March 2002

Sunday, March 31, 2002

SoF2 Stuff....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:41 AM MST Sunday, March 31, 2002 [Comment on news]
ShackNews has an interview "teaser" up today talking about a SoF2 interview they'll post in a couple of days. They're offering advanced information about the rumored SoF2 demo. Here's what they had to say:


More of Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:37 AM MST Sunday, March 31, 2002 [Comment on news]
HomeLan has posted a preview of Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project, based on playing a partial build of the full game. They also have nine screenshots taken from the build. Here's a snip:


Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project Screenshots....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:34 AM MST Sunday, March 31, 2002 [Comment on news]
Blue Monday has posted some screenshots from Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project. Check 'em out!


Hitman 2 Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:32 AM MST Sunday, March 31, 2002 [Comment on news]
Savegames.net has posted an interview with Io Interactive's Thor Frolich about Hitman 2: Silent Assassin.


Max Payne: Kung-Fu Edition....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:29 AM MST Sunday, March 31, 2002 [Comment on news]
3DAction Planet has posted an article today where they talk about Max Payne: Kung-Fu Edition. Here's their intro to get you started:

    "Over six months on from the release of Max Payne, there have been well over a hundred mods released. Many of these are the usual addition or changing of weapons and some have added some basic pain skins and the like. However, there is one mod which has not only fundamentally changed the gameplay but opened up a whole new arena for Max Payne modmaking in future - the Max Payne: Kung Fu Edition mod."


[Mornin' Mocha]....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:24 AM MST Sunday, March 31, 2002 [Comment on news]
Happy Easter! It's a beautiful day out today, nice and sunny... just the way I like it, and it's finally starting to warm up.

Have you had the opportunity to pick up Jedi Knight II? We got our copies the other day and have just started playing and so far we like what we've seen. We'll be posting a review here soon, but for now why don't you check out our interview we did with Brett Tosti of LucasArts a few months back.


Saturday, March 30, 2002

C&C: Renegade Beta Screenshots....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:27 AM MST Saturday, March 30, 2002 [Comment on news]
XGR has also posted over a dozen screenshots from Westwood's newest beta for their FPS, C&C: Renegade. These shots show off battles with the Orca and Apache flying vehicles which are being beta tested right now.


Operation Flashpoint: Resistance Q&A....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:21 AM MST Saturday, March 30, 2002 [Comment on news]
Action Vault has posted a Q&A with Bohemia Interactive's Marek Spanel and Viktor Bocan as they talk about Operation Flashpoint: Resistance, the upcoming expansion pack to their hit military shooter. You can check it out here.


Dungeon Seige First Impressions....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:20 AM MST Saturday, March 30, 2002 [Comment on news]
PC.ign has posted up their first impressions of Dungeon Seige. Here's a snip:

    "...Anyway, the point is that the engine is just wonderful. Keeping this entire game as one piece (read: no loading times once you're in the game) is a wonder and a miracle in technology. This one little touch gives an extra sense of realism that is often robbed by a load time between sections of a map or in and out of dungeons.

    With a world so populated by objects such as trees, plants, garbage, water, and buildings, you would figure that navigating in a third person perspective might be a little tricky. It's surprisingly not at all. Camera controls are as easy to grasp as any I have ever had the joy to play with and objects that are tall enough to always get in your way, such as densely populated forests, become transparent right on cue with very few hiccups. I can only think of one instance at this point that my view was obstructed by a building that didn't go invisible. Likewise, the models, textures, and effects in the game are all spectacular and I can't wait to delve further into it for bigger and meaner monsters and spells."


Wolfenstein Patch Issues....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:17 AM MST Saturday, March 30, 2002 [Comment on news]
Activision sent a notice with some notes from Nerve Software's Brandon James concerning the newly released v1.31 patch for Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Here's what's going on:

    WolfMP version 1.31 was released last night. The smaller update which updates from 1.3 to 1.31 was released this afternoon. After thorough testing on the servers setup by Xian, Fred, Speakeasy and others, we decided everything was stable and ready for release! The sticking, warping and teleportation issues introduced in version 1.3 have been squashed.

    Included in the patch is mp_pakmaps1.pk3, which contains the map, "Ice". The version of "Ice" that is included with version 1.31 is not compatible with the version released in 1.3, due to some bug fixes. To make the world a better place, and to get all players on the same version of the game, I'd strongly suggest everyone upgrade to 1.31.

    People sticking with version 1.3 and trying to play "Ice" will not be able to do so on servers that have properly upgraded to version 1.31.

    The auto-update server will be going live soon. We decided to release the full patch to the websites and popular download sites in order to spread out the bandwidth for such a large update. Future auto-updates will take place for smaller downloads, the majority of which will be code only.
You can download the new version of the Ice map at FilePlanet and Battlefield Wolfenstein.


Medal of Honor: Team Assault....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:12 AM MST Saturday, March 30, 2002 [Comment on news]
GamePro's web site has posted an expanded article from their magazine that describes more about the upcoming expansion pack to Allied Assault, Medal of Honor: Team Assault. Here is a niblet:

    The first mission of the Battle of the Bulge level will open as you parachute in (during gameplay!) with a squad of OSS agents to steal supplies. Next up, you’ll board a truck for some rail-shooting action, and then this level will conclude as you lead U.S. troops into a small town to take out an artillery battery.


Global Operations (retail) Update....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:10 AM MST Saturday, March 30, 2002 [Comment on news]
Crave Games has released a new update for Global Operations (retail) that fixes a bunch of general gameplay and multiplayer bugs. You can grab the file from FilePlanet and all the details here.


Ghost Recon: Desert Siege Review....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:07 AM MST Saturday, March 30, 2002 [Comment on news]
Loadedinc has posted a quick review of Ghost Recon: Desert Siege. Here's a snip:

    "No expansion pack would be complete without new weapons and Desert Siege won’t disappoint fans of the original. There is one snag though, the new weapons are only available in the multiplayer, scenarios. This is no big deal really considering there are only 8 missions in the expansion anyway. For those that are hungry for new weapons, there's a choice of 9 new weapons at your disposal including the AN-94 Russian assault rifle, the M60, the Barrett M98, the PKM Russian machine gun, the Belgium FN-FAL Para Variant, the A-91, the H&K PSG-1 sniper, the Bizon 9mm and finally the Russian Groza. As you can see there’s plenty here to sink your teeth into and add that little bit of extra something to your tactics and strategy in the field."


Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast Review....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:02 AM MST Saturday, March 30, 2002 [Comment on news]
TeleFragged has posted a review of Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. Here's a snip from the intro to get you started:

    "LucasArts and Raven Software have teamed up to bring us the highly anticipated sequel to 1997's hit, Jedi Knight. This is Raven's first Star Wars game, although they have plenty of experience making first person shooters. They've licensed id Software's powerful Quake 3: Team Arena engine for this title, and use it well. The stakes are high, as Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast attempts to put together both a compelling single-player game, as well as a full-featured multiplayer offering in the box."


Top 10 Excuses for dying in a FPS....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:58 AM MST Saturday, March 30, 2002 [Comment on news]
3DAction Planet has posted an article this morning called Top 10 Excuses for dying in a FPS. Check it out!


