Although not yet noted on the official site, Ubi Soft has released an updated demo of IL-2 Sturmovik, the WWII flight sim in the works at 1C Maddox Games, for download from their ftp server. This 102.1 MB download appears to include some tweaks to one of the demo missions but is otherwise identical to the previous demo (story) which turned out to be prematurely released, so this is likely the official demo. Update: The demo appears to have been removed, but a mirror is online at 3D Gamers.

As promised, new patches for Starfleet Command II: Empires at War are now available (although not yet reflected on the SFC2 patch page), upgrading the space-based strategy game by Taldren and Interplay to version 2.0.0.7. There is a 19.1 MB update from the previous v2.0.0.6 and a 23.4 MB patch for v2.0.0.2, and this release brings about three dozen improvements, changes and bug fixes which are all listed in detail in the included readme.txt file.

There is a new pair of Empire Earth movies on Empire Earth France, captured from the beta build of the 3D real-time strategy game that is nearing completion at Stainless Steel Studios. One clip demonstrates the Imperial Age while the other shows off World War I, and both offer about a minute in in-game footage in RealPlayer format.

PC.IGN.com has posted a new preview of Command & Conquer Renegade, looking ahead to the upcoming first- and third-person action game that is in development at Westwood. The preview is based on some hands-on time with a recent build of the game and offers an account of the gameplay it offered. Also available are four new ShakyCam movies that were captured at ECTS last week, each featuring around 20 seconds of gameplay footage in QuickTime format.

Also on PC.IGN this evening is a new preview of Patrician II, a trading sim strategy game under construction at German developers Ascaron Software. The article goes into fair detail about the game's premise and its features, describes the kind of gameplay you can expect, and comes with nearly a dozen screenshots.

• Age of Mythology
  As is their way, Ensemble Studios has released a new Age of Mythology screenshot, showing an Egyptian village scene in their upcoming 3D real-time strategy game.
• Myth III
  There are 13 new screenshots of Myth III: the Wolf Age as well as three wallpapers on The Myrgard Times, all illustrating the 3D RTS under construction at Mumbo Jumbo Games.
• Red Faction
  The weekly Red Faction Friday feature makes another Monday appearance on the official site for Voilition's imminent FPS, this time introducing the Capture the Flag multiplayer feature with a batch of new screenshots.
• X2
  There is a Dutch preview of X2: the Khaak Treat on Game Planet for which Babel Fish provides no assistance, but it includes the first seven screenshots of this space combat adventure sequel in the works at EgoSoft (thanks A Talent For War).
• Sierra's Double Dose
  As always, Sierra Studios has released a new screenshot of the week for their upcoming games Empire Earth and Throne of Darkness.
• Yuri's Revenge
  Red Alert eXtreme has posted seven new screenshots of Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge here and another seven here, showing more from the imminent RTS expansion by Westwood.
• Neocron
  Eight new screenshots of Neocron and two concept images are online at Gamers Pulse, offering new scenes in the futuristic MMORPG being beta tested at Reakktor Media.
• Mimesis Online
  PC Zone UK has posted nine new Mimemis Online screenshots while another batch of images recently appeared on the official site for Tannhauser Gate's MMORPG.

Lemon Interactive has released a new interactive unit demo for Starmageddon, their space-based RTS in development. This tiny 600 KB download shows off a "production unit in Daemons race (Aliens), it builds some pretty big structures."

After an initial announcement by developers Pyro Studios yesterday (story), Gone Gold has now confirmed with publisher Eidos Interactive that this squad-based tactical combat game is indeed approved for manufacturing (i.e. gone gold). The game should appear on store shelves around September 20.

GameSpot Previews Black & White Creature Isles with a look ahead at the recently-announced Black & White add-on where your creature gets to play daddy. The article has a run down of what Creature Isles will have to offer from your creature's sex drive, to the little tyke, to the mini-games, and more. The screenshots that accompany the article have already appeared elsewhere.

Blizzard has released downloadable Mac patches for Diablo II and its expansion Lord of Destruction, as before bringing their isometric RPG to version 1.09B in case you prefer that over the auto-update of last week (story). The Win32 downloadable patches are still due "soon."

XGR.COM's Ask Red Faction Broadcast will take place tonight at 9:00 PM EDT, when they will be posing all the questions readers have been breathlessly submitting about Red Faction to Rob Loftus, a producer at Volition on the upcoming shooter. As usual, a SHOUTcast compatible audio player is required to listen in to the show.

