PC.IGN has posted an interview that talks with id Software's Todd Hollenshead and Robert Duffy, as well as Brandon James, a former id employee and current president of Nerve Software. The subject of the interview is the multiplayer component of Return to Castle Wolfenstein, which as rumored (story), id has farmed out to Nerve to produce, to allow Gray Matter to focus exclusively on the game's single player mode. The multiplayer will contain an "Axis vs. Allies" class-based system, and it sounds like they have some interesting missions in mind. Here's a quote from Brandon James:

We have a very robust scripting system that'll allow players and us to create any kind of scenario we can think of in the multiplayer game. For example, we have a beach map that includes Allied forces coming in off the beach with mortars raining down on 'em. The Axis soldiers are holding the bunker ahead firing down on them. The allied objective here is to penetrate the sea wall and grab the top-secret documents and transmit the documents back to allied headquarters. That's just one example of what we can do with the missions. There are many different types of maps and a wide variety of mission objectives. We also have scenarios in maps that contain multiple objectives, so you have to do x before y, and in turn z after y, in which case you actually win the round.

PC.IGN.com has posted a new preview of Ghost Recon, based on checking out this upcoming tactical shooter at Red Storm's offices. The lengthy article is loaded with gameplay details and hands-on impressions, highlighted with plenty of quotes from several of the developers (Update: It turns out this preview was originally posted last June--story). And elsewhere, GameSpot has a brief look at Ghost Recon of their own, but the screenshots accompanying both articles have already appeared elsewhere.

Also on PC.IGN.com this evening is a brief Warrior Kings preview, looking ahead to the medieval 3D RTS under construction at UK developers Black Cactus. The preview sports an overview of the game's premise and features, underlined with a few quotes by assistant producer Jean-Francois Roy, but again no new screenshots.

• Star Wars Galaxies
  Verant has released no less than four new 3D screenshots of Star Wars Galaxies, featuring two new scenes each for the Female Trandoshan and Female Mon Calamari characters, all in that spiffy 3D QuickTime format.
• Mafia
  A brief look at Mafia: the City of Lost Heaven on Computer and Video Games is illustrated with ten new and two familiar images of the third-person action game in the works at Illusion Softworks.
• Fighting Legends
  There is a Fighting Legends Plane Gallery on RPGDot, sporting a baker's dozen new screenshots of the massively multiplayer RPS being beta tested at Maximum Charisma.

A new edition of the Disciples II diary at GameSpot is online this evening. This installment is by newly hired artist Raphael Beaupre, who talks about the units in the game, along with how he's helping to create them. Accompanying the diary are four new character renders.

The Bitmap Brothers have released new patches for Z: Steel Soldiers, bringing their 3D action RTS to version 1.40 beta. Clocking in around 6 MB, the patches come in the usual choice of US, UK, German, French, Italian and Spanish editions, and add only a handful of multiplayer improvements in addition to the changes of all previous versions.

• AvP 2
  The Gallery section on AvPNews.com has been updated with five more new screenshots from Aliens Vs. Predator 2 showing off the upcoming sci-fi shooter sequel. One of the shots features the Predator's armor in all its glory.
• Conquest
  Similarly, five new screenshots have been appended to the Conquest: Frontier Wars gallery at German site SpieleCity, offering more scenes in the imminent space-based RTS by Fever Pitch Studios.
• Etherlords
  EuroGamer has posted eight new Etherlords screenshots, illustrating the 3D turn-based strategy game under construction at Nival Interactive.
• Throne of Darkness
  Another installment of Throne of Darkness Elements Of The Week on RPG Vault illustrates the Dark Warlord Mountain with four new screenshots from Click Entertainment's isometric action RPG.
• IL-2 Sturmovik
  The IL-2 Sturmovik gallery on Russian site 3D Gamer has been expanded with ten more aerial scenes from the WWII flight sim by 1C Maddox Games.

PlanetSide Center has conducted an interview on PlanetSide, grilling lead designer Kevin McCann on the massively multiplayer FPS in the works at Verant. As fansite interviews go, it dives right into specific topics, so Kevin talks about vehicle features, bases, armor classes, the bounty system, their community features, and lots more.

Lucasfilm has officially announced today that Star Wars Episode II will henceforth be known as Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Whether you like the title or not, get used to it, because it's going to be attached to every Star Wars game released next year (well, except for the ones already announced, like Jedi Outcast: Jedi Knight II and Galactic Battlegrounds). And hey - at least they didn't call it "Killer Clones from Outer Space." Thanks Shacknews for the tip.