XGR Ask The Developer Series....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:56 AM MST Saturday, March 30, 2002 [Comment on news]
XGR's Paligap sent word announcing the latest in the XGR Ask The Developer Series, Ask James Schmalz. James is the head guy (owner/designer) for Digital Extremes, makers of the upcoming Unreal Tournament 2003. James has agreed to answer any questions about UT 2003, the history of the Unreal Franchise, and Digital Extremes. You have until this Monday to submit questions for James, so if you're interested you can get all the details here.


Friday, March 29, 2002

Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project Preview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:32 AM MST Friday, March 29, 2002 [Comment on news]
ShackNews has posted a Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project Preview. Here's their intro to get you started:

    ""Let's Rock"
    Duke Nukem is back. No, Duke Nukem Forever is not coming out soon. However, Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project is. This game is being developed by Sunstorm Interactive, the guys behind various hunting games and also the Duke Nukem 3D expansion 'Duke It Out IN D.C.' and 'Life's A Beach'. Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project is an all-new 3D platform game which unites Duke Nukem 1 & 2 with the style of Duke Nukem 3D. Originally it was supposed to be an episodic online game, though that plan has changed and the game will now be sold in stores instead. It's also the first Duke Nukem game on the PC since 1996."


Jedi Knight II Screenshots....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:29 AM MST Friday, March 29, 2002 [Comment on news]
House O' Spank has posted up some Jedi Knight II screenshots. Check 'em out!


Tactical Ops: Assault on Terror Preview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:26 AM MST Friday, March 29, 2002 [Comment on news]
HomeLan has posted a preview of Tactical Ops: Assault on Terror, based on checking out a beta version of the stand alone retail game of Unreal Tournament team play mod. They have also posted six new screenshots from the beta version. Here's a nibblet:

    As in the popular mod Counter-Strike, gameplay in Tactical Ops focuses on teamplay between the good guy Special Forces and the bad guy Terrorists squad. Each team shares a few weapons but they mostly have their own unique weapons and items, ranging from pistols to machine guns to sniper rifles and more. Long time Tactical Ops players will notice that a few new weapons have been added to the mix and as mentioned before all of the older weapons have received a new character model. The team who wins each match gets more money to buy more weapons and items for the next confrontation and sometimes a kill results in a wad of dollar bills coming out of a players’s dead body (Ok, it’s a little silly looking but it’s a game, not real life).


Counter-Strike: Condition Zero Preview ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:24 AM MST Friday, March 29, 2002 [Comment on news]
PC.IGN has posted a preview of Counter-Strike: Condition Zero, based on checking out the upcoming single player oriented fps from Gearbox Software and Valve at this year's GDC. Here is a snip:

    But before anybody who already owns Counter-Strike get their panties in a bunch, you should all know that everything will still be suported when CZ releases to stores. "Counter-Strike 1.4 is in beta, 1.5 will be the version that's patched to be congruent with CZ. If you don't buy Condition Zero you don't get single-player, bots, or high definition characters, but will get compatibility to play online. We're not breaking those people that have bought or downloaded the game." But they are creating some very interesting new opportunities for gameplay for those that end up shelling out the cash for the game.


Thursday, March 28, 2002

Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 1:29 PM MST Thursday, March 28, 2002 [Comment on news]
Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast is now in stores! To go along with its arrival, jediknightii.net has posted a strategy page that has some helpful links for those getting stuck in the single player portion of the game.


Desert Siege Shipped....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 1:25 PM MST Thursday, March 28, 2002 [Comment on news]
Ubi Soft has sent word that Desert Siege, Red Storm Entertainment's mission pack for Ghost Recon, is expected on store shelves today.


Mobile Forces Community Site ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 1:05 PM MST Thursday, March 28, 2002 [Comment on news]
The official Community Site for Rage's upcoming Unreal-powered FPS "Mobile Forces" is live. The site's address is http://www.mobileforces.org and will have fully moderated forums. The community site promises to be a great addition!


Team Factor Movie ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:11 AM MST Thursday, March 28, 2002 [Comment on news]
4players.de has posted a new movie showing off lots of gameplay action from 7fx's Team Factor. Check it out!


Randy Pitchford Q&As....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:08 AM MST Thursday, March 28, 2002 [Comment on news]
PC Game Central has posted up a Q&A with Gearbox Software's Randy Pitchford as he answers questions about himself and his work in the gaming industry.

Lone Gamers has also posted a Q&A with Randy where he talks about Gearbox's work on the upcoming Counter-Strike: Condition Zero.


Jedi Knight II Review ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:02 AM MST Thursday, March 28, 2002 [Comment on news]
Geek Girl's Guide 2 Games has posted a review of Jedi Knight II. Here's a snip from the end:

    In conclusion, the single player game is poorly paced, but compelling. The patient will probably play this game to it’s finale once. Good story, great AI, and some moment that are spectacular. Let me say one more time, the single player game is HARD, HARD, HARD. Don’t even think about playing this game on any other setting but EASY. But the MP portion of this game make it a must have for action gamers looking for something different. If you want to have a little extra fun with this game, I suggest when you go to your local software emporium you start picking up Jedi Knight II boxes and shaking your head "no" a bunch of times. When the sale clerk comes over to see what your up to........ smile, point to the box you currently have and your hand, smile and proclaim "the force is strong in this one", and buy it.


Generations Arena Q&A....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:59 AM MST Thursday, March 28, 2002 [Comment on news]
Jolt.co.uk has posted a Generations Arena Q&A where they catch up with the team behind this Q3A mod. Topics include the mod's reception, favorite maps, and plans for upcoming versions.


Team Factor LAN Demo ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:57 AM MST Thursday, March 28, 2002 [Comment on news]
7FX has released a beta test demo of Team Factor, their upcoming team-based shooter. The demo is about 77MB, and demo contains the Jungle level. According to the German Team Factor site, this demo only contains a LAN multiplayer mode. The single player mode with bots and the online multiplayer modes are expected in a second demo version. You can grab this demo at 3D Gamers, BonusWeb, and 4Players.de.


Unreal Tournament 2003 Screenshots ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:51 AM MST Thursday, March 28, 2002 [Comment on news]
The Adrenaline Vault has posted some screenshots of Unreal Tournament 2003. Check 'em out!


RTCW v1.31 Patch....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:49 AM MST Thursday, March 28, 2002 [Comment on news]
Activision has released a v1.31 patch forReturn to Castle Wolfenstein. Here's what is new and/or fixed:

    Teleportation and Reviving Players Bugs Fixed Bugs introduced in 1.30 related to reviving players and teleportation, or warping, on certain maps have been fixed. These issues were a byproduct of a fix for reviving players on and around script movers (the giant doors in mp_assault for example).
You can grab this file at Blue's or ShackNews.


X-Coop Beta 1 Review....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:45 AM MST Thursday, March 28, 2002 [Comment on news]
3DAction Planet has posted a review of X-Coop Beta 1. Here's a bit from their intro to get you going:

    "The three inter-linking campaigns that made up AvPII’s thrilling single player experience was somewhat disappointing in the discovery that you were alone throughout the majority of the game. What if you were able to go back, but this time with a squad of human-controlled Marines and Predators, and finally show those bugs who’s boss? Look no further; X-Coop is here to help!

