|
|
 |
Archived News:
- Hitchhiker's Guide
The first day of GameSpot UK's ECTS coverage is online, and among previously mentioned previews (story and story), they have a brief report on Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy which reveals that this third-person action adventure by H2G2 and PAN Interactive based on the works by the late Douglas Adams is now taking a more action-oriented approach. The first six screenshots from the game accompany the article.
- Duality
Also on GameSpot UK is a brief look at Duality, the just-announced action RPG (story) by Spanish developers Trilobyte Graphics, and they have included the first screenshots and concept images to show what it looks like.
- Intergalactic Bounty Hunter
Finally on GameSpot UK today is a brief report on Intergalactic Bounty Hunter, checking out this third-person action adventure likewise by PAN Interactive, and sharing nine new screenshots as well.
- World of Warcraft
PC.IGN.com is also attending the London trade show, and offers up their own World of Warcraft preview with detailed impressions on what they learned about Blizzard's MMORPG, highlighted with quotes from producer Mark Kern.
- WarCraft III
And the final Blizzard link for today goes to... <envelope please> the Warcraft III Update on GameSpot, where they share some concise impressions of the latest build of this 3D role-playing strategy game that is being demoed at the show.
- Wrap-Ups
ECTS coverage also rolls on at EuroGamer with a brief diary of the EA Play event they attended, and at Pixel Kill with a detailed account of everything they saw at the first day of the show.
There is a hands-on preview of Conflict Zone on The Wargamer, looking ahead to this 3D real-time strategy game by MASA Group that is already out in Europe. The article takes a press build of the game for a tour of duty, and offers a brief overview of its premise, impressions of the gameplay, and a handful of new screenshots.
- Imperium Galactica III
CDV has released a new pair of Imperium Galactica III: Genesis screenshots (the top row), revealing more from the recently announced space strategy game by Philos Laboratories (story).
- Black Thorn
Worthplaying has posted five new Rogue Spear: Black Thorn screenshots, offering more scenes in the upcoming expansion pack in Red Storm's tactical shooter series.
- Worms Blast
Also on Worthplaying are the first ever screenshots of Worms Blast as well as more concept images, showing off the recently announced 3D annelid-infested strategy game by Team17 (story).
- Battle Realms
Freelancer has posted half a dozen new Battle Realms screenshots and more concept art of the 3D real-time strategy game nearing completion at Liquid Entertainment.
- Darkfall
There are three new screenshots of Darkfall on To The Game, depicting some new scenes in this 3D online role-playing game by Norwegian developers Raxorwax.
- Europa Universalis II
To The Game also offers up a few new Europa Universalis II screenshots along with a handful of previously released images from the historical strategy sequel under construction at Paradox Entertainment.
- Battlecruiser Millenium
3000AD has issued a whopping 62 new screenshots of Battlecruiser Millennium, their space and planetary simulation that's still shooting for a Summer release.
Mobile Forces Announced on HomeLan
has word that Rage Software has announced they are working on an Unreal engine
game called Mobile Forces, which they say is "described as a military style
shooter with a wide range of vehicles" The update describes some features
that will be incorporated, which include a "diverse choice of vehicles
either to drive or jump into the back seats and blast away," and "superb
vehicle physics, impressively modelled gears, brakes, suspension and more." They also have the first 4 shots of Mobile Forces.
Robert Holm's W.A.T.E.R. Blood Runs Deep
page declares a resumption of their media blackout, saying NO MORE HYPE. NO
MORE INFORMATION. THE WAIT NOW BEGINS. 2004. The blackout continues with some
information regarding this earlier story: "Clarification: It was prematurely stated that we have
begun development of the game W.A.T.E.R.® with Epic Games' next generation
Unreal Engine. The engine is our current technology of choice and Arithmetic
Studios is set to begin our evaluation period utilizing the tech."
War3.com has posted a few pieces of
concept art and a couple of screenshots and cinematic stills from Warcraft III
that were released amid the World of Warcraft hullabaloo today. One of the shots
shows off the Goblin Zeppelin which has not been shown in any shots before this.
They also point out an
additional 10 Warcraft III shots have been released by Blizzard. Finally,
they have also posted another local mirror of those hard-to-come-by War III and
WoW trailers.
BonusWeb has DivX video versions of the Warcraft III
ECTS trailer and the World of Warcraft
ECTS trailer that were released earlier today. This makes for a slightly
smaller download, as well as providing another much-needed location from which
to get the movies. There are also DivX versions of each (apparently a different
conversion) on Tiscali Games, here are the
World of Warcraft videos, and here's the
Warcraft III video.
