Archived News:
It's pin drop quiet, so rather than save this for tomorrow's update, I'll post
it now: He drops dead
after playing computer game for almost a day on The Electric New Paper
(thanks Chern Ann) and Man dies playing all-night computer game
on Ananova (thanks Der Goetz) are both stories on the same subject, the
death of a 22 year-old Thai ceramics factory worker named Thanet Sommoi that
took place after an extended session of playing Counter-Strike in an Internet
shop. There is speculation in the article that strain contributed to the young
man's death, which doctors deemed to be from heart failure. Somewhat
unbelievably, this is the second story we've posted today about an unhappy
outcome from Counter-Strike play in an Asian Internet store, as one of this
morning's etc. pieces is the report of a non-fatal real-life stabbing promoted
by an in-game stabbing ( story).
Trip to Westwood
Studios on Planet Command & Conquer recaps a side-trip that author made
while vacationing with his family in sunny Las Vegas, NV, the city that's home of
the world-famous "strip," Siegfried & Roy, and the offices of
Westwood Studios. The article describes the tour of various portions of the
offices, offers a rundown of the QA process, a motion capture session they were
able to witness, and what he saw of Command & Conquer Renegade and Yuri's
Revenge, which included a demonstration of the former and some hands-on time
with the latter. To round things out the article is illustrated by several
photographs taken during the visit, and is capped off by another
page with still more photos.
Command & Conquer: Renegade Developer Q&A #1 on Action Vault is a chat with lead 3D engineer Jani Penttinen about this first- and third-person action game in the works at Westwood Studios. Jani discusses the game's engine, bringing the traditionally 2D Command & Conquer universe into the third dimension, the physics model of the vehicles, single- and multiplayer modes, and more. Here is an excerpt on the game's dual perspectives:
Action Vault: Can you explain the reasons for depicting Renegade from both first and third person perspectives? Is it more difficult rendering action from one perspective than it is the other?
Jani Penttinen: The team and I thought it would be good to give players a choice. First person offers that visceral appeal that some action gamers are accustomed to. The third person perspective offers a certain tactical advantage. Inside buildings and confined areas, the camera "floats" around corners and allows you to spot enemies without being detected. In open areas, a third person view helps players to identify with what's happening in the environment. Keep in mind that the concept behind Renegade focuses on putting the player in the middle of a larger conflict between GDI and Nod.
Technically it wasn't hard for us to implement both modes, and as it gives the players nice freedom to adjust the game setting as they feel best, we felt no reason to pick just one or the other.
The somewhat irregular weekly update of the official Star Trek: Bridge Commander site brings not one but three new screenshots of Totally Games' capitol ship space combat sim, as well as word that the game has gone alpha (but an official release date is not yet known) and will be on display at next week's ECTS trade show in London.
Games Domain has conducted an interview on Parkan: Iron Strategy, the 3D action strategy title by Russian developer Nikita that will be released through Monte Cristo this Fall. Nikita's Pavel Yupatov and Oleg Kostin are at hand to discuss the challenges of developing games in Russia, their Parkan universe, the genre mix in Iron Strategy, the game's tutorials and missions, and the proverbial more. Seven new screenshots accompany the proceedings.
There is a brief but hands-on preview of Jumpgate on Intelgamer, looking ahead to the US release of this massively multiplayer space combat game by Netdevil that is already available in Europe. The article offers brief impressions of the JOSSH interface, the three races and the gameplay, while being illustrated with five new screenshots.
PlanetAvP Interviews David Stalker
talking with the Fox Interactive producer about Aliens versus Predator 2, the
upcoming sequel to the three class (Alien, Predator, and lunch) first-person
shooter sequel currently in the works at Monolith. The interview contains a mix
of questions related to the game, and queries about other more general topics,
neatly separated to avoid accidental explosions. Gameplay topics covered include
how loyal they are trying to stay to the game's film inspirations, major
challenges encountered during development, the role of scripted sequences,
multiplayer modes, and more.
The Armchair Empire
interviews Chris Longpre talking with the producer at Westwood Studios on
Emperor: Battle for Dune, one of the games based on the water-starved
works of science fiction author Frank Herbert. In addition to focusing on the
recently released game, Chris "also talks about how he got into the industry, summer
camp with Richard Garriott, a possible Emperor map editor, 2D versus 3D, and
avoids a loaded question." In addition, according to their interpretation,
"he all but confirms an expansion for Emperor," though how they infer
that from his response ("Only time will tell…") is a mystery.
