Also, another
daily news update outlines their philosophy on dealing with exploits,
mentions that the most recent server patch is being un-patched after being
deemed a failure, and a mention of some downtime that will occur on their test
servers sometime today.
The 34th annual GenCon gaming conference is underway in Milwaukee, WI, and GenCon Day 1
on GameSpy.com kicks off the coverage by the little green men, who are in
attendance. The article describes the general geekery on display (including a
new Geeks: The Convention card game), as well as write-ups of what they
got to see of Asheron's
Call: Dark Majesty and Dungeon
Siege.
The second part of the 3D Realms interview is up on Soapbox.net,
where they get Scott Miller up on the Soapbox to catch up on what's what. The
questions are the same as in the George Broussard interview the other day
( story), covering plans for a Max Payne demo, what happened to
Prey, what's up with the "when it's done" stuff, and more.
HomeLan's Global Operations Interview
sits down for a good bark-off with Barking Dog Studios, catching up with what
progress those puppies are making on Global Operations, their upcoming tactical
first-person shooter. Topics include the valuable experience they gained working
on beta 5 of Counter-Strike, how Global Ops will not be a Counter-Strike rip-off
in spite of that, plans for the single-player experience, as well as
nitty-gritty about stuff like the game's weapons and classes.
- DroneZmarK
The
DroneZ downloads page has the promised release of the DroneZmarK
benchmark utility, a 62 MB download that makes use of the 3D technology in
DroneZ, as well as of course, really 'leet spelling. More details on
DroneZmarK can be found on
this page.
- RivaTuner
A new version 2.0 RC 6 of the RivaTuner
GeForce & TNT Tweak utility is now available.
Shadowman Keeps on Coming
on FGN offers a Shadowman 2 preview, illustrated by a bunch of screenshots
from the upcoming PS2 sequel. A
report on ZDNet has word that Japan's Fair Trade Commission
"has ruled that Sony broke fair-trade rules by pressuring retailers to sell
software for its PlayStation video game machines at set prices and through
predetermined channels." Word is the FTC "told the company to
immediately halt the practice," though Sony's wrist, having been slapped,
was unavailable for comment. Finally, the latest rumor on Xbox.IGN.com's Rated X
offers speculation on the subject of: "Could the Xbox be launching early?"
The Night's Edge Wet Works website has an
unplanned beta 5 patch for the Night's Edge modification for Unreal Tournament.
The update addresses problems in the new Night's Edge mutator that adds NE
weapons to any UT map, as well as a bunch of extraneous debug messages that were
inadvertently included in the last release.
PlanetDiablo's Diablo II Expansion
Strategy has been updated with specific strategies for each of the game's
classes to help find success in the D2 expansion.
There's a
Navy Seals Covert Operations Interview on ActionNation.com talking with the
folks at work on the Navy Seals: Covert Operations
modification for Quake III Arena. Also, there's a new batch of screenshots on
the Superheroes III page.
A bunch of tutorials on Drunken Raccoon Productions
give guidance in different aspects of programming, including DirectDraw, OpenGL,
and more.
I see that the heat wave that we are experiencing around these parts is much
worse in the south and southwestern US. I just checked my calendar, and QuakeCon
really isn't for another week, and since that's traditionally supposed to be the
hottest time of the year I guess we can probably expect it to get even warmer in
the meantime?
R.I.P.: Poul Anderson
(1926-2001). Noted science fiction author.
Link of the Day: You Are an Idiot! I'm
sure we all know someone to send this to. Warning: you may want to turn down
your speakers first. Thanks Andrew Arace.
Story of the Day: Robot Competitors Meet on a Soccer Field of Dreams
NY Times free registration required. Thanks Trey Walker.
Weird Science: 'Tiger man' wants fur graft
(Ananova). Thanks SlyClone.
Wild Science: US makes 'weather control powder'
(BBC). Thanks Mike Martinez and theAntiELVIS.
Media of the Day: Associated Press Photo.
Thanks Joe Siegler.
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