Mucky Foot has released the first patch for StarTopia, bringing their space station management game to version 1.01. This 5.8 MB download adds a handful of new features, such as more variety in win conditions, a timed mode in sandbox and multiplayer, a screenshot capture function and, of course, "Aliens getting drunk in bars!!!" while a number of bugs have also been squashed, all of which are listed in detail in the Read Me. Coinciding with the version 1.01 release, a new modding guide is also available.

The Tritin Films website now offers the release of Quake: The Movie, after its debut this weekend for the attendees of QuakeCon 2001. The movie, which has been deemed complete after reaching 15 minutes in length, has been titled "Escape From The Bastille," and while it did not reach the scope they had planned, they decided if unchecked, the project could take another couple of years to complete, "but at the 15 minute mark, the film is glorious, understandable, and is a stand-alone for it's own story. We feel it will have the same impact as we had planned the original to have." A growing list of mirriors accompanies the update.

The Gamers Press' Team Factor preview is online looking ahead at this upcoming multiplayer-oriented first-person shooter to be published by Singularity Software. The article includes several screenshots, and profiles the three teams to which players can belong, the classes from which they can choose, and how the game will contend with the "jerk factor" of unruly players, among other topics. As part of the undertaking, they have also posted an interview with 7FX, the game's Czech developers to fill in more of the blanks about the game, inquiring about the engine it will utilize, its "mission based" nature, what pressure they feel after the success of Serious Sam (also developed in Eastern Europe), and more.

GameSpot at QuakeCon 2001's coverage has been updated with a Jedi Outcast: Jedi Knight II Update giving their first-hand impressions of the upcoming Quake III-engine shooter that sees the return of Kyle Katarn, and his forceful ways. The article describes the flow of gameplay through the single level on display for this "limited public showing at QuakeCon" where they got to see Kyle use his blaster, make ample use of his light saber for offense and defense, and demonstrate his powers, where he is able to draw on both the light and dark sides of the Force (no one told us about the Force's middle side before). On the same theme, a post on Stomped offers Redwood's impressions of the Jedi Outcast demonstration, saying "I have never seen such a realistic recreation of the Star Wars world before."

StarTopia Post interviews Tom Forsyth talking with the graphics programmer at Mucky Foot about development of StarTopia, their space station construction game. Topics include his role at the company, his role on the design team, difficulties encountered during the project, and more. Also on the StarTopia front, an IRC session with Mucky Foot is planned for tomorrow night, which can be attended by using the chat applet on this page, or by following the instructions it offers on connecting using an IRC client. The festivities kick off at 9:00 PM GB time, which this nifty Time Zone Converter tells us is 4:00 PM EDT.

GameSpy.com Previews Etherlords with a look ahead at Nival Interactive's upcoming game that looks to "bring the fun of collectible card games combat to PC turn-based strategy," according to Nival president Serge Orlovsky, or as the article puts it: "Magic the Gathering meets Heroes of Might and Magic." The article describes how gameplay in such a project will be handled, and offers several more Serge Orlovsky quotes on the subject, as well as a bunch of new screenshots.

Strategy Gaming Online Previews Trade Empires with a look ahead at this upcoming real-time commerce simulation. The detailed preview is a hands-on account that describes how the ambitious scope of the game, which spans nearly 4000 years of history, is handled, describing how trade evolves from simple buying and selling by individual merchants to the establishment of far-flung trade routes, all apparently steeped in a great deal of historical accuracy. Also on tap is an extensive description of gameplay, along with a load of screenshots.

There's an EVE online chat log on The Dr.Twister Network recapping a recent IRC shindig with the developers of this upcoming massively multiplayer space sim/RPG. About 40 questions about the game were answered in the moderated chat. On a related note, there are six EVE screenshots on Dexen's Den showing off some visuals from EVE Online in high resolution.

• Case Cooling
  Case Cooling for the beginner and expert on Digital-Explosion.

The X downloads at EGOSOFT page offers a new 2.1a patch in either English or German for X-Tension, their space combat expansion pack. Word on the tiny update is that it addresses "incompatibilities with old savegames and a rare crash on some machines." The patches are not really highlighted as new, rather they have been slipped in at the bottom of the previous update dated May 3.

Looks like the official Obi-Wan website has been relaunched, and in celebration, now offers a new concept art gallery, featuring a female from lower Coruscant, a Trandoshan, and legendary Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi (the man so slick he can hid from the empire just by changing his first name).

