June 2001

Counter-Strike as a Pro Sport??....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:58 AM MDT Saturday, June 30, 2001 [Comment on news]
Myers, from UKTerrorist, has written a new article named, Counter-Strike... A Game of Passion?. In this article he focuses on CS's future as a spectator sport, and what is holding it back. Will CS ever be covered like Football is? Here's a snippet:

But why is it only a dream?, what is preventing Counter-Strike, or online gaming in general to be more exact, from being hammered into our lives much like football is these days? How long do we have to wait until we see the [marine]-b0b-'s sporting moheican haircuts and pouring tomato ketchup.. or whatever over their heads just to guarantee a front page picture on tabloid newspapers.

Gore Info....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:45 AM MDT Saturday, June 30, 2001 [Comment on news]
The 4D Rulers website has an update on their game Gore, saying they've hired a few people to help work on the game. Joel also gives an overview of changes to the game since the release of the test demo. Three new screenshots are on the screenshots page.

Got a Sick Penguin? ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:38 AM MDT Saturday, June 30, 2001 [Comment on news]
If you are running linux and are having some problems with running q3a check this site out. It is a list of common and uncommon problems that you might be facing with your little penguin.

Day of Defeat Beta 1.3....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:22 AM MDT Saturday, June 30, 2001 [Comment on news]
Finally after a lot of waiting, the Day of Defeat Mod Team has released their beta 1.3. The update weighs in at 41.5 MB and the full client/server at 98.9. Head over and grab it. (More @ the Source: dayofdefeatmod.com)

How To Play Quake At Work Or School Without Getting Caught....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:51 AM MDT Saturday, June 30, 2001 [Comment on news]
3DActionPlanet has posted an article on how to play at work and not get caught. Here's a sample to get you started.

"Is your teacher's lectures going through one ear and going out the other? Sick of writing out ASP for your company's website? We've all been there, and I'm sure at one point or another you've thought of playing Quake or Unreal or something else at work. Luckilly for you, I've been there before. I've got the T-shirt, I've fought the good fight, and I have some tips for you if you want to get your game on at work or school. First, I have five tips on how not to get caught. Second, I have five tips in case, god forbid, you do get caught and how to get out of it.

Bloodline Interview ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:39 AM MDT Saturday, June 30, 2001 [Comment on news]
Voodoo Extreme has a Bloodline interview up today talking to several developers at Czech company Zima Software, who are currently working on this first-person horror action/adventure. Topics include the game's story and setting, how the game differs from other survival horror games, their in-house Death Tracer engine, and more. Most, if not all, of the included images have already appeared elsewhere before though. (More @ the Source: voodooextreme.com)

First rumors: GeForce3 MX and GeForce3 Ultra....
Posted by [luckee] @ 3:19 PM MDT Friday, June 29, 2001 [Comment on news]
According to the French magazine, Hardware.fr, Nvidia's GeForce3-MX chip will supposedly still be introduced this summer.

According to a roadmap, Asus is intending on manufacturing the first GeForce3-MX cards this August, and is planning to release them soon thereafter. As was the case with the GeForce2 MX, the amount of rendering pipelines will be reduced from four to two for the GeForce3-MX chip.

Hardware.fr further reports on a GeForce3 Ultra accelerator, which will not be released until early 2002. It is speculated that the GeForce3 Ultra will have 0.13 micrometer technology and a clock rate of 300 MHz. The 3D chip is supposed to have an improved vertex shader as well.
(More @ the Source: chip-online.com)

Negative Zero Mod Team Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:01 AM MDT Friday, June 29, 2001 [Comment on news]
We recently had the opportunity to sit down and chat with HypnoTech, and NuclearGerbil from the Negative Zero mod team. Here's a little sampling:

(PCShooter) Can you give me an overview of what Negative Zero is all about?

HypnoTech: The Negative Zero story takes places in the near future,
but I’ll let gerbil explain the rest to you.

NG: Yeah, as Hypno said, the Negative Zero story takes place in the
near future, and involves an omnipotent government, involved in
conspiracy – stuff you’ve heard before. We’re trying to create an
atmosphere of guerilla warfare – a small rebel force against a large,
powerful government. The maps have a great feel to them to enhance
this atmosphere. We want the player to feel as if he is really in this
war.

New UI Enhanced....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:00 AM MDT Friday, June 29, 2001 [Comment on news]
A new version 1.0 of UI Enhanced is now available, updating this mod that offers what should be a fairly self-explanatory enhancement of the user-interface for Quake III Arena. The point release is Q3A version 1.27 compatible, and marks the program ending its beta status. (More @ the Source: planetquake.com)

Security Flaws Revealed in Cisco Software....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:59 AM MDT Friday, June 29, 2001 [Comment on news]
Flaws in Cisco Systems software for routers, switches and firewalls could give attackers complete control over the widely used equipment that supports the bulk of the Internet's backbone. (More @ the Source: techextreme.com)

Operation Flashpoint ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:55 AM MDT Friday, June 29, 2001 [Comment on news]
Operation Flashpoint topped the PC games charts in the UK last week, apparently shifting around 16,000 copies in the two days it was on sale and knocking Westwood's long awaited 3D strategy game Emperor : Battle For Dune off the top spot in the process. Not bad for the first title from a small Czech developer. UK-based publisher Codemasters was understandably well chuffed by this, with Michael Hayes declaring that "Operation Flashpoint is an exceptional game and we're ecstatic with its success at launch". With excellent reviews and strong word of mouth, it will be interesting to see how long it can hang on at the sharp end of the charts, especially with the expected arrival of Commandos 2 next week. (More @ the Source: eurogamer.net)

U.S. Appeals Court Overturns Microsoft Breakup....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:48 AM MDT Friday, June 29, 2001 [Comment on news]
As most industry observers had expected, software giant Microsoft escaped with little more than the equivalent of a legal slap on the wrist Thursday when a U.S. appeals court unanimously overturned a lower court order that would have split the company. (More @ the Source: techextreme.com)

Return To Castle Wolfenstein First Look ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:40 AM MDT Friday, June 29, 2001 [Comment on news]
Today 3DActionPlanet has posted up a first look preview of the upcoming Return To Castle Wolfenstein title. The article discusses some aspects of the gameplay and what we can expect to see in the game. Here's a taste:

The new sequel to the Wolfenstein series seems to be aiming for something a little more sophisticated, but also seems to be interested in sticking to some of its roots and offering up lots of comic-book style action. The story places you once again in B.J.'s boots, and this time you're trying to thwart Hitler's right-hand man, Himmler, the head off the SS and certified maniac with an obsessive interest in the occult.

New ĘStats....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:35 AM MDT Friday, June 29, 2001 [Comment on news]
A new version 4.75 of the ĘStats utility is now available. The new release of this log parsing utility adds or updates support for Chaos UT, Eternal Arena, Deathmatch Classic, Science and Industry, Urban Terror, Infiltration, Tactical Ops, Unreal Tournament, while dropping support for Strike Force. (More @ the Source: planetquake.com)

New Server Watch ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:33 AM MDT Friday, June 29, 2001 [Comment on news]
Gamer's Preview 3 of Server Watch version 2.1 is now available from Deep Fried Software. In addition to addressing what they describe as a "substantial number of bugs," the new release also extend the program's timeout date so that it will continue to function until February 2002. Problems that caused the Half-Life plug-in to mistakenly report servers being down, a socket leak in Unreal-related plug-ins, and other glitches have all been addressed. (More @ the Source: dfsoftware.com)

Half-Life Patch Plans ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:32 AM MDT Friday, June 29, 2001 [Comment on news]
SpyFx.com has posted what looks like the actual read me file for Half-Life version 1.08, offering word that the patch will offer spectator proxy and voice communication for all mods along with a load of bug fixes. As version 1.07, which will precede this update, is not yet available, we don't suggest counting too strongly on the word accompanying the post that says the version 1.08 patch will be released this Monday. (More @ the Source: spyfx.com)

Codename Eagle Patch....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:30 AM MDT Friday, June 29, 2001 [Comment on news]
A new patch for Codename Eagle is now available, bringing the first-person action game by Refraction Games (now part of Digital Illusions) to version 1.41. The 11.8 MB patch includes all changes from last year's patches and adds a variety of new features such as a new maximum of 30 players on a dedicated multiplayer server, a new Battle Chopper vehicle, and a new CTF level called "Fortress," as well as gameplay balancing and bug fixes. To give you an idea of the new features, a new promo movie for this game version is also available in three different sizes. (More @ the Source: mgon.com)

AOpen AOW-224 Switch Review....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:36 AM MDT Thursday, June 28, 2001 [Comment on news]
Luckee has posted up his review of AOpen's AOW-224 switch. Here's a little sample to wet your whistle:

...Switching is a cost-effective way of increasing the total network capacity available to users on a local area network. A switch increases capacity and decreases network loading by dividing a local area network into different segments, which won’t compete with each other for network transmission capacity. The switch acts as a high-speed selective bridge between the individual segments. Without interfering with any other segments, it automatically forwards traffic that needs to go from one segment to another. By doing this, the total network capacity is multiplied, while still maintaining the same network.

