February 2003

Friday, February 28, 2003

Chrome Screenshots ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 4:00 PM MST Friday, February 28, 2003 [Comment on news]

XGR has posted up eight new screenshots of Chrome, an upcoming sci-fi shooter.


Will Rock Movie ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 3:58 PM MST Friday, February 28, 2003 [Comment on news]

Another new movie showing off gameplay from Will Rock has been released. You can download the trailer showing off Saber Interactive's upcoming first person shooter from Ubi Soft's direct FTP web site, and at FileShack.


Line of Sight: Vietnam Trailer ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 3:53 PM MST Friday, February 28, 2003 [Comment on news]

A new trailer for Line of Sight: Vietnam is now available, showing off some of this upcoming shooter that is set in the jungles of Vietnam. You can grab the 20 MB download from FilePlanet and Worthplaying.


2002 Interactive Achievement Award Winners....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 3:50 PM MST Friday, February 28, 2003 [Comment on news]

Blue's News has posted a press release from The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) announcing the results of last night's ceremony held in Las Vegas to hand out the Interactive Achievement Awards for 2002. Among the honorees are the Computer Action Game of the Year award for Grand Theft Auto III, the Computer First Person Action Game of the Year award for Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, and the Computer Game of the Year award for 2002 Battlefield 1942.


Counter Strike: Condition Zero Screenshots....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 3:47 PM MST Friday, February 28, 2003 [Comment on news]

Yesterday Gaming Horizon posted up 10 new screenshots from the upcoming Counter Strike: Condition Zero. Check 'em out!


New Enter The Matrix Movies....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 3:44 PM MST Friday, February 28, 2003 [Comment on news]

You can now download a bunch of new Enter The Matrix movies from the game's official website, including a 75MB one showing off some of the kung-fu action from the game.


Unreal II Editing Stuff....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 3:41 PM MST Friday, February 28, 2003 [Comment on news]

Former Legend Senior Designer Matthias Worch has updated his site with some Unreal II editing stuff, including links to the just released Unreal II test maps and documentation. (Spotted on PlanetUnreal)


UT 2003 Servers: Upgrade to v2199....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 3:36 PM MST Friday, February 28, 2003 [Comment on news]

Just a reminder that if you are running a UT2003 server you need to keep it up to date! Here's the scoop:

All servers *MUST* upgrade to version 2199. It contains important fixes for several server exploits. The master server will stop advertising older servers by the end of next week. If your favorite server doesn't have the "latest server" icon in the server browser (not visible in the favorites page), contact your server admin, and get him to upgrade!

Grab the updated dedicated server files or patch from FilePlanet: UT2003 v2199 Dedicated Server Windows (247 MB) and UT2003 v2199 Dedicated Server Linux (231 MB).


Wednesday, February 26, 2003

Breed Screenshots ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 12:29 PM MST Wednesday, February 26, 2003 [Comment on news]

The official Breed website has four new screenshots from this sci-fi shooter, showing a few different scenes from the game.


Delta Force: Black Hawk Down Gameplay Movie....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 12:26 PM MST Wednesday, February 26, 2003 [Comment on news]

Computer and Video Games has posted up a new gameplay movie from Delta Force: Black Hawk Down, the upcoming military shooter from Novalogic.


Vietcong Screenshots ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 12:23 PM MST Wednesday, February 26, 2003 [Comment on news]

ToTheGame has posted up a bundle of screenshots from Pterodon's and GodGames' upcoming FPS title, Vietcong. You can check them out here.


The Road to Rome Review ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 12:18 PM MST Wednesday, February 26, 2003 [Comment on news]

PC Gameworld has posted a review of DICE's Italian add-on for Battlefield 1942, The Road to Rome. Here's a snippet:

"Let me say this about multi-player with RTR, and then the remainder of my review will be about the single-player game. It’s true that up to 64 gamers can do battle with multi-player, but that’s if the server is equipped to handle the load. Otherwise, you’ll get Lag City. It’s also true that multi-player can be fun and is the only way to play for some gamers. Just get a group of buddies together to team up to take on the world and RTR, like BF42, is big time fun."


