Archived News:
Valve Software sent along a small fix for a problem with the version 1.0.1.6 patches ( story) when running the game in software mode. Here is a local copy of the file, which should be incorporated in the regular patches soon, and this is the description of the problem:
For those of you who are running in software mode and are seeing the sky
incorrectly in Badlands and Crossover, please download this small update
(122k).
RPG Vault has posted the latest installment of the Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption Design Log, with Nihilistic's Ray Gresko discussing the story design in their third-person action RPG, how it relates to the White Wolf source material, and some aspects of the multiplayer Storyteller interface.
There is a new preview of Earth 2150 up at GameSpot, looking at TopWare's upcoming RTS that keeps its feet on the ground. On the other hand, up up and away is where Star Trek: Armada goes, which is briefly previewed on GameProWorld, along with a bundle of new screenshots. There is a new screenshot on the official Star Trek Armada site as well.
CheckOut has conducted a brief interview with Harry Miller, president of Gathering of Developers, talking about the way the Gathering operates, their plans for the console market, and a couple other, tongue-in-cheek topics.
There is a brief preview of Tomb Raider: the Lost Artifact on Gamecenter, the standalone Tomb Raider III "Gold" game for which a demo was released the other day ( story).
Another day, another
LithTech announcement...Monolith has announced that they are making a special
version of their LithTech engine to be used with massively multiplayer games,
and that the first game to utilize this will be a title from Fox Interactive
that uses one of their properties. Here's an excerpt from the
full press release: LithTech Inc. today announced they have begun
creation of a licensable, multi-genre, massively multiplayer technology which
will be a full featured extension of their proprietary LithTech 3D Game Operating
System (3DGOS). The new technology, LithTech Online, will standardize the development
of immense, persistent worlds, referred to as "LithWorlds(tm)," in
which users can interact with others online.
Also announced today, LithTech Inc. is proceeding with an arrangement with Fox
Interactive to provide a licensed property for LithTech's first persistent world.
Several Fox properties have been discussed for the world's environment although
one has not yet been selected.
"There is no doubt that massively-multiplayer persistent online environments
are a huge and growing market. For this reason, we're dedicated to investing
$15 million into research and development of the fully licensable LithTech Online,"
comments Jason Hall, CEO for LithTech Inc. "We are very excited to be working
with Fox Interactive on the first of many future LithWorlds. Their strong entertainment
properties will provide interesting environments and characters for us to develop
and work with."
The official Summoner site has received its scheduled weekly update, revealing a new screenshot on the frontpage, and adding new concept art and a new soundtrack MP3, Iona Part II.
Sierra Studios has released the international 1.0.1.6 patches for Half-Life on their ftp server. As with the English versions, four patches are available to upgrade previous versions, in French, German, Italian, Spanish and Korean editions, so you'll have to forgive the absence of 20 direct download links here (just look for files ending in 1016.EXE). As with the English versions, you should be able to use the auto-update feature in the game to upgrade, and the files have also been mirrored at 3D Action Gamers.
Simon & Schuster have opened a preliminary site for their Star Trek: Deep Space Nine games, called DS9games.com (but with a rather different URL for now). There is some basic information on The Fallen, the third-person shooter, and Dominion Wars, the space-based RTS, and a couple of new The Fallen screenshots.
Quantic Dream has released three soundtrack MP3's from Omikron: the Nomad Soul, their 3D action/adventure of last year. The songs last a few minutes each, and can faithfully be described to sound as quirky as the game looked.
While the game may never make it to the PC, new media has surfaced from Oddworld:
Munch's Oddysee. Daily
Radar has posted some new (and extremely impressive) Quicktime movies, which
show off actual in-game footage, and AVault
has posted 30 new screenshots, as well as a Q&A with Oddworld Inhabitants
co-founder (and the voice of most of the characters) Lorne Lanning. The game
is currently in development for the Playstation 2, with a PC port to possibly
follow after the initial release. Strangely enough, at one point this game was
being developed using the Unreal engine.