    X-Coop essentially adds a new game mode to the six standard modes for online play. This new game mode, entitled Co-op, allows up to 16 players to team-up and go through missions from both the Marine and Predator’s single player campaigns."


Wednesday, March 27, 2002

Global Operations Review....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 4:26 PM MST Wednesday, March 27, 2002 [Comment on news]
Telstra Games has posted a review of Global Operations. Here's a snip from the audio section:

    "There isn't much in the way of background music during the game. Personally, I like this, as it removes excess sound away and lets you concentrate on the game sounds. Sometimes this is good, if these sounds are well done, and sometimes it is bad.

    Fortunately, the sound in Global Operations is excellent. Weapon sound effects have been recorded from actual, real weapons, including the loading, cocking and firing sounds, and all sound really great. Ambient sound effects are also really good and contribute well to the environment.

    One especially cool feature of the sound that I loved is temporary deafness. If a grenade goes off near you, it will render you mildly deaf, along with a great "my ears are ringing" noise. You can still hear some sound effects, but they're all muted and soft. Eventually the effect wears off, but during this time you are of course vulnerable to people sneaking up behind you, or even shooting at you."


Ghost Recon Patches....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 3:59 PM MST Wednesday, March 27, 2002 [Comment on news]
Ubi Soft has released a new patch for Ghost Recon. The 43.4 MB patch brings the game to version 1.2.10.0 and includes the promised multiplayer compatibility with the new Desert Siege expansion pack, along with a bunch of new features, improvements and bug fixes. The English version is mirrored on Ubi Soft's ftp server, 3D Gamers, and FilePlanet (registration required). The official German site has the German patch.


Pre-order Gore....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 3:52 PM MST Wednesday, March 27, 2002 [Comment on news]
4D Rulers' Joel Huenink has sent word that the Gore website now has information about pre-ordering the game. The game is still expected to be released this summer.


Tech News....
Posted by [luckee] @ 12:05 PM MST Wednesday, March 27, 2002 [Comment on news]
Today’s Tech stuff


Day of Defeat Q&A....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:02 AM MST Wednesday, March 27, 2002 [Comment on news]
Redphive.org has posted a Day of Defeat Q&A where they chat with Matt "Mugsy" Boone of the Day of Defeat team, about how the version 2.0 release failed to live up to their expectations, and what is planned for the upcoming version 2.1.


Freedom Force Review....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 8:54 AM MST Wednesday, March 27, 2002 [Comment on news]
PC.ign has posted a review of Freedom Force scoring the game a 9.3 and an editor's choice award.


PlanetSluggo - Vol. 7....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 8:52 AM MST Wednesday, March 27, 2002 [Comment on news]
This week 3DAction Planet's PlanetSluggo - Vol. 7 shares Sluggo's thoughts on a few days at GDC, the Game Developers Choice Awards, and seeing Unreal Tournament 2003.


Tuesday, March 26, 2002

Tactical Ops: Assault on Terror Screenshots....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:49 AM MST Tuesday, March 26, 2002 [Comment on news]
HomeLan has posted three new screenshots of Tactical Ops: Assault on Terror, an Unreal Tournament mod that is scheduled to be released by Infogrames as retail game later this year.


Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza Q&A....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:43 AM MST Tuesday, March 26, 2002 [Comment on news]
The Armchair Empire has posted a Q&A with Piranha Games' Bryan Ekman, where they chats about their upcoming LithTech engine powered fps Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza. Here's a snip:

    Would you feel strange (or complimented) if the mod community took Nakatomi Plaza and ran with it?

    I’d be proud to have the mod community run with Nakatomi, though currently we have no plans to release any tools at this time.


No New World Order Demo Today....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:26 AM MST Tuesday, March 26, 2002 [Comment on news]
Project Three Interactive has posted word that the demo for Termite Games's upcoming FPS New World Order won't be released today as planned due to a bug that has been found, but instead release it this weekend.


Activision Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:24 AM MST Tuesday, March 26, 2002 [Comment on news]
PlanetSoldier has posted an interview with Matt Morton, Associate Producer at Activision. Here's a snip:

    Typically, FPS games get more challenging toward the end, and in the past this has sometimes been accomplished with End Level Bosses. Since you're aiming for realism, will we see these in SoF2? If so, how? If not, how will the progression of difficulty be achieved?

    Within each of the campaigns, there are several types of soldiers encountered. These soldiers have different skill sets and values. In the beginning, there are the unskilled soldiers, thugs mostly, who are inaccurate in their fire and more headstrong in their attacking. As you proceed through you will see an increase in the intelligence, accuracy, and strategy of the enemy. They will peek around walls, throw grenades more frequently, and react with more self-preservation. It's been quite a task to tweak and balance this issue, and will continue to be adjusted up until the release.


Q3Offline....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:17 AM MST Tuesday, March 26, 2002 [Comment on news]
ShellShock's Crater has posted a new version 02.03.25.00 of the Q3Offline front-end for Quake III Arena. In the new release Qstats now offers HTML output of game statistics, a change in how cvars are executed so that all the selected options are in effect for the first map, and a new toolbar on the game's config page.


IGI 2: Covert Strike Preview ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:10 AM MST Tuesday, March 26, 2002 [Comment on news]
HomeLan Fed has posted an IGI 2: Covert Strike preview of a preview build of Innerloop's upcoming shooter sequel that's been distributed to a bunch of press. Topics covered include thoughts on the original Project IGI, the five semi-complete levels included in the beta, the types of gameplay goals, weapons, and more.


Global Ops Shipped to Stores Across the US....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:00 AM MST Tuesday, March 26, 2002 [Comment on news]
The official Global Operations website is reporting Global Ops, by Barking Dog Studios, has shipped to stores across the US. Here's the scoop:

    GLOBAL OPERATIONS HAS SHIPPED! After an exciting couple years, the game is shipping! We all had a lot of fun during the development and can't wait to play against you all. Check your local stores in the next couple days to pick yours up! A special thanks to all the beta testers and server hosts for their hard work in helping make this game great!

    Global Operations is a stand alone, team based, first person shooter based on a significantly modified version of the LithTech 2.5 engine,. Although it is being developed as a multiplayer experience for up to 24 players, there will also be a single player game with AI controlled teammates and opponents.


The Death Of Co-op....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 8:54 AM MST Tuesday, March 26, 2002 [Comment on news]
3DAction Planet has posted an article called The Death Of Co-op, where they take a look at why cooperative play isn't included in more games. Here's their intro to get you started:

    "have to say, some of the most fun I have in FPS games is when I coop. Cooperative play has a unique dimension you don't get anywhere else in the action genre--the variety of a single-player adventure combined with the camaraderie of multiplayer. It's also one of the best ways to pass the time with friends... particularly if one of your friends always seems to dominate in deathmatch.

    It's not a new concept; coop in FPS games is as old as DOOM if not older. However, if you want a FPS coop game that was made in the last four years, you're going to have to stick to Serious Sam (or, obviously, SS: The Second Encounter). Quite frankly, there hasn't been a major FPS released with coop since QuakeII."