Unreal II: The Awakening Review ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 12:14 PM MST Wednesday, February 26, 2003 [Comment on news]

The Electric Playground has posted its review of Legend Entertainment's long awaited sci-fi shooter sequel, Unreal II: The Awakening. Here's a snip:

"Something else that helps the missions is a sense of humor. The game isn't afraid to make the odd crack (I like the early reference to Unreal Tournament). There is a mission where you have to protect the most obnoxious scientist in the universe, and he and Dalton have a few fun exchanges. The voice acting is pretty good, and there's enough dialogue to go around to get the point across, but you never get bogged down in conversation, a smart decision for an action game."


New Excessive Overkill Released....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 12:04 PM MST Wednesday, February 26, 2003 [Comment on news]

The fourth version of Excessive Overkill, a popular mod for Quake III, Star Trek: Elite Force, Unreal Tournament - and now for Unreal Tournament 2003, has been released. For those of you who don't know, here's a description from the official site:

"Excessive is an over-the-top mod that makes all the weapons super-powerful, turns off self-damage, gives all the players regenerating health and ammo, and makes every game into a wild and crazy frag-fest! In the fast and furious bloodfest that is Excessive, it's not about staying alive; it's about taking as many people as possible out with you.

You can grab the latest version for UT 2003 here and the dedicated server needed to host EO games here.


UT2003 v2199 Patch....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:58 AM MST Wednesday, February 26, 2003 [Comment on news]

FilePlanet now has the Unreal Tournament 2003 v2199 Patch available. This patch will bring new fixes, features, and compatibility to the game. You can get all the details and the 12.6 MB patch here.


Tuesday, February 25, 2003

Latest UT2K3 "Ownage" Award ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 3:17 PM MST Tuesday, February 25, 2003 [Comment on news]

CliffyB, Lead Designer at Epic, has posted the latest map to receive his UT2K3 "Ownage" award. This time the award was awarded to Nathan Overman who designed CTF-BollwerkRuins for Capture The Flag. (Spotted on XGR)


DF: Black Hawk Down Screenshots....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 3:08 PM MST Tuesday, February 25, 2003 [Comment on news]

ToTheGame has posted a bunch of screenshots from Novalogic's DF: Black Hawk Down. You can take a gander here.


Computer Made from DNA and Enzymes....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 2:34 PM MST Tuesday, February 25, 2003 [Comment on news]

NationalGeographic.com has posted an article reporting that Israeli scientists have devised a computer that can perform 330 trillion operations per second, more than 100,000 times the speed of the fastest PC.... and it runs on DNA! Here's a snip:

"Think of DNA as software, and enzymes as hardware. Put them together in a test tube. The way in which these molecules undergo chemical reactions with each other allows simple operations to be performed as a byproduct of the reactions. The scientists tell the devices what to do by controlling the composition of the DNA software molecules. It's a completely different approach to pushing electrons around a dry circuit in a conventional computer."
Hmmmm... very interesting. You can read the rest here.


Monday, February 24, 2003

Hardware News....
Posted by [luckee] @ 5:10 PM MST Monday, February 24, 2003 [Comment on news]

- TwistedMods reviews the R.A.C.H.A.L. Computer Exhaust System.
- Viperlair show you how to change a fan's voltage/speed.
- Hexus reviews the MSI GeForce4 Ti 4800-SE video card.
- ETech reviews the 60mm-80mm LED Fan Adapter.
- ClubOC reviews the Highpoint Rocket RAID 1542 card.
- Neoseeker reviews the Gainward GF4 Ultra/750-8X XP video card.
- Ownt interviews one of Alienware's founders, Alex Aguila.
- Legitreviews checks out the OCZ Gladiator II and Dominator 2-CU heatsinks.
- OC's Club reviews the Aspire X-Pider Aluminum Case.
- EnvyNews reviews the Transcend 30x 128MB CF card.
- ThinkTechie reviews the Vantec CopperX 6040H cooler.
- HWZone
has posted IDF Spring 2003 Update Part 3.
- DeviantPC reviews the Asus P4G8X Granite Bay Board.
- 8BallsHW reviews the Speeze 7T268B1M3 CoolCat Combination Cooler.


[Afternoon Mocha]....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 3:39 PM MST Monday, February 24, 2003 [Comment on news]

Did you get a chance to check out our Devastation preview that I posted up the other day? If you haven't yet, you can right here. The preview has 18 exclusive screenshots included.