Though it's been mentioned in passing already, Fishtank Interactive just sent along the press release officially announcing S.W.I.N.E., which is described as a "tongue-in-cheek" upcoming RTS game where "Players Battle the Pig National Army." Here's a bit more: "In the game, players compete in a series of widely varied missions as they help the peace-loving Rabbits launch skillful guerrilla attacks against the evil Pigs who have launched a vicious attack against their pastoral paradise." The release has a feature list, which includes multiplayer play, and describes the game has having "(extremely) realistic graphics supported by a highly detailed physical modeling system." If you want to know more, visit the S.W.I.N.E. Homepage where there are screenshots, and a gameplay movie.

A new version 1.2b server patch for the Existence Multiplayer Half-Life Modification is now available, as well as a version 1.2 client patch and a 1.2 Linux server (thanks Stomped) updating this Matrix-inspired modification. These updates address the major known bugs in the mod, while a version 1.3 patch is in the works to clear up a couple of smaller remaining issues.

There is a new movie of Commandos 2: Men of Courage on gamesweb.com, showing off the imminent squad-based tactical combat game by Pyro Studios. The 39.8 MB trailer runs for two minutes in MPEG format and introduces several of the missions you'll encounter in the full game, accompanied by a German voice-over.

New version 21.81 NVIDIA Detonator XP drivers are now available for Windows 95/98/Me, Windows XP-2000, and Windows NT. Thanks Viricide. These are non-WHQL certified drivers, and, like all NVIDIA reference drivers, "do not contain OEM/manufacturer specific customizations that shipped with your NVIDIA video card," and "are provided 'as is' with NO TECHNICAL SUPPORT." The site is naturally completely-hosed already, but mirrors are available at File Retreat (Win2K only), Guru3d.com, 3dXtreme, and Overclockers Online.

Wolfenstein multiplayer test this Friday on GameSpot (thanks To The Game) has word from id Software and Activision announcing that a multiplayer test version of Return to Castle Wolfenstein, the upcoming World War II FPS "in joint development at Gray Matter, Nerve, and id Software," is to be released this Friday. Word is to expect the test release, which will include a single multiplayer level, on GameSpot and the Return to Castle Wolfenstein Website, and according to the report, the full game "scheduled for release in November."

There's a Ghost Recon ECTS Report on Ghostrecon.Net offering their hands-on impressions after an opportunity to get some extended face-time with the game and its presenters from Ubi Soft UK at this year's ECTS. The preview is presented as a diary of recollections from playing the game, including getting started with a character, graphics, sounds, movement, weapons, enemies, giving orders, what the game will not include, and more.

Irrational Games has released two movies of Freedom Force, sporting the first in-game action from their upcoming 3D tactical combat game of superheroics. The first movie clocks in at some 30 seconds of footage available in small (1.0 MB) and large (3.2 MB) sizes, while the second clip runs for a minute also in small (1.8 MB) and large (6.1 MB) sizes, all from FilePlanet (registration required) and in QuickTime format. A mirror of the large clips is online at Games Domain.

PC Game Central's Red Faction Single Player Preview is online, kicking off their planned Red Faction week. The preview is based on their chance to play with a gold copy of the imminent first-person shooter where you get to go to Mars and shoot holes in its red surface, offering a synopsis of the game's storyline and a look at gameplay, including a look at that aforementioned destructible geometry as well as a look at its locales, AI, and operable vehicles. Also included with the preview is a batch of new screenshots.

PlanetAvP's AvP II Species has a look at each of the three species of character you can play in Aliens versus Predator II, which are the same three from the original AvP: Alien, Predator, and lunch, which includes a look at what has been learned of the classes for each of them (Standard, Light and Heavy classes for the Predator; Standard, Heavy Weapons, Sniper and Demolitionist for the Colonial Marine; Standard Warrior, Dog Alien, Facehugger, Chestburster, Praetorian and PredAlien for the Xenomorph). In other AvP2 happenings, there are five new screenshots on AvPNews.com.

To The Game has posted the first nine screenshots from Planet of the Apes, the recently announced (story) game based on the novel and the first series movies that it inspired. The shots show off some humans in their caveman suits (including one that looks yummy enough to be Nova), some shots showing our hero making an ape keep his stinking paws off of him, as well as shots of other fun stuff like making gas bubbles in the pool.

A new release of jDoom is now available, updating Jaakko Keränen's port of the public DOOM source code to version 1.1. This release comes as a 740 KB upgrade from version 1.0 and features a lot of changes and improvements, including support for "Extended General (XG) line and sector types," sprite enhancements, new console commands and variables, support for external music files, bug fixes, and more. Additionally, a new DED Manager is available that supports DeHackEd patches as well as the aforementioned XG line and sector types.