First off, it's the Greeks of the week, as the new Civilization
of the Week on the official Civilization III website looks at the Greeks ( "Did
I forget to mention, to mention Memphis? Home of Elvis and the ancient Greeks...")
with a description of their culture and trade inclinations, and a profile of the
Hoplite, their unique unit. Also, GameSpy.com Previews Civilization III
with a look ahead at the upcoming installment in this turn-based strategy series
saying "Firaxis attempts to 'bring back the fun' to one of the most storied
franchises in gaming." The preview offers comparisons between Civ III and
some of the predecessors in its confusing family tree, saying "They feel
that while the game's progeny added some complexity to the addictive gameplay,
it did so at the expense of the fun factor. Civilization III looks like
it will achieve their goal of advancing the franchise and making it more
enjoyable and addictive than ever."
The
Roots of Gaming: Gen Con on TechTV offers a recap of the semi-recent game
fair in Milwaukee that we missed when it went online a couple of weeks ago. The
article is illustrated by a batch of photos, and true to the TV in their name,
offers a video report from the show floor, talking with many of the folks in
costume at the show, all of whom are eager to explain that you can't play an RPG
on a computer, though the Neverwinter Nights preview that the report segues into
admits that this may change when it is released.
Though Bob Saget isn't available to narrate (something about a
Cruise missile accident), there is now a
StarTopia Blooper reel on the Mucky Foot Productions website reveling in
some of the offbeat wackiness that occurred during a period about six months
before StarTopia was finished "where it looked great but all of a sudden
you would notice something that wasn't quite right."
Here is the announcement we received calling for entries in the third annual
Half-Life mod (or, as they put it MOD) expo: The Third Annual Half-Life
MOD Expo, showcasing the latest Half-Life community developed MODs, will take
place Thursday, September 27, 2001 in San Francisco. Sierra and Valve invite MOD
makers to submit their handiwork to modexpo@valvesoftware.com
for consideration. MOD makers have until Wednesday, September 5th to send in
details about their MOD, AVI's and/or screenshots and contact information,
including Web site. More information on this year's Expo will be released closer
to the event.
There's day two coverage of SpaceWorld (a Nintendo show, not to be confused with
a convention for rocket scientists) on GameSpot
and cube.ign.com. There are also 13
new Soul Reaver 2 screenshots on SpieleCity showing off the PS2 version of
this game that will eventually make its way to the PC.
A new version 4.88 of the ÆStats log parser is up on the æon's stats
website is now available as a free download, after previously only being
available to registered users. In addition to the updated Win32 and SuSE Linux
binaries, they also offer a warning that the registered release of Linux ÆStats
4.88 (and all the public Linux releases since version 4.55) are infected by the
'linux/octopus.dos' virus, offering tips on a remedy if you are infected.
A new version 2.5 of the Pod Bot for CS
is now available. POD stands for Ping of Death (referring to the freaky low ping
bots show on the scoreboard), and the bot is designed specifically to allow you
to play against AI opponents in Counter-Strike (never fear, clients can't spawn
bots in Internet games). Thanks Vossey.com.
As promised, the entries in the QuakeCon 2001 modeling contest hare now
available for download on Polycount,
each model is featured in a screenshot to give a feel for what it's about.
Thanks BerneyBoy.
Chillin with North American
clan X3 on Challenge-CS offers a recap with an IRC-based interview with this
"North American superstar clan."
How to Survive a Survival-Horror Game
on FutureLooks offers tips on how to make it out alive, even if you are left alone in
the dark. Also, the usual weekly update has been made to the
official Star Wars Galaxies Online FAQ.
There's a ParticleFX Tutorial
on the Max Payne site from the Max Payne development team describing
the basics of ParticleFX, "a powerful particle effect editing tool that was
used to create all the fire, smoke, explosions, muzzle flashes and snowstorms
you saw in Max Payne," and offering a step-by-step tutorial on creating
these effects. Also, lesson two in the Neverwinter Vault
Modeling Course continues what has to be considered an incredible flood of
Neverwinter Nights editing information considering the game is not yet
available. Finally, Bringing Dr. Jones to the Infernal Machine Dealing with Memory Constraints
on Gamasutra describes one of Indiana Jones' most daring adventures,
squeezing into the N64 platform after a lifetime on the open plains of the PC.
This list is brought to you by the letter M.
It's not quite a three dog night, but it is a two dogger, as my Dad's pooch
Sparky is over for a bit of dog-sitting, the first time this has happened since
Hudson the wonder dog came into our lives. We were a little concerned that the
55 LB puppy was going to wear her 30 LB, 11 year-old uncle to death, but it's
all been fairly pleasant, though walking the two of them was not as easy as,
say, herding cats.
Link of the Day: Leader
of the Free World. Flash required. Thanks Conchango.
Play Time: Ant
City. Flash required. Thanks EvilToast (not Ant?!).
Weird Science: Laser Carrots
(from 101 things you never knew about carrots).
Thanks EvilToast.
Wild Science: Stem
cells face xenotransplantation glitch (NewScientist). "Most, if not
all, of the embryonic stem cell lines available to publicly-funded researchers
in the US have been mixed with mouse cells." Thanks [MP] Wolverine [MP].
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