Unreal 2 Review....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 3:32 PM MST Monday, February 24, 2003 [Comment on news]

Firing Squad has posted a review of Unreal 2. Here's a nibblet from their intro to get you started:

"Unreal 2 is one of the most criminally bland shooters you'll ever play. It tells a story cobbled together from nearly every first person shooter cliche in the book. It doesn't really go anyplace interesting, it doesn't give you anyone memorable to shoot, and, worst of all, it doesn’t give you anything terribly thrilling to shoot them with. And at times, it simply will not shut up. It manages to take the considerable power of the Unreal Tournament 2003 engine and squander it on derivative and uninspired gameplay. All told, it feels like a budget title built from AAA technology."
Owie!! ;)


Trench Rats: The Great War Q&A....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 3:29 PM MST Monday, February 24, 2003 [Comment on news]

The-junkyard.net has posted a Trench Rats: The Great War Q&A where they chat with Sgt Gimp about the Trench Rats mod for Battlefield 1942. (Spotted on Blue's News)


Battlefield 1942: The Road To Rome Review....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 3:26 PM MST Monday, February 24, 2003 [Comment on news]

TechTV has posted a brief review of Digital Illusion's expansion pack for Battlefield 1942, The Road to Rome. Here's a tidbit:

"The Road to Rome" greatly improves the little-noted single-player mode. The previously brain-dead AI bots now fight more or less effectively. It's hardly as interesting as online play, but the change makes it easier to get acquainted with the ins and outs of maps off-line.


IGI 2: Covert Strike Review....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 3:23 PM MST Monday, February 24, 2003 [Comment on news]

ActionTrip has posted an IGI 2: Covert Strike review today. Here's a snip:

"...Though the AI code has improved over the original (which just plain sucked) you can still exploit some AI blunders by your opponents and actually get away with murder, so to speak. The AI still is easily led into traps and kill zones. Most of the time you can lure the baddies to follow you into a room where you can calmly set yourself and line them up one by one. Your opponents are quite accurate and deadly in open spaces. They'll toss those pineapples at ya like you wouldn't believe. But, if you manage to get your ass into a small space they'll have real problems figuring out that they're not supposed to just casually walk in one after another. An obvious solution might've been to make a routine so that the AI would fling a grenade before walking into a small confided space where you're hiding, but that was obviously too tough for the folks at Innerloop."


Sunday, February 23, 2003

UT 2003 Patch Info....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:00 PM MST Sunday, February 23, 2003 [Comment on news]

Epic Games' Steve Polge has made another post on the official Unreal Tournament 2003 message board detailing some of the changes, fixes and additions in the next patch.


Q&A w/2015's Tom Kudirka ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 5:57 PM MST Sunday, February 23, 2003 [Comment on news]

GIGNews has posted a Q&A with 2015's Tom Kudirka where they chat about their recent WW2 game (Medal of Honor), their upcoming Vietnam game (Men of Valor), and the game industry in general. Check it out! (Spotted on HomeLan)


Delta Force: Black Hawk Down Preview ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 5:51 PM MST Sunday, February 23, 2003 [Comment on news]

GameSpy has posted a preview of Novalogic's upcoming tactical shooter, Delta Force: Black Hawk Down, that is based upon a recent viewing of it at the developer's offices in Calabasas, CA. Here's a bit from their opening:

"The word "immersion" gets tossed around a lot in the world of game development these days. To some, it's little more than an annoying marketing buzzword. To some game developers, however, it represents a goal: to create a world that gives the player the illusion of really being there. It doesn't happen often, but every once in a while the stars align and you get a game so vividly brought to life that players find themselves ducking in their chairs to avoid onscreen danger.

If that sounds like your kind of thing, then the team at NovaLogic may be cooking up some magic you'll be interested in with Delta Force: Black Hawk Down. Based on US forces' real-life peacekeeping efforts in Somalia, 1993, the game mixes tactical squad combat and close-quarters battles with high-octane action and sprawling outdoor firefights, an interesting mix of controlled chaos that hasn't been seen in many titles to date."


PlanetSide Beta Signups Re-opened....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 5:44 PM MST Sunday, February 23, 2003 [Comment on news]

Sony Online Entertainment has re-opened sign-ups for its first-person massively multiplayer action game, PlanetSide, due out later this year. You can Signup on the official PlanetSide site.