Phantagram has released another patch for Kingdom Under Fire, updating their isometric role-playing RTS to version 1.103. The 11.0 MB download applies a handful of gameplay tweaks and bug fixes, along with a few more unit balance changes.

There's a Perimeter video on The Daily Telefrag offering some ShakyCam™ footage shot off a monitor at this year's ECTS showing off gameplay from Perimeter, the upcoming 3D RTS from K-D LAB and 1C. The video includes music and shows off nearly a minute of gameplay, in which a fortress attempts to fend off an attack by an onslaught of enemy vehicles. The AVI format video is a 6.6 MB download.

The official Parsec site now offers a new LAN test demo for download, bringing their upcoming freeware space sim to build 0196. The full download clocks in at 82 MB while there is also an update from the previous build 0190 at around 14 MB, both available for Win32, MacOS, OSX and Linux. This release is not yet playable over the Internet, but it "includes new ships, new music, teleporters, a higher number of possible players, and various other enhancements and bug fixes." A new screenshot of the month is also online.

The newly-opened Westwood Infiltration Interviews Cliff Hicks discussing both Emperor: Battle for Dune and Command & Conquer Renegade. Topics covered in the Q&A include whether the 3D RTS signals the end of the 2D RTS era at Westwood, the possibility of the release of add-ons or an editor for Emperor, the possibility of a Dune FPS in the vein of Renegade, as well as some questions that offer an on-depth exploration of some of the planned aspects of Renegade gameplay. They have also posted a new Frank Klepacki Interview talking about his contribution to the music in Westwood's games.

PlanetMoon Central's Interview with The Omni Group talks with the folks at work creating an OS X port of Giants: Citizen Kabuto, discussing the progress on the project, the particular challenges the port has offered, and other Mac port-related questions.

The Network of the World website has posted their thoughts about Project Nomads, the ECTS 2001 PC Game of the Show. Project Nomads is primarily a 3D action game that borrows heavily from the real-time strategy and role-playing genres, and Radon Labs places you in the setting of a roaming nomad inhabiting drifting islands amongst the clouds. The article primarily examines the gameplay where the player uses artefacts to construct base structures to cast spells against the opponent. NOW states that the finished game will consist of 25 missions providing 40 hours of single-player gameplay in addition to the multiplayer features, and includes some previously released screenshots. Thanks to To The Game for the tip.

Italian site Multiplayer.it has posted a new ShakyCam video of Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, the upcoming WWII first-person shooter in the works at 2015. The movie requires a 15.8 MB download in DivX AVI format, and offers three minutes of decent quality, in-game footage from the Sniper Town level, as well as a fairly noisy soundtrack. Thanks AlliedAssault.com for the tip.

There's an interview on GamesReview with Anton Bolshakov, the English language version of the Spanish language interview with the Russian product manager at Russian developer GSC Gameworld discussing progress on Codename: Outbreak. The conversation covers the inspiration behind the game, what will set it apart from other military-themed first-person shooters, its sci-fi storyline, the role of your teammates, its potential appeal to those who favor "Thief-style" skulking, and much more.

HomeLan's Yuri's Revenge Report offers impressions of Yuri's Revenge, the now gold (story) Red Alert 2 add-on, based on a visit to the Westwood offices in Lost Wages Nevada to check it out. The thoughts offered after first-hand time with Yuri are quite positive, saying "fans of Red Alert 2 are going to eat this expansion up," describing it as loaded "with a lot of cool new stuff," which does not come at the expense of "the same fast and furious gameplay." There are also some quick impressions of Renegade based on what little exposure they had to the upcoming C&C shooter.

GameSpy.com's Etherlords Developer Diary Volume 10 offers thoughts from Nival Interactive's Andrey Emelyanenko on the tweaks they've made to the gameplay in Etherlords as a result of beta testing. Some of the factors that have been altered based on testing are the speed of combat in the turn-based game, of which Andrey says "I can confidently claim that we haven't received a single complaint about the combat part being too slow or tedious," the addition of a "surrender" button, and learning the significant impact AI has upon the pace of gameplay, which lead to the creation of their "expert evaluation system."

Wrestlecar Previews Empire Earth examining this upcoming online RTS based on participation in the closed beta that's currently underway. They give an overview of gameplay, and offer their enthusiasm for the game's potential for success: "Empire Earth will be a success right off the start because of its massive time-span, excellent game play, and extraordinary graphics." The preview also includes 24 new screenshots.

