August 2001

New World Order Demo Out!!....
Posted by [luckee] @ 11:03 AM MDT Friday, August 31, 2001 [Comment on news]
Project 3 Interactive has released a Tech Demo for New World Order, their first-person action/adventure game from Termite Games. The demo weighs in at around 38 MB

Get it here.

The fathers of Civilization....
Posted by [luckee] @ 10:53 AM MDT Friday, August 31, 2001 [Comment on news]
CG Online has posted up a good interview talking with Sid Meier and Bruce Shelley, the folks behind the popular civilization series. here's a snip:

How did the game design evolve over time?

SM: The first approach was real time, kind of a SimCity-oriented flavor, but ramped up to a global scale. The civilization aspect added on to that, with the larger scale, multiple cities, with history, with time passing and significant things happening as time went on. There really wasn't a game that provided that general sense of 'history is cool and interesting'. I worked on that maybe two or three months and it didn't generate enough spark. It always had a hands-off feel, "I'm trying to make something happen, sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't." You didn't really feel like "The Emperor" or "The King," making things happen. So we put it away and during that time, I spent a fair amount of time playing Empire, a turn-based conquer-the-world game. I said, let me try this approach with the Civilization idea, and we tried it and it was immediately clearly more fun and more interesting.

you can read more here.

Activision to Publish New id Games....
Posted by [luckee] @ 10:46 AM MDT Friday, August 31, 2001 [Comment on news]
Today, Activision announced that they have won the rights to publish not only Quake IV, which is being developed by Raven Software here's a snip:

id Software and Activision have enjoyed a tremendous partnership on some of the best-selling and most celebrated action games of all time,'' said Larry Goldberg, vice president, worldwide studios, Activision. ``We look forward to continuing this relationship and working closely with id on QUAKE IV and the new franchise. The best is yet to come.''

QUAKE IV is in development by Raven Software and marks a return to id Software's trademark single-player gameplay experience set in the QUAKE II(TM) universe, one of the best selling franchises in PC gaming history. QUAKE IV will use id Software's advanced new DOOM game engine.

``We are thrilled to be working with Raven, Nerve and Activision on these exciting new titles,'' Todd Hollenshead, CEO, id Software said. ``Raven and Nerve are two of the most talented teams in the industry and we look forward to continuing our tradition of killer games with them on Quake IV and our new franchise.''

you can read more here.

Max Payne Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:55 AM MDT Friday, August 31, 2001 [Comment on news]
We recently caught up with Markus Mäki for a chat about Max Payne. Markus is the Chief Technology Officer for MadOnion.com and one of the founders of Remedy Entertainment, the developer of Max Payne. Here's a nibblet:

PCShooter: What made you decide not to include the multiplayer aspect in the game, and is there the possibility of a patch coming out to address that in the future?

MM: In my opinion many games nowadays have the problem of trying too much, and doing nothing really well. We wanted to avoid that, and decided to concentrate on getting the single-player aspect of Max Payne to rock!

Making a top-notch multiplayer game is a huge task in it’s own right and would have forced us to make too many compromises. We feel it was better this way.

Max Payne is a clearly single-player experience, and no simple patch can make it a multiplayer game.

Battlefield: 1942 Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:17 AM MDT Friday, August 31, 2001 [Comment on news]
HomeLAN sat down with Digital Illusion's Lars Gustavsson to talk about their first-person World War II action game Battlefield: 1942. The interview reveals further details about gameplay, the popularity of WWII-based games and whether or not you can play both sides. Here's a taste:

HomeLAN - There seems to be a lot of interest lately in PC games being set in World War II. Why do you think this has happened? Are you afraid Battlefield: 1942 might get lost with all the other WWII games being made and released?

Lars Gustavsson - I think that WWII has gotten a "revival" lately not only in computer games but in film and other areas too. Seems like Hollywood needs some wars to stir up some action and since the Cold War is not as cold anymore, why not bring back the heroic stories from WWII?

Battlefield 1942 is quite unique with its amount of freedom and vehicles so we are pretty sure that you won't miss this one. Yes there are other WWII games coming out on the market but those games are of a different kind. We all fill our part of the WWII nutritious circle. It’s a bit like apples and pears…where we represent the big juicy watermelon!! ;)

Rogue Spear Engine Q&A....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:14 AM MDT Friday, August 31, 2001 [Comment on news]
GameSpyDaily cornered Red Storm's Chief Game Designer to talk about the Department of Defense's use of the Rogue Spear engine. Here's a snip:

GameSpy: How did this deal come into being? Who approached you guys and how long did it take you to decide that this was a mutually beneficial deal for all parties?

Upton: LB&B talked to us briefly in 1999 about using the Rainbow Six engine, but their funding didn't work out and we never had serious negotiations. They came back in 2000 and at the end of that year we started serious talks with them about licensing the technology. It was obvious from the beginning that it was beneficial to both of us -- the hardest part was matching up the very different business models of a game development studio and a defense contractor.

HL & CS Patch Article....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:02 AM MDT Friday, August 31, 2001 [Comment on news]
HomeLAN has had the opportunity to try out the upcoming 1.1.0.8 patch for Half-Life as well as play the upcoming 1.3 version of Counter-Strike with a number of the Valve Software folks, and have posted an article detailing the updates along with the new voice communication and spectator mode features.

Urban Assault Heartbeat Video....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:00 AM MDT Friday, August 31, 2001 [Comment on news]
The Urban Assault team has recently updated their site with a video showing the heartbeat health monitor part of the hud. When you get shot, and your health drops, the heartbeat will go yellow, and when you are dead, it will display a red flatline. Details and the recent update can be found here.

Red Faction Update ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:59 AM MDT Friday, August 31, 2001 [Comment on news]
There is a brief status update on Red Faction at GameSpot, offering the latest on the destroy-everything first-person shooter by Volition. Word is that "the game is in the final stages of development. Currently, the development team at Volition is fine-tuning the multiplayer mode, and they expect the game to meet its scheduled ship date of September 18."

Q3 Alternate Fire Feature....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:53 AM MDT Thursday, August 30, 2001 [Comment on news]
PlanetQuake has posted an article on Alernate Fire, the Quake 3 mod that recently saw version 1.0 released. It includes an interview with Haste, creator of the mod, which talks about the mod in its current state as well as future plans.

Vietnam 2 Patch....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:34 AM MDT Thursday, August 30, 2001 [Comment on news]
ValuSoft has released a small patch for Vietnam 2: Special Assignment, the budget-priced first-person shooter by Single Cell Software. This 303 KB download brings the game to version 1.01, and it addresses some problems with loading saved games.

Operation Flashpoint Install Utility....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:33 AM MDT Thursday, August 30, 2001 [Comment on news]
The official Operation Flashpoint site offers a new CheckOFP utility for download which "will check if your installation of Operation Flashpoint is good. If you are encountering strange behaviour (random crashes, strange error messages) with your OFP instalation, please use this utility to check if the game is installed properly." The tiny 27 KB download applies to the available European versions of the game, as the US edition and upcoming version 1.20 patch already include this verification.

Codename Outbreak Preview ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:31 AM MDT Thursday, August 30, 2001 [Comment on news]
GameSpot UK has previewed Codename Outbreak, saying "Hot on the heels of Serious Sam and Operation Flashpoint comes this combination of the two concepts...," offering a look at this upcoming first-person shooter from Ukrainian developer GSC Gameworld. The article describes gameplay, which "revolves around a two-man team of heavily armed Special Forces soldiers with you at the helm," and is fleshed out with quotes from GSC's senior product director Sergiy Grygorovych and some new screenshots. According to the article's conclusion we can expect the game "towards the mid-end of September."

Tribes2 Velocity....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:07 AM MDT Thursday, August 30, 2001 [Comment on news]
Version 1.0 of the Tribes2 Velocity mod has been released. Velocity is a 'tweak mod' that was created for the sole purpose of speeding up Tribes2. Lots of small changes have been made but when you play Tribes 2, most things will appear the same. If interested, you can download the mod here.

