Archived News:
- Unreal II
Well Rounded Entertainment serves up half a dozen new screenshots of Unreal II: the Awakening, the single-player first-person shooter in development at Legend Entertainment.
- The Thing
A brief but apparently hands-on preview of The Thing on PC Arena is accompanied by 15 new screenshots of the third-person horror action adventure in the works at Computer Artworks.
- Battlefield 1942
XGR has posted another ten new Battlefield 1942 screenshots captured from their beta build of the vehicular 3D action game that is nearing completion at Digital Illusions.
- PlanetSide
The Vehicles page on the official PlanetSide site offers new images and words on five of the modes of transportation in Sony Online's upcoming massively multiplayer FPS.
- Delta Green
The official Delta Green site has been updated with a new composite screenshot of the week, illustrating the conspiracy-laden tactical combat adventure by Flying Labs Software (thanks Freelancer).
- I of the Dragon
Russian site Xaos has added nine new The I of the Dragon screenshots atop their gallery for Primal Software's upcoming flying action role-playing game
There's a new preview of Asheron's Call II on PC.IGN.com, focussing in particular on the new features of this massively multiplayer online RPG sequel that's being crafted at Turbine Entertainment. Based on talking to creative director Jason Booth, the article describes some of the lessons learned from the original game, the premise of AC2, the new races, player character skills and appearances, the importance of craftspeople, the game's economy, streamlining the player's inventory and spell system, changes to the Allegiance system, the new kingdoms feature, and more. Half a dozen new screenshots are included.
- DX2: Invisible War
There's a DX2:
Invisible War Q&A on Gaming Horizon News talking with ION Storm's
Harvey Smith about the upcoming Deus Ex sequel going into the story,
characters, new technology, mod support, and more.
- Lionheart
RPG
Vault Lionheart Q&A, Part 2 continues their conversation with
Reflexive's Chris Parker and Ion Hardie about Lionheart, their upcoming RPG.
The discussion focuses on magic, from implementing it into the SPECIAL
system, on to specifics about spells and their uses.
- Postal 2
Action Vault's
Postal 2 AI Q&A Running with Scissors programmer Nathan Fouts
discussing his background and his work on the artificial intelligence in
Postal 2, their upcoming first-person shooter.
The Black & White Studios news page has word that the Multiplayer/Clan patch for Black & White can be expected soon, as they go out on a limb in defining July 13 as the date for its release. Here is a bit more on their goals for this patch: "The introduction of new winning conditions in this Patch make the games more riotous and makes victory sweeter. The network programmers along with Lionhead's test department came up with and tested a number of different winning conditions. These can be selected by players prior to a game, combined in whatever way they choose and a time limit set for any game. The implementation of all these factors has made games shorter, intense and more brutal and has certainly given Black & White Multiplayer games a new lease of life."
GameSpot's SWAT: Urban Justice Q&A
talks with Rod Fung, SWATmeister general at Sierra, about SWAT: Urban Justice,
the next installment in their tactical police series. Topics include features
from the design that have been retained or cut, the departures from strict
reality they are taking this time out, unit AI, enemy AI, the quick start
feature, the reasons for including so many weapons, multiplayer support,
graphics, sound, and more. Included are five new screenshots.
Dark Age of Camelot
expands Realms with Shrouded Isles expansion on GameZone.com features their
conversation with Mythic Entertainment's Matt Firor discussing Dark Age of
Camelot and the Shrouded Isles expansion for the MMORPG. Topics include the
number of subscribers currently playing DAoC, new territories being added by the
expansion, graphical updates, whether or not the expansion package will include
the original game, their projected release date, and more. On a related note, UnknownPlayer.com
has an IRC session scheduled to talk with Mythic Entertainment CEO Mark Jacobs
to discuss both the Shrouded Isles DAoC expansion as well as the just announced
Imperator ( story). The session is scheduled for this Friday (June
28) on the server Irc.Sorcery.Net in the channel #up.com.
Several readers have sent in reports of seeing Delta Force: Task Force Dagger in
stores, these sightings of NovaLogic's tactical shooter sequel confirmed by
posts on Gone Gold and SpecForce.
Also, id Software
and Activision Release Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Game of the Year Edition
is the press release announcing that the RtCW GotY edition has shipped. The
release outlines what's included, with the gameplay content being the GotY Map
Pack, which has already been released as a free download for those who already
own the game for both Windows ( story) and Linux ( story).
Headfirst Productions has released a patch for Simon the Sorcerer 3D, available for download from distributor Vivendi UK, to upgrade their 3D adventure game to version 2.0. The 5.6 MB download addresses a couple of game crashes, problems with the main menu, interface bugs, and other issues. Thanks Gameplex.
More O.R.B. previews continue to appear based on getting to play with the beta
build distributed to some websites at this year's E3. There are looks at the
upcoming 'off-world resource base' space strategy game on Games
Domain, Gamer's
Hell, and GameGenie.com.
Each article includes impressions of the sound, graphics, interface, and (of
course) gameplay, while the Games Domain and GameGenie articles also each offer
some new screenshots.
The Imperator Website (thanks RPG Vault)
has a press release announcing Imperator, an upcoming MMORPG from Mythic
Entertainment, fresh off their success with Dark Ages of Camelot. Imperator has
a science fiction theme set in a future based on an alternate history where the
Roman Empire never fell. The release offers some more on this backstory, as well
as the following portion which describes their ambitions to advance the genre,
and their confidence about their upcoming toe-to-toe battle with an intimidating
foe: With Imperator, Mythic will create a revolutionary game that will
help define the MMORPG genre for years. While many features of the game
will be familiar to today’s gamers, Imperator will intertwine them with new
elements in a decidedly different manner than the current generation of online
games. Gamers of all kinds will find a home in Imperator whether they play
ten hours or a hundred hours a week. Additionally, unlike many other
online game developers, Mythic is looking to compete for the same market as Star
Wars Galaxies being developed by Sony and LucasArts. The effort that it
will take to go head-to-head with the flagship game of those companies is not
going to deter Mythic.
