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Matrox Parhelia Reef Demo – The Best DirectX 8 Benchmark Ever?
Dungeon Siege Tweaking Guide
 
Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault
Midnight Club 2: XBOX
Inside Pitch 2003: XBOX
Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project
EverGlide MousePad


 

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  Tuesday, Dec 4, 2001 Report News | Archive | Top  
New Official NVidia Driver Released
- Posted 6:52 AM By Kagato
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Just in case you're tired of messing with various leaked Detonator drivers for your NVidia card, NVidia has released a new official set of drivers, bringing the newest official version to 23.11.
Windows 95/98/Me users can download them here.
Windows 2000/XP users can download them here.
 
Serious Sam 1.05 Patch
- Posted 6:56 AM By Kagato
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Croteam, the folks behind Serious Sam, have released a patch this morning for their first-person action game. This patch updates you to version 1.05 and weighs in at 5.5 MB. You can grab the download right here from Rockstar. A list of updates/improvments include:
  • added support for DirectX 8
  • due to clipping optimizations for non-T&L cards and GeForce2 series, mirrors now work much faster in OpenGL
  • added iFeel support for tactile feedback mice
  • support for ATI Truform (N-Patches) both in OpenGL and D3D
  • added support for playing Ogg Vorbis music files
  • added MOTD (Message Of The Day) on server
  • better support for MODs in Serious Editor
  • and some more fixes and improvements...
  • If you still play this one, it'll definately be worth your time to go grab the update.
     
    Civilation III 1.16f Patch Coming Soon
    - Posted 7:00 AM By Kagato
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    A post over at the Civilization III forums by Firaxis' Jeff Morris reveals that the first patch for the game (v1.16f) should be released sometime next week. Here's a snip:
    Things are on target for a Friday QA sign-off, but let's say Saturday just to be safe. If nothing resets it by Wednesday, we'll release the readme.txt additions for you to digest. I think you'll be pleased.
    No word on exactly what is going to be updated/added as of yet, guess you'll have to wait and see.
     
    Shadows of Luclin Goes Live
    - Posted 7:13 AM By Kagato
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    For those faithfull EverQuest players, news that the new expansion, Shadows of Luclin, goes live today probably doesn't phase you as it's been eagerly awaited for months. But what does one do while the servers are still down for patching to bring the new expansion Live? You could head on over to GameSpy, as they have posted even more screenshots from the game, showing off the various new designs for the races. If that isn't enough, GameSpy also has an inteview with Rick Schmitz, one of EverQuest developers, discussing things such as the "Art of Gaming".
     
    A Codec Named Nancy
    - Posted 7:27 AM By Kagato
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    An interesting little news article has been posted over at EETimes. It discusses a new light-weight video codec called Nancy and how it compares to the MPEG-4 standards that many have figured would be the standard for distibuted video. In a word:
    The codec will run "even if CPU power is not high," said Kato. "A 50-Mips CPU can compress and decompress video at 30 frames per second with QCIF [176 x 144-pixel] resolution [using Nancy]. There is no other video codec in a software form that can encode and decode." The program for real-time video compression and decompression takes 30 to 40 kbytes of memory, "and consumes about one-tenth of the power compared with MPEG-4 operation," he added.
    While there appears to be no backing from any US companies as they received "the cold shoulder on a promotional trip to Silicon Valley in the late 1990s", they have alliances in both Korea and Japan, and with the ever-expanding wireless era, this should definately push them into a higher profile.
    Source: EETimes
     
    Alliance 3.0 Patch
    - Posted 7:40 PM By WaRMaN
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    The Alliance team has released a 1 MB patch. Here are some of the fixes:
  • FFA server, then ref change to a team game; players spawn on 'Free Team' instead of red or blue, fixed.
  • Runefx2, resist shader broken, fixed.
  • Broken auto hud switching between insta and other game modes, fixed.
  • HTF scoring bug, fixed.
  • Flag returns in fog on actf41 even if you don't die, fixed
  • Actf39 2D radar pic / bases switched, fixed
  • 2x flag/rune bug, fixed
  • Many issues involved with loading of models and bots, fixed
  • Lagometer covers scores on HUD, fixed.
     
  •   Wednesday, Dec 5, 2001 Report News | Archive | Top  
    IL-2 Sturmovik Patch
    - Posted 7:25 AM By Kagato
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    According to this little newsbit over at the official IL-2 Sturmovik homepage, a new patch is to be offered, bringing the following updates/fixes:
    AIRCRAFT UPDATE:
    Added FW 190 A-5 as flyable.
    Modified FW 190 A-4 and FW 190 A-5 to comply with new weapon sets.
    Included 27 new weapon load outs for FW 190 A-4 and FW 190 A-5.

    OTHER UPDATES AND FIXES:
    Stall Warning will no longer appear when your aircraft is buffeted from bullet hits.
    Reworked Bf-109 series handling.
    Aircraft with dead engine will no longer attempt to stay in formation.
    Put back VSI instrument needle in Yak-9T and Yak-9K cockpits. Instrument needles will freeze when the instrument is damaged internally.
    Multi-engine bombers now open bay doors when emergency-releasing ordnance.
    When flying in a P-39, you won’t receive a “Gunner Killed” notification any more.
    Corrected torque effect direction on a number of aircraft.
    When flying in campaign mode, if you don’t have an appropriate rank, you cannot select weapon set or fuel load for your wing. In the previous versions, you could change the “Fuel” control in the arming screen, but to no effect.

    ADDITIONAL INFO:
    size of the patch: 14MB
    Selfextracting file you put in the IL-2 directory (document in English and German included)
    4 additional single missions are also included (feat. the FW-190A5)
    The patch was supposed to be released yesterday (12.04.2001) but as of yet, there are no posted links.
     
    Diablo 2 and D2:LoD Patch
    - Posted 9:49 PM By Kagato
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    For those still caught up in playing Diablo 2 and the D2:LoD Expansion, it may interest you two know that Blizzard has released patches for both Diablo 2 and D2:LoD that fix the following:
  • Fixed a bug with certain Creative Lab DVD drives and copy protection.
  • Fixed another bug where a connection problem ("Unable to connect to Battle.net") would instead result in a downloading patch dialog that stayed at 0% indefinitely.
  • Fixed a lockup that occurred on Dual CPU/Dual Video card systems when hitting the quit button in chat.
  • Newer is better.
     
      Monday, Dec 10, 2001 Report News | Archive | Top  
    Empire Earth One Long-Ass Game-Fest
    - Posted 4:25 PM By Krogue
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    Okay, for all of you hesitant game buyers out there looking for the perfect RTS game to buy for Christmas, Empire Earth is it. I have been playing it for a few weeks, and the scope of gameplay is immense. From Stone Age to Nano Age; from Swordsmen to Ultra-Cybers; from Stone Circles, to massive Glass Cathedrals -- This game has it all. The units are varied and can span centuries. And, the Computer A.I. is smart as hell. Even on the easiest setting, a full epoch game can take quite a few hours.