Return to Castle Wolfenstein Intelligence Report....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:05 AM MDT Thursday, August 30, 2001 [Comment on news]
The Action Vault takes a look at the upcoming remake of id Software's Wolfenstein 3D in the 'Return to Castle Wolfenstein Intelligence Report'.

Multiplayer: The rumored "three Reichs and you're out" baseball game between Axis and Allied forces hasn't materialized, replaced instead by a varied multiplayer component which offers several modes of play. RTCW will ship with 12 team-based multiplayer maps. Each of these serves as the battlefield upon which Axis players will go up against their Allied counterparts as both sides attempt to achieve some mission-based objective. One such map starts on an Axis-held beach. The Allied team must storm the area, overcome the coastal defenses and penetrate the enemy base. Once inside, the objective is to find some confidential German papers, then locate a friendly, accommodating communications tower from which to transmit the stolen information back to Allied command. Currently, there are four different classes available to either side. Specifically, these are soldier, medic, lieutenant and engineer, with the soldier essentially the only full-on assault class while the other three provide support. The dynamic between all four classes encourages players to work together as a team and not individually.

Double Helix Preview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:04 AM MDT Thursday, August 30, 2001 [Comment on news]
Today GameSpy has posted a preview of Soldier of Fortune 2: Double Helix by Raven Software. The preview provides details on the game's realistic perspective, the GHOUL system, mission generator, and more.

One of the most interesting features being promised for SoF2 is a random mission generator, which should offer lots of replayability in lieu of a multiplayer mode (which may be added in a later patch, but has yet to be confirmed).

Totally Unreal ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:01 AM MDT Thursday, August 30, 2001 [Comment on news]
Infogrames sends word that Totally Unreal is now appearing on store shelves. Totally Unreal combines the Unreal Tournament Game of the Year Edition and Unreal Gold, offering the original 30 single player missions of the original Unreal, 17 levels from the Return to Na Pali mission pack, along with Rocket Arena UT and Chaos UT, as well as "an exclusive FIRST LOOK at the upcoming Unreal Championship for the Microsoft Xbox video game console AND at the next epic installment of the Unreal universe-Unreal II!" The MSRP of the whole shebang is $19.99.

Unreal II Interview ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:00 AM MDT Thursday, August 30, 2001 [Comment on news]
There is a new Unreal II interview on Unreal Center, talking to Legend Entertainment's Mike Verdu and Mark Poesch about their upcoming first-person shooter sequel. The questions were compiled from fan submissions so the topics are all over the map, and include possible plans for voice-over-net support, support for custom models and skins, various engine features, multiplayer cheat prevention, the absence of vehicles, and more.

Server Spy Version 3.0 ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:59 AM MDT Thursday, August 30, 2001 [Comment on news]
The Server Spy is an application that monitors CS, DoD, HLDM and TFC servers
for inappropriate behavior (i.e. jerks) and properly handles them (i.e. bans
them).

- More separate and configurable punishment settings
- More IRC bot display options
- Less bandwidth required (fewer status requests sent to server)
- Permanent ban immunity for server regulars
- !punishtk immunity for server regulars
- More customizable warning messages
- More configurable generated stats
- Our very own master server (tn.goonsquad.net)
- DBCleanup now allows:
- Resetting all stats rankings
- Deleting players that are not server regulars
- Deleting older kills
- Deleting older events
- Clearing all players aliases

For a full list of features and to download go to Get Server Spy 3.0.

Operation Flashpoint Out Today!....
Posted by [luckee] @ 10:02 AM MDT Wednesday, August 29, 2001 [Comment on news]
With the game being on store shelves today, I thought I'd share a few features of the game:

Overview
Gamers are caught in the grips of the Cold War, where a new Soviet regime led by Mikhail Gorbachev, polarizes the political and social ideologies of the country. Having seized control of an island community, underground resistance groups have mobilized in opposition to the new policies of perstroika and glasnost. The new Soviet government, unable to fight the resistance, calls upon NATO to act as a peacekeeping force and help restore order to the region. NATO responds with Operation Flashpoint.

Players assume the role of an exiled Soviet turned NATO private who has returned to combat the forces that drove him out of his homeland. Operation Flashpoint presents players with one of the most unique, realistic and complete battle experiences to ever appear on the PC platform. Genre classifications are ignored as players transition from ground battles to commandeering vehicles to piloting airborne gun ships, all the while moving up through the ranks within their unit. As players advance in rank, they are able to issue orders to their squad mates via an easy-to-use keyboard command system.


Features
Gameplay offers both a progressive mission-based campaign and a full mission editor.

8 player multiplayer combat over LAN and Internet.

Advanced squad-management system enables players to efficiently issue orders to squad members.

True-to-life models and physics provide the most realistic combat experience to date in a PC game.

Built in featured mission editor allows gamers to create and share missions and campaigns · 1st and 3rd person views.

Players control mobile, armored air and ground based military vehicles including the UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopter, A-10 Thunderbolt Jet, UAZ 469b Jeep, M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank and SCUD Launcher.

Real time lighting and weather, including accurate star constellations for navigation.

Brain Cells Linked to Silicon Chips....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:57 AM MDT Wednesday, August 29, 2001 [Comment on news]
Scientists for the first time have linked multiple brain cells with silicon chips to create a part-mechanical, part-living electronic circuit. This sounds kind of freaky to me.... you can read more here.

The Crow Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:49 AM MDT Wednesday, August 29, 2001 [Comment on news]
Max Payne Center has posted an interview with Addzi about the progress on The Crow, an upcoming modification for Max Payne. Here's a nibblet:

MPC: Can you tell us alittle about the mod, instead of Max Payne, who is the main character now? one of the crows or a new character?

Addzi: "The main character is Eric Draven. If you haven't seen the movie, he and his fiancee Shelly are murdered by a gang. A crow brings Eric back to life and he seeks revenge on the killers."

Operation Flashpoint Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:44 AM MDT Wednesday, August 29, 2001 [Comment on news]
There's an interview with Marek Spanel on Miss-Match with the producer and lead designer on Bohemia Interactive's Operation Flashpoint. They discuss what's different between the new release and the European version, the feedback they've gotten about the game, their plans for an add-on, the improved network code, and more.

Intel Developer Forum - Fall 2001: CPU Report ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:31 AM MDT Wednesday, August 29, 2001 [Comment on news]
Did the 2.0GHz Pentium 4 launch not excite you? Would a 3.5GHz Northwood? Read on to learn about the 3.5GHz Northwood as well as the introduction and performance of Intel's Hyper-Threading technology. Here's a snip:

"While Intel clocked their Northwood at 3.5GHz, they ran through a pretty intensive demo with the CPU clocked at 3.0GHz. The presenters seemed surprised that they were actually up and running at 3.5GHz indicating an unexpectedly high yield on the part. We were slightly disappointed to find out that the system was supercooled but it does show off the potential of the chip. Later today Intel will be showing off an air-cooled 4GHz double pumped ALU (effectively 8GHz) from a future Intel processor. The interesting thing about this demo is that it will be a 32-bit ALU that's being shown off…"

AvP2 Screenshot Round-Up #3 ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:18 AM MDT Wednesday, August 29, 2001 [Comment on news]
Once again, the AvP2 Screenshot Galleries get a beefing up - the current screenshot count now at 178 (excluding concept art & video stills). If you missed the IGN posting of these shots, you may want to check them out - there's two dropship pics, facehuggers, and some hanging corpses to be viewed. The thirteen additional shots begin with the second image on this page.

Ghost Recon Preview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:12 AM MDT Wednesday, August 29, 2001 [Comment on news]
GameSpot.com takes a detailed look at the latest squad-based tactical combat game from the team that brought you Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six and Rogue Spear. Here's a taste:

"...Before heading out on our first mission--to rescue NATO troops pinned down by gunfire, which is actually the fourth mission in the campaign mode--we first decided to talk with associate producer Robbie Edwards about several design issues that led to some heated (but friendly) debate among the members of the Ghost Recon development team. One was the issue of saved games. As good as Rogue Spear was, probably every fan at one time or another cursed the game because there was no way to save the game during a mission, an annoyance that would certainly be exarcerbated by the larger maps in Ghost Recon. Thankfully, players will be able to not only save-pause and save their progress at any point during a mission but use quicksaves and quickloads as well.