An update on the Croteam website (thanks
xxzen) announces their plans for a Serious Sam follow-up. Here is the first word
on plans for a sequel to their fast and furious shooter that will use an enhanced
version of the Serious engine, and will offer an escape from the Egyptian environments of
the original: After small but needed vaccations we are back with our
regular Sunday development diary.
We can announce work on new game from Serious Sam universe. Right after
finishing work on Serious Sam: The First Encounter, we started work on new game
and upgrades to our Serious Engine. What we can promise in new game is: no more
Egypt, new monsters, new weapons, cool effects, Serious playability tweaked to
fit more players and still attract our established fan base. Along game we are
working on upgrading our Engine and Tools with some new features, bug fixes and
more elegant solutions for developers and modders.
On Tools note, one of big thing we are working on is Skeletal animation system
for models (SKA). While allowing same numbers of monsters on screen without high
impact on performance it will allow more versatile and smoother animations (with
even higher polygon count) in game. Our model format will be changed (from
expirience we got from our users and mod comunity) to more flexibile and easier
to create format. When SKA is ready we will post full feature list with
examples, help and tutorials.
Stay tuned for next instalement, when we will show more info and some images
from new game.
Have a good weekend,
Admir Elezovic
P.S. there wont be Egypt levels in this game.
World Of Warcraft First Impressions
on GameSpot UK has their impressions of Blizzards just-announced ( story,
story) Warcraft-themed MMORPG. One of the things mentioned
addresses questions that have been raised by fans already about how the servers
will be handled, saying that WoW servers will run parallel to those on
Battle.Net, "but using a different type of server administration. It will
also have a dedicated support and development team that will monitor, moderate
and where desirable, modify the game world - possibly to the extent of updating
quests on a regular basis." Here's a bit more on their impressions, as well
as Blizzard's Bill Roper's quite accurate comment about a potential release
date: First impressions of the game are good - it remains faithful to the
WarCraft ethos, with storybook-style graphics rather than hyper-realistic 3D and
the variety of locations in the demo we saw was good with, wheatfields, deserts,
forests and a mock Tudor-style village in evidence. However there is a long way
to go yet - the game has been in development for a year but no release date has
been set yet. Again, words of wisdom from Bill Roper: "We have found with
vast experience over the years that if we give you a release date you won't
believe us. And you'd probably be right." Honesty is the best policy -
remember Diablo II's development delays, not to mention WarCraft III.
Nevertheless Blizzard hopes to start beta testing the game sooner rather than
later and there will be no shortage of takers, we suspect.
To The Game's
Fatherdale Interview talks with Gleb Vlasenko from Russian Developer
Snowball Interactive about Fatherdale, their upcoming RPG. Topics covered along
the way are the way the game will be broken down into eight episodes that will
each in turn be separated into chapters, the impact of the player's actions on
the state of the world around him, how factions influence gameplay, the combat
system, historical accuracy, the lack of magic in the game, and more. Thanks
[Ki]Seizer^.
The GreenHouseEFX website
now has a new version 2.5 of the Coliseum2 modification for Quake III Arena.
Word on the new release is that it requires at least Quake III Arena version
1.29h, and as it is based on the new 1.29h source code, it is no longer
compatible with Coliseum2 versions 2.3 or older.
Game Menu Headquarters has
a new version 1.13 of their Quake 3 Menu front-end for Quake III Arena. The new
release adds a few new commands, and a new section with "OSP SPECIALS
commands."
There's a Cossacks: The Age of Enlightenment First Look
on GameSpot UK, fresh from checking it out on the ECTS floor, albeit
briefly, as they say "we barely had time to adjust our epaulettes, let
alone conquer Europe." The brief preview mentions the addition of seven
"new resource-devouring ships," two new units, two new nations, five
new campaigns that will send gamers tromping through Prussia, Austria, Saxony,
Algeria and Poland, as well as mentions of new AI options, "beefed-up"
multiplayer capabilities, and "immense maps that are up to four times the
size of those featured in the original game."
In addition to the DOOM game screenshot from the German print magazine GameStar
( story), the DOOM Center
Downloads section also now has the DOOM QuakeCon 2001 video presentation,
compressed down to a 4 MB download after discovering a less compressed 200 MB
version on the GameStar cover mount CD. Update: Concerned about the wrath of the powers-that-be over permissions and copyrights and stuff, they have decided to pull the downloads of this movie until they can be sure it's kosher.
