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Archived News:
The
2K
Forums have news that the activation restrictions have been removed from
BioShock, including the limitation on the number of allowed installations
(thanks
GamesRadar). Word is: Good news! As promised, all activation
restrictions, including install limits, have been removed from BioShock PC as of
today. You don’t have to patch or install anything for this to go into effect
for your copy of BioShock – it’s already done!
Enjoy your time in Rapture, and thank you for supporting BioShock and the 2K
teams.
The Official
Witcher Website has word that the release of the Enhanced Edition of CD
Projekt's action/RPG is due in September. When a delay was announced in April
( story) a new date was promised within days, but while that did
not come to pass, the date has now been revealed: CD Projekt RED would
like to announce that the release date of The Witcher Enhanced Edition has been
finally set. Consequently, the vastly improved edition of the acclaimed CD
Projekt RED’s magnum opus has been set for the first half of September 2008.
Setting the release date for September results from the requirement of polishing
all ten language versions and releasing The Witcher Enhanced Edition in all
languages at the same time. The Enhanced Edition by itself will be a deluxe one,
containing a lot of additional content not available in the basic version of the
game.
The exclusive edition of The Witcher apart from the game dvd will also consist
of a video dvd, a bonus materials dvd (among all D’jinni the adventure editor
and 2 official adventures “The price of neutrality” and “Side effect”), the game
soundtrack as well as a music cd with music inspired by the game. The new
content and improvements will be available to registered users of the game
free-of-charge.
The Galactic Civilizations II Forums
announce that a new update for Twilight of the Arnor is now available,
updating the GalCiv2 expansion to version 1.95. A number of changes, tweaks, and
fixes are included in the new version, which is available automatically on both
Impulse and
Stardock Central.
A new Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway trailer shows off the destructable
(destructable?) cover in Gearbox software's upcoming World War II shooter
sequel, and word on GameSpot
is that Ubisoft has narrowed the game's release date from a general August
( story) to the more specific August 26. The destructable clip is
available on
ActionTrip,
AtomicGamer,
FileFront, Gamer's Hell,
and
MyGameTrailers, and here is an accompanying internal interview, where Randy
Pitchford and Benny Wilson answer questions about game environments: Can
you tell us more about one of the new features in BIAHH, the destructible
environment/cover?
RP: In Brothers in Arms Hell's Highway, being able to shred the kinds of things
soldiers hide behind is a big deal. Yes, it does look awesome to see bullets
tear apart a wooden fence splinter by splinter, but it is about more than just
looking amazing. You see, if the cover that the enemy is protected by is
invulnerable (as it is in just about every game you've played before), then your
only option is to wait them out or charge up on them. Brothers in Arms has
always been about suppression and looking for flanks (like real combat), but now
it's also about combined arms and volume of fire. It's intense and the feature
takes Brothers in Arms Hell's Highway to a new level of authenticity.
How does it impact gameplay?
RP: The enemy can run, but they can't hide. Wood can be shredded splinter by
splinter and hard cover emplacements, like sand bags, can be blown away with
high explosives (grenade and bazookas). It's amazing to watch and great fun to
play with. I can't believe we're actually doing what we're doing because no game
I've ever played feels this cool with destructible environments. Having
destructible environments/destructible cover changes the decisions that are made
on the battlefield and the options for winning. It changes the game quite a bit.
And there's a lot of variety too, not just in the gameplay but also in the
background, in the level design and the ways that you progress through these
environments and the tactical encounters you run into.
Can you tell us more about the development process of the destructible
environment?
BW: The very first destructible was a 12 piece checker-board prop that resembled
a fence. This was used as a proof-of-concept to ensure that we could get it to
break apart the way we needed it to and also to set memory and performance
budgets. From there we designed the workflow for getting destructible cover into
the game. It starts with the art guys modeling their pieces, setting up a
skeleton which defines how the destructible needs to break, getting it into the
engine, and level designers placing them into the levels. With that in place,
art began cranking out various destructible objects, while code had to develop a
few other components to the system like telling soldiers when the cover they're
on is destroyed, etc.