    But, the best part is not even listed in these reasons above. It is the Multiplayer. If you like games that are involving and massive, this is it. Rikus_Khan and I played a 2 player vs. 3 computer player game from 5:00 p.m. on Saturday night till 2:30 a.m. Sunday morning. And even up till near the end (the last couple of hours), the computer players were pushing through defenses to claim ground in our area. The computer is even smart enough to figure what defenses are weak and start pumping out units to take advantage of it. For example, I left a small gap in my air defenses, so instead of trying to push through my lines, two of the computer players started airlifting units behind my defenses and attacking my towns. Once, I squashed this approach and put up defenses, the computer players stopped producing airlift choppers.

    I know a few of you already have this game (Fyre, Rikus_Khan), but the rest of you need to get it. This game alone could take up half of a LAN event's time. Let me know if you want to play on a Friday or Saturday night.
    Source: Krogue's Opinion
     
    Gundam - Coming To An Online Community Near You
    - Posted 9:38 PM By Kagato
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    Like anime? Like big, powerful robots? How about both in an online MMORPG based universe? Well, it's no longer a pipe-dream as there is apparently going to be one pased on the Gundam universite titled Gundam Online: UniversalCentury.net. From some of the sweet looking screenshots, is appears as ifyou operate powered armor (Gundams), capital ships and intermingle with the populace in human form in large sprawling cities. A word from their site:
    UniversalCentury.net is a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game based on "MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM." It reproduces the Earth Territories of "GUNADAM" in actual measurements, and has a system capable of connecting 160,000 people at once. It also puts an effort in losing the server boundary which is one of the problems of network RPG by providing one powerful server, entirely for the game.

    The player becomes one of the residents on Earth Territories at the beginning of the "One Year War." When creating a character, the player must decide between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon, and work for the prosperity of the chosen nation.
    160,000 people at once? Sign me up, I'll break my EQ habit like that!
     
    Scorched Earth - Code For An Old School Classic
    - Posted 9:48 PM By Kagato
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    Anybody who remembers the good 'ol days of DOS (argh! I still can't free enough memory to run Quake!) will probably remember a simple but addictive game called Scorched Earth. The point was two (or more) opposing teams, each had a tank and some cash, the point was to angle your shots against wind, gravity, etc. to destroy the opponent. Well, there's been an remake of the classic game, done up in OpenGL, and best of all, the source code is included in the download!
     
    TweakXP 1.24 Released
    - Posted 9:51 PM By Kagato
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    If you run Windows XP, you owe it to yourself to run TweakXP to make sure you're getting the most outta your rig. There's a new 1.24 release, which updates/adds the following:
  • Pop-Up Blocker logfile function added
  • Updated Pop-Up Blocker list
  • Updated Ad-Blocker list
  • New Outlook XP tweak: minimize Outlook XP to the system-tray
  • Finnish language files added
  • Updated language files
  • Modified Atomic Clock
  • Lots of improvements
  • Download it today.
     
    Detonator 23.xx And VSync
    - Posted 9:54 PM By Kagato
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    Anybody who owns an NVidia card (and who doesn't anymore) and has updated to the new 23.xx (23.10 or 23.11) drivers may have noticed that the VSync options no longer have an effect which may be slowing the display speed some may have become used to. This appears to be due to a change in the registry keys. More information and a fix can be found over at Maximum Reboot.
     
    Messenger Plus! Extension 1.41c
    - Posted 9:59 PM By Kagato
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    What would gaming be without Instant Messaging (ICQ, MSN Messgenger, AOL IM, etc.)? For those users of Microsoft's MSN Messenger, there's a new little update designed to add functionalities to the Instant Chat program. This program is absolutely free to use so give it a try! The Messenger Plus! Extension works with Windows 95/98/Me and Windows NT4/2000/XP. It requires MSN Messenger or Windows Messenger, versions 3.6 to 4.5 and is only 466k in size.
     
    Useful Software Updates
    - Posted 10:05 PM By Kagato
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    Here's a short listing of some bits of software that many use daily in the life of their machines:

  • CPUCool v7.0.6 Beta - Watch those CPU Temps
  • WinZip 8.1 - Keeps those files small (here's what's new)
  • Easy CD Creator 5.02c - Burn baby burn!
  • Adobe Acrobat 5.05 - PDF, when MS Word isn't an option
  • RivaTuner 2.0 RC8.2 - Keep your NVidia up to snuff
     
  • Return To Castle Wolfenstein CD-Key Issue
    - Posted 10:12 PM By Kagato
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    id Software's Paul Jaquays has given some update over on the PlanetWolfenstein Forums with some info on error messages you may recieve reguarding the recent rash of CDKey issues. Read on brotha:
    Possible Solutions and Work-arounds to Invalid CD-Key issues. I’ve added in some language from Graeme Devine’s .plan file of 12-10-01.

    Chances are, if you are reading this thread, it's because you're not able to play on-line due to recieving an Invalid CD-Key message or unauthorized CD key message. If you are playing with a pirated copy of RTCW and are using a warez'd or "generated" CD-Key, then you're S.O.L., because the following aren't really going to be of any use to (go buy a copy of the game).

    Invalid CD Key
    If you get an "invalid_cdkey" message back from a server, that REALLY means that the authorize server has received your CD-key, decoded it, and found it to be BAD. Re-entering the CD-key from your jewel case should fix this problem. It does not ever give this message with good CD-keys.
    Maybe you can get a real copy for Christmas and truly enjoy the mayhem! Keep up to date and get more info other issues from the PlanetWolfenstein Forums.
     
      Tuesday, Dec 11, 2001 Report News | Archive | Top  
    Palidan Beta Released
    - Posted 7:46 AM By Kagato
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    Still run a Counter-Strike server but bummed that there aren't going to be future releases of PunkBuster? Fret not dear friend, the first beta release of Palidan for Counter-Strike is now available. Palidan is basically an anti cheat program similar to PunkBuster. You can grab the client & server software for Windows, with a Linux server version "coming soon". Make sure to grab this filter if you use the All Seeing Eye program, as it'll allow you to see Palidan servers.
     
    Anarchy Online Layoffs
    - Posted 7:55 AM By Kagato
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    According to this report over at AO Basher, Funcom (the folks behind Anarchy Online) has layed of 30 folks from the Norwegian headquarters. Because they are focusing all their attention at the moment on Anarchy Online, this news also means that Midgard, their other planned MMORPG, is on hold, "but definitely not cancelled."
    The entire mobile department and 20 other people in various "side projects" have been made temporally unemployed. Earlier this year, the division in Ireland, responsible for developing XBOX games, was also shut down.

    We are cutting down on all auxiliary functions to focus 100% on Anarchy Online. Everyone who has been involved in AO is of course still securely holding on to their jobs, according to Funcom's manager for Public Relations, Marit Lund.
    Ouch! Better hope they can keep paying the bills or kiss your online MMORPG goodbye!.
     
