Archived News:
As part of a SHOUTcast interview with PlanetSide producer Dave Georgeson that will be
posted for download shortly, Planetside Universe
has learned that limited external beta testing of Sony Online Entertainment's upcoming
MMO FPS will begin on February 22, with notices to go out to the 50-or-so
participants sometime next week. Word is those interested in participating will
be given another chance to sign up for later stages of the beta once testing
begins.
A post on Unreality
has a response from Epic's Mark Rein to a query about difficulties finding
UT2003 games populated by anything but bots. There is also another
short post on Unreality with a reply from Arush Entertainment's Donald Case
saying that the recently revealed Unreal engine exploit ( story)
should not cause delays to Devastation, since a fix should be complete long
before Digitalo's upcoming Unreal-engine shooter is released.
The Freelancer
Website now offers downloads of a new "Professions" video showing
off some of the trades that can be plied in Digital Anvil's now-gold space
simulator. The movie is available in four different resolutions in Windows Media Player
format. Also, GameSpy.com's
Phil Wattenberger
Q&A chats with the producer on the
imminent game, discussing its lengthy development cycle and what players can
expect from gameplay.
The EVE chat log on EveGate
recaps the latest IRC session with Crowd Control Productions, the developers of
EVE Online, who focus on "corporate ownership of shares, stargates,
and stations" in the upcoming outer-space MMOG.
RPG Vault's Lethal Dreams Development Report #6
features Boolat's Alexander Guriev ruminating on the atmosphere of the various
locations presented in their upcoming role-playing game. He discusses several of
the specific locales from the game, as well as a bit on how the other
automatically generated areas are handled.
Calling Ed Wood, a demo version of I Was
an Atomic Mutant is now available, offering a sample of this homage to the B
movies of the 1950s, the 32 MB demo can be found on 3D Gamers.
Also on 3D Gamers is an
updated version 1.1 of the Star Wraith 3: Shadows of Orion Demo as an 8 MB
download. Zooming right along, a 46 MB demo of the recently-announced PC version
of World of Outlaws
is available on 3D Gamers,
Gamer's
Hell, and GameSpot
(subscription required). Finally, a non-playable tech demo of GODS: Lands of Infinity is available
on the Cypron Studios Website
(thanks Tiscali Games).
This EA FTP directory
now offers the stand-alone version of the SimCity 4 patch released the other day
( story) in case that ActiveX dealie wasn't cutting it for you.
The 3 MB file is mirrored on 3D
Gamers and Gamer's
Hell. Also a new version 3.1 patch for the English version of Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator 3:
Battle for Europe is now up on MicrosoftGamesInsider
and mirrored on 3D Gamers
and Gamer's
Hell.
Team Evolve
now offers the public release of beta 3.0 of PainKeep Arena after a couple of
months of closed testing (thanks Gamer's Hell) of this Quake III Arena modification. "The beta offers some a few
new & retouched Painkeep 2.8 maps, new holdable items and our painful
creation known as the Private Bot! - Find all three parts for the Private Bot
and have him work alongside with you racking up the frags!"
An addition to the bottom of John
Carmack's .plan has word that "In the Waiting Line," the
Quake-based machinima music video from Fountainhead Entertainment, his wife
Anna's company, is on MTV's
Viewer's Pick Video Page, along with thoughts on the quality of his
renderer, and the possibility that a related mini-game will eventually see
release. Also, the fifth part in the serialized release of the award-winning
Anachronox machinima film is up on Machinima.com.
This page
on PlanetBattlefield offers several troubleshooting tips for Battlefield
1942, as well as an official EA email address that can be used to report sound
problems that will allow the developers to help sort them out. Thanks Ant. The
new "issue" of the online Galaxies Fan
Newsletter has been posted, with the latest skinny on the upcoming Star Wars
MMORPG, which includes the latest addition to the Star Wars Galaxies Official
FAQ discussing crafted items.
The German Digital Production Website is
host to the Animago Award 2003, a competition for digital content from
German-speaking countries in the categories of Still, Animation, Compositing,
Interactive, and Game Design.
HomeLan Fed's Blitz
Q&A chats with Eric Gideon about progress on Blitz, an ambitious mod
that looks to recreate World War II action in Relic's Impossible Creatures.
Also, HomeLan Fed's Harold Stibbins
Q&A talks with Tommi Hartikainen about the planning underway for an
Unreal II modification based on Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels.
- The Sword and Pistol Tavern
is playing host to exclusive downloads of the Stronghold: Crusader
soundtrack in .mp3 format...
- Wired News: Fastest PCs Just Not Fast Enough
asks: "When is a computer with a 1.5-GHz processor and 1 GB of RAM just
not good enough? Apparently, when you're trying to play the latest version
of SimCity." Thanks Mike Martinez...
- Burning Down the Sims
(thanks Mike Martinez), on the possibilities of long-term success in spite
of what are being seen as short-term failures...
Sadness
Comes Again on The Atari Times (thanks Mike Martinez) describes how the
closing of Midway West ( story) represents the end of an era. It
certainly is tough for this old-timer to look at those screenshots and not feel
nostalgia for the long-lost heyday of those games, and, of course, the long-lost
quarters expended along the way.
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