GameSpy.com Previews Imperium Galactica III: Genesis looking ahead at the upcoming combination turn-based/RTS/space simulator based on the common understanding that the first thing an alien culture would do after creating intergalactic space travel would be to use it to take over the garden spot of the universe: Earth. The preview gives more detail on that plotline, as well as how those various different aspects of gameplay will come together, discussing how things like planetary colonization and ship-to-ship combat will take place. They also fulfill the intro's promise of speaking with designer Zsolt Nyulaszi by providing a single quote: "Making this game like a novel was really important to the story."

• VIA Counter-sues
  Taiwan's VIA files suit against Intel. The expected response to Intel's suit against VIA (story).
• VIA Roadmap
  There's a new VIA Desktop Chipset Roadmap 2001 on VIAHardware Dot Com.
• 4-in-1 Drivers
  The VIA Arena Drivers Page now has the official release of the new version 4.33 4-in-1 drivers. Thanks VIAHardware.
• New CPUCooL
  A new version 6.2.2 of the CPUCooL utility is now available. Thanks File Flash.
• Wheel Case mod
  Case wheel mod guide on Jsi Hardware showing how to get rolling with some wheels on your case.

Version 1.0 of Quake III Paintball is now available, the first released version of this colorful Quake III Arena modification. this debut version offers traditional 'run around and pick stuff up' style gameplay, but the plan is to eventually offer something closer to the 'earn money to buy better stuff' style of play found in Counter-Strike. They also have a new message board for the mod online, and a list of multiplayer servers that are already running Paintball.

There's an Ultima V: Lazarus interview on PlanetDungeonSiege talking with Salanthalas Quel’thas, the lead composer at Ultima V:Lazarus, an upcoming Dungeon Siege siegelet, talking about the tuneage in the project.

There's an Independence War walkthrough on The Gamers Press.

The Neverwinter Vault Modelling Course now has lesson five in their ongoing course to teach how to create models for Neverwinter Nights, the fact that the game is not out yet notwithstanding. This new lesson includes video presentations to demonstrate certain techniques.

• Diablo II: Lord of Destruction on 3DnGaming.
• From Dusk Till Dawn (in German) on GamersUnitedNetwork.
• MechCommander 2 on GamePen.
• Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis on Warfare HQ.
• Shattered Galaxy on GameZNet.
• TRIBES 2 on K2Games.net.

• Asus P4B Intel 845 Pentium 4 Motherboard on GamePC.
• Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy (first impressions) on 3DsoundSurge.
• Hercules 3D Prophet III 64MB Video Card on [H]ardOCP.
• Hercules Fortissimo II Sound Card on Serial Addiction.
• Intel i845 Chipset on Ace's Hardware, (in German) on Hard Tecs 4U and auto-translated into English
• Intel i845 & VIA's P4X266 chipsets on The Tech Report.
• Intel Pentium 4 2GHz CPU on TweakTown.
• NoiseControl NoVibes III Hard Drive mount on Dan's Data.
• PC Case Gear Braided IDE HDD cable on www.casejunkiez.com.
• Romtec Trios Hard Drive Selector on TheTripleHelix.com.
• Seagate Barracuda ATA IV Hard Drive on x-bit labs.
• Seagate U Series 6-Barracuda ATA IV Hard Drive on Legion Hardware.
• Solarism LM1503 15" LCD Monitor on Hardware Extreme.
• Thermalright SK-6 Heatsink on Explosive Hardware.
• Thermosonic Thermoengine V60-4210 Cooler on EXHardware.

I could have stood a little less advance hype about that Band of Brothers dealie on HBO last night, but that was pretty impressive stuff. For the most part this easily matched the scope of a major motion picture, and considering it's an ongoing mini-series, I imagine the whole thing must have cost at least a gazillion dollars. I think I'm most impressed with its willingness to deal with the aspects of war that are impossible to paint in a heroic light, so that it's not just the "good guys versus the bad guys." As someone who once questioned why HBO was so determined to create original programming, I have to say, they have gotten to the point where almost everything they air is significantly better than almost everything on traditional network television.

Link of the Day: TheShakespeareProgrammingLanguage. Thanks FondueBitch.
Weird Science: Can the candirú fish swim upstream into your urethra (revisited)? (The Straight Dope). Thanks kpl. "And here you thought the worst thing you could do was pee on the third rail."
Media of the Day: This Reuters Photo of genetically modified glow in the dark Medaka fish. Thanks [MP] Wolverine [MP].