Hardware News

Beta NVIDIA Drivers

February 20, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

3DMark03 Poll

February 20, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

What do you think of the new 3DMark2003 Benchmark?

Xenus Dev Diary

February 20, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The gangs of night fighters are not outstanding in terms of their combat abilities. They don't often have the usual advantages like good weapons, good organization or simple numbers. However, surprise and knowledge of the town lanes are on their side. Walking through the city at night, remember that five or six aggressive, drunken gangsters might tumble out of any side street. And if they don't recognize you as "the same old gringo who helped to kill dozen of cops", you'll be in trouble. Their weapons can be pretty varied - they can fight with knives, AK-47s, and even with ancient muskets that shoot only once, but with a mix of nails, screws and rusty screw nuts that will turn the best armor into a sieve.

New UT2003 Source

February 20, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne Preview

February 20, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Blizzard plans to include five mercenary heroes that you can hire from a neutral site called the cantina. However, there isn't much known about most of the neutral heroes, except that two of them will be the dark ranger and the pandaren brewmaster. The latter is based on a fictitious race of pandas that Blizzard introduced as an April Fools' Day joke last year. Like many pranks, this one has apparently gotten out of control, and as you can see from our exclusive screenshot, the pandaren brewmaster is indeed real. It will be a hero with abilities similar to a drunken master. Despite the inclusion of the neutral heroes, you will still be limited to three heroes per game, and dead neutral heroes will be available for resurrection at the altar. None of the heroes were playable in the build we saw, so we'll have to see if Blizzard can get them finished in time for the imminent beta testing.

C&C: Generals Review

February 20, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Generals has some truly amazing graphics. Although Age of Mythology could brag that its 3D was so smooth and the animations so great that it looked 2D, Generals is the game that took full advantage of having a 3D engine. In fact, the game has some truly spectacular scripted events in the singleplayer campaign, such as the blowing up of a dam and the rushing flood of water afterwards!

New Remote Control!

February 19, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

The Remote Control is small "gadget" and the best way to keep track of what is happening over at the Futuremark community! From the Remote Control you can easily follow up on what the latest news is, what people are talking about in our discussion boards, and see if your friends are online!

3DMark03 Articles

February 19, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

• Beyond3D's 3DMark03 Performance Tests Article
• ComputerBase's 3DMark03 Analysis
• ExtremeTech's Gauging 3DMark
• Tom's Hardware

Deus Ex 2 Interview

February 19, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

IGNPC: So how far do you go with AI? How do you know when enough is enough? Otherwise you could make a game where it's just me against one guy and we try to outsmart each other for 20 hours.
Chris Carollo: The goal with AI is not making the smartest AI -- it's making the most fun AI. Often they are very different things. What you really want to do is allow the player to have an interesting area of the AI to play with. Maybe that's combat -- I take some damage but I tend to damage them more because I'm better than they are and I can take out three of them because three is more interesting than one because you can start using group tactics.
There's also the stealth element of that. You're playing this fun little game where he knows I'm around but he doesn't know exactly where I'm at. I'm not in combat yet. The AI's all about making that area as easy to get in to as possible and as fun and intentional as possible. So you can feel like you're kind of out of control but steering it a certain way. Then you're safe again because he's lost you or you're in combat. You're not really controlling combat either but you're in the middle of playing and trying to win the combat. That's really the goal of AI, not whether they can beat you or not.

IGI 2: Covert Strike Q&A

February 19, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

GameSpy: There's a new save system, isn't there?
Chaudhry: The saving system is a direct result of the complaints from IGI. We too felt that it was a bit too demanding of the players to have to complete an entire level in one go. Many fans were worried that a save game feature would destroy the tension that the original had, so we had to find a smart way to implement it. The way it works now is that you go into your map computer and press save. While the game is saving you are still vulnerable and can get killed, so saving in the middle of a firefight is a bad idea. In other words, it is NOT a "quick save" feature and you have a limited number of saves depending on difficulty. On "Hard" you have no saves, so it plays just like the original.

Devastation Interview

February 19, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Action Vault: When you first laid out your high-level goals for Devastation, to what extent was having a strong story element important within the overall concept?
Ben Golus: At first, the story wasn't going to be a major part of the game, and although we had a detailed plot, Devastation's single-player was originally budgeted to be a ladder-style mission-based game. Players were still going to see a back story, one that had more depth than Unreal Tournament or Quake III, but that isn't really much to begin with as those types of "pure" arena/tournament games didn't need it, and that was what we wanted Devastation to be at the time.

Purge Shots

February 19, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Splinter Cell Review

February 19, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The fantastic use of the next-gen Unreal code is in every way complementary to the gameplay, and so are the sound effects. The engine delivers some dazzling visual treats and it also creates an environment that is essential to the sneaker aspect of the gameplay. Sam Fisher uses shadows to get by (his visibility indicator is an essential element of the interface and will soon become your best friend). He lurks from the dark and kills quietly and stealthily. The engine is optimized in such a way that it creates the perfect environment for our character. Every object casts a shadow and every shadow can be used to disappear from sight. Likewise, every movement produces a sound, so you'll have to rely on remaining unheard as much as unseen.

