nFusion Interactive has opened its official Deadly Dozen site for business, showcasing their upcoming squad-based tactical shooter (thanks SpecForce for the reminder). The site offers plenty of game information, including the back story, features, and lists of the weapons and other equipment, but most if not all of the displayed screenshots look familiar.

Planet Design: The Shaping of Corellia on the official Star Wars Galaxies site kicks off a new series of behind-the-scenes articles about the upcoming sci-fi MMORPG by Verant and LucasArts. This installment covers the terrain design in the game, and lead world artist John Roy talks the author through the process of the planet's creation, describes some of the technical issues involved, and takes a visual tour through Corellia that is illustrated with four new, impressive screenshots.

Cornered Rat has released a small patch for World War II Online, bringing their massively multiplayer war game to version 1.3.1. The 761 KB patch is available via the auto-updater and as a manual download, and it addresses a handful of issues as listed in this forum post.

There is a new preview of Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix on PC.IGN.com this evening, looking ahead to the mercenary shooter sequel that is in development at Raven Software. The article gives a feel for the game's graphics and special effects which are powered by the Quake III engine, the indoor and outdoor environments, the weapon and character models, the missions, enemy AI, and lots more. A large collection of new and familiar screenshots and concept images is also included.

• AvP2
  There are six new Aliens Vs. Predator 2 screenshots on AvPNews.com, illustrating a Q&A where the site's webmasters answer questions posed by fans of Monolith's imminent shooter.
• Ghost Recon
  The official French Ghost Recon site is now online sporting three new screenshots of its own, while the main official site serves up another lonely new screenshot of Red Storm's tactical shooter as well.
• HoveRace
  Adrenaline Vault has posted five new HoveRace screenshots, showing more from this upcoming futuristic hovercraft racing game by Ukranian developers GSC Game World.
• Etherlords
  The fourth Etherlords Creature feature is up at PC.IGN.com, introducing four more races in Nival's upcoming turn-based strategy game in words and new character images.
• Europa Universalis II
  Half a dozen new Europa Universalis II screenshots are posted up at Worthplaying, showing off the historical strategy sequel under construction at Paradox Entertainment.
• Mimesis Online
  Similarly, six new Mimesis Online screenshots are online at Mimesis Portal, revealing more from this sci-fi MMORPG in the works at Tannhauser Gate.
• Fighting Legends
  XGR has added eight new Fighting Legends screenshots to last night's interview on the imminent MMORPS by Maximum Charisma.

After a false lift-off last night (story), Novalogic has released an updated demo of Comanche 4 that addresses some minor technical issues that grounded the first release. It still clocks in at 42.7 MB. Also, Sierra Studios sends along a feature list for the soon-to-be-released Aliens Vs. Predator 2 multiplayer demo, now that the full game is complete (story). Here is what you can expect:

* The playable characters will be the Alien Drone, the Predator, Harrison or Dunya
* The weapons for the Marine will be the knife, pistol, shotgun, pulse rifle and smartgun
* The weapons & tools for the Predator will be wristblades, spear, plasmacaster, netgun, charger, medicomp and mask.
* The map will be "A Lesser Fate"
* The modes will be Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch
* There will be Internet/LAN support for up to 16 players
* The total file size is 65MB

For a detailed listing description of the Aliens vs. Predator 2 multiplayer demo, go to www.avpnews.com.

Ubi Soft Germany has released a new Battle Realms movie, showing more from the 3D real-time strategy game that is nearing completion at Liquid Entertainment. The clip comes as a 16.1 MB download in AVI format and offers 35 seconds of in-game footage from the Wolf Clan. And elsewhere, there is a Battle Realms Serpent Town Movie on FilePlanet (registration required) that sets you back 33.2 MB for even more gameplay footage (thanks ToTheGame).

Mumbo Jumbo Games' Andrew Meggs updated his .plan with a massive outline of what's going on with several aspects of Myth III, their now-gold prequel to the Myth series of RTS games. The lengthy update mentions the PC street date as October 25, the fact that the "Mac version is not yet final due to some compatibility issues under MacOS 9," that they need more game results to determine how rankings will be handled, that the editing tools will be made available for download (they wouldn't fit on the game CD), that the demo version has to wait for the Mac version to go gold, and why some of the game's intended features didn't make the final cut because they didn't turn out to be as cool after being tested as they seemed when being planned.

GameSpot Media Index for Asheron's Call: Dark Majesty has been updated with a new movie from the upcoming Asheron's Call expansion. The movie is from one of the game's cinematic sequences "that tells the tale of young warrior fighting her oppressors." As usual the file is available for download, as well as in streaming RealPlayer and Windows Media Player formats.