Friday, February 21, 2003

Chaser Goodies....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:43 AM MST Friday, February 21, 2003 [Comment on news]

ShackNews has posted a partial list of weapons from the FPS game Chaser and five new screenshots as well. Check 'em out!


IGI 2 Dedicated Server ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:37 AM MST Friday, February 21, 2003 [Comment on news]

Codemasters has released a Win32 dedicated server for IGI 2: Covert Strike in advance of the game's retail release, allowing people to run multiplayer servers for the full retail version of Innerloop's first person shooter without needing the actual game. You can download the server at Codemasters' official web site or from any of the following: 3D Gamers, Gamershell and FileShack.


Updated UT2003 Demo....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:30 AM MST Friday, February 21, 2003 [Comment on news]

Yesterday epic released an updated version of the UT2003 demo, here's the scoop from Steven Polge:

The 2206 demo is identical to full version of UT2003 patched to 2199, except it can only play demo levels. It has support for all languages supported by UT2003.

Also, with the new demo, full version clients can join demo servers (but not vice versa), and demo servers will show up on the server browser for full version clients. We've also added an additional CTF map (CTF-Orbital2) to the demo.

Anyone running a demo server should upgrade immediately. The upcoming Mac UT2003 demo will be compatible with this demo version.
You can grab the new UT2003 v2206 Windows Demo (142.1 MB) here.


Raven Shield MP Demo Anti-Cheat Patch....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:28 AM MST Friday, February 21, 2003 [Comment on news]

Ubi Soft Entertainment released a new patch for the Raven Shield multiplayer demo. This update prevents cheats and GOD mode being used in multiplayer demo. You must have the v1.1a patch and v1.2 patch installed first.


Devastation Preview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:18 AM MST Friday, February 21, 2003 [Comment on news]

Over this past week, we have had the opportunity to play a press build of Digitalo’s upcoming first person shooter Devastation, sent out by Publisher Arush Entertainment, and have posted up a preview with a grundle of exclusive screenshots. You can check it out here.


Tuesday, February 18, 2003

Mortyr 2 Revealed ....
Posted by [luckee] @ 1:20 AM MST Tuesday, February 18, 2003 [Comment on news]
The Mirage Interactive Website has official word that Mortyr II, a sequel to their World War II first-person shooter, is in production. They offer a description of new engine features they already have running in their work-in-progress version (for demonstrating the game to potential publishers), and a promise to keep us informed with future updates and screenshots.

Thanks
BNews


Monday, February 17, 2003

Hardware News....
Posted by [luckee] @ 11:01 AM MST Monday, February 17, 2003 [Comment on news]
Today’s Tech reviews:


Saturday, February 15, 2003

Hardware News....
Posted by [luckee] @ 4:58 PM MST Saturday, February 15, 2003 [Comment on news]
Today’s Tech reviews:


Urban Terror Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 4:50 PM MST Saturday, February 15, 2003 [Comment on news]

HomeLAN has posted an interview with "Oswald" of Silicon Ice Development where they talk about the status of the popular Quake III Arena mod Urban Terror. Here's a nibblet:

HomeLAN - What can you tell us about plans for major updates to the mod (in terms of maps, models, gametypes etc)?

Oswald - Right now we are working on the implementation of a bomb/defuse scenario that will be introduced in Beta 2.7. This is something that we experimented with back when Beta 2 was under development, but we stopped development on the idea. We recently picked it up again, after other games have shown quite a bit of success with modes of this type. We think Urban Terror will be no different and that gamers will be attracted to the new mode once it is completed.


Unreal Tournament 2003 Patch....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 4:45 PM MST Saturday, February 15, 2003 [Comment on news]

A new patch for Epic Games' and Digital Extremes' UT2003 has been released. You can download the file from FileShack and 3D Gamers. The patch contains a bunch of improvements and additions and hopefully addresses the DoS network stuff.


Mobile Forces In Game Browser Fix....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 4:32 PM MST Saturday, February 15, 2003 [Comment on news]

Hey all... did you read over on the forums MobileForces.org that our pal gearloose has come up with a fix to the in game browser problem? I tried it here on one of the PCShooter.com servers and all seems to work fine, just be sure to back up your original files just in case - as we are not responsible and you use these fixes at your own risk. I found two guys in France and played on their server for a few and will probably launch a server a little later on today for a match with some forum regulars come join if you see us on.