Mortyr II Announced

February 18, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Devastation Preview

February 18, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Devastation also offers two different ways of playing the game. There's an arcade mode, as well a simulation mode. In the arcade mode, you can have whatever weapon you want, and weapons are automatically reloaded allowing for a frantic and fast style of play. In simulation mode however, you have to pick your weapons yourself and can only carry a few, and you also have to reload manually. You can also get hit by friendly fire in this mode. It is certainly a unique feature, and both modes play very differently. Arcade/simulation is not a choice between easy and hard difficulty though, the difficulty level is still something you pick when you start the game.

Splinter Cell Chat

February 18, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Deus Ex 2 Video Interview

February 18, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Lionheart Dev Diary

February 18, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Intel's Response To 3DMark03 Discussion

February 17, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

"According to Matt, Intel is currently evaluating on the 3DMark2003 and has found it to be a nice synthetic benchmark for gaming."

"We spoke with company officials from ATI and Dell, and both companies believe that 3DMark03's methodology and implementation are essentially sound. Dell, in particular, will be using the benchmark as one of its metrics for qualifying 3D GPUs."

Deus Ex 2 Preview

February 17, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Deus Ex: Invisible War will differentiate itself from its predecessor right from the beginning. For starters, the sex of your character (Alex D.) is up to you. Smith explains: "Last time we wanted to make a female player character available ... We thought it was a pretty cool thing to do. But we got killed last time because of voice requirements. I don't remember how many lines of conversation JC Denton had, but it was thousands. Then you can double that, and you double the art... So this time we said from day one, when we have to fight for ship dates and budgets and all that, we're not going to let go of the female player character. We want to have both. So we've supported all the way through a male and female player character. Now at the beginning of the game you choose hair color, skin tones, male, female, stuff like that." The developers toyed with the idea of giving males higher strength and females better conversation options, but nixed that early on. As it stands, character sex is mainly a cosmetic choice -- only about ten percent of characters will have player gender factored into their reactions.

Devastation Preview

February 17, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The weapons available in Devastation are just incredible. There are 3 types of sniper guns, two shotguns, 3 variations of Uzi-type guns (both single and double-handed), nailguns, all sorts of machine guns from your standard SWAT gun to mow-'em-down chainguns, a laser gun with sight, 4 types of grenades, and, oh yeah, a rat drone, are among the weapons you have at your disposal. This makes for one havoc-reaking good time. There are gas cans to blow up, fire hydrants to explode, and much more to make your enemies' job of killing you that much harder.

ORB News

February 17, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

Response To The 3DMark03 Discussion

February 16, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

Futuremark’s Response to 3DMark®03 Discussion
3DMark®03 launch has been a great success and it has been received enthusiastically by the computer industry worldwide. There is active discussion about the product. We have analyzed the concerns that have been raised and found that many of those are without merit. In this document, we review the key facts of 3DMark03.
Synthetic Benchmark Versus Games as Benchmarks
3DMark03 is a synthetic benchmark that is designed for the sole purpose of enabling objective performance measurement of DirectX® 9 compatible hardware today. There are no other significant DirectX 9 applications published yet, and the most awaited DirectX 9 game is most likely at least six months away. 3DMark03 is a forward-looking tool that provides unique value to consumers in the form of impartial information to support their purchasing decisions today.

Unreal Tournament 2003 Patch

February 16, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

C&C: Generals Patch

February 16, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Deus Ex 2 Preview

February 15, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

In the first Seattle mission, you'll find out that your character, Alex D., is one of four nano-enhanced agents working for the shadowy organization attacked in the city-leveling catastrophe. In the new game, you can choose to play as either a male or female character, both named Alex, and there are a few other options to customize the superficial looks of the two player models. Ion Storm invested a fair amount of effort to double all the voice work for the main character, and it's directly in response to requests from fans of the first games. The first mission is intended as a gradual introduction, and only at the end of it do you have to decide how to customize Alex's abilities.

New Splinter Cell Demo

February 15, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

• 3DGamers
• WorthPlaying
• FileShack

Devastation Preview

February 15, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The AI of both the enemy and your teammate characters are solid for the most part. Enemies use cover and attack with strategy and even stealth at times and your teammates also respond with a better-than-average intelligence of there own. In some cases you can even give commands to your teammates and you can even pass weapons to each other. (Some of the NPCs use heavy weapons better, while others are more proficant with lighter firearms).

Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Preview

February 15, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

While Blizzard has made an impressive effort to continue with their epic story, the gameplay is the ultimate showcase, and The Frozen Throne is full of new units, spells and tilesets to keep even the hardcore fans happy. Each side comes with three new units, one of which is a hero. Each unit will have new abilities and spells. We'll look at each race as they appear in the campaign and give you an exclusive look at the units, spells and abilities.

New Morrowind Expansion

February 15, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Rockville, MD - February 14, 2003 - Bethesda Softworks® today announced The Elder Scrolls III: Bloodmoon™, the second expansion for its RPG-of-the-Year, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind® for PC. Scheduled for release in May, Bloodmoon takes you to the frozen Island of Solstheim where the Empire is establishing a new mining colony - a venture being threatened by the prophecy of the Bloodmoon and rumors of werewolves.
Your journey north from Vvardenfell by ship will bring you to a whole new world, where the ashlands and rainy coasts of Morrowind give way to forests and hills covered with snow and ice. In the huge wilderness of Solstheim you'll experience snow, blizzards, and new creatures, including frost trolls, ice minions, and wolves…just to name a few.

