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Archived News:
Valve's E3 trailer showing off Counter-Strike running under the Source engine is
now available for download. The Bink-format movie runs almost two minutes. The
93 MB movie is available on
3D Downloads, 3D Gamers,
Boomtown (registration required),
Computer Games Online,
FilePlanet
(registration required), Gamer's Hell, and
Worthplaying.
Also, a new trailer is now available for Ascension to the Throne, demonstrating
the upcoming strategy/RPG in the works at DVS. The 57 MB Bink-format movie is
available on 3D Gamers
and Worthplaying.
Artifact-Entertainment Website (thanks
GameSpy and Frans) has word that the developer has voluntarily filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. They answer some FAQs about the filing, and
what the future holds for Artifact Entertainment and Horizons: Empire of
Istaria, their MMORPG. Here are a pair of Q&As: Q: What is Chapter 11
and how will it affect Artifact Entertainment business and Horizons service?
Will the company continue to provide ongoing service to Horizons' fans during
the restructuring period?
A: Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection is used by companies experiencing cash flow
difficulties who need time to restructure debt to continue operations.
Continental Airlines and May Company department stores are two examples of
companies that successfully used Chapter 11 protection to get their businesses
into better financial health. We have sought court protection in order to
prevent interruption of service and are taking every step possible to ensure
Horizons’ players experience seamless game play. In fact, Artifact Entertainment
has been working diligently to create new content for the game, including the
development of new creatures, quests, events and lore that will be introduced
within the next two months.
Q: In terms of other actions being taken to get the company into better
operating shape, can we expect to see more layoffs?
A: Currently, we are in talks with a seriously interested company that wants to
acquire the assets of the company while retaining key staff to maintain
operations of Horizons.
The Star Wars:
Republic Commando Website (thanks Frans) further narrows the release date
for the upcoming force-powered squad-based shooter. The previously broad Winter
listing now pinpoints a February 2005 release date.
- Men of Valor
The
Men of
Valor Q&A on Gamer's Hell converses with 2015's John Whitmore about
their upcoming Vietnam War shooter: "The player will fight alongside a squad
of fellow Marines, each with his own distinct personality and
characteristic. The squadmates interact with the player dynamically,
following his lead. They will actively search for cover and firing positions
from which to engage the enemy, investigate the corpses of fallen Viet Cong,
help bandage each other when wounded, and even carry downed comrades back to
cover – all without being scripted to do so."
- Close Combat: First to Fight
The
Close Combat First to Fight Q&A on GameSpot talks with Destineer
president Peter Tamte about the upcoming Marine Corps shooter: "The
marines believe the driving force of all action in war is the human will.
Military strategy should be all about the tactics you use to force your will
on your opponent. Unfortunately, most military games don't actually factor
the human will into artificially intelligent behaviors. In First to
Fight--just like in the earlier Close Combat games--we're modeling morale
and discipline for every enemy and friendly character."
- Silent Hunter III
There's
a Q&A Part 1 and Part 2 on the
Silent
Hunter III Website (thanks Frans) where the folks at Ubisoft talk among
themselves as they pump the developers of the upcoming submerged sequel for
details about the project: "Note that the earth curvature will make ships
show up from below horizon, so first you’ll see the smoke, then masts and
smoke stacks and so on."
- UFO Aftershock
The
UFO
Aftershock Q&A on Experience Gaming talks with Jiri Rydl of ALTAR
Interactive about their upcoming sequel to UFO Aftermath: "The story of
UFO: Aftershock is loosely connected to that of UFO: Aftermath and takes
place fifty years after the events of that game. Small part of mankind is
living on flying island Laputa and the Earth is used for alien research. But
revolt on the island eventually destroyed it and you have to find out, what
happened to Earth and how to regain it back."
- Religion
Game
with God on GamerDad is an examination of how religion is handled in
computer games, quoting game developers Sid Meier, Jane Jensen, Will Wright,
Peter Molyneux, Phil Steinmeyer, and Richard Garriott on the topic.