3D World War II (v2.5) Demo....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:31 AM MDT Thursday, June 28, 2001 [Comment on news]
Dennis Sloutsky, from GameActive Networks, sent the word earlier that they're about to release the updated public demo version of 3D World War II (v2.5) this morning sometime. He said it will feature loads of bugfixes, new features, high/low quality selection function, music, new game interface and even a never before seen game level. The final version is still one month away, and that's when the demo version based on final code will come out. This version is still based on an early beta code. We'll let you know as soon as it is out.

He is also reporting that the official 3D World War II message board is now online and reminded us that the beta registration will be closed this weekend, so I suggest everyone interested hurry up with their registration.

Giants Patch?....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:48 AM MDT Thursday, June 28, 2001 [Comment on news]
Over on the GiantsHell discussion boards is a user reporting that Planet Moon may be releasing a long awaited patch for Giants: Citizen Kabuto within the next week. Here's the scoop:

"Today one of our long-time Giants players received some news via phone call from an Interplay person that "the 1.4 patch will be released in one week."

Officials Seize Counterfeit Games ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:43 AM MDT Thursday, June 28, 2001 [Comment on news]
A joint investigation between West Yorkshire Trading Standards, West Yorkshire Police, and ELSPA (European Leisure Software Publishers Association) could bring charges against eleven traders. These eleven individuals, nine males and two females (aged twenty and forty) were discovered to be in possession of what are believed to be counterfeit goods. Officials seized 4,000 PlayStation and Dreamcast titles, 2,500 music compact discs and 400 videocassettes. The games alone have been valued at GBP120,000.00 (169,269 USD). All items are now undergoing extensive examinations and should their illegality be verified, all suspects could face charges under the TradeMark and Copyright legislation.

Operation Flashpoint PR ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:38 AM MDT Thursday, June 28, 2001 [Comment on news]
Codemasters has released (in German) a new press release, translated to English by Operation Flashpoint Network, with details on Operation Flashpoint (which is available in the UK and expected to be released in the US this September). All Operation Flashpoint Upgrade Packs will be available free of charge and downloadable from the game's web site. Here are the first three scheduled Upgrade Packs:

--The first Upgrade Pack is due to hit the site in July. It will enable players to add two new vehicles, one new weapon, two new official single missions and another five official multiplayer missions to the acclaimed game. In the first pack, gamers can look forward to adding a Kozlice, a civilian hunting gun with two muzzles one being a shot gun and the second a rifle, to their armoury, flying another type of US Transport helicopter and a SU25 Soviet Strike Aircraft.
--The following month's Upgrade Pack, due in August, will launch the remote/dedicated servers for online multiplay and introduce two new vehicles, two new official single missions, and another five new official multiplayer missions. The August Upgrade Pack will also enhance online security, peripheral support, multiplayer features, including a multiplayer level auto-generator for the mission editor. Specific treats in August's Upgrade Pack include US and Russian Rotational Grenade Launchers, a Vulcan US Anti-Aircraft and an another attack helicopter. The five multiplayer missions will be co-operative campaigns. August will also see the launch of a second playable demo; a single-level multiplayer demo that concludes the plot of the first demo, released in April.
--To take players into the autumn the third Operation Flashpoint Upgrade Pack is due in September to coincide with the launch of the US edition of the game. This pack will deliver another two new vehicles, two new official single missions, and a further five official multiplayer missions.

Z: Steel Soldiers Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:32 AM MDT Thursday, June 28, 2001 [Comment on news]
There's a new Z: Steel Soldiers Interview on MGON talking with Mike Montgomery, who they describe as the creative force behind Z: Steel Soldiers, the upcoming RTS sequel that returns to the "Z universe." Topics include the plotline, new features, multiplayer innovations, the roles of some characters familiar from the original, the change to full 3D, and more. (More @ the Source: www.mgon.com)

Soldier of Fortune II Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:30 AM MDT Thursday, June 28, 2001 [Comment on news]
PC Zone interviews Jon Zuk talking with the project leader on Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix about Raven's upcoming sequel that will again put you in the shoes of John Mullins, the game's shoot first and never ask questions namesake Soldier of Fortune. Topics include the gaming industry in general and some of Raven's history, as well as specifics about SoF2, and a brief mention of Jedi Outcast (albeit not by name) in talking of the technology crossovers they can make by working on two Quake III-engine games at once. (More @ the Source: www.pczone.co.uk)

Returning To Castle Wolfenstein Interview....
Posted by [luckee] @ 10:27 AM MDT Wednesday, June 27, 2001 [Comment on news]
One of the hottest game we've seen at E3 the last couple of years is Activision's Return to Castle Wolfenstein, which is the sequel to one of id Software's finest first person shooters that started it all. Developed by id in conjunction with Gray Matter Studios (whom you may recall used to be named Xatrix Studios and made Kingpin)Return to Castle Wolfenstein could be one of the biggest smash hits of the year. Check out this interview over at VE here's a snip:

Voodoo Extreme -- A lot of players expect more from a first person shooter these days than just shooting everything up from point A to B. What are you doing to give Return to Castle Wolfenstein a distinctive
gameplay feel?

[Kevin Cloud]: There are literally dozens of things that all work together to give Wolf the distinctive feel and depth that it has. Everything from the story that weaves WWII with Heinrich Himmlers obsession with the Occult, raising of the dead and genetic mutation, to the totally smooth motion captured animations, near-photo quality textures and AI system, work together to create the Wolf gameplay. Probably one of the coolest elements is the scripting system that allows designers to essentially set everything in the world in motion when the level begins. Enemies will patrol, or work, or talk to each other whether you are there or not, and often without you triggering their action. The speed at which you play the game and tactics you use all have an effect on the experience. Guards may be in a different place if you play slower. Patrolling soldiers might come across one of their fellow soldiers that you have killed and sound the alarm or call for immediate reinforcements. The fact that the player directly affects the course of events within the level and that outcomes change dynamically, makes the game feel incredibly realistic. (More @ the Source: voodooextreme.com)

Hidden & Dangerous 2 Interview....
Posted by [luckee] @ 9:06 AM MDT Wednesday, June 27, 2001 [Comment on news]
The H&D Fanatic site has posted up a new Hidden & Dangerous 2 interview with Illusion Softworks' Lead Designer Tomas Pluharik. Here's a lil snip:

H&D Fanatic - Illusion's development team did extensive research of WWII for H&D1.
Has there been additional research done in the production of H&D2, or have you relied on the information you gathered for the first game?

Tomas Pluharik - I think that the greatest portion of research was made for HD2. :-) We have visited a great number of museums and contacted hundreds of collectors and fans.

H&D Fanatic - Since the release of Hidden & Dangerous in 1999, WWII has become a popular theme for tactical shooters and FPS mods. Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, Day of Defeat, and WWII Online are just a few of the many examples. When compared to these games, what is the most distinctive aspect of Hidden & Dangerous 2? What do you feel sets your game apart?