New Poll!

February 15, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

THE sequel of the year will be..

New Xabre Drivers

February 14, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

Deus Ex 2 Interview

February 14, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

GameSpy: What are Invisible War's PC target specs? And when the game ships, do you think it'll avoid the initial technical problems experienced by the first Deus Ex?
Harvey Smith: GeForce 3 or higher is the only spec I know of right now. Because we use per-pixel shading and per-pixel lighting you just have to have that hardware. I don't perceive the same speed problems that we had last time because last time we took Unreal, hacked in a bunch of role playing game technology/functionality and we had three programmers on the team. And we did that with a light team, we had more designers and artists, as many as we have now, but we only had three programmers. That's almost impossible to think that we did that game with three programmers. Now we have seven or something, and a tech group.
We're also definitely making sure we run faster. Right now it's still running kind of slow, a lot of spots are 12 frames per second, but by the time we ship. We have plans for optimization this time. Having a tech group at your company is a really powerful thing.

Lionheart Q&A

February 14, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Jonric: What are a couple of memorable surprises you've encountered during the development of Lionheart, and why do they stand out for you?
Dan Ruskin, Designer, Reflexive Entertainment: When we decided to change the way the Evasion skill works, I really thought it was a huge design improvement. Instead of Evasion basically being an addition to Armor Class in to hit rolls, it became a way of taking what would have been a hit, and making it miss you instead. Seeing "You have evaded a blow!" is very satisfying, and the change has also fixed a lot of problems with the way combat was working.

Tropico II Demo Released

February 14, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Raven Shield Golden!

February 14, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

SAN FRANCISCO, CA. February 13, 2003 - Ubi Soft Entertainment, one of the world's largest video game publishers, announced today that the third installment of it's best-selling Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six™ Series, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3™: Raven Shield™ has reached gold master status. The Rainbow Six series is one of the most popular action series on the PC, having sold almost 7 million copies worldwide to date.
"Rainbow Six fans are among the most rabid hardcore gamers on the planet and they have high expectations for Rainbow Six 3," said Tony Kee, vice president of marketing. "Rainbow Six 3 will exceed even their highest hopes. They'll be playing as the same Team RAINBOW, carrying out new missions in a graphically superior environment with an array of all-new special effects-including the flash-bang and gas grenade. They're gonna eat it up!"

Black9 Announced

February 14, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

EDISON, NJ, February 13, 2003 – Intense character development meets tactical action game play, as Majesco, one of the fastest-growing publishers of interactive entertainment, today announced Black9 for the personal computer and Xbox™ video game system from Microsoft. Scheduled for release in fall 2003, Black9 is being developed by Taldren, the studio behind the award-winning Starfleet Command series.

Deus Ex 2 Preview

February 13, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Since we're 15 years further on from Deus Ex the ante has been raised somewhat in the nano department. The nanos will be higher-powered and slightly more science-fiction oriented. Your own character still begins as a sort of blank slate but you will have the option to add three bio-mod upgrades by the end of the first mission. The team has decided to include a purplish-pink (or pinkish-purple) color as a distinctive signature of nano-tech. The visual leitmotif shows up most noticeably as a glow in the eyes of nano-powered characters but appears other places in the game as well.

EA & Digital Illusions Sign Publishing Deal

February 13, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 12, 2003--Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), the world's leading developer and publisher of video games, and Swedish developer Digital Illusions, C.E. (DICE) today announced a strategic investment and long-term publishing agreement for video games made by DICE studios. EA has purchased a minority interest in DICE and licensed the worldwide publishing rights for future products developed by DICE.

Greyhawk Interview

February 13, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Jonric: How extensive will the magic system be? Are you creating any original spells or implementing any features not seen in other D&D titles?
Tim Cain: We are implementing a few hundred spells of levels 0 through 5. I think the coolest thing about our magic system is the target system for spells. You can actually see the area of effect of any spell in the game. When you throw a Fireball, for instance, you are given a circle that you can move around the screen, and any target within the circle gets highlighted. We are supporting spells that can have multiple targets, like Magic Missile, and even ones with variable size areas of effect, like Wall of Fire. These features make combat magic feel very strategic.

Republic Screenies

February 13, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

New NeverWinter Nights Patch

February 13, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Neverwinter Nights Expansion Q&A

February 12, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

AT: Will we perhaps see some of the old characters from the original NWN?
RE: Shadows of Undrentide actually takes place more-or-less in parallel with the events of the original Neverwinter campaign. So the city of Neverwinter to the west is closed off to prevent the plague from spreading, and the player's quest in Shadows of Undrentide will take her even further to the east, away from Neverwinter and the Sword Coast.

Retail Enemy Territory Canceled

February 12, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

id Software and Activision announced today they are canceling the retail release of Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. Despite a strong effort from talented developers, the single player portion of the game did not progress as anticipated. Canceling the release was a difficult decision made in the best interest of the Wolfenstein franchise and fans.
However, we remain excited about the progress and direction of Enemy Territory multiplayer. Over the next several months the focus of our development will be to complete the multiplayer portion of Enemy Territory and provide it as a free downloadable expansion to Return to Castle Wolfenstein.

