Archived News:
SWG Stratics'
Star Wars Galaxies Dev Chat 8 Log is online featuring the results of the
most recent online confab discussing the upcoming Star Wars MMORPG, and there
are other logs of the festivities on SWGalaxies.Net
and SWG
Warcry edited into Q&A formats. Likewise, there is a
The Sims Online Dev Chat Log on UnknownPlayer.com recapping an IRC session
with the developers of the online virtual life game discussing plans for future
features and changes. Also, the QuakeNet
DevChat Log on The QuakeNet IRC network website recaps the session with
Nicely Crafted Entertainment discussing Time of Defiance. Finally, here's a reminder about tomorrow's Eve Online
Developer Chat, which is scheduled for 5:00 PM EST on the servers
stratics.frws.com or irc.glowfish.de in the channel #eveonlinehoc. Guests will
be Crowd Control Productions, developers on this upcoming MMO space game.
CDV sends word that a demo for Blitzkrieg, Nival Interactive's upcoming RTS
game, will be available next week. Here's the deal: "The upcoming demo to
our strategy hit Blitzkrieg consists of three Singleplayer Missions: one from
the Germans, Allies and Russians. The first Mission is a German counterstrike
against Russian forces. First you have to get rid of two Russian IS-II tanks.
The easiest way is to outflank them, and hit them from behind, where the plates
are quite weak. Use a sniper to destroy the local air defense, and clear the way
for the heavy bombers which are taking care of the heavy artillery afterwards.
After that, you're ready to utilize the giant mortar „Karl" to destroy an
important bunker in the north of the map. And these were only 3 of many mission
objectives in the first mission! You will spend some thrilling hours for sure!
The demo will be available from the
official homepage as of Feb the 14th."
There's a link on the SimCity 4 Website for
this page with an ActiveX dealie that
will download and install an update for SimCity 4. Thanks Quboid, who sends
along info from the read me, here's a bit of that: "Fixed crash related to
conflict between MySim and Transportation Pack. Fixed crash related to SIS video
chipsets. Fixed several broken links in advisor messages. Fixed car zots to
display properly. Fixed bug where the catalog was showing the incorrect capacity
for the Recycling Center. Fixed bug where industry development would occur even
when commuters could not reach the zone. Added support for ATI Radeon R300
series that add backing store capability..."
Netamin sends word that this
page is where those interested in participating in the alpha testing of
Ultimate Baseball Online, their upcoming MMO sports game. It looks like sign-ups
for the test require already being registered as well, which can be done on
this page.
There are some Enter
the Matrix video interviews on Lights Out Entertainment that were shot
during the recent press event celebrating the two upcoming Matrix movies,
the Animatrix DVD release, and the Enter the Matrix video game. In
addition to passing written impressions of the PS2 version of the game, the page
features video interviews about the game with reps of Atari and Shiny, Keanu
Reeves, and Joel Silver. Thanks Ant.
Star Wars Galaxies features delayed
on GameSpot (thanks Ant) is an article revealing that some of the features
planned for the upcoming Star Wars MMORPG will not be included when the game
launches, currently scheduled for April 15 ( story). The delayed
features include "player-owned cities, drivable vehicles, player-generated
missions, and the Dark Jedi character class." The story is based on a
forum post by LucasArts producer Haden Blackman, who explains there's
"a plan for implementing the postponed systems within the first seven or
eight months after launch." The report also points out that "many of
the delayed features are not immediately critical because it will take some time
for players to attain the necessary levels in order to use them." There is
no word on how this impacts the plan to ship an expansion about six months after
the game's launch to add space flight and combat to the mix ( story).
Though its exact content is unclear, the software developers kit for creating
modifications for the Spearhead expansion for Medal of Honor: Allied Assault is
now available. The SDK is an 8 MB download, and it can be downloaded from 3D Gamers
and FileShack (registration required).
This Sierra FTP directory
contains a demo for Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis, the upcoming management
sim that places the player in the role of the manager of an island dinosaur
attraction. The demo is a 78 MB download, and is mirrored on 3D Downloads,
3D Gamers, FileShack
(registration required), Gamer's
Hell, Tiscali Games,
and Worthplaying.
According to the read me: "This demo version of 'Jurassic Park: Operation
Genesis' provides you with both missions and open ended sim gameplay. 'Welcome
to Jurassic Park' provides a brief overview of the basic controls and gives you
a glimpse of the kind of park that you can create in the full simulation. 'When
Carnivores Attack' is a ranger action mission where you can practice your
shooting skills by targeting rampaging carnivores... 'Danger Club Photo Safari'
is a photo safari mission where your job is to drive out into Jurassic Park and
take photos of dangerous carnivores... Site B is where we give you access to
your own private dinosaur park: no visitors allowed!"