Monday, March 25, 2002

Unreal Tournament 2003....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 4:32 PM MST Monday, March 25, 2002 [Comment on news]
ShackNews has posted their impressions of Unreal Tournament 2003 @ GDC. Here's a nibblet:

    "So I got to check out the latest incarnation of Unreal Tournament while at GDC this past week. I promised Cliffy I'd put together a little compilation of impressions of what I saw. Keep in mind that I havent played Unreal Tournament in a real long time so I cant really use that as a base for comparison..."


Gamers Helping Specialty PCs Thrive ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 4:24 PM MST Monday, March 25, 2002 [Comment on news]
C|Net is running an interesting article today called "Gamers helping specialty PCs thrive." Here's a snip:

    With 400 PCs going through its doors in an average month, Voodoo PC isn't about to challenge Dell Computer in terms of volume.
    But the Calgary, Alberta-based specialty PC maker boasts a few other numbers that could start CEO Michael Dell drooling. Like an average selling price of $5,000, at a time when mainstream PC makers are struggling to get consumers to spend more than three figures on a PC. And a loyal customer base that seldom lets a PC sit around for a year without significant upgrades or replacement, as mainstream PC makers scramble to keep customers on two- or three-year upgrade cycles.

    While the rest of the PC industry grapples with the economics of becoming a low-profit, high-volume commodity business, a cast of little-known companies is aiming at a less cutthroat market. Companies such as Voodoo as well as Hypersonic PC, Falcon Northwest and Alienware are selling high-end PCs to computer game buffs who don't mind paying a premium for state-of-the-art components and flashy cases.

    "People go all out when they get a system from us," said Rahul Sood, president and founder of Voodoo. "Our average configuration, it's basically the best of all hardware--the fastest CPU (central processing unit) possible, the latest graphics card--plus things to make it look good."
You can read the rest here.


Team Factor Preview ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:27 AM MST Monday, March 25, 2002 [Comment on news]
There's another Team Factor preview up, this time on Gamez.cz where they offer a look ahead at the team-based fps in the works at Czech developer 7FX. The article discusses the latest state of the game, and has a bunch of quotes from Project Leader Pavel Sinagl. They have also included four new screenshots.


March!: Offworld Recon Q&A....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:19 AM MST Monday, March 25, 2002 [Comment on news]
Jolt.co.uk has posted a Q&A about team-based FPS March!: Offworld Recon. The game's Project Leader Vladimir Gordeyev, Game Designer Oleg Baranov and Programmer Michael Khripin of developer Bukka Games all participate in this chat. Here's a snip on what this game is about:

    "March!’s story is set some time in the future at a time when humans have colonised Mars and have since moved on to other more distant planets. While Mars is populated only by automated factories and military installations, humans on Earth receive some strange messages from orbitting Martian satellites. This is where you step in as a member of an investigation team. Obviously, you aren’t going to find that all is well on Mars and there will be some baddies that are wanting their arses kicked for them.

    The gameplay is described as a cross between traditional FPS and tactical simulation, all with an arcade-like feel. Also, once you get bored of the single player game you will be able to fire up multiplayer and terrorise your friends over the web or on a LAN."


How To Create Your Own Operation Flashpoint Campaign....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:13 AM MST Monday, March 25, 2002 [Comment on news]
3DAction Planet has posted an article titled How To Create Your Own Operation Flashpoint Campaign where "Catachan delves into the scary world of Operation Flashpoint’s Mission Editor." Check it out!


Sunday, March 24, 2002

Thievery Trailer ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 2:44 PM MST Sunday, March 24, 2002 [Comment on news]
There's a 9MB trailer (DivX Codec format) showing off some gameplay and level shots of Thievery, a new mod for Unreal Tournament. The trailer is available on FilePlanet and FileFront, and you can learn more about this mod at their official site. (Spotted on Voodoo Extreme)


Unofficial UT 2003 FAQ ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 2:34 PM MST Sunday, March 24, 2002 [Comment on news]
Cleaned.beyond.unreal has posted an "unofficial" pre-release UT 2003 FAQ. This FAQ contains "all the known information about the upcoming UT follow-up" and also tries to clarify some points from recent announcements that have been causing confusion about the game.


New World Order Site....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 2:27 PM MST Sunday, March 24, 2002 [Comment on news]
The official New World Order site is up, showcasing this team-based multiplayer fps in development at Termite Games. The site features information on the game, their in-house DVA engine, as well as concept art and bunch of new screenshots. (Spotted on Blue's)


Counter Strike: Condition Zero Preview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 2:22 PM MST Sunday, March 24, 2002 [Comment on news]
PC.ign has posted a preview of Counter Strike: Condition Zero based on an opportunity to play at the recent GDC. Here's a snip:

    "While the new additions to the multiplayer and overall graphical improvement (which is pretty damn noticeable) were really spiffy, my attention was seriously grabbed by the single player aspects of the game. As in typical Counter-Strike style, the theme of counter terrorism is still the main theme here. There's not a story in particular, but a Tony Hawk type of mission and map system that looks to be a crapload of fun."


Kreed Q&A....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 2:19 PM MST Sunday, March 24, 2002 [Comment on news]
Gameplex has posted a Q&A about the futuristic fps Kreed, where they talk to Project Director Vladimir Nikolaev. Here's a snip:

    The Kreed’s storyline is taking place in a mysteries undiscovered area of cosmic Universe in the 32 century. The main character Legionary is the well-trained universal soldier who is onboard small merchant spaceship "Aspero" and who has may be simple and enough boring task to protect the ship with its crew and its cargo from all troubles. The silent race was broken, when "Aspero" was attacked by the spaceship "Stranger". In order to left from the pursuit, our ship gets in the forbidden sector marked with red color of danger in all cosmological maps. It is the Kreed sector... Later the player will find out that the attacking ship was only the hologram trap. It turned out, that there were some extremely important persons among the "Aspero’s" crew and that this usual small ship had the very valuable and expensive cargo.


Gamepro on Team Assault ....
Posted by [luckee] @ 10:03 AM MST Sunday, March 24, 2002 [Comment on news]
New MOH Details... here’s a snip:

    The May 2002 issue of GamePro magazine has been mailed to subscribers and has a cover story on Electronic Arts's PS2 action game Medal of Honor: Frontline, but there are also some new details on Medal of Honor: Team Assault, the upcoming expansion pack to EA's hit WWII action game MoH: Allied Assault. The add-on is due out this fall and will feature a new nine-level single player storyline with more emphasis on working with AI driven team members. Historic World War II conflicts like the Battle of The Bulge and the final Soviet assault on Berlin will be featured and the game will also have nine new multiplayer maps. The article also states that an Xbox Medal of Honor game is still due out late in 2002 although EA is still deciding on whether it will be a port of Allied Assault or Frontline. If Microsoft's online network starts up by this fall Allied Assault will get the nod, according to the article. If it doesn't, Frontline will be ported.

Read more here.