Die Hard Preview ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:07 AM MDT Wednesday, August 29, 2001 [Comment on news]
Prophecy has taken a look at Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza, the upcoming LithTech engined FPS from Fox and Sierra. Here's something to get you started:

Can't they sit and wait for me? No, they might not. Maybe they'll even run away. Another gameplay feature that will appear is that of morale. You have it, and so do the bad guys. The higher your morale meter, the less theirs are, and some thugs would try to avoid shooting at you, or maybe avoid you completely. Your morale is boosted by the amount of enemies you kill. But it also hinges a lot on how well you shoot. Missing a bad guy, or opening up wildly on a room will decrease your morale, and make the enemy more likely to land in a shoot-out against you. Obviously no-one wants that, because you might get hurt.

Operation Flashpoint Level Editor ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:03 AM MDT Wednesday, August 29, 2001 [Comment on news]
Included in the retail version of Operation Flashpoint is an advanced and in-depth level/mission editor. This editor offers players the opportunity to create their own custom missions that rival the depth and complexity of missions already in the game. Using the editor, players can set up ambushes, create waypoints, set action triggers and even include cut scenes. These missions can then be shared with other Operation Flashpoint players.

New World Order Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:01 AM MDT Wednesday, August 29, 2001 [Comment on news]
HomeLAN has an interview with Jim Malmros of Termite Games talking about their upcoming multiplayer first person shooter New World Order. Here's a snip:

HomeLAN - You are creating your own engine for the game. Why did you decide to go that route rather than license an existing engine?

Jim Malmros - Yes. We did this because my mother often dropped me as an infant.

Seriously, we did it because we were simply not happy with what existing technology offered. Developing your own technology, especially when you are aiming to surpass what is out there, is not to be taken lightly though - only do this if you are a masochist and love to be on the edge of survival at all times. Those days are past us now and in retrospect I could not be happier about what we've accomplished, but it was really tough back when the tech was originally created.

HomeLAN - What are some of your engines more impressive features?

Jim Malmros - Global per-pixel lighting and shadowing. No limit or serious slowdown when using tons of lights - or 'world lights' such as the sun and the moon. Realtime rendering looks like the rendering in 3DSMAX - except there is ofcourse no polylimit in MAX. Improved lighting calculations surpass lighting in 3DSMAX. DVA visibility technology that allows us to build the environments we envision. Advanced particle systems with full physics applied, and an easy-to-use and extend design.

New DoD Weapons....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 8:41 PM MDT Tuesday, August 28, 2001 [Comment on news]
Posted up on TheBunkers today are two brand new beta2 renders from Molo and Agent. The springfield and the k98 will be replacing the G43 in beta2.

Operation Flashpoint has Shipped ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 8:33 PM MDT Tuesday, August 28, 2001 [Comment on news]
Codemasters has announced that Operation Flashpoint has shipped to retail outlets nationwide.

"This North American version is armed with full-functioning multiplayer capabilities, including dedicated server functionality and enhanced network code that were not included in the earlier European release. The game also includes additional weapons, vehicles and missions as well as graphical enhancements."

New UT Infiltration....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 8:23 PM MDT Tuesday, August 28, 2001 [Comment on news]
After a lengthy development cycle, the new version 2.86 of the Infiltration modification for Unreal Tournament is finally available. The online manual has word on how to properly install, set up, and play this mod that offers combat featuring real-world weaponry, and word on the new release is that "Both online and offline play is much more solid than all previous releases of Infiltration!" Also included with the new release is Map Pack 3, which features six new maps and three revised older ones, but to use the pack, you must have previously installed both of the prior map packs.

Game Critics Slam Violent Mods....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 4:03 PM MDT Tuesday, August 28, 2001 [Comment on news]
ZDNet.comhas an article posted by Khanh T.L. Tran from The Wall Street Journal Online titled "Game Critics Slam Violent Mods." Here's a snip:

Game companies say they are essentially powerless to regulate mods since they're usually written by people in their homes and posted on Web sites. (The companies' games, on the other hand, usually can't be downloaded from the Web but instead must be purchased from retailers.) Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games Inc., the Raleigh, N.C., developer of Unreal Tournament, says people are getting upset about mods when the problem is that parents let their kids have the games. "If you don't have the game, the mod is worthless to you," he says.

Half Life 2 Almost Done? ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:36 AM MDT Tuesday, August 28, 2001 [Comment on news]
Reports in the U.K. trade press have suggested that the long-awaited sequel to Half-Life is just six months away from completion. Could it be true? Check out this blurb on FGNonline.com.

AMD Price Cuts ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:31 AM MDT Tuesday, August 28, 2001 [Comment on news]
Advanced Micro Devices responded Monday to Intel's Pentium 4 price cuts with aggressive discounts of its own. The AMD price cuts aim to help keep the Athlon price competitive with Intel's Pentium 4. AMD's 1.4GHz Athlon now lists for $3 less than an equivalent speed Pentium 4.
AMD's price cuts also make room for new Athlons. The chipmaker is expected to introduce a 1.5GHz desktop Athlon next month. It also recently announced a new 1GHz Duron desktop chip, which it says will ship in October. AMD has also recently cut prices on its desktop Duron and mobile Athlon 4 chips. (More at the Source: cnet.com)

Interplay Strikes Back....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:21 AM MDT Tuesday, August 28, 2001 [Comment on news]
Yesterday it was reported that Titus had signed a deal with fellow French media group Vivendi Universal which would see VUIP distributing Interplay's titles in the USA. As it turns out this wasn't the whole story - contrary to what was on CBS and Reuters, the deal was actually signed by Interplay itself, not Titus. Indeed, despite the fact that Titus now owns over 51% of Interplay's shares, they won't be able to take full control of the company until they can elect themselves as the new board of directors at Interplay's next AGM. Which leaves the ailing American publisher a few weeks to make life as difficult for the French as possible.

As a result of this, Interplay decided to dump Titus in favour of Vivendi, who will now handle distribution of the firm's games in the USA. The point here is that even when Titus take over Interplay at the AGM next month, they will probably still be forced to honour the Vivendi contract, which will cause a lot of headaches for them. Titus is trying to put a brave face on it though, hence the quotes we reported on yesterday about saving $10m a year by sacking Interplay's marketing and distribution staff and letting Vivendi handle the games.

Obviously not content with this spoiling move, our sources are now reporting that Interplay has filed to say that its shareholders want the company wound up! This could mean that when Titus gets hold of the reins in September the company will already be in Chapter 11 receivership. Somebody at Interplay obviously doesn't like the fox... (Source: EuroGamer.net)

C&C Renegade....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:18 AM MDT Tuesday, August 28, 2001 [Comment on news]
There is a very brief look at Command & Conquer: Renegade on GamePro that includes two new screenshots (and two familiar ones) as well as two new concept images of Westwood's upcoming 3D action title.

Action Half-Life Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:14 AM MDT Tuesday, August 28, 2001 [Comment on news]
ActionNation.com has an interview with Payback, a programmer from the Action Half-Life mod. Here's a taste:

Question: Will there be any other changes in future versions (Beta 4.1?)?

Payback: Heaven of Frags have just finished a modelling contest in which the grand prize was a copy of 3DS Max v4. This package drew a lot of attention, and we have had some very high quality submissions from mappers. Also, higher quality models were being produced by the AHL team anyway as this was the only area where reviewers of b4 felt that it was lacking. So beta 4.1 should feature an "AHL high definition models" package.

Day of Defeat Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:02 AM MDT Tuesday, August 28, 2001 [Comment on news]
JuegosOnline has posted an interview with Brandon "Axis" Russell, the lead programmer on the Day of Defeat Half-Life team, and also have it available in the site's native Spanish. Here's a nibblet:

JuegosOnline: Does the actual build represent accurately your intentions from day one or did you change your creative perspectives along the way? Are you guys satisfied with your mod?

