Archived News:
A day earlier than previously announced, Daily Radar has posted They Hunger, a new level set for Half-Life by Neil Manke (author of USS Darkstar), along with some raving comments. Said to be only the first episode of They Hunger, it's yours for the price of a 16 MB download, but it has also been available for some time already on the cover CD-ROM of the February issue of PC Gamer.
In a bizarre bit of news (spotted on AVault),
the LithTech 2 engine title No One Lives Forever has been renamed...No One Lives
Forever. Until now that was simply a working title, but Fox Interactive, the
game's new publisher, apparently likes the name enough to keep it.
According to Gone Gold (by way of the
game's publisher, Interplay, so it has been confirmed) Messiah has been pushed
back to mid March from its mid February release date.
Raven's Eric Biessman has kicked off a second Soldier of Fortune designer diary, this time on GameSpot. This first installment discusses the choice for, and adaptation of, the Quake II engine to the needs of their mercenary shooter.
GameSpot has posted a
new, hands-on preview of Allegiance, Microsoft's massively multiplayer space
sim. In addition to the usual text and screenshots, the preview features quotes
from Joel Dehlin, the game's producer.
Three new programming tutorials
have been posted at Tectonic: one explaining how bits and "# commands"
work, one on creating a basic mod, and one that teaches you how to make your
own Rail Arena-style mod.
GameProWorld has posted some twenty new screenshots of Star Trek: Klingon Academy, Interplay's space-combat sim that pits the Federation, Klingon, Romulan, Tholian, Gorn, and Sha'kurian races against eachother.
The Soldier of Fortune Center has posted
a movie (available in your choice of Real Video or AVI format) showing the ACT
Labs Gun System in action with Soldier of Fortune.
The ICQ downloads page has posted
ICQ v.3.19 Build #2569 (Revision A). There's absolutely no details on what's
new in this version besides the words, "bug fix" but at least it's
a small download (thanks Ant for
the tip). Also of note is a new version
of mIRC which features over 130 changes since the last release (thanks to
everyone that sent this in).
Hunter, a new mod for Unreal Tournament has been released, and is available
for download at Eavy's
UT Mods page. The mod originally started as an extra game type from the
UT version of Rocket Arena currently in development, but the author decided
to spin it off into its own mod.
Monolith has announced that the latest licensee of their LithTech engine is none
other than 3DO and their subsidiary New World Computing, who will be using the
engine to make "multiple titles" in the Might and Magic series of
games. Here's the announcement: (Kirkland, WA, February 3 2000 ) LithTech
Inc. today announced the licensing of the powerful LithTech 3D Game Operating
System to New World Computing, a division of The 3DO Company (Nasdaq: THDO).
LithTech will be used to power multiple titles in the critically acclaimed Might
and Magic game brand.
"We are thrilled that 3DO and New World Computing have chosen the LithTech
3D Game OS for use in the highly acclaimed Might and Magic brand," comments
Jason Hall, CEO for LithTech Inc. "LithTech's ability to handle huge outdoor
environments combined with state-of-the-art special effects will insure the
talented Might and Magic teams can build the most beautiful worlds yet seen
in the fantasy genre."
LithTech is a licensable technology for multiple platforms that functions as
a complete 3D Game Operating System which allows developers to easily design,
develop and focus on content without reinventing new technology for each project.
The development environment includes all world and model building tools, newly
designed rendering capability and complete source code necessary to bring a
game team's concepts and production schedule to completion quickly.
"The flexibility of this engine lets us do what we do best, which is creating
vast, entertaining gaming worlds," says Jon Van Caneghem, president of
New World Computing. "The LithTech technology allows us to concentrate
on the immersive game play and in-depth storytelling that the Might and Magic
brand is known for."
GameSpy.com has posted a
Q&A with Monolith's Jason Hall, asking him a few questions about the
recently formed LithTech company, and the future of the engine.