If you haven't heard about this fix, or have and just need the files, check out this thread in the forums. Hope it works for you too!

w00t Thanks gearloose!


Devastation Screenshots....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 4:27 PM MST Saturday, February 15, 2003 [Comment on news]

My buddy Paligap at XGR has posted up some exclusive screenshots of Devastation. Check 'em out!

And watch for a preview and some exclusive shots from us early next week!


Devastation Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 4:21 PM MST Saturday, February 15, 2003 [Comment on news]

The other day ELiTeD posted up an interview (in article format) with Digitalo's Vic DeLeon about their upcoming fps, Devastation. Here's a snip:

"...We also asked him to tell us more about OFX VisualFX system. To which he replied, "OFX is an advanced particle system built on top of the Latest Unreal Particle system by Daniel Vogel at Epic. We enhanced it to support the kinds of things that you normally wouldn't think of. There's so much cool stuff about our particles it's hard to explain in an interview of this size but I’ll start with our liquid FX, as they are pretty impressive. Blood squirts out of the severed limbs rather nicely, and drips out onto the ground, as splatters of blood are projected onto nearby walls and surfaces- even your face. Shooting at water produces nice streams or fountains, as the bullets hit the surface, and little droplets land and form the expanding rings, concentrically from the center of each impact area. It’s very lifelike and you have to see it in action.

Likewise, you can see in-game physics in action in both SP and MP as all kinds of debris will go flying in every direction. Common items in the world are linked to it, and are affected by the OFX system, like if you toss a grenade into a room, stuff goes flying all over the place- chairs, cans, everyday items in the maps especially bodies, as steam trails and particles of hot-glowing ash fly about and bounce off the ground, landing in little piles.""


BF1942 v1.31 Info....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 4:15 PM MST Saturday, February 15, 2003 [Comment on news]

EA/D.I.C.E have posted another community update at the Battlefield 1942 homepage which features some information on the v1.31 patch. No release date for this patch has been given yet, but here are the details of what it will fix:

-- Wall Hacking
-- Parachuting Into Objects
-- Single Player and Co-Op Crashes
-- Stand Alone Server Error
-- Text display on-screen time


CliffyB's Gaming University ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 4:11 PM MST Saturday, February 15, 2003 [Comment on news]

Over at GameSpy, Epic's CliffyB answers reader questions about how to get into the gaming biz. You can check it out here.


Unreal II Patch Confirmed....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 4:08 PM MST Saturday, February 15, 2003 [Comment on news]

Legend's Glen Dahlgren just made a post on the official boards, announcing an upcoming Unreal II patch.

"I wanted to give you all a quick update about what's happening on the home front. While we Legend guys haven't been posting here as much as we'd like (things are still pretty crazy here), I assure you we have been reading your comments and concerns, and we take them all very seriously.

As you may have read in the forum already, we're planning on releasing a patch sometime soon. It should address a number of the issues that people have raised in these forums. As well, we're going to be releasing a demo, especially targeted at those of you who want to 'try before you buy'. It should be a great benchmark to see how the game runs on your particular system.

In a later post, I'll try to get you some specifics about both of these, but it shouldn't be too long until you've actually got them in your hands.


Thursday, February 13, 2003

Devastation Build In The House....
Posted by [luckee] @ 5:26 PM MST Thursday, February 13, 2003 [Comment on news]

We got our Press only preview build of Devastation earlier today, (thanks D Case) I’ve been sitting here drooling over what I’ve seen so far. Words can’t even explain how realistic this game is. You thought MOH, was realistic, that’s old news. Devastation brings a whole new experience to the table. First off, I’ll say if you don’t have at least an 1.7 beefed up gaming rig with at least a 64 meg gf4 4200 card, forget it. I loaded it on my dual 1 GHz machine but this game doesn’t take advantage of dual processors, so right off I’m playing around with a 1 GHz machine choppie even at 1024x768. I then loaded on my new p4 2.2 512 of ddr and gf4 4200 it ran like a champ. Even at 1280x1024, it ran like a porche. The build came packed with 5 levels and tons of cool weapons. That’s all I’m gonna say at this point, so stay tuned. This weekend we will have a preview posted up as well as an interview down the road. The game will ship with 21 singleplayer and 14 multiplayer maps.