Did you meet any particular challenges?
BW: Yes, our destructible system requires interaction with many other game
systems. They have to interact with the cover and navigation system, physics,
and even some rendering tricks needed to pull it off. Each of these
considerations was a challenge of its own.
A new installment in the
Ask
Cryptic series features answers to community questions about Champions
Online, discussing combat, updates, villains and character creation. Also,
the Champions Online Q&A on Ten
Ton Hammer chats with Avery Wong, Environment Artist (and staff
photographer) for Cryptic's upcoming superhero MMORPG, and Avery is also the
subject of the latest
Meet the Team Q&A on the Champions Online Official Website. On a related
note,
He Is The Champion on The Escapist talks with Steve Long of Champions, the
tabletop RPG system upon which Champions Online is being based.
The Battlestations Pacific
Website has a new movie from the upcoming World War II game. In an oddly
realistic stroke, the voice-over is entirely in Japanese, and the site offers a
transcript of the voice-over translated into English, but this requires
registration.
Tarmac Studios Forum has the release
of beta 2 of the Interstate Nitro modification for Battlefield 2 (thanks Ant
and
Planet Battlefield). This mod is an homage to the road rage of Interstate
'76, featuring Road Warrior style combat in heavily armed vehicles.
Steam
News has word that the Team Fortress 2 update is now available that
adds a pair of new maps and the promised updates for the Pyro class. Word is: Updates
to Team Fortress 2 have been released. The updates will be applied automatically
when your Steam client is restarted. The specific changes include:
• Added 2 community maps: cp_fastlane and ctf_turbine
Pyro
• Added alt-fire compression blast to the basic
flamethrower
• Added The Axtinguisher, The Backburner, and The Flare Gun
• Hadouken taunt now kills people it hits
• Tuned the flamethrower hit detection to improve detection
versus retreating opponents
• Removed Flamethrower's damage falloff (was falling off to
25% by the end)
cp_well
• Added a route from the forward central foyer up to the
battlements
• Redistributed health and ammunition throughout the bases
ctf_well
• Added a route from the forward central foyer up to the
battlements
• Removed central building, reduced overall map length
• Redistributed health and ammunition throughout the bases
Other Notes
• Removed Soldier's 40% damage reduction from his own
rockets. Does not affect rocket jumps
• In-game avatar images will now have a badge around them
if the player is your friend
• Fixed bug that allowed players to move around in a
reference pose
• Added custom death icons for unlockable weapons
• The player join team message now specifies whether the
player used the auto team option
• Payload maps now support four control points per stage
• Achievement dialog will stay open when you're moving in &
out of the game and the main menu
• Added full Russian localization, with both fonts & speech
• Returned the "Report a Bug" option to the main
menu
The
World of Warcraft Public Test Realm Patch Notes now offer details on the
2.4.3 patch that will eventually make its way into the live version of
Blizzard's MMORPG. There are tweaks to items, classes, quests, the UI, and more.
Some of the changes benefit lower-level players, as characters below level 34
will be able to convert defensive ratings and apprentice mounts will be made
available to players once they reach level 30. On a related note,
IncGamers (thanks Ant) has screenshots of Stormwind construction from the
test patch.
Mario Puzo may be sleeping with Luca Brasi and the fishes since 1999, but his
estate is not letting anyone horn in on his territory, as
this report indicates that Anthony Puzo has filed a lawsuit against
Paramount Pictures over revenue from the recent Godfather video game. The
author's son claims the estate is due at least $1 million from the game, based
on an agreement between his father and the movie studio in 1992 that was "to
give Puzo a significant share of the revenue of any audio-visual products sold
or rented with elements of the 'Godfather' movies." Paramount has not yet
commented on the lawsuit, though in an interesting related note,
EA has made it clear a sequel to the game is in the works.