New Media Generation has released a new patch for Hired Team: Trial Gold, updating their first-person shooter to version 2.0. It's a 5.75 MB download but the installer is in Russian and a ReadMe file is not included, so it's not clear whether this patch also applies to the European editions of the game (your mileage may vary even more than average).

PC Gameplay has conducted a Q&A with Kana Ryan and Virginia McArthur, the executive and associate producer respectively on Simsville, the upcoming title that mixes elements of The Sims with those from Sim City. The questions deal exclusively with how the gameplay functions, with the duo providing information about its various features.

Although no local publisher has been signed yet, AVault is reporting that the U.S. and German versions of Iron Strategy, the "real-time strategic robot battle simulator" from Russian developer Nikita, is complete. To coincide with the announcement, AVault also has nine new screenshots along with a brief Q&A with an unnamed representative for Nikita, and a second Q&A, this time with Nikita's Pavel Yupatov and 11 more screenshots can be found at GameScreenshots.com.

There is a movie trailer of Grand Theft Auto III on Italian site Multiplayer.it, showing off this third-person action sequel of crime and fast cars that is being developed at DMA Designs for PC, PS2 and Xbox. The movie offers a minute of action-packed in-game footage in low-res QuickTime format for the price of a 3.9 MB download (which will still take awhile as their ftp server remains very busy). Update: A mirror is now available at Czech site Tiscali Games.

Both Belgian site SpelletjesGarnaal and Dutch site TacticalGames.nl have posted brief privews of Rogue Spear: Black Thorn, the standalone tactical shooter expansion in the works at Red Storm. The articles are in Dutch for which Babel Fish offers no relief, but each is also accompanied by eight to ten new screenshots in that universal language of sorts.

Lionhead has released another free enhancement for Black & White, the Soccer Add-On (or European Football, if you like). This 1.15 MB download requires the version 1.10 patch and once installed, "you will be able to use eight scaffolds from your workshop to create a soccer pitch - this will then be build in the normal way. When the villagers in that town have no desires which need fulfilling (no flags showing at the storage pit) they will play soccer."

The Adrenaline Vault's Die Hard PC Interview talks with Russ Bollock of Piranha Games (who inspire the use of the phrase "hard working and talented" twice in the article's introduction) catching up on progress on Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza, the upcoming LithTech-engine game based on the movie they say "is the perfect candidate for a first-person shooter." Topics covered in the interview concern the translation of the Nakatomi Plaza tower to a computer game, what from the movie had to be omitted, how a shooter can succeed with the relatively sparse number of enemies encountered by John McClane, and more. Also included are some new screenshots, including the first image of the building itself.

HomeLan's The Underworld: Crime Does Pay Interview chats up Clint Uhlir and Jonathan Williams, co-founders of Phoenix Entertainment, discussing The Underworld: Crime Does Pay, their upcoming game where you lead a life of crime, and like it. Describing their love of the gangster motif on big and small screen, they cite influences like Goodfellas, Scarface, The Godfather trilogy, Casino, and The Sopranos as having contributed to their concept. Other subjects in the Q&A include the multiple genres that will be represented in the game, the storyline, the growing number of Mafia-related games, and as much detail as could be gathered about gameplay.

• Dungeon Siege (X2)
  GameSpy.com Interviews Chris Taylor of Gas Powered Games talking about the Siege Engine that will power Dungeon Siege (along with gas, of course). Five of the screenshots accompanying the Q&A are new. Likewise, there's a Q&A with Scott Bilas on PlanetDungeonSiege talking in brief with a software engineer at Gas Powered Games about level editing type stuff in their upcoming fantasy RPG.
• StarTopia
  StarTopia Post interviews Mike "Zebra3" Burnham talking with the studio manager at Mucky Foot about his role in development of StarTopia, their space-station building game. The Q&A also catches up on some of Mike's background, and also offers a brief tutorial to explain why you will probably never be able to comprehend cockney slang.
• Duel Field
  GameAddicts' Duel Field Interview talks with Laetitia Pierre, lead artist on Duel Field, an upcoming online turn-based strategy game from French developer Sismoplay. Not to worry if you don't parlez français, as the whole conversation is en anglais.