    Logitech Z-560 4.1 Speaker Review
    - Posted 8:06 AM By Kagato
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    Looking to upgrade your aging old 2 speaker system on your computer? Don't wanna shell out $230+ dollars for the Klipsch Promedia 4.1 system but still want some great sounding speakers? Then head on over to Hot Hardware and read their review of Logitech's Z-560 THX Certified 4.1 Speaker System. These things have been getting rave reviews from all over the web as they'll save you more than $100 off the Klipsch system, and they're specs are nearly the same as the Klipsch setup. Here's a word from the review:
    The Logitech Z-560 speaker system is a clearly a top quality high fidelity setup for even the most discriminating audiophile. Perhaps the market may not perceive Logitech as a pioneer in high fidelity sound but this new PC Speaker System just may put them in the lime light for some time, as a force to be reckoned with. These speakers easily compete with Klipsch's Promedia line and for some, they may even surpass them. In our opinion, the Z-560s hit Klipsch square in the eyes on quality and more importantly, on price. We've seen the Z-560s retailing on the net at a street price of $139, well over $100 less than the Promedia 4.1s from Klipsch. With the quality and fidelity we've just heard, we aren't sure why anybody would opt for anything but the Z-560s.
    It's beginning to look alot like Christmas...
    Source: Hot Hardware
     
    Modding Arcade Classics
    - Posted 8:13 AM By Kagato
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    Many of you out there in InternetLand know what MAME is. For those that don't, MAME stands for Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator, and if that isn't enough insight, it is an emulator application to play all your old favorite arcade games on your PC (i.e. Pacman, Double Dragon, etc.). One of the biggest rages that has come with the introduction of this software is for users to either convert old arcade games to a PC setup which allows for near unlimited amounts of games, or to build their own personal game cabinet. One such mod is this little beauty, converted from an old sitdown style Pacman game. I think this definately falls into the "too much time on one's hand" category, but is still cool none the less.
     
      Wednesday, Dec 12, 2001 Report News | Archive | Top  
    Shadows of Luclin Discussion
    - Posted 7:40 AM By Kagato
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    Caster's Realm has posted a rather lengthy forum thread from Scott Hartsman of the EverQuest Live team explaining some of the reasons why EverQuest: Shadows of Luclin requires so much memory. The entire post is way to long to list here, but the overall note is that DirectX 8.1 and the number of resources (600 MB) that need to be loaded are too much even for a power user. Here's a brief quote on some things to try if you're having framerate issues:
    You might want to try setting all of the options that give you better framerate, just to use as a benchmark, then adding things in one at a time and seeing how it works for you.

    I'd recommend moving to Texture Quality 3, disabling all the models, disabling the new social animations (which at that point would just disable Socials on the Vah Shir), and turning MipMap off, then see how it goes, and add new things back one at a time.

    Not saying it's going to be perfect - But that's what I did on my home machine. (Which isn't stellar, but is still extremely playable for me.)
    Disabling models makes a heck of a difference on most machines and I don't feel as if I'm missing much as most the new models suck anyway (IMHO).
     
    Command & Conquer Renegade Preview
    - Posted 7:46 AM By Kagato
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    GameSpot UK has a preview of Command and Conquer Renegade for your reading pleasure. This FPS action game from Westwood Studios is scheduled for release in late February 2002. Snip snip:
    While the first mission in Renegade is very much an introduction to foot-based warfare and features quite a few objectives (see the first preview in this series), mission two puts you in the hot seat for a lot longer - and with a lot more variety. This mission mainly takes place outdoors but towards the end there is plenty of indoor action too. It also gives you control of tanks for the first time. The primary objective in mission two is to locate some missing GDI scientists, but as it progresses, over a dozen other objectives are introduced too. This is a pattern that's repeated throughout the game's levels and locales.
    We'll see how things go with Westwood's venture back into an FPS (we'll not even mention Tiberian Sun).
    Source: GameSpot UK
     
    AvP2 Patch
    - Posted 7:50 AM By Kagato
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    In a world of FPS games, there stands Alien vs Predator 2, and if your into it, you should know that Monolith and Sierra have released a Aliens vs Predator 2 Single Player Map Update #1, weighing in at 12.0 MB. The update makes a handful of changes to four of the single-player missions, which invalidates save games but your level progression will carry over correctly, so it's advised to apply the update after finishing the current mission.
     
    GameBoy Advanced Emulator
    - Posted 8:12 AM By Kagato
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    Visual Boy Advance v0.7a has just been released for your gaming pleasures. For those of you who have never used it, Visual Boy Advance is a GameBoy Advance and GameBoy emulator that runs in Windows. It supports GameBoy Advance, GameBoy Color, and GameBoy games emulation as well as GameGenie. Here's what's fixed in the new version:
  • Fixed slowdown/graphic sync problem
  • Added BIOS calls Stop, IntrWait and SoundBiasReset (missing from 0.7 changes)
  • enabled experimental graphic filters: pixelate and motion blur (config file or through command line on SDL or registry on Windows version)
  • Windows version: fixed x4 problem
  • This is one of the better, if not currently the best, emulators available. Check it out.
     
      Thursday, Dec 13, 2001 Report News | Archive | Top  
    Pool of Radiance Monster Hack
    - Posted 7:25 AM By Kagato
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    So you've completed Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor, or maybe got bored with the game and never finished. Either way, have you ever wished that you could play as Drow, Cult members, Undead, Lizardmen or an orc? If so, then you need to head on over and grab Team Chlorine's PoR Monster Character Hack which lets you accomplish this feat. They show before and after screenshot to give you an idea of what this hack does. And if you're one of the ones that never finished the game, they've also got a Character Editor.
     
    Sony Cracking Down on Mod-Chips
    - Posted 7:34 AM By Kagato
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    While this does not affect those who have already installed a Mod-chip into their PS/PS2, those who have not should possibly think about doing so soon. Acoording to this report over atThe Register, there's news that Sony is cracking down on mod-chip manufacturers in Europe. For those that don't know, most of the modern Mod-chips allow PS/PS2 users to watch DVD's from any region and allow the playing of copied/pirated titles (duh!). Three mod-chip makers in Europe have been contacted by Sony and told to stop sales of their mod-chips or face legal action. Two have complied so far. So far there has been no similar action within the US.
     
    MSN Messenger v4.6
    - Posted 7:38 AM By Kagato
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    For those that crave the instant messaging of Microsoft's MSN Messenger, there's a new verion (4.6) available for download right here. Note that this update does not apply if you are running WindowsXP. The update is intended for users of the Windows 9x/Me/NT/2000 operating systems.
     
    NVidia Responds to Detonator 23.11 Debate
    - Posted 7:44 AM By Kagato
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    This is for those of you who updated to NVidia's 23.11 drivers when released and noticed issues on VIA chipset based machines when running Windows 2K/XP systems that included problems such as performance loss, instant reboots, and BSOD's. If you haven't followed the story, the issue was in reguards to a RX55 memory registor "bug" that was containted within the newest drivers. Nvidia has learned a lesson from the recent discussions regarding issue as "The 23.11 Detonator drivers have been removed as the official downloadable version. They have been reverted back to 21.83." Word to the wise, stick with the 21.83's for now, or 21.81a's if you own an Asus.
     