GameSpot Previews Civilization III offering more hands-on impressions of the upcoming installment in Sid Meier's famed turn-based strategy series. The article discusses how the sequel reflects the serious fine-tuning the Civilization franchise has undergone, saying: "Civilization III has the feel of a game in which the designers questioned how every piece of micromanagement fit into the overall game system and excised detail in favor of gameplay cohesion." They go on to give further contrasts from the game's predecessors, discussing the improved graphic, changes to the most basic levels of units, the addition of the "culture" factor, changes to how resources are handled, the revamped combat system, the enhanced diplomacy, and more. The article is accompanied by a batch of eight new screenshots.

Word from Ubi Soft is that the Rogue Spear: Black Thorn Page will host the release of the playable demo for Rogue Spear: Black Thorn. Word on the demo is: "Players will get the chance to play one full mission from the forthcoming game, as Rainbow prepares to go head to head with its greatest challenge yet in the biggest and most complete Rogue Spear Mission Pack to date."

There's an Outcast II Q&A on Ferrago.co.uk catching up with Appeal's Carlo Fabricatore to discuss progress on the upcoming action/adventure sequel. Topics include what he's able to reveal of the game's storyline, how the cinematic elements will be handled this time out, the switch to polygon-based graphics from the voxels of the original Outcast, the influence of other games on where they are going with Outcast II, how they are improving the AI, weapons, and more, though many of the questions are met with a reluctance to reveal too much about the game before it doing so would be appropriate.

The Mimesis Online Developer Diary part 12 on RPGDot by Tannhauser Gate's Derek Handley ties the race with the RPG Vault's MO diary at 12-apiece. In this latest installment, Derek describes descriptions, talking about the teamwork that's gone into writing the descriptions for all the game's items a second time. He also goes into all the testing time they are spending on the game's dialogue to make sure that it will always be properly suited to when it will be used.

Sierra and Fox Interactive send along the announcement that Alien versus Predator 2, their three species first-person shooter sequel, has gone gold. Here's the press release:

THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS!
Sierra and Fox Interactive Announce Aliens vs. Predator™ 2 Goes Gold

Los Angeles, CA - October 18, 2001 - The around-the-clock shifts have ended and the countdown begins as Sierra(tm) and Fox Interactive(tm) announced today that Aliens vs. Predator 2 has indeed gone gold. It's only a matter of time until players can immerse themselves in a game that combines elements, creatures, and settings from the hit movies Aliens™ and Predator™ in three unique, interlocking stories. Aliens, predators, and humans share one powerful trait-the enduring will to survive. The only question left to ask is "Will you be up to the challenge?"

"It's been a long journey on the Aliens vs. Predator 2 project and I'm proud to see this one set sail! The team over at Monolith has created a great product that I'm quite sure the AvP fans will enjoy," said David Stalker, producer for Fox Interactive. "My thanks go out to all the Monolith team members, as well as the folks from Fox, Sierra and Vivendi Universal who gave their very best for this game...now everybody go get some sleep!"

Aliens vs. Predator 2 will be available at retail late October for a suggested retail price of $49.95. For more information, go to AvP2.sierra.com or order by phone at 800-757-7707.

GodGames and Human Head Studios Ship Rune Gold is the press release announcing this "Nordic Action Game Compilation Arrives on Store Shelves Today." If you're not familiar with the package: "The collection combines the award-winning PC game 'Rune' and the multiplayer expansion pack, 'Rune: Halls of Valhalla,' and is available for a suggested retail price of $19.99." Also, Inside Mac Games has word on several Mac games, including news that the Mac version of Vampire: The Masquerade -- Redemption is gold, and "should ship in a few weeks."

An Open Letter called What comes next for DAoC on the VN Boards (thanks Dr. Del) by Mythic Entertainment's Mark Jacobs has word on some of what's in the works over the next few months for Dark Age of Camelot following its launch, which the letter describes as "the most successful launch in MMORPG history." Here is a list of "just some of the things" they plan to accomplish over the next three months:

1) Working with our friends at VU, an additional 75K copies of the game have been shipped. This should help take care of some of the demand for DAoC. More copies will be manufactured after that so the shortage of DAoC on the shelves will soon end. We have already arranged for enough servers and bandwidth to handle the additional demand.
2) We will make major changes to the various interfaces that are part of DAoC. In the most general of terms, we will be adding improvements to chat, appeal, quest journal and advice. We will also be adding an auction channel and a compass to the game.
3) We will be adding at least two more sever types. While I won’t go into details in this letter, these are types that the player community has been asking us for and I think will bring a smile to many faces.
4) We will be taking care of some issues such as grouping across zones, lag in the big cities and some networking issues such as when you go link-dead in the game. We are also further reducing the amount of bandwidth the game consumes.
5) We will be adding a fuller implementation of horses and transportation modes in the game.
6) We will be adding a housing system (in stages) to the game.
7) We will make improvements to things such as the water, lava and snow events in the game.
8) We will add commands such as tracking, climbing, etc.
9) We will be adding shapeshifting to the game.
10) We will be adding more intricacies to the PvP system within the game. Look for things such as slopes and fatigue, falling damage, alliances and more.
11) We will be adding ladders to the game.
12) We will be adding a lot of new content to the game including new spells and spell lines, quests and fighting areas.

A day earlier than promised, Bohemia Interactive has released a new patch for Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis, updating their tactical shooter to version 1.27 beta. This 5.0 MB patch adds another batch of changes and fixes to the ones from version 1.26, all listed in detail on this page, and comes with a new dedicated beta server to match. Lastly, the Grenade Launchers pack is also available, adding the MM-1 and 6G-30 to the game's arsenal.

JoWooD Ships Its Real-time Strategy PC Game World War III: Black Gold is the press release that announces that Reality Pump's RTS game is shipping, and has word that the game is scheduled to be in stores October 22, 2001, which updates the most recent release date (story), which itself was an updated date after the game's release was postponed from late September after the September 11 terrorist attacks (story).

GameSpy.com Interviews Andrew Tepper as the president of eGenesis discusses progress on A Tale in the Desert following the completion of the 24 hour beta test 1 of their upcoming combat-free MMORPG. Topics include changes they are implementing as a result of the testing, several questions about the game's law system, and word on how those interested in participating in future beta tests can do so.

GameSpy.com's Etherlords Developer Diary Volume 14 is online, in this installment, Nival Interactive's Denis Borzenkov "tells the story of just a few problems the team encountered along the way." These problems consist of balance issues they had to deal with when testing out the various powers in their upcoming Magic: The Gathering-influenced strategy game.

Polish site Gry-Online has posted a playable demo of Heli Heroes, the vertical scrolling helicopter shooter by likewise Polish developers Reality Pump that employs the same 3D engine as their real-time strategy games. Consequently, the 75.4 MB demo is in Polish as well, so be prepared for some guesswork, and it contains a tutorial and a single mission. Be warned that the download server is extremely slow, as is the official site where it's also posted, but a fast mirror is online at Czech site BonusWeb. And in related news, there are four new screenshots on News-Planet.de.

The Gamers Press' City of Heroes Interview talks with Jack Emmert of Cryptic Studios about their upcoming super heroic MMORPG. Topics include how City of Heroes will change the gameplay patterns established by other multiplayer games, the ability to customize the appearance of your hero, super-powers (including whether they can be customized), the ability for super teams to create their own customized bases of operation, how they plan on defeating the "lag monster," and more.

HomeLan Fed General News Duke Nukem Manhattan Project Interview talking with Donald Case, the public relations spokesperson for ARUSH Entertainment discussing the upcoming web-based episodic game featuring Duke Nukem. Topics include the nature of the third-person scrolling game, its storyline, what sort of engine powers a web-based game, the involvement of 3D Realms in the project, the release schedule, as well as the topic of what had to be changed of the game's Manhattan setting following the terrorist attacks.

Bright Light Productions has released another patch for Journey's End, updating their budget-priced first-person role-playing game to version 1.31. The 8.1 MB patch includes two minor fixes related to the interface and item statistics.

• Newer Matrox Linux Drivers
  Matrox Graphics Latest Drivers Page has another revision to their Linux drivers.
• On WinXP
  Inside Windows XP – Gaming Nirvana? on SourceMagazine.com looks at the gaming potential of the new OS.
• On 3GIO
  There's a 3GIO Technical Overview on FiringSquad that attempts to explain this technology planned as a follow-up to the PCI slot.
• On Razer
  The Adrenaline Vault's Razer Interview chats with the manufacturers of the BoomSlang gaming mouse about their comeback.

