Archived News:
Word from Blizzard Entertainment is that
several servers have been added to the Diablo II US East Realm that increase
capacity of the Realm by one-third. They add that further expansions are planned
for later this summer including plans to more than double the size of the
European Realm, saying: "The increased capacity on these Realms should
result in noticeable improvements to the player's game experience."
The recipient of the latest weekly Halo update is
halo.bungie.org. This update, as usual written by Bungie's Matt Soell, covers
the development
of multiplayer-specific sounds, graphical fixes, improving framerates, some "testing and
tweaking," and more.
A new preview of the
second episode of Majestic is up on GameSpot with an advance look at the
installment in this serial online/real-world conspiracy thriller that will be
available next week. The preview offers a teaser trailer episode and a few new screenshots. The primary feature in this episode are revelation puzzles, described in this excerpt: ... the revelation puzzles require a higher level of activity--one puzzle will require players to go into the outside world to search for information, while others will require cooperation between different players. EA plans to add revelation puzzles to the first episode as well, to give new players a deeper game experience.
After six months without an update a new version 2.3 of the Kali
server browsing utility is now available. The new version of this venerable
program offers a new TCP Serverlist format; a new PlayerInfo Filter; and support
for DirectPlay 8 Lobby games, Starcraft Brood War 1.08b, Kingdom Under Fire,
America, Cossacks, Jane's I.A.F., Jane's WW II Fighters, Jane's Fleet Command,
Jane's USAF, Jane's F/A-18, Operation Flashpoint, Severance, FOD, Risk II, AOE2:
Age of Kings, F1 Racing Championship, Black&White, The Moon Project, The
Settlers IV, Summoner, Tribes 2, Startopia, and Kohan. Thanks Ant
and File Flash.
Armada Universe has conducted a new interview on Star Trek: Armada II, talking to CEO Dr. Ian Lane Davis about the space-based strategy sequel under construction at Mad Doc Software. Ian talks about his background, the company and his outlook on its future, as well as a variety of topics related to the game, like their influences, the AI, the mysterious Species 8472, the multiplayer features, and lots more.
There's a Project Entropia Development Report
on RPG Vault with the latest from MindArk on their upcoming RPG. The big
news there is that they are gearing up for Phase II of their beta test. The good
news is, if you are interested in participating, you can apply to be a tester
yourself by visiting their
website.
There's a Battle Realms Profile Wolf
Clan Heroes preview on GameSpot the second of a planned four part series on
the heroes from each of the four clans in Liquid Entertainment's upcoming RTS
game that they began last week with their Dragon Clan heroes
preview ( story). Along with descriptions of each of the four
heroes and their background stories, there is a concept sketch of each, as well
as a screenshot showing each of them in action.
Arithmetic Studios sends along a new wallpaper image of W.A.T.E.R. which is a higher resolution version of the new cover image on their website for this 3D strategy action game. The site now also features a brief FAQ that, among other details, lists a scheduled release date of 2004 for this single-player PC title (thanks Gameplex).
- Republic
Eidos sends along five new screenshots of Republic: the Revolution, offering new scenes in the ambitious 3D strategy game under construction at Elixir Studios.
- Red Faction
PC Zone UK has posted fifteen new screenshots of Red Faction, showing off the first-person shooter that is nearing completion at Volition.
- Art of Magic
The official Magic and Mayhem: the Art of Magic site has been updated with four new screenshots (the top row) of the 3D fantasy RTS being completed at Climax Entertainment, and there's also a new Creature of the Week.
- EVE
The last image in this EVE gallery on Dexen's Den offers a high-res version of the screenshot accompanying the new Peek of the Week on the official site for this massively multiplayer space RPG by Crowd Control Productions.
- Dragonfarm
German site SpieleCity has appended eight new screenshots to their Dragonfarm gallery, illustrating this management strategy game by Soft Enterprises.
- Europa Universalis II
Paradox Entertainment has released two new screenshots of Europa Universalis II, showing off a history window and the Greenland area in their upcoming strategy sequel.
- Camelot
The flood of Dark Age of Camelot screenshots captured from the ongoing beta test of Mythic's medieval MMORPG continues today with two dozen images at Cam-Castle.
Judge Named for Microsoft Penalty
is a story relating the latest development in the Microsoft antitrust case, in
which U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly is to take over the case replacing
Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, who had ordered Microsoft to be split into two
separate companies. In a somewhat amusing twist, she was selected to hear the
case by a computer program that randomly picked her (no word on whether it was
running a Microsoft operating system). In other MS related news, Windows XP Ready for Manufacturers
(AP) has today's expected 'gone gold' announcement for the new pro version
of the Windows OS, while Windows XP to be pricier than 2000, Me
(CNET) offers details on price increases ranging from $10 to $80 over Win2K,
and finally, AMD
Announces Windows XP Support on the AMDZone.