The newly opened MonolithNews.com
has posted four
new screenshots from Monolith's LithTech 2 engine. These aren't from any
game in development, but rather come from various different technology demos.
GameSpot UK has posted an
interview with BioWare's Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka, talking about their
almost complete title MDK 2. The interview deals with the Dreamcast version
of the game, but both the console and PC versions are being made simultaneously, so it's still of interest if you can't stand console titles.
And if you want to skip the interview altogether, they've got some
new screenshots from the PC version up as well. MDK, as everyone knows,
stands for Mamoun's Downtown Knishes.
Also on GameSpot UK is a
brief preview of the full version of Messiah, featuring a bunch of new screenshots
from Shiny's third person action game of diaper-clad glory.
Publisher Cryo Interactive has recently opened their official Devil Inside site, sporting information and five new screenshots for this 3D action adventure that is being developed by GameSquad.
RPOV has posted an article
on the world of game engines, featuring quotes from game several developers. Some
of the quotes are from older interviews, but there are some great quotes, including
3D Realms' Scott Miller on the Prey engine and former id employee Brian Hook
on the advantages of licensing an engine.
Meccaworld has posted a
hands-on preview of Westwood Studios' Nox, their soon-to-be-released isometric
action game, featuring a good description of the gameplay and a few images.
Also, PCFan has posted a
brief interview with Westwood's PR man Aaron Cohen, who further describes
the gameplay, including a summary of the plot.
Dark Horse Interactive's official
Hellboy site has been updated with no less than ten
new screenshots. Hellboy is being developed by Cryo Interactive, and is
based on the comic books of the same name by Mike Mignola (which are published
by Dark Horse Comics).
Daily Radar has posted a hands-on preview of Evolva, examining the organic-looking action/strategy game by Computer Artworks that puts you in control of a team of "genohunters" battling for survival, Starship Troopers-style.
The official Messiah site has been updated with a new screenshot on its frontpage, showing off a little action from Shiny's presumably imminent possess-em-up.
Dopplegangers has conducted an interview with Tim Gift, Dynamix' lead programmer on TRIBES 2, discussing the scripting language employed in the game (thanks Voodoo Extreme). Most of the article is rather technical in nature, and it includes a pair of example code excerpts.
The Ranger Gone Bad 3 preview has been released, and is available for download
on Stomped and
Machinima.com.
The 7.7 MB download requires Quake 1, and is not the same as the version that
was shown at QuakeCon '97, but rather a more polished version.
Computer Games Online's
Building a starship, Part 2 offers more of their Q&A with Raven's Brian
Pelletier on Starship design in their upcoming Quake III-engine game, Star Trek:
Voyager-Elite Force. If this is only wets your appetite for skinny on this
space first-person shooter, you're in luck, as today continues the ongoing daily
chat session marathon at The Omega Project
where they are holding a chat for Elite Force on IRC Server omegaproject.net in
the channel #lobby. The festivities kick off at 7:00 PM EST, which is 4:00 PST,
or 00:00 GMT (sorry, no Star Date translations off the top of my head).
The latest informing being done by the ION
Storm Daily Informant is that tonight is that time of the month for the
Anachronox crew, when they whip out the chatting sticks to do battle in the
monthly AnachroChat, to discuss
progress on this Quake II-engine RPG. The live chat session will take place on
the IRC server www.ionstorm.com, in the channel #ion at 9:00 PM EST (8:00 PM
Central), or you can also join in simply by hitting the Online button on their
website.
Westlake Interactive has released the Mac version 405B patch for Unreal Tournament, bringing the game in line with the PC version. The patch is available from several download mirrors, and includes the following Mac specific fixes:
- Fixed a bug that caused custom skins & maps to not auto-download when joining a server.
- Added an option to disable command key shortcuts (like Cmd-Q)
- Added some extra code to the RAVE driver to boost performance on newer AGP Rage 128 cards.
- Added an option for dedicated servers that will detect if the server has stopped accepting connections (which can happen after 2 to 10 hours of running). If the server sees this has happened, it will relauch itself with all settings entact.