“When we first began work on Dark Age of Camelot, everyone in the industry
thought we were crazy to compete with EA, Microsoft and Sony, and that we were
doomed to failure. As our success has shown, this was not the case,”
added Jacobs. “Sony and LucasArts have some of the best people in the
industry working on Star Wars Galaxies but so does Mythic and soon they will be
focusing on Imperator. We look forward to the challenge; it’s going to
be fun.”
Creative Assembly has released a playable demo of Medieval: Total War, their upcoming 3D real-time and turn-based strategy game, for download from Games Domain. The demo was previously available on the cover-disk of PC Gamer UK, which may be a more convenient way of obtaining a copy of the massive 235.3 MB file (especially as only one of the listed ftp servers carries the file), and this Battle Tutorial demo offers eight tutorials and a single-player mission (the Battle of Jaffa) from the full game. Update: Mirrors are available at 3D Gamers and AusGamers.
Eidos Germany has announced Frontline Attack: War over Europe, a 3D real-time strategy game in the works at Poland-based development teams In Images and Reality Pump. The announcement is only available in German so here is the customary Babel Fish link, and there are more details on the Earth III engine that powers the game as well as its other features. Considering the similarity in subject matter and looks, it's possible that Frontline Attack: War over Europe is however merely a new title for World War II: Panzer Claws, the 3D RTS that was already known to be in development for Zuxxez Entertainment since last year ( story). Thanks Justgamers, which has a gallery with new screenshots here.
GameSpy.com's Iron
Storm Preview is online, discussing 4X Studios' upcoming first- and
third-person action game set in an alternative history where World War I did not
come to a conclusion in 1918. They describe the game's setting in mid-60s
Germany, the role of "The bitter and cynical Second Lieutenant Weasal"
players will be assuming, and the game's underlying economics elements. They go
on to offer impressions of gameplay from a more recent build of the game than
was shown at E3 including how you get your missions, arming yourself with your
weapons, navigating the trenches, friendly AI, sounds and graphics, multiplayer
support, the unusual mix of weapons the game's premise allows for, and more.
There's a Celtic Kings
Q&A on Gamer's Pulse chatting with Gabriel Dobrev, designer and producer
of Celtic Kings about progress on this upcoming RTS game. Topics include the
integration of the role-playing and adventure elements the game will offer, the
open-endedness of the single player game, units, modification support,
multiplayer support, system requirements, and more.
Word on the Operations: Defend
Freedom portion of the America's Army
Website is that Operations: Defend Freedom, the tactical shooter version of
the US Army's two-part America's Army game project, will be available for free
download on July 4. Thanks StarHawk.
Microsoft brings Xbox games to the GameBoy Advance
on CNN Money has word on plans whereby: "Starting next year, you're
going to see some games that (up until now) have been exclusive to Xbox
appearing on the GameBoy Advance. Microsoft and third-party publisher THQ
announced a publishing deal Tuesday that will bring 'Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee'
and 'Monster Truck Madness 2.0' (among other titles) to the portable gaming
system." Project Ego Developer Diary #2
on Xbox.IGN.Com is entitled "Publisher's Hell" discussing the
trials and tribulations involved in securing a publisher for Project Ego, Big
Blue Box' upcoming Xbox game.
Console Reviews
A new official Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Raven Shield
FAQ has been posted adding a load of questions and answers to help shed
light on plans for the next tactical shooter in the Rainbow Six series. Also, this
Infogrames Inc. Support
Page has opened up for Hero X, as this superhero game has subtly been
released after a quick change in the phone booth. Likewise, the Infogrames
Neverwinter Nights Support Page has been updated, both pages
offering loads of technical and troubleshooting tips for their respective games.
On the subject of all the format tweaking that's been going on over here, the
T-Shirt page has been updated with what is believed to be a pretty bug-free,
cross-browser version of what we are striving for. Since there seem to be enough
different configurations to account for in web design as any other area of
computer programming these days, it seems wise to offer this up for criticism
before carrying it over to the rest of the site, so if you have the inclination,
pop on over and take a look,
and please feel free to let us know if you notice some way the format or code is
broken on your set-up. Thanks.
I survived Dr. Toothy pulling that wisdom tooth, and he lived up to his
promise of making it as smooth a procedure as possible (if anyone wants a recommendation
for an incredible dentist in New York City, drop me a line). After being prepped
and drugged and gassed, he ended up "coaxing" the sucker out, making
me (and perhaps him too) wonder why he sent me to the oral surgeon last time, a
traditional yank with a pliers dealie leaving me with a footprint on my chest
that persists to this day.
Link of the Day: Computer Techniques For Tattoo Removal.
Thanks TikTok.
Story of the Day: Florida
Zoning Board Debates Backyard Burial. Thanks theAntiELVIS. If we outlaw
backyard burials, only outlaws will bury people in their backyards.
Wild Science: Wireless Broadband's Holy Grail.
Thanks Jesh.
Wild Science II: At Los Alamos, Two Visions of Supercomputing
(NY Times free registration required). Thanks j.c.f.
Weird Science: China scientists to probe 'ET relics' tower.
Thanks George Cano.
Weird Science II: Scotland ranked top spot for alien visitors.
Thanks again George Cano.
Auction of the Day: Colt 45 ( Beer Sign ) Billy Dee Williams.
Thanks Medic.
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