Road to Rome Review

February 12, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

In the original game many vehicles had space for more than one occupant, with the second player commonly taking the role of a top mounted machine gun operator. Whilst fun for gunning down fleeing enemy infantry, the lack of protection for top mounted gunners meant that taking such a position usually resulted in a swift death. Road to Rome rectifies this problem somewhat, since most of the new vehicles offer enhanced protection to the top gunner. This makes cooperative vehicle use much more enjoyable for the non-controlling player, and also alleviates the scramble for vehicles somewhat, since more people will be willing to ‘double-up’.

Unreal II Review

February 12, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

You begin the game assuming the role of Dalton (or Marshal), an ex-Marine who patrols the "ass-end-of-space" as Dalton himself puts it. With two other former Marines and an "interesting " alien from the local exchange program, you fly around the universe doing a lot of nothing. Even better is that in between missions, you get to walk around your ship, and make small talk with the crew. Usually this is more of a tutorial for new weapon upgrades, their functionality, and a brief look at the upcoming mission. It seems to me that the developers perhaps had more planned out for this sidebar portion of the game. It has somewhat the makings of an RPGish feel to it. However, the finished product leaves this section uninteresting to the gamer, and more or less a waste of time.

Deus Ex 2 Interview

February 12, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

GameSpy: Do you think non-linearity should be a large part of the future of story-driven games? Do you think it will be?
Spector: I hesitate to give an answer for the industry, or for the art form I guess. But for me, and I think for the studio, until someone convinces me otherwise, the linear narrative -- the sort of overarching plot -- I think is an important part of what we do. The key is providing the player with clear goals along that linear path, but providing even more... ever more freedom in terms of how those goals are accomplished. That's the obvious Deus Ex path.
There are other models in narrative games that I don't think we want to talk about just yet. I think we're starting to think about them. That would take us down a somewhat different path. But like I said, I think it's a bit early to talk about ideas that are just kind of forming in peoples' minds. So for now, at least in the Deus Ex universe, I think you're going to see the linear narrative be an important part of it. But non-linearity exists within each mission, not between missions.

Wow!

February 11, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

Wow!

February 11, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

Wow!

February 11, 2003 - The Admin

New IGI 2: Covert Strike Demo

February 11, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Generals Q&A

February 11, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Jeff: Can you give me an example of the use of a General Power?
Mark: Sure. Let’s take Emergency Repair as an example. As I’ve said, you acquire these powers through experience points. Our selected power of Emergency Repair allows you to repair and heal damage to units much faster than the regular rate. Well, let’s take this power and place it into a multiplayer game. Before, if you were playing cooperatively with a friend and he was getting destroyed by your enemies, you might have to say, “Hey, I can’t help you, because by the time I get my tanks over there, they’ll be dead and my base will be defenseless.” Now, all you have to do is click Emergency Repair on your ally’s troops, and they’re status is automatically improved.

Age of Mythology Patch

February 11, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

CLIENT FIXES
• Fixed an exploit that worked around the firing delay on ranged units.
• Fixed a scenario editor trigger corruption bug introduced in version 1.03. Any scenarios saved using version 1.03 that contain "Set Tech Status" triggers may have had some of their parameters cleared and will have to be manually repaired.

NETWORK AND ESO FIXES
• Another "stats error 2,4" problem is now fixed.

Micro Forte Interview

February 11, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

HomeLAN - What platforms are you currently targeting for the BigWorld engine?
John DeMargheriti - The BigWorld Technology currently supports PC, and in the near future we will have a Xbox version. We have been thinking on how we could support the PS2. We develop our own 3D engines as they are required by out tools so that you are able to create, edit and display the work while you work through the actual engine that will be displaying the game. This makes for rapid fire development.

Unreal II Review

February 11, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Graphically, this is one of the best looking games out there. The atmospheric and level details are top notch. Nothing (except maybe UT2K3) can compare to its shear beauty. In some instances, the backgrounds seem painted in but other levels fall short and seem to suffer from the dreaded rushed syndrome. Another complaint I have stems from the in-game characters. Some of the game’s enemies seem to have been created on the fly, while others are quite the marvel to look at. For example, the infamous Skaarj alien - in my opinion the creature looks dreadful (dead or alive), the attention to detail could have been upped somewhat, or even redesigned from the bottom up with a truly more modernized look. The cut scenes aren’t really that much either - they are shots of the TCA ship orbiting some planet or Dalton’s marine ship traveling to various locales throughout the game. Still, other cut scenes are based in real time and help setup some missions. This type of cut scene suits the game perfectly.