Tomas Pluharik - I think that the balance between playability and realism is the most important feature of any simulation war game. Then comes stunning enviroment, perfect atmosphere and tons of features. We are not trying to be the most realistic game or have the most action game from WW2. There must be some compromises. The good examples are the helicopters and planes in our game. We want to have more “arcade" controlling of these vehicles because there is no reason to push players of tactical squad games to learn in two weeks the complex controls of a WW2 fighter plane. :-) (More @ the Source: 3dactionplanet.com/hd)

Portable MP3-CD Player....
Posted by [luckee] @ 8:54 AM MDT Wednesday, June 27, 2001 [Comment on news]
Check out Frag-girlie's new review of Evergreen Technology's Portable MP3-CD Player. Here's a 'lil nibble:

"I like to listen to music while I exercise, so I decided to hop on my Nordic Track Ellipse and run for a bit with the player sitting in the slot on the front of the machine. I started out with a CD that I had burned, but converted the files so that any CD player could read it. The sound is pretty good, even though the earphones are tiny. It was nice and clear and surprisingly even had clear transitions between the highs and lows. The second CD I played was a store-bought CD and once again it sounded great. The third CD I popped in there was loaded up with all my favorite MP3s. This is my favorite kind because of the amount of music I can store on one disk. The player also has the ability to play from user created directories on MP3 CD-Rs." (More @ the Source: pcshooter.com)

NOLF Add-on Rez....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:00 AM MDT Wednesday, June 27, 2001 [Comment on news]
BlackAngel Software has released a "NOLF 'add-on' Rez," an unofficial add-on that adds a 'Direct Connect' option to No One Lives Forever, allowing users to connect directly to a multiplayer server via IP address, provided the server is likewise running the add-on. You can pick that up here.

Stereo Vision....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:57 AM MDT Wednesday, June 27, 2001 [Comment on news]
There's a new Stereoscopic OpenGL and NVIDIA 3D cards guide on Stereovision.net showing how to get stereo going on any NVIDIA GeForce-based accelerator. (More @ the Source: stereovision.net)

Red Faction Interview....
Posted by [BustaCap] @ 2:59 PM MDT Tuesday, June 26, 2001 [Comment on news]
Tolstiy's Place has an interview with Mark Lewis online, talking with the level designer at Volition about his work on Red Faction, their FPS that was recently released for the Playstation 2 and will be released in the near future for the PC. here's a snip:

Tolstiy: Hi there! Please, introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your work on Red Faction?

Mark Lewis: Hi, I'm Mark Lewis. I'm one of the level designers for Red Faction for the PS2 and PC.

Tolstiy: As far as I know, Volition is your first employment in the gaming industry and this interview is the first one you ever make ;). That said, I can't miss
asking you how did you get into the industry, what had attracted you here etc? Tell us about this - it'd be very interesting to hear.

Mark Lewis: I'd always been a game lover, having played games ever since I could remember (in the arcades, at home, wherever I could find something to
play). But for a long time I figured that being one of the people who actually created games was something that was beyond me, so I never thought about
trying to pursue that type of career. Well, as things turned out, about the time the original Quake came out, I was working at night, and had quite a bit of free
time on my hands. I started following the Quake community and realized that people were out there like me who were learning how to create new things for
games. After some time I also realized that some of these people worked hard enough to actually work professionally. That was when I decided that was what
I wanted to try to do. I got involved with a couple of mods, starting learning things, and eventually got to a point where I could actually get a job doing this.
Volition is my first job in the industry, I've been here about 9 months now, and it's great!

Tolstiy: Tell us about your level design experience - what engines are you familiar with, for how long you've been making maps, why did you choose to
become a level designer - what had attracted you to this occupation? (More @ the Source: tolstiy.ag.ru)

Weekly Pricing Guide Update @ 3D Spotlight....
Posted by [BustaCap] @ 2:55 PM MDT Tuesday, June 26, 2001 [Comment on news]
Welcome to 3D Spotlight“s new weekly feature, here they will give you the latest prices for CPUs, memory and videocards, in a resource hope you find it very useful. (More @ the Source: 3dspotlight.com)

Urban Terror Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 12:10 PM MDT Tuesday, June 26, 2001 [Comment on news]
We recently had the opportunity to sit down and chat with DOKTA8, OSWALD, and SWEETNUTZ from the Urban Terror mod team. Here's a sampling:

(PCShooter) Can you give us an overview of what Urban Terror is all about?

[DOKTA8]: Urban Terror is loosely based around team combat in conventional urban settings. The main aim of the game is to give FPS players a game that is fun and fast, but also mixed in with a generous amount of realism.

[SWEETNUTZ]: Urban Terror is about having fun in a real life setting. We have no locked concept at the moment such as Side A vs. Side B. That will change however in beta 3.0 as we work towards more defined mission types. For now, our goal was to create a fairly fast paced but fun realism game, without laying too heavily on either un-realism or realism. Emphasis on fun over realism.

Ritual Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:39 AM MDT Tuesday, June 26, 2001 [Comment on news]
Ritualistic has posted an interview with Rob Atkins, artist at Ritual Entertainment. They talk a bit about the upcoming shooter they are developing for EA. They even manage to get a little bit of info out of them, including word that there will be multiplayer. Go check it out. (More @ the Source: ritualistic.com)

Full Metal Jacket update....
Posted by [BustaCap] @ 9:25 AM MDT Tuesday, June 26, 2001 [Comment on news]
The Full Metal Jacket website has been updated with a few new things here's a snip:

Well, there comes a time when you need to update the site again. It looks
like it's my job to do, so I'm doing it =). We have been testing the mod a lot.
We're on Alpha 5D3 and 5D4, Alpha 5E is making it's way out very soon. Public
release will make it's way out a lot sooner if we had another animator. If you
are interested in the joining the team and can animate or doing anything
mod related, contact ]missi[.



Nothing much has happen since my last update, but here is the list of what
has:

-dan reskinned the rpg, makarov, ak47 and the 870

-kierian has done some work on the music tracks in the game. view his .plan

-kruzh has started a new map

-kruzh also reskinned the m40 sniper rifle

-stu created a great hudguy
and it's ingame

-impacts are now ingame, click here
to see the rocket impact, here
for see the bullet impact shot

-kierian has started on official radio commands that sound more like the usmc
and vc.

-the mod now has a water blur effect, so now you can't see across the map in the
water, see the effect here.

-the video is in the last stages of development, and should be out next
development, it'll be available in small size mpeg, large size mpeg, and
quicktime

-warhammer has created a nice little comment script for the site, i suggest you
use it to give us feedback along with the forum
or you can come to our irc channel on irc.enterthegame.com, the channel
being #fmj (More @ the Source: planetquake.com)

Day of Defeat Update ....
Posted by [BustaCap] @ 9:17 AM MDT Tuesday, June 26, 2001 [Comment on news]
The Day of Defeat Half-Life WWII mod site has been updated with info on work going into version 2.0. This includes, The German Knife, Stick Grenade, MP-44, Garand and B.A.R. have all been redone with a few tweaks, although Agent~0 is still working on the MP-44. My question is where the hell is 1.3? (More @ the Source: dayofdefeatmod.com)

Deus Ex 2, Thief III & Jedi Knight II In PC Gamer....
Posted by [BustaCap] @ 8:50 AM MDT Tuesday, June 26, 2001 [Comment on news]
The latest issue of PC Gamer (august 2001, on news stands now) offers an exclusive look at Ion Storm austin's Deus Ex 2 and Thief III. They also offer new screens from Jedi Knight II and Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. Hit the news stands if any of these games tickle your fancy.

So You Want to Review Games for a Living? Part I ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 8:35 AM MDT Tuesday, June 26, 2001 [Comment on news]
GameSpy has an editorial up this morning that talks about game reviewers and offers some tips. Here's their intro:

During my various stints as an editor covering the games industry, I've received countless letters from people wanting to write about games. Invariably all of the letters ask the same general questions -- do I need to go to college, what kind of degree do I need to have, does it matter that I've never been published -- but what no one has ever asked me is how to craft an expertly written piece of editorial or how to properly interact with both editors and the rest of the games industry. And if you really want to be taken seriously as a freelancer, you'll have to be able to do both in a professional manner.

