Archived News:
PC.IGN.com is first out of the gate with a new preview of Empire Earth based on the newly commenced beta test of Stainless Steel Studios' 3D real-time strategy game. The article features their impressions of the graphics engine, the gameplay modes, some of the units and resources, and more, all underlined with a few quotes from the developers and illustrated by over a dozen new screenshots. Here is an excerpt on the multiplayer features:
Currently the multiplayer component will consist of standard 'beat the other guy' style play as well as victories based on the development of wonders. To liven things up a bit players in a multiplayer match will not know with what epoch their opponents are playing until the match has already begun. Players in a multiplayer match are assigned civilization points which they can spend on whatever epoch they choose to play as. The balancing comes from the cost of different epochs. All parties start with the same amount of civ points, anyone can then spend them on whatever they want, but the more advanced you wish to become the more it will cost you.
On top of the slew of handicapping options and other multiplayer standards the game will also feature a global stats ranking system that will be implemented with the title's first patch, so that the beta testers won't immediately start out at the top of the charts.
Still industrious is spite of the involuntary leisure time they are enjoying,
the Anachronox team has released the Anachronox Editing tools and documentation
on PlanetAnachronox for download, so that interested parties can start creating maps and
modifications for the ION Storm RPG. Included in the 6.6 MB download is ION Radiant,
the map compile tools,
and the APE (Anachronox Programming Environment) compiler, as well as a few
extras like some sample .bsp files. Meanwhile,
along with the included documentation, PlanetAnachronox's Editing Section
should offer some tips on how to get going with all this.
GameSpot Previews AquaNox
with a look ahead at this game that will place you in the 27th century, and
20,000 leagues under the sea. The hands-on preview of this game of underwater
combat makes comparisons to the gameplay in space combat games like the Wing
Commander series, offers a hint of what to expect from the scenarios, describes
the multiplayer modes that will be included, and more. The article also features
quotes from Massive Development's Wolfgang Walk, the project manager on AquaNox,
and is illustrated by an even dozen new screenshots.
The Morrowind Q&A series on RPG Vault rolls on relentlessly with today's fifth installment, and this time no fewer than three Bethesda Softworks developers are at hand to discuss the magic system in their first-person role-playing game. Topics include the six different schools of magic, spell creation, graphical spell effects, and more.
Planet-Wolfenstein.de
interviews Greg Goodrich discussing plans for Return to Castle Wolfenstein
with the Gray Matter Studios executive producer. Topics in the short Q&A include the use of
German language in the game, as well as the vague possibility of a localized
version for Germany (where the game's violence and Nazi soldiers will represent two
strikes against it), the possibility of a Linux version, plans for testing,
and more.
GameSpot has posted a new movie trailer of Command & Conquer Renegade, showing off Westwood's first- and third-person action game set in that C&C universe all the kids are raving about. The trailer is available as a 9.4 MB download in MPEG format or the usual streaming choices, and sports some 50 seconds of cinematic and in-game footage with non-stop action.
- New World Order
Celebrating their new deal to publish New World Order (story), Project Three Interactive has opened their NWO game site with a whopping forty new screenshots of the multiplayer first-person shooter by Termite Games.
- Yager
There is a brief Yager preview on German site Spieleflut, which you may like to read via Babel Fish, or you can just look at a baker's dozen new screenshots of this futuristic aerial combat game by Berlin-based company Yager development.
- Arx Fatalis
A new Arx Fatalis Element of the Week 3 on RPGDot introduces the Snake women, also known as the Sisters of the Edurneum (what happened to Mercy?), in words and three new screenshots of the first-person RPG by Arkane Studios.
- Civilization III
GameSpot has posted three new Civilization III screenshots, accompanying their own story on Firaxis' turn-based strategy game going beta (story).
- Empire Earth
In what is no doubt the first set in a flood of Empire Earth screenshots from the newly commenced beta test (story), six new images of this 3D RTS by Stainless Steel Studios are online at Worthplaying.
- IL-2 Sturmovik
French site Simactu has captured nearly three dozen new IL-2 Sturmovik screenshots from a beta build of the WWII flight-sim nearing completion at 1C Maddox Games.