Axis: Ok good question, the latest public build "1.3" is getting close to our intentions for this game. What the public has to realize is this is a game in progress, its always getting built. Beta 2.0 will be even more quality and features than the 1.0 generation. It?s hard to really say what our overall goal is, the Half-Life engine is really constraining in certain areas where we want to add features too, so we can?t. But while we are on this engine we will perfect the features we can have on it. And yes as of right now we are very satisfied with DoD, but its no where near finished. = )

Server Query Service....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:52 AM MDT Tuesday, August 28, 2001 [Comment on news]
Games Fusion has re-modified their server query service program. They have changed the overall graphics "to make it nicer to look at" as well as implemented a huge list of BW's servers "so you can find and check live stats on a specific server a lot quicker." They also go on to add, "We welcome any site to use this service, at the moment we support UT, HL and Quake 3 live server stats."

SoF2: Double Helix Preview ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:49 AM MDT Tuesday, August 28, 2001 [Comment on news]
Intelgamer has posted a brief preview of Soldier of Fortune 2: Double Helix, a follow-up to the original Soldier of Fortune title from Raven Software. Here's a snip:

Raven Software powers the game with an advanced version of id Software’s impressive Quake III Arena engine -- one of the most widely used engines when it comes to first-person shooters. After improving upon some of the engines technology, a whole new terrain system was then developed. This system became known as ROAM. As the name suggests, ROAM allows the game to have large out-door and in-door environments with an incredible amount of detail to them unlike that of the original Soldier of Fortune.

Red Faction Screens ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:47 AM MDT Tuesday, August 28, 2001 [Comment on news]
Action Vault has posted a gallery of twenty-four new screenshots from Volition's futuristic shooter, Red Faction. The screens were taken from a Beta version of the game.

Q3 Demos to AVI Movies ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:46 AM MDT Tuesday, August 28, 2001 [Comment on news]
PlanetQuake3.net has a quick guide with instructions on how to turn your Quake 3 demos into an AVI movie. Included is a link to download a program which will merge the files into an animation.

Vivendi to Distribute Interplay Titles....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:40 PM MDT Monday, August 27, 2001 [Comment on news]
Titus has signed a distribution deal with fellow French-owned publisher Vivendi Universal to handle Interplay's games in the USA. A statement from Titus said that "existing synergies with Vivendi Universal, which has very strong distribution in North America, provide Interplay with the best opportunity of improving profitability", and suggested the move will save them up to $10m a year. This means the end of Interplay as a publisher, with their entire marketing and distribution staff set to join the dozens of other employees who were laid off earlier in the summer as Interplay plunged ever deeper into debt.

Titus now owns over half of the American company's shares and seems to be setting about gutting them before it has even gone through the formality of taking over the board of directors at the next AGM. And according to Titus CEO Hervé Caen, "this deal is only a start". We can only hope that their aim to refocus Interplay on development rather than publishing and distribution will safeguard the future of in-house teams such as the award-winning Black Isle Studios. (Source: EuroGamer.net)

Counter-Strike: Condition Zero News....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 12:05 PM MDT Monday, August 27, 2001 [Comment on news]
Valve Software has announced the single player Counter-Strike: Condition Zero. If you remember, Rogue Entertainment was originally working on the game. Here is the full contents of the release:

Valve is proud to announce primary development of Counter-Strike: Condition Zero has moved to the Dallas, Texas offices of Gearbox Software, creators of the award-winning Half-Life expansion products and the soon-to-be-released Half-Life PlayStation 2. In addition to the team at Gearbox, several CS1 developers have been recruited to lend their talents to the creation of CS: CZ.

Global Warfare HL 1.1k Screenshots....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 12:04 PM MDT Monday, August 27, 2001 [Comment on news]
The Global Warfare Half-Life mod site has been updated with a bunch of screenshots from the upcoming version 1.1k of the military mod. The internal version has gone just past 1.1k already and the screenshots do not contain the new UN skins.

Tactical Ops Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 12:02 PM MDT Monday, August 27, 2001 [Comment on news]
Portugal Arena has posted a Tactical Ops interview with Laurent "Shag" Delayen. They talk about the military Unreal Tournament mod of course, not quite making it in the Game of the Year UT, the realism, what we can expect in the future, and more. It's a fairly long interview.

Chaos UT Update....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 12:01 PM MDT Monday, August 27, 2001 [Comment on news]
The Chaos UT mod site has been updated with information on what is being worked on for the next version. The King of the Hill game type has been in development since May and the bots now understand how to play. There is no word on a release date yet.

Game Violence....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 9:18 AM MDT Monday, August 27, 2001 [Comment on news]
It's time for Blood's Weekly Rant. Offering a unique perspective as a police officer, Blood takes a look at game violence and joins the debate. Here's a snip:

"The big war cry among politicians and self righteous religious groups has been "Ban Violent Games Their Hurting Our Children". Granted there have been numerous school shootings, what about the even more plentiful shooting where adults have hosed their co-works, or gunmen have slaughtered customers in fast food restaurants? Why are adults blamed for being mentally unstable while teens are just affected by violent games?"

Pentium 4 2GHz Review....
Posted by [luckee] @ 8:23 AM MDT Monday, August 27, 2001 [Comment on news]
Not only are Intel contented with just a price slash across the board for all Pentium 4's, but now they decided to release the 2GHz to help further compete with AMD. I just wonder if the price slash will also apply to the 2GHz processor, or will it be well over $600 for it? Anyways, if you're interested in this speed demon here a snip:

The Pentium 4 has a 20-stage pipeline, and can have as many as 126 instructions in flight simultaneously. When it works, the performance is stellar, but branch mispredictions can create significant pipeline stalls. To combat the mispredict penalty, the Pentium 4 contains significant logic to help predict if a branch will be taken or not taken, but it's only accurate up to a point. However, the 20-stage pipeline enables higher clock rates, and Intel is certainly pushing ahead on that front. Also, the number of instructions per clock with code that's optimized for the architecture is considerably higher than with code optimized for older processors. (More @ the Source: extremetech.com)

Alliance CTF mod ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:07 AM MDT Monday, August 27, 2001 [Comment on news]
The Alliance CTF mod site has word that a 10 level map pack will be released soon, and that work continues on the next version of the mod.

New QuakeCon Wolfenstein Media....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:06 AM MDT Monday, August 27, 2001 [Comment on news]
QuakeCon coverage continues as Return to Castle Wolfenstein fan site WolfensteinX has posted a new ZIP file containing new screenshots and movies of the id Software/Gray Matter Studios/Nerve Software first person shooter as they were taken at QuakeCon.

GameSpotting....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:04 AM MDT Monday, August 27, 2001 [Comment on news]
GameSpot's editors have joined forces to generate a bunch of interesting subjects about gaming. Subjects include covers short games, the effects of games on brain development and more. You can check them out here.

QuakeCon model pack....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:00 AM MDT Monday, August 27, 2001 [Comment on news]
The folks at Polycount have released a model pack for the QuakeCon 2001 contest which includes the top six entries plus the other 17 or so that were entered. They have a nice little map for the models as well.

Duke Nukem Forever Infobits ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:53 AM MDT Monday, August 27, 2001 [Comment on news]
The Action Vault has dug up some infobits on Duke Nukem Forever after reading through the official 3D Realms forums. Here are a couple blurbs from various 3DR developers about the upcoming Unreal engined game:

Duke's shield: The shield will absorb X dmg and show that over time. We will decide what the final X is later after gameplay. Unlike Red Faction, you can use the shield very rapidly in gameplay and easily go from shield to gun in a split second. So it's very useful. Adds a new skill to deathmatch as well.

Locational damage: We've had per-poly hit detection for over 2 years :) You can shoot guys anywhere and they react to it, as well as seeing damage at the exact point of impact.

Game Demos Editorial ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:51 AM MDT Monday, August 27, 2001 [Comment on news]
3DActionPlanet talks about game demos and asks if gamers have turned developers off of creating demos, the size of demos, release dates, and more.

Is it surprising that games like Undying and Max Payne delayed the demo until after the full game was released, meaning it could be built on finished code? Max Payne has managed to sell plenty of copies without having had a demo for gamers to play, riding on a sudden wave of glowing previews, jaw dropping videos and gorgeous screenshots. Undying on the other hand, didn’t.