Monday, February 10, 2003

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Oblivion Lost....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 12:37 PM MST Monday, February 10, 2003 [Comment on news]

The official site for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Oblivion Lost has been updated with some new gameplay and concept articles, and some concept art. This title is scheduled for release in November 2003. Go check it out!


Desert Combat Interview ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 12:30 PM MST Monday, February 10, 2003 [Comment on news]

Quadract has posted a Desert Combat Interview where they catch up with the team behind the Desert Combat modification for Battlefield 1942. Topics covered include the experience of creating the mod, as well as plans for the future.

Luckee played this mod Sunday night for a bit... he could probably give us some more insight on if it's any fun!


New Soldier9's Realism Mod ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 12:04 PM MST Monday, February 10, 2003 [Comment on news]

A new version 2.2 of Soldier9's Realism Mod for Battlefield 1942 is now available.

"Providing you with the most realistic experience possible from the Refractor2 Engine. The S9RM contains new weapons, physics, vehicles and skins. All historically accurate so you get the total war experience."
(Spotted on Blue's News)


IGI 2: Covert Strike Multiplayer Beta Test Returns ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 12:00 PM MST Monday, February 10, 2003 [Comment on news]

There's an updated IGI 2: Covert Strike Multiplayer Beta Test now available. This new release has been updated based on feedback from testers of the first version:

"The new code includes many game balancing tweaks, such as changes to damage levels and rate of fire, as well as changes to the mission itself."
The 116 MB file can be found on the Codemasters FTP Server (direct link), as well as on 3D Gamers, Computer Games Online, Gamer's Hell, and Worthplaying.


Battlefield 1942: The Road To Rome Review ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:54 AM MST Monday, February 10, 2003 [Comment on news]

Game.net has posted a review of the expansion back to BF1942: The Road to Rome. Here's a taste:

"...How come? You may well ask. That's because the general gameplay of Battlefield is stunning enough to take some weaknesses, especially when you take into account just how fantabulous the new levels are. There may be only six, but they are tightly designed, each adding their own special flavour - whether it be frantic uphill dashes, bullet ridden bottle necks at strategic bridges or a constant battle to control an all important central point. Each level plays with the rules (no spawning here, this base can't be taken over etcetera, etcetera) just enough to tweak things and notch up the heat of gameplay without confusing issues. With the right amount of players each map is a veritable playground, with the way you re-spawn (if you die, you choose one of your bases to come back to life at) meaning that both sides feel as if they're attacking or defending wave after wave of soldiers."


Purge Beta Updated Again....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:47 AM MST Monday, February 10, 2003 [Comment on news]

Yesterday there was another update released to the FPS/RPG hybrid, Purge. According to the build notes, this version focuses on optimizations to the net code which will result in a large drop in ping times according to the developer Freeform Interactive. Check it out!


Delta Force: Black Hawk Down Demo Impressions....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:41 AM MST Monday, February 10, 2003 [Comment on news]

GamingNEXT has posted up their impressions of the Delta Force: Black Hawk Down demo. Here's a nibblet:

"One of the same issues are present which is the difficulty of spotting enemies at a long distance. What I'd like to see is a delayed enemy marker if your reticle is within a certain distance. I left one server just because a sniper had picked up such a good vantage point it was impossible to find him. I finally, after spawning back in several times, was able to locate the originating point of fire but was never able to actually hit him as it was impossible to tell if I had him in my reticle or some piece of debris."


Unreal II: The Awakening Review....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:26 AM MST Monday, February 10, 2003 [Comment on news]

Games Domain has posted a review of Legend's Unreal II: The Awakening. Here's a snip:

"When you get right down to it, though, Unreal II: The Awakening is decidedly average even with the annoyances. Sure, this is a more than acceptable traditional FPS with over-the-moon production values and some durable, station-wagon-like gameplay, and should appease the diehards suffering from FPS withdrawal these last few months. But if you're a little more discriminating, or are one of those online types who expects to get a lot of multiplayer mileage out of a purchase, you might want to hold off until this one drops out of the new release price range. After all of this development time, it's a shame that the sequel to one of the most esteemed shooters in the history of computer gaming couldn't be more things to more people."
You can read the whole review here.