The official Red Faction site offers a new movie trailer for download, showing off Volition's imminent first-person shooter of destructable enemies and environments. The trailer is available in 10.1 MB low-res and 29.9 MB high-res downloads in AVI format, and sports nearly a minute of action-packed in-game footage. There are also details on a new promotion that offers different exclusive multiplayer levels (as well as the soundtrack and the strategy guide) when purchasing the game through different stores, although there is no word on whether you'll be able to play only against gamers who bought the game at the same store as you.
An update on the DreamCatcher Games Downloads page gives word that yesterday's release of a playable Frank Herbert's Dune demo ( story) happened by mistake, and this work-in-progress version has now been revoked. A fully functional demo is expected closer to the release of the game. Thanks 3DFiles for the tip.
John Steels Interview on StarTopia Post is a chat with the Mucky Foot artist about their recently released space station management game. John talks about his background, his contributions to the game, the evolution of some of the races (illustrated with concept images) and the game's Biodeck, and the proverbial more.
Two bits of patch-related news: Operation-FlashPoint.Dk
has word that the Operation Flashpoint patch that will add the features missing
from the already-available European version of the game to bring it in line with
the US release should be available September 7, about a week after the release
of that US version (thanks ColdWar: FlashPoint).
Word on the update is it will feature "MP missions, new vehicles, joystick
support, server software and more." Also, the NetDevil
website has word on what will be included in the upcoming Patch 29 for
Jumpgate, their massively multiplayer space game (thanks Actionvault).
Details they offer about the upcoming update include word on a player help
system, and a new player immunity feature, as well as a few bug fixes. In a note somewhat coincidental with the earlier portion of this two-part story, this is the last patch for
the game before it goes into world-wide distribution, as it is currently only
available in Europe.
The latest Anarchy Online
news update has word that the patch that has been running for about a week
on their test server has been moved to the live server. As usual, clients can
grab the 3.8 MB patch by using the in-game auto-update function. Thanks Dave.
More beta testing news, as this Throne of Darkness Beta Program
press release from Sierra has word that they are looking for gamers
interested in testing the multiplayer portion of Throne of Darkness, Click
Entertainment's upcoming "high-action RPG with a unique Japanese storyline
and groundbreaking multiplayer capability." Testing will run from September
9-23, and according to the release, "Beta participants are encouraged to
play Throne of Darkness online via Sierra.com for at least ten hours per week,
with at least five of those weekly hours taking place between 5 and 10 PM
Pacific Time." They plan on selecting the first 750 qualified applicants
who snail mail in the
agreement found on Sierra's Throne of Darkness
Multiplayer Beta Program page.
Gone Gold is reporting
that Civilization III has entered beta testing, which means there is a
likelihood that the upcoming installment in the hit era-spanning Sid Meier
simulation/strategy series is on track to hit its planned ship date of October
2001.
There is a Robbie
Edwards interview on PC Gameplay UK continuing their Ghost Recon week with a
Q&A with the associate producer on Red Storm Entertainment's upcoming
shooter. The interview covers a lot of basic background stuff like what Ghost
Recon means, who the squad consists of, what it is they do, and why, as well as
more detailed topics like the function and reasoning behind the new directional
threat monitor, the new planning system, and more. The article is also
illustrated by several new screenshots.
There's a Pool
of Radiance - Ruins of Myth Drannor preview on EuroGamer looking at
the upcoming sequel to the D&D RPG Pool of Radiance. The article is based on
hands-on play with a beta version of the game, and offers a rundown on the
storyline, impressions of gameplay, the turn-based combat system, the quality of
the graphics, and more. Also on tap are several new screenshots they snapped
from the beta.
CrazyPetes Toolbox has a
new version 1.80 of CrazyLaunch, the, well, crazy game front-end. The new
version adds a "mapshot" function to the Quake3Runner program for
Quake III Arena, and adds the ability to create colored names, along with a few
bug fixes. For those who speak German, more details are up on Crazy.web.onlinE.
