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Archived News:
- NOLF2
The Monolith Productions website has recently been updated with a new screenshot of No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way, their upcoming FPS sequel (thanks NOLF Girl).
- TRON 2.0
Also in the works at Monolith is TRON 2.0, and GameSpot has posted ten new screenshots of this upcoming virtual reality 3D action game.
- Battlefield 1942
There are 20 new Battlefield 1942 screenshots on Computer and Video Games, captured from their press beta of the 3D vehicular action game that is nearing completion at Digital Illusions.
- Archangel
A brief look at Archangel on ActionTrip is accompanied by 14 new screenshots of this third-person action RPG by Metropolis Software.
- Nina's Chronicles
Gamer's Hell serves up 18 new screenshots of Nina's Chronicles, revealing more from the first-person action adventure in the works at Lemon Interactive.
- Star Wars Galaxies
Three new Star Wars Galaxies screenshots are online at the official site for the sci-fi MMORPG being developed at Sony Online Entertainment.
- G.I. Combat
The Wargamer has posted five new G.I. Combat screenshots along with an offer to sign up for the beta test of this upcoming 3D war game by Freedom Games.
- Battlecruiser Generations
Another 18 new Battlecruiser Millennium screenshots have been added to the GameScreenshots gallery for this space and planetary simulation by 3000AD.
GameSpot's Ghost Master Preview
is their séance to offer a glimpse at the future of this game they describe as
a cross between The Sims, and the movie The Frighteners. They describe the
gameplay that involves deciding how to haunt the local inhabitants, the powers
of your ghosts, the behavior of the simulated people, the ectoplasm that serves
as the game's resource, the diversity of the 20 missions, the balance between
humor and horror, and more. Included are nine new screenshots and some
renderings of some models.
- Earth & Beyond
RPGForums.Net's
Earth & Beyond Q&A talks with Westwood's Eric Wang about their upcoming
MMORPG. They talk about how they are gearing up for the game's release, how
their testing has turned out, how the support team is shaping up, amusing
test anecdotes, and more.
- Galleon
The Galleon
Q&A on Gamesradar.com talks with Toby Gard of Confounding Factor
about their upcoming seafaring action game. They discuss the reasons the
game is so delayed, how his work on Tomb Raider prepared him for this
project, whether Galleon is "Tomb Raider with pirates," the
reasons for this setting, structure, level sizes, and more.
- Soldiers of Anarchy
There's a German-language Soldiers
of Anarchy Q&A on gamigo.de, as always roughly-translatable via the
services of Babel Fish,
talking with Carsten Strehse, lead designer on Silver Style's upcoming RTS
game. They discuss the story, new features, the influence of terrain,
reasons for their ambitious design, plans for a demo, and more.
- ShadowFlare
GameSpyDaily's
ShadowFlare Q&A talking with "Emurasoft's Keiko Nakajima and
members of the Japanese-based development team, Denyusha Co., Ltd about a
planned ShadowFlare US invasion later this year:" The Q&A
introduces this action/RPG, the setting, characters, the mission-based
system, classes, magic, multiplayer support, system requirements, their four
chapter release schedule, and more.
GameSpot's
Blizzard Q&A catches up with the ever-accessible Bill Roper to discuss
the launch of Warcraft III, the latest installment in their RTS series. They
discuss what about Warcraft III development they felt went particularly right,
which design decisions didn't work out well, what they did to beef up Battle.Net
for the launch, his favorite mission, which of Blizzard's games makes him
proudest, his favorite race, plans for the first balance patch, the
possibilities of an expansion, and more.
GIGA Games Germany serves up three new XIII movies, showing the cel-shaded Unreal-powered first-person shooter by Ubi Soft Montreal in motion. The movies range from 11.9 to 17.3 MB to download and sport between three and four and a half minutes of gameplay footage in DivX format.
FARSCAPE' PC Game Arrives At Retail This Weekend
is the press release with the news that Farscape: The Game, based on the Science
Fiction Channel series. will be hitting U.S. store shelves as early as this
weekend. The release outlines the actors from the series whose voices are
featured in the game, and an outline of the plot that features a planet-bound
adventure for Crichton and "the sexy alien" Chiana (I've been
corrected that it is Aeryn Sun that's jumped in front of the commander on the box
art rather than that sexy alien).
