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8-30-3 Xbox.com has been redesigned, offering prizes for those who launch or update their Xbox Live accounts. A thread called Unreal 2 XMP, Beta, and Mods on the Atari Forums by Legend's Scott Dalton, outlines some details about what's planned for the upcoming free "XMP" multiplayer add-on for Unreal II. The update describes the three classes from which players can choose, how their skills and abilities mesh, vehicles, scoring and goals, and more. There's a Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Walkthrough on GameBanshee with an indexed guide to the Star Wars RPG. CPU RightMark 2003 beta 4 is now available. 8-29-3 IGN's Halo Media Page now offers a bunch of streaming videos of Doom showing off the upcoming PC version of Halo, the port of Bungie's shooter in the works at Gearbox Software. The Unreal Tournament 2004 Preview on IGN offers a detailed look at some of the maps in the upcoming UT 2003 sequel. The Mythica E3 demo movie has been released, offering over four minutes of gameplay footage from Microsoft's upcoming MMORPG. The download is available on the Mythica Website along with more info about what's on display. A mirror can be found on 3D Gamers. There's a Jungle Warfare Q&A on Jolt.co.uk discussing this UT2003 mod that's a finalist in the Make Something Unreal contest. Additionally they have posted Galactic Conquest 0.2 details with what's expected in the upcoming version of this Star Wars-themed mod for BF1942. There's also a HydoRacers music video showing off this BF1942 mod. 8-27-3 Doom and rocket science on CNN Money is an interview with id Software's John Carmack conducted during the QuakeCon extravaganza. One of the primary thrusts of the conversation is whether games have become too complicated, noting that he's fought the designers on DOOM 3 on a couple of issues, unsuccessfully arguing against including a crouch function and successfully convincing them that a "use" key is unnecessary. PlanetUnreal's Unreal Tournament 2004 Trip Report gives their account of heading out on a road trip to check out progress on the upcoming shooter sequel first-hand. Also, Unreal Ops has posted another ShakyCam™ clip from the game's presentation, this time showing off the Raptor vehicle and the reskinned shock rifle. 8-25-3 The Quakecon 2003 Interview on Telefragged talks with Brian "Tapper" Davis, executive director of QuakeCon, talking about the event, picking up factoids like how the event used over 15 miles of Cat5 cable and generators creating enough power to supply the town I'm in many times over. Also, more Gravity Games auditions are being held, though as has been noted, playing skills are the last of the three attributes they seem to be looking for. Here's the deal: "The GLOBAL GAMING LEAGUE ( www.GGLeague.com ), America's professional competitive video gaming organization, invites Cleveland-area video gamers to audition to be a pro gamer this Saturday, for a chance to compete for cash and prizes at the Gravity Games in Cleveland. Those with the look, attitude and skills are invited to attend an open casting call on August 23rd for a chance to compete live on stage at the 2003 Gravity Games September 10-14." EA sends word that the official Command & Conquer Generals Website has had one of those suddenly trendy relaunches, and now offers new skinny about the upcoming Zero Hour expansion for the RTS game. Santa Ana-based CenDyne was ordered by the Superior Court of California to shut down. The company has been placed into receivership, according to its voice mail message. CenDyne is no longer shipping products and is not servicing warranties or honoring rebates. 8-24-3 DOOM 3 is previewed on UGO. The first couple of previews of Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne are now online. Both GameSpot and GameSpy offer thoughts on Remedy's upcoming third-person shooter sequel based on a visit to the offices of publisher Rockstar. 8-23-3 There's a DOOM 3 preview on Eurogamer offering some fresh first-hand impressions of id Software's upcoming shooter. A story on Gamasutra (registration required) confirms rumors that Graeme Devine has departed id Software to join Ensemble Studios (thanks Frans), saying: "In his new role at Ensemble, Devine will be focusing primarily on game design." Graeme joined on at id in March of 1999 after serving as CEO of Trilobyte (The 7th Guest and The 11th Hour), a company he co-founded. In moving over to Dallas-based Ensemble, he reunites with fellow id alumnus Paul Jaquays (Ensemble now has three ex id developers: Devine, Jaquays, and Sandy Petersen). RPG Vault's World of Warcraft Q&A #2 talks with Mark Kern, producer on Blizzard's upcoming MMORPG. They go into detail about the project, discussing general goals for gameplay, balancing races, the advantages of "instancing," how internal alpha testing is progressing, and more. The Chaotic Dreams Website now offers a new version 1.02 patch for the Chaotic Dreams modification for Unreal Tournament 2003. 