Halo and DOA3 Movie Bonanza on Xbox.IGN.Com has a Halo and a DOA3 movie anyone can download, as well as a couple from each for IGN Insider subscribers. The GameSpot Halo Media Index also has nine new movies of Halo running on the Xbox, though there is a spoiler warning from Hunt3r00, who sent this news along. There's a Galleon Islands of Mystery preview on Cube.IGN.com. The Deus Ex preview on ps2.ign.com (that also requires free registration), has been updated with the final PS2 DX box art. There's a Max Payne Xbox preview on Team Xbox. A report on Team Xbox has rumors of a Return to Castle Wolfenstein Xbox port. Another post on Team Xbox discusses the Xbox "exclusivity" of Ghost Recon. Network Adaptor Delayed on PS2.IGN.Com says: "Despite what Sony has said, its Network Adaptor seems destined to come out next spring." Molyneux Reveals BC on Computer and Video Games has new details on the upcoming Xbox game. GameSpot's Project Ego update offers several new screenshots. Best Peripheral Ever! on Cube.IGN.Com (thanks Neil Marshall) is a look at an upcoming GameCube controller that must be the biggest console controller ever devised.

A new official Warlords Battlecry II FAQ is online for SSG's just-announced sequel. Also there's a new Green Berets Guide with tips for this Myth II-powered games. There's a basic Q3A Team deathmatch guide on Multi Player Zone. Finally, Red Alert II Xtreme serves up a Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge walkthrough covering both Allied and Soviet sides.

There's an interview with SenseOred on BarrysWorld on the subject of the just-released Full Metal Jacket modification for Quake III Arena, though of course the article's subtitle: "Charlie don't surf" is from a different Vietnam War movie altogether.

• AquaNox (in German) on Raffs.de.
• Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge on Game Club Central.
• Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive on Gameraiders.
• Planet of the Apes on ELectric Playground.
• Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor (first impressions) on Gamehelper.
• Shattered Galaxy on GameVisions.
• Spider-Man on GameZone.
• Throne of Darkness on RPG Vault.
• Ultimate Ride on GameZone and GameSpot.

• Deadly Dozen on GameZone.

• AMD Athlon MP 1800+ CPU on got apex.
• AMD Duron (Morgan) 1.0 GHz and 1.1 GHz on x-bit labs.
• Asus P4T-E Motherboard on GamePC.
• ATI RADEON 8500 on AnandTech (thanks Michael Wang), Digit-Life, and RIVA Station.
• Belkin 6-Port FireWire Hub on Envy News.
• Cooler Master ATCS Case on Slautech.
• EPoX 8KHA+ Motherboard on OcPrices.
• Fortis Tech A102 Heatsink on FrostyTech.
• Matrix Orbital GLK12232-25 LCD Monitor on OverClock Intelligence Agency.
• OCZ Dominator 2 Heatsink on Mikhailtech and TweakTown.
• OCZ Titan 3 Video Card on The Tech Report.
• P4X266 Motherboard Shoot-out on T h e DDR Zone.
• Samsung SW-216 CD-R/W on OnePC.NET.
• Shuttle SV24 Case on VIAHardware.
• Thermaltake Active Memory Cooling Kit on I am not a geek.
• Vantec CCK-6027D Cooler on Viper's Lair.
• VisionTek GeForce3-Ti200-Ti500 shootout on Reverend's 3DPulpit.

• Papyrus Racing Games has a version 1.3 patch for NASCAR 4...
• Shrapnel Games has released a playable demo of the wargame construction kit by Boku Strategy Games, The War Engine...

A favorite aspect of this time of year for me is the widespread availability of pumpkin pies. Though not some folks cup o' tea, this traditional dessert has always been one of my favorite treats, proving that if you add enough sugar, anything, even a gourd (or whatever a pumpkin is) can be tasty, especially the prepackaged supermarket variety (the more homemade a pie is, the more likely it is to not be sweet enough). One of the joys of adulthood is the ability to just pick them up in quantity throughout the holiday season, as opposed to waiting for Thanksgiving for a one-time pie-fest. Of course, I use the term adulthood loosely, as behavior like picking up piles of pumpkin pies at the supermarket makes me feel like a kid with a fake ID, though I've never yet been proofed picking up my pie stash. Anyway, happy pie season, I've got two down, and countless more to follow so far myself.

Link of the Day: Pam's Pumpkin Patch. On a related note. Home of celebrity pumpkin portraits and more.
Story of the Day: Thong Panties Mailed by Secret Admirer End Up in Biohazard Barrel. Thanks theAntiELVIS.
Weird Science: The eyes have it Contacts for NFL fans. Thanks Frottage.
Wild Science: Non-metallic magnet could be dream computer memory. Thanks [MP] Wolverine [MP].