- Fixed remote web administration code, you can now change settings, kick/ban players, and even type directly into the server console of a Mac server all from a standard web
browser.
There are eight new Earth 2150 screenshots
on PC.IGN.Com, showing off action from TopWare's European 3D RTS, soon to
appear in North America.
The Shogun Total War Interview, pt. 1
on PC.IGN.Com looks at Shogun: Total War, an upcoming real-time/turn-based
strategy game from Creative Assembly. Rather than being based on all three million
pages of the James Clavell novel (Infocom already did that one), the game is
"Based on the Sengoku Jidai (that's Age of the Country at War to you)
period of Japanese history, Shogun: Total War follows feudal warlords battling
it out for supremacy."
The Servarena page has a new
version 2.01 of this Quake III Arena dedicated server launcher, a quick bug fix,
hot on the heels of the release of version 2.0. The new version is available as
both a full installer as well as a patch for the previous version.
The Australian Rudimentary Skinning Enclave
(ARSE) is a Quick Guide to skinning in Quake III Arena by Snafu, author of a
pair of Q3A skin packs featuring characters from Marvel comics ( marvelskinpak.zip
and marvelskinpak2.zip).
Also, loonygames presents Painting on Polygons - 2D Art and videogames
answers reader-submitted questions on the tools best suited to working in the
industry as a 2D artist, from Vicarious Visions' artist Rick
"Flatness" Grossenbacher. One of the answers also offers advice to
those interested in getting into the industry.
Microsoft's
Windows 2000 Readiness Analyzer attempts to gauge your system's
Win2K-worthiness, though they point out "Microsoft did not focus on testing
games or entertainment software." Also, So you're thinking about upgrading to Windows 2000
is written by a computer technician who has spent the last five months playing
with the new MS OS, currently due February 17.
- Unreality's interview with Vito
Miliano talks with this member of the Unrealty project, which looks to
provide virtual tours of buildings and other architectural structures using
the power of the Unreal engine...
- A couple of updates to the Prospect Vector
website reveal that the future of the Tread level editor has been up in
the air, though the latest update indicates that every effort is being made
to prevent the project from just dying. Thanks Nathan...
- PS2 Final Fantasy Movie
Mayhem on Daily Radar offers some "bootleg" movies of Final
Fantasy IX, X, and XI(!), none of which apparently is actually ever destined
to be ported to the PC. Thanks Bre@k...
Woops, I lost a bunch of email sent to the news@bluesnews.com
when Norton Antivirus ate a good chunk of a mailbox. If you sent along something
to news yesterday that was overlooked this morning, please feel free to send it along again,
in case it was lost (this should not really be too big a problem since Frans and
loony both should have these mails as well). This is the first time NAV has
thrown the baby out with the bathwater on me like this (although it is a new
version)... I just ran live update, and there's an addition since yesterday
offering an "update to email scanning," though no mention of a fix for
the "mail being eaten problem."
Hmmm... throwing the baby out with the bathwater, in addition to being a cliché,
was a song title... I wonder if there are any other old Tenpole Tudor fans out
there? I just inspired myself and found one of their CDs on Amazon along with a
Doug and the Slugs reissue (oh joy!) I had all but given up on long ago. Anyone
familiar with either of these terribly quirky bands (whose heydays were back in
the last days of vinyl LPs) now probably has extra insight into what an
especially odd duck I am (as if that bizarre segue from email to obscure bands
doesn't serve that same purpose just as well).
Link of the Day: Demotivate.com.
For those days you're just feeling too good about everything. Thanks Neil.
Story of the Day: New research explains why the tipsy topple.
Thanks Mike Martinez. Kind of seems to go with the recent one about how incompetents
are too incompetent to realize it.
Image of the Day: A Lunar Eclipse in Three Exposures,
an Astronomy Picture of the Day.
Thanks brother 19.
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