- Playboy: the Mansion
The
Brenda Brathwaite Q& Part 3 on Warcry News Network concludes their
conversation with the Cyberlore designer about the upcoming Playboy game:
"It would have been so much easier to just slap a Playboy logo up on the
screen, we have the animators animate breasts jiggling, and we have the
programmers program a breast-cam, and then we ship it. People would buy it
anyway."
- Sound & Music
Stratics
Central's Wish Q&A with Michael Kimball talks with the sound designer on
Mutable Realms' upcoming MMORPG. Also,
"King Arthur"
and "Rise of the Kasai" Composer chats with GameZone Online is a Q&A on
game music.
"Got Game Entertainment today announced ' Alida'
for PC has 'gone gold.' The PC version of the critically acclaimed first person
3D graphical adventure game begins shipping to North American retail the first
week in August. Following on the heels of this spring's release for Mac OSX, and
hailed by the Mac gaming press as "absolutely a triumph", this intricate first
person 3D graphical adventure, created by Australian musician and artist Cos
Russo, is set on Alida, an abandoned island theme park ten miles out at sea.
Originally built and inhabited by a wildly successful rock band, the island is
actually a gigantic guitar, replete with wondrous and ornate graphics, unique
and bizarre locations."
Tweaker's space at Myspace.com (Tweaker is Chris Vrenna's band/nickname) now
offers the DOOM 3 theme music (thanks ASLayerAODsk). In other DOOM 3-related
news, Shacknews
confirms that, as is usually the case with id's games, that an SDK for mod
authors will follow shortly after the game's release, though map designers will
be able to get started right away since the level editor is included in the
game.
The Blitzkrieg
Website (thanks Frans) announces plans for a third Blitzkrieg game,
though they confusingly refer to it as the second title in the series. Here's
word on Word on Blitzkrieg: Rolling Thunder, which sounds like another
stand-alone expansion: Karlsruhe, July 19, 2004 – CDV Software
Entertainment AG announced today the planned 4th quarter release of the second
official title in the successful Blitzkrieg series.
In the same tracks beaten by the extraordinarily successful sequel “Burning
Horizon”, the developers are now sending “Rolling Thunder” into battle.
“I’m sure that we’ll top the high standard of quality set by Burning Horizon.
Strategy fans can really look forward to a treat at the end of the year”,
promises CDV’s producer Martin Deppe.
Like its predecessor, “Rolling Thunder” also offers a campaign with 18 missions
(approx. 8 single missions). This time Blitzkrieg fans can look forward to a
campaign with the famous American general Patton. His crusade through seven
countries, including Operation: Husky, is but one of many historical
highlights.
- Fallout 3
The
Fallout 3 Q&A on Computer And Video Games is another conversation with
Pete Hines of Bethesda Softworks about their plans to continue the Fallout
series: "Well, we do RPGs. That's our genre, that's what we play, that's
what we know. So there's no question that what we're interested in making is
a role-playing game. In addition, our Elder Scrolls games are open-ended,
offer the player lots of options to play the game as they choose... Things
like that. I think those qualities are consistent with those in Fallout."
- Microsoft Game Studios
The
Jon Grande Q&A on Okratas chats with the lead product planner for
Microsoft Game Studios about gaming, the Xbox, Windows, and the MMOG market.
- Championship Manager
The
Miles
Jacobson Q&A on Experience Gaming talks with the managing director of
Sports Interactive about their series of Championship Manager games.
- DOOM 3 Misc.
There's a
Making Of DOOM 3 Book
Q&A on HomeLAN Fed talking with Steven Kent about his upcoming "Making
of DOOM 3 book. Also, there's a
DOOM Board Game Q&A
on HomeLAN Fed talks with Kevin Wilson of Fantasy Flight Games about
their upcoming DOOM board game.
Shrapnel Games now
offers downloads of a demo version of Dragoon: The Prussian War Machine, the
sequel to the Horse and Musket, "and first in an exciting new series of games
under the Horse and Musket 2 banner, Dragoon: The Prussian War Machine is slated
for release in August." The demo is a 45 MB download.
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