There's a Soldiers
of Anarchy first look on The Wargamer with impressions of Silver Style's
upcoming game of organized anarchy in a post-apocalyptic environment. Based on
getting to see a demonstration of the game by publisher Simon & Schuster, the
preview describes the scenario that leads to the bleak future in which the game
is set, the way gameplay rewards logical support of your units, unit experience,
equipping your troops, AI, the bundled map editor, system requirements, and
more. Included are six screenshots.
There is a Hitman 2: Silent Assassin movie on FilePlanet (registration required), showing more from the murderous third-person action game in the works at IO Interactive. The movie requires a 40.2 MB download and offers a minute and a half of high-res (640x480) but overly dark MPEG footage, mixing both cutscene and lead-infested gameplay sequences.
The No One Lives Forever 2 Q&A
on PC Gamer talks with Monolith lead designer Craig Hubbard, lead level designer
John Mulkey, and AI programmer Jeff Orkin about progress on their upcoming spy
shooter sequel, focusing mostly on artificial intelligence. Topics include the
game's enhanced AI, the role of NPCs in creating atmosphere, AI scripting, AI
limiting factors, the goals of the AI, ensuring that realistic behavior will be noticeable,
the importance of movement in a spy game, the kind of enhancements expected in
AI further down the road, and more.
- Icewind Dale II
There's an Icewind
Dale II Preview on Invisible Dream admittedly rushing to get their
impressions of the press build online now that Black Isle's RPG sequel is
gold. They describe the game's setting, classes and races, the three
environments found in their build, the graphics, the Infinity engine, and
more.
- Another War
The Another War Preview
on EuroGamer looks at Mirage's upcoming World War II RPG. They describe the
game's wide range of influences, the way it doesn't take itself too
seriously, the various locations where the action will take place, the three
characters players will chose among, a bit on gameplay, and more.
- Conflict: Desert Storm
There's a
Conflict: Desert Storm Preview on UGO.com (thanks HomeLan Fed) that while placed in their
Xbox channel, seems to be a platform-independent look at the upcoming Gulf
War game. They describe the semi-realistic approach to damage, controlling a
squad, RPG elements, AI, attempting to appeal to action gamers and military
buffs, and more (including an ill-advised Big Lebowski quote).
Just in time before the game's release, the official Farscape the Game site is now online to support this squad-based top-down 3D action game by Red Lemon Studios and Simon & Schuster. The site provides an overview of the game's story, features, system requirements, and characters, along with gameplay tips, a batch of screenshots, the previously available demo, and more.
There's a Star
Trek Starfleet Command III Q&A on GameSpy.com
talking with Activision associate producer Daniel "Grizzly Adams"
Hagerty about the next installment in Taldren's Starfleet Command series. They
discuss the fast forward the series has taken to the Next Generation version of
the Star Trek universe, the sort of capital ship combat featured, the
newly-streamlined interface, ship upgrades, goals of campaigns and missions,
environments, graphics, AI, modification support, and more.
There's a Master of Orion III
Preview on PC.IGN.Com with a look at the next installment in the long
running 4X space series. The article offers a discussion of the game's 16
playable races, 32 alien races, the turn-based strategy interface, planetary
management, how the sum of the game's parts are coming together, and more.
Elsewhere, GameSpot serves up 18 new Master of Orion III screenshots (thanks Apolyton.net).
- Age of Mythology
HomeLan Fed's
Age Of Mythology Q&A talks with Ensemble Studios' Rob Fermier about progress
on their upcoming "Age of..." RTS game. Topics include the success
of the franchise, the reason for not just creating AoE3, research, races,
units, missions, and more.
- Raven Software
There's a
Kenn Hoekstra Q&A on Doupe.cz talking with the Raven project
administrator about his and the company's background, the nothing he is able
to discuss about their current project, how they feel about being "the
queen of 1st person shooters development teams" (holy moly!), and more.
- Cryptids & Butterfly.Net
There's a Q&A
with David Levine on massivemultiplayer.org talking about Butterfly.Net
and their MMOG technology and with Barry Whitebook, lead developer for Cryptids.
- PoW
The Prisoner Of War
Q&A on PC Arena talks with Carl Jones about their upcoming stealth
game, describing the plot, influences, creating excitement without violence,
level design, and more.