8-22-3 HomeLAN Fed's QuakeCon Doom III Keynote Panel Highlights is a snapshot of the panel discussion at the gaming extravaganza. The latest Half-Life 2 movie has been released via the Steam broadband delivery system. The "Barricade" video is a 123 MB download, once again in Bink format. Unrealbadlands.com now offers a new version of the Badlands modification for Unreal Tournament that converts the game's environments to the wild west. In addition to the mod, they have also released a Badlands bonus pack. 8-21-3 Skewed and Reviewed reports: "seems the writers of SWAT (Ron Mita and Jim MCClain) have been hired to write the script for DOOM .This is according to sources at Sony and verified by the media kit for SWAT in the writers Bio."... Levelord's Domain has details on the QuakeCon party he's planning on throwing this Thursday. B-F Total Gaming Network has details on this coming weekend's Battle Factory LAN in the U.K., for which spots are still available. 8-19-3 John Carmack on Rocket Science on Slashdot. The official Space Colony Website is now open for business, dedicated to this upcoming sci-fi colony construction strategy game. 8-16-3 With QuakeCon getting underway, there are some QuakeCon Doom 3 Multiplayer Impressions on HomeLAN Fed describing the multiplayer action on tap at the show. There's a Unreal Tournament 2004 Q&A on Computer and Video Games Videogames Italian Center's Half-Life 2 Q&A is the English version of their Q&A with Valve's Gabe Newell, also available in the site's native Italian. 8-13-3 PC Games has indications, in German, that Valve plans on releasing a benchmark based on the Source engine sometime prior to the release of Half-Life 2. Here's a link to the Babel Fish translation, which will allow non-German speakers to see the quote from Gary McTaggart on the subject. The English-language single player demo for XIII is now available, offering a sample of Ubi Soft's upcoming cel-shaded Unreal-engine shooter, a bit earlier than the "middle of August" that was recently predicted. The demo offers two levels for an 80 MB download, which is available from 3D Gamers, FileFront, FileShack (registration required), GameCenter, Gamer's Hell, and Loadedinc (registration required). 8-11-3 A new beta 3.0 of the Urban Terror modification for Quake III Arena is now available. Here's a bit on the new version: "The development team has essentially created an all new game, like the jump from 1.x to 2.x, Urban Terror 3 has completely new code for lag compensation, hit detection, physics and much more. We have been hard at work updating the male and female model skins, along with tweaking current weapons and their skins. We also debut the new IMI Negev and the highly anticipated game mode, Bomb/Defuse. A fully integrated UI will allow gamers and admins alike to send commands from in game." They have provided an extensive list of mirrors for the 322 MB download. A playable demo for Conflict: Desert Storm II: Back to Baghdad is now available, offering a sample of Pivotal Games' and SCI's Gulf War combat sequel. The demo is a 216 MB download, offering one mission from the game. The demo has been mirrored on 3D Gamers, FileFront, Gamer's Hell, Loadedinc (registration required), and Tiscali Games. 8-9-3 A new version 1.01 (Open Beta) patch for F/A-18 Operation Iraqi Freedom is now available on the F-A-18 Operation Iraqi Freedom Support Page. Fight the Japanese Imperial Army in EA's Medal of Honor Pacific Assault for PC is the press release officially announcing Medal of Honor Pacific Assault, a follow-up to MoH: Allied Assault that was first teased about six months ago 8-7-3 Accompanying the Unreal Tournament 2004 preview on GameSpy.com based on seeing Epic's upcoming shooter sequel at the CPL event, is a Q&A with Cliff Bleszinski to interrogate the Epic designer on the topic. Day1Studios, LLC has posted some job openings the Chicago-based developer (Mechassault) is looking to fill, including a Game Code Software Engineer, a Visual Effects Software Engineer, a Concept Artist, a 3D Artist/Level Designer, a Senior Game Designer, and a Game Designer. 8-4-3 Bill Gates (or someone who works for him) sends along word that the official Age of Mythology: The Titans Website has opened, dedicated to the upcoming expansion for Ensemble Studios' epic RTS game. The site offers a feature list, screenshots, a trailer with some new footage, and other assorted resources related to the expansion. Nvmax.com has posted a FaceOff mod Q&A asking a few questions about this UT200 modification and a Specialists mod Q&A discussing this Half-Life conversion. 8-3-3 DOOM 3 Deathmatch Playable at QuakeCon 2003 is the press release announcing that id Software's upcoming shooter will be on display at the upcoming LAN extravaganza. Here are a couple of bits:
7-30-3 The Underworld Bloodline modification for Half-Life has been released. The mod, created by They Hunger authors Einar Saukas and Neil Manke, is a tie-in with Underworld, an upcoming vampire movie that will be released next month. Word is: "Underworld Bloodline is a teamplay game similar to Capture the Flag, but uses a live target instead of a flag. Your goal is to find and capture the Hybrids and return them safely to a prison cell at your home base, battling any enemy fighters in your path." A mirror is up on Worthplaying. Though the update is not yet on the DirectX website, a new DirectX 9.0b End-User Runtime is now available for each version of Windows via the Windows Update and this webpage. Word is: "DirectX 9.0b includes security and performance updates. Download now to get the latest DirectX updates. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer. Once you have installed this item, it cannot be removed." 7-29-3 A new official XIII FAQ is now online, offering a bunch of detailed answers to questions about the upcoming Unreal-engine cell-shaded shooter. The Logitech Website now offers downloads of new version 9.78 Mouseware drivers. 7-28-3 Though id Software basically invented the idea of using "when it's done" as a release date, and thus did not specify a release date when DOOM 3 was announced, many have been assuming that the game would be available for this year's holiday season (the DOOM 3 E3 billboard did clearly promise this year). Now a report on HomeLAN Fed cites Activision's 2003 release calendar and quarterly financial conference call to gain a bit more clarity on when to expect the highly anticipated shooter sequel. Activision admits that this matter is entirely in id's hands, but that they are not expecting the game this year, and have it "penciled" on their calendars for fiscal Q4 (Jan-March) 2004. Further actual release date delays were gleaned from the proceedings as well, including word that True Crime: Streets of LA is now due in late fall 2003 and that Rome: Total War, console Call of Duty, Quake IV, and Trinity are now all due in Fiscal 2005 (which begins April 2004). 7-26-3 Gamesindustry.biz has posted a statement from id Software and Activision about some Quake IV concept art that's been leaked, "allegedly after being taken from a company network by hackers, according to some sources." The report goes on to say that it's possible that at least one website received some form of legal warning after posting the images, and offers this from the official statement:
The frantic search for those weapons of mass destruction need go no further, as Wage a Silent, Lethal War on Terrorism with the Release of Navy SEALs--Weapons of Mass Destruction for PC from ValuSoft is the press release announcing availability of this budget shooter with the elusive threat right in the title. Here's the deal: "The SEAL team has received its lethal counter-terrorism objectives. Armed with eight weapons and tools of the elite, players must secretly penetrate international hot spots from the sea, air and land to carry out their assigned missions throughout Iraq, North Korea and Pakistan. To survive their dangerous operations, gamers will rely on their combat training and stealth in 10 massive 3D levels to extract weapons inspectors, intercept sensitive intelligence, locate weapons labs and secure missile containers." 7-25-3 Chaotic Dreams has posted a hot-fix patch for Chaos UT2003 that "fixes a couple of nasty bugs" in the latest release. The Official Generals Message Boards has word that the version 1.6 patch for the latest Command & Conquer game will go live on Monday. The post, by producer Harvard Bonin, also offers details on the more than a dozen fixes and changes included in the patch. GameDaily's Gabe Newell Q&A chats with the managing director of Valve Software about Half-Life 2. The article-format conversation goes into detail about the way the game has been revealed, their relationship with perpetually for sale publisher Vivendi Universal Games, sales projections, and more. Also, Valve Talks Half-Life 2 on GameSpy.com is an interview with Valve's Doug Lombardi during a New York press event. They discuss non-static objects, outdoor areas, AI, 32 player multiplayer support, and much more. Windows XP PowerToys are now available. 7-24-3 The Phobos Lab has a post up with John Carmack's response to their question about the minimum system requirements to run id Software's upcoming DOOM 3. Here's the deal:
7-22-3 The "first final version" of the Niflheim - Souls Feast modification for Quake III Arena is now available. The mod offers single- and multiplayer support, includes six new maps, a total of 80 weapons, and more. The Inferno Pages now offer the release of the Inferno fan-made campaign for Freespace 2. Among other things, the mod adds 140 new space ships. AMD confirms Athlon 64 launch date of September 23rd. 7-21-3 The debut release of Vertigo Software's Quake II .NET is now available, porting id's Quake II source code to a managed .NET application. Here's the deal:
Quake Expo 2003 is now complete, and there is a load of stuff related to the competition for download. PlanetBattlefield has word to expect a playable demo of Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII, the upcoming BF1942 add-on, soon. No other details are available at this time. 7-20-3 There's a DOOM 3 Transcript on NewDoom.com with a text rendition of the audio interviews in the DOOM III: The Legacy movie that was released during last year's E3. The transcript offers quotes on the game from John Carmack, Kevin Cloud, Tim Willits, and even Trent Reznor, even though it turns out the NiN front-man is no longer involved in the project David Duchovny Signs on as Lead Role in Highly Anticipated Videogame -- XIII is the press release with word that the former X-Files star will take on the role of the lead character in XIII, Ubi Soft's upcoming conspiracy-laden cel-shaded shooter. David will voice the titular XIII, a secret agent with amnesia. Also, Adam West Joins Cast for Highly Anticipated Videogame - XIII has word that the actor who played the caped crusader in the classic Batman series will also join Duchovny and previously announced participant Eve as voice talent on the game. This Blizzard Entertainment Technical Support Site now offers downloads of new version 1.11 patches for Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. The updates address a number of issues, which are detailed in the patch notes. Turning towards a slightly less current game, this Interplay Entertainment webpage features a new patch for Descent III. 7-19-3 The Chaotic Dreams Website has the release of ChaosUT2: Evolution, bringing the chaos of this mod that's already available for Quake II, Unreal Tournament, and Quake III Arena to UT 2003. There's a chat log on Anarchy Online Stratics recapping their online conversation with Funcom. The theme is "the road to Shadowlands," as they focus on the upcoming add-on for the MMORPG. The extensive log covers professions, perks, housing, and more of what will and won't be included in the expansion. 7-18-3 The Wazat's mods page on the Quake Expo 2003 Website offers downloads of two entries in the expo, Galactix "an overhead arcade space shooter game reminiscent of Raptor or Kiloblaster," and Battle Mech, "an overhead multiplayer game where you pilot a Mech, picking up weapons and items and destroying opponents." Galactix is a true mod, and requires Quake to play, while Battle Mech modifies the public Quake source code, and is a stand-alone game. A new version 1.5 beta of the UnrealSpeed modification for Unreal Tournament 2003 is now available. The new version replaces all the cars from the prior releases, and thus requires a clean install. Also, Alpha 1.0 of the Faceoff mod for UT2003 is now available. Unrelated to the John Wu movie of the same name, the mod offers realistic weaponry crossed with not-particularly-realistic gameplay to retain an emphasis on fun. The 69 MB mod is an entry in the 'Make Something Unreal' contest. Finally, a beta version of Conquest Marines 2003 for UT2003 is now available, a multiplayer mod that's also entered in the MSU mod competition, though a few more tweaks will be made for the version that's ultimately entered. Thanks Gamer's Hell, where they are providing mirrors of all three mods. Part two of the ZODIAC modification for Deus Ex is now available. The new release is available as an update for the previous version, accompanied by a no-installer version for Macintosh users. ZODIAC is a set of single-player missions for Deus Ex where the player plays as Paul Denton, "the augmented brother of the infamous JC Denton." 