    ATA vs SCSI
    - Posted 8:00 AM By Kagato
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    The folks over at StorageReview have compiled and posted one of the most comprehensive articles comparing ATA (IDE) to SCSI. They cover such things as environmental operation (i.e. noise), CPU Usage, Data throughput, and even go on to clarify/end some of the common myths and misconceptions people have between the two technologies. It's definately a data-filled read, but definatley well written and easy to follow.
    Source: StorateReview
     
      Friday, Dec 14, 2001 Report News | Archive | Top  
    GameSpy's "Emergent Behavior"
    - Posted 6:56 AM By Kagato
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    GameSpy has an interesting editorial posted this morning titled Emergent Behavior in which the editor examines the current trends of the game industry and then offers an opinion or two on where it needs to go, basically taking the path of the constant barrage of "been there, done that" games released to the public these days. Here's a snip:
    Now take away the cutscenes. Take away the linear story. Take away the very idea that the game "ends," and let me define my own goals. Let me join the police. Let me join a gang. Let me try to break into a well-guarded mansion, just to see if I can do it.

    The technology is here, or nearly so, to allow for this evolution to occur. A generation of hardware, two at most, and polygon counts will no longer be an issue. Framerate will not be a concern. Build me a city, make it run, drop me in it, and let me make my game.
    It's a fun little read, and it will be interesting to see if/how games evolve in the next few years as technology gets to a point where it is no longer an issue for anything game designers want to do.
    Source: GameSpy
     
    Medal of Honor : Allied Assult Demo
    - Posted 7:01 AM By Kagato
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    Ready for another Quake 3 engined FPS? Good, because Electronic Arts has released a playable demo of their WW2 era Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, weighing in at 133MB.
    The demo level will be a Free-for-All deathmatch in the war-torn cityscape of Stalingrad. This is a level where standing in the open will get you killed in a hurry. While not the wide-open landscape of Omaha Beach, this level has some intense building-to-building fighting. We had a 20-player deathmatch going here on Friday and it was insane.

    There will be 6 character models available, 3 Allied and 3 Axis. You can play as Manon from Medal of Honor Underground, U.S. Airborne, and U.S. Regular Army on the Allied side. As part of the Axis force, you can play as an Afrika Corps Private, a Wehrmacht soldier, and a Panzer tank commander.

    All of the weapons will be available in the demo including the Browning Automatic Rifle, Thompson sub machine gun, MP40, Panzerfaust and bazooka. There is also a mounted MG-42 that players can man, however, without a buddy; you ARE vulnerable to sniper fire.
    Can't download from the main site? No problem, try these mirrors as well:File Planet, FileFront/VE, or 3DGamers.
     
    Return to Castle Wolfenstein Tutorials
    - Posted 7:08 AM By Kagato
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    No it's not a tutorial to teach your newbie self how to play the game (it's an FPS, duh!), rather it's a guide to help in making an arena file, using checkpoints, recording demos to AVI, and using spawnpoints. Basically information only a level/mod designer would love. You can find the info over at TRAM Design. Their SDK should be out soon BTW.
     
      Monday, Dec 17, 2001 Report News | Archive | Top  
    UT Strike Force Patch
    - Posted 7:02 AM By Kagato
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    Version 1.70 of the Unreal Tournament mod Strike Force is out, weighing in at 66MB. If you currently don't have 1.60 installed, you'll have to get that first as 1.70 is just an update. What's new?:
  • New terroist skins
  • New and faster online server browser
  • Reduced online net lag
  • Easter Eggs
  • Delay on prone and firing
  • New anit-cheat code
  • Dual primary option which allows 2 primary weapons + 2 secondary weapons (server side)
  • New knife animations for third person knife attacks
  • Turned hat around on terrorist models
  • Added the new night vision goggles
  • Yes, some people still play UT (*gasp*).
     
    GeForce Tweak Utility v3.1.1
    - Posted 7:07 AM By Kagato
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    If you tweak your GeForce settings, you know that the GeForce Tweak Utility is one of the best little packages to do just that. Version 3.1.1 is now available for download and fixes the following:
  • the GTU now is 100% compatible with the 23.1x driver.
  • a messagebox popped up at the wrong place with GTU 3.1
  • added w-buffer scaling
  • switched to an updated installer
  • added database file for 23.1x drivers
  • due to the changes in the 23.xx drivers we had to modify the database file layout a tad.
  • If you're not much into the look of this one, you can always use NVMax.
     
    AvP2 MultiPlayer Patch Released
    - Posted 9:26 PM By Kagato
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    Monolith has released a Aliens vs Predator 2 multiplayer patch, weighing in at a measly 5MB. Quite a few updates with this puppy, which include:
  • Fixed bug where players could be alive but not visible in MP games.
  • Fixed bug which caused too many object position updates across the network.
  • Fixed bug where players could become solid with other players inside of them in MP games.
  • Custom bandwidth settings now remain what they were when going back to the advanced options menu.
  • Bulletholes and other impact effects from the player's own weapon now show up instantly instead of waiting for verification from the server.
  • Made the update of the local player's flamethrower lag- independent.
  • Dedicated servers start with no server controller. Players must enter the correct password, control "password", to take server control. Only one person may have control at a time. The server operator sets the control password when hosting the game.
  • Disabled the F1 key in Hunt and Survivor modes.
  • Added F3 key for Server Rules display in MP.
  • Smoothed out character and projectile movement.
  • Plasmacaster projectiles can turn no more then 30 degrees from their original trajectory.
  • The Predator wristblade primary-fire will now cut through netting.
  • The Light Predator's ladder speed has been increased so that he moves up and down ladders at the same speed as the other Predators.
  • Phew, quite a few fixes for sure, be sure to grab your copy today.
     
      Wednesday, Dec 19, 2001 Report News | Archive | Top  
    Neverwinter Nights Legal Battles
    - Posted 6:57 AM By Kagato
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    The lastest issue of Gamespin, zooms in on the big legal battle over NeverWinter Nights. They have the inside story from the role playing game manager at Wizards of the Coast, Anthony Valterra, who discusses the options open to BioWare, how and when he found out about the legal problems, the contract and licensing for D20, some of the projects Wizard's are involved in and more. Snip:
    So it looks like BioWare is stuck with Interplay and vice versa if either wants to see Neverwinter Nights released. Remember, though, that Interplay once upon a time was making a GURPS game out of Fallout and converted that title into a generic RPG. It would be quite ironic if BioWare managed to do something like that with Neverwinter Nights.
    Sad to see such a promising game get hung up in legal issues.
     
