Archived News:
Warcraft III.net has posted two
new screenshots from Blizzard's Warcraft III, as well as a
transcript of the webmaster's chat held on Blizzard.net, which featured
Mike O'Brien, Rob Pardo and Bill Roper from Blizzard talking about the game.
Version 1.0 of Q3 Clan Arena,
a remake of the Clan Arena mod for Quake 1, has been released, and is available
for download on its official site.
This new version adds a modifiable server .CFG file for server customization
in addition to other tweaks and fixes.
The TRIBES Vault has posted their
unofficial FAQ for Starsiege: TRIBES 2. The FAQ contains pretty much all
the known information about the game, from the various technologies it supports
(A3D, SSE, etc.) to all the different mission types and other gameplay issues.
GameSpot has posted a detailed preview of Soulbringer, the 3D adventure-RPG under construction at Gremlin. The article covers storyline, gameplay, the combat system, and more, and sports quotes from producer Doug Avery and a host of new screenshots.
Also online at GameSpot tonight is a shorter but equally hands-on preview of Evolva, examining the upcoming tactical action game by Computer Artworks, and posting a couple new screenshots from a recent build of the game.
GameSpot has a pair of stories on recent Zombie happenings. First Details: Spec Ops M.O.U.T. reveals that the next Zombie game will be called Spec Ops: Military Operation Urban Terrain, or M.O.U.T. for short, also built on the LithTech 2.0 engine like their earlier announced Spec Ops 3 title. This game will trade the tactical aspects of the first two Spec Ops games in for fast-paced action, like "Team Fortress Classic with licensed weapons and realistic environments." Also, First Details: Zombie's
Shrapnel has a few more details on their recently announced game based on the Wildstorm Comics.
Raven's Jake Simpson updated
his .plan with an update on all things Soldier of Fortune (as well as his
usual brand of nuttiness). Jake confirms that Soldier of Fortune now supports
A3D 3.0 (previously it was only 2.0), force feedback, and even ACT Labs' Gun
System, in addition to some general thoughts about the game as it wraps up.
Incite Games has posted a
new movie (which originally appeared on the Incite Magazine CD-ROM) featuring
an interview with John Romero, and lots of in-game footage from Daikatana. The
movie isn't puny at 43 megs, but it's in MPEG format and very high quality.
Also new on Incite Games are eight
new screenshots from Soldier of Fortune, featuring that trademark violence
that Incite loves so much.
Matrox has released new beta drivers for their Millennium G400, Millennium
G200, Mystique G200, and MGA G200 cards. Separate drivers are available for
Windows 9x,
Windows 2000,
and Windows NT4.
GA-RPG has posted some
new screenshots from Icewind Dale, an upcoming RPG from Black Isle, as well
as preliminary details on several different locales in the game.
3dfx has released new
drivers for cards featuring the Voodoo Banshee chipset (thanks Voodoo
Extreme). These new drivers fix a ton of problems, including game specific
issues with Unreal, System Shock 2, Quake III Arena, and others.
Dynamix' Tim Gift updated his
.plan with an update on what he's been working on, and he gives a great
deal of detail on the status of vehicles in Starsiege: TRIBES 2. Here's an excerpt,
which sounds remarkably like something a used car salesman might say: At
this point you can drive around in the scout vehicle. It has four wheel drive
and independent suspension. It handles pretty well, though at high speeds it
tends to under-steer. Have to be a little careful going fast on the uneven ground
or you can end up upside down. Vehicles are going to be pretty fun :)
All the engine, suspension and tire parameters are specified in the datablock.
The number of wheels, which ones steer, and suspension travel is all extracted
from the shape file. It should be fairly easy for mod authors to build and customize
new vehicles.
A new interview
with Human Head's Tim Gerritsen is up on 3D Action Planet, talking to the
biz guy about the origins of the company, his background in the industry, and
their upcoming action title Rune (thanks to The
Shugashack for the tip).