A recently posted BugTraq listing (thanks 3DGPU)
outlines a vulnerability in Epic's Unreal engine that's susceptible to
DoS, DDoS and bounce attacks with spoofed UDP packets. The report outlines the
problem, which affects dozens of games from Unreal through UT2003, and
describes how the author of the report held off on publicizing this for almost
three months to give time for Epic to devise a fix. I contacted Epic's Mark Rein
to ask about this and he was very frank about how this had indeed been brought
to their attention, but had unfortunately fallen through the cracks. He sent
along a list of changes for the
next planned UT2003 patch which will now address these vulnerabilities, and
says it's likely that a small patch will be issued to address these in the
original version of Unreal Tournament as well. As for other games using the
Unreal engine, he says that fixes like this are always made available to
licensees, who will then be able to issue patches of their own should they so
choose. Here is Mark's no-holds-barred assessment of why this went unaddressed
after being brought to their attention: I won't sugar coat this. We
f***ed up on this. Yes this is real and yes this was brought to our attention
and yes we should have fixed it by now. We are working on fixing this now and we
will have this fixed in an upcoming patch before too long.
Action Vault - Xenus Development Report #2
is penned by Deep Shadows' scriptwriter Alexander Khrytsky who discusses
another faction in their upcoming shooter, the powerful and dangerous Columbian
guerrillas. Also, RPG Vaults' Iritor Online Development Report #5
features Wootsoft's Markus Fuhrmann discussing the animation and collision
system in their upcoming online world, and how important the proper operation of
such a system is to creating a realistic gameplay experience. Finally, the Tropico 2 Designer Diary
on PC.IGN.Com is written by Bill Spieth who discusses the importance of
entertainment in the upcoming pirate-themed Tropico sequel, describing the sorts
of attractions that can be created, and how these will influence the pirates
under your control.
The Matrix Movies on
PC.IGN.Com offers impressions of getting to see an unveiling of the upcoming
Matrix game tie-in along with three movies showing off hand-to-hand
combat from the game. On a related note, subscribers to their
"complete" service can download another three Matrix gameplay movies
on Enter the Matrix Media Index
on GameSpot, while there's a fourth movie that's freely available,
accompanying their
impressions of the game, and there is also an
article with Matrix impressions on GameSpy.com.
The SCRAPLAND Website is now online,
revealing the debut project from Mercury Steam Entertainment, the company formed
by former members of Rebel Act Studios. The Flash site offers a bunch of
concept images from the game, and the accompanying press release offers the
following description: SCRAPLAND is a 3D sci-fi game with action, speed
and air combat that takes place in Chimera, a gigantic city inhabited by robots.
The player assumes the role of D-Tritus, an extraordinary robot –and very nice
guy- who has made himself in a distant space junk dump and gambles on finding
work in Chimera.
SCRAPLAND features a huge variety of characters and spaceships that the player
can use and built the way he/she wants; A funny storyline of intriguing plot
twists, very bad guys and incredible high-speed air combats in single and
multiplayer modes –LAN and Internet-. SCRAPLAND is also an open ended design
game, deploying all the possibilities and all the fun from the very beginning of
the action.
SCRAPLAND is scheduled to be released in 2004 worldwide.
A new version 1.7b of the Frontline Force
modification for Half-Life is now available (thanks Gamer's
Hell), the small patch includes all the features of the 1.7a patch as well
as a fix for an exploit.
A new version of the Vampire Slayer Half-Life Mod
is now available (thanks HomeLan Fed),
adding a new slayer, new weapons, new maps, and more to this bloodthirsty
Half-Life modification. New versions are available for both Windows and Linux.
Havok 2 launches next
generation of physics middleware is the press release announcing that the Game Developers Conference 2003
will see the debut of Havok 2, the second generation version of their physics
engine, which boasts up to a 10 times speed increase over its predescessor.
- The POSTAL Dude Takes Aim,
Shoots — AND SCORES is the press release announcing that Postal 2 is
going to go gold at some point this quarter, while reveling in all the
naughtiness associated with strippers, automatic weapons, and Gary Coleman.
There is a video showing off the ensuing carnage...
- This
press release announces that Warthog has acquired Austin-based developer
Fever Pitch Studios...
- The Nokia N-Gage
hand-held gaming system has been unveiled. Thanks Mike Martinez...
- Slashdot: Sim-Dud?
Thanks Mike Martinez...
Well I'm glad I mentioned that unsolicited pop-up dealie yesterday, because a
forum comment made it clear that what I was suffering from was not a scumware
situation, but rather a method for exploiting an internal Windows service. Thankfully
indiv posted a link to the Stop Messenger
Spam website, which clearly explained the problem, and how to solve it.
Whew!
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