There's a new Unreal
II Interview on Unreality where Legend Entertainment's Mike Verdu is
subjected to 30 questions about the upcoming Unreal sequel, many of those
questions based on reader-submitted suggestions in their forums. The Q&A
discusses many comparisons to the content in Unreal Tournament, and goes on to
specifics about things like weapons (where we learn that the ASMD shock rifle
will not be included, but there will be "lots of new cool stuff" among
the 15 weapons in the game), enough questions about multiplayer play to inspire
multiple reminders that this will primarily be a single-player game, loads of
questions about the engine and hardware, and more. Here is one answer where Mike
sums up what Unreal II is going to be all about: Unreal II has a
tremendous single player game which is based on a compelling story and features
several types of game play: You'll get to interact with the crew on your ship,
explore cool new worlds, attack or defend bases with squads of friendly troops
at your side, rescue hostages and civilians caught in the crossfire, escort key
civilians through dangerous areas, fight swarms of bizarre alien creatures,
infiltrate enemy installations, and much more.
There is also a multiplayer component that includes the familiar Deathmatch and
CTF game play - plus a new multiplayer game type.
The latest newsletter from Industry trade publication CTW has vague word of the
possibility that Half-Life 2 will be appearing sooner than would be expected,
considering the game hasn't ever even be officially announced. Here is what they
had to report: Half Life 2 in 2002?
The sequel to possibly the greatest game ever made - Half Life - is rumoured to
be just six months away from completion, a senior US source revealed this
week.
As just noted, Half-Life 2 has not actually been officially
announced ( story), and CTW's blurb admits this is a rumor (or
rumour as they put it in the Queen's English), so keep your salt shaker handy in
case this requires more than a grain of salt to digest.
There's a
Starmageddon first look on StrategyPlanet taking a look at Lemon Interactive's
upcoming space-based RTS game based on getting the chance to see it first hand
last week, and see how it is coming along. The article offers a rundown on the
game's storyline, offers some quotes from the developers, and is illustrated by
a batch of new screenshots showing off the interface and gameplay.
As expected after last week's auto-update release ( story), Westwood has now also released downloadable patches for Emperor: Battle for Dune, updating their 3D real-time strategy game to version 1.08. The patches come in English, German, French, Chinese and Korean editions, all clocking in around 5.4 MB, and as before they add two new maps, firewall support, and many other improvements and bug fixes.
Hey hey, my my. GameSpy.com Interviews
Neil Young, the man behind Majestic, talking about this conspiracy-laden
game that can email, fax, and phone you, and otherwise try to bridge the gap
between playing the game and living your life. The conversation covers the
motivation behind making such an unusual game, offers the comparison to the
movie The Truman Show when the interviewer compares Majestic to Michael
Douglass' The Game, discusses progress on future episodes, as well as the
possibility that there is a TV project based on Majestic in the future. GameSpy
has also posted a
Majestic humor article based on a psychotic episode beta testing the game
caused.
10 questions with David
Gaider on The Dragon's Breath Forge offers the BioWare designer answering
reader-submitted questions. There are several questions about Baldur's Gate II,
as well as one that inquires after several of his personal favorite things like
color, food, movie, etc.
A Battle.net Status
report has word that the Diablo II USWest Realm is back online, the issue
that was causing characters to be reset to Level 1 has been resolved, and
characters impacted by the bug were restored "automatically from the most
recent good backup" as noted in this earlier
Status report. Word is: "If you experience problems with your
characters still registering as level 1, please contact Support@blizzard.com."
Though not yet noted on the Sierra Empire Earth
website, apparently those selected for the beta testing on Empire Earth
( story) have been accepted, though they are offering the chance
to beta test the game for those willing to pre-order. Likewise, Liquefied.org
sends word that the Battle Realms beta disks have been mastered and are off to
Ubi Soft for approval.
There's an
Earth and Beyond chat log on the official site as well as another on Earth N Beyond
each recapping last night's IRC session with the upcoming science fiction game's
developers.
More chat news, as the folks at Neocron-Online
are holding a chat session today discussing their namesake game with "Community
Manager and Reakktor.com Nice-Guy, Jens 'Nemesis' Bremmekamp." The session
is today at 2:00 PM EDT, and more details can be found on their IRC
page.