A new patch for Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword is now available,
updating the turn-based strategy sequel to version 3.17. In addition to
tweaks and bug-fixes, the patch also includes new map scripts. The download can
be found on
ActionTrip,
AtomicGamer,
FileFront, Gamer's Hell,
and
Strategy Informer, and
Steam
News has word the automatic update for the Steam edition of the game is
likewise now available.
The
German PC Games Website has a tidbit from an interview with Crytek boss
Cevat Yerli that will appear in an upcoming issue of their print counterpart.
The story is in German, but a translation tells us Yerli is offering
reassurances to gamers that Crysis Warhead should be able to achieve
frame rates of 30-35 FPS in "high" detail mode on a PC that costs around 400
Euros. He also says changes may possibly be retrofitted into Crysis in a
future patch to offer similar performance improvements, but that this will be a
timely process, as the optimizations involved are complex, so if they revisit
Crysis performance, this will be after development of Crysis Warhead is
complete.
Slitherine Strategies announces
they are accepting beta test
applications for Commander: Napoleon at War (thanks Gamer's Hell) in an
update that also reveals a bit on what to expect from the upcoming turn-based
strategy game: We're pleased to announce the launch of the Beta Sign up
program for Commander - Napoleon at War. CNAW is the sequel to the critically
acclaimed Commander - Europe at War, and takes this classic turn based strategy
game to a Napoleonic setting. Players control the French Empire or the Coalition
opposing Napoleon.
While Commander - Europe at War was a great game, CNAW includes a number of
additional features that make it stand out above and beyond it's predecessor:
• Dynamic weather.
• Completely new combat system with bonuses for combined
arms and supporting units meaning combats are no longer 1 v 1.
• Units are more specialised and varied.
• Looting of suppies from conquered cities.
• Scorched earth tactics. Raze cities to destroy their
production or limit their use to an enemy.
• Conquered major nations become vassals that can revolt at
a later date. They are never fully integrated allowing for the re-emergence of
conquered nations such as Prussia & Austria.
• Major AI improvements at the strategic and tactical
levels.
• Victory conditions that are more interesting and varied
than just to conquer your enemies.
• A selection of smaller scenarios specifically designed
for multiplayer.
Sign up for the Beta Test at :
www.slitherine.com/beta_test
The Far Cry
2 interview on Catch-Gamer.no is a video conversation with Louis-Pierre
Pharand at last week's Dreamhack conference in Sweden. The site is Norwegian,
but the conversation is in English, discussing progress on the shooter sequel,
highlighted by in-game footage.
The
Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir Q&A on Strategy Informer talks with
Kevin Saunders about the upcoming D&D RPG expansion, and Kevin is also the
victim of
a NWN2 Q&A on ActionTrip, where he suggests they have broken the mold a bit
with SoZ: "Mask of the Betrayer colored within the lines set by Neverwinter
Nights 2. Storm of Zehir does not. The Overland Map is one of the game's most
defining features. It provides a sense of exploration that makes it feel more
like a Fallout game than a Neverwinter Nights game. The Overland Map also makes
Skills (Survival, Spot, etc.) more important and useful."
Darkest Hour Website has a new
beta version 1.0a patch for Darkest Hour: Normandy 1944, the modification for
Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45. Word is: "Beta 1.0 includes 3 new playable
nations (with numerous new character models), Over 15 weapons, Over 10 new
vehicles and 10 new battlefields to use them on." Thanks Gamer's Hell.
The Jailbreak Website now offers
version 0.4.1 of the Jailbreak: Source modification for Half-Life 2 (thanks
Gamer's Hell). The update includes a new dynamic scoring system, balance changes, and
bug fixes.
A new version 2.1.5 of Freeciv is now available, updating this OpenSource game
based on the history of mankind, and/or any turn-based games on the same topic.
The change notes outline
what's new and different. Thanks Gamer's Hell.
Okay, it looks like it's been around for a while, so this may already be
familiar, but I just saw a commercial for
Anti Monkey Butt Powder, which is
apparently real. In our ever-campier viral video sort of world, we may soon need
a label like that for things like this. Maybe a disclaimer on the screen that
says something like: "Actual product, not a satire."
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