The weekly Red Faction update is back at its usual Friday, and this installment includes a new screenshot of the week as well as a new entry in the overview of multiplayer modes in Volition's imminent first-person shooter. Today's multiplayer mode is Team Deathmatch, and it's illustrated with a handful of new screenshots from two sample maps, titled Office Space and High Rise.
The latest Anarchy Online News
Update has word that they have been forced to roll back the player database,
causing many players to lose several hours worth of experience, due to a serious
IP exploit that cropped up in the latest patch ( story) that
"would have lead to great imbalances within the game." The apologetic
report goes on to say "The team is evaluating and changing the procedures
to be sure that we catch serious exploits while they still are on the
test-server in the future." In addition they have posted this
page with social guidelines for behavior on their bulletin boards.
There's an
Eric Brosius Interview on Freedom Force Center talking to the former Looking
Glass Studios employee who is now the sound designer on Freedom Force,
Irrational Games' upcoming superhero game that celebrates the silver age of
comic books. The Q&A discusses the tuneage being created for Freedom Force,
delving into Eric's influences, techniques, and his opinions about music and the
gaming industry.
There's a Graeme Devine
article on Inside Mac Games where they declare the id Software designer a
"Mac Gaming God," the second in their promised list of ten deities who
have "had a significant influence on the Mac gaming market." The
article starts with a rundown of what qualifies him for inclusion in their
pantheon based on his tireless vocal support of the platform. The second
part of the article is a Q&A with Graeme that focuses on his enthusiasm
for the Mac platform while also touching on his background in gaming.
The official Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind site has received its usual Friday update, and today it offers a new wallpaper illustrating this first- and third-person RPG being crafted at Bethesda Softworks for PC and Xbox, as well as a new entry in their Codex section, telling the game's fictional backstoy. Also on tap is a new development diary penned by project leader Todd Howard, who discusses the Xbox version of the game, in particular the effects its controller has on the game's design.
The fourth and final day in PC Gameplay UK's Ghost Recon week is online with their Brian Upton interview, quizzing the Red Storm lead designer about their upcoming tactical shooter. Brian talks about the differences and similarities between Ghost Recon and their Rainbow Six games, the military focus of the game, their inspirations, the use of realistic outdoor environments, and much more. Here is an excerpt on the multiplayer features:
PCG: How will the multiplayer work?
Brian Upton: One of the goals for the command interface we had was that you'd want to use it in multiplayer; you'd want to use it to communicate with the other players and to give orders to the AIs. One of the ways we think people will really enjoy playing Ghost Recon in multiplayer is one-on-one with AI teams, which is something that's never been done before - you've always had fully human teams going up against each other. But we think people will enjoy playing, say, a four-team deathmatch with one human player on each team and eight AIs, and fight it out that way, giving orders to their AIs at the same time.
You can have 36 players on the field of combat at once, either as humans or AIs, and there are two ways we're doing extra lives in multiplayer - you can either switch to one of your AI characters when you get killed or we have re-spawning you can turn on. But you can't have both. Essentially though, if you play in a team with 8 AI and you get killed you just jump into the body of another AI - it's just like having 9 lives.
You can also play as the Russian or Georgian skins in multiplayer, and we unlock all the weapons so basically you have access to anything you want in multiplayer games.
The official 10Six site offers a new client for this massively multiplayer strategy game by Sega for download, while existing users should be able to upgrade with the auto-updater. The client clocks in at 36.8 MB and this release brings a series of fixes and improvements, including prevention of some multi-mod cheats, all of which are listed on this page.
GameSpy.com Previews Real War
calling it "Command and Conquer meets Steels Panthers II." They quote
Jim Omer, president of Rival Interactive, as saying it "will be the first
modern warfare RTS," and the article stresses the rarity of games based on
reality (presumably meaning strategy games). The game's realistic warfare pits US forces
against "the Independent Liberation Army (ILA), a
fictitious organization which mostly uses Russian equipment," and features
3D units on a 2D map. The preview describes how gameplay unfolds, the units and
weapons available to you, the focus on actual modern combat strategies, as well
as the background story, which again seems to depart a little from actual
reality (it's not easy to set off a nuke by bombing it), but after all this is a
game called Real War, and thankfully, not a real war.