- Hitman 2
Jesper
Kyd Q&A on GameSpyDaily talks about his work on the soundtrack of
Hitman 2, its release as a separate product, other game work he's done, and
more. Also, GameSpy.com's
Hitman 2 Preview says it's about the PS2 version (pay no attention to
that little "Platform: Windows" note) of the Hitman sequel, but
seems hands-off anyway, offering a description of the work being done on the
follow-up.
- Space HoRSE
There's a Space
HoRSE Q&A on Gamer's Hell talking with Todd Gillissie about Shrapnel
Games' just-released tribute to the classic M.U.L.E.
- Devastation
HomeLan Fed's Devastation Q&A
is their latest Q&A discussing Digitalo's upcoming Unreal-engine FPS
with Barry "Staying Alive" Gibbs, the company's CFO, asking about
things like artistic influences, surely a first for a numbers-cruncher.
Hail to the Master Chief! 'Halo 2' is Coming to an Xbox Near You
is the press release with the official announcement of plans for a sequel to
Bungie's Xbox shooter. The announcement, which springs forth from "the X02
North America event," says the game should be on shelves for the 2003
holiday season. While progress on the PC and Mac ports of the original Xbox is
now underway, the release mentions no plans for any ports of the sequel. Halo Truth and Reconciliation
has posted the first screenshots from the game and an
update from Bungie's Matt Soell on the announcement. Here's how the project
is described in the press release: "Halo 2," a sci-fi
action/first-person shooter game, is a full sequel to the best-selling original
and will continue the story of the Master Chief, a genetically enhanced
supersoldier who is the only man that has successfully defied the Covenant, a
coalition of alien races on a murderous march toward Earth. "Halo 2"
surpasses its predecessor both in graphical beauty and combat intensity. The
Master Chief and his marine allies return to battle the full complement of
Covenant forces, as well as new enemies who have not yet revealed themselves.
"Halo 2" also expands the Master Chief's already substantial arsenal
with powerful new weapons, many pried from the twitching claws of defeated
enemies, as well as more than twice as many drivable vehicles for exploring vast
landscapes or speeding into battle. In addition to its epic single-player
campaign, "Halo 2" will be playable online through Xbox Live.
Yesterday's New World Order multiplayer beta required players to obtain a copy of DirectPlay 8.2 beta from a rather unresponsive site ( story). This problem has now been remedied, as this post in the official NWO forums provides a direct download link to the tiny 894 KB patch, along with further details.
There's a
Turok Evolution Preview on GameSpot with a look at the upcoming Xbox sequel
where Turok will continue the hunt for REALLY big game. There's a Robocop Q&A
talking with Titus' Jean-Benoit Silvestre about the upcoming PS2 first-person
shooter based on the exploits of the famed cyborg OCP officer. There are 10 Movies of The Thing
on PS2.IGN.Com showing off gameplay from another PS2 movie tie-in. Finally,
the Metal Gear
Solid 2 Substance website (thanks MGS Central
and Team Xbox) has an
Easter egg that strongly hints that MGS3, the inevitable Metal Gear Solid
sequel, is in the works. The hint comes in the form of the last bar code that
flashes across the screen.
The Ultimate Renegade Strategy
Guide on CNCSERIES.COM tries to live up to its ambitious name by providing
"a massive piece of work (totaling) over twelve and a half thousand words
of strategical goodness," in the C&C Renegade version of the original Ultimate Strategy Guide
for Red Alert 2.
Dteam's Fall 2002
Game Development Courses is an attempt to re-launch their efforts at
offering college-level development classes, hoping their new reduced pricing
structure will inspire enough sign-ups that they will not have to cancel them
this time out. Also, Modforce.com now
offers downloads of a new "Soldier Ant" mesh for those creating custom
characters for Freedom Force, Irrational Games' superhero game. Finally, the
Dungeon Siege Website continues to show its class, having posted more
tutorials: Siege University - 203A- Triggers I,
Siege University - 205- Fades,
and Siege University - 206- Elevators.
The Blizzard Entertainment Employment Opportunities
Page has details on their hunt for qualified game masters to help run World
of Warcraft when their upcoming MMORPG is launched.
I'm once again on a furious campaign to get the morning updates online
earlier... the biggest problem with this is that the more time I permit for an
update, the longer it takes... Murphy's Law? Human Nature? Nature abhorring a
vacuum? I dunno, but I need to find a way to thwart this... maybe I'll adjust
all my clocks forward...
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