Continuing the big story of the day, the World of Warcraft
website is now also live. It contains another link to the press
release, the movies section has their local copy of the Cinematic trailer
(mentioned below) as well as a gameplay movie (mirrored on FilePlanet), ten new screenshots in their screenshots section, a new desktop image
in their wallpapers section, and the World of Warcraft FAQ is now online
covering what the game is, the undetermined release date, the also undetermined
system requirements, that it will initially only be available for PCs, that it will
require a 3D accelerator, that there will indeed be a monthly fee to pay, and
the reasons they will be charging that fee.
I wonder just how many stories related to Blizzard's newly-announced MMORPG
World of Warcraft we can pile in a row here? An update to the Blizzard
Entertainment Website (thanks Russell Bailey) now has a new splash
screen saying "Blizzard Entertainment proudly welcomes you to... The World
of Warcraft. Within we find they have posted the WoW press release, which says,
in part: During a press conference today at the European Computer Trade
Show, Blizzard Entertainment® unveiled World
of Warcraft™, a massively multiplayer, online role-playing game set in
the rich fiction of Blizzard's Warcraft universe. Featuring bold 3D graphics and
deep, immersive gameplay, World of Warcraft will allow thousands of
players to adventure together in this epic world and will provide them with a
new, in-depth perspective on familiar lands, former battlefields, and heroes
from the legendary universe. In addition, World of Warcraft will
introduce new, uncharted territories and foes never before seen by followers of
the series.
World of Warcraft takes place four years following the aftermath of Warcraft
III: Reign of Chaos™, where a great tension has settled over the
ravaged world of Azeroth. As the various races begin to rebuild their shattered
kingdoms, new threats, both ancient and terrifying, have arisen to plague the
world once again. Players must explore the lands of Azeroth, forge fellowships
with other players, and build their strength in order to prevail.
"World of Warcraft is our largest undertaking to date," stated
Mike Morhaime, Blizzard Entertainment president and co-founder. "We are
extremely focused on increasing the scope of the Warcraft universe, giving
gamers an incredibly dynamic online gaming experience complete with endless
possibilities."
An action-packed combat system delivers fast, furious combat against multiple
opponents, while minimizing delays between battles to keep players on the move.
A rich, evolving story and questing system will keep players engrossed as the
world is regularly updated with new content.
Fully customizable character classes, innovative races, and thousands of weapons
allow for a truly diverse gameplay experience that will appeal to both hard-core
and novice gamers alike. A simple, intuitive user interface will allow players
of various skill levels to easily join the adventure. World of Warcraft
also features support for advanced graphics hardware, giving the player
superlative graphical enhancements, as well as a sophisticated, massively
multiplayer network architecture capable of supporting thousands of players in a
world simultaneously.
Either they are really fast typists, or they had a little advance notice,
but either way, GameSpot's
World of Warcraft Preview is already online (thanks Mangar), offering a
seven page look ahead at Blizzard's upcoming MMORPG. The preview reveals the
project is already over a year old, though no release date is set, and offers
thoughts on the game's history, its graphics, and lots about how gameplay will
be handled. Here is a bit on what it will be based upon: World of
Warcraft will let you create a persistent character who will live, learn, and
fight in the land of Azeroth. You'll have plenty of options even at the
outset--namely, Blizzard has already announced three playable races (of an
indeterminate total number) that will be featured in the game. These include
both male and female versions of the stalwart humans; the fierce orcs; and the
massive taurens, a bull-like race that will first be seen in the forthcoming
Warcraft III. These characters look extremely impressive already, as does the
rest of the game, if only from a visual standpoint, thanks to the game's
striking visual design. Read on to learn about how appearances will be important
to World of Warcraft.
Okay, after a false start (the Warcraft III trailer below was first described as
a WoW trailer), this
page on FilePlanet has the cinematic World of Warcraft cinematic trailer
showing off Blizzard's just-announced MMORPG, yours for a 44 MB download (and,
of course, registration).
This page on FilePlanet
has a 70 MB Warcraft III trailer for download as part of Blizzard's ECTS information blizzard.