Describing itself as "like football with rocket launchers" (if only the XFL had considered that wrinkle before folding), version 3.0 of the Q3 Gridiron modification for Quake III Arena is now available. The new version, which offers 18 new maps, was pushed up onto the site before a lot of the related updating could be accomplished, but among the information in their "last second notes" on the release is a mention that all previous versions of Q3 Gridiron should be uninstalled prior to installation, and that they are not able to get bot support going yet. Other notes on the site promise a stats page (barring the discovery of any major bugs), and their plans on holding a tournament soon.

As promised, version 1.0 of the jDoom Win32 client/server port of the DOOM source code is now available. Word is this is not the final or ultimate version of this project, but, although a few glitches may remain, it has been relieved of most of its noteworthy bugs. Since there have been changes to the models, using an old model pack is not recommended, and demos from DOOM or older versions of jDoom will not play properly, but the upside about demos is that they can now be recorded "anywhere, any time." The new release is available in two versions, the smaller one does not contain the MD2 model pack and Doomsday Launcher.

Beta 1 of the Palisade mod for Half-Life is now available. Described as "a simulated combat world where you fight using bikes," this mod offers gameplay similar to that found in the lightcycle sequences in Tron, or the snake game in many mobile phones.

Eurocup 3 - the movie on ClanBase is a movie from the recent tournament showing off 13 minutes of "the most spectacular in-game action scenes" from the Quake III Arena and Counter-Strike competitions at the EC3 LAN finals event. The movie is available in higher and lower resolution formats, which are 107 MB and 23 MB, respectively, while there is also a 6 MB trailer available to test the waters.

ActionNation.com's Opera Interview chats up Jonathan "Starfury" Verrall from the Redeemed Assassins about The Opera modification for Half-Life, while their Annihilation Interview talks with no fewer than five members of the team behind the Annihilation World War II-themed modification for Quake III Arena.

• Conflict Zone on Khabal Gaming.
• Daikatana (in German) on GamersUnitedNetwork.
• Diablo II: Lord of Destruction on Khabal Gaming and (for Mac) on MacGamez.
• Empire of the Ants on PcStrategy Gamer.
• Gangsters 2: Vendetta on Khabal Gaming.
• Merchant Prince II on Adrenaline Vault.
• Project Eden Demo (in German) on MemBa's GameWorld.
• Tropico (for Mac) on MacGamez.

• Alpha PEP66U Cooler on UK Gamer.
• CoolerGuys.com Windtunnel III Case on Hardware Avenue.
• Enermax CS-688AL-01 Case on Amdmb.com.
• Fortis Technology CPU Coolers on TECH-REVIEW.
• GeForce 2 MX400 Video Card round-up on RIVA Station.
• Glowire EL Cable/Wire & Bright Blue Laser LEDs on OverclockersClub.
• Inno3D Tornado GeForce2 MX 400 TwinView + TV-Out video card on Savage News.
• MacPower DigiDoc5 on Overclockers Online.
• MSI K7 Master-S Motherboard on Amdmb.com.
• PCMods Rheobus Kit on Slautech.
• Plextor PlexWriter 16-10-40A CD-R/W on OnePC.NET.
• Swiftech MCX-370 Heatsink on Overclocker Cafe.
• ThermoSonic ThermoEngine V60-4210 cooler on AMD World.
• Vantec CCK-6035D HSF on TweakTown.

• The latest 3DActionPlanet Action Gaming Test checks your knowledge of Max Payne...
• Happy fifth birthday to the Steel Maelstrom clan...

So a conversation about spelling conventions and such yesterday with Frans leads me to realize that for however many years now since the game has been out, I have not been writing DOOM correctly. I asked why so many people wrote it all-caps, and Frans, after checking the DOOM II documentation, tells me that this is because that's the way it's supposed to be written. D'oh!

Link of the Day: TheManShow Periodic table (Flash required). Contains mature themes. Thanks mj.
Bonus Link: Romeo and Juliet for the 'l33t (Flash required). Thanks Darkhand Brackstone and Ryan McKegney. Contains more mature themes as well as immature language. If you don't like 'leet satire, you'll hate this, but if you ever wondered what JEFFK Sh4k3sp3r3 would be like, this is for you.
Bonus Link II: Aint Nuthin' But a Khai Thang (Flash required). Thanks Air Jimi. Real? Spoof? A new Buddy Lee commercial? Contains adult language (doesn't all rap?). Yes, both this and the previous link scare me too.