A
press release on The Project 3 Interactive website has the announcement that
Dutch publisher Project 3 has secured worldwide publishing rights to New World
Order, the first-person shooter in the works at Swedish developer Termite
Games (thanks GameSpyDaily). New
World Order is a multiplayer shooter that uses the DVA engine (said to feature
"previously impossible high detail, global per-pixel lit and shadowed
photo-realistic graphics at excellent framerates") originally developed for
Decay, the now-cancelled shooter project ( story). Word is New
World Order is "already halfway finished and is very much on schedule to
make its announced releasedate" (March 2002).
In further publisher-related news, MacPlay to Publish Aliens vs Predator
on Inside Mac Games has word that the Gold Edition of the original Aliens
versus Predator is stalking through the air ducts heading its way to the Mac
platform. They quote PR hooligan Andrew Hoolan as saying: "The Product is
scheduled to be available September 21, 2001 on the Mac OS X and Mac OS 9
platforms."
An announcement on FGN
has what is probably a welcome bit of news for many attendees, that next year's
installment of the E3 trade show will be from Wednesday to Friday (May 22-24,
2002), and will not span the weekend. This is described as a way of avoiding
added expense and inconvenience cause by holding the show over the Memorial Day
weekend.
This Microsoft Games
page has word of plans to issue an Age of Empires II Gold Edition this
summer. According to the page it will include the original Age of Kings game,
the Conquerors expansion pack, as well as "additional content," though
what the additional content will consist of is not specified at this time. Also,
The Adrenaline Vault
has posted the first sketchy details about Command & Conquer Theatre of War,
a bundle of all four C&C games that Westwood plans to release this fall.
Nintendo Delays U.S. GameCube Debut, Keeps Targets
reports a delay in the U.S. 'Cube launch to November 18 from November 5, which
means they wil be reaching US shelves after the planned Xbox in store date
(thanks Bagpuss). While, Nintendo Boosts U.S. NINTENDO GAMECUBE Launch Shipments
is a press release with word that the big N plans to ship GameCubes out a
"whole new door" (as the Joker once put it), and have 1.1 million
units on US store shelves by Christmas. In further news out of Space World 2001 GameCube to sport 'Big Blue Inside'
reports that an IBM logo will adorn the GameCube. Finally, GameSpot at Nintendo Space World 2001
page and cube.ign.com each offers their
site's respective coverage of Nintendo's big GameCube extravaganza in Japan.
Fanatic's Asylum has the first
patch for the QDoom "Quake-style" Doom port. The patch addresses a
problem that prevented .mp3 tracks from playing. Thanks Doomworld.
Epic programmer Steve Polge sends the following note about Epic's search for a
programmer: Epic is searching for a creative, hardworking, and dedicated gameplay
programmer. We're looking for someone with the following qualifications.
- Game programmer who has shipped at least one title using a major 3D engine.
Unreal engine experience preferred, but not required.
or
- Experienced UnrealScript programmer, with a leadership role on a finished mod,
as well as professional programming experience.
Candidate must have legal permanent U.S. residence and be willing to re-locate
to Raleigh, NC. If you are interested, please send a resume with relevant
qualifications and experience to gameprogrammer@epicgames.com.
Please describe your role and contributions to any relevant project in which you
were involved.
LanDAG has announced a 24 hour LAN
extravaganza starting September 1 down under in Australia.
There a
second Neverwinter Nights modeling lesson on Neverwinter Haven, while the
tenth lesson in the Neverwinter Vault Scripting Course
has more on Neverwinter Nights, continuing the unprecedented (and on some level
inexplicable) flood of information about editing and modifying this
yet-to-be-released game.
Get me my Geritol, and while you're at it, please hand me my orthopedic club, as
I need to take revenge on MoB Chris Morris,
who, in passing along his list of potentially interesting birthdays made me feel
old beyond belief by pointing out that Barbara Eden, the Jeannie I dreamed of in
my bygone youth has a birthday today, and turns 71. Ouch. Make that Geritol a
double.
Link of the Day: The Feathered Back Hair Site
(thanks DON3K). Equal time for the ladies, since we've posted so many mullet
tributes in the past.
Weird Science: Marine
creature's ''lenses'' light way for Bell Labs (digitalMass at Boston.com).
Thanks Gudlyf.
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