Saturday, March 23, 2002

UT Jailbreak III....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:19 AM MST Saturday, March 23, 2002 [Comment on news]
PlanetJailbreak has posted a download of the new Jailbreak III for UT. Here's a little bit on the mod:

    Each team has their own base area which also includes a jail release mechanism. The release mechanism could be a button, lever, switch or other device that will free the enemy players from jail. If an opposing player manages to activate the jail release mechanism your jail will open and the enemy prisoners will be released! The object is to frag all the enemy players sending them to jail and protect the jail release in your base to prevent them from being freed. If you are successful and capture all the enemy players, the opposing team will be executed, your team will score a point and everyone in the game will be respawned to their own bases. Of course, if you and your entire team are unlucky enough to be captured by the enemy players, the other team scores, so try to stay out of jail pal! Whichever team reaches the set number of captures first (or has the most captures when the time limit is reached) wins!


Global Operations Interview ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:15 AM MST Saturday, March 23, 2002 [Comment on news]
4gamerz has posted an interview with Christopher Mair, from Barking Dog Studios, where they find out more about Global Operations. Topics covered include the game engine, what they have planned for the future, and more.


Counter-Strike: Condition Zero Screenshots....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:11 AM MST Saturday, March 23, 2002 [Comment on news]
Gamehelper has posted five new Counter-Strike: Condition Zero screenshots showing off the single and multiplayer team-based shooter by Gearbox Software.


Team Factor Preview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:09 AM MST Saturday, March 23, 2002 [Comment on news]
Insidegamers.net has posted a preview of Team Factor, 7fx's "multiplayer "tactical-shooter" FPS game set into the mysterious environment of secret small scale military operations." Check it out!


Desert Siege Q&A....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:06 AM MST Saturday, March 23, 2002 [Comment on news]
ELiTeD has posted a Desert Siege Q&A where they talk with Richard Dansky of Red Storm about the upcoming Ghost Recon add-on.


DoD PC Gamer Patch....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:04 AM MST Saturday, March 23, 2002 [Comment on news]
The Day of Defeat site has a new patch up for people who bought the April issue of PC Gamer. This patch brings the HL mod up to the website's version.


Action Mods Interview ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:01 AM MST Saturday, March 23, 2002 [Comment on news]
HomeLan has posted an Action Mods interview where they talk with Dwayne Douglass of Akimbo Team Productions about the action mods they have released for Quake 2 and Half-Life.


Tim Sweeney Q&A....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:58 AM MST Saturday, March 23, 2002 [Comment on news]
GameSpy has posted a Q&A with Tim Sweeney, Founder and Programmer of Epic Games (and Unreal Technology), after catching up with him while showcasing Epic's latest technology at this year's GDC.


Hitman 2 Preview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:54 AM MST Saturday, March 23, 2002 [Comment on news]
Games Radar has posted a preview of Hitman 2 that covers most of the areas of the game and is full of quotes from the developers.


Friday, March 22, 2002

Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Patch ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:50 AM MST Friday, March 22, 2002 [Comment on news]
Although not yet listed on the official site, EA has released a new patch for Medal of Honor: Allied Assault this is available from their ftp server. This 15.4 MB download brings both the US and UK editions to version 1.11.

There is also a mirror up at 3D Gamers with a list of changes and bug fixes.


The Unreal Performance Test 2002 The Ultimate Game Benchmark....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:33 AM MST Friday, March 22, 2002 [Comment on news]
Epic Games has released The Unreal Performance Test 2002 The Ultimate Game Benchmark, described by Mark Rein as "the first true indicator of how gaming hardware will respond to the ever-increasing demands of tomorrow's games." You can read more about it here.


Chaser Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:30 AM MST Friday, March 22, 2002 [Comment on news]
Action Vault has posted a Chaser interview where they talk with Development Director David Durcak and Lead Programmer Marian Suran about this upcoming fps by Cauldron. Here's a snip:

    Action Vault: What kind of game is Chaser, and how do you classify it in terms of its genre or genre blend? At the conceptual and design levels, what are your key objectives?

    David Durcak: Chaser is a pure action game, so it is a minimum genre blend. We can call it mixture of action game and a movie adventure. The main goal of the game is to create an action film in which the player plays the main role. We have put our emphasis on the story and situations in which the player takes part and on effective in-engine cutscenes and flashbacks that push the player forward in the story. For all of this, we have created our own engine, which is capable of presenting Chaser's world to the player with as much detail as possible. Our goal is to create a game with very strong single-player and also effective multiplayer modes that will be fun to play.


GDC 2002 Goodies....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:26 AM MST Friday, March 22, 2002 [Comment on news]
There's some good stuff posted this morning coming from GDC. First, PC.ign has posted a hands-on look at NOLF 2 and GameSpot has posted a hands-on look at Unreal Tournament 2003. Check 'em out!


Mobile Forces Demo Review....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:21 AM MST Friday, March 22, 2002 [Comment on news]
3DAction Planet has posted a review of the Mobile Forces demo by Rage Software. Here's a snip from their intro to get you started:

    "Currently in development at Scotland-based game studio Real Time Worlds is Mobile Forces, Rage Software's first entry into the first-person shooter genre. Rage runs several developer houses throughout Britain, including Real Time Worlds, and is perhaps best known to PC gamers for the hit space combat sim Incoming and its forthcoming sequel Incoming Forces. For Mobile Forces, Rage handpicked the RTW team from some of the brightest talent in the business, including veterans from the classic title Lemmings and the Grand Theft Auto Series. Working with Epic's latest Unreal technology, the team is building a certainly recognizable team-based multiplayer shooter - with a few twists of course."


We recently reviewed this demo too. If you want to check out our review, you can see it here.


Thursday, March 21, 2002

Postal 2 Preview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 5:12 PM MST Thursday, March 21, 2002 [Comment on news]
GameSpot has posted a preview of Postal 2 where they take a look at the upcoming Unreal-engine first-person follow-up to Postal. They offer quotes from Running With Scissors' CEO Vince Desidiero, and talk about the game's intentionally exaggerated physics, AI, character interaction, comparisons with GTA3, what gameplay will be like, a bit on multiplayer support, and more.


Operation Blockade ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 5:09 PM MST Thursday, March 21, 2002 [Comment on news]
Combining the non-stop action of an arcade game with the noted plug-and-play appeal of its military shooters, Infogrames, Inc. has announced Operation Blockade for the PC. Scheduled for this spring, Operation Blockade provides both a single and multiplayer cooperative mode, as well as a pulse-pounding 360-degree field of fire. You can read more about this here.


Freedom Force Demo....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:46 AM MST Thursday, March 21, 2002 [Comment on news]
The demo version of Freedom Force, Irrational Game's now-gold superhero game, has been released and is available for download from FilePlanet (registration required). The demo is available in two versions, a large version - 87.4 MB with music, and a small version - 56.1 MB without music.


GlobalOps Patch Details....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:23 AM MST Thursday, March 21, 2002 [Comment on news]
Dan McBride of Barking Dog Studios recently visited the offical Global Operations forums to let everyone know that a patch for the retail version of the game will take precedence over an update for the recently released demo. Here's the scoop:

    "It appears that there has been a little misinformation spread around here lately- for that you get a LAW to the groin revoemag!!