New ATI Catalyst 3.1 Drivers

February 10, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

• WinXP Version: 6.14.01.6292
• Win2k Version: 6.14.01.6292
• Win98/ME Version: 4.14.01.9082
• ATI Control Panel Version: 6.14.10.4019

• Running the Retest All option found in the SMARTGART tab no longer results in the AGP setting not returning to its original default value of 4X (Windows XP)
• Dragging a DVD playback window back and forth between the extended desktop and primary desktop no longer results in display corruption in the DVD playback window (Windows XP)
• Setting the display to 1024x768 32bpp followed by changing the AGP speed setting in the Smartgart Control Panel no longer results in the new speed setting not taking effect (Windows XP)
• Running Nascar 2003 and switching the render option to OpenGL, followed by selecting the ShadowChange replay option no longer results in display corruption of the shadow (Windows XP)
• Running the game Dungeon Siege with the display set to 1024x768 32bpp and AntiAliasing enabled no longer results in texture corruption (Windows XP)
• Enabling the TVOut option no longer results in display corruption on both the TV and CRT displays (Windows XP)
• Ending a 3DS Max session under Windows XP with the RADEON™ 9700 installed no longer results in the Task Manager indicating that the 3DS Max session is still running (Windows XP)
• Selecting the female option within the game Neverwinter Nights no longer results in the system not responding (Windows 2000)
• Playing the game Mafia, with the display set to 1024x768 32bpp and details set to high, no longer results in the graphics flickering and display corruption (Windows ME)
• Running the game Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2 with all options set to maximum and the display set to 1024x768 32bpp results in a system hang (Windows ME)

Late Night Reading...

February 10, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

• Motherboards.org AMD Athlon XP 3000+ Review
• ExtremeTech's AMD Athlon XP 3000+ Review
• AnandTech's AMD Athlon XP 3000+ Review
• Firingsquad's AMD Athlon XP 3000+ Review
• [H]ardOCP's AMD Athlon XP 3000+ Review

3DMark03 - Hints Of The Day!

February 10, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

The file size of 3DMark03 is.. ~177MB

The price for 3DMark03 Pro will be $39.95 USD for the download version, and $49.95 USD for the CD-ROM version

EverQuest II Preview

February 10, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Predictably, boss encounters serve as the coup de gráce. Trigger a scripted battle and you may find yourself face to face with Darathar the Deceiver, a titanic dragon who belches flames like a Parisian tourist does crepes. Like general encounters, each is carefully placed by the design team to ensure players experience the game through a steady system of progression. Not that anyone's railroading you into any decisions at any time, since this is live role-playing at its most sophisticated and potentially liberating.

3DMark03 - Hint Of The Day!

February 9, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

In order to run the demo in 3DMark03, you need to have a graphics card that is capable of PixelShaders 1.1

Freelancer Interview

February 9, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

GameSpy: Normally, when a game takes this long, people -- especially game reviewers -- start expecting the worst. This beta of Freelancer looks and plays surprisingly good by today's standards. What took so long?
Phil Wattenberger: The challenge for this product is its epic scope. We created this huge universe, with 48 systems, over 168 bases to land on, and 58 factions. In essence, we achieved our goal of creating this massively multiplayer universe. We are creating the scope of one (an MMORPG) for a single-player game, with a limited multiplayer feature set. Just the sheer scope of the work has taken time.

Chrome Screenies

February 9, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Matrox Apptimizer 1.1.0.21

February 8, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

New Poll!

February 8, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

When is 3DMark03 due to be released?

What did you think when you saw the 3DMark03 Teaser?
I want my 3DMark03 NOW! [78.1%]
I want more, much more! [4.5%]
It's nice.. [1.7%]
Too short! [9.3%]
What Teaser? [6.4%]
Total votes: 29180

3DMark03 - Hint Of The Day!

February 8, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

With a fully DX8.0 compliant card, you can run 3 game tests

Freelancer Golden!

February 8, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Purge Interview

February 8, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

GameSpy: Tell us a bit about the multiplayer modes and which are the most popular amongst public testers?
Adam: The game revolves around the destruction/defense of the respawn portal. The vanilla game places the futuristic Order versus the fantasy Chosen in a struggle to see how can destroy the other ones portal first, kind of like a king of the multiple hills, if you will. Also included in the retail game are several "Battlemodes". These Battlemodes can completely change the way the game is played (similar to mutators in UT). An example of this is the Super War battlemode that is an all out slaughterfest where the portal can only be damaged by using Nuke class weapons (Wastelander's AntiMatter or Monk's AngelFire). Included is a "custom" mode that allows the server operator to set virtually any parameter he would like (he could chose to have all characters start at level 20 if he wants, etc). I can't really say which modes are really the favorite amongst the testers because the servers seem to change regularly to try out new settings.

Star Wars: KOTOR Dev Diary

February 8, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Once the character models are properly set up, a team of animators here at BioWare animates them by hand. Every part of the character is carefully positioned throughout each action to create realistic and expressive animations. Your character can use a wide range of weapons, including a variety of melee weapons, in addition to using special skills and feats. Each one of these requires special animation, and each type of melee weapon has a complete set of unique animations so that your character will look very different when fighting with a single saber than with a double-bladed vibro-sword. In all, a typical character in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic can do more than 160 different animations!

Chrome Interview

February 8, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

HomeLAN - First, it’s been a year since our first Chrome interview. How has the game progressed since that time?
Pawel Zawodny - After completing our work on the modern technology of simulation of huge open areas we focused on Chrome’s playability. Last year we spent time on inventing an involving plot for the game and arranging the main character’s adventures. We have prepared 16 missions altogether, taking place in different conditions on different planets. We have put much effort into the making of the environment for each of them: terrains, fauna and flora. However, designing the storyline of the missions took most of the time. Some prototypes were made and then tested. The conclusions led to further improvements and changes in the game’s scenario. Last few months were devoted to the implementation of all adventures the player will face.