This
funky little page found on the Kingdom
Under Fire Website has word that Korean publisher Phantagram is launching four new
titles at ECTS, only the first of which we can recall previously hearing
anything about, as Shining Lore was shown off at last year's ECTS. Here's the
update: "Shining Lore - MMO Role Playing Game with overflowing virtual
reality in a wholly new fantasy world; Duality - a serious cyberpunk story in a
very entertaining package; Strident - a visually striking fully 3D action game;
and Kingdom Under Fire Gold Edition."
3D Gaming
Daily's DuelField Q&A talks with Manuel Bevand, game designer on Sismoplay's
upcoming online-only turn-based strategy game. The Q&A covers a wide variety
of topics related to the game, and offers another of their gameplay movies
showing off an archer animation.
A bunch of Garry
Gaber messageboard posts have been gathered on GalacticBattles.com with the
director on Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds answering a bunch of questions
about the game on a wide variety of topics. Also, there's a post called
Production Notes on the World War II Online
Forums with a brief mention of things they plan on tweaking in the
game. Thanks Steven Cochran. Finally, a post on the The 3D Realms Forums
by George Broussard (thanks Kevin Adams) says folks from the Remedy team are heading home to
Finland this weekend to wrap up the Max Payne demo, which last we heard is probably still
a couple of weeks off ( story).
Nemesis
Pays The Question Hungry Mob A Visit is a log from yesterday's chat ( story)
with the community and game content manager at Reakktor to discuss progress on
Neocron. The log has been edited, and put into a fairly orderly Q&A format.
Also, there's an
edited log on Neverwinter Vault of the recent Neverwinter Nights chat
( story) where Marc Holmes, the art director on the game, stopped
by to answer the questions of the attendees.
An update to the Epic Games
Unreal Engine news page has word that "Industrial Light & Magic (ILM)
generated 3D versions of their sets using Unreal Tournament. This provided
director Stephen Spielberg with the ability to preview camera moves by flying
through a real-time version of the virtual set in 3D using UT." They also
describe a particle system Digital Extremes developed for Unreal Championship
that they feel is so cool, they have added similar functionality to the latest build of the Unreal engine shipping to all their Xbox licensees.
Both cube.ign.com and GameSpot at Nintendo Space World 2001
have all sorts of Space World coverage including several gameplay movies,
including Metroid Prime, Soul Calibur 2, and of course Zelda & Mario.
The NetGames UK Forums
have an explanation of what's going on over there, where volunteers have taken
to administering the servers after the departure of the paid staff. There is
an explanation of how this will impact tournaments and leagues that were hosted
there.
The newly-launched Destiny3D website has
news of what's become of the engines formerly known as Genesis3D and Jet3D,
offering resources and training tips for those interested in creating their own
games, focused on independent developers in particular.
There's an Uncrossable
Parallel interview on Half Life Italia talking (in English) with Ace_NoOne,
discussing progress on the Uncrossable Parallel mod for Half-Life, and
coincidentally, there's also an
Uncrossable Parallel interview on Game Geared. Also, Q3 Center's
Generations Arena Interview talks with LeeMon, the producer/manager for
WireHead Studios discussing the Generations Arena
mod for Quake III Arena.
Regular contributor Jacek Fedoryński (who I believe is actually a Linux
maven) sends along a reminder that today is the sixth anniversary of the release
of Windows 95. This of course was back when so many of us were DOOM mavens,
which was a DOS-based game, so there was little motivation to become an early
adopter (actually as I recall most people considered being an early Win95
adopter being akin to walking the high-wire without a net, but those fears
turned out to be exaggerated). Anyway, it was DOOM's fault I didn't upgrade, and
it was Quake's fault that I did... or rather QuakeSpy's fault (Quake was a DOS
program too, remember), as this was a Win95 program back in the days before it
was GameSpy, much less a conglomerate, and the ability to join a multiplayer
game at a mouse click was too much temptation to resist the OS upgrade any
longer. Wow, that has me remembering what online play was like before that
though, scanning a web-based server list like ][ronman's, scribbling IP
addresses on yellow post-its, launching the game, and putting in IP's manually.
I guess I'll be telling my kids that story someday, like it's a description of
walking to school five miles through the snow, or something.
Story of the Day: Criminals to star in new reality TV show
(Ananova). Thanks Chris Johnson.
Bonus Story: James Bond and Aston Martin Are Reunited.
A far cry from Roger Moore in an AMC.
Weird Science: St Edmundsbury-Home
of the Internet Bench. Thanks 501
Wild Science: This
Reuters Photo showing a sculpture of a bull measuring 10 microns long by 7
microns high. Thanks EvilToast. Word is this the technology that created this will
also lead to medical breakthroughs.
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