Operation Flashpoint Diary ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:49 AM MDT Monday, August 27, 2001 [Comment on news]
GameSpy has posted the second installment of their Operation Flashpoint Developer Diary. In today's edition we find out some background details on the Codemaster team behind the game, and get a quick bio of each team member as well.

New AvP2 Screenshots ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:47 AM MDT Monday, August 27, 2001 [Comment on news]
AvPNews has posted five new screenshots of the three-way first person shooter, Aliens Versus Predator 2 from Fox Interactive, Monolith Productions, and Sierra.

Quake 3 Point Release Status....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:30 PM MDT Sunday, August 26, 2001 [Comment on news]
Stomped's Redwood asked id Software programmer, Robert Duffy, about the status of the non-beta point release for Quake 3 Arena. Here is what he had to say:

Yeah should be in the near future. It is in test at Activision right now. There were only a couple of very small changes from 1.29H.

robert...

Navy Seals Q3 Update ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:27 PM MDT Sunday, August 26, 2001 [Comment on news]
The Navy Seals Quake 3 military/realism mod site has been updated. It includes shots of the new M4 model. They also have some pics of the improved warehouse map. There are also 12 new map shots in the pictures section.

Back to School Upgrades....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:05 AM MDT Sunday, August 26, 2001 [Comment on news]
GameSpy has posted their latest PlanetHardware article, Back to School Upgrades, where the PlanetHardware team tells you all about falling prices.

Top 10 Graphics Boards for Gamers....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:00 AM MDT Sunday, August 26, 2001 [Comment on news]
PCWorld.com has put some graphics boards to the test in their article Top 10 Graphics Boards for Gamers. You can check it out here.

Wacky Pack for CS 1.1....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:55 AM MDT Sunday, August 26, 2001 [Comment on news]
There is nothing sensible about this pack. If you are looking for a change from your everyday game of CS you might want to give this a go. This is the type of addon you will either love or hate. You can grab it at Games Fusion.

Alliance Q3 Update ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:48 AM MDT Sunday, August 26, 2001 [Comment on news]
The Alliance Quake 3 website has been updated with word that a new map pack will be released soon. It will include 10 maps of medium size. Also, the bot code is being tweaked and is apparently much improved.

IBM Researchers Build World's First Single-Molecule Computer Circuit....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:44 AM MDT Sunday, August 26, 2001 [Comment on news]
IBM researchers today announced they have created and demonstrated the world's first logic-performing computer circuit within a single molecule, which may someday lead to a new class of smaller and faster computers that consume less power than today's machines.

The IBM team made a `` voltage inverter '' -- one of the three fundamental logic circuits that are the basis for all of today's computers -- from a carbon nanotube, a tube-shaped molecule of carbon atoms that is 100,000 times thinner than a human hair. IBM scientists will present the achievement today at the 222nd National Meeting of the American Chemical Society being held in Chicago and it appears in the web edition of the ACS' journal Nano Letters. (More @ the Source: biz.yahoo.com)

Pocket PC Game Programming....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:33 AM MDT Sunday, August 26, 2001 [Comment on news]
A testimonial letter from John Romero on the website for a Pocket PC Game Programming book offers evidence that one of his next projects is planned as a PocketPC game! :o)

Team Factor Screenshot....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:28 AM MDT Sunday, August 26, 2001 [Comment on news]
The Team Factor website has been updated with a single new screenshot, showing off a sniper's-eye view from this upcoming team-based multiplayer action game in the works at Czech developer 7FX.

Tribes 2 Map Pack....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:15 AM MDT Sunday, August 26, 2001 [Comment on news]
Some of the former members of the Tribes 2 development team have created a new pack of six custom Tribes 2 maps that are available for download on Tribes2Maps.com. According to TribalWar's write-up: "These maps include 3 Siege missions, 2 CTF missions, and one combination Hunters, Rabbit, Deathmatch and Team Hunters mission," and the release itself is described as "a parting gift to the Tribes community."

ThermoSonic ThermoEngine 2-way Shootout ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:17 AM MDT Saturday, August 25, 2001 [Comment on news]
The ThermoEngine heat sink is becoming a big hit in a lot of cases. This unique heat sink has emerged from no where, and has sparked a light in many people’s cases. This type of heat sink has brought new meaning in cooling computers for a very affordable price. Check out this shootout on Hardware Extreme.

C&C Renegade Q&A....
Posted by [luckee] @ 11:09 AM MDT Saturday, August 25, 2001 [Comment on news]
Action Vault has posted a Q&A with Jani Penttinen, lead 3D engineer on the Command & Conquer: Renegade project at Westwood Studios. They talk about the challenges of changing the C&C worls from 2D to 3D, the engine, and more. Here's a snip:

Action Vault: How much work has gone into the engine created for Renegade? Can you discuss some of its features? Has any technology been retained from past C&C games?

Jani Penttinen: Obviously the graphics engine is just a small portion of the code we have built for Renegade. However, as we decided to build a custom engine for the game to be able to fully support the design's specific needs, quite a lot of effort has been put to it. One of the main goals while designing the engine has been that is has to be able to run huge levels, much larger than in the games using some of the licensed third party engines, with big amounts of dynamic content. Due to the huge fan base of Command & Conquer games we also had to make sure that the game runs well on a low-end system. This combination of features by itself has been a big challenge. (More @ the Source: actionvault.ign.com

Counter-Strike Remake Map Pack ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:08 AM MDT Saturday, August 25, 2001 [Comment on news]
Counter-Strike.de has released a remakes map pack for Counter-Strike. It contains maps that used to be official CS maps or still are. They have been remade from scratch and have new textures. It includes the following maps: as_riverside2, cs_assault23, cs_bunker2k, cs_facility2k, cs_wpndepot_01, de_prodigy2k, de_trainyard_se, de_trust, de_winternuke, es_underground.

World War II Online Update ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:06 AM MDT Saturday, August 25, 2001 [Comment on news]
The official website for Cornered Rat software's massively multiplayer World War II shooter/sim, World War II Online, has been updated. There is word of a 1.25 patch that is in the works as well as info on submitting bugs. Here is a slice:

Producer Chris 'MO' Sherland describes what’s next, “The next dev cycle will be an interim release prior to 130. There are a few more stability fixes in what we are calling “125”, as well as a few features that are slated for 130. Best to release stuff when it’s ready than hold off waiting for unfinished issues to catch up. Our usual feature patch increments the second digit in the version number, however, this release will be an exception. As stated, there will be new features in “125” and an updated data bundle, but with 130’s feature set fairly set in stone, changing it’s name at this point seemed silly.” We’ll have more details on v1.25 development soon."

Game Development & Modification....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:03 AM MDT Saturday, August 25, 2001 [Comment on news]
There's a ParticleFX Tutorial on the Max Payne site from the Max Payne development team describing the basics of ParticleFX, "a powerful particle effect editing tool that was used to create all the fire, smoke, explosions, muzzle flashes and snowstorms you saw in Max Payne," and offering a step-by-step tutorial on creating these effects.

New ÆStats....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 11:00 AM MDT Saturday, August 25, 2001 [Comment on news]
A new version 4.88 of the ÆStats log parser is up on the æon's stats website is now available as a free download, after previously only being available to registered users. In addition to the updated Win32 and SUSE Linux binaries, they also offer a warning that the registered release of Linux ÆStats 4.88 (and all the public Linux releases since version 4.55) are infected by the 'linux/octopus.dos' virus, offering tips on a remedy if you are infected.

Half-Life Mod Expo ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:59 AM MDT Saturday, August 25, 2001 [Comment on news]
Here is the announcement calling for entries in the third annual Half-Life mod expo:

The Third Annual Half-Life MOD Expo, showcasing the latest Half-Life community developed MODs, will take place Thursday, September 27, 2001 in San Francisco. Sierra and Valve invite MOD makers to submit their handiwork to modexpo@valvesoftware.com for consideration. MOD makers have until Wednesday, September 5th to send in details about their MOD, AVI's and/or screenshots and contact information, including Web site. More information on this year's Expo will be released closer to the event.