    Kohan :Ahriman's Gift Review
    - Posted 7:02 AM By Kagato
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    Already bored youself out with today's RTS games? Then head on over to The Mushroom and read up on their review of Kohan: Ahriman's Gift. Looks to be a pretty impressive game, and hay, it can't be all that bad if they gave it a perfect score of 10 Mushrooms! Why do they love it? In a word:
    Ever wondered how do you could take the best real-time strategy game on the market and make it better? Ask Timegate Studios and Strategy First. Does that sound like enough of a promotional quote line? How about "Kohan does for RTS gaming what Half-Life did for FPS gaming"? To make sure you appreciate that last statement: A) I absolutely LOVE Half-Life. B) Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns came first, so it's really the one that revolutionized RTS games. C) It really is that good. I'm not just trying to fellate the developers here. After all, Strategy First also brought us Cossacks, and Cossacks hates me. It's just incredible to play a real-time strategy game that has this much variety, depth and challenging gameplay, yet still feels like playing instead of working.
    They only include 3 screen captures from the game (I would hope for more), but none the less, they help give you a pretty good idea of the gameplay.
    Source: The Mushroom
     
    David Kirk Interview
    - Posted 7:08 AM By Kagato
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    The Tech Report has a new interview posted this morning reguarding their talks with the Chief Scientist at nVidia, David Kirk. Dr. Kirk has been the head scientist at nVidia since 1997. He holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and Computer Science degrees, including a Ph.D., from the California Institute of Technology. They cover such topics as new hardware features in GeForce3, the longevity of GeForce3, overclocking, benchmarks, DX8 and more. More snip:
    Will we be seeing any more technology advances using software and our current GeForce3 cards, or are they hardware limited? We're thinking of the introduction of 3D textures with this last Titanium release.

    It is always our goal to provide continuing value and improved performance to our customers with new driver releases. I can't say what's coming, but you can always expect that each release will expose just a little bit more. This is further leveraged by our Universal Driver Architecture strategy. All of our drivers are compatible with all of our hardware, both backwards and forwards. This means that we can very easily expose more and more functionality over time, in a compatible way. I can confirm that there are more hardware features in the GeForce3 that have not yet been exposed in software. Stay tuned!
    I suppose it's a good thing to hear more things coming our way that haven't been introduced yet, but I wonder why they didn't include it with the original drivers? *cough* Marketing *cough*
    Source: The Tech Report
     
      Thursday, Dec 20, 2001 Report News | Archive | Top  
    Windows XP Service Tweak Guide
    - Posted 7:07 AM By Kagato
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    So you've upgraded to Windows XP, but are you sure you've got it running so that you've squeezed every bit of extra memory you can to run your games? If not, head on over and read 3DSpotlight's Windows XP Services Tweak Guide. This handy-dandy guide takes you through the background services many never see including Plug & Play support, Print Spooler, Task Manager, and more. Each service is listed along with a recommendation for that task's settings. Not only does this tweaking free up some additional RAM, it reduces the footprint size of the kernel (OS) which helps improve response as well.
    Source: 3DSpotlight
     
    Ages of Athiria Revealed
    - Posted 7:15 AM By Kagato
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    For those who can't get enough of the never-ending supply of new MMORPG's, Elysian Productions is pleased to announce their upcoming offering titled Ages of Athiria. The game is best described as a fantasy flavored persistent world roleplaying game set in a world with the usual cavalcade of character classes, races and monsters (heard that one before eh?). The game will use a skill system that sounds allot like Ultima Online's (at this early stage, anyway), a fully 3D game world and will offer both third-person and first-person perspective. You can learn more by reading the FAQ, history section, as well as their About section. If you could care less about the background and more about the graphics, then head on over to their Art section. Graphic wise, this game looks to be on par, if not a tad better than Dark Age of Camelot.
     
    DivX v4.12
    - Posted 7:21 AM By Kagato
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    There's a new version of DivX available for download. Version 4.12 of the DivX codec fixes some minor issues which include:
  • Fixes a crash on Pentium 4 when encoding in YUV12 mode
  • Fixes a crash on buggy VIA motherboards (in both the encoder and decoder)
  • Adds more complete support for future advanced DivX video features
  • With the recent government crackdown on warez, perhaps DivX movies aren't in quite the demand as they used to be.
     
    Operation Flashpoint v1.4
    - Posted 9:16 PM By Kagato
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    The folks over at Codemasters have released Ultimate Upgrade 4 (i.e. Patch v1.40) for their fairly recently released title, Operation Flashpoint, weighing in at 6MB. Not go get too confusing, but "Upgrade 3 is required before running this patch. If running version 1.0, or 1.1 of Operation Flashpoint, you will first need to install Upgrade 2. Once you are patched to version 1.2, you can install Upgrade 3." Got it? Ok, now on to the updates/fixes:
    New multi-player mission:
  • Real Paintball - A fast-paced paintball-style multiplayer game.

    New multi-player features:
  • New TIME LEFT feature on multiplayer info screen.

    New command line argument:
    * -cfg command line argument to enable selection of Flashpoint.cfg.

    Updated v1.4 game code, including new multiplayer features, optimisations and bug fixes:
    1.40 - Added: Estimated Timeleft reporting in MP missions.
    1.40 - Improved: Captives in MP mission 2-5Cooperative will join player's squad after being rescued.
    1.40 - Fixed: BMP2 commander view selections.
    1.40 - Fixed: Host cannot insert markers at briefing.
    1.40 - Fixed: SCUD has now 3 cargo seats instead of 4 (4th position was undefined).
  • Grab that patch soldier and get back in the game!
     
    Marjor WinXP Security Hole
    - Posted 9:23 PM By Kagato
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    Although it's not really game related, there is a serious security hole in Windows XP so you'd be best to run Windows Update ASAP. Evidently the flaws stem from the Universal Plug and Play feature (you know turn on your microwave, tv, A/C, etc. from your laptop) inherant to every copy of XP (and possibly, if added manually, to Windows ME.) The word according to the Washington Post:
    A Microsoft official acknowledged that the risk to consumers was unprecedented because the glitches allow hackers to seize control of all Windows XP operating system software without requiring a computer user to do anything except connect to the Internet.
    Ouch, this type of news can't come at a worst time (i.e. Christmas shopping season) for an Operating System that Microsoft toughts as it's most advanced and most secure one yet! Flintstones, meet the Flintstones...
     
      Friday, Dec 21, 2001 Report News | Archive | Top  
    Warcraft III Beta Signup Coming Soon
    - Posted 9:09 PM By Kagato
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    Well, come Monday, January 7 (that's 2002!) @ 11PM PST, you may be one of five thousand lucky gamers who get a shot at beta-testing Blizzard's upcoming title, Warcraft III. No remember, you only get 24 hours from the opening of registration to apply. Snip:
    Following the registration period, we will randomly select 5,000 testers based on a variety of system configurations and locations. Please note that multiple submissions will result in disqualification.

    The beta, which will be playable only over Battle.net, will give selected testers a chance to play all four races -- Humans, Orcs, Night Elves and Undead. Each race is armed with unique units, magical abilities, and impressive weapons designed to aid them in combat as they renew their struggle for dominance. For more information on Warcraft III, please visit http://www.blizzard.com/war3/.
    Nothing like the chance at playing games for free! Something to look forward to in the coming year!
     