    We are indeed working on a patch for the public beta, but our main priority has been and will be to make sure that those who purchase the game are happy, so most of our effort has been dedicated to making sure that the retail version is as solid as possible. We have already fixed the lockups that some users were experiencing and have improved many other issues that you have been talking about here (yes, we DO read these forums!!). We are working hard on optimizing the server performance, but it is unlikely that these changes will make it into a public beta patch in the short term.

    The Linux server is compiled and running and we have had a few small tests with it. However it would be doing a disservice to everyone to release it at this point- it needs lots of testing still."
(Spotted on Voodoo Extreme)


Wolfenstein Admin Bot ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:07 AM MST Thursday, March 21, 2002 [Comment on news]
A new version 1.0 of the Wolfenstein Admin Bot is now available. Here's a tidbit on it is:

    "A perl-based automated attendant for Return to Caste Wolfenstein servers. It works on Linux and on Windows with perl installed. WAB's focus is on getting rid of Team Killers, fast, although it also gives you a lot of other things. WAB works by a combination of tailing your server's log files and using RCON commands. Its anti-TK logic is much more sophisticated than simply looking at scores, and will kick most intentional TKers in two to three TKs."
(Spotted on Blue's)


IGI2 Developer Diary ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:03 AM MST Thursday, March 21, 2002 [Comment on news]
GameSpy has posted another IGI2 Developer Diary, with External Producer Richard Blenkinsop doing the honors. Here's a nibblet:

    "Currently, our team is working on localization and voice recording. It is very important not to miss or disregard other languages. It can be a real pain to do, as often text changes after localization which burdens the localization team with constant changes. Just once I would like to have all the script and in-game text finalised before we localize, but sadly I will have again have to wait for that time."


MOH:AA Tweak Guide....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 8:59 AM MST Thursday, March 21, 2002 [Comment on news]
3DSpotlight has put up a tweak guide for Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, which can be useful if your PC is not full of the latest and greatest equipment.


SWAT 4 – Urban Justice....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 8:56 AM MST Thursday, March 21, 2002 [Comment on news]
3DAction Planet has posted a first look at SWAT 4 – Urban Justice. Here's a snip from their intro to get you started:

    The series of Police Quest is a long-standing one. Starting way back in 1987 as an adventure story. Now some of you will not now what the hell I am on about. Police Quest? What’s that got to do with the SWAT series? Well to put it simply. Police Quest is SWAT. SWAT is Police Quest.

    You see, about two-thirds of the way through the series as it stands, the name of the game became Police Quest: SWAT, then Police Quest: SWAT 2 and then they just dropped the name Police Quest, going full first-person and simply calling it SWAT 3. Confused yet? You should be!


[Mornin' Mocha]....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 8:54 AM MST Thursday, March 21, 2002 [Comment on news]
Finally it feels more like Spring! The cold temperatures have subsided for the moment and we should be in the mid to high 60s until Saturday... gotta love that sunshine :o)

Did you get a chance to check out the exclusive Mobile Forces screenshots I posted yesterday? If not, you can see them here. Watch for more on this from us soon...


Wednesday, March 20, 2002

Global Operations Preview ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 4:49 PM MST Wednesday, March 20, 2002 [Comment on news]
Action Vault has posted a Global Operations preview based on some hands-on play of Barking Dog's upcoming tactical teamplay shooter. Topics covered include the "heavily modified" LithTech engine, weapons, level design, AI, multiplayer, and more.


Uncrossable Parallel Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 3:37 PM MST Wednesday, March 20, 2002 [Comment on news]
UPNN has posted an interview with the Uncrossable Parallel mod's coder, Cycloid. Here's a snip:

    Vromania: What changes have been made to the half-life engine, has any part of the engine been signifigantly altered?

    Cycloid: You can't change the engine but you can certainly mess with it... like using certain engine based effects to make a vaguelly decent rain effect... or messing with the player physics code... the system of jumping and ducking has been radically altered for example. if you are stood vertical and press "down" you duck , pressing "up" will stand you up again , if you are stood and you hit "up" you will attempt to jump or climb onto the obstacle (e.g. crate) in front of you... making the code and the animations work is taking a little bit of doing, it involves "lying" to the engine as there are things it expects... i.e. it expects the duck code to work on you holding down a key, even though i'm not doing it like that... and it likes the model/animation to be in the same physical place as the player but for various reasons that's not quite how it'll work! ... but i havent done anything TOO hacky :-)


Navy Seals Covert Operations Mapping Kit....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:12 AM MST Wednesday, March 20, 2002 [Comment on news]
Navy Seals Covert Operations has posted their mapping kit. You can grab it here.


Judgement Half-Life ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:02 AM MST Wednesday, March 20, 2002 [Comment on news]
A new version 1.2b of the Judgement mod for Half-Life is now available. This update is being described as a "mini-release" that addresses "a few very minor things" which were bugging the author.


PlanetSluggo Volume 6....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:56 AM MST Wednesday, March 20, 2002 [Comment on news]
It must be Wednesday as 3DAction Planet has posted another PlanetSluggo. This week is volume 6... check it out!


[Mornin' Mocha]....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:30 AM MST Wednesday, March 20, 2002 [Comment on news]
Hello everyone! Hope you all are doing good, I know I am. Si from Rage sent me a little present during the night... six exclusive Mobile Forces screenshots! Good looking stuff to wake up to. You can check them out here... but I'll give you a little sample:


Tuesday, March 19, 2002

Mobile Forces Screenshots....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 5:20 PM MST Tuesday, March 19, 2002 [Comment on news]
XGR has received the latest build of Rage Software's Mobile Forces and has posted over a dozen exclusive screenshots showing off the newer modeling and graphics. You can check them out here.

Our copy of the new build should be here any day now, so watch for more from us on that soon!


Gore Screeenshots ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:47 AM MST Tuesday, March 19, 2002 [Comment on news]
DreamCatcher has released a bunch of new screeenshots of Gore, their upcoming first-person shooter currently in development at 4D Rulers.


Online Partnership for Mobile Forces....
Posted by [luckee] @ 9:43 AM MST Tuesday, March 19, 2002 [Comment on news]
Just got word from Si Donbavand that Rage announced a online partnership for Mobile Forces Today. Here’s a snip:



    Rage, the UK-based computer games publisher and developer, is pleased to announce an online partnership with Online Games service provider, ThrustWorld.

    Originally Founded in 1996 and then re launched in 2001, ThurstWorld is a dedicated members only Online Games service provider. The partnership between the two companies means that players of Mobile Forces, Rage’s forthcoming first person shoot’em-up, can compete against other players online via a dedicated game server host.

    ThrustWorld will also be hosting the official Mobile Forces community site and providing interactive forums that will allow Mobile Force players to meet online, in addition the official Mobile Forces public servers will be managed by ThrustWorld.

    Mobile Forces will now feature extra software that will allow players to try the online service for a free two month period. ThrustWorld has been developing its own software that will enable members to launch the game from within a match making lobby service. Players will be able to find other members to play against easily and
    without fuss.