Greyhawk Preview

February 8, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

A later encounter showed off something that D&D fans should enjoy: the ability for magic to have multiple targets if called for in the rules. The sorcerer was able to send off five magic missiles in a round, and McCarthy was able to choose five different targets. Cain said programming multiple targets was a challenge, but after realizing how many spells employed the use of multiple targets, it made perfect sense to spend time to include it in the game.

3DMark03 - Hint Of The Day!

February 7, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

With a fully DX7 compliant card, you can only run 1 game test

Raven Software Q&A

February 7, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Q: If I'm looking to get a job as a designer, how would I go about preparing a portfolio of work if I haven't made a game before? I'm working on a mod for Quake 3 currently, if or when I complete that, is it appropriate to put it on a resume or in a portfolio? -- Frank Dorner
A: Yes, including your user-made levels on CD along with your resume is the best way to go. In fact, to the best of my knowledge, it's the only way to go. In this day and age, it's all about what you can show when it comes to level design. Sending in a print resume that says you know how to use various level editors is not going to get you a design job. Neither is sending screenshots of levels you've built. You need to send the actual levels in so design managers can run around in them and get a true feel for your work. Using your print resume to point out your education, what software packages you know how to use, and other relevant experience is a great supplement, but in the end, you need to show completed level design work to get a job as a designer.
As a side note, if your level work is part of a mod, make sure you include all of the relevant mod files on the CD along with your level as well as a comprehensive .readme of what needs to be done to view your work. Design managers are extremely busy and often won't take the time to hunt down mod files and instructions, download and install them just to get a look at your level. If it's too much work, they might just move on to the next resume in the pile.

Spearhead SDK Released

February 7, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

• 3DGamers
• FileShack
• FilePlanet

Shadow of the Sun Interview

February 7, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

HomeLAN - What is the storyline for the game?
Tony Charlton - Shadow of the Sun is a story based first person action adventure game set in an alternate universe. The player takes the role of a once powerful vampire who has been incarcerated for hundreds of years by the Vampire council. Visited by a haunting vision of a beautiful woman pleading for help he must escape the confines of his prison and set out on a quest which will lead him on a path of love and revenge with plenty of death and mayhem along the way.

Anarchy Online Q&A

February 7, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

HomeLAN - How is Funcom planning on improving the game through upcoming free patches?
Jørgen Tharaldsen - The million dollar question and one I can’t answer in detail. Some of the biggest mistakes we have ever done were to over promise and under deliver. Announcing ideas and suggestions which might not realized, or comes later than originally intended, is something we will try hard to avoid because it creates frustration. After all, the citizens of the virtual worlds spends a lot of time in there, and they hate to be disappointed…just like we do in our world if the politicians tempt us during electionJ
What I can say though is that we have been the MMORPG company who have delivered the most content through free patches, and we are doing all we can to continue with this. One of the highlights in February will be the coming of the Temple of the three winds, a massive new dungeon complex. We do announce all content patches in due time on the website though, but I would rather have us under promise right now and over deliver later.

Greyhawk Interview

February 7, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Jonric: Why did you choose to make the combat turn-based? Do you think this will be a disadvantage in terms of building interest and awareness?
Tim Cain: I don't think we ever even considered making Temple of Elemental Evil real-time. D&D is a turn-based game. All of its rules are designed for turn-based play. The spells, the feats, the skills, these all mention rounds and initiative and other turn-based statistics. The sheer amount of effort to convert it to real-time would effectively invent a new game system, and what is the point of using D&D rules if you are just going to change its basic tenets? No. We decided to make a D&D game, D&D is turn-based, and that was that.

Happenings At Beyond3D

February 6, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

• GeForce FX Tech Q&A
• PowerColor Evil Commando 2 Gold Radeon 9700 128MB Review
• John Carmack on NV30 vs R300

New Price For 3DMark2001 SE Pro

February 6, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

• 3DMark2001 SE Pro (Download version) Now only $29.95USD
• 3DMark2001 SE Pro (CD-ROM) Now only $39.95USD

3DMark03 Countdown & Hint

February 6, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

Minimum Graphics Card Requirement:
DirectX®9.0 compatible graphics adapter that has 32MB of memory and is fully DirectX®7.0 compliant.
Minimum CPU Recommendation:
1000MHz x86 compatible processor (PCMark2002 CPU score of over 2500)

Countdown

February 6, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

2 new screenies!

February 6, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

2 New 3DMark03 Screenies!

February 6, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

PC Enclave Preview

February 6, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The PC port of Enclave features a new checkpoint save system. The developers introduced checkpoints into the levels as a response to complaints about the extreme difficulty of the original Xbox version, which forced you to restart a level from the beginning if you died. In the PC port, if a checkpoint is activated, you can replay the level from that point at the cost of a few accumulated gold pieces. Enemies and bosses that have already been damaged or killed retain that same state when you start back at a checkpoint.

The Road to Rome Q&A

February 6, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Action Vault: Speaking as both a player and a developer, what's your favorite single-player map in the original Battlefield 1942, and also in the Road to Rome expansion?
Mattias Hornlund, Programmer: Playing single-player, I like Battle Axe the most. The action on that map is so unbelievable intense if you crank the number of bots over 32. You've got the tracers flying all over you, and ricochets whistling all around you wherever you go. As a developer, Tobruk is the level I've seen the most, since it was one of only two levels we had for a very long time and I still like to play it - especially in cooperative mode with bad odds against me and a couple of friends.
In Road to Rome, I've had a blast getting my ass kicked by the bots on Monte Cassino, playing on the Allied side.

Star Wars Galaxies Update

February 6, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Tropico 2 Dev Diary

February 6, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

When making Pirate Cove, we decided that entertainment would be one of the major challenges of the game. It became a deep and varied part of the simulation. There are four separate types of entertainment needs and several commodities like cigars and fruit pastries that add to the quality of entertainment offered on the island. The skills of the cooks, servers, and wenches factor into the happiness of the pirate customers as well.

Enter the Matrix Preview

February 6, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

For the most part, Enter the Matrix is all about cool ass-kicking combat. Shiny has toiled long and hard to create a fast, slick 3D game engine that can wield the animal-like prowess that is required by The Matrix's fantastical universe. Both main characters have been stuffed to the gills with a stunning variety of martial art hand-to-hand combat techniques, which they're not afraid to use against the digital enemies of the Matrix. You'll remember scenes from the first movie where Neo -- after being force-fed virtual fighting knowledge -- spars alongside Morpheus in a computer-simulated dojo -- well, Niobe and Ghost are equally capable of pulling off incredible physical maneuvers and combat techniques, only this time, it's not a simulation.

The Road To Rome Review

February 5, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

There's no doubt that the six new maps are the star of the expansion. They're a perfect fit within the Battlefield 1942 universe, and in some ways, feel as if like they were created right alongside the original game. But they are indeed different. Tying in with the theme of the game, many of the new maps have Italian-influenced architecture, and some of the game modes have been tweaked slightly as well.

Far Cry Preview

February 5, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Far Cry is being developed using Crytek’s proprietary CryEngine, and all the indications are that it’s up there with the best of them. It uses similar technology features as Id’s forthcoming Doom III engine, particularly the use of a technique known as polybumping. This involves generating character models at high levels of detail, around 250,000 polygons, and then converting this model to a far less costly 1500 polygons per character, with no or very little loss of detail. All the usual bags of tricks are also present, including some impressive rag-doll physics and accurate vehicle movement modelling. Impressive as these features sound, such techno-jargon is common propaganda emanating from all kinds of developers these days. Crytek have wisely decided, therefore, to concentrate the greater part of their publicity on a more rounded view of the game, with particular reference to the game play itself.

Enter the Matrix Site Launched

February 5, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Raven Q&A

February 5, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Kreed Interview

February 5, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Action Vault: In single-player mode of Kreed, what are the weapons you tend to prefer? Are your choices different for multiplayer?
Dmitry Sobolev, Level Designer: Of course, the Knife and Dolphin. The Knife is because of the amount of ammunition, which is strictly limited, and often the player can only trust in his named Knife, which was given to him personally by Magister Rumy. And the Dolphin, because of its sniper (alternative) mode, is undoubtedly the best weapon to perform unnoticeable actions, not making a great panic in the ranks of the enemies.
For multiplayer, the most efficient are the Machinegun and, again, the Dolphin. Speaking about the Dolphin's advantages, I can talk about its legendary destructive force, when one well-aimed shot can not only take a Tiglaary soldier's head off, but even burn the armor of such a killing machine as a Tiglaary tank. The Machinegun is in favour in multiplayer because of the large amount of ammo available. For sure, the flow of bullets at 50 per second could stop anyone.

Creative Inspire 6.1 6700 Review

February 4, 2003 - Hans "stealth_wing" Melis

The Inspire 6700s are the first 6.1 capable PC speakers system to be available in the market. Touted as the ‘perfect companion’ for Creative’s own Audigy 2 soundcard, the most obvious addition is the rear centre channel that takes full advantage of Audigy 2 features and grants you some Dolby Digital® Surround EX support, however what makes this more interesting is CMSS (Creative Multi-Speaker System) that is said to up-mix surround to 6.1 channels when used with a 5.1 sound card.
I suppose one of the most common questions among the people reading this is going to be, what kind of improvement resulted from the 5.1 to 6.1 jump? We tested with both 5.1 and 6.1 cards to give you a fair answer.

WallHack in BF1942 v1.3?

February 4, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

Unreal II Review

February 4, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The gunfights are fast and completely straightforward. The enemies range from dumb alien beasts to theoretically smarter human and alien soldiers to a handful of unimpressive (and surprisingly unimpressive-looking) boss monsters. A few enemies will stand in place or make a desultory run for cover, but, for the most part, they all exhibit some variation of the old-time zigzag rush tactic. Some don't even bother with the zigzagging part. Battles tend to be head-on demolition derbies. They lack the deliberately paced hide-and-seek style of gunplay that the shooter genre has been moving toward over the last few years. In that way, perhaps the gameplay is meant to be a throwback to a "classic" shooter style. But to succeed as that, it would need to ratchet up the frantic action to some level approaching the Serious Sam series. Instead, Unreal II only manages to reach the level of, say, Quake II. Compounding the problem, the great-looking environments show virtually no reaction to the munitions exploding within them. A little shattering glass would have gone a long way toward making the gun battles more satisfying.