AvP2 Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 10:57 AM MDT Saturday, August 25, 2001 [Comment on news]
PlanetAvP has posted an interview with David Stalker, Fox's Interactive producer, about Aliens versus Predator 2, the upcoming sequel to the first-person shooter sequel currently in the works at Monolith. The interview contains a mix of questions related to the game, and queries about other more general topics, neatly separated to avoid accidental explosions. Gameplay topics covered include how loyal they are trying to stay to the game's film inspirations, major challenges encountered during development, the role of scripted sequences, multiplayer modes, and more.

Broadband Connection Tweaking....
Posted by [luckee] @ 10:44 AM MDT Saturday, August 25, 2001 [Comment on news]
So you have DSL, cable or another type of broadband connection and feel like a king now? No? Or are you expecting more speed? That?s what I thought! In this guide you will find out how to optimize your broadband connection to get the maximum speed, the right way, without any fancy programs or hacks! (More @ the Source: tweaktown.com)

Eric Brosius Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 5:34 PM MDT Friday, August 24, 2001 [Comment on news]
Freedom Force Center has posted an Eric Brosius Interview. In this interview, they talk to the former Looking Glass Studios employee who is now the sound designer on Freedom Force, Irrational Games' upcoming superhero game that celebrates the silver age of comic books. The Q&A discusses the tuneage being created for Freedom Force, delving into Eric's influences, techniques, and his opinions about music and the gaming industry.

Red Faction Update ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 5:32 PM MDT Friday, August 24, 2001 [Comment on news]
The weekly Red Faction update up, and this installment includes a new screenshot of the week as well as a new entry in the overview of multiplayer modes in Volition's imminent first-person shooter. Today's multiplayer mode is Team Deathmatch, and it's illustrated with a handful of new screenshots from two sample maps, titled Office Space and High Rise.

GHOST RECON INTERVIEW -DAY 4 ....
Posted by [luckee] @ 4:33 PM MDT Friday, August 24, 2001 [Comment on news]
Day four interview with Brian Upton Ghost Recon's Chief Designer Here's a snip:

Well, here we are at the end of our special week of Ghost Recon interviews, so we thought we'd go out with a bit of a bang. Brian Upton is Ghost Recon's Chief Designer and that means when it comes to Ghost you're not just playing a game, you're playing Brian's game. In fact, we think this game should be called Brian Upton's Ghost Recon - not because Brian could have Tom Clancy in a fight, no, it's because most of what you're going to see in the game came straight out of Brian's head - he is the idea-master. So sit back and relax, as we bring you our final Ghost Recon interview.

PCG: What would you say are the differences between Rainbow Six, Rogue Spear and Ghost Recon? Will fans of the series adapt to the changes easily?
BU: There are really five areas where Ghost Recon is different from what we've done before: the military focus, the outdoor spaces, the command interface and planning, the different character system and a different kit system. There's a lot that is the same, though. The game is designed to appeal to our core fan base so we're not doing something totally new, something out of the blue that you've never seen before - we wanted people who enjoyed our previous games to enjoy this one too so we identified the things that really make up the core of the Rainbow Six franchise that we wanted to carry through.

PCG: What are the similarities with previous games?
BU: We've got the one-shot kills and the realistic combat because we think that's one of the things that really identifies the franchise. It adds to the sense of realism and tension because you can die at any moment. There are no power-ups or health bars - just this sense that at any moment a shot can come out of nowhere and finish you off.
(More @ the Source: pcgameplay.co.uk

Windows XP Goes Gold Tomorrow ....
Posted by [luckee] @ 8:43 AM MDT Friday, August 24, 2001 [Comment on news]
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. MSFT.O is expected to hand the final version of its Windows XP operating system to computer makers on Friday, an important milestone for the software giant as it proceeds with plans to launch the new product this fall amid calls by rivals for changes.

Speculation has mounted that the final version, or "gold code," of Windows XP would be finished this week after Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said earlier this week that the goal was to wrap up work on the product by Friday.

On Thursday, Microsoft invited reporters to a Windows XP event with company co-founder and chairman Bill Gates and PC industry executives at its Redmond, Washington headquarters scheduled for Friday morning.

A Microsoft spokeswoman would not confirm that the event would be the ceremonial handing off of Windows XP by Gates to PC executives, but analysts said that was all but certain.

"The decision (to ship) is typically made the morning of the event. That's what they are anticipating, that the product will be ready and will go out," said Rob Enderle, an analyst with technology consultancy Giga Information Group.

Windows XP, the latest version of Microsoft's flagship product, is scheduled to go on retail sale on Oct. 25, though some PCs will have the new software pre-installed as much as a month earlier. (More @ the Source: reuters.com.

Gamers Go to War in Online Tournament....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:54 AM MDT Friday, August 24, 2001 [Comment on news]
The year's official summer games are not being played on an Olympics field but online. Players of the Sierra game Tribes 2 are involved in a fight to the finish in Summer Games 2001, a tournament hosted by networking equipment firm D-Link.

The tournament, which began July 28th and continues through September 3rd, consists of a series of weekly online five-on-five qualifying tournaments. By the time a victor is crowned on Labor Day, about US$30,000 in prizes will have been awarded, and avid players of the first-person shooter game will know just who is the "Tribes 2 Deathmatch Champion." (More @ the Source: techextreme.com.

New World Order Q&A....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:48 AM MDT Friday, August 24, 2001 [Comment on news]
Voodoo Extreme has posted up a new interview with Termite Games's Jim Malmros as he talks in very general terms about their upcoming multiplayer oriented first person shooter New World Order. Here is a snip:

VooDoo Extreme -- What's the juice on the multiplayer?

Jim Malmros -- Multiplayer is always team-based. If it should be compared to any existing game, it would ofcourse be Counter-Strike. Can't say too much, except that it is damn fun to play already! It's action-packed and it feels really intense and fun to play. I've stopped playing Counter-Strike.

Front Line Force Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:46 AM MDT Friday, August 24, 2001 [Comment on news]
OGR: Half-Life has posted an interview with Front Line Force project leader David Dynerman. The article is fairly lengthy as they discuss FLF's development past and future. Here's a bit:

OGR: When it comes to supporting mods Valve is very helpful. How helpful have they been to the FLF team when you come to a tough problem?

DD: Since Adrian, FLF's founder, is a programmer at Valve, any serious issues would get their immediate attention. For instance, recently I was contacted by Valve over the infamous crash bug (thanks Terry!) The person that e-mailed me (Eric I think) was very helpful. He made it very clear that he would gladly help in any way he could.

Of course, Adrian is a very busy person, so for most of my day to day problems, I enlist the help of ilian (Chris MacArthur of Gearbox Software) ilian is a genius programmer, and knows the Half-Life engine inside and out. He's been a tremendous help in solving all sorts of problems, from weapons not firing to entities not spawning. In addition to being expertly competent, he's also a great guy and a great friend offering all sorts of advice to me.

Without ilian, FLF and FLT would not be where they are today.

Red Faction PC Trailer....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:40 AM MDT Friday, August 24, 2001 [Comment on news]
The Red Faction website has a cool Red Faction PC trailer. There are hi-res and low-res versions that show just under a minute of in-game footage. The video is worth the download, so check it out!

Generations Arena Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:34 AM MDT Friday, August 24, 2001 [Comment on news]
Q3 Center has posted an interview with LeeMon, the producer/manager for WireHead Studios, talking about the Generations Arena mod for Quake III Arena. Here's a snip:

"Q3Center: Has id software given you any troubles in creating this mod?"

"LeeMon: They've been silent throughout most of production, and that was an intentional move on my part. There were a few nitpicks about our legalities I wasn't quite sure about, and I wanted us to produce as much as we could to show we were serious before approaching id about any license we might require. It was when Deathmatch Classic was released for Half-Life (with a license) that I decided it was time to unveil ourselves.