    Mobile Forces is built on top of an enhanced build of Epic's Unreal Engine technology and gives the player the opportunity to not only fight their way through each mission on foot but also take command of a wide range of vehicles armed to the teeth with destructive weaponry and guide through a range of military-styled city locations.

    Eleven distinctive levels await the player as they battle their way through a mixture of ice bases, army boot camps, storm drains, rail yards and warehouses. Eight separate playing modes are available, including a range of both single and multi-player options, and the player must ensure that they are well equipped to deal with the onslaught of enemies that they will face throughout the game.

    Mobile Forces features a state-of-the-art physics model designed to accurately simulate vehicle movements including 4-wheel sprung suspension, 5-speed gearbox and clutch, standard and ABS brakes, handbrake turns, reverse turns and power slides and gives the game a unique appeal in a crowded genre.

    Rage’s Si Donbavand “We are extremely pleased to be working with Thrustworld. They deliver a highly professional service to gamers, with their fast servers and incredibly easy to use software they will help introduce and support Mobile Forces gamers and the upcoming Mobile Forces community”

    ThrustWorld’s Managing Director Tom How “I am excited about the new partnership and I am looking forward to a good and stable future with Rage and Mobile Forces.
You can get more about Mobile Forces here.


Gaming Globe Awards 2002 Results....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:43 AM MST Tuesday, March 19, 2002 [Comment on news]
EuroGamer has posted their Gaming Globe 2002 results today. Here's what they had to say:

    EuroGamer's prestigious Gaming Globe Awards are over for another year. It's been one of the closest contests we've seen, following a year of great new releases, and today we'll be announcing which games and developers you voted as top of their class in each of the ten categories. So without any further ado, here are the results for the third annual Gaming Globe Awards!


Mobile Forces Q&A....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:38 AM MST Tuesday, March 19, 2002 [Comment on news]
Computer and Video Games has posted a Mobile Forces Q&A where they talk with Alistair Baxter, programmer on Rage's upcoming fps. Topics include the idea and story behind the game, working with the Unreal engine, the role of vehicles in Mobile Forces, weapons, AI, and more.


Ghost Recon: Desert Siege Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:35 AM MST Tuesday, March 19, 2002 [Comment on news]
HomeLan has posted an interview with Richard Dansky, Lead Designer on Ghost Recon: Desert Siege the upcoming expansion pack to Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon. Here's a nibblet:

    HomeLAN - Some people have stated that the AI in the original Ghost Recon was a little too tough. Will there be any tweaks done to the AI for the expansion pack?

    Richard Dansky - We’re constantly trying to improve the AI in our games. I think you’ll find that the AI in Desert Siege is smart without being inhumanly good. On the other hand, we are representing smart, tough, veteran soldiers who know what they’re doing. Don’t expect a stroll in the park.


Mafia Preview ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:32 AM MST Tuesday, March 19, 2002 [Comment on news]
BonusWeb has posted a preview of Mafia. Here's a snip:

    Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven has been developing by well-known, Brno, Czech Republic-based Illusion Softworks for several years now. The project started in late 1998 under the working title Gangster. Let me point out that the game was then presented as a car chase genre in the "Driver" style. Much time has passed since then, planned release dates were repeatedly postponed and the concept of the game has changed completely. This time, however, it’s certain that you can expect something extraordinary in May; no other game that’s similarly conceived will be able to compare. With Tommy, you’ll take part in adrenaline pumping chases in and out of cars and, of course, there is lots of essential gunplay. This game has seen hard work and aspirations to reach perfection in all of its parts. Even if you were to subtract many of the details that you come across during play, the authors would no doubt excel, but with them, your breath is taken away. You’re asking why it grabbed me so much? Take a comfort seat, then, and let me tell you about it.


Unreal Tournament 2003 Movie....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:29 AM MST Tuesday, March 19, 2002 [Comment on news]
Tiscali Games has posted an Unreal Tournament 2003 Movie for download. It is also available at unreal2power.de , and FileFront.com.


Unreal Action Games Release Dates....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:24 AM MST Tuesday, March 19, 2002 [Comment on news]
GameSpot is reporting Infogrames has officially announced the release dates for its upcoming Unreal action games. Unreal Tournament 2003, the follow-up to its popular 1999 multiplayer shooter Unreal Tournament, will be released this summer, followed by its upcoming single-player action game sequel Unreal II this holiday season.


Is Gore A Good Thing?....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:21 AM MST Tuesday, March 19, 2002 [Comment on news]
3DAction Planet has posted a "Point/Counter-Point: Is Gore A Good Thing?" article today. Here's a snip from their intro to get you started:

    "Gore in games has been a topic of discussion since the days of Doom, when that first spurt of blood was seen. Since then, we have seen titles like Soldier of Fortune graphically portray blood, guts, organs, severed limbs, and some people think that it doesn't add to gameplay. Or does it?"


Monday, March 18, 2002

Team Factor Q&A....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:39 AM MST Monday, March 18, 2002 [Comment on news]
Lone Gamers has posted a Q&A with Pavel Sinagl of 7fx Studios, where they talk about the team FPS Team Factor. Topics include the state of development, unique features of Team Factor, type of player needed for the game and more.


Hitman 2 Delayed....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:26 AM MST Monday, March 18, 2002 [Comment on news]
Gone Gold is reporting that the release date for Io Interactive's and Eidos's upcoming game Hitman 2 has been delayed. Originally scheduled for a late March release it appears this third person action title has now been rescheduled for June.


More Unreal II ....
Posted by [luckee] @ 12:18 AM MST Monday, March 18, 2002 [Comment on news]
According to this post an email reply from Tim Sweeney Epic Pres, which explains why they decided to ditch the multiplayer support in Unreal 2:

    Here's a snip
    Legend's plans for Unreal 2's MPX multiplayer were a brilliant idea, but before the team had even begun working on the multiplayer code and maps, that part of the game had already grown into what could have been an 18-month project for the entire team on its own. We'd love to have seen Unreal 2's multiplayer vision carried through to completion, but it turned out to be unrealistic to try to develop such a huge single-player game with such a huge multiplayer component.

    That's why the decision was made, and it was by mutual agreement and discussion between Legend, Epic, and Infogrames. Nobody was forced. And it wasn't about boosting UT2 at U2's expense. Unreal 2's MPX would have complemented rather than competed with Unreal Tournament 2's more traditional UT-style game types.

    So, yes, we suck for overpromising and underdelivering. But it's more a matter of trying to accomplish more than we were capable of, not a sinister motive.

Read the rest here.


Sunday, March 17, 2002

Tech News....
Posted by [luckee] @ 11:53 PM MST Sunday, March 17, 2002 [Comment on news]
Today's Tech News


MOH:AA Q&A....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:02 AM MST Sunday, March 17, 2002 [Comment on news]
MOHMatch has posted a Q&A with 2015's Michael Boon where they talk about his work as Lead Animator for their fps Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. Check it out!