Neverwinter Vault's Gencon 2001 page has been updated with a ShakyCam™ video of the GenCon 2001 Neverwinter Nights demo presentation in DivX AVI format. The video runs a bit over 44 minutes, and the zipped download is a whopping 189 MB. Also GameSpy's GenCon day 3 and 4 coverage is online.

GameSpy.com's Shattered Galaxy Developer Diary volume 2 offers more from Kevin Saunders, lead designer for Nexon on this upcoming "MMORTS." Today's update concerns the difficulties encountered in the long-running (over 20 months) beta testing, saying "One of the core difficulties in developing Shattered Galaxy has been overcoming gameplay obstacles that stem from expanding RTS game play into a massively multiplayer experience."

• Kyro II Overclocking Project
  The Kyro II Overclocking Project on The Hardware Pub looks to succeed where others have failed at boosting KYRO II Performance.
• Lock Mod
  There's a Key lock switch case mod guide on OverclockersClub.
• Orb Mod
  The Modding out the Blue Orb Fan on ipKonfig shows how to swap the fan on these cool-colored coolers.

The Proball website has the first beta release of this Quake III Arena modification that combines the fresh air and sunshine of playing computer games with the cold-hearted, bloodthirsty violence of sports, as it pays homage to "soccer, rugby or Aussie Rules Football, depending on what part of the world you live in."

Maximum Hardware's Elsa CPL European Championship write-up recaps their impressions after attending the festivities at this past weekend's tournament. Also, the finalists in The Backburner's Counter-Strike mapping competition have been selected. Finally, UltimateGamingLadder.com has launched a new ladder dedicated to the Day Of Defeat modification for Half-Life, as well as a new StarCraft 1-on-1 ladder.

A new Soldier of Fortune Dedicated Server Guide is online, penned by Raven's John Scott, as noted in his .plan. Also, there's a new unofficial Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast FAQ on Jedi Knight II .Net.

A fully-functional trial version of the Power Render 3D engine is now available for download. The PR on PR is that this is "a general purpose 3D engine but also has a high level engine/editor capable of mixing terrain and BSP levels seamlessly. The trial version comes complete with tools, editor, 3DS MAX 3/4, Character Studio, and LW 6.5 support, lots of examples and sample content. Also, there's a new Quake III Arena jump-pad tutorial on shooterzone showing how to create your own high-tech Q3A trampolines. Finally, there's a Shine 3D engine interview on Stomped talking with the folks behind the engine used in Hired Team: Trial.

3DDownloads has a 36-second video showing off gameplay from an upcoming FAKK2 modification that is a side-scroller, in the vein of Prince of Persia. The AVI format video is a 6.8 MB download.

Max flies solo today:

• Max Payne on HomeLAN, Björn's 3D World, ComputerGamers, Intelgamer, Tuplay and FBI Reviews.

• AMD Duron 950 MHz CPU on NewsForge.
• AOpen AX3S Plus motherboard on BlueSmoke.
• Aron Black Wheel Mouse on Mikhailtech.
• CPU cooler round-up on Dan's Data.
• EPoX EP-8KHA motherboard (in German) on Hard Tecs 4U.
• Iwill KA266 motherboard on PC STATS.
• Monsoon MM2000 speakers on 3DsoundSurge.
• Soyo SY-K7V Dragon motherboard on AthlonOC.
• Thermalright CB-6L HSF on Amdmb.com.
• Trios Multiple IDE Hard Drive Selector (in video) on 3dgameman.
• Wahoo Lanster case on ipKonfig.com.

• Upon the closing of StormTroopers, Zdim's Weapon Rack and The Gratis Gamer have both relocated to Digital Eel...

Thanks for the feedback from yesterday about Hudson the dog's stench, I got to read a lot of stinky dog stories, luckily there's no way to email odor samples, or I guess I would have gotten a few of those too. Anyway, the most likely suggestion for the cause of her stench was posted to the messageboards by JoyBringer who points out that the creosote that railroad ties are soaked in can cause the kind of smell I described if the dog rubs up against them. The fact that we have a few ties in the backyard combined with the damp weather when it happened support this theory (though the damp weather also supports the second best theory, which is dogs like to roll on earthworms, which apparently can cause stink-o-rama as well).

Link of the Day: kaaa'Pi chuu chu kaa Pikachu kaaa'Pi chu ka Kaaa! Okay, actually that's Blue's News, run through the latest nutty dialector. Thanks monstar.