GameSpot UK has posted a whole bunch of new stuff related to Allegiance, Microsoft's
massively multiplayer space sim that's currently in beta testing. There are
three
new in-game AVIs available, as well as new
screenshots, new
concept artwork, and a
report from the beta test. Also, Games Weekly has posted a
new interview with members of the development team.
A new version (1.43) of Weapon
Mod, a mod for Quake III Arena that lets you tweak all kinds of gameplay
options, has been released and is available for download on
its official site. This new version adds variables for starting, minimum,
and maximum health and armor in addition to other changes.
The official Phoenix site has a version 1.1 patch for the English edition of Phoenix, the space exploration and combat game by Team 17. There are no details about the changes and fixes though.
PlanetQuake is hosting an IRC session
with id Software's Robert Duffy, the author of QERadiant and the Q3Tools package.
The fun starts at 7:00 PM PT on irc.gamesnet.net 6667, in channel #PlanetQuake.
The Unofficial Soldier of Fortune
Demo FAQ has been updated, and now contains new sections on system requirements,
video settings and supported hardware in addition to other changes.
German games site Ultimazone has posted a
new strategy guide to Quake III Arena. The text is all in German, but of
course, if you want it translated, just stick
a babel fish in your ear.
Rising from the Ranks: Rating for Multiplayer Games is an article on Gamasutra by old-school Quaker (and Loki Entertainment developer) Bernd Kreimeier, examining scoring and ranking systems such as those employed in ngWorldStats, which currently ranks multiplayer Quake II and Unreal Tournament games. The article makes a comparison to the ELO ratings of the chess-playing world, and while it is heavy on statistics and mathematics, it makes an interesting read if you're into this sort of thing.
Interplay's official MDK2 site has received a new look, and posted seven new screenshots from BioWare's upcoming third-person action sequel. MDK, as everyone knows, stands for My Dangerous Kangaroo.
Another new screenshot has been posted on the official Messiah site, depicting a scene (reminiscent of the opening area in the demo) from their third-person possess-em-up that should now be released in March.
There is now a Multiplayer
Nox Demo on PC Zone, with a playable version of Westwood's isometric-view
action game that is due in stores next week. The demo is a 44 MB download, and
here is the description from the page: You are the 20th century savior of
Nox - summoned to the land in a cosmic accident. Being from Earth, you are the
only living being on Nox that may touch a magic Orb in the possession of the
wicked-evil queen of the undead - Hecubah. You must find this Orb and harness
its power in order to construct the staff of oblivion and defeat Hecubah.
There's a new In
Game Warcraft III Shot on Warcraftiii.net that was recently posted on
Blizzard's site, along with an analysis of what's shown in the image, which is of
an Orc assault on a mining encampment. The shot gives a clear view of the new interface,
"including all the new action commands." Also, GameFan's
WarCraft III preview gives the scoop on a visit to the Blizzard offices to
get some hands-on impressions of the upcoming installment in the WC series that
will add role-playing elements to the familiar RTS elements from its
predecessors.
There is a
log of last night's moderated Allegiance chat on Allegiance Vault
giving a progress report on development of Microsoft's space combat game,
currently in open beta.
The Wyrm2 World of Destruction
page has a new beta 2 version of Wyrm 3 for Quake III Arena. In an apparent
fit of Duke Nukem-inspiration, the new release replaces the BFG with the Shrink
Ray. Shrink your opponents to 1/10 their normal size, then crush them with your
boot (be sure to laugh maniacally).
CheckOut Games'
LucasArts Profile looks at the past, present, and future of LucasArts from
the SCUMM engine adventure games, through the recent key departures, and hopes
that Star Wars: Force Commander and Jedi Power Battles "returns
them to the days of original gameplay." Speaking of Force Commander, DailyRadar.com
previews Star Wars: Force Commander, saying "Did Star Wars:
Rebellion turn you off from Star Wars strategy gaming? LucasArts finds your
lack of faith disturbing."
The Quake Wedding website
has word on one of the most unusual Quake-related human interest stories I can
recall, as BadBoyBubba, and db_High intend to tie the knot on a public Quake II
server. The ceremony will take place in a custom map & mod at 7:00 PM South
African Time (GMT+2) on February 14, the always romantic Saint Valentine's Day.
GameSpot's Tomb Raider Interview
celebrates the imminent four-year anniversary of Eidos' Tomb Raider franchise by
sitting down with Eidos' Phil Campbell and Mike Schmitt to talk about Tomb
Raider: The Lost Artifact, "set to ship to stores nationwide the first
week of March."
There's a Desert of Death
strategy guide on the newly-opened Tribes Vault
as part of their Tribes Vault Academy.
The guide is filled with screenshots and a marked out map pinpointing the
locations of every item. Also, K-Cheats
Unreal Tournament guide and K-Cheats
Quake III Arena guide each offer playing tips in German. As usual AltaVista Translations
can play semi-functional BabelFish for you. Thanks Neo.
CnCRenegade.com
talks with Westwood about progress on C&C: Renegade, the action sequel to the C&C RTS franchise. There are a whole
load of new Invictus Screenshots and Artwork
on GA-Source showing off Interplay's just-gold ( story)
RTS/adventure title. Finally, in addition to the new screenshot of the week
mentioned yesterday, there are three more new Star Trek: Armada screenshots
showing off Ferengi Marauders on the Star Trek Armada
site. Thanks Tymetodie.
The first release of Q3
Toolbox, a Quake III Arena compiling front-end is now available. Also, Code3Arena
is now underway featuring Quake III Arena editing and coding resources, offering
no less than 15 tutorials from the get-go, with more to be added soon. The Unreal Department of Engineering
is likewise just underway, offering Unreal/UT mapping resources, as well as beta
testing, just like the Half-Life DoE
does for Half-Life. This Q3 Tutorial Adding Customizable Weapon Switching
can help add QW style weapon switching to Q3A, as well as Unreal-style custom preferred
weapon order.
Registration is underway Free Range Action Gaming,
scheduled for March 31-April 2, in Burlington, NC, offering Q3A, UT, Half-Life,
and AoE competitions. Likewise, the UVA
East Coast LAN Conference will offer TRIBES, Q3A, UT, Rogue Spear, and
AvP gameplay February 18-20.
3D Palette's
Quake III Arena Skinning Contest is now offering the chance for everyone to
vote for the winner among the best entries they've received. Unreal Kingdom
interviews Sean "devilbunny" Bonney, who had the winning entry in
the Best Deathmatch Map
segment of the Make Something Unreal Contest
(he's also submitted dozens of stories and Links of the Day here over the
years).
A couple of letters in recent editions of our wacky-as-ever Mail
Bag made a minor point about the usability of this website. Historically to be
able to scroll down the news page using your mouse wheel doohickey or arrow keys
you would need bring the focus here by clicking somewhere on the page first.
Paul "trauma" Ghilarducci sent along a simple solution for this minor
"problem," a single line of the dreaded JavaScript that brings the
focus to the news frame by default. It certainly seems to be a harmless bit of
code that shouldn't cause problems in any browser (famous last words), and works
in several versions of Netscape and Explorer, so hopefully most of you are
covered.
Link of the Day: It's A Dysfunctional Life picture #512
(related to the Nori nasal cleaner). Thanks Schwab. It's an add your own caption
dealie...my entry would be "Earl Grey's secret tea recipe."
Story of the Day: Salon Technology-You, too, can be a drug kingpin.
Thanks ozh. And I quote: "...police officers in Perth, Australia,
reportedly made a fortune selling virtual drugs before their superiors erased
the program."
Bonus Story: Supersonic Aircraft Engine Planned
describes an upcoming "new generation of supersonic aircraft capable of
linking New York and Tokyo in just three hours." Thanks Jeff Magill.
Image of the Day: A custom cow spotted case on Chick's Hardware UK.
The gateway folks will be so jealous.
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