Since then, we've had several letters and a small introduction at QuakeCon. Mind you, id's a very busy company... It wasn't exactly possible to drag them to our QuakeCon table and sit them down to the game. ;^) They haven't played Gen yet, but Todd H. has given an unofficial "yes" to virtually everything except the maps, which we're still working on. (We doubt id will have any issues with the Q1DMx series by Castle.) Trust me, it was a huge relief to listen to Todd speak about copyrights and "foxed" mods at QuakeCon, and realize that the path we had taken for Generations Arena was exactly what we had to do in order to get this far.

id will have the chance to play the full Generations Arena before anyone in the public does. I, for one, can't wait for the response."

Uncrossable Parallel Interview ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:28 AM MDT Friday, August 24, 2001 [Comment on news]
There's an Uncrossable Parallel interview on Half Life Italia talking (in English) with Ace_NoOne, discussing progress on the Uncrossable Parallel mod for Half-Life. Here's a snip:

Quakeman: We're going to start, so why don't you speak about Uncrossable Parallel? How do you introduce it to the mod community?

Ace_NoOne: Well, Uncrossable Parallel (UP) is a mod about the US Army's special operation troopers, the Green Berets (GBs). The main features are realism (no pseudo-realism as in most other games), an awesome vehicle-code, real teamplay (Again; not pseudo-teamplay as in most other games!), a shitload of different weapons, awesome-looking maps with huge open areas (A lot of people say we got the best maps ever made for the HL-engine!), a system that gives the mappers total freedom about the mission-objectives in their maps, and and and... I could continue this list, but I guess your webspace is limited... :D

Game Development and Modification....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:08 AM MDT Friday, August 24, 2001 [Comment on news]
The newly-launched Destiny3D website has news of what's become of the engines formerly known as Genesis3D and Jet3D, offering resources and training tips for those interested in creating their own games, focused on independent developers in particular.

Lights, Camera, Unreal! ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:07 AM MDT Friday, August 24, 2001 [Comment on news]
An update to the Epic Games Unreal Engine news page has word that "Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) generated 3D versions of their sets using Unreal Tournament. This provided director Stephen Spielberg with the ability to preview camera moves by flying through a real-time version of the virtual set in 3D using UT." They also describe a particle system Digital Extremes developed for Unreal Championship that they feel is so cool, they are shipping it to all their Xbox licensees with the latest build of the Unreal engine.

Unreal 2 Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:05 PM MDT Thursday, August 23, 2001 [Comment on news]
Unreality has an interview with Legend Entertainment's Mike Verdu about the upcoming Unreal sequel, many of those questions based on reader-submitted suggestions in their forums. Here is one answer where Mike sums up what Unreal II is going to be all about:

Unreal II has a tremendous single player game which is based on a compelling story and features several types of game play: You'll get to interact with the crew on your ship, explore cool new worlds, attack or defend bases with squads of friendly troops at your side, rescue hostages and civilians caught in the crossfire, escort key civilians through dangerous areas, fight swarms of bizarre alien creatures, infiltrate enemy installations, and much more. There is also a multiplayer component that includes the familiar Deathmatch and CTF game play - plus a new multiplayer game type.

Wolfenstein Q&A....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:01 PM MDT Thursday, August 23, 2001 [Comment on news]
Planet-Wolfenstein.de has posted an interview with Greg Goodrich, Gray Matter Studios Executive Producer, where they discuss plans for Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Topics include the use of the German language in the game, as well as the vague possibility of a localized version for Germany (where the game's violence and Nazi soldiers will represent two strikes against it), the possibility of a Linux version, plans for testing, and more.

E3 Moves Dates ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:37 AM MDT Thursday, August 23, 2001 [Comment on news]
E3: The IDSA has announced that in 2002, for the first time ever, E3 will run from a Wednesday to a Friday. The dates of the 2002 show will be Wednesday, May 22, through Friday, May 24. (More @ the Source: fgnonline.com.

M-Systems DiskOnKey....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:26 AM MDT Thursday, August 23, 2001 [Comment on news]
Ever wanted a way to quickly transfer files between computers without the use of floppies or a zip drive (which still are not exactly standard in PCs). If so, be sure to read Hardware Daily's review of the M-Systems DiskOnKey. Here's a taste:

"The DiskOnKey is at once both a simplistic and technologically innovative little product. This little flash disk has the capabilities of being installed on virtually any machine to quickly transfer data back and forth. Now you may wonder of course how anything can just automatically work in a USB port, as we all know, many devices require drivers. Well in this case, on any Windows Millennium or Windows 2000 machine no driver is necessary. However, on Windows 98 the user will require a quick download from the DiskOnKey website."

Max Payne Selling....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:16 AM MDT Thursday, August 23, 2001 [Comment on news]
According to the 3D Realms website, Max Payne has displaced the Lord of Destruction expansion pack for Diablo 2 and is now the best selling game in the US. The game is also still the #1 seller in the UK for the fourth week in a row.

Ultra Value PC Guide....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:12 AM MDT Thursday, August 23, 2001 [Comment on news]
With prices for PC components at an all time low, buying a new computer is cheaper than ever. There is a secret, though. To save some extra money, you should build the computer yourself. Now before you get all twisted up about putting all these components together, I'll tell ya something. It's easy. There are tons of guides around that can help out. So for those of you who want to build a 1GHz machine on a budget, Beach Side has an article for you. Check it out here.

Mike Wilson Interview....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:06 AM MDT Thursday, August 23, 2001 [Comment on news]
DVD.IGN has posted up a new interview with Mike Wilson, former GodGames' head man. Most of the interview concerns the GodGames team's new SubstanceTV DVD magazine but Wilson does talk a little about the gaming industry as he sees things. Here is a snip from that:

"I don’t know, it’s a scary time for me in the games industry. I see the consolidation happening faster than it did in any other business, and you’ll be left with only five or six major publishers who can really fund a game and bring it to market. If you break it down to the four or five guys at each place that decide which games get made. That’s 25 or 30 people controlling everything that gets made and seen. It’s awfully like Hollywood, network television, and the radio markets now, where they’re all controlled by these mega-corps and the mega-corps. Sure, the mega-corps aren't evil by nature, but just the fact that it’s only a few people with the same sort of insights and backgrounds deciding what gets seen is just not a good thing."

Those FPS Characters!....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:04 AM MDT Thursday, August 23, 2001 [Comment on news]
The Adrenaline Vault presents their version of The Late Show with interviews with first person shooter supporting characters such as the Imp from Doom, the scientist from Half-Life and the fez-wearing henchman from No One Lives Forever.

PlanetSide Profiles....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:01 AM MDT Thursday, August 23, 2001 [Comment on news]
Verant has updated its PlanetSide site with some new developer profiles for the folks making Verant't upcoming massively-multiplayer action shooter.

Jedi2 shots....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 6:58 AM MDT Thursday, August 23, 2001 [Comment on news]
JediKnightII network scanned the latest issue of PC Gamer and pulled out two new screen shots that LucasArts has released. One is from a security camera, the other is a lightsaber battle.

New Soundblaster AUDIGY Cards....
Posted by [luckee] @ 12:05 AM MDT Thursday, August 23, 2001 [Comment on news]
Creative announced their new soundcard series. It´s called AUDIGY. The new chip comes with 4x the performance of the old EMU10K1. The main feature of the card is the new EAX ENHANCED AD, which can clean up musik for example or offers timescaling effects. For games it allows Multi-Environment Environment Morphing and Environment Panning. It seems that realtime Dolby 5.1 calculation like NVIDIA´s NFORCE MCP is not implemented in the new chip.

The Audigy processor is the first DSP to be released that is capable of delivering 4x more effects processing power than any current audio processor and EAX ADVANCED HD™.
Sound Blaster Audigy delivers stunning audio clarity in multi-channel through 24-bit/96kHz digital-to-analog converters (DACs), producing an outstanding 100dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). This dramatic increase in audio quality is attributed to the Audigy's high definition components.
EAX ADVANCED HD™ offers dramatically increased 3D audio performance and functionality for games, along with superior audio fidelity and powerful music enhancement technologies, for an unsurpassed digital entertainment experience.
The high performance sound engine is optimized for complex digital audio signal mixing and processing for next-generation interactive 3D audio for gaming and sophisticated effects for music.
Includes the power to process more complex audio algorithms, rendering higher fidelity effects and reverbs.
AUDIGY cards:

Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum eX
Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum
Sound Blaster Audigy X-Gamer
Sound Blaster Audigy MP3+

You can read the rest here.