Night's Edge Mod for UT....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 8:31 AM MDT Tuesday, June 26, 2001 [Comment on news]
A new beta 2 of the Night's Edge modification for Unreal Tournament is now available, updating this UT mod they describe as a "tactical simulator." The new release mainly addresses bugs in beta 1, and is available as either a full release, or a patch. (More @ the Source: rps.net/NE)

New cK-Fatality Interview....
Posted by [BustaCap] @ 4:08 PM MDT Monday, June 25, 2001 [Comment on news]
Quake 3 Arena Zone, has posted a new interview with cK-fatality, the number 1 ranked Quake III duelist. Here's a snip:

Where does Your history of proffesional gaming starts?
I played in a lot of tournaments when I was younger, and I won every tournament I competeted in for Quake 1, and I then found out about CPL and went to my first Professional tournament in Dallas where I played Quake 3 Arena and took 3rd place winning $4,000. I was really thrilled about winning the $4,000, and not to long afterwards, I was invited to Sweden and many other tournaments.

How many hours a day You play q3?
Kind of just depends on the day. I would say anywhere from 2-8 hours a day now on a regular basis. If a tournament is coming up, I'll play a more steady ammount of around 8 hours a day to get well prepared for a tournament. (More @ the Source: q3arena.gry.wp.pl)

Intel to Buy Compaq Chip Operation ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:41 AM MDT Monday, June 25, 2001 [Comment on news]
Compaq Computer on Monday will sell its Alpha processor operation to Intel as the PC giant looks to consolidate its operations. Intel, through the Alpha deal, gains valuable intellectual property from Compaq for use in its chips, while eliminating a potential competitive threat to its Itanium processor. Terms of the deal were not immediately available. (More @ the Source: news.cnet.com)

Fighting Legends Update ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:38 AM MDT Monday, June 25, 2001 [Comment on news]
VoodooExtreme has posted an update on the upcoming massively multiplayer game, Fighting Legends. Along with the news update are a few new Fighting Legends screenshots. (More @ the Source: voodooextreme.com)

Navy Seals Screenshots ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:35 AM MDT Monday, June 25, 2001 [Comment on news]
The Navy Seals: Covert Operations site has new screenshots posted from the new facility map. It's an Arabic nerve gas facility, in which the seals either have to blow up the energy supply or an important part of the production stuff. (More @ the Source: ns-co.net)

Reinventing the Mac OS for Gamers ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:28 AM MDT Monday, June 25, 2001 [Comment on news]
In the recent past, many gamers have only associated Mac with artists and desktop publishing, but rarely did anyone ever associate Mac with gaming. That has changed recently with id Software and nVidia's push to make Mac better associated with gaming. GameSpy chats with Tim Wood, who is responsible for a slew of Mac video game ports, revealing how Apple intends to capture some of the gaming market. (More @ the Source: gamespy.com)

Operation Flashpoint Editing Center ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:17 AM MDT Monday, June 25, 2001 [Comment on news]
Operation Flashpoint Editing Center is open for business, hoping to supply those interested with the information and resources required to make custom scenarios for Operation Flashpoint, Codemasters' cold war shooter that's now available in Europe. (More @ the Source: lustypooh.tripod.com)

New SuperIP....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:14 AM MDT Monday, June 25, 2001 [Comment on news]
Cowboy Tribes Scripting page ("I wanna party with you, cowboy") has a new version 1.0.1 of SuperIP, an mIRC utility that allows you to capture and utilize game links dropped in an IRC channel to join games and inform your friends what game server you are currently using. SuperIP is for more than just TRIBES 2, as it also supports TRIBES, Quake III Arena, and Half-Life (including "most major mods"), and now also offers German language support (there's a request up for translators for other languages, as well). (More @ the Source: tribalwar.com)

Happy Birthday Luckee....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:57 AM MDT Sunday, June 24, 2001 [Comment on news]
I just wanted to take the opportunity to wish our man Luckee a very happy birthday on behalf of everyone here at PC Shooter. Hope you have a great day Luckee, and remember, you're only as old as you think you are... :o)

SoF2 Preview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:38 AM MDT Sunday, June 24, 2001 [Comment on news]
Jedi Knight II Network has also posted up a preview of Soldier of Fortune 2 as part of their Raven Day Celebration.

Ken Hoekstra Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:28 AM MDT Sunday, June 24, 2001 [Comment on news]
As noted in a recent .plan update by Kenn Hoekstra, game developer Raven Software is 11 years old today. Good to see they are still going after all those years. As part of this birthday celebration, Jedi Knight II Network has posted up an interview with Ken. (More @ the Source: jediknightii.net)

Strike Force Update ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:22 AM MDT Sunday, June 24, 2001 [Comment on news]
Strike Force has a few goodies for you, while we all await the fate of the on again/off again patch. First up are are a couple of videos of weapons in action. First, there is the Steyr Aug Movie and then you have the Widow Maker in action. (In DiVX;-) format for some reason) Don't forget to grab the Duke Nukem Episode1 map while you are there... Word is that quantities may be limited.

Jailbreak: Prisoners Of War Released....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:17 AM MDT Sunday, June 24, 2001 [Comment on news]
The teams behind the Quake 3 capture-the-enemy style Jailbreak and Prisoners of War mods have been working for months merging their respective games...and the result has finally been released! The 57.5MB goodness can currently be grabbed at FilePlanet, and for full details on the new features and maps, head on over the official JB:PoW website.

Sonigistix Monsoon MM 2000 Review ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:10 AM MDT Sunday, June 24, 2001 [Comment on news]
With the popularity and success of their other speakers, it was only a matter of time before Monsoon released a surround sound flat panel speaker system. Consumer interest was quick when the company announced the MM2000, a surround system featuring 4 flat satellites utilizing Monsoon's Planar Focus Technology. (More @ the Source: neoseeker.com)

Urban Terror Map....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:04 AM MDT Sunday, June 24, 2001 [Comment on news]
SST Blitz has posted two screenshots of his upcoming map Ut_dam on the Urban Terror message board. Check them out! The map looks pretty cool from the screenshots he has posted there.

FrozenCPU's Blizzard 360 ATX Case ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 8:57 AM MDT Sunday, June 24, 2001 [Comment on news]
Want a new case that has been designed for overclocking? Well you should take a look at FrozenCPU's Blizzard 360 ATX case, packed with 3 huge 120mm fans, this case is for the serious overclocker. Chick's Hardware takes a closer look at the case and it's features to see if it is a worthy choice for your next case. (More @ the Source: chickshardware.com)

Unreal II Interview ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 8:47 AM MDT Sunday, June 24, 2001 [Comment on news]
There's an interview on gameplex talking with Mike Verdu, the designer and producer for Unreal II, the upcoming Unreal sequel in the works at Legend Entertainment. The conversation (also available in the site's original German) covers a lot of general background for the game, here's a snip for you:

GP: Unreal ended with the player floating through space in a maneuverless ship. Does Unreal 2 begin at that moment or is it just a game in the same universe, around the same time?

MV: Unreal II is a sequel to the original Unreal and takes place in the same universe - but you take the role of a new player character and travel to many new worlds. You are a Colonial Authority Frontier Marshal charged with the safety of scientists, colonists, terraformers, and miners in a sector of space that is just being colonized. A war breaks out in your patrol area and you must protect the civilians while you work to discover the source of the conflict and attempt to stop the fighting.

Hercules 3D Prophet 4500 Review....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:06 AM MDT Saturday, June 23, 2001 [Comment on news]
We gamers are all the same - we want the best graphics card money can buy, without spending too much, so we can enjoy the latest games with the details cranked up at high resolutions. For a long time, the company that we've turned to for amazing graphics products has been Nvidia and the assorted manufacturers that produced cards with Nvidia products. However, with the release of the GeForce3 line , many are finding they don't have $300+ to drop on a new video card. (More @ the Source: planethardware.com)

PC Expo 2001....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 8:58 AM MDT Saturday, June 23, 2001 [Comment on news]
This year's PC Expo, held June 26 to 28, headlines a lineup of tech-related seminars and events dubbed TechXNY, or Technology Exchange Week. Some of these events center on e-commerce-related technology. Others, like eTV World, will focus on how to make TV not only more entertaining and interactive but profitable. Regardless of the new names, PC Expo is still the main event. (More @ the Source: techtv.com)

Interplay Sale No Go....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 8:53 AM MDT Saturday, June 23, 2001 [Comment on news]
According to this news post over at MCV, it seems as though the purported deals for the sale of Interplay has been nixed. MCV is reporting that Titus had issued a statement that it had decided not to sell its stake in Interplay, although the statement is considered to be a "save face" measure due to the fact that the purported bidders for Interplay had withdrew their offers. (More @ the Source: mcvusa.com)

Warren Spector article ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 8:49 AM MDT Saturday, June 23, 2001 [Comment on news]
Nextgame.it has posted a 10 Questions with Warren Spector article (also in Italian). For those that don't know, Warren was the man at Ion Storm driving Deus Ex and has done some other great games in his time. They talk about how far along technology for creating game worlds is, PC vs Consoles, and more. There's no juicy Deus Ex 2 info, but it's interesting nonetheless. (More @ the Source: nextgame.it)

TRIBES 2 Problems....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 8:38 AM MDT Saturday, June 23, 2001 [Comment on news]
PlanetTribes has posted a news item explaining why players are unable to connect to TRIBES 2. According to their news update, the problem was caused by a hack attack that removed all of the authentication versions from Sierra's update site, so all players are currently being told that they have an out of date version of the game. Until it's fixed, you can bypass this by simply start up the game with the "tribes2.exe -online" command line. (More @ the Source: planettribes.com)

Gore Interview ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 8:36 AM MDT Saturday, June 23, 2001 [Comment on news]
There's a Gore Interview on Silent Games talking with Barry Batchelor, a 3D modeler from Eyecon, the Australian developer partnering with 4D Rulers on Gore, their upcoming first-person shooter. The conversation covers background on the relationship between Eyecon and Gore (as well as Slam Software, developers of Gore's AMP engine), as well as feedback on the Gore multiplayer demo, what the full game will include upon release, what happened to the plans for single-player play in the planned multiplayer game, and more. Also on tap with the interview are a batch of Gore screenshots. (More @ the Source: shockrealm.com)

Global Warfare Team Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 1:57 PM MDT Friday, June 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
Myskin, animator and modeler from the Global Warfare Team, recently sat down with us to discuss the ins and outs of the Global Warfare Half-Life Mod. Here's a snip:

(PCShooter) Do you plan on changing any of the weapon and/or player models? If so, what kind of changes will be made?

(Myshkin) The sa80 and g36 weapon models have been re-skinned, and I think the player models have been tweaked a little too.

GoldenEye SP (Half-Life)....
Posted by [BustaCap] @ 11:04 AM MDT Friday, June 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
Gamearena Posted up a cool interview with a member from GoldenEye SP (Half-Life) mod team here's a snip:

GameArena: Did you like GoldenEye for the N64?

Flewda: Yes, very much so. I think it was one of the greatest games for Nintendo 64, however, if it had all the stuff that Perfect Dark has now, but still the Goldeneye theme. It would be a lot better.

GameArena: What made you decide, to make this mod?

Flewda: Well, the lead mapper wanted to make a small map pack using the same theme of the maps as the GE64 version had. He was in my clan so I asked to help. I got good at modeling and the other jobs I do, and then began searching for more members. (More @ the Source: zerogamers.com)

Medal of Honor Shots and Info....
Posted by [BustaCap] @ 10:56 AM MDT Friday, June 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
There are some new MoH screenshots and info available on the official website. The particle system in these screenshots looks neat. check them out here: (More @ the Source: mohaa.ea.com)

PlanetSide Info....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:07 AM MDT Friday, June 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
The boys at ActionVault have the results up of one of their vast mining expeditions on the official PlanetSide forums. Their post includes a lot of info on PlanetSide (Verant's upcoming massively multiplayer FPS,) including such topics as transportation, promotions, friendly fire, and more. (More @ the Source: actionvault.ign.com)

Fighting Legends Preview ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:04 AM MDT Friday, June 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
Gamesmania has a preview of Fighting Legends, from Maximum Charisma, on their site. A massive multiplayer action/fighting game with G-rated violence (Don't ask me how that works), Fighting Legends is due out on PC in November, with console release right afterwards. (More @ the Source: gamesmania.com)

AMD Duron 950 MHz CPU Review....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:00 AM MDT Friday, June 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
The Intel-AMD battle in the performance market is always interesting to follow, as the new Athlon and Pentium 4 releases continue to raise the processor bar higher and higher. This is great for those with thick wallets or a hankering to fiddle with upgrading their PC, but let's not forget the value segment and the pressure AMD is continuing to exert with their popular Duron CPU. Check out Sharky Extreme's review here.

Weekly Memory Price Guide....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:57 AM MDT Friday, June 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
Each week PlanetHardware scours the net for the lowest prices on memory components for a variety of PCs. These prices are often promotions that are time sensitive, if you contact the vendor regarding these prices make sure you specify to them that they were obtained online. So, for those of you looking to upgrade your memory, now may be a good time. You can check out the list here.

World War II Online: Blitzkrieg Review....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:48 AM MDT Friday, June 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
Never has there been a persistent online world for any game: we have relied on individual user servers, which are not always up. The ambitious goal of World War II Online is to have one online battlefield in which all players replay the greatest war of the 20th century. It’s such a simple goal, but, as we will see, it is very hard to meet. Will World War II Online serve its nation proud, or just crash and burn? (More @ the Source: gamegenie.com)

Updated Info on Day of Defeat....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:42 AM MDT Friday, June 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
The Day of Defeat mod team is apparently still hard at work on build 1.3. I found this info on their site:

"We have the details worked out for friendly fire now and it seems to work fine this way..

mp_friendlyfire is no longer used at ALL in 1.3...The only setting that effects FF now is mp_teamplay ONLY

Server admins will need to NOT put mp_friendlyfire in server config at all!..Rather uncomment mp_teamplay and set it to either 11= on or 21= off

If you set this in your server config it will turn FF on or off accordingly and be the default setting for your server from then on just as mp_friendlyfire was in 1.2

This has been tested with rcon and you can still use rcon to turn mp_teamplay on or off but it will NOT make a permenent change to the server config. The setting will return to the default server config setting when map changes.

We have not fully tested this with Admin_mod but Malachii at The Killing Grounds is testing it and will let us know..I see no reason it wouldnt work with admin-mod but we will keep you posted."

So...FF bug looks to be eliminated, everyone fire a mag off in celebration :)."

-Thunder_Weenie, ShellShock and the DoD Team

Romero & Willits Interview ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:31 AM MDT Friday, June 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
Methos Quake (in celebration of five years of Quake) has posted up an interview with John Romero and Tim Willits. The interview includes thoughts on the game from the original team, views on the the longevity of Quake and Quakeworld, and much more. On an interesting note, you'll need to scroll down the main page to find the interview, but you should check out the post above it which includes a list of reasons why Quake changed the world of gaming, and a list of awards Quake won. (More @ the Source: methosq.com)

Strike Force 1.61 Pulled....
Posted by [BustaCap] @ 3:07 PM MDT Thursday, June 21, 2001 [Comment on news]
Strike Force 1.61 has been pulled because of various problems inside the code. We have issued a reverse patch that will bring everyone back to 1.60. However this "160_A" patch is required for everyone because it has the new .ini file which fixes some immediate problems. We also included the three new maps with the patch. If your running a 1.61 mirror please delete it and replace it with 160_A. We also posted some news about our lead code persons departure on the site. Check it all out at http://www.strikeforcecenter.com Thanks Mike

New Tactical Ops Screenshots....
Posted by [BustaCap] @ 11:59 AM MDT Thursday, June 21, 2001 [Comment on news]
Last week, IR 1.97 was released to the team for testing. This updated included many of the new features seen in the trailer; like smoke grenades, the M4M203 assault rifle, and also the new skins for the AK-47 and Mossberg shotgun. We've also posted the feature list on the following page, as well as TONS of new screenshots (well, more screenshots than we've posted in a long time). Click the image below to check 'em out: (More @ the Source: tactical-ops.net)

GameActive Networks 3D World War II Update - Part II....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:05 AM MDT Thursday, June 21, 2001 [Comment on news]
I received an email this morning from Dennis Sloutsky, GameActive Networks' PR manager (among other things). Here's what he had to say:

"It seems like I've failed to mention a few things in the previous development update, so here's development update PART II.

Concerning the beta testing signups - we are VERY interested in people on lower generation machines signing up for the beta as we are planning to make the low quality game version to work even on P1-233 machines (unbelievable, isn't it?) so their participation in beta testing would be invaluable. Once again, here's the beta testing application form.

Concerning the final game version - we still do not have distributors for the game outside North America, so everyone interested in taking this role on them should visit our website for contact information.

NOLF Source Code....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:48 AM MDT Thursday, June 21, 2001 [Comment on news]
The source code for Monolith's No One Lives Forever shooter has been released to the public. Here is what prospective mod makers will find if they download it:

· The NOLF Visual C++ 6.0 workspace complete with projects for individual DLLs
· All of NOLF’s game-side source files
· LithTech SDK header files and header files for shared Monolith libraries

Lion's Den Mod Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:44 AM MDT Thursday, June 21, 2001 [Comment on news]
Elited.net has posted an interview with a team member from 'SAS into the lions den', a mod in development for Unreal Tournament. This mod is slated to incorporate new weapons, player models, and changes in the actual gameplay style. (More @ the Source: elited.net)

Mark Asher's GameSpin Column ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:42 AM MDT Thursday, June 21, 2001 [Comment on news]
The latest edition of Mark Asher's GameSpin column has been posted over at GameSpy. In today's edition Mark talks to Ken Levine of Irrational Games and also provides his views on Hitman and Half-Life: Blue Shift. (More @ the Source: gamespy.com)

Operation Flashpoint Review ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:38 AM MDT Thursday, June 21, 2001 [Comment on news]
Barry's World is offerring up thier review of Operation Flashpoint. Here's the intro:

"War. Huh. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!" Sang Frankie Goes to Hollywood in the heat of the ‘80s cold war crisis. Well we would have to disagree with them, for the past few days we have been in the thick of the cold war crisis – at the frontline no less – and we can safely say it’s actually quite good..."

Max Payne FAQ ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:32 AM MDT Thursday, June 21, 2001 [Comment on news]
There's a Max Payne FAQ that has the system requirements for Remedy Entertainment's upcoming shooter as well as some other tidbits of information. You can check it out here.

HL Blue Shift Review....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 1:39 PM MDT Wednesday, June 20, 2001 [Comment on news]
StealthBuda at The Woo informed me this morning that they have posted their review of Half-Life Blue Shift. Check it out here.

Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza Interview ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 1:35 PM MDT Wednesday, June 20, 2001 [Comment on news]
Tolstiy's Place has been updated with an interview with Piranha Games' Alan Freemantle, a level designer who's working on their upcoming title, Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza. (More @ the Source: tolstiy.ag.ru)

Urban Terror Update....
Posted by [BustaCap] @ 11:27 AM MDT Wednesday, June 20, 2001 [Comment on news]
The urban Terror website site has been updated with new info on the upcoming release of beta 2. Here's a lil snip:

So, what's the latest news from Silicon Ice Development and the upcoming patch for the recently released Urban Terror Beta 2? Through community involvement and our growing bug database, we have continued to address issues that have been brought to our attention since the release of Beta 2. Currently, we have addressed many issues that have been brought to our attention. There are still some problems we are looking into. As for a release, we are still looking at a few more weeks before we have a patch available for download. This download will also include the new levels that are being finalized.

As many of you know by now, id Software released their latest point release, 1.29f, in a beta version. Check your favorite FTP site for the file. Many of the servers are upgrading, so give them a few days to compile with the new point release. It looks like the Macintosh Community runs into a minor issue. That being, if you are not running OSX, then you will not be able to play Beta 2 with the new point. Based on Graeme Devine's .plan, "The Mac OS Classic build is coming! Sheeeesh!"

Full Metal Jacket Q3 Update....
Posted by [BustaCap] @ 11:22 AM MDT Wednesday, June 20, 2001 [Comment on news]
The Full Metal Jacket Quake 3 website has been updated with some new info about thier upcoming Vietnam mod. Also check out the new screenshots (More @ the Source: Stomped/planetquake.com)

Firearms Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:03 AM MDT Wednesday, June 20, 2001 [Comment on news]
Eric Smith recently sat down with us to discuss their Half-Life Mod Firearms. Here's a taste:

(PCShooter) Did you ever dream Firearms would be this popular? The server list seems to be growing daily.

(Eric:) We hoped so. Its been fun and interesting watching FA become more popular. Although, none of us on the team, or the FA fans, wanted FA to become too popular. We want FA to remain the ‘elite’ players MOD. Just recently, FA was released on a gaming CD in Greater China and there have been a lot of new Asian players popping up in the servers. Its quite fun.

Strike Force 1.61 Released....
Posted by [BustaCap] @ 10:21 AM MDT Wednesday, June 20, 2001 [Comment on news]
Changes in 1.61
- New identification on HUD.
Enemy in line of sight: RED Name + "Hostile" text
Same team in line of sight: GREEN Name + "Friendly" text
For DM, everybody is the ENEMY =)

- Ghost View has been removed to prevent cheating by using voice communication during rounds. IE: Roger Wilco, Etc

- New skins for StrikeForce team to help identify teams better in game.

- Aimbot that was made for 1.60 no longer works.

- Players at idle or AFK longer than 5 minutes will be kicked

- The weapon mode "burst 3 bullets" has been put back on
all AUTOMATIC guns (even though they don't have it in
real life) to get more fun gameplay.

- 3 new maps have been placed in the release. A DM, TeamDM and Escape map.

- New StrikeForce.ini included which fixes DM games so they show up in the broswer. Also fixed a map name in
TeamDM so all servers run correctly. You will need to setup your settings again. Download here: (More @ the Source: strikeforcecenter.com)

Matrox Millennium G550 Graphics Card....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:14 AM MDT Wednesday, June 20, 2001 [Comment on news]
Matrox Graphics Inc. has announced the Matrox Millennium G550 graphics card, the first and only volume-priced graphics card to add the acceleration of high-resolution rich media over low-bandwidth connections to cutting edge graphics capabilities. The Millennium G550 graphics card features the new Matrox G550 chip equipped with Matrox's powerful new HeadCasting engine. The HeadCasting Engine uniquely accelerates high-resolution, life-like facial animations over low-bandwidth Internet connections through an extended hardware implementation of Microsoft's DirectX 8 Vertex Shader. (More @ the Source: sharkyextreme.com)

Online Gaming Editorial ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:09 AM MDT Wednesday, June 20, 2001 [Comment on news]
GameSlice has posted an editorial about how they don't think online gaming is important. Here's a nibblet to get you started:

Don’t blind me with science, especially that of the statistical persuasion. There are 85,155 folks gaming The Zone as I write this, and 57,879 gamers playing Everquest. But who cares? I haven’t played online this year, and gaming is my job. Strong marketing and a deluge of massively multiplayer online games announcements bombard our senses, and if gaming pundits are to be believed, the Internet and online gaming will soon become the Mecca of all things game.

CaseAce GearGrip CRT Monitor Harness....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:04 AM MDT Wednesday, June 20, 2001 [Comment on news]
CaseAce is at it again. When going to a LAN party, hauling equipment can be a bit of a pain, and their new product is designed to help ease the burden. How well does it succeed? Check it out in The Adrenaline Vault's review.)

Sven Co-op Team Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:00 AM MDT Wednesday, June 20, 2001 [Comment on news]
Elited has posted an interview with Mad Jonesy of the Sven Co-op team, talking about this HL mod. They talk about the changes in the upcoming version of the mod, new models and maps, dealing with cheaters and more. (More @ the Source: elited.net)

V12 Engine to be Licenses and Sold....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:56 AM MDT Wednesday, June 20, 2001 [Comment on news]
GarageGames announces an historic agreement to sell and license the technology engine powering Sierra's Tribes 2 to independent game makers world-wide. Now dubbed the V12 Engine, GarageGames will be enhancing the engine and selling it to game makers for $100. (More @ the Source: garagegames.com)

Legends of Might and Magic Ships....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:48 AM MDT Wednesday, June 20, 2001 [Comment on news]
The 3DO Company has announced that its Legends of Might and Magic game for PC has shipped to retail outlets throughout North America and online shopping sites. The Legends of Might and Magic game combines classic Might and Magic® settings with the LithTech(TM) 3D engine to provide a first-person, team-based multiplayer gaming experience never before seen in the Might and Magic universe. (More @ the Source: biz.yahoo.com)

GeForce3 and Giants!....
Posted by [luckee] @ 12:39 AM MDT Wednesday, June 20, 2001 [Comment on news]
GeForce3 optimized version of Giants: Citizen Kabuto available free with the new ELSA GLADIAC 920!!

-Giants enhancements for GeForce3:
-Significant performance improvements: tuned for the GeForce3 and DirectX8.0
-Added higher resolution textures
-Added increased polygon-count characters
-Vertex / Pixel shaders
-Meccs are now bumpy AND shiny
-Moved terrain bump map calculations from CPU to GPU
-Added soft edges to character shadow
-Added sky reflection on water
-Smoothed transition from water edge to terrain
Added weather effects!! (More @ the Source: nvidia.com)

More E3 Awards....
Posted by [BustaCap] @ 9:46 AM MDT Tuesday, June 19, 2001 [Comment on news]
SimHQ's Best of E3 2001 narrows their awards down to hardware, tactical shooters, and naval and flight sims.

E3!?!?! I can hear you all now..."E3 was a month ago! That's old news!" But alas, it has taken us this long to come up with our Best of E3 choices. What possibly could the reason be? This may be a risky statement, but we saw some truly ground-breaking, well-thought-out, well-prepared, well-programmed, and simply GORGEOUS simulations and hardware this year; a year when we questioned what exactly we would see and would it all be worth the trip. To the man of each of us in attendance, we were rather pleasantly surprised. (More @ the Source: simhq.com)

Day of Defeat Mod to be Posponed ....
Posted by [BustaCap] @ 9:36 AM MDT Tuesday, June 19, 2001 [Comment on news]
The DOD site has been updated stating that the team encountered a bug that permanently sets friendly fire to 1. At the moment, Day of Defeat version 1.3 will not be released until this critical bug is fixed. (More @ the Source: dayofdefeatmod.com)

Bigger Hard Drives on the way....
Posted by [BustaCap] @ 9:31 AM MDT Tuesday, June 19, 2001 [Comment on news]
Maxtor tossed out a press-release today about new additions to its DiamondMax family of 5400RPM hard drives. The DiamondMax D536X is the highest capacity ATA drive on the market, at 100GB! Man, now that's a lot of room for all my hiphop mp3s. (More @ the Source: maxtor.com)

Half-Life Gets Its Due....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:06 AM MDT Tuesday, June 19, 2001 [Comment on news]
One of the most popular -- and modable -- games in history is inducted into GameSpy's Hall of Fame! (More @ the Source: gamespy.com)

Skip Doctor MD ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:04 AM MDT Tuesday, June 19, 2001 [Comment on news]
Almost everybody uses digital media, and most of that group uses them on a daily basis. Unfortunately, not everyone treats his or her digital media with the utmost care. Ever leave that CD on the passenger's seat, only to find it two weeks later under the seat, scratched up and useless? Well, now there are alternatives to Frisbee throwing or taking target practice with those scratched CDs. One of these products is Digital Innovations' Skip Doctor MD, and PlanetHardware gave it a serious run-through. (More @ the Source: planethardware.com)

Lara Croft Tames Box Office....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:02 AM MDT Tuesday, June 19, 2001 [Comment on news]
Paramount's video game adaptation, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, plundered an estimated $48.2 million in opening box office. The Tomb Raider bow had Paramount executives enthusing over its prospects against tough competition in coming weeks with Paramount vice chairman Rob Friedman telling Variety, “We're definitely assured of a long-term playability." Friedman noted good marks for topliner Angelina Jolie amid decidedly mixed reviews, and said the bow was the best ever for a femme-starring actioner. Tomb Raider, which Paramount said cost $80 million to produce, skewed 55 percent male and split evenly older and younger than 25. (Source: Variety)

Hercules Game Theatre XP Review ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:58 AM MDT Tuesday, June 19, 2001 [Comment on news]
While the sound demands of most gamers tend towards the 'so long as I hear sound, its all good' category, there are some that simply demand more from their PCs. Members of this group always seem to have a thumping pair of speakers hooked up to their PC, that make some home theatre speakers seem weak in comparison. And what do we do with that audio power? Crank up the bass, play some Half-Life, and enjoy the thrill of loud machine gun sounds. (More @ the Source: planethardware.com)

Cheating Ruins the Fun for Game Companies....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:54 AM MDT Tuesday, June 19, 2001 [Comment on news]
I didn't see this on the net until this morning, although it appears to have been out for several days already, but I decided it was worth the read. Red Herring has written up an article talking about the state of cheating in online gaming, the problems that it causes, and what developers are trying (or not trying) to do about it. (More @ the Source: redherring.com)

Quake III v1.29f Released....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:49 AM MDT Tuesday, June 19, 2001 [Comment on news]
The version 1.29f 'Point Release' patch for Quake III Arena has been released and it weighs in at just over 25 megs. It is available in Linux, Linux dedicated server, Mac OS X (Mac Classic expected soon), and Win32 flavors from the id Software FTP. Although this is beta, it has been extensively tested by Activision and should have few problems. If there aren't many problems with this, the final version will be out soon. Check out the readme for the full list of changes. (Source: Stomped)

Global Ops Intelligence Report ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:44 AM MDT Tuesday, June 19, 2001 [Comment on news]
Action Vault has posted up a bit of an "Intelligence report" on Barking Dog's multiplayer tactical action game. A multiplayer shooter promoting teamwork, Global Operations centers on modern warfare as two opposing forces do battle over various real-world locations. Check out the report, which includes details on missions, players, the combat system, weapons, and more. (More @ the Source: actionvault.ign.com)

Navy Seals Covert Ops Update ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:43 AM MDT Tuesday, June 19, 2001 [Comment on news]
The Navy Seals team sent along a note mentioning the most recent updates to their Navy Seals Covert Operations TC website. This week they have posted another in-game video which shows the new grenade explosion. Along with the video they have posted three new screenshots and a few images from a map which is still in Alpha stage. (More @ the Source: ns-co.net)

10 Reasons Computers Crash ....
Posted by [BustaCap] @ 12:36 PM MDT Monday, June 18, 2001 [Comment on news]
It happens to us all - our computer picks a time when we're in the middle of something fun or important,
and the crashes. Screaming in frustration we may inflict damage on the keyboard or ourselves while we
attempt to overcome the frustration and return to the point we were at.

Personally, I've known my Windows 2000 machine to inflict hell. In the middle of a Counter-Strike game,
I'll start thinking about my excellent ratio (a real rare occurrence, as the veterans on the boomgames.com
cs server know) only to be met by a mocking access violation. (More @ the Source: boomgames.com)

RumbleX 3D Sound Amplifier....
Posted by [BustaCap] @ 10:56 AM MDT Monday, June 18, 2001 [Comment on news]
Our girl Frag has written up a great review of the RumbleFX 3D Sound Amp. Here's a 'lil snip:

...But does it really do what it claims, is the question that's probably running through your mind. Well, I'll just say I always thought I had a good sounding system, that is, until I hooked up that little blue box. Never had I realized how flat my sound had been and that to really feel the bass I had to crank up the volume. I played CDs, MP3s, and a bunch of FPS games and heard noticeable improvement in all of them. While listening to music I found the bass deeper and the highs higher, and the volume setting needed only to be half way instead of near the top. During gameplay, the footsteps of my opponents were clearer and explosions more intense, even startling at times.