Tribunal Patch

February 4, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

• Fixed a bug While playing with software audio acceleration. The environment sounds for Mournhold will sound and behave the same as they do when the game is in hardware audio acceleration mode.
• Fixed a sound bug that would cause the loss of several sound effects in the Sotha Sil dungeon area.
• Fixed a bug that would cause a crash to desktop if you tried to pickpocket your companion.

Devastation Interview

February 4, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

HomeLAN - What other gameplay elements are you managing to put into the game?
Bob Berry - I’m very excited about having both Arcade and Simulation modes in multiplayer AND singleplayer. Most of us here in the office play in arcade mode, but I’m a simulation fan all the way. Another unique gameplay feature we have is the ability to give and take weapons from your teammates in game. It’s cool to be able to look at your teammate, hit a key and have them throw their weapon to you. Then you hit a key and throw one back, they catch it and switch to it. Nice.

Star Wars: KOTOR Screenies

February 4, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Black & White 2 Interview

February 4, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

How big does the combat side of things get?
Barnes: Recently we had many thousands of people on screen. The amount of time it takes to build up cities to house thousands of villagers and the size of the land they occupy is huge, but the game can cope.
Although each tribe has a preferred way to fight, generally battles have thousands and thousands of troops or villagers in conflict, with archers shooting arrows from walls, Creatures storming in and sweeping footmen away like ants, and cities being raided and destroyed. It gets pretty hectic. The scale is huge, but we're still able to keep the levels of detail that the players expect.

BattleField 1942 Patch 1.3

February 3, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

Restricted Area Interview

February 3, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

HomeLAN - What can you tell us about the graphics engine in the game?
Jan Beuck - The engine is the heart of the project. While it plays a less important role in most RPGs, we spend two years on it to bring the graphic effects of state-of-the-art first person shooters to the genre, for example dynamical lights, dynamical shadows and self-shadowing. We choose the isometric view, as it gives a better overview and allows us to make the graphics more detailed - the character and enemy models for example are at least 100 times more detailed than the ones in "Dungeon Siege". Another thing is that the engine is extremly fast, as it´s written in pure machine code - on a normal PC the game runs with up to 1000 (!) frames per second, making the scrolling smoother than in any other game and allowing us to use lots of cool effects.

Star Wars: KOTOR Update

February 2, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

While the majority of the battalions now under Sith command are comprised of traitorous Republic forces, they are far from hodge-podges of disorganized troops. Only the strong are granted acceptance into the ranks of the Sith army; those judged too weak to be of use are put to an ignoble end. Traitors may be welcomed into the ranks, but a level of fear is quickly established to make certain they are not so quick to change sides again.

NeverWinter Nights Expansion Q&A

February 2, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

GameSpy: Are you adding or doing anything new with the henchmen?
Rick Ernst: We're adding quite a bit to the henchmen and their abilities. One of the things we've really tried to accomplish in Shadows of Undrentide is to integrate the henchmen more closely into the story. Thus, they'll actively participate in conversations with NPCs, comment on your actions, give advice, and if they don't like the decisions you are making, they may just up and leave. We hope this will make henchmen feel more like partners, or at least valued minions. We are also trying to add some significant new abilities to your partner/minion. We've also added more tactical commands to the henchman repertoire, such as "Go Stealthy" and "Don't Attack until I Do."

NVIDIA Detonator 42.30, 42.81 & 42.86!

February 2, 2003 - Hans "stealth_wing" Melis

• Detonator 42.30 WHQL for 9x/ME and 2000/XP
• Detonator 42.81 for 2000/XP
• Detonator 42.86 for 2000/XP

Aquanox 2 Preview

February 1, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The missions are quite varied, ranging from escorting another ship, defending your home base and rescuing other crew members. Though most of the time you will be looking out over rocky underwater mountain ranges they don't become dull thanks to a wealth of plant life that is dotted around. Most missions will also have underwater bases or massive derelict buildings which you can dart around. The sense of scale in the world is executed well, so large cargo ships are exactly that, large. All the little elements fit together to make it seem somehow real and complete. The only weird feature is that you can only rise to a certain depth before reaching a ceiling, but it is obviously a necessity for the gameplay to work.

UT2003 Bonus Pack & Patch

February 1, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Star Wars: KOTOR Dev Diary

February 1, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

In addition to the standard weapons, there is yet another level for character customization open to the player; if the proper equipment can be found, certain of the more powerful weapons and armor can be modified to further suit their play style. That means that even if a player finds the same item as someone else, he may decide that his character would use it in an entirely different manner.

Unreal II Interview

February 1, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

HomeLAN - Now that the game is done, what are some of your favorite aspects of Unreal 2?
Mark Poesch - The environments are spectacular and varied, the weapons and effects are awesome, the characters bring the world to life, the gameplay in each mission is interesting and unique, the in game cutscenes and scripting are great, and the overarching story makes the whole experience worthwhile. I'm incredibly proud of the entire team, and the end result of all our efforts.