On Internet Security ....
Posted by [luckee] @ 12:00 AM MDT Thursday, August 23, 2001 [Comment on news]
The Internet. It's something you depend on, something which you use as a hobby, something you use as a job or just something you use for leisure. But how secure is your Internet connection against hackers and spyware? Maybe you need a software or hardware firewall? Listen up as TweakTown tells you everything you need to know about this very issue.

You can read the rest here.

Game Industry Fights Back ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 4:56 PM MDT Wednesday, August 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
This article on ZDnet is talking about the game industry striking back at a recent Japanese study that states video games reduce development in some areas of the brain. Here's a snip:

The software association asserts it is not true that playing video games can make children anti-social and is instead flagging recent British research that suggests that playing computer games can be as beneficial as taking part in physical sporting activity.

"For too long now, our industry has been the target of ill-informed criticism and scare-mongering," Roger Bennett, director general of the association, said in a statement. "We want to help those who weren't brought up on computer games to understand this exciting new medium and the part that it can play in a healthy balance of learning and leisure activities for all age groups."

Medal of Honor Wallpaper....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 4:50 PM MDT Wednesday, August 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
EA has updated the official Medal of Honor: Allied Assault website with three very attractive new desktops for this upcoming Quake 3 engined World War 2 era FPS from 2015. Next week, the promise to reveal some info on the Nazi forces.

Ghost Recon Interview ....
Posted by [luckee] @ 11:50 AM MDT Wednesday, August 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
There's Darren Chukitus interview on PC Gameplay UK talking with the producer on Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, as part two of their Ghost Recon Week rolls along. Topics covered include what involvement the military had in the project, character classes, the reward system, graphic updates over its predecessors, multiplayer play, and more. Here's a bit that covers the updated graphics:

So how has the military been involved?
DC: Right around the end of Rogue Spear we had a lot of military people coming in. They wanted to design their own simulation and I think they were fascinated by the type of gameplay we had with Rogue Spear and Rainbow Six. They invited us up to Fort Bragg, to take a look at some of their state-of-the-art weaponry and one of the things they showed us was 'Land Warrior'. You have a heads-up display and a controller, and you also have a personal digital assistant and a keyboard.

Thanks BLues

You can read the rest here.

Hostile Intent Video....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:40 AM MDT Wednesday, August 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
The Hostile Intent website has a video trailer for their upcoming realism-based combat modification for Half-Life. The video is in Divx format, and is available in higher and lower quality versions.

Freedom Force Character Tool....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:39 AM MDT Wednesday, August 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
There's an updated version of the Freedom Force Character Tool which will allow you to design your own character for Freedom Force before the superhero game is even on shelves, with no radioactive spiders, cosmic rays, or any similar catastrophe required.

Benchmarks....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:37 AM MDT Wednesday, August 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
There are Max Payne Benchmarks on RIVA Station showing how a wide range of cards perform at various resolutions running the game. Check them out here.

AOpen H600A Case....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:31 AM MDT Wednesday, August 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
In an ongoing movement to regularly introduce solid housing solutions in response to PC system builder and integrator needs, AOpen Inc. announced that the new H600A Pentium 4-ready super mid-tower case is now shipping to AOpen distributors in North America.

Check out the press release our pals at AOpen sent us here

QDoom Patch....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:16 AM MDT Wednesday, August 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
Fanatic has released a patch for his very-recently released QDoom, which fixes "the issue with no MP3 music". So, what is QDoom? Here it is straight from the QDoom about page:

-Quake's weapons
-Quake's monsters (all but the Spawn)
-Quake's pickup items
-20 original, high quality MP3's
-high quality music also available as a CD you can purchase from me for $8 (click the music menu link for purchase info)
-a huge texture WAD of Quake's textures (no DOOM textures will be used)
-12 levels total
-DDF and RTS coded using the EDGE engines super powerful scripting languages

Max Payne Tweak Guide....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:12 AM MDT Wednesday, August 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
3DSpotlight has posted another of their excellent game tweak guides, this time for the recently released Max Payne. This tweak guide offers a walkthrough of the game options along with providing some tips and hints.

Defend your Gaming Rights....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:07 AM MDT Wednesday, August 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
Don't want politicians controlling the games you play? Here's how you can let them know, and make sure that gaming remains in the hands of gamers! Check out this article on FiringSquad to be heard!

End of road for Interplay?....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:04 AM MDT Wednesday, August 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
Interplay has posted results for the three months ending June 30th, with operating losses of $11.4m after revenues dropped by 41% compared to the same period last year. The poor results are largely being blamed on a lack of new releases, with just four Interplay games coming out between April and June compared to ten this time last year, all of them on the PC. This total lack of PlayStation 2 and GameBoy Advance titles meant that they didn't get the boost that many other publishers saw as the next generation consoles took hold. (More @ the Source: eurogamer.net)

SoF2 Interview w/ Kenn Hoekstra....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 12:11 AM MDT Wednesday, August 22, 2001 [Comment on news]
Kenn Hoekstra, the Project Administrator for Raven Software, recently sat down with us to chat about Soldier of Fortune 2: Double Helix. Here's a taste:

PCShooter: "What kind of enemies can we expect in this game? Can you explain a little about the AI and their relationship to what you call the LICH?"

KH: "The enemies in the game will be, for the most part, human. There might be attack dogs or something of that nature, but I'd say it's about 95% human and 5% "other." (Dogs/Vehicles etc.)

The LICH AI system in Soldier of Fortune 2 is going to be far more advanced than the AI of the original game. We've re-written the AI entirely from scratch without using any code from Quake III: Arena or from the original SoF.

The LICH Artificial Intelligence Toolbox is designed provide an expandable, functional, and modular collection of common tools to assist the AI programmer. These tools range from low level API modules which access entity, animation, file, and scripting systems, to Finite State Machines, Neural Networks, Path Finders, and much more.

The system is broken down into layers, including a Game Systems Layer, API, Motor Control, Senses and Moods, Short Term Decisions, Goals and Environmental Interaction.

The AI in Soldier 2 goes far beyond the scope of anything seen in the
original game. The LICH system overall will make the enemies more
interactive with the environment by default, rather than having to be told specifically what to do in each instance with designer scripting or event triggers."

Performance Coolers For Athlons Up To 1.6 GHz....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:20 AM MDT Tuesday, August 21, 2001 [Comment on news]
GamePC grabbed seven of the best coolers on the market for cooling the AMD Thunderbird Athlon processors. With a brand new 1.4 GHz in their hands, they proceeded to clock it up to 1.6 GHz (and in some cases, beyond) to see which coolers can handle the extra heat and which fold under the pressure. (More @ the Source: gamepc.com)

Breaking the Sound Barrier with Audigy....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:14 AM MDT Tuesday, August 21, 2001 [Comment on news]
Breaking the Sound Barrier with Audigy on PC.IGN.Com offers another look at Creative Labs' new soundcard technology, including a rundown on products in which it will be used.

World War II Online Update....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:13 AM MDT Tuesday, August 21, 2001 [Comment on news]
There's a new World War II Online update on the Cornered Rat Software website that follows-up on the release of version 1.06 of their PlayGate utility, and offers a look at their plans for both a production patch version 1.22 and feature patch v1.30. According to the update: "A number of persistent and sometimes hard-to-recreate problems were solved, including a likely candidate for the blue sky bug, a revamping of the hauling algorithm, the luger/MP40-shooting backwards bug, the disabling of alt+tab, and a head-shaking fix. The persistent strategy system is now in place and is ready to go into general testing."

Rogue Spear Interview ....
Posted by [Frag-girlie] @ 7:07 AM MDT Tuesday, August 21, 2001 [Comment on news]
HomeLAN chats with Red Storm's Brian Upton as he talks about their upcoming first person action game Tom Clancy's Rogue Spear. Here is a snip:

HomeLAN - What other gameplay features are in the game that you would consider to be important?

Bri