(More @ the Source: pcshooter.com)

Pentium 4 to be upped to 1.8GHz ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 8:04 AM MDT Monday, June 18, 2001 [Comment on news]
Intel will fill out and extend its Pentium 4 line-up with two new versions in two weeks' time, on Monday 2 July. The two chips will increase the P4's top clock speed to 1.8GHz, and add a 1.6GHz part between the current top-end part, the 1.7GHz chip, and the 1.5GHz P4 (More @ the Source: theregister.co.uk)

Tricon2 v2.0 Released ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:38 AM MDT Monday, June 18, 2001 [Comment on news]
Version 2.0 of the Tricon 2 Tribes2 server utility has been released. This allows you to customize the mix of maps and game modes run on your server. (More @ the Source: tricon2)

Strike Force UT Update....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:19 AM MDT Monday, June 18, 2001 [Comment on news]
The Strike Force Unreal Tournament military/realism mod site has been updated with a couple shots of the new Steyr Aug gun model, word of a new map designer joining the team (as well as screenshots of his map), word that their Volume 1 CD shipped out to subscribers, and more. (More @ the Source: strikeforcecenter.com)

RAZOR Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:13 AM MDT Monday, June 18, 2001 [Comment on news]
Voodoo Extreme's Razor Interview talks with Chris Seddon of Vicious Software about this independent developer's first project, a first-person shooter using the proprietary "Xistence Engine." The Q&A offers details on Razor, and what almost-unique features that will set it apart from other FPS titles, as well as brief mention of what else Chris is working on. (More @ the Source: voodooextreme.com)

PC Gaming As An Industry....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:11 AM MDT Monday, June 18, 2001 [Comment on news]
"Just who are we making games for anyway?" designer Brad Wardell asks his fellow developers in the latest installment of his guest column focusing on the PC gaming industry. (More @ the Source: avault.com)

Half-Life Expansions....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:59 AM MDT Sunday, June 17, 2001 [Comment on news]
3D Action Planet posted a light hearted look at a few potential expansions that Valve could make, allowing them to earn even more money from the Half-Life franchise. (More @ the Source: 3dactionplanet.com)

Coding Help Needed....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:43 AM MDT Sunday, June 17, 2001 [Comment on news]
Xtreme Gaming, creators of Strike Force, is looking to start their new project, based on the Unreal 2 engine, and is advertising for coding help on the project. This is a paid position, per Michael Hamlett, and here are the qualifications:

- Can work daily with the team
- Communicates well with the team and works well with others
- Is VERY experienced with UT code
- Can code any idea and NEVER gives up

Interested parties can drop Michael an email to get the ball rolling.

Quake 3 Annihilation Mod Interview ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:37 AM MDT Sunday, June 17, 2001 [Comment on news]
Elited has an in-depth interview about their recently released WWII based mod, Annihilation. Beta vs.1 had over 10,000 downloads in its first week and was named Mod of the Week by PlanetQuake. Here's a snippet:

"Annihilation is a Quake3 Total Conversion, that replaces the original Quake3 gothic deathmatch action theme into a realistic, team-oriented World War 2 one. This includes new and realistic environments, weapons, according players and a huge list of other features."

The Freeware Scene....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:18 AM MDT Sunday, June 17, 2001 [Comment on news]
If buying commercial video games is burning a large whole in your wallet, take a look at these 100% free games that'll make your computer kick without the price in GameSpy's latest. You can check out the list here.

Operation Flashpoint Article....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 1:25 AM MDT Sunday, June 17, 2001 [Comment on news]
Just got word from StealthBuda over at Thewoo saying he has posted an article on Operation Flashpoint. He's included a bundle of screenshots and a bonus interview with Richard Blenkinsop, CodeMasters producer on Operation Flashpoint. Here's a taste:

"...everyone daydreams about being a gun-toting hero. But now, now you can live it. Now Bohemia Interactive and Codemasters are giving you the option to live the soldier life, how? Through a stunning game called Operation Flashpoint. This game will throw you into the cold war in the form of an American trooper..."

On Gaming & Movies....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:58 AM MDT Saturday, June 16, 2001 [Comment on news]
USA Today has an article taking a look at the relationship between gaming and Hollywood because of all the recent buzz around Hollywood's latest "Game-to-Movie" endeavor, Tomb Raider. You'll find quotes from gaming industry veterans Mike Wilson (GoD Games), Todd Hollenshead (id Software), Doug Lombardi (Valve Software), and Scott Miller (3D Realms). (More @ the Source: usatoday.com)

ArenaScout Q3A Server Browser....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:40 AM MDT Saturday, June 16, 2001 [Comment on news]
The ArenaScout Quake 3 server browser for mIRC 5.9/5.91 has been released. The script lets users query a Quake 3 server to see who is on it and other info. The authors have put up a screenshot to show what it looks like.

Reaction Quake 3 ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:36 AM MDT Saturday, June 16, 2001 [Comment on news]
Reaction Quake 3 is a mod in development that aims to be a direct port of Action Quake 2. This includes the original weapons, gameplay, and physics. They are even porting the more popular maps. If you are a fan of Action Quake 2 and would like to contribute as well, see their page for more info. (More @ the Source: telefragged.com)

Night's Edge Released....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:30 AM MDT Saturday, June 16, 2001 [Comment on news]
The first public beta release of the Night's Edge mod for Unreal Tournament is now available. The cyberpunk mod contains new weapons, gameplay types and other additions. (More @ the Source: rps.net)

GeForce2 MX 400 64MB Review....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 1:18 AM MDT Saturday, June 16, 2001 [Comment on news]
There's a pretty detailed review over at X-Bit Labs about Gigabyte GV-GF1280RT (GeForce2 MX 400 64MB) Graphics Card. Here's a snip:

"...not so long ago NVIDIA split its GeForce2 MX clan into three smaller types: GeForce2 MX 400, GeForce2 MX 200 and GeForce2 MX 100 for low-cost cards and the very Entry level ones . This move was taken to maintain the company's positions in the Low-End sector, since TNT2 chips got morally outdated and are not manufactured any longer. The only chips, which appeared more or less close to the former GeForce2 MX is GeForce2 MX 400. NVIDIA recommends equipping the graphics cards based on GeForce2 MX 400 with SDRAM chips featuring 128-bit bus and working at 183MHz. The core frequency should make 200MHz. GeForce2 MX 200 and GeForce2 MX 100 based graphics cards have lower working frequencies and cut-down memory bus bandwidth. They are supposed to stand for the outdated Low-End products."

World War II Online Q & A....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 1:05 AM MDT Saturday, June 16, 2001 [Comment on news]
Strategy First's World War II Online launched last week, and though sales of the game were extremely promising, many players reported problems registering and playing the game. Many of the game's problems were due to a hardware compatibility problem with the game servers. The developer of the game, Cornered Rat Software, has been working to correct these problems. GameSpot spoke with Rodney Hodge of Playnet about the game's current status, the issues that the development team has addressed since the launch of the game, and the most pressing issues that the team still faces. (More @ the Source: gamespot.com)

The All-Seeing Eye Released....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 12:41 PM MDT Friday, June 15, 2001 [Comment on news]
After two years of development (with no public release), The All-Seeing Eye, a server browser for the Quake series, Unreal Tournament, TRIBES 2, Serious Sam and other games, has been released. The browser contains a number of features, including data compression (for faster server refreshing), a buddy tracker, automatic updates and more. (More @ the Source: udpsoft.com)

HALO PC Preview ....
Posted by [BustaCap] @ 10:02 AM MDT Friday, June 15, 2001 [Comment on news]
GameSpot has posted up a preview of HALO for the PC. Here is a nibble:

Well, almost everything, as in common with almost every other 3D shooter released in the last five years, Halo has a decidedly naff storyline. You've heard it all before - a spacecraft carrying hundreds of marines crash lands on a distant alien planet, which, for some unknown reason, has been completely deserted. Alien race, this time known as the Covenant, descends and, piff paff poof, a furious territorial battle ensues. Granted, it's more Arnie Schwarzenegger than Billy Shakespeare, but what exactly do you want from your games, bombs and beards? Precisely. A laser-sighted pistol, an assault rifle, a machete, a sniper rifle, a rocket launcher, a spear gun and a defoliator have been included to hasten the Covenant's departure from the alien planet, along with any alien weaponry you might stumble upon.

At this year's Gamestock, Bungie staff proudly presented a playable version of Halo on an Xbox prototype. If you compare the graph