We have a very large list of things we added to make developing a game easier for the level designers. First and foremost is our scripting system, "Morpheus," which we inherited from development on Sin. This allows a level designer to script actions and control just about every aspect of a level from a text file. Since most level designers are not programmers, the language is not super complicated and it's fairly easy to learn when compared to learning a full programming language like C++.

We also added an advanced particle effects system called "Ghost". This too is accessible through a text file. For instance the Uzi has about 6 effects that make it all work. It has a 2 part muzzleflash, smoke, bullet casing ejecting, impact marks, and debris falling off when a bullet hits a wall.

Attention Settlers: 10SIX will officially launch on the afternoon of Monday, February 28th! At that time Planet Visitor will be wiped clean, so Pre-Order your subscription to 10SIX today and get ready to secure your plot of land!

We more than doubled our number of Pre-Order subscriptions over the President's Day weekend! Join the ever increasing masses of players who won't be caught sleeping when 10SIX goes live-- Pre-Order your subscription today! CLICK HERE!

There’s a new patch (version 4.42) for NFS3: High Stakes. A list of game changes are listed on the download page.

Classic CTF Quake 3 Beta has been released. A quick copy/paste reveals this: “The Classic CTF mod incorporates the feel of q1ctf and q2ctf seamlessly. It has brought back most of the things we loved about the older ctf games, namely playability and the grapple! There are four runes now, strength, haste, regeneration and resistance like we had in q1 and q2. Some changes (fixes!) to the sounds and some changes to the cosmetics of some items. Drop runes, weapons, ammo and flags! One of the weapons brought back to life is the SNG (Super Nail Gun) from quake 1. Included with this beta release is one new map.”

The recent Second Genesis announcement raised more questions than it answered. Please tell us more about the concept and story.

Scott: In this game, we aim to combine science fact with science fiction. Remember that it is a game after all. Second Genesis is the codename for a top-secret project that was created to preserve the human race through seeding another planet--sort of a fail-safe plan. Around 1950, not long after the Roswell crash, astronomers discovered that a planetary system revolved around Procyon; all indications suggested a solar system containing planets capable of supporting human life. That was the first domino to fall.

Paul: In a way, the story has a bit of a Noah's Ark feel to it, and in a way, it pays homage to all those great science fiction tales that postulate a new beginning. In Second Genesis, though, the men in lab coats made some serious blunders while getting the project up to speed, and those blunders create a very interesting game situation.

DR: Many developers in the industry (most recently Hal Barwood of Lucas Arts) have complained that computer games don't really have AI, but AS -- artificial stupidity. What are some of the advances that Deus Ex is going to make in terms of computer-controlled AI (or AS)?

WS: I actually think Hal and others underestimate what we're doing in gaming AI-wise -- what they themselves are doing! No, we're not where we want to be and, maybe, where we need to be. But we're doing a pretty decent job of confronting players with interesting characters who behave in more or less believable ways. Where many people -- even many developers -- go wrong is in assuming that the goal of AI should be to recreate human behavior. It's hard to avoid thinking like that, especially in a game like Deus Ex where you're supposed to be in the real world. I fall prey to that kind of thinking all the time (much to my chagrin and, even more, probably, to the chagrin of the team!)

RPOV: The "Masquerade" is a rule that the Vampires must follow in order to hide their culture from humans. Since this rule is quite sacred, will there be some sort of in game penalty (or even death) if a vampire reveