Hardware News

mIRC 6.1

August 31, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

It's been a while since the last update to mIRC, but now there is one! mIRC 6.1 has been released. Here's a small clip on what's new in this great IRC client: $qs Lots of things have been fixed. Like the default browser issue, a /background bug, an editor dialog bug that most likely was the cause of odd script problems, a memory bug relating to registry handling, a /whois related memory bug, a problem with background pictures, and a popup menu resources bug. $qe The fixes/additions list is pretty hefty, so it is looking promising! If you want to start chatting, download mIRC 6.1 here.

Mythica Interview

August 31, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The RPGVault has slapped up an interview with Microsoft's Joel Manners regarding their upcoming massively multiplayer online RPG, Mythica. Here's a clipping:

Jonric: What will happen when your character dies? Will there be the fairly typical penalties like lost items or experience points? Will it matter if you're killed by an NPC opponent or another player?
Joel Manners: Death doesn't mean the same thing for immortals as for mortals, and because of that, it's handled differently in Mythica. It's not really death at all, but the character's physical forms could be destroyed if they are overwhelmed by enough damage or energy.
That being said, we want to make sure that exploring and combat are exciting undertakings, which means that failure cannot be without consequences. Risk means reward, but risk can also mean a setback.
As an immortal, the player has a lot of control over how much he is penalized by his character falling in battle. He has a range of options, including instantly restoring himself... for a price in energy and ability. He could also choose to take himself completely out of the battle, back to safety, with almost no penalty. Or he could choose to wait for another immortal to restore him.

New Battlefield 1942 Patch

August 30, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Digital Illusions has released a new patch (v1.45) for their hit first person shooter, Battlefield 1942. You can grab this bad boy from the following mirrors:

Now get downloadin'!

Call Of Duty Demo Released

August 30, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The guys over at Infinity Ward have released a new 175mb demo from their upcoming World War 2 - first person shooter, Call Of Duty. Hit the following mirrors for the goods!

Unreal II MP Interview

August 30, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

GameSpot sat down with Legend Entertainment's Scott Dalton for a quick chat regarding the upcoming free multiplayer add-on for their hit first person shooter, Unreal II. Here's a taste:

GS: What's the most distinctive element of XMP that makes it stand out from other multiplayer action games?
SD I think that XMP stands out for the feel of the game mode. It's a unique blend of the capture the flag, domination, and conquest gameplay types. The balance of maintaining team energy and taking strategic deployment points, while trying to take control of all four artifacts and defend them, is really fun. Of course, to support that, there are all the deployable weapons, vehicles, turrets, classes, skills, and so forth. That makes for a lot of variety to the action.

PC Halo Preview

August 30, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

HomeLAN has kicked up a preview on Gearbox Software's upcoming PC port of Halo, after getting a chance to check it out hands-on. Here's a blurb:

While our beta version had several of the games multiplayer maps available they were only available in a LAN for this build (of course the PC version of Halo will have Internet support as well) but the truth is we had a lot of fund just playing around with the many, many different options that Gearbox has given to players to make their own gametypes based on the base modes that are available out of the box. It should make for some interesting gameplay combos that neither Bungie nor Gearbox could have realized. Of course, the extra levels and the new multiplayer weapons and vehicles will add to those combo possibilities.

Dungeon Siege Expansion Q&A

August 30, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

ActionTrip has tossed up an interview with Mad Doc Software's Ian David regarding their upcoming Dungeon Siege expansion pack, Legends of Aranna. Topics range from enemies to the games multiplayer. uNF:

AT: Next to the Zaurask and the Hassat, what other enemies will players run into throughout the game?
ID: There are over a hundred new foes to fight in Legends of Aranna. Some of my favorites are the Lost Queen, the Rune Casters, and the Krakbone. The Lost Queen is a boss monster who was once an Utraean "enemy of the state" who was tortured and magically merged with spiders and Mucosa. She was to be used as a weapon, but when the Utraean Empire fell, she remained imprisoned for hundreds of years, and has just been set free by the Shadowjumper. The Rune Casters are mages who summon Rune Guardians to fight against you; it makes for an interesting tactical decision about whether to handle the Rune Guardian standing right in front of you or to go for the Rune Caster who keeps summoning more Guardians. And the Great Krakbone is a gigantic water creature whose tentacles can come springing out of the water from well beyond normal bow range, so approach with care!

FX5600Ultra vs Radeon9600Pro

August 29, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

The chaps over at Digital-Daily have put the NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600Ultra up against the ATI Radeon 9600Pro. Here's a small glimpse of what they found out when they benchmarked with 3DMark03: $qs So, we look only at the FX5600Ultra and 9600Pro - the view is marvelous! From that it's absolutely clear why the slightly overclocked revision to FX5600Ultra was released. The 10% performance boost allowed to win the crown back to NVIDIA at the overall scores. $qe Click here to read the whole article.

Jedi Academy Footage

August 29, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The folks over at PC.IGN have slapped up a bunch of new videos showing off Raven Software's upcoming action title, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. Click here for the goods!

Battlefield: Vietnam Q&A

August 29, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

BF1942.de has posted an interview with Digital Illusions' Armand 'Aj' Marini regarding their upcoming action title, Battlefield: Vietnam. Here's a bit on choppers! Snip:

BF42.de: Surely, helicopters are the most anticipated vehicles in BF Vietnam - the success of the helicopters in Desert Combat is a good indication for that. Was Desert Combat a source of inspiration for the helicopters in BF Vietnam? Can we expect a similar handling?
Aj: The Battlefield vehicle system was never intended to be used with helicopters. We had looked at trying something similar with vertical take off (VTOL) vehicles in Secret Weapons, but the system did not allow for an acceptable level of control. The Desert Combat helicopters are the best attempt I've seen at trying to adapt the BF: 1942 system to be used in that capacity, but the issues of control and accessibility still exist.
We wanted a helicopter that was useful in a true helicopter sense. It had to hover with pinpoint accuracy, fly backwards, fly sideways, and airlift. It had to be immensely versatile and as easy to control as a tank. The BF: 1942 system didn't allow for any of those requirements. A new physics system was created for the helicopters and we are extremely pleased with the level of playability we've achieved. You can place it exactly where you want it to be.
In our early tests we've already seen aerial combat with helicopters. It's like watching two boxers in a ring. Each helicopter faces the other, counter rotating, firing missiles, and dodging each other's attacks. It's completely different from anything that can be done with the BF: 1942 system.

Dragon Empires Q&A

August 29, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The RPGVault sat down with Codemasters' Peter Tyson for a quick chat regarding the AI in their upcoming massively multiplayer online RPG, Dragon Empires. Here's a clipping:

Jonric: Related to realism, some players want monsters to be predictable in where they are, how they react, how they fight, how difficult they are et al, but this can easily lead to repetitive gameplay. How are you addressing this? Will seemingly similar creatures vary in their behavior?
Peter Tyson: I think with a monster type there should be some continuity of behavior so players can learn how to expect a monster to behave. This is much like the real world. You know not to go chasing bulls around a field, but on the other hand, can expect a kitten to be fairly harmless. Thus, demons are expected to be intelligent and aggressive, rock monsters, fairly stupid. Within each species of monsters, however, we can tweak the AI for different types and also the AI will, to a degree, evolve based on the experiences of that particular monster.

PC Halo Preview

August 29, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The ActionTrip has tossed up a preview on Gearbox Software's upcoming PC port of Halo, after getting a chance to check it out hands-on. Here's a nugget:

Halo: Combat Evolved still demonstrates some of the finest AI patterns on the market. To set a quick example: taking one of the enormous Covenant guards can be a great challenge even when you bring in about four or five marines to provide suppressing fire. Even when he's alone and cut off from reinforcements, a single Covenant guard can resist a variety of coordinated attacks. Also, if you challenge him one-on-one, he can be a pretty tough cookie (The bastard is good at evading my rifle butt attacks! - 2Lions) - again, one of the best AI routines I've ever seen. Your marine comrades are equally resilient and will often watch your back in dire situations. Eventually, a sense of camaraderie develops between the troops and you'll find yourself watching after each and every one of them.

SYSmark2002 Ad

August 28, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

3DMark03 Pro Ad

August 28, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

Beyond3D Articles

August 28, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

I have been off the news for a while now, but getting back into it. ATM I'm not feeling so well as the darn flu hit me at the beginning of this week, and I haven't been able to work that much! :frown:

Anyway, I thought to post some of the latest articles posted over at Beyond3D as we have more or less missed them. Quality stuff!

So grab a cup of coffee & some cookies, sit back and enjoy!

TRON 2.0 Review

August 28, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

GameSpy has thrown up a review on Monolith's recently released Action title, TRON 2.0. The game walks away with a final score of 89%. Here's a nugget:

The backstory is important, because TRON 2.0 constantly refers back to the film and updates us on what's happened to the characters over the past 20 years. You play Jet Bradley, son of Alan Bradley -- the programmer who created the TRON program in the first place. Alan is still working at ENCOM, and is close to recreating the digitizing technology lost long ago when the MCP was destroyed. It appears a rival company called fCon wants the technology for more nefarious purposes, so when Alan mysteriously vanishes and viruses begin spreading throughout the system, Alan's "pet" AI named Ma3a (pronounced "ma-THREE-uh") digitizes Jet and brings him into the computer world to help. Jet suddenly finds himself an "unauthorized program" running around the system, trying to protect it from corruption and make it back to the real world in one piece while also unlocking the mysteries surrounding ENCOM.

The Movies Q&A

August 28, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

GameSpot AU has posted an interview with Lionhead Studios' James Steer regarding their upcoming sim title, The Movies. Here's a bit on the interface:

GS: How easy will the User Interface be to get around?
JS: Because the game's been built from day one with consoles in mind, the UI's also really simple to use. Peter (Molyneux) wants the game to be fun to use, and for people to be able to play the game in the way that they want it to be played, so instead of having a structure to the way that you make movies, you can concentrate on the areas that you care about. So if you only care about a particular actor, you can drag him from the UI into the moviemaking screen and the game will do the rest for you.
It's also lucky, in that you start off in the 1920's, so it's not overly complicated anyway, because the movie producing business wasn't back then. You start with single black & white cameras, which gives you a nice start and a lead-in for the game. There will be a tutorial, and throughout the game your characters hint, and the newspapers in the game hint you towards the kinds of things that you should be doing. So if you're making a glut of war movies, the papers will start suggesting that if they see another war movie they're going to shoot themselves.

Commandos III Demo Released

August 28, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The folks over at Pyro Studios have released a new 234meg demo from their upcoming RTS, Commandos III: Destination Berlin. You can grab this sucker from the following mirrors:

Get clickin'!

Half-Life 2 Interview

August 28, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The Half-Life 2 Online Source has slapped up an interview with Valve Software's Gabe Newell regarding their upcoming first person shooter, Half-Life 2. Topics range from weather effects to the games lighting. Snip:

Hoaxer: What kind of shadows are used in Source engine - are they fully dynamic, or are they partially static lightmaps - do you use a combination of lightmaps and dynamic shadows?
Gabe Newell: We use a combination of dynamic and static lighting. Objects that move cast dynamic shadows whereas static objects cast, well, static shadows that are cheaper. On DX9 you get soft dynamic shadows as well. We also have a full radiosity solution for static bumped lighting (bump maps work with static lights). If you were to put a static light next to a bump-mapped object, the light direction would be correct (traditionally light maps and bump maps have been mutually exclusive).

Savage Golden!

August 28, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

S2 Games has announced that their upcoming real-time strategy shooter, Savage: The Battle for Newerth, has gone gold and should hit stores September 9th! Here's a clipping from the press release:

HOBOKEN, NJ (August 27, 2003) S2 Games and iGames Publishing today announced that the highly anticipated PC game Savage: The Battle for Newerth has gone gold. The first-ever RTSS (real-time strategy shooter) recently completed successful beta testing and will be released on September 9th.
The beta testing was extensive and went brilliantly, said Jesse Hayes, COO of S2 Games. Savage benefited tremendously from the excellent input of the beta testers and were excited to deliver the gold master.
Savage will ship to retail in early September and can be pre-ordered online at Electronics Boutique, Gamestop and Amazon.
With the creation of a new gameplay genre, the RTSS, Savage expertly redefines the first-person shooter and real-time strategy genres by combining elements of both into one cohesive experience. Set in a unique fantasy world eons from now where Humans and Beasts violently battle for their very existence, Savage transports PC gamers to the next level in multiplayer gaming. The result of this meld is a truly unique experience that enables the player to opt for either the fast-paced, run-and-gun action of a FPS (playing as a Warrior) or the more cerebral and tactical planning of a RTS (playing as a Commander). Because Savage offers fully developed aspects of each genre, players must work together as a team in order to defeat their opposition.

Thanks Blue's News!

Dungeon Siege Expansion Q&A

August 27, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Computer and Video Games.com caught up with Mad Doc Software's Ian Lane Davis for a quick Q&A regarding their upcoming Dungeon Siege expansion pack, Legends of Aranna. They look at everything from the plot to Half-Giants. Snip:

You're introducing a new playable character race, the Half-Giant. Will this race come with any special skills or attributes? Can you elaborate on how it fits in with the expansion?
Davis: The Half-Giant, Najj, stands a full head and shoulders above the rest of your party, and when you first meet up with him he is a potent melee expert. Of course, it's the Dungeon Siege world, so you can have him learn the other skills, too, but he gives your party an immediate melee kick when he joins.
Just as the main storyline involves the Utraeans dealing with the unfortunate legacy of their people, and the secondary storyline is about the hero coping with the expectations of her heritage, Najj is trying to help his nomadic people find a permanent place to call their own.
He had been out adventuring to earn money to help his people, but when you meet him, he is on a beach staring out wistfully at the wreckage of his ship thinking of the hard-earned gold that now sits at the bottom of the sea...

New War of the Ring Footage

August 27, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Liquid Entertainment has released some new gameplay footage showing off their upcoming Lord of The Rings-based RTS, War of the Ring. You can check these puppies out over at 3DGamers!

Doom III Video Q&A

August 27, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Gamer.nl has kicked up a video interview with id Software's Todd Hollenshead and Tim Willits regarding their upcoming first person shooter, Doom III. Taken at this years QuakeCon, you will need QuickTime to view this bad boy. So get watchin'!

The Movies Preview

August 27, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

GameSpot has thrown up a preview on Lionhead Studios' upcoming sim title, The Movies. Here's something to chew on:

Unsurprisingly, actors have a major role to play in The Movies, and while big names will go a long way to ensuring strong sales at the box office, big egos could also end up costing you a fortune. The longer a movie takes to make, the more it will cost, and so if your biggest stars start throwing tantrums, turning up drunk, or refusing to work until they get a more luxurious trailer, your budgets may spiral out of control. We did get to see a few inebriated stars staggering around the film studio on occasion, but since none of them were required for our custom-made motion picture, "Residential Evil," we didn't get to see any of the ways in which it might be possible to lure them back to the film set when production is at a standstill. We did get a brief insight into how their minds work though--in some cases, these characters' speech bubbles say one thing, while their thought bubbles betray what they're really thinking. Looking after your actors is going to be a very demanding task indeed.

PC Halo Interview

August 27, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The guys over at WorthPlaying.com have Gearbox Software's Randy Pitchford in the hot seat this evening, answering questions regarding the upcoming PC port of Halo. Here's some lovin':

7. Since you will leave the Single player the same as the Xbox experience, do you think people will buy the PC version just for multiplayer and not care about the single player? Why this decision to not add to the singleplayer part of the game?
RP: The single player game is really good. Its won awards and people love it. We wouldnt dream of change it. We may dream of making more Halo single player content, but not change the story that started it all. While Halo is insanely successful on the Xbox, it may surprise you to learn that most PC gamers have not had a chance to play it all yet. Sure, we expect that tons of fans of the Xbox game are dying to get Halo PC so that they can play on the internet for the first time (especially with all of the new multiplayer features added this time around), but I think most people who get Halo PC will be experiencing it for the first time we owe them a perfectly preserved yet enhanced treatment.

Jedi Academy Dev Diary

August 26, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

GameSpot has slapped up a developer diary written by Raven Software' Jon Zuk regarding their upcoming action title, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. Here's a clipping:

We were going to have a one-year development cycle, so we wanted something that was fresh, yet reasonable to pull off in that amount of time. One of our initial concepts, and one that has ended up working very well, was to have a tiered level system. Originally, we were thinking of a series of stand-alone missions that the player would undertake in the name of the Jedi Academy. That's when we came up with the idea of letting players select their own missions. With this game mechanic, we could have a lot of stand-alone missions, each with very different locations and gameplay elements, and work them into a larger cohesive plot.

Homeworld 2 Golden!

August 26, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The folks over at Relicnews have word that Relic Entertainment's upcoming 3D RTS, Homeworld 2, has gone gold and should hit stores September 16. So keep an eye out for it! Snip:

LOS ANGELES, CA (August 25, 2003)- Vivendi Universal Games (VU Games) announced today that Homeworld(r)2, the sequel to 1999's award-winning, space-based real-time strategy game, Homeworld, has gone gold and will ship to North American retailers September 16, 2003.
Homeworld 2, the sequel to one of 1999's highly acclaimed RTS games, returns players to the helm of the most powerful space armada in the universe as they battle to keep their home. The highly-anticipated follow up title includes multiplayer competition for up to five other players, in addition to an engrossing single player saga, and features startling space effects like dust gas clouds, wispy nebulae, and ghostly derelict hulks of space ships rendered with spectacular Hollywood-style special effects.

War of the Ring Dev Diary

August 26, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The RPGVault has posted a developer diary written by Liquid Entertainment's Jack Davis regarding their upcoming Lord of The Rings-based RTS, War of the Ring. Showing us what a day at work is like, here's a nugget:

I set in to work on the single-player mission I've been working on lately. It's one of the late missions of the evil side campaign, and it takes place in the pass of Cirith Ungol. You control an army of Orcs and other baddies led by the Lord of the Nazgul. The humans have fortified the pass with a large watchtower and your mission is to capture this tower from the forces of good, allowing the rest of your horde passage. (For those unfamiliar with LOTR: Cirith Ungol is a mountain pass that leads out of Mordor, the land of evil. The Lord of the Nazgul is the leader of the ringwraiths, super evil minions of the Dark Lord, Sauron.)

NWN: Hordes of the Underdark Preview

August 26, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Sticking with Atari's Editors Day, GameSpy and GameSpot have also thrown up some previews on BioWare's upcoming Neverwinter Nights expansion pack, Hordes of the Underdark. Here's some juice:

We watched a brief tour of two different modules, each of which ended up in the Underdark. The expansion will allow for increased polygon counts and improved textures, which will result in more-detailed characters and environments, so that you can expect to encounter the original game's umber hulks and drow elf warriors alongside the new illithid monsters in all-new environments that include the gold-flecked, marble-lined architecture of the drow elves and the bizarre, filigreed metalwork of mind flayer cities (some of which bears a passing resemblance to some of the later areas of Baldur's Gate II). In drow elf society, powerful creatures such as beholders and mind flayers have an uneasy truce with each other, so that they'll act as neutral characters and merchants in the game.

Yummy!

Unreal Tournament 2004 Preview

August 26, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

GameSpy and GameSpot have both thrown up previews on Epic's upcoming first person shooter, Unreal Tournament 2004, after getting a chance to check it out hands-on at Atari Editors' Day. Here's a blurb from GameSpy's:

One of the most memorable maps from the original Unreal Tournament was the moving train assault, and a spiritual sequel has been created in the form of a new map called "Convoy." The map is in every way bigger than its predecessor, featuring two huge trains running side by side, requiring the attacking team to jump trains, break through a series of obstacles and offload a series of missiles to the convoy. Instead of the old simple skymap, a highly detailed (and scenic) valley sets the stage for the action. Fixed turrets are available to help defenders, and jump pads allow quick access from one train to the other. Bleszinski also demonstrated a shortcut where players can make a death-defying leap off one train to one of the convoy vehicles, using it as a stepping stone to the other train.

Ultima X: Odessey Preview

August 25, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

GameSpy has posted a preview on Origin's upcoming Unreal engine powered - massively multiplayer online RPG, Ultima X: Odessey. Here's a clipping:

Witness some of the key features of the game: Using the latest version of the Unreal engine for complex levels and fast action. A dynamic questing system with multiple paths. Bringing back the system of "Virtues" so familiar to players of the Ultima single-player games. The ability to split off into a "Private Realm" so that you can complete an epic quest without interruptions from players outside of your group. It all adds up to create an adventuring experience that brings the speed and focus of a single-player game into a multiplayer environment. This is roleplaying without the frills! And it all begins with a game engine built for action...

Also, hit HomeLAN for another preview!

Designtechnica's System Optimization Guide 2003

August 24, 2003 - Hans "stealth_wing" Melis

The folks @ Designtechnica tried to find a way to optimize a PC. They've put the results in an article titled System Optimization Guide 2003. Here's a teaser:

So you finally saved up enough money for a top of the line multimedia computer. It has that super fast Pentium IV processor, enough memory for a super computer and an ultra fast video card. Problem is you've noticed that it is slowing down; month by month the performance seems to be getting worse. Your DVDs start skipping; your MPEG3 files are halting in the middle of a song. Its frustrating isn't it? The fault is not yours, its how the Microsoft operating systems were designed. Over time they get clogged up and the performance takes a nose dive.

Are you tired of those irritating slowdowns? Maybe this guide can help you.

ABIT Siluro FX5900 OTES Review

August 24, 2003 - Hans "stealth_wing" Melis

The word "review" refers to a piece of written text most of the time, but not when 3dGameMan starts his engines. He's done another one of his video reviews, and the (un)lucky

piece of hardware this time is the ABIT Siluro FX5900 OTES 128MB video card. Yes, OTES is the exhaust system that was first present on Abit's Ti4200 card. Here's a snip:

This product is currently one of the fastest Video Cards on the planet. It has excellent 3D quality and performance that will support all the current and upcoming games. With its massive heatsink in accordance with the OTES means this card overclocks very well. Also, 2D quality is great and does offer dual display.

Click here to read... err, watch it all.

Beginners Guides: Firewalls and Internet Security

August 24, 2003 - Hans "stealth_wing" Melis

It's been a rough 2 weeks for everything related to computer security. First the Blaster worm, and a bit later the SoBig.F virus. The guys @ PC Stats smelled their chance, and made a guide titled Beginners Guides: Firewalls and Internet Security. Here's a clip:

When you use the Internet there are dangers around every corner. Viruses, malicious users, Trojan horses, Oh my! If these are just concepts to you, you are either lucky or well protected (or just un-connected). If these names trigger painful flashbacks to when your computer (and possibly your account balance) was rendered inoperable or compromised by one of the above, then join the club. Either way, securing your computer against threats from the Internet is an essential step. If you do not, you will, at some point, regret it. Guaranteed. This article is intended to provide some basic guidelines for securing your computer, and to give the reader a better understanding of how some of these technologies work.

You're never too old to learn (or to refresh your memory). Click right here if you're feeling insecure.

Chrome Preview

August 24, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

PC.IGN has kicked up a preview Techland's upcoming first person shooter, Chrome, after getting a chance to check it out hands-on. Here's a nugget:

Just because Chrome hasn't seen as much hype as Half-Life 2 and DOOM 3 doesn't mean it's not impressive. Chrome is marked by absolutely huge environments full of objects like trees, bushes, tall grass and the like. Using the latest and greatest of hot gaming engine technology -- namely normal mapping -- Chrome manages to pack a lot of foliage and beautiful objects into an area without causing much of a performance hit, and the build we played ran smooth as a shaved pig in a bubble bath -- please don't ask how we know how smooth that is. Like Far Cry, the draw distance in Chrome stretches to the horizon, so the exquisite eye candy in the levels just keeps going and going.

Dungeon Siege Expansion Dev Diary

August 23, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The RPG Vault has posted a developer diary written by Mad Doc's Tara Teich and Ian Lane Davis regarding the progress of their upcoming Dungeon Siege expansion pack, Legends of Aranna. Here's a chunk:

We are currently nearing the phase in development often called beta. The team is working long hours, and the game is shaping up beautifully. The two major goals on our plate right now are to balance the difficulty and to tease out every last bit of the story. We're adding in the last bits of dialogue and working on our cinematics to bring the player deeper and deeper into the world of Dungeon Siege. In the next instalment of this diary, we'll dive into the details of some of our favorite features, and talk about how we expanded the already rich set of magical spells and strove to deepen the tactics of spellcasting while simultaneously streamlining its mechanics!

Age of Mythology: The Titans Preview

August 23, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The folks over at the Games Domain have tossed up a preview on Ensemble Studios' upcoming Age of Mythology expansion pack, The Titans. Here's a clipping:

The Titans follows in its predecessor's sandals by having you play Kastor, the son of Arkantos. There are some 12 missions that connect with the earlier campaign and bring the mythological Titans into the fold. For those not in the know, the Titans ruled the world before the Greek gods came along and destroyed them in a war. Zeus was the son of the lead Titan, Chronos, and the bad blood continues as the Titans try to make a comeback with the help of their own worshipers, the Atlanteans.

War of the Ring Q&A

August 23, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Computer and Video Games.com caught up with Liquid Entertainment's Ed Del Castillo for a quick chat regarding their upcoming Lord of the Rings-based RTS, The War of the Ring. They look at everything from the storyline to single-player. Snip:

The War of the Ring is an RTS based around The Lord of the Rings - how closely are you sticking to the story?
Castillo: Overall, we aren't focused on the Ring bearer or even the storyline of the books in this game. Although all the missions in the game loosely tie back to that story, we are focusing on the story of the war rather than the story of the Ring.
What that really means, in short, is that we're taking a "History Channel" approach to the mission structure and working our way through the war explaining each mini-campaign, its relevance to the books and to the Fellowship.
But other than that, this game is about fighting, not about running a small group of heroes around. We wanted to focus on things that the player would be able to mould, and the story of the Fellowship is sacrosanct.

Republic Interview

August 23, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

GameSpo has Elixir Studios' Demis Hassabis in the hot seat this evening, answering questions regarding their upcoming strategy title, Republic: The Revolution. Here's some lovin':

GS: Republic has seemed like an ambitious game from the outset, especially considering its powerful 3D engine and complex character AI. What aspect of the game do you think will seem most impressive to players once the game is released?
DH: Apart from the cutting-edge visuals and the behavior of the citizens, I think the scope of what the game covers will be impressive to players. It charts the whole of a revolutionary power struggle from beginning to end! I also think the players will find the amount of freedom they have refreshing in deciding how to complete a particular goal.

Far Cry Preview

August 23, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

PC.IGN has fired-up a preview on Crytek Studios' upcoming first person shooter, Far Cry, after getting a chance to check it out hands-on. Here's a nugget:

Chris explained that, inspired by the feedback they got at E3, the team was completely focused on pure gameplay and making the AI as tight as possible. One of the big concerns that came from the E3 demo was that the non-scripted AI was almost too good, and that it would lack the dramatic feel of completely scripted events. Chris says the team has been hard at work making the non-scripted AI feel like a scripted experience, and for the AI characters to work together as a coherent force, like you would expect from a scripted event.

Jedi Academy Interview

August 22, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Computer and Video Games.com has slapped up an interview with Activision's Graham Fuchs regarding the upcoming action title, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. They cover everything from mission structure to lightsaber combat. Here's a blurb:

Presumably you've included the RPG-ish character creation feature to give players a greater sense of immersion and attachment to the "hero". How long have you been wanting to incorporate this kind of feature into a first-person shooter, and in what ways do you plan to expand on it in the future (in your FPS titles), if at all?
Fuchs: It was something that we wanted to do from the beginning on Jedi Academy since we wanted to shift the focus of the game from a predetermined character to one the player is able to create themselves. We wanted to give the player full control not only over their look, but of their abilities. By the end of the game, the character you have created is truly "your" Jedi. It also allows the player to replay the game by building up different aspects of their character and have a completely different experience. It's certainly the kind of thing that can be incorporated into future FPS titles if appropriate.

PlanetSide Interview

August 22, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

HomeLAN sat down with Sony Online' Dallas Dickinson for a quick Q&A regarding the future plans for their massively multiplayer online first person shooter, PlanetSide. Here's a taste:

HomeLAN - The development team has been very aggressive in creating new content and patches for the game. How much of that new content is affected by player feedback?
Dallas Dickinson - We are constantly trying to gain as much knowledge as we can about the game and how it is played. You can't find a better source for that than the players who are in there playing every day. We look to the players for their thoughts on balance issues, top priority bugs, and new features we have in development. They are an invaluable resource for the dev team. This is one of the joys of working on a live, persistent game. You get to not only see feedback from the game's biggest fans and harshest critics, but you also get to react, and make changes where appropriate. I have a feeling a whole lot of Hollywood studios would love to have this luxury.

Dungeon Siege Expansion Preview

August 22, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

GameSpot has thrown together a preview on Mad Doc Software's upcoming Dungeon Siege expansion pack, Legends of Aranna. Here's a nugget:

The expansion pack will take place in the remains of Aranna, the lost civilization of the Utreans, a race of mad sorcerers who sought to conquer the world by imprisoning ancient and powerful monsters but were themselves destroyed. Unfortunately for the world, the disintegration of the Utreans' influence also means that their captive monsters are now free to run amok. It's your job as an adventurer to follow a mysterious enemy known as the Shadow Jumper to Aranna, do battle with the ancient monsters, and finally solve the mystery of your parents, whose mysterious murder led you to begin your adventures in the original Dungeon Siege.

New S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Trailer

August 22, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

GSC Game World has released a new trailer showing off their upcoming first person shooter, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Oblivion Lost. Weighing in at 30megs, you can grab this sucker from the following mirrors:

NWN: Hordes of the Underdark Site Launched

August 22, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

BioWare has launched an official website for their upcoming NeverWinter Nights expansion pack, Hordes of the Underdark. Incuded are new screenshots, info and more. Head over for a look!

PlanetSide Q&A

August 21, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

ShackNews has Sony Online's Dave Georgeson in the hot seat this evening, answering questions regarding their massively multiplayer online first person shooter, PlanetSide. Topics range from vehicles to weapons. Snip:

JB: A general questionin a year and a half, whats the general landscape of PlanetSide going to look like? Are there things that are going to be honed in and others phased out to make it a better game? And also, how will the look and feel change, or will it stay the same? Our reader also asked if warpgates and implants are going to be tweaked as well.
DG: Warpgates arent likely to change. Implants are likely to get an overhaul, and probably new implants will be added on to thatI wouldnt be surprised by that at all. It hasnt been our focus, because its not critical. Well be concentrating a lot on the, for lack of a better phrase, game type. You know, having more varieties of things you can accomplish that are goal-oriented, that squads or outfits would want to get involved in, but arent necessarily facility captures. A lot of that stuff is on the table.

MoH: Breakthrough Preview

August 21, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

The guys over at Eurogamer have tossed up a preview on Electronic Arts' upcoming Medal of Honor expansion pack, Breakthrough. Here's a blurb:

It's typical MOH territory from the very beginning, with the seemingly endless rattle of enemy fire whizzing past your ears reminiscent of the infamous Omaha beach landing level. Taking cover behind blown up vehicles and in mortar craters, you follow your compass bearings to one cluster of enemies after another, before mounting a tank and both steering and blasting your way through to the next area to take out an enemy bunker and destroy their radio equipment. So far so familiar.

C&C: Generals Demo Released

August 21, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Electronic Arts has released an official demo for their hit 3D RTS, Command and Conquer: Generals. Weighing in at a hefty 404megs, you can grab this sucker from the following mirrors:

So what are you waiting for?!

Tron 2.0 Interview

August 21, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

HomeLAN has posted an interview with Steve Englehart, the writer behind Monolith's upcoming action titled, Tron 2.0. Here's something to chew on:

HomeLAN - What specifically did you contribute to the Tron 2.0 story?
Steve Englehart - I came in to help polish the story and pacing, and connect some of the key story elements.
To use the old analogy, Monolith had devised a wonderful forest and populated it with many wonderful trees, but now and again one grove would crowd another or block its sun. Having done a lot of large projects, I could come in and take a good overview, then suggest ways to smooth things out. Sometimes that involved my planting a few more trees, but mostly it involved moving their trees from one place to another.
For example, they'd say, "The story goes A, B, C, D." And I'd say "If we do B, then logically, D won't work. But both B and D are good stuff, so let's move B to F and stick an E in there." And they always got that. They're good story guys but they had to think of lots of things beside story and I didn't.

Middle-Earth Online Q&A

August 21, 2003 - Joe "OuTkAsT-1" Topolnisky

Computer and Video Games.com has thrown up an interview with Vivendi's Vijay Lakshman, Chris Taylor and Turbine Entertainment's Aatish Salvi regarding their upcoming massively multiplayer online RPG, Middle-Earth Online. They look at everything from playable races to the quests. Snip:

Are you planning to draw on material from the LOTR novel for quests? For example, will there be an on-going quest revolving around the One Ring? What are your plans in this respect, with quests?
Chris: MEO is very heavily quest based. We are one of the first online games that draws from such a rich background, and we think that quests are one of the best ways for bringing that background to life. Many of our quests draw straight from the events currently happening in Middle-Earth, but we are also including new material to surprise even the most knowledgeable of Tolkien fans.
Our major quests compliment the story of the One Ring, but they tell of the events that are happening away from the Fellowship.

Mythica Interview

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

PC.IGN has slapped up an interview with Microsoft's Matthew Wilson regarding their upcoming massively multiplayer online RPG, Mythica. Topics range from Private Realms to NPC's. Here's some juice:

IGNPC: Why did you decide to go with creating Private Realms for each person and group?
Matthew Wilson: Private Realms allow us to give players their own custom experience. In many cases, these are more than just private hunting grounds; they are complete adventure spaces, each with their own objectives to achieve. With Private Realms, we can give experience not just for killing monsters but also for the objectives players achieved, or even how they played. This gives players a much more focused adventure around the goals of the Private Realm. The freedom to deliver focused story and adventuring moments is only enabled through the use of Private Realms, which is why we're pursuing them for Mythica.

Dungeon Siege Expansion Q&A

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

GameGossip caught up with Mad Doc Software's Tara Teich for a quick chat regarding their upcoming Dungeon Siege expansion pack, Legends of Aranna. Here's a blurb:

GG: How many new areas, items, and spells can gamers expect from the expansion?
TT: There are nine new areas, providing more than 20 hours of gameplay. The areas span all sorts of terrain, as you journey through snowy mountains, and island jungle, beachfront, swamp, rocky cliffs, and dungeons galore. Its a nice mix of terrain, and provides a lot of variety, especially since each area is populated with new monsters determined to stop you from completing your quest.
There are over 70 spells, including the all new Transformation spells, which allow Nature and Combat mages to turn into different varieties of monster. They can then fight right at the front of combat, next to your melee fighters and hold their own, while continuing to gain magic experience. Weve also added a fun new Haste spell, which speeds up movement of the caster, allowing them to fight and run at increased speed.

Deus Ex 2: Invisible War Intro Movie

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

ION Storm has released the intro movie from their upcoming Unreal engine powered - first person shooter/RPG, Deus Ex 2: Invisible War. Weighing in at 30megs, you can grab this puppy over at 3D Gamers!

New NeverWinter Nights Patch

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

BioWare has released a new patch (v1.31) for their hit RPG, NeverWinter Nights, and it's expansion Shadows of Undrentide. Tweaking the gameplay and fixing a bunch of bugs, you can grab this sucker through the games auto-updater or download it manually right here. Now get downloadin'!

PC Halo Previews

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

The folks over at HomeLAN, GameSpy and PC.IGN have all shot-up previews on Gearbox Software's upcoming PC port of Halo. Here's a bit from GameSpy's on the checkpoints:

When we originally asked Gearbox if they might make any changes to the checkpoint save/load system from Halo Xbox, they originally told us there was a "philosophical discussion" going on over whether the PC version should be exactly like the Xbox, or if it should include the ability to archive saves mid-level. "The way Halo works on the Xbox, you basically get one checkpoint," says Pitchford, "It sucks when there's lots of moments in the game that you want to keep, and so people get around this by managing lots of different memory cards. We want to make that really elegant." The result: the PC version will allow you to manually save mid-level when you pass a checkpoint, and you can have more than one save per level, so if there's a particular section you want to go back to play over and over, you won't have to play through the entire level to get there. "You can have a hundred of them on your hard drive," says Pitchford, "and you can load them from any point, so that's pretty cool."

Hall of Fame Maintenance

August 19, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

Just a quick note to all of you that we have removed the current Hall of Fame. We are working on a better solution and it will be published as soon as it is ready. Stay tuned...

Star Wars Galaxies Q&A

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

UGO.com has kicked up an interview with Sony Online's Raph Koster for a quick chat regarding their massively multiplayer online RPG, Star Wars Galaxies. They look at everything from monthly update's to vehicles. Here's some juice:

UGO: The growth of the player economy has been astounding. What's being added to the system in the future?
RK: We're trying to fix up the merchants, let them do global advertising, register on the planetary map, that kind of thing, 'cause that stuff is really taking off. It's really kind of cool.
Another big thing that's going in is gambling. So we're working up to Sabbac [the game in which Han Solo wins the Millenium Falcon from Lando]. Sabbac has really complicated rules, so we're starting with simpler stuff. We're gonna be adding slot machines and roulette. There're hotels in Coronet [capitol city of Corellia] that are supposed to be famous for that. Treasure Ship row, I think it's called. So we're adding that.
You know, Sarlacc's a little more dangerous now. A lot more missions, fixing up quests across the board, new dungeons, lot of those.

Horizons Dev Diary

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

The RPGVault has posted a developer diary written by Artifact Entertainment's David Bowman regarding the beta of their upcoming massively multiplayer online RPG, Horizons. Click here for the goods!

Far Cry Preview

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

HomeLAN has thrown up a preview on Crytek's upcoming first person shooter, Far Cry, after getting a chance to check it out hands-on at this years QuakeCon. Here's a nugget:

One aspect of the game we didnt know about was the games sniper rifle, which nicely showed off the massive game level in Far Cry. We journeyed from a wrecked WWII style aircraft carrier to the beach and up a tall hill where we acquired our sniper rifle. At that point the game switched to a in game engine cut scene were we saw two enemies, one armed from the sniper rifle, emerge from the aircraft carrier that by now is quite a ways away from our character. After getting back in the game, we then switched to the sniper rifle and targeted the enemy sniper. The scope on our rifle is pretty powerful and by holding CTRL button we held our breath which steadied the rifle enough to shoot our enemies.

PC Halo Interview

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

Computer and Video Games.com caught up with Gearbox Software's Randy Pitchford for a quick Q&A regarding the upcoming PC port of Halo. They look at everything from new weapons to the network code. Snip:

Did you come up with the new weapons or were they things Bungie had wanted to use, but didn't have the time to implement?
Pitchford: It depends really. The flamethrower was something Bungie wanted to do - in fact the model was originally built by Bungie artists and we rebuilt it with the theme it created there and got it working. It's a fantasy to have a flamethrower, right? It's a cool weapon. There a some games that have attempted it and where those games have succeeded visually, they haven't succeeded with the power of it, because they felt like they had to balance it down.
We wanted the flamethrower to look badass and be badass. With the fuel rod gun, that was something we wanted to do, because there's actually an alien in the game that uses something familiar - this idea of a plasma mortar shell - but there's nothing that the Master Chief can actually use. Having an indirect fire mortar weapon added to the sense of combined arms tactics, with the vehicles and so on in the team games - we were really excited to push that forward.

Chaser Interview

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

Thanks to Ownt.com for sending word that they have shot-up an interview with Cauldron's Marian Suran regarding their first person shooter, Chaser. Here's a bit on the engine:

What type of features does the CloakNT game engine allow in Chaser?
The CloakNT engine was originally developed for dynamic per-pixel lighting and shadowing. However, today's hardware only allows a few dynamic lights within a scene, and, since we wanted to have rich lighting in Chaser, we decided to use static lighting. Dynamic lighting will be used only for dynamic light sources such as a flashlight. This engine also offers the ability to create very realistic materials, rather than just simple textures. It means that every surface has its own properties, such as specular intensity, gloss map, reflection map, bump map, etc. As a result, glass looks really like glass, metal looks metallic, and varnished wood looks cool as well.

id Software Q&A's

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

GameSpy sat down with id Softwares John Carmack for a quick chat regarding Doom III, Quake IV and more! Here's a nugget:

GameSpy: Do you see yourself ever straying away from FPS games?
John Carmack: Occasionally I desire to do a different kind of game. To a large degree, id Software is a prisoner of its own success. Because we are a single-title company, we have a strong obligation to do something that has relatively low risk.
With game development taking multiple years and costing many millions of dollars I think real innovation will not necessarily come from triple-A titles. Triple-A titles have so much of an investment that it engenders a huge risk-aversion. I think that the real innovation will come from things that are done on a smaller budget, that might be targeted as budget titles. It's okay to risk $500,000 on a development budget where you might say, "This is a clever idea, lets give it a try." Risking $10 million dollars, and some development budgets are going well over that already, is a lot harder.
Even going to another style of game, we have an obligation to make sure that our current distribution of artists, level designers, and programmers are gainfully employed on the next project. We are built around doing first-person shooters with this mix of content creation.

Also, the folks over at HomeLAN have tossed up an interview with id's Tim Willits. So be sure to check it out as well!

Max Payne 2 Preview

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

Computer and Video Games.com has tossed up a preview on Remedy Entertainment's upcoming action title, Max Payne 2: The Fall Of Max Payne. Here's a taste:

Max Payne is all about guns. In fact, he's the sort of bloke who sleeps with a couple under his pillow, but this stops him from getting into hand-to-hand combat and, after witnessing the delights of the Max Payne Kung Fu mod, we'd like to see Max in a no-weapons situation, forced to rely on his bare hands to save him. In a slight nod to this, Remedy has enabled Max Payne to do more than just shoot his weapons, so if you run out of ammo (which happened a fair bit in the first game), you'll be able to use your gun as a melee weapon. Definitely a step in the right direction, but we're British and we would still like to see the Queensberry rules adopted.

Half-Life 2 Interview

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

City-17.net has Valve Software's Gabe Newell in the hot seat this evening, answering questions regarding their upcoming first person shooter, Half-Life 2. Here's a nugget:

Storm: Will we be able to buy Half-Life 2 via Steam? And will it be cheaper?
Gabe Newell: Yes. I don't know what we'll do with the pricing. The main concern is that people feel like they are getting good value. We're also looking at subscription options for people who want to go that way.
Storm: Do you plan on releasing any expansions after the release of Half-Life 2?
Gabe Newell: We'll worry about this after HL-2 is actually done. We've been assuming all along that we would be regularly releasing content to follow up HL-2.

MoH: Pacific Assault Q&A

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

PC.IGN has posted an interview with Brady Bell, the Creative Director behind EA's upcoming first person shooter, Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault. Topics range from facial animations to the physics. uNF:

IGNPC: Tell us about the new character facial animation system?
Brady: As we began structuring the team, we saw a great opportunity to take advantage of our newfound talent. We had hired character modellers from the Final Fantasy & Matrix films, as well as animators from Star Wars and Ice Age ? so we put them together with our engineers and discussed the building blocks of convincing characters versus real-time technical constraints. The resulting facial animation rig is rather complex, marrying upwards of fifty animation controls, a dozen phonemes and several rendering features.

Dungeon Siege Expansion Preview

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

The GamesDomain has thrown together a preview on Mad Doc Software's upcoming Dungeon Siege expansion pack, Legend of Aranna. Here's a bit on the spells:

Spellcasters will be pleased to see the new orb spells present within the game. These half-dozen or so spells generate a magical orb that circles the character. Each orb offers a certain type of automated attack (such as cold or fire) that will target any enemy within range. In addition to the orb spells, mages can also transform into monsters if they want to get into the middle of the action. While the transformation length varies based on the level of the caster and the level of the spell, they all allow a normally weak mage to morph into a powerful melee creature for a limited amount of time.

w00t!

Mythica Interview

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

The RPGVault has kicked up an interview with Joel Manners, the Lead Game Designer behind Microsoft's upcoming massively multiplayer online RPG, Mythica. Here's some juice:

Jonric: How important will weapons, armor and items in general be? Do you plan to have a broad selection, and will many be magical, rare or even unique?
Joel Manners: Equipment is extremely important to Mythica. For us, it is a prime part of character growth, character customization, and collection. We are going to spend an enormous amount of effort adding types of equipment and depth to those types.
First of all, equipment for immortals must be fantastic. We don't want immortals collecting rusty knives or whatever. Secondly they must be loaded with cool magic. Thirdly they must come in tons of variety, with major and minor enchantments, levels of power, visual customization, sockets, suits, uniques, rares and more.

More Doom III Goodies

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

The peeps over at GamePro are the latest site to throw up some impressions on the multiplayer portion of id Software's upcoming first person shooter, Doom III. Here's something to chew on:

Players can turn off the lights in some rooms; a large square switch on the wall handles those duties, and toggling the light makes ambushing opponents evil fun. Shadows are especially impressivethey're all real-time, based on the actual models. If you reload a weapon in front of a light source, you'll see your shadow do the same. As you move, so does the shadowand this is especially freaky when you're looking for any movement in the room anyway. Hanging or swinging lights will play further havoc on the room's illumination and the player's shadow. It's a distraction, but a fun one.

Also, HomeLAN has slapped up some highlights from the Doom III keynote panel. Here's a blurb:

Much was made on the planned support for mods in Doom III. Duffy said that nearly everything in Doom III was text file based so that should make it easy for mod makers to pretty much do whatever they want in the game. The games development tools will be included in Doom IIIs release and Willits said he expected that there will be a ton of mods made for the game in a short period of time.
An audience question about having random monsters in Doom IIIs multiplayer maps made Willits ask if the audience would like to see that feature put in. That drew a loud and positive response which made the id team say that the possibility for that feature just got a lot more likely.

Yummy!

VIA Hyperion 4in1 v4.49p2

August 15, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

Thanks to Lightning for sending in that VIA has some new Hyperion 4in1 drivers located on their ftp site, bringing them up to version 4.49p2. There's no word on the fixes of these drivers, and no word on what's new / broken. Though they are "official", I'd recommend to be a bit cautious if you decide to install them. You can grab them here.

Please do report your findings over at our discussion board.

Update: I found out that they seem to improve the performance quite a lot. Here's a take from a post by williamweaver over at our forums:

Just a note, I installed these drivers and gained about 200 points in 2k3 and over 200 points in 2k1. Wow, I didn't know that it would change that much b/c I had 4.48 before these, so I'm happy.

So it seems (so far) that these new ones at least improve the performance!

Update2: It seems that VIA has released a new version of the 4.49p drivers, as the file name is now v449p2 (the 2 was added). So, I updated the links and news title accordingly. VIA's ftp still has the non-2 drivers, and if you want them for any reason, click here.

Call of Duty Preview

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

GameSpot has thrown up a preview on Infinity Ward's upcoming first person shooter, Call of Duty, after getting a chance to check it out at this years QuakeCon. uNF:

Like in Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, the previous game that much of Infinity Ward's team worked on, you can carry only a primary weapon, a secondary firearm (usually a handgun), a knife, and some grenades. You'll start out this mission with a standard-issue American gun as your primary weapon, such as the M1 Garand rifle, but later on in the map, as you clear out nests of Axis soldiers, you'll come across a Panzerfaust in a ruined church that will help you clear out the German soldiers taking cover behind tombstones in the adjacent graveyard. Once you've cleared them out, you can proceed across the level, and you'll soon discover that enemy reinforcements, in the form of a German mortar team, have arrived and are coming over a wall, which is near an embankment with a mounted MG-42 machine gun.

Dungeon Siege Expansion Preview

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

PC.IGN has tossed up a preview on Mad Doc Software's upcoming Dungeon Siege expansion pack, Legend of Aranna. Here's a nugget:

You are a simple farm boy or girl or boy-girl -- the last in a long line of heroes sworn to protect a town that I don't know how to spell. Suddenly you find yourself on a quest to discover what happened to your parents who disappeared 20 years ago (they were also heroes). Okay, so maybe it wasn't such a sudden turn of events. Your quest may start with wondering what happened to the folks, but it will soon evolve into you seeking out the Shadow Jumper, an ancient being bent on exacting revenge upon all humans. Since no revenge is a pleasant, cuddling, nurturing revenge, you have to stop this jumper of shadows before he kills us all. Yeah, when your name is the Shadow Jumper and you've been living in the Dark Dimension for centuries, you too would be angry. And he has an even bigger reason to be!

Greyhawk Preview

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

GameSpy has slapped up a preview on Troika Games' upcoming D&D RPG, Greyhawk: The Temple of Elemental Evil. Here's a chunk on the combat:

Those who played Baldur's Gate or any other turn-based games that didn't play as turn-based are in for a rude awakening, especially if they are unfamiliar with the rules of combat. Moving past enemies during a movement phase (or moving in close to an enemy with a long weapon or reach) leaves characters open for attacks of opportunity, which can do lots of damage (although a high Tumble skill helps in avoiding those). Characters using a bow can take a five-foot drop backwards to avoid penalties in close range shots without affecting the ability to shoot. Familiarity with the rules is not essential, but certainly helps in appreciating all the nuances of the game's capabilities.

Horizons Interview

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

The Horizons Warcry has posted an interview with Artifact Entertainment regarding their upcoming massively multiplayer online RPG, Horizons. They look at everything from trade skills to prestige schools. Here's a blurb:

You have mentioned in the past that items created through crafting can later be broken down to re-use the materials. Is there any penalty in doing so, such as a loss in material potency? Also, does this process require proficiency in the trade skill with which the item was created?
The concept of item deconstruction works as follows: when a crafter deconstructs an item, they use either the Salvaging skill or the skill that was used to make the item, whichever of the two is higher. So, if a crafter is trying to deconstruct a Bronze Ringmail Belt, they use either their Salvaging skill, or the Armorcraft skill. There won't be a 100% conversion rate for Salvaging, but those crafters with a significant rank in the skill will get a majority of the resources that went into making the item at an optimal rate.

Doom III MP Impressions & Shots

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

Welp, QuakeCon 2003 started today and that means some Doom III multiplayer lovin'! The folks over at HomeLAN, GameSpy and GameSpot have all thrown up impressions on the multiplayer portion of id Software's upcoming first person shooter. Also, if you're interested in checking out some eyecandy, tap your mouse here!

SiS AGP Driver 1.16a

August 15, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

Didn't see this last time I checked, but better late than never right? SiS has released a new AGP driver (1.16a) for their chipsets (SiS630, SiS540, SiS630ET, SiS630E, SiS630S, SiS630ST, SiS635, SiS645, SiS645DX, SiS648, SiS650, SiS651, SiS730S, SiS730SE, SiS735, SiS740, SiS745, SiS746, SiS746FX, SiS748, SiS655, SiS648FX) and the driver is available for Win95/98/SE/ME/2000/XP. No word on performance or what it will fix, but if you want to have the latest, grab the driver here.

ATI To Power The Next XBox

August 14, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

According to this press release ATI Technologies will power future Xbox products and services. Here's a snip: $qs Markham, Ontario ATI Technologies Inc. (TSX: ATY, NASDAQ: ATYT) today announced it has entered into a technology development agreement with Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT). Under the agreement, ATI is developing custom, leading-edge graphics technologies for use in future Xbox® products and services.
Were combining Microsofts vision, software experience and R&D resources with ATI's pioneering leadership in graphics technologies to create innovative future Xbox products and services that meet the lifestyle needs of consumers in the Digital Decade, said Robbie Bach, senior vice president of the Home and Entertainment Division at Microsoft. We selected ATI after reviewing the top graphics technologies in development and determining that ATI's technical vision fits perfectly with the future direction of Xbox.

EA Montreal Announced

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

Electronic Arts has announced the opening of a new game developing studio in Montreal and that they will be looking to hire some new talent. So if you're interested, be sure to check out the job openings page. Anyways, here's a blurb from the press release:

REDWOOD SHORES, CA--(MARKET WIRE)--Aug 13, 2003 -- Electronic Arts (NasdaqNM:ERTS - News) -- the world's leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment -- today announced an initiative to create a game development studio in Montreal, Quebec. The company is currently researching locations for the new facility and expects that the initial team will be moved in and busy researching new projects by the end of this year.

Jedi Academy Golden!

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

Lucas Arts has updated the official website for their upcoming action title, Star Wars - Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, with word that the game has gone gold and should hit stores September 17th. So keep an eye out for this sucker!

TRON 2.0 Interview

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

The Action Vault has thrown up an interview with a bunch of the developers behind Monolith's upcoming action title, TRON 2.0. Done in a 'one question, many answers' deal, here's a bit on the world:

Action Vault: From your personal point of view, what are a few you consider particularly interesting or special about TRON 2.0, and why?
Brian Legge, Engineer: The world of TRON 2.0 itself is the true star of the game. Watching our level designers and artists take a very abstract world and create a unique adventure out of it was inspiring. Many of the 'typical' first person shooter elements simply weren't present in the TRON universe; it was a clean slate our artists could really be creative with. For instance, what does a table look like in the TRON universe? Do they even exist? What do programs do in their spare time?
Another particular goal was to create an 'inside the computer' world without falling prey to the nonsensical techno-babble. I remember Frank talking with our network admins early on in an attempt to make the tech talk grounded in reality, while at the same time insuring it wasn't intimidating to someone less technical. I think his writing accomplished this very well.

Vampire: Bloodline Preview

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

EuroGamer has slapped up a preview on Trokia's upcoming Source engine powered - RPG, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. Here's a nugget:

But visual immersion would count for nought were it not for the narrative, and Troika has also borrowed a long forgotten concept from the world of adventure games: the conversation tree. But unlike the rather basic system of merely asking questions or selecting a response, used for years in old LucasArts classics, Bloodlines incorporates RPG elements into the conversation. For example, your character may have excellent seduction skills, or be part of a specific clan that allows you to ask questions or offer responses otherwise unavailable to you, and these 'special' branches of the conversation will be shown in a different font to indicate this. It's simple, but opens up wonderfully non-linear gameplay possibilities that we hope Troika can deliver on. In this sense, Bloodlines' interaction and narrative makes it look like a subtle reinvention of the adventure genre - a logical progression that LucasArts should have seen years ago, but blundered into a commercial cul-de-sac instead.

I can't wait for this game! :shocked:

Max Payne 2 Previews

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

GameSpy, PC.IGN and the folks over at GameSpot have all thrown up hands-on previews taking a look at Remedy Entertainment's upcoming action title, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne. Here's a nugget from IGN's:

The first surprise is that Max looks older and a bit tamer. No longer sporting the "What's that smell?" look on his face, Max now looks mostly tired. You can see from the shots that he's softened a bit but there's a much greater range of expression possible now. We watched as Max moved his eyebrows around and offered up a range of smirks. This facial animation (which is all the rage in shooters apparently) really helps to add a new level of believability to the game and offers a more natural lip synching. And these features are a part of all NPCs, not just Max.

NVIDIA DetonatorFX 45.23 WHQL

August 13, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

NVIDIA has released a new set of DetonatorFX drivers, which bring them up to version 45.23. The drivers are WHQL for Win2000 and WinXP only. Cards supported within these drivers are from the Riva TNT up to the GeForceFX 5900 Ultra (and all in between). Here's some scoop on the drivers (check the full list here):

Significant issues resolved in driver version 45.23 are listed below:

The display exhibits corruption in the Unigraphics 18.0.5.2 in drafting application.
Continued model rotation results in increased memory usage in Unigraphics 18.05.2 and NX 1.02.3.
I-deas 10 crashes in the process nbb.exe after a large virtual memory allocation. Running The Sims 2 creates a blue-screen crash. Think3 requests Control Panel enables use block transfer option for OpenGL buffer flipping mode.
CATIA certification issue: Problem with display list compilation causes incomplete visualization.
A dragon model is missing from the Dragothic test in 3D Mark 2001 SE.
The Add OpenGL tab shows a Stereo DIN pin option that is not available.
Character truncated in NVIDIA Properties Direct3D tab under Windows XP Japanese. In Windows XP Portuguese (Brazilian), there are localization errors on the main NVIDIA Properties tab.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City exhibits significant corruption after a couple of minutes of play. The walls in Splinter Cell have anomalous textures.
Quake II flashes on GeForce 256 systems.
Switching output devices on a desktop that has been rotated resets the resolution to 640x480 from 1024x768.
Command & Conquer: Generals shows corruption during scene-to-scene transitions in story mode.
When 3D Mark 2003 is set to 2/4 sample antialiasing, its demo mode introduction is not rendered properly and it pauses between demos.
Playback of AVI in full-screen mode tears on a T221 monitor.
Digital flat panels go out of sync or blank when the Screen Adjustment scaling is changed.
A Quadro4 980 XGL system hangs or stops when running a PTC Pro/ ENGINEER Wildfire script.
On a Quadro NVS 400 running Windows NT® 4.0, all monitors go black for 1-2 seconds during logon.
On a Quadro NVS 400 running Windows NT 4.0, the monitor ordering has changed from 1234 to 1324.
The water in Splinter Cell is not rendered correctly on GeForce FX 5xxx systems.
The nView Menu Options choice is not available from the title bar with Exceed 7.1 or 8.0.
NVKeystone can take two minutes to start under Windows XP.
EDS I-deas Master Series 7 does not start on a Quadro4 980XGL because of an application error.
Black screen displayed when Rally Sport Challenge launched under Windows ME.
Flash of corruption seen if 3D screen saver previewed when 2X or NVIDIA Quincunx antialiasing is set.
Direct3D applications exhibit flickering lines of corruption when antialiasing is set to 2x or Quincunx in 16-bit modes.
A Macrovision error occurs when DVD movies are played using the 41.09 drivers.
In Windows XP Chinese, a DMCPL.EXE error occurs when one of two Overlay Controls windows is closed.
Logging on as nonAdministrator causes NVcpl.dll loading error: One or more arguments are invalid.

That was a pretty hefty fixed list. The drivers are found for most Windows flavours, so here are some direct links:

It seems that the servers are getting hammered, so be patient..

MobileMark2002 ad

August 13, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

New Poll

August 13, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

The poll has (finally) been changed. Sorry for the delay folks.. This time we ask you this:

Gametype of choice?

I listed all different kind of gametypes I could come up with. I'm sorry if your favourite type of game is not listed.. I myself am a true first person shooter fan! Sure I also like other games like driving games and such, but if I have to choose, it is fps all the way! Go ahead and cast your vote.

Our last poll ended up like this: $qs How often do you visit Futuremark?
Once a year [15.8%]
Once a month [18.2%]
Once a week [10.5%]
A couple of times a week [12.1%]
Once a day [11.9%]
Twice a day [5.2%]
Three times a day [3.8%]
Four times a day [2.2%]
Five times a day [2.0%]
More than five times a day [10.9%]
24/7 [7.3%]
Total votes: 8581

Once a month? :suspicious: I'm sure that you visit us more than once a month! Heh.. Anyway, thanks for voting!

New Half-Life 2 Footage

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

Valve Software has released some new footage showing off their upcoming first person shooter, Half-Life 2. Entitled Barricade, you can grab this 123meg puppy from the links below:

Now get downloadin'!

Dungeon Siege Expansion Q&A

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

GameSpy sat down with Gas Powered Games' Chris Taylor for a quick chat regarding their upcoming Dungeon Siege expansion pack, Legends of Aranna. Posted in article format, they take a look at Mad Doc, DS2 code and more! Snip:

Taylor said that part of the give-and-take has involved updated code from Dungeon Siege 2, but Davis added that his team has provided new code in the expansion that may also go into the sequel.
"Most of the things we got from the Dungeon Siege 2 code are an upgraded version of the editor and some of the new features from the sequel. We also got some of the updated camera-control system for cinematics."

New Rainbow Six: Raven Shield Patch

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

Ubi Soft has released a new patch (v1.4) for their tactical first person shooter, Rainbow Six: Raven Shield. Including some tweaks and fixing a ton of bugs, you can grab this sucker from the following mirrors:

War of The Ring Q&A

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

LOTR.com has tossed up an interview with Erik Larson, the Associate Producer behind Liguid Entertainment's upcoming Lord of The Rings-based RTS, War of The Ring. They cover everything from locations to combat. Here's a clipping:

Q: Which physical environment in this game do you think is the most impressive?
A: Ah, dude.... I've got a thing for Dol Guldur in Mirkwood. It's awesome. That whole part in The Hobbit that mentions the Necromancer, who is Sauron actually, that's what it's all about. I love that setting. How ominous Mirkwood was! The spiders, that was so intense. I've wanted to be immersed in this place myself. I hope that the fans enjoy it, I hope it lives up to their expectations. Just being part of this game (the very fact that it's being made at all) is awesome. From the first line of code to the finished box!

IL-2: Forgotten Battles Review

August 12, 2003 - Hans "stealth_wing" Melis

Sim HQ have posted a review of IL-2: Forgotten Battles, a WW II flight sim. Here's a snip:

The combat damage graphics are the best Ive ever seen. Forgotten Battles hit bubble must be very complex. When an aircraft gets hit the damage displayed appears appropriate, including being able to see right through a hole blown in the airframe. The standard (or poor!) damage graphics files, so obvious in games like Rowans Battle of Britain, are not evident in FB. Here they are amazingly realistic, and dependent on exactly where on your aircraft you take a hit. The smoke, fire, and crash graphics are just as fantastic.

You can read it all here.

MoH: Breakthrough Interview

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

The Gamers Depot has kicked up an interview with Ed Moore, the Lead Designer behind TKO Software's upcoming Medal of Honor: Allied Assault expansion pack, Breakthrough. Here's some lovin':

GD: What do you feel is the single best new feature in Breakthrough and why?
Ed: Its really hard to choose one single feature since theres lots of cool things weve put in over the whole game, but I think that its great that were going back and re-exploring the North African aspect of the war, the first few missions of Allied Assault in North Africa were some of the more memorable ones for myself. I think the introduction of the Italians and all the new weapons is also really cool - its always fun to have new toys to play with.

Joint Operations Preview

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

Also over at GameSpy this evening is a preview on NovaLogic's upcoming first person shooter, Joint Operations. Here's a nugget:

As we made our first run through the jungle, NovaLogic PR manager Marcus Beer made note of the heavy brush dominating the landscape, which they internally refer to jokingly as "super-foliation." Serious or not, the foliage should play a major role in the game, giving players the ability to go prone and become near-invisible, using fatigues to blend in with the background. Some upcoming games seem to be steering clear of this type of landscaping, but NovaLogic thinks this is what gamers want. "People expect realistic environments," explains Beer. "Having a variety of terrains, from sparsely foliated to heavily foliated, offers a bunch of different tactical issues. We want to balance the game so that not only can you use the vehicles, but you can also play on foot and not be totally negated as a foot soldier." If nothing else, having tall brush to hide in will give players a decent chance of escape should they run smack into a Humvee.

NWN: Hordes of the Underdark Preview

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

GameSpy has slapped up a preview on BioWare's upcoming NeverWinter Nights expansion pack, Hordes of the Underdark. Dishing some of the first details on the game, this one is worth a look! Snip:

Other new goodies include six new prestige classes, 16 new creatures, over 40 new spells, over 50 new feats, new weapon types, new voice sets, new music tracks, and a new item-crafting sytem. As good as Shadows of Undrentide was, the additions to Hordes of the Underdark look even sweeter. For several reasons, people love playing and reading about all things drow. This expansion pack attempts to offer a thrilling Underdark adventure and allow module makers to craft their own dark-elf tales.

Unreal Tournament 2004 Q&A

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

Computer and Video Games.com has posted an interview with Epic Games' Cliff Bleszinski regarding their upcoming first person shooter, Unreal Tournament 2004. Here's a bit on the vehicles:

Why are you confining vehicles to Assault and Onslaught modes for the retail release of UT 2004?
Bleszinski: We want to evolve the franchise in the very obvious direction that many other games have gone into of being hybrid experiences - driving, flying, running, jumping shooting, etc... Layering this kind of cool depth on top of the existing UT base really results in some unique fun.
At the same time we have a large fan base out there that likes their Deathmatch and CTF the way they are, and they'll let us know. That's where the multitude of game modes comes in, to help us out with this dilemma. We can have our vehicular cake and eat it too by initially keeping vehicles in the two new modes.
I'm sure that within a week we'll see the first version of user created vehicle CTF.

Dungeon Siege Expansion Q&A

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

HomeLAN sat down with Mad Doc Software's Ian Davis for a quick chat regarding their upcoming Dungeon Siege expansion pack, Legends of Aranna. Topics range from the storyline to new monsters. Snip:

HomeLAN - What new monsters and NPCs will be features in the expansion?
Ian Davis - The adventure is packed start to finish with new foes (and some old nemeses, too). Two of the "star" enemies are the races of the Hassat and the Zaurask. Both of these races had been enslaved by the ancient Utraeans and both hold a grudge against all humans. The Hassat are a race of bipedal cats, magically engineered by the Utraeans to be servants. But if you can hold a shovel, you can hold a sword, and the Hassat have melee experts, archers, and mages, each represented by a different Great Cat. While the Hassat may have a hint of the noble about them in their hatred of humans, the Zaurask are just plain evil. Descended from giant lizards, the Zaurask may be a bit less advanced than the Hassat, but they're twice as mean. And while the Hassat will take on any humans who tread on their territory, the Zaurask are bringing the fight to the humans and aiding the great ancient evils in trying to bring darkness to the world.

Assembly'03 Report

August 11, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

Let's kick this off with a small bit of info about the Assembly. The first Assembly was arranged back in 1992. Back then it was arranged by a small group of guys, and it was held in a local school. Over 700 people attended, and it was something pretty amazing! The idea of the happening is to get same-minded (computer geeks

) people into 1 place to compete against each other. There are a load of different categories to compete in. Graphics, music, demo, disk throwing, mp gaming etc.. I think that there are up to 26 different categories to compete in. Thousands of people join in to show off their work, and try to win some prizes. I was told that this year over 5000 people attended to the Assembly, and more than 3500 computers were brought to the place. That's an amazing amount of gear in one place.. There are also seminars held at the Assembly. Representavives from all kinds of companies are there to talk about various things. This year companies like Nokia, NVIDIA, AMD, etc. had some guys there. I didn't however manage to get myself to any of the seminars. The ones I would have wanted attend to were either too early, or too late to fit into my schedule. Luckily the Assembly DVD (which will be available soonish) will contain all the seminars! The DVD also contains all the demos, musics etc. that were shown.
Anyway, the Assembly'03 started on Thursday 7th and ended on Sunday 10th. I went there on Thursday and Friday. I would have wanted to go on Saturday and Sunday too, but unfortunately I couldn't. On Thursday noon the place was in full chaos. The doors had just been opened, and you can imagine the chaotic feeling when thousands of guys with their computers are all anxious to get in and get set.. People are running all around the place! I met up with some of the organizers for a small chat, though they were all very busy. When a big happening like Assembly is about to start, you want to make sure that everything is at 110%.
Later that day I met some guys I've never seen IRL, but known for some time on the net! It's always nice to meet people IRL who you have been talking to only on some forums. Finally you get to see how that other guy (or girl) looks like. Usually, it's shocking..

j/k. The opening day isn't the most exciting day if you are just a normal visitor. There's not much going on (except the chaos). I talked with people about our products, and got some very good feedback. So thanks to all of you who were kind enough to answer my tricky questions.
On Friday I went back to the place. It was time to see some of the demos. If you want to download all material that was shown at the Assembly'03, please click here. I didn't see all the entries live, but the ones I saw were really nice. They also have this category which is called Game Development, and that's a nice one. The group who won last year ("Porrasturvat" by tAAt), won again. This time they had made a game called "Rekkaturvat - Truck Dismount", which is really nice though it is very much like the game they made last year. I personally liked the game called "Frontal Assault".. hehe..
The whole happening was nice, as usual. The smell in the hall is classic! The mixture of pizzas, hamburgers, coke, other junkfood and thousands of guys who haven't been in a shower in days, is more or less interesting.

But at a happening like Assembly, it is almost a requirement! What would the biggest happening in the world be without the original and classic odour?
Next year I will try to arrange more time so that I can spend all 4 days at the party. So, see you all next year at the Assembly'04! This time around, please let us know if you attend, so we can meet up.
Thanks to the organizers of Assembly'03 for a great happening, and a big HEY! to all the people I met while I was there. Next up are some pictures I was able to snap. I am a _lousy_ photographer, so sorry for the tad shaky pics.

World of Warcraft Q&A

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

The RPG Vault has thrown up an interview with Blizzard Entertainment's Mark Kern regarding their upcoming massively multiplayer online RPG, World of Warcraft. Here's some jucie:

Jonric: Quite closely related to races and classes, how will the character advancement and skills systems work?
Mark Kern: The advancement system itself is very deep. We have a hybrid system of levelling and skills. Each class has a core set of skill lines that break into things like proficiencies (swords, staves, chain armor, etc.) and other ability related lines (fire magic, etc.) as well as secondary skill lines such as languages or riding. Each class has its own set of core skill lines. As you level, the caps on these skill lines increase, but players will have to decide on which skills to practice in order to raise their points in these areas. As you use abilities tied to those skill lines, new abilities become available to you. By focusing on different skill lines, player will be able to specialize in different forms of combat or magic.

Chrome Screenies

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

The Action Vault managed to snage some new screenshots from Techland's upcoming first person shooter, Chrome. Hit the eyecandy below for a look!

Assembly03

August 9, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

I will write a shortish report on this years Assembly as soon as I find my cable for my digicam!

I have some nice pictures from there, and I really want to post them along with my report.
Hang in there..

The Sims 2 Interview

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

Computer and Video Games.com has Maxis' Destry Davison in the hot seat this evening, answering questions regarding their upcoming sequel to The Sims. Here's a bit on work:

So we've seen the Sims at play there, but presumably work is also a factor? Davison: Yeah. The new parts are that having elders and teens, they both get jobs. So having an elder is a bonus actually, because they're bringing in a pension usually, so they can take care of house chores, watch the children, and still bring in money. There's advantages and disadvantages; it just adds that much more gameplay.

BF 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII Demo

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

The peeps over at Electronic Arts have released a 165meg demo from their upcoming Battlefield 1942 expansion pack, Secret Weapons of WWII. You can grab this bad boy from the following mirrors:

Tribes: Vengeance Preview

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

The Games Domain has slapped up a preview on Irrational Games' upcoming first person shooter, Tribes: Vengeance. Here's a nugget:

In terms of the current "35 per cent complete" build, we were shown levels that prove the modified Unreal engine was a competent choice. Gone are the sparse terrains of previous Tribes games - many structures can now litter the landscape, adding a more effective sensation of speed and also proving useful to orient yourself on the large maps. Using the Karma physics engine, the game will feature deformable objects and the ever-popular ragdoll animations.

Jedi Academy Interview

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

The ActionVault caught up with Raven Software's Kenn Hoekstra for a quick chat regarding their upcoming action title, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. They cover everything from the combat system to the AI. uNF:

Action Vault: How will the combat in Jedi Academy differ from Jedi Outcast? And to what extent will there be other types of gameplay like puzzle-solving or stealth?
Kenn Hoekstra: There are a lot more acrobatics and special moves available in Jedi Academy than there were in Jedi Outcast, in addition to the ability to fight with two lightsabers and/or the double bladed lightsaber. The ability to combine Force powers, acrobatics and lightsaber combat give the player an unrivalled arsenal of fighting options.
Jedi Academy is primarily an action game, and while there are some puzzles, they aren't as complex as those found in Jedi Outcast. Stealth isn't really part of the gameplay, but there are instances where using the Jedi Mind Trick to get through an area might be easier than going in guns blazing.

Greyhawk Dev Diary

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

The RPG Vault has posted a developer diary written by Aaron Brunstetter, one of the programmers behind Troika Games' upcoming RPG, Greyhawk: The Temple of Elemental Evil. He mainly talks about various industry misconceptions. Here's a blurb:

"You make video games? You must get to play games ALL DAY LONG!!"
This is simply not the case. At a recent family reunion, I had to reassure countless relatives that I actually had a job that required, well... work. Don't get me wrong; we have lots of fun around here. But we also work very, very hard. It's amazing to see the talent here. All of the artists on the Temple of Elemental Evil team can model, texture and animate. It's crazy! No resource is left untapped. And almost every morning (read: 11 AM) when I get into work, there is an e-mail from another programmer who worked through the night until 6 AM! (90% of the time, it's Huy.) Right now, we're doing some major bug fixing, so we've all spent the last month working 80 to 100 hours a week!

Freedom Fighters Q&A

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

Game Gossip has shot-up a quick Q&A with IO Interactive's Mads Prahm regarding their upcoming action title, Freedom Fighters. Here's some juice:

GG: Freedom Fighters gives the player the ability to control his teammates, through the issuing of orders. What are the different types of orders that can be issued, and how does the squad AI work?
MP: The squad AI is very advanced, the recruits are intelligent and will seek cover, warn about enemies, and work together to defend themselves. The commands that the player can give the squad members are very simple, one touch of a button actually, making the squad easy to control while in the middle of a firefight. The recruits can either Follow, Stay or Attack. The attack command is also used to move out / scout ahead if no enemies are visible.

Half-Life 2 Interview

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

The Videogames Italian Center has Valve Software's Gabe Newell in the hot seat this evening, answering questions regarding their upcoming first person shooter, Half-Life 2. Here's a blurb:

any people watching the movies released by Valve wondered if the events were predetermined or really free from the bonds put by the programmers (I'm referring in particular to the "Trap Town" movie where a building collapses after the detonation of a grenade). Could you please clear up this doubt?
That's physically simulated. As I mentioned before, with each generation of games, we move more stuff from the "we have to author this because we can't simulate it in an interesting and entertaining way, yet" into the "now we understand it well enough and have the horsepower to run this in real-time". Trap Town shows a lot of physical simulation interacting with AI.

Condition Zero Review

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

The folks over at Computer and Video Games.com have tossed up a review on Ritual Entertainment's first person shooter, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero. Here's a nugget:

The first level picks you up and plops you down, deep underground. The Japanese underground to be precise, where you find yourself on a tube, keeping one eye out for terrorists and one on the white panties peeking out cheekily from beneath the skirts of the Japanese schoolgirls sitting opposite you (hey, they said they were 16 OK?). The next thing you know, you're getting beaten round the head by a man who looks like a South American paedophile, while his mate wires up a bomb and randomly shoots passengers.

MoH: Pacific Assault Announced

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

According to this press release, Electronic Arts has officially announced their upcoming first person shooter, Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault. Due out in the winter of 2004, this could be one to watch! uNF:

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 7, 2003--Step into the boots of a U.S. Marine and drive the Imperial Japanese Army from the Pacific in Medal of Honor Pacific Assault(TM) from Electronic Arts (Nasdaq:ERTS - News). Developed by EA Los Angeles, creators of the award-winning Medal of Honor(TM) series, Medal of Honor Pacific Assault immerses players in an authentic WWII experience, and will be available for the PC in the winter of 2004 under the EA GAMES(TM) brand.
Medal of Honor Pacific Assault gives players a sense of the courage it took to fight the Imperial Japanese Army from the shock of Pearl Harbor to triumph on the shores of the Tarawa Atoll. Set in the Pacific Theatre of Operations from 1941-1944, players will assume the role of Marine recruit Tom Conlin as he survives the attack on Pearl Harbor, leads the assault on Guadalcanal, and finally charges up the beaches for the climatic battle at Tarawa. Armed with their wits and a variety of authentic weapons, it's up to players to stop the Japanese war machine in its tracks.

Lionheart Interview

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

Gamershell sat down with Reflexive Entertainment's Ion Hardie for a quick chat regarding their upcoming RPG, Lionheart. They look at the games engine, multiplayer and more! Sinp:

Will there ever be multiplayer like Diablo 2, where more than 4 people can meet up and trade items and play the game?
We designed the game from the start to only support up to 4 people. This group of adventurers goes through the same adventure as the single player game, only modified to take into account the increase in party size. More monsters, more powerful monsters, better loothowever, any more than 4 would really take a substantial change to basic level design, as well as multiplayer code. I think the answer is probably no, not without a major overhaul.

Joint Operations Interview

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

PC.IGN caught up with Novalogic's Russell Brower and David Durand for a quick Q&A regarding their upcoming first person shooter, Joint Operations. They look at everything from the sound to level design. Snip:

IGNPC: Has it been more difficult to conceive of levels knowing that they'll have to work under light and dark conditions? David Durand: No, the challenge on the environments this time around is to accommodate the vehicles. Before they were just buses or taxicabs to get from one place to another. You could also use them as a shooting rail device. Now, because we really want the players to utilize these vehicles in gameplay, not just as shuttles from one battle area to another, there are clearance issues. If you're in a Zodiac, you have to make sure the water areas are navigable. It's the same with trails and roads or places where amphibious vehicles have to go; we have to make sure that they have the clearance. It has to be as much fun to attack in a vehicle as it is to defend from a vehicle. It's a new level of balancing between what the vehicles can and can't do so far. How does the terrain show off a vehicle?

PC Star Wars: KOTOR Preview

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

The RPG Vault has slapped up a prevoew on the upcoming PC version of BioWare's hit RPG, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Here's a chunk:

As for the game itself, there really wasn't anything new to show, but the demo did quickly go over various aspects such as the quick and detailed methods for character creation, and the ways in which your character's appearance changes to reflect the paths of good and evil. The combat system is real-time with pause and is based on the D20 Star Wars pen and paper game. Among the locations we saw were Tatooine, which is apparently the third planet you can visit in the game, a Leviathan spaceship where Carth Onasi, one of the NPCs you can recruit, has an encounter with his former mentor, and an un-named beach world from later on. The title is fully voiced, with over 20,000 spoken lines, and has more than 90 minutes of original music created by noted composer Jeremy Soule.

America's Army Operation v1.90 Released

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

The US Army has released a new version (v1.90) of their free Unreal engine powered - first person shooter, America's Army Operation. Not only do we get the regular batch of bug fixes, but there are a bunch of new additions like the Combat Medic, new character models and more! Weighing in at a hefty 604megs, you can grab this sucker from the following mirrors:

Thanks for the heads-up Nectros!

Middle-Earth Online Preview

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

ActionTrip has thrown up a preview on Turbine Entertainment's upcoming Lord of The Rings-based massively multiplayer online RPG, Middle-Earth Online. Here's a nugget:

In terms of races and character classes, players can look forward to a pretty decent range of choices. The basic premise of character classes revolves around the heritage and reputation of your favorite Tolkien heroes. You can choose to roam Middle-earth as a small, but quite cunning Hobbit, a stout and fearless Dwarf, mysterious Elf, or a valiant Human. After that you can choose your character's homeland. Each one of these races has its own language and unique way it reacts to the community. Believe it or not, languages play a significant role in the game. At some point, rookie players may run into ancient ruins that need to be deciphered. In order to progress, you must complete a quest and be rewarded with a rudimentary language skill. As an alternative, you may rely on the help of another player, who already mastered that particular skill. Either way, superior skills of a certain race remain a vital component of the gameplay. As much as it is important to master the many languages of Middle-earth, players will want to hone their battle skills, too. All races have a unique set of combat skills for example, so you have to think your choices through cautiously.

*drool*

Far Cry Preview

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

The guys at GameSpy have fired-up a preview on Crytek Studios' upcoming first person shooter, Far Cry. Here's a bit on the AI:

Despite the graphical goodness, the most promising point of Far Cry may be its combat, which centers on completely non-scripted AI. There are the requisite scripted sequences when certain checkpoints are reached, but we actually had to go through a few areas multiple times to see all the various AI tactics. One time, enemies all stood and tried to fend me off. Another time, one went running to a radio (which you can destroy) to call for help. There are, in fact, multiple AI styles going here: Each group has a commander that coordinates the others. Take out the commander and enemies will act individually, going it solo or creating makeshift groups to try to stop you. It was very impressive to see in action.

Lionheart Trailer

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

Thanks to HomeLAN for this tidbit. The folks over at Interplay have released a new 11meg trailer showing off their upcoming RPG, Lionheart. If you haven't already checked out the demo, you can grab the sucker right here. Now get downloadin'!

Contract J.A.C.K. Site Launched

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

Sierra Entertainment has launched a website for their upcoming No One Lives Forever 2 stand-alone expansion, Contract J.A.C.K.. Including screenshots, info and more, you can check it all out right here!

The Movies Q&A

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

Computer and Video Games.com caught up with Lionhead Studios' Peter Molyneux for a quick chat regarding their upcoming sim title, The Movies. The interview mostly covers the process of making a movie. Here's a blurb:

What kind of control do you have once the movie begins shooting?
Molyneux: Once your actors arrive and the scene starts there are other elements you can change. So, say your leading actress is attempting to stop the bad guy, if you've got the gore level on a low setting she's going to pull out a catapult, but turn up the gore to offensive levels and you can have entrails hanging out of people's stomachs, though trying to release a movie like that in the sixties could cause you problems.
Or, another example, you can watch two cowboys duking it out in a Western - with a low violence level they're just slapping each other, but turn it up and they start to really throw the punches, kick each other in the crotch, strangle each other, even break limbs.
Or going back to the horror film, as your couple make out you can crank it up from romantic to amorous; being the sixties, you'll need to add some raunch to the film or the critics and public may complain, though too much and they'll be offended.

Joint Operations Preview

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

PC.IGN has tossed up a preview on NovaLogic's upcoming first person shooter, Joint Operations. Here's a nugget:

As with a lot of things Joint Operations, exact modes have yet to be announced, but we do know of full cooperative play (eight singleplayer missions with the potential for more), straight up deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag, king of the hill, a variation of Battlefield's conquest with controllable spawn points, objective-based modes, attack and defend modes (comparable to UT's Assault) and maybe a few others. With some of the maps being so large, I'm personally hoping for modes like tag and assassination. Hell, spins on Athena Sword's Countdown and Capture the Enemy would also be swell.

New Parhelia & P-Series Drivers

August 5, 2003 - Nicklas Renqvist

It seems that Matrox has released a new set of drivers for their Parhelia, P650 & P750 VPUs. The new drivers are marked as version 1.04.03.005 (dated Jul 31, 2003) and available for Win2000 and WinXP only. They are not WHQL, but maybe worth a try? Click here to download.

Tribes: Vengeance Preview

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

GameSpot has thrown together a preview on Irrational Games' upcoming first person shooter, Tribes: Vengeance. Here's a bit on the physics:

Tribes: Vengeance's game engine will allow for interesting changes of pace such as this. The game will use the Karma physics engine for complex object animation, such as banners that flap in the wind and deformable barriers that break and bend under heavy fire. But according to producer Chris Mahnken, the team found that it had to write a great deal of the physics code from scratch to accommodate the game's high-speed gameplay. This is because once you do have a jumpjet and a decent set of equipment, the gameplay in Tribes: Vengeance will be at least as fast an in the previous games, and in some cases, faster. As Mahnken explained, one of the team's goals was to make moving around enjoyable in itself. As such, movement in the new game will be built upon three of the most basic maneuvers in the Tribes series: flying using a jumpjet, rocket jumping, and skiing.

MoH: Breakthrough Preview

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

Computer and Video Games.com has kicked up a preview on Electronic Arts' upcoming Medal of Honor: Allied Assault expansion pack, Breakthrough, after getting a chance to check it out hands-on. Here's a nugget:

The opening to the Kasserine Pass level we played was suitably impressive. There's sand. Lots of it. Everywhere. And we don't just mean dunes. Wind is whipping up sand clouds, substantially reducing visibility. The fact that we're bumping around on the back of a US Army jeep and being briefed on the current situation concerning US and German Army confrontations is the only assurance we have that Jerry isn't about to leap out and pop a cap in our head.

Chaser Screenies

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

The ActionVault managed to snage some new screenshots from Cauldron's upcoming first person shooter, Chaser. You can check these puppies out by hitting the image below!

Far Cry Interview

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

ActionTrip sat down with Crytek Studios' Christopher Natsuume for a quick chat regarding their upcoming first person shooter, Far Cry. Topics range from the storyline to vehicles. Snip:

AT: Describe what sort missions players are going to be faced with during the game.
CN: We don't have missions, as such. The story just unfolds as you go, and most of the time, you are just trying to get off the island, or keep yourself out of trouble. The game is as much about survival as anything else. The jungle is full of evil mercenaries and worse. You'll be going through evil research laboratories, forgotten temple ruins in the jungle, old Japanese bunkers and shipwrecks from WWII, bug-infested swamps, crystal clear pools, hidden lagoons, underwater caves the list just goes on. There is no shortage of cool places to go and things to see - and plenty of stuff to blow up when you're there.

War of the Ring Preview

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

GameSpy has slapped up a preview on Liquid Entertainment's upcoming RTS, The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring. Here's a chunk:

The concept of fleshing out some of the details that Tolkien left vague applied to the creation of units as well. While the forces of good are detailed fairly well -- players will get to use human, dwarven, and elvish units -- Sauron's armies came up a little short. In one case, the team needed some light, fast units to use as a combination scout/light cavalry. Neither orcs, trolls, nor balrogs seemed to fit the bill. "The giant spiders seemed to be perfect." del Castillo told me. "The problem was, nowhere in the books does Tolkien say that giant spiders were fighting with Mordor." Its solution was a novel re-interpretation of the book. "The giant spider Shelob didn't fight for Mordor -- Sauron left her where she was because she guarded Mordor's border with no effort on his part, so why not just continue that line of thought?" That's how many of Shelob's children, especially the spiders of Mirkwood, ended up as units in the game, including several maps where the player uses Legolas and the elvish forces to recapture Sauron's former home, the Tower of the Necromancer.

Tribes: Vengeance Shots

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

The fellas over at GameSpot have fired-up some new screenshots from Irrational Games' upcoming first person shooter, Tribes: Vengeance. Hit the image below for a look!

Jedi Academy Q&A

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

The Jedi Academy.net has kicked up an interview with Raven Software regarding their upcoming Action title, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. They look at everything from saber stances to the games RPG features. Snip:

We've read that you need to complete about 80% of the missions in order to complete the single player game. After beating the game, will we have the opportunity to go back to complete any missions we missed?
No, you would have to start a new game. Weve intentionally built a lot of replayability into Jedi Academy. There are so many Force Powers to choose from, that the player will not be able to max them out during a single playthrough, so they can go through the game again and pick different powers and have a completely different experience. Similarly, they can pick missions they may have missed, skip other ones, or just play them all.

Critical Windows Patch: Please Update ASAP!

August 2, 2003 - Hans "stealth_wing" Melis

Apparently, Microsoft wants everyone to patch up their Windows software as soon as possible.
In security bulletin MS03-026, Microsoft acknowledges there's a critical bug in all NT-based Windows software. If you are running Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 you should apply this update. A more elaborate version of thise security bulletin is located here.
From what's been going around, an exploit of this bug could prove far more damaging than Code Red or SQL Slammer.
You can get the patch by doing Windows Update, and then applying Patch 823980, which should be selected by default because it's a critical update. Or you can navigate to the patch using the complete security bulletin.

PC Star Wars: KOTOR Interview

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

The Gamer's Hell has slapped up an interview with Bioware's Casey Hudson and Teresa Cotesta regarding the upcoming PC version of their RPG, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Here's some juice:

Can we expect much in character development?
Casey: Character development is a huge part of the game. Starting with a character that you create, you can move your character towards that dark or light side with actions you take in the game. Youll not only learn about your characters involvement in the story, but youll also be able to follow the story arc of each of the 9 party members that youll meet in the game. Since they all have full voice acting and substantial individual storylines, their development is quite a compelling part of the game.

Another Half-Life 2 Movie

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

Valve Software has released yet another movie showing off their upcoming first person shooter, Half-Life 2. Entitled Bugbait, you can grab this 166meg bad boy through Valve's Steam or from the following mirrors:

Tribes: Vengeance

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

GameSpy sat down with Vivendi's Chris Mahnken for a quick Q&A regarding their upcoming first person shooter, Tribes: Vengeance. Topics range from the physics to jetpacks. Snip:

GameSpy: It looks like we got to see the new spinfuser in the video, as well as a few other weapons. What are some of the new weapons in the game?
Mahnken: All the weapons in Tribes Vengeance are either completely new or modified from previous versions. At this point, only the spinfuser model is close to being finished. It has yet to be animated, and it will still get some additional texture work as well. The other weapons in the game are still just placeholder models without textures or animations.
As far as what weapons will be in the game: we have the spinfuser, and you just got to see the first-ever bits of the chain gun and the grenade launcher in this video. We've previously released info on a weapon called the burner, which is very difficult to describe, but today I'm calling it an unholy cross between a plasma rifle and a can of silly string. Of course, that's not an entirely accurate description, but its fun to think about and gives you the general idea.

Breed Screenies

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

The Action Vault managed to get their hands on some some new screenshots from Brat Designs' upcoming first person shooter, Breed. Hit the eyecandy below for a look!

Lionheart Interview

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

The RPG Vault has slapped up an interview with the guys behind Reflexive Entertainment's upcoming RPG, Lionheart. Here's a nugget:

Jonric: What are some enjoyable, interesting, special or otherwise noteworthy things - items, characters, places, events, quests or whatever - off the game's critical path that you're willing to talk about?
Dan Ruskin, Designer, Reflexive Entertainment: One of the first things you can do in the game is go down into the sewers underneath Barcelona. Although there are some critical path quests that lead you into the sewers, there are also many side quests. There are two groups that control the dark caverns beneath the city, the Thieves and the Beggars. You can choose to take the side of one or the other or possibly even remain neutral to both. The leaders of these guilds have many quests for the player, some of which conflict with the opposing faction. Be careful, there are many things down there that are not quite human... anymore.

Half-Life 2 Interview

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

The Half-Life 2 Source has Valve Software's Gabe Newell in the hot seat this evening, answering questions regarding their upcoming first person shooter, Half-Life 2. Topics range from mods to mutliplayer. Not much new in here, but still worth a look!

Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy Screenies

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

Thanks to ShackNews for this tidbit. LucasArts has released some new screenshots from their upcoming Action title, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. You can check these puppies out at the official site. uNF!

BF1942: Secret Weapons Preview

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

GameSpy has shot-up a preview on Digital Illusions' upcoming Battlefield 1942 expansion pack, Secret Weapons. Here's a nugget:

To start, Secret Weapons of WWII contains eight original maps: Eagle's Nest, Essen, Gothic Line, Kbely Airfield, Hellendoorn, Mimoyecques, Peenemünde, and Telemark Research Base. The levels are set all over Europe and are styled similar to existing Battlefield maps, around towns or in mountainous areas with long winding roads and numerous bridges connecting areas together. With the exception of Kbely Airfield and Telemark, all of the maps are set during daylight hours, and a few of the maps are set in snowy conditions as well.

New WarCraft III Patch

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

Blizzard Entertainment has released a new patch (v1.12) for thier hit 3D RTS, WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos and The Frozen Throne expansion. You can grab this sucker by tapping your mouse right here!

Lords of EverQuest Preview

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

The folks over at PC.IGN have thrown together a preview on Verant Interactive's upcoming RTS, Lords of EverQuest. Here's a clipping:

In terms of forces, the Elddar Alliance will field all manner of monsters from the series. Their main grunts seem to be composed primarily of Froglok warriors, hopping and jumping as they smash through wolfweres, zombies and goblins. Wolfriders provide a speedy cavalry unit while Treants serve as your large tank-like units. In the air, Halflings ride atop giant revenant drakes and lay waste to enemies below. Druids act in a supporting role offering buffs and other helpful spell effects from time to time. To add a little more variety to the units, you can rename the individuals to keep better track of how Dan the Froglok is doing compared against Ivan the Halfling Revenant Drake jockey.