Unreal II Sound Issues....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:24 AM MST Monday, February 10, 2003 [Comment on news]

For those of you who have been struggling from the UAL Audio Subsystem PlaySound crash in Unreal II, the official forums has posted a fix for you. What you need to do is turn off EAX audio. You also might see an improvement by updating your sound drivers. Rest assured however because Creative and Epic are working on a solution that will eliminate the issue.


Thursday, February 6, 2003

Unreal II Review....
Posted by [luckee] @ 1:05 PM MST Thursday, February 6, 2003 [Comment on news]
One of my favorite site 3DGPU.com has posted up a good review of newly released Unreal 2. Here’s a snip

    The one saving factor to this game is the visuals. Noone can deny that this is the most visually gorgeous game you can buy today on any platform. Sumptious textures, realistic shadows and lightings, very high polycounts, sweet architecture, oodles of smoke and fire effects that'll make you give a very Keanu Reeves-like "Woah." We hardcore gamers are hypocrites. Honestly. We'll say we prefer gameplay over visuals, yet there are tons of games out there with so much more gameplay than this one, yet we won't buy it (mostly because they aren't hyped enough), but we'll buy a game like this just for the eye candy. The #1 reason being is that we spend hundreds of dollars for our computer, and we'd like to have a game that taxes our computer and impresses us for our money spent. But take note, we want BOTH stellar gameplay AND stellar visuals. I know that's asking for 1 more than what most developers like to give, but if PC developers don't want to lose money because so many people are flocking to the consoles, then they need to wake up and smell the coffee! Make a gorgeous game that gives us fun!
    I'd much rather play Croteam's Serious Sam than Unreal 2, because I am guaranteed not only great graphics, but great and fun gameplay as well. Serious Sam 1 and 2 has been on my hard drive the day I installed it, and it has never been uninstalled. I've played both games off and on when I want to have a quick fix of fun. Not bad for games that costs $20.

You can read the rest here.


[Mornin' Mocha]....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:50 AM MST Thursday, February 6, 2003 [Comment on news]

So how many of you out there were lucky enough yesterday to find a retailer with a copy of BF1942: Road to Rome still in stock? The mad rush was on yesterday at about this time, as retailers in the area were inundated with gamers looking for this much anticipated expansion pack. Is it any good? We'll just have to wait a couple of days for the reviews to start pouring in, and maybe Luckee will write up one as well as he was one of the lucky few to get his mitts on the game!


Unreal Engine Exploit & Patch Plans....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:55 AM MST Thursday, February 6, 2003 [Comment on news]

There's an interesting post over at Blue's News that I'm just going to copy in its entirety for you:

"A recently-posted BugTraq listing (thanks 3DGPU) outlines a vulnerability in Epic's Unreal engine that's susceptible to DoS, DDoS and bounce attacks with spoofed UDP packets. The report outlines the problem, which affects dozens of games from Unreal through Unreal II, and describes how the author of the report held off on publicizing this for almost three months to give time for Epic to devise a fix. I contacted Epic's Mark Rein to ask about this and he was very frank about how this had indeed been brought to their attention, but had unfortunately fallen through the cracks. He sent along a list of changes for the next planned UT2003 patch which will now address these vulnerabilities, and says it's likely that a small patch will be issued to address these in the original version of Unreal Tournament as well. As for other games using the Unreal engine, he says that fixes like this are always made available to licensees, who will then be able to issue patches of their own should they so choose. Here is Mark's no-holds-barred assessment of why this went unaddressed after being brought to their attention:"
"I won't sugar coat this. We fucked up on this. Yes this is real and yes this was brought to our attention and yes we should have fixed it by now. We are working on fixing this now and we will have this fixed in an upcoming patch before too long."
Ouch!!! :(


Battlefield 1942: The Road to Rome Q&A #1....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:52 AM MST Thursday, February 6, 2003 [Comment on news]

Yesterday Action Vault posted up a Battlefield 1942: The Road to Rome Q&A #1 where they ask the developers to tell about their favorite new and original maps for Battlefield 1942: Road to Rome. Check it out!