Version 1.49 beta of Wally,
the texture creation tool, has been released. This new version supports 24-bit
textures, allowing it to be used with Quake III Arena.
InciteGames has posted four
more screenshots from Deus Ex, ION Storm's Unreal-engine, first person RPG.
These shots show a few different areas of the game, including a shot of what
looks to be the morgue (always a fun place, I'm told).
ActionTrip News has
posted four new screenshots from Devil Inside, the upcoming third person action/adventure/horror
title by Gamesquad. The game is being helmed by Hubert Chardot, the creator
of the acclaimed Alone in the Dark series of games.
GA-Source has posted a bunch of new Crimson Skies screenshots, as well as a 40 second movie trailer. Crimson Skies is a fantasy action flyer (rather than a true flight sim) set in an alternate 1937 universe, and is based on a board game by FASA.
Russian gaming site the Daily Telefrag has updated their gallery of Hired Team screenshots with more scenes from New Media Generation's upcoming first-person shooter. Roughly half of the 18 shots appear to be new (at least to my prying eyes).
Also on the Daily Telefrag is an interview on Chaser, a new action shooter in development at Cauldron, co-developers of Blue Byte's Battle Isle 4. A gallery of screenshots gives a first glimpse at the world they're crafting.
It seems amazing that after all this time, nobody has seen the actual Daikatana
sword, but it would appear that PlanetDaikatana
has posted the first screenshot from Daikatana of the game's eponymous sword. The shot
is from the third episode in the game, and shows off "the boathouse"
as well as the weapon.
InciteGames has posted a
new MPEG movie featuring an interview with Peter Molyneux, and a whole lot
of in-game footage from Black & White, the unique "god game" he's
working on. The movie, like Incite's previous releases, was taken from the cover
CD of Incite PC Gaming magazine, and is very large (55 MB). Update: it would appear that the footage in this movie is the same as footage that has been previously released, so if you've been keeping an eye on these B&W movies, chances are you've already seen it.
Valve has released Half-Life version 1.0.1.6. This new version adds two new
maps for Team Fortress Classic and a slew of new server improvements in addition
to other changes. Here's a list of downloads, which will take you to our individual
pages with local copies and mirrors:
Delphine has released version 1.0.5b patches to supersede the 1.0.5 patches released last week ( story). This update fixes a save game problem as well as a crash "when using a 'storm bow' against monster with reflection spell." There is a small update if you already have the 1.0.5 patch, and full US and European downloads otherwise.
A brief Q&A
with BioWare's Greg Zeschuk is up on GASource, dealing with their plans for promoting
MDK 2, the company's virtually complete third person action game. There are
also 12 new screenshots from the game up as well. MDK, as everyone knows, stands
for Missy Does Kayak.
GASource has posted eight
new concept art images from Homeworld: Cataclysm, a sequel of sorts to the
original Homeworld (contrary to early reports, it would appear that the game
is now a full standalone game, not an add-on pack). The pictures show off a
few of the new ships and units in the game. Update: the images were pulled at the request of publisher Sierra Studios.
Daily Radar kicks off their Vampire: The Masquerade -- Redemption Week by posting half a dozen new high-res screenshots from Nihilistic's blood-sucking third-person 3D RPG.
It's Not Easy Being Green
on loonygames is a Q&A with the Epic programmer discussing his work on
Unreal Tournament, and in particular that PlayStation 2 port that folks have
been talking about lately.
The Xian interview
on Mean Arena is a Q&A with id Software designer Christian
"Disruptor" Antkow. The conversation covers Disruptor's background,
what it's like working at id, and a few bits on level design, including a
step-by-step rundown on the map creation process.
There are some new
Alone in the Dark screenshots and concept art on The Adrenaline Vault
showing off gameplay from Infogrames North America's upcoming installment in the
spooky Alone in the Dark series, which was officially announced yesterday,
though it's been unofficially in the works for months now ( story).
In honor of Valentine's Day, the first release of Eavy's
Assault Practice Mod (that's just a directory, not a page) for Unreal
Tournament. This special training mod lets you practice the Assault gametype.