    Model Train Simulator Trainz Demo
    - Posted 9:20 PM By Kagato
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    What better way to spend Christmas than playing with your new model train set? Not getting one? No worries! Strategy First has a demo (55MB) up for your downloading pleasure of the model train simulator Trainz from Australian developer Auran. The release is supposed to be available early next year. Snip:
    Trainz is quite unique in its approach and features elements that have not been addressed in other games like it. Players are able to design and build their very own virtual railroad. They create their own imaginative environments where their tracks will lie and when they're done they can grab their engineer caps and ride the rails!

    The Surveyor Editor featured in the game will allow players to shape moutains, canyons and valleys all in a matter of seconds. They will control survey and route planning for a rail company and allows them to cut grades through hills, bore tunnels, construct bridges and position scenery objects. Using the Trainz driver module, players can climb into the cab of any of their locomotives and rotate in a full 360 degree vision from various positions.
    Chuga-chuga choo-choo!
     
    Quake II Source Code Released
    - Posted 9:25 PM By Kagato
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    id Software's John Carmack has updated his .plan to announce the availability of the Quake II source code, an early Christmas present to all. From the man himself:
    The Quake 2 source code is now available for download, licensed under the GPL.

    ftp://ftp.idsoftware.com/idstuff/source/quake2.zip

    As with previous source code releases, the game data remains under the original copyright and license, and cannot be freely distributed. If you create a true total conversion, you can give (or sell) a complete package away, as long as you abide by the GPL source code license. If your projects use the original Quake 2 media, the media must come from a normal, purchased copy of the game.

    I'm sure I will catch some flack about increased cheating after the source release, but there are plenty of Q2 cheats already out there, so you are already in the position of having to trust the other players to a degree. The problem is really only solvable by relying on the community to police itself, because it is a fundamentally unwinnable technical battle to make a completely cheat proof game of this type. Play with your friends.
    As long as John keeps releasing old source every alternate (that's every other) year, then come Christmas 2003 we should have Quake III source! By then Quake V or VI should be reigning supreme!
     
    Play Quake III? Run Linux? Get Patch!
    - Posted 9:31 PM By Kagato
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    Not sure how many there are out there who play their games under Linux, but for those who do, id Software has now released the Linux version 1.31 patch for Quake III Arena and Team Arena. Grab your copy here from their FTP. Weighing in at just over 27MB, the patch fixes a sound crash and some incompatibilities, a Driver Info crash and a few minor issues, as well as adding a quake3.xpm icon.
     
    DarkSpace - Another MMOG Goes Live
    - Posted 9:47 PM By Kagato
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    Starting today, the MMOG DarkSpace switches gear and heads into pay for play. Those who had been playing in the massively multiplayer space game are now required to pay a $9.95 monthly subscription in order to continue their trek through space. As before, the DarkSpace client, which offers both a tutorial and a demo mode, is still available as a free download. Curious what it's about? In a word:
    Hundreds of players will join together online in a fast paced struggle for mankind's destiny. Individual mission goals will vary and successful completion of objectives will alter the galaxy toward that faction's favor. The galaxy is designed to be altered directly by concerted player effort. By cooperation within a faction or group, players will achieve scenario objectives and push back the rival factions. Random events are possible and will definitely require player cooperation to save the chosen faction from obliteration.

    The ship the player chooses determines their role in the Universe. The scout helps lift the fog of war, while the battle cruiser smashes the enemy. Transports carry troops for planetary invasions and the engineering ship builds defense platforms and sensor stations.
    Hmm, for those who remember the days of old BBS door-games, this sounds quite familiar to the old Tradewars game, with a few new kicks!
     
      Saturday, Dec 22, 2001 Report News | Archive | Top  
    Sober Santa Bringing Holiday Cheer
    - Posted 8:44 AM By Kagato
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    Need a little break from the monotony of today's FPShooters?Here's a fun little game to get you in the Christmas mood. The point is to see how tanked you can get Santa and still stay on the roof. It's called Sober Santa and is brought to you by Rancon Games. If you have "issues" with seeing a animated character drinking, burping, farting, and falling off of a roof (that character being Santa), then you might want to skip it. Cheers!
     
    Ultima IV : The Dawn of Virtue Q&A
    - Posted 9:02 AM By Kagato
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    Now before you ask "You sure that's Ultima IV? Wasn't it out like an ice age ago?" because the answer is yes, it is a much dated game released many years ago. But now there is a group working on a remake and GameSpyDaily has an interview with dialogue writer Laura Campbell and project lead Jaakko Peltonen reguarding their work on the classic title. Here's a snip:
    GameSpy: Tell us about the engine that's being used for this game. You've obviously put a lot of extra effort into its design. Give us a list of features that it offers and what are some of the special features you hope to implement by the time the game is ready to go?

    Jaakko Peltonen: Well, here are some features of the engine:
    - High-resolution rendered background graphics (similar to graphics seen in the Baldur's Gate games)
    - 3d modeled and textured characters (polygon-based and dynamically rendered)
    - Support for several resolutions from 800x600 up, in 24-bit color.
    - digital music (currently intended to be in Ogg Vorbis format)
    - mouse-driven interface (in contrast to a keyboard interface, as in the original)
    - a continuous world: explore cities and other sights on the surface of the world or travel through the wilderness, all on the same huge map
    - real-time gameplay
    - configurable combat AI for characters in the player's party - 'paper doll' inventory
    - branching dialogue system with both pre-given responses and keyword support

    Regarding special features, there are a few things in the game that we think will be very intriguing, such as spell research: the player may be able to discover new combinations of reagents and command words that give new or more potent spell effects. This feature is actually present in the original game in a limited way, but we'll expand upon it in the remake.
    Nothing like the re-introduction of an old classic for all us old school folk.
    Source: GameSpyDaily
     
    Sven Co-Op Half-Life Mod Beta 2.0
    - Posted 9:09 AM By Kagato
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    For those that still can't get enough Half-Life mods and add-ons, Beta 2.0 of the Sven Co-op mod has been released over at the official web site. According to them, this latest Beta is quite a leap over the previous release. What's new?:
  • New weapons, monsters, player models, etc.
  • All but two of the Valve Single-player map chapters fully playable (still working on the last two)
  • New, high-quality maps, by people such as Tylak, FireArms Lead Map Designer.
  • New mapping features, such as per-monster model replacement
  • Tons and tons of bugfixes, smaller features, tweaks, etc. (Voting system, MP3 player, bonus features, etc.)
  • Something to pass the time when you're not playing Counter-Strike.
     
      Wednesday, Dec 26, 2001 Report News | Archive | Top  
    Alienware PCs - Available Via BestBuy?
    - Posted 9:30 PM By Kagato
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    Alienware PCs are now being sold through BestBuy.com. It's a sign of the times when you see such a mainstream retailer like BestBuy forge something with a company dedicated to killer gaming machines.
    BestBuy.com has become the first online retailer to offer personal computers from Alienware Corp. Systems offered include Alienware’s Area-51 model 2.0 GHz and 1.6 GHz systems, which are available in Space Black, Conspiracy Blue or Saucer Silver.

    "We have customers who are looking for products that are beyond ordinary in technology, performance and style. With the addition of Alienware, we can meet the demanding needs of the advanced PC user and strengthen our position in the PC market,” stated Arnel de Jesus, BestBuy.com's general manager of computers and photo imaging.
    I can only hope this proves fruitful and that someday you can walk into BestBuy and walk out with an Alienware PC, rather than doing it all online.
    Source: ieMag
     
    Arcanum Level Cap Hack
    - Posted 9:36 PM By Kagato
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    Terra Arcanum has a fun little file posted for those of you playing Troika Games' Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura and aren't too fond of the level 50 cap. This nifty little level cap hack raises the game's level cap to 127. Weighing in at just over 1MB, it includes both a hacked arcanum.exe and an updated experience table, simply extract it to your Arcanum directory.
     
    Aging Consoles Still Kicking
    - Posted 9:45 PM By Kagato
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    Christmas is gone, along with what little funds you had in your wallet, and you didn't even get that new PS2 or XBox for Christmas! What's a gamer to do if they can't afford to pony of the cashola for todays pay-out-your-nose consoles? C|Net News has written up an article on the state of "legacy" console systems, detailing how previous generation systems (i.e. PS1 and Dreamcast) are available for cheap prices and still boasting a large software catalogue.
    Sega's Dreamcast is only two years old but was such a commercial disappointment that the company completely abandoned the hardware market early in 2001 to be strictly a game publisher. The price of the console has plummeted since as the company clears out its inventory, to its current bargain-basement value of $49.99.

    Two-thirds less expensive than at this time last year, Dreamcast plays hundreds of games, all reasonably priced between $9.99 and $39.99. It also plays music CDs and has a telephone jack for online game play. No other console currently offers that, not even Microsoft's Xbox, which has a broadband port built-in but no online gaming until early next year. While it may be hard to get a Dreamcast at your local retailer, since there are so few left in inventory, used units are in abundance at online auction sites and can in some cases be had for under $35.
    Who knew it was so easy, and cheap, to be old-school, especially with something only several years old!
     
    Magic :The Gathering Online
    - Posted 9:53 PM By Kagato
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    While it may not float everybody's boat, the gents at UnknownPlayer have updated their site with a new "experience" article. This round, they take on Wizards of the Coast's upcoming online game based on Magic: The Gathering Trading Cards, properly titled Magic: The Gathering Online (catchy huh?!) slated for a Spring 2002 release. The article tells of the author's woes and countless hours of fun playing the game. Word:
    M:TGOL is essentially poor-man-with-no-friends's Magic: The Gathering, unless the plan on making people buy booster packs in-game with real money. Then, it's rich-man-with-no-friend's Magic: The Gathering. The beta experience has been enjoyable enough to keep me out of EQ for a while, even if the guy I'm currently playing has lost connection seven times. Is M:TGOL something that is going to beat even AC in terms of subscription numbers? Probably not, but it is a nice kick back to a game that was legitimately balanced with just enough luck, player skill, and monetary resources to make it worth while.
    Imagine all the fun, and you won't need to shell out hundred of dollars to own a Beta Black Lotus!
     
      Thursday, Dec 27, 2001 Report News | Archive | Top  
    Playnet Bankruptcy And World War II Offline?
    - Posted 7:29 AM By Kagato
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    File this one under "sux0rz!". Icrontic has word that Playnet has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. Being that Playnet owned Cornered Rat Studios, creators of World War II Online, this more than likely will mean the game will gone as well. Word:
    Well, in no surprise, Playnet has filed for Chapter 11 bankrupcty. I got an appearance and demand for service letter today from their lawyer in re to PLAYNET INC., a Texas coperation, filing for Chapter 11, case No 01-49209-BJH-11. The same letter was mailed to all of Playnet's debtors, including credit card companies and past affiliates. Apparently I'm not going to get paid what's owed to me (I'll have to see my lawyer about it), which is around five months back pay. I was the biggest money making affiliate at Playnet, and was owed the most money out of any other affiliate in the network. Playnet also owns Cornered Rat Software, which developed World War II Online. I would presume they are going to be shutting down as well.
    It appears as if this may have possibly already happened, as both the Cornered Rat Software and WWII Online pages are unavailable as of this morning.
    Source: Icrontic
     
    Warning To Motor City Online Players
    - Posted 7:40 AM By Kagato
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    For those of you into EA's Motor City Online, there's updated news regarding a player who was busted for conning fellow club members out of their cars. Apparently, the player was joining clubs, earned their confidence, and then tricked them into "loaning" him their cars. He then made off with the cars which were then sold on eBay (pathetic - considering they aren't REAL cars!). The warning goes something like this:
    The bottom line: who you trade with. We will return scammed items only if there's indisputable proof of a rip-off, and only if the items are still in the scammer's inventory. (We are capable of tracking "laundering" operations, so if multiple scammers are involved, we will bust them all.) But when evidence is unclear, or when the items have been traded to an innocent third party, the unfortunate victim will probably never see these items again. Two recommended policies for all players: always get collateral for "loaned" items (even when trading with someone you know); and never trade anything you can't live without.
    I'm still trying to figure out why somebody would bid on a car for an online game!?
     
    Tools For AvP2 Modders
    - Posted 7:47 AM By Kagato
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    Sierra and Monolith have apparently released a mod tool package for their recently released Aliens Vs Predator 2. You can download the 8.73MB file over at FilePlanet, which includes the following tools:
  • DEdit, the AvP2 world editor (also contains texture and sprite utilities).
  • ModelEdit, the AvP2 model editor.
  • LithRez, a command-line program for packing and unpacking AvP2 .REZ (Resource) files.
  • Softimage 3.7 exporters.
  • Maya and 3d Studio Max Exporters
  • Sample level files.
  • Ready, set, mod!
     
    Playstation 2 Games Currently Dominate Market
    - Posted 7:54 AM By Kagato
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    According to this C|Net article, despite falling console sales (how many people care to shell out $400 for an XBox), it seems that the games for the Playstation 2 are still selling, even moreso than those of its rivals (i.e Xbox and GameCube):
    Of the top 20 selling games for the first half of December, eight were PS2 titles, four were games for Sony's earlier PlayStation console, four titles were for Nintendo's Game Boy Advance handheld device and two were games for Nintendo's GameCube. One game each for Nintendo's Game Boy Color and Microsoft's Xbox made the list.
    Now granted 2002 may bring a different story, but that'll be something that we'll just have to wait and see.
    Source: C|Net
     
    Quake 3 Arena Point Release Converter
    - Posted 8:00 AM By Kagato
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    RailBait.Com features a Quake III Arena point release conversion utility which allows for automated switching between the Q3A Point Release versions of 1.30 and 1.31. Why would anybody not want to run the newest patch? Well, there are some mods that require the different versions (i.e. haven't been patched to work with the newest update) hence the need to switch between Point Releases. There's also a mirror of the file over at Planet Quake3.
     