7-17-3 BroadCraft Interactive Studios sends word of their unnamed project to create a class-based shooter using id Software's Quake III-engine. There aren't many details about the project, which has not yet been officially announced, but their note that "This game is not in any way related to the Alien movie franchise" gives a clue about gameplay. The Unreal Technology Website now offers an updated DefOpenAL32.dll for UT2003 version 2225. The update fixes spatialization issues with the default software mixer. This LucasArts press release has word that Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic has gone gold for the Xbox, while work continues on the PC version of the Star Wars RPG. The Xbox version should be in stores on July 16, and: "LucasArts also announced that in Winter 2003 it expects to make available to Xbox Live subscribers downloadable content for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Featured will be a variety of new weapons and other items to assist players on in-game quests." 7-16-3 The F-A-18 Operation Iraqi Freedom Support Page now offers a rolling demo (non-interactive, so it's more like a movie using the game engine) showing off Graphic Simulations upcoming updated version of F/A-18 Korea. The download is mirrored on 3D Gamers. FilePlanet is offering their subscribers the chance to download and play PlanetSide for a seven day trial. The Dungeon Siege Legends of Aranna Q&A on PC.IGN.Com talks with Gas Powered Games' Chris Taylor and Mad Doc's Ian David about Legends of Aranna, the upcoming expansion for Dungeon Siege. 7-15-3 A new version 1.04 of the Tenebrae modified version of the Quake (1) source code is now available. The mod provides updated graphical goodness for id's shooter including stencil shadows and per pixel lighting, and the update fixes network play, adds the ability to plays old demos and unmodified mods. The file has been mirrored on Gamer's Hell. iEntertainment Network Launches Dawn of Aces III is the press release announcing the debut of Dawn of Aces III, the latest installment in this World War I aerial combat game. The release has details on how the online game can be downloaded from TotalSims.com and played for two weeks with no charge, as well as how this will be the basis for an upcoming retail boxed WW1 flight sim called SkyKnights, due in the fall of this year. 7-14-3 The Battle Grounds Website now offers downloads of a new version 1.2 of this Revolutionary War-themed modification of Half-Life. The update addresses exploits that were present in version 1.1, and a complete list of what's new and different can be found in the changelog, and word is the next release will include new weapons and uniforms. This Whiptail Interactive Press Release announces Gangland, a game that "combines the best elements of real-time strategy, role-play and simulation gaming genres with a totally new style of in-game combat," in the works at Danish developer MediaMobsters. The game is due for release in November 2003 across the UK, Europe and North America. A product page for the game now online, as well as the game's official website. 7-13-3 The Battlefield 1942 Website now offers details on the planned Battle of Britain map for Battlefield 1942, recreating the World War II conflict Churchill called the RAF's "finest hour." Word is: "In this new Battlefield 1942 map, German forces must disable four RAF radar towers as well as the heavily-protected Harwich Weapons Factory on the coast of England. If the British can defend these targets until the German tickets run out, they can wrest victory from the jaws of defeat. With one new vehicle and one new weapon entering the fray, the Battle of Britain is set to be Battlefield 1942's fiercest campaign yet." 7-12-3 The Sven Co-op Q&A on Computer and Video Games chats with Sven Viking, project leader for Sven Co-op to learn about their plans to create an officially sanctioned Co-op mod for Half-Life 2, Valve's upcoming shooter sequel. The Far Cry preview on UGO.com offers a look at Crytek's upcoming first-person shooter based on getting to play with a preview build. They discuss the game's tropical setting, the different approaches that can be taken to solve the game's missions, AI, graphics, and more. 7-11-3 The Quake Expo 2003 Website is online, a virtual expo dedicated to Quake 1 engine projects. 7-9-3 Art of War now offers downloads of public beta version 0.91 of the Brainworks mod for Quake III Arena. As the name implies, this mod is to add more "I" to the AI for the bots in id's shooter. 