Defence Alliance UT Mod....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:49 AM MST Sunday, March 17, 2002 [Comment on news]
The UT mod Defence Alliance has been released. Here is the description from the official site:In Defence Alliance (DA) you and your teammates will defend your fort from a horde of humans. You will have some minutes to prepare your machine guns and get into potisions. After that the attack begins. Your mission? Simply, keep them out of your fort for about 20 min. You really need to save your ammo and teamplay is required. The mechanic must be next to you to feed your gun with ammo or else you will lose time reloading it. There are going to be 6 classes, the Mechanic, the Medic and the Marine class which is seperated into 3 sub-classes.

Radio commands will help you and your teammates co-operating more effectively and protect your fort. The MOD is based near-future so do not expect any laser guns or such unrealistic weapons. As for the number of gameplays. We will first finish the current one (Protect your Fort) and then add more.

We are looking forward adding new classes and features like for example drivable vehicles.


Unreal or What?....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:44 AM MST Sunday, March 17, 2002 [Comment on news]
I guess there is still some confusion on Unreal's name change as reported yesterday and a post by Epic's Lead Programmer Tim Sweeney on Infogrames' official Unreal 2 message board attempts to clear it up. Here's what he had to say:

    "The Gamespot announcement was a mix of actual news and speculation (this wasn't Gamespot's fault; we seem to have some bugs in our PR pipeline.)

    The name "Unreal Episode 2" is just something that we, Legend, Epic, Infogrames, have been discussing internally. We haven't come to a decision and are still split on it; some of the guys love it and some of the guys hate it. What does everyone here think?

    The motivating factor for a name change would be to reduce the confusion we've created by having several Unreal games in development.

    For now, though, the name is still "Unreal 2".

    The new name for "Unreal Tournament 2003" is official. But the idea of to releasing a new one every year is just another concept we've been debating internally. If that were seriously considered, we would have to avoid splitting the community every year.

    The next-generation Unreal engine's network code and file formats are stable enough that we could potentially ship UT(year x) and include the maps from UT(year x-1) and maintain backwards compatibility with existing servers. This obviously couldn't go on forever, but could assure a lifetime similar to UT. Remember, in over 2 years of UT, we only broke network compatibility once.

    Anyway, ongoing Unreal Tournament releases aren't an actual plan, just an idea we've been tossing around."


[Mornin' Mocha]....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:38 AM MST Sunday, March 17, 2002 [Comment on news]
Happy St. Patrick's Day... remember to wear green or someone might just pinch your bum! (hehehe) Man am I sick of winter!! The weathermen had been predicting another snow storm to hit last night and I was hoping they would be wrong. When I woke up this morning I could see the bright light coming in from behind my closed blinds, so I opened them to let the beautiful sunshine in... that's when I saw the four inches of snow outside! Yes the sun is shining, but the brightness is coming from the reflecting snow. :o( I wish summer would hurry.

Have all of you checked out the Mobile Forces demo that was released the other day? If not, you should but if you need more convincing, checkout our review.


Saturday, March 16, 2002

RTCW Linux Patch v1.3....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:52 AM MST Saturday, March 16, 2002 [Comment on news]
id Software also has the Linux Wolf 1.3 update ready and available on their ftp server. There is also a mirror available on FilePlanet.


RTCW Patch v1.3....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:46 AM MST Saturday, March 16, 2002 [Comment on news]
Activision has relesed a new patch v1.3 for Return to Castle Wolfenstein. The 8MB patch adds a multiplayer map called "Ice," support for PunkBuster, a MOD Button, a new auto-updater, and a range of single and multiplayer bug fixes. There are mirrors available on 3DGamers, BluesNews, FileShack.


Hitman 2: Silent Assassin Screenshots & Art....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:42 AM MST Saturday, March 16, 2002 [Comment on news]
The official Hitman 2: Silent Assassin site has been updated with six new screenshots of the Nuristan mission as well as some concept art, illustrating IO Interactive's upcoming third-person action game.


MSI GeForce4 Reviews....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:40 AM MST Saturday, March 16, 2002 [Comment on news]
There are a couple of MSI GeForce4 reviews posted today. One is the MSI GeForce4 Ti4600 Video Card on Digit-Life, and the other is a MSI GeForce 4 MX400-T Video Card on Deviant PC. Check 'em out!


Quake 3 Rally Interview ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:37 AM MST Saturday, March 16, 2002 [Comment on news]
HomeLan has posted an interveiw with PR head, tester, webmaster and docs writer Richard “Bagpuss” Smith to find out more about Quake 3 Rally. Here's a nibblet:

    HomeLAN - How did the idea for making a new version of Quake Rally for Q3A come about?

    Richard Smith - Stecki had done some work for Ultimate Rally, which was to the ultimate (obviously) Quake Rally release from Ridah and Sumaleth. Fixing all the bugs, adding new features, some new maps and car models (which was the part Stecki was doing). Ultimately (bad pun intended) it was never released because Ridah and Sumaleth were always busy with other things and didn't have time to pull it together.

    Anyway, myself, Stecki, and a few other people were involved in producing a mod for Quake 2 called Hostile, which for some reason fell apart, so Stecki suggested we do Quake 2 Rally instead. Our programer at the time, skwid, had problems managaing to mold the Quake 2 engine at first, but did manage to get somewhere - shortly before his HD crashed and he lost everything. At the time Q3A was apparently just around the corner, so we decided to wait. But of course it was delayed and it was another six or more months before we got going again.


Unreal Changes....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:27 AM MST Saturday, March 16, 2002 [Comment on news]
GameSpot is reporting Infogrames is planning to announce some new developments in the Unreal shooter franchise, including a couple of name changes. Here's a snip:

    On Monday, Infogrames will announce that it will be changing the name of Epic Games' and Legend Entertainment's forthcoming first-person shooter from Unreal II to Unreal Episode II. Likewise, Unreal Tournament 2 from Epic Games and Digital Extremes will carry the new Unreal Tournament 2003 moniker. The changes are probably meant to curb confusion over the differences between these two games, as well as to further differentiate them from future products like Unreal Championship for the Xbox."
You can catch the rest here.


Friday, March 15, 2002

Mobile Forces Demo Released....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:25 AM MST Friday, March 15, 2002 [Comment on news]
As promised, Rage Software has now released the playable demo of Mobile Forces for download from HomeLan. The download is 41.7MB demo that allows you to try out one level with the Holdout gameplay mode. There are also mirrors on 3D Gamers and FilePlanet.

You can checkout our review of the demo here.


SoF2: Double Helix Q&A....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:19 AM MST Friday, March 15, 2002 [Comment on news]
SLCentral has posted a Soldier of Fortune II Double Helix Q&A with Raven Software's Jon Zuk where they talk about the progress of the game. They talk about the history at Raven, how he came to become the project lead on SoF2, the decision for multiplayer, real-world weaponry, locations, AI, and more.


Jedi Outcast Gone Gold!....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:15 AM MST Friday, March 15, 2002 [Comment on news]
LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC has announced Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast has Gone Gold and is approved for manufacturing. You can expect it March 29!


Ghost Recon: Desert Siege Gone Gold....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:12 AM MST Friday, March 15, 2002 [Comment on news]
Action Trip is reporting Ghost Recon: Desert Siege from Ubi Soft has gone gold. Desert Siege is an expansion pack to a modestly successful Ghost Recon, developed by the same guys who did Rainbow