      Friday, Dec 28, 2001 Report News | Archive | Top  
    Stomped Closes Up Shop
    - Posted 7:16 AM By Kagato
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    I imagine that many of you have already heard the news that Stomped, one of the most popular figures in the gaming news website community, has officially closed shop today to focus on other money making ventures. Common visitors may have noticed the website being unavailabe for most of the holiday, this was apparently due to a hard drive failure, of which there were no employees around to fix it. This apparently sped up a decision for the closing of Stomped. HomeLan Fed written up an interview with Stomped that explains why this happened, what the folks from Stomped will be up to in the future, and more.
     
    Getting Into The Biz
    - Posted 7:27 AM By Kagato
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    For those who have thought about a career in the gaming industry, PC Game Central has posted a Q&A all about Getting into the Biz. In this session, they sat down with Harvard Bonin of Westwood Studios to discuss important things such as how he got into gaming, the best and worst of his job, 3 qualities needed to be a producer and more. Snip:
    Who/What is the greatest influence on your job?

    Harvard: I've had many influences throughout the years but I think my current Executive Producer/VP has had the most profound effect on my skills and attitude. When I first started working with him I thought I knew everything. That seems to be the curse for most young developers. Now, 5 years later, I'm still learning and I expect this will continue through my career. Beyond that, my parents had an incredible effect on me. The commitment to working hard, being patient, ethical and fair was instilled into me early on. Hopefully I've achieved that but I'm not sure since my Dad feels the need to give me regular advice about my life. Oh well, maybe he'll be satisfied some day! :)
    TGIF!
    Source: PC Game Central
     
    Soul Reaver 2 Patch
    - Posted 7:54 AM By Kagato
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    Eidos Interactive has released a new patch for Soul Reaver 2. This 11.3MB patch upgrades the game to version 1.02 and fixes the following:
  • The user can now configure all directional buttons.
  • The user can now map keyboard buttons to pan the camera left or right.
  • An option was added to disable camera control using the gamepad. This allows the user to fix problems with certain gamepads where the camera was constantly spinning around.
  • Camera control using the gamepad had problems where sometimes the camera would rotate really slow, and sometimes really fast. This is fixed now.
  • An option was added to not play the opening FMA. This can possibly help users which get corrupted graphics (due to driver issues) after the movie has been played.
  • Pressing ALT-TAB during either the opening FMA or the credits FMA sometimes crashed the game. This was fixed.
  • A much higher percieved framerate can be expected on certain highend machines. An issue was fixed which could make the framerate appear very low, while in reality it was extremely high.
  • Upgraded to the latest version of SafeDisc. It should offer improved stability.
  • You can either run the update on either a clean install of the game, or upgrade from v1.01.
     
    No Items Quake 3: Q3A MOD
    - Posted 10:46 AM By WaRMaN
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    No Items Quake 3 (NIQ3) is a MOD, in my opinion, that was over-looked. This MOD places you in the deathmatch scene with the same weapon as everyone else. Then after 30 seconds the weapon for everyone randomly switches. You now must duel it out with the new (same) weapon. This MOD is a test of true skill. You must be skillful with a majority of the weapons to be victorious.

    There are no powerups on the maps to revive you, so your attacks must be precise. Some weapon rotations include the normal weapons, and a few combos:

  • Haste with Grenade Launcher
  • Flight with Rail Gun
  • QUAD GAUNTLET! <- My favorite
  • and a few more
  • Last thing which deserves a mention to you single game players. NIQ3 allows you to use it's game play in the single player mode. Do it all over again with a mix. You can download the 1.5 MB file here.
     

      Monday, Dec 31, 2001 Report News | Archive | Top  
    QFrag: Q3A MOD
    - Posted 11:58 AM By WaRMaN
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    For a different twist on deathmatch for Quake 3, download QFrag (1 Mb). The game mixes powerful weapons with a radar that tells you the where abouts of the enemy. The radar is read by a 3 color system. Green = with you, Blue = above you, and Red = below you. All three and you are staring down your enemy. The game also features an off hand grapple with "hanging" capability, and jump boots for scooting across the map a little faster.

    The weapons are the default weapons with a little punch added to them. Here are a few examples:

  • SHOTGUN-Extremely high powered with double slug firing
  • PLASMA GUN-These projectiles are bouncing balls and one can get lost when they are fired
  • RAIL GUN-It fires quickly and penetrates walls like it would in the real world
  • GRENADE LAUNCHER-Fires straight fast and true to exploded into 4 more grenades that clear a area also there is a bind for detonate in the setup/controls/misc menu to explode the grenades sooner if you like
  • The game installs easy, and is worth some playing time with others or bots.
     

    Quake II Goes ASCII
    - Posted 8:50 PM By Kagato
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    What do you get when you cross Quake 2, Linux and good 'ol ASCII text? Well, apparently you get something like this. Play Quake 2 in a whole new way - ASCII text!
    Why?

    Why not? You can watch TV in text mode, you can play DVDs in text mode, you can play Quake 1 in text mode. Quake II is the logical next step. Or, as the author of ttyquake put it, "If you have to ask why, you're not a member of the intended audience."
    Wonder how long we'll have to wait to see Q3/Q3A running in ASCII?!
     
    Counter-Strike Configurator+
    - Posted 8:58 PM By Kagato
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    There's a new release of the Counter-Strike Configurator up for grabs, actually they're calling it CS Configurator+ with the new 3.0 release. One major change is that the previously shareware download, is now freeware. What all is new?
  • Counter-Strike Configurator is now freeware (you can use all functions: Bindings, CVARs, change HUDs and Sprites, etc.)
  • New design
  • New sprites - sniper scopes (22), radars (10), console bg's(11)
  • New option - maps cycling list - create your own trip by C.S. maps!
  • You will be able to choose more than 40 hidden C.S. preferences
  • Configure your CS and bind your keys with an easy to use interface
  • And a lot of other new things
  • End of line...
     
    Guts vs Guts - What's Running Your Console?
    - Posted 9:17 PM By Kagato
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    There's an article at EDN which explores the internals to your favorite console systems on the market today. Here's a snip:
    Xbox's multimedia-processing architecture differs from that of its competitors in several key areas. Unlike both PS2 and GameCube, the graphics accelerator in Xbox's Nvidia-designed graphics-processing unit doesn't employ separate DRAM arrays for main memory and for the frame buffer, Z-buffer, and texture-buffer graphics functions. Instead, the 233-MHz graphics-processing unit employs a unified, or shared, memory array in which the DDR SDRAM handles all of these tasks. Unified-memory-array architectures have economic appeal but have until recent years achieved limited success, primarily due to low memory bandwidth. Xbox's 400-Mbps-per-pin DDR SDRAM speed neatly solves the performance problem, further aided by Nvidia's TwinBank crossbar memory controller, whose dual 64-bit banks enable the CPU and graphics subsystem to simultaneously access the memory array for higher sustained bandwidth usage.
    More technical jargon than you can shake a stick at, that's for sure!
     
     
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