7-8-3 Doomsday HQ now offers a new version 1.7.11 of the Doomsday version of the Doom engine. The change log describes what's changed in this release, which is described as a bugfix release. A new SITREP on the America's Army Website has word on the next planned update for the Unreal-engine America's Army shooter. Included is a word on the new combat medic MOS complete with training missions, a new damage model, new missions, a new interface, new character models, Punkbuster anti-cheating support, and more. The Rise of Nations Website now offers downloads of a playback repair utility to allow the playback of recorded Rise of Nations games that are broken because one of the players dropped (a function that will be integrated into the next official patch). They are also offering "a package of documents for scenario designers including a manual, list of script functions, example script, and more." 7-7-3 id Software animator Fred Nilsson has updated his .plan to offer downloads of a couple of maps, one a Quake III Arena pro map called pro-q3tourney7 that's a polished up version of one of the maps that was cut before the Quake III Arena release. The other is a Team Arena map called mpteam9.pk3 that's an evolution of q3tourney6_ctf/mpq3tourney6. He says this latter map is the one they play at id when they squeeze in some game time, so they might try to play some matches on it at QuakeCon. Rockstar Games sends news they have started shipping Midnight Club II for the PC, which is due in North American stores as early as today, and on July 11 in Europe. 7-6-3 The Blizzard Entertainment Technical Support Site now offers word on the promised version 1.10 patch for Warcraft III, which is available via the in-game auto-updater. The Patch Notes offer the extensive list of what's new and different as expressed in this forward: "The 1.10 patch is an upgrade to Reign of Chaos in preparation for the upcoming release of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, available on July 1st. This patch contains numerous new features and upgrades to Reign of Chaos, as well as several balance changes. Due to these significant changes we have moved the version number from 1.06 up to 1.10. We look forward to hearing community feedback on the new features and improved game balance. See you on Battle.net! - Blizzard Entertainment." Vivendi says key employees leave games unit is a news story reporting a flurry of departures from Blizzard, saying: "In a statement, Blizzard Entertainment said Blizzard North co-founders Erich Schaefer, Max Schaefer and David Brevik, along with a fourth employee, Bill Roper, 'resigned from the company to pursue other opportunities.'" The article goes on to discuss the implications in VU's ongoing game divestiture efforts: "While a number of other game companies are known to have an interest in Blizzard as a stand-alone asset, Vivendi Universal has been trying to sell its games business as a complete entity as it looks to shed entertainment-related assets to pay down debt." 7-5-3 New Deus Ex: Invisible War ShakyCam movies are now available on Pregaming and Worthplaying showing off ION Storm's upcoming FPS/RPG. Also, a trailer for The Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King has been released, and can be found on Worthplaying. Finally, the Eon of Tears Media Page on RPG Radar now offers downloads of the E3 trailer from Eon of Tears as a 15 MB DivX-format 7-4-3 The Max Payne 2 Teaser Website is now live. VERC's Half-Life 2 Source Mod FAQ is online, offering some collected intelligence about Valve's shooter sequel and its underlying technology. 7-3-3 Sven Co-op announces Sven Co-op for Half-Life 2 with word that they will be receiving cooperation from Valve in adding cooperation to the Half-Life sequel. 7-2-3 Version 1.7 of the Deathball modification for Unreal Tournament 2003 is now available. The new release tweaks gameplay in the first-person sports mod, and adds a new Deathball-Tennis mode. 7-1-3 A chat session is planned for tomorrow with the folks at Epic Games to discuss their NVIDIA $1,000,000 Make Something Unreal contest, as well as whatever other Unreal-related topics that may come up. Attendees will include Epic's Mark Rein, Tim Sweeney, and Steve Polge as well as various sponsors and community pundits. The festivities get underway this evening at 5:00 PM EDT, in the channel #ut2003 on the server irc.enterthegame.com. "Warcraft III the Frozen Throne" Now Available is the press release announcing the availability of the Frozen Throne expansion for Blizzard's RTS sequel. Here's the deal: "Following in the tradition of previous Blizzard expansion sets, 'Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne' provides gamers with a vast new chapter in the epic Warcraft saga. In the single-player campaign, players revisit the war-torn world of Azeroth. Several months have passed since Archimonde and the Burning Legion were defeated at the battle of Mount Hyjal, yet a new threat has arisen throughout the land." |
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