EuroGamer is first out
of the box with the promised announcement from Blizzard that's been the focus of
so much speculation, confirming it is an MMORPG called World of Warcraft. Their
preliminary report is based on the tried and true journalist's trick of peeking
through a door. Here's the scoop: Peeking through the glass door of the
conference room (there are two press conferences today and we're booked in for
the second one, which is just about to start), it appears that Blizzard has
actually announced a new massively multiplayer game called World of Warcraft.
Just a few months ago at a press event in London, Blizzard's Bill Roper
described massively multiplayer as "the holy grail of game designers",
adding that "if Blizzard ever goes into something like that I think it
would obviously be a very different idea and model than we've done with anything
else".
Meanwhile, WarCraftIII.Net
has posted the first 16 WoW screenshots, as well as a dozen pieces of concept art.
The "Doom
3" Qcon shots on Doom Center offers a scan of one of the four
screenshots printed in German gaming magazine GameStar taken from the video
presentation id Software made at this year's QuakeCon showing off their upcoming
Doom game (which has no official name yet to our knowledge). They say they hope
to get the other three shots online soon.
GameSpy.com Previews Dark Age of Camelot
in an article that's subtitled "We take a closer look at Mythic
Entertainment's wonderful MMORPG and tell you why it doesn't suck!" The
article indeed goes on to explain why the author (our old pal Prophet) thinks
this post-Arthurian online RPG is wonderful (though not quite going into why he
thought it might suck in the first place), delving into the various legendry
realms the game will offer, the plans for its player versus player combat (which
was not implemented when the playing this article is based upon took place), the
classes each realm will offer, and gameplay. Included in the discussion of
gameplay is a look at combat versus monsters, interaction with NPCs, and an
explanation of just how long it takes to walk from one city to another that only
makes one hope that something like horses are on the boards, and just haven't
been implemented yet.
A report on Red Alert 2 eXtreme
says that the upcoming Red Alert 2 expansion pack has unofficially gone gold,
and is expected in stores around September 25. They do not cite a source for
this information, so we've tried to confirm this with our friends at Gone Gold,
the gold standard when it comes to certifying news like this, but haven't been
able to track Rich down for an answer. Look for an inevitable follow-up on this
story when we can get further confirmation or a denial of its factuality.
A report on The Adrenaline Vault
says "NovaLogic today announced that the release of its first-person
shooter Necrocide: The Dead Must Die will be pushed to March 2002 due to an
extended production schedule." This seems to be almost the same information
reported a couple of months ago on Computer and Video Games
( story), only that earlier report put the game's ETA as February
2002, so the added delay is only a month. Necrocide was originally planned for a
Spring 2001 release.
GameSpot at ECTS
rolls on with "live" coverage of the European Computer Trade show,
which has a couple of console articles up already, and plans of keeping us
abreast of all the happenings from the show floor. Also, E3 Command's
ECTS coverage is underway.
The debut release of Duke Nukem Army
is now available. This is a modification for Duke Nukem 3D (version 1.3D). The
mod offers army style combat, the author citing influences like Saving
Private Ryan, Stalingrad, and Rambo.
Office Romance, Middleware, and Our Love Affair With Polygons
on GameSpy.Com is an editorial that offers a "chat with Mike King of
Criteron Studios" that "details how middleware can cut development
time and problems, enabling developers to spend more of their energy on making
games fun."
- Bill Brown's homepage
has word on the two projects the composer is currently creating music for,
which are Gray Matter's Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and Red Storm's Ghost
Recon...
Here's a little this day in history for those that have been hanging around this
scene for a while: it was on this day five years ago that the controversy over
the Quakeworld.com domain name first surfaced. A fan site run by Jason Springer
called Quakeworld (now a
dead-end link) that preceded the program of the same name became quite perturbed
at the news that a German site had registered the Quakeworld.com domain. In
these headstrong days there turned out to be a lot of well-meaning support for
the "cause" of turning this domain over to Jason to honor his first
use of the name, but in the long run id Software stepped in and asked for it
themselves. The owners said they would comply, but it turned out they never
transferred the domain, though they ceased to use it, which seemed to satisfy
this issue. I have always found the eventual outcome of this amusing though...
when the domain registration lapsed, it was picked up by Critical Mass
(GameSpy), and to this very day, typing that URL ends up redirecting you to
PlanetQuake.
Also, it was two years ago today that Xbox rumors started surfacing (story),
and today is also Tom Hall's 37th birthday.
Link of the Day: The jet powered beer cooler.
Thanks Mr. Big and Zdim.
|
Twitter 