Unreal II Review ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:44 AM MST Thursday, February 6, 2003 [Comment on news]

GameSpot has posted a review of Unreal II. Here's a snip:

Because the missions are strictly linear and because there's no multiplayer, there isn't much incentive to play Unreal II again after the roughly 10 hours it takes to beat the game on normal. It has really good graphics, and, apart from its awful dialogue, it's certainly not painful to play--but it lacks the spark that separates truly great shooters from all the rest. It doesn't have Halo's vehicles and clever AI, Serious Sam's over-the-top action and spectacular boss battles, No One Lives Forever 2's inspired level design, or Medal of Honor's memorable set pieces. As shooters go, it's competent but for the most part unremarkable.
You can read the rest here.


UT2003 v. 2186+ Tweak Guide ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:42 AM MST Thursday, February 6, 2003 [Comment on news]

Epic's Steven Polge has posted an official UT2003 tweak guide that provides an overview of how to get the best possible performance out of UT2003, when you have patched the game to version 2186 or higher. You can check it out here.


Tuesday, February 4, 2003

Hardware News....
Posted by [luckee] @ 12:58 PM MST Tuesday, February 4, 2003 [Comment on news]
Today’s Tech reviews:


Monday, February 3, 2003

Xenus Q&A....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:25 AM MST Monday, February 3, 2003 [Comment on news]

PC-Gaming.com has posted up a Q&A with Alexander Khrutsky of Deep Shadows as he talks about their upcoming first person action-RPG Xenus.


Chaser Screenshots....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:18 AM MST Monday, February 3, 2003 [Comment on news]

To go along with the Chaser details, JoWood has released four new screenshots as well. You can check them out over at ShackNews.


New UT Strike Force....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:14 AM MST Monday, February 3, 2003 [Comment on news]

A new version 1.81 of the Strike-Force modification for Unreal Tournament is now available. The new release eliminates "death lag," tweaks the SMGs, adds a new "authentic" g36 scope, working Dualgun settings, and more.


Devastation Chats....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:47 AM MST Monday, February 3, 2003 [Comment on news]

HomeLan has posted up some Devastation goodies. First off they have an interview with Donald Chase of Arush Entertainment, publishers of Devastation. Second they're wrapping up their Devastation Developer Q&A series with a chat with Digitalo's Bob Berry, the game's lead designer. Check 'em out!


UT2003 v2186 Patch ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:43 AM MST Monday, February 3, 2003 [Comment on news]

During my news hiatus last week... Epic released the latest UT2003 patch. You can grab it from FilePlanet, AusGamers, and FileShack.


Chaser....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:12 AM MST Monday, February 3, 2003 [Comment on news]

I just received this press release from JoWood Productions:

JoWooD Productions is proud to announce the first official details on the gripping futuristic storyline behind the breathtaking first-person shoot 'em up, Chaser, the PC game scheduled for a UK release in Q2 2003.

Chaser is set in the year 2044 with players taking the role of John Chaser who, at the beginning of the game, wakes up suffering from amnesia on board the spaceship HMS Majestic being pursued by a crack team of heavily armed shocktroop soldiers. The game then takes players into an apocalyptic future set on Earth and Mars.

Many people decided that respectable life on Earth was no longer possible as its derelict cities only provide scant shelter to humans suffering poverty on an unprecedented scale. Meanwhile suburbia has become a haven for gangs of violent criminals who have made the streets a place where all innocent people fear to tread. The backdrop to Chaser is a planet Earth that has become a centre for hardship and anarchy.

In an attempt to ease the suffering, humans have colonised Mars since the year 2042. The organisation championing this move is MarsCorp, led by its charismatic founder, Samuel Longwood. Inhabiting Mars has proved a tremendous success for all involved but Longwood is a hugely ambitious man and even though he has incredible influence on both Earth and Mars, he is putting the final touches to his master plan - for Mars to have complete autonomy from Earth. The reasons behind this plan have not been made clear but there is a small but vocal minority that believe that this is to further the influence that Longwood has, making him without doubt one of the most powerful men in the solar system.

Commenting on the the game, Colin Grant, Marketing Manager at JoWooD Productions said: "Chaser is more exciting than finding out Kylie is your new nextdoor neighbour and more nerve-racking than finding out that Saddam Hussein has moved into the house opposite! The pace will never let up as you go careering through each dramatic plot twist and turn in a hail of bullets!"

Chaser will be released in the UK in Q2 2003 on PC CD Rom with an ELSPA rating of 15+.