The mod offers five server commands, eight cheat commands, as well as some
gameplay changes. Word from Eavy is: "You obviously wouldn't run it for
serious competitive play, but to be a competitive player, here you can gain the
experience."
The Black Knight Productions page has
beta 1.0, the first "real" beta release of the Prisoners of War
modification for Quake III Arena. PoW is a teamplay mod offering gameplay
similar to JailBreak, where players can be captured by the enemy, to be held
until a heroic teammate fights through to free them (unless Colonel Hogan is
among the prisoners).
"Thanks to the support of over 300 beta testers," a new version 2.07
of the Servarena Quake III Arena
dedicated server launcher is now available. The new version is now able to scan your PK3 files
for custom maps, and can view thumbnail map images in .tga format. Additionally,
the new release "now includes additional features that make it an excellent
offline game launcher."
A new version 0.96 of the Q3Log log
parser for Quake III Arena is now available. This version "fixes the badly
broken client side logging features," updates the HTML output to the newest
version of Q3LA ( story),
and adds support for CSV data export.
The ProQuake website has the
release of the Linux port of ProQuake, a fully netQuake-compatible port of the
Quake source that adds "precise aim" when connected to ProQuake server,
auto-smooth for chasecam/eyecam observer modes, fixed console backscrolling and
HOME and END key support, among a load of fixes and enhancements. In keeping
with the GPL, the source code is also available. Also, Quake 2000 News
has the first screenshot of the BeQuake port to the BeOS. Finally, the
newly-opened QuakeSource
looks to keep tabs on all the various Quake source modification projects, while
the reorganized Quake Standards Group is
the new incarnation of the Quake Source and Standards Group.
A
Valentine's image on FAKKOU.Com shows off a new outfit for the Julie
Strain-inspired main character in Ritual's upcoming Quake III-engine Heavy
Metal: FAKK2. Also, the Star Trek Armada
site has more new screenshots (thanks Tymetodie), these are in a Screen Shot of the Week
section, so as not to be confused with the almost-daily shots they've recently
released. There are some new Flash
Point: Status Quo screenshots on Gamers Central. There are some new Killer
Loop screenshots on TeleFragged
showing off Crave's futuristic 3D racer. Finally, there are a bunch of Meta
Hunters screenshots on 3D-Unlimited showing off this upcoming first- and
third-person action/RPG.
QER News has the pre-release
of ShaderLib, a reusable OpenSource Shader toolkit for Quake 1 coders working on
the engine and Quake III Arena coders working on tools in an effort to add
"Q3Alike" effects to Quake. There's a new mapping tutorial on Quake3mods.net
that "has an explanation on what all of the entities do." Q3Seek.com's
editing resources offer a load of Q3A editing tutorials and articles. Team
Disillusioned offers "a site to help map editors find answers,
tutorials and files" in both HTML and Flash
version. Finally, there are four new texture packs on Painful Detail
offering high-resolution Unreal Tournament textures.
The EuroCup webpage ( Flash
required) has details on this invitational online tournament for the best
European clans being sponsored by Infogrames, Gamepoint, Diamond and XS4All.
Competitions are slated to run through April. Also, the National Quake Association
is based in Brazil, but it's open to all comers, and finally now has an English
language version of their news page. Finally, the Baldur's Gate II
Main Page offers the chance to create your very own character to be in the
new upcoming Baldur's Gate II. To enter, "In 200 words or less, describe
your favorite pen and paper player character."
Lather, rinse, repeat... Help! I'm stuck in the dreaded endless shampoo loop!
Lather, rinse, repeat... Lather, rinse, repeat...
Link of the Day: L33T.Com. Thanks
Korb.
Bonus Link: flip flop
flyin' minipops. Thanks Bagpuss.
Story of the Day: Police save goldfish from becoming artistic soup.
Thanks Mike Martinez. It's more art imitating live, as in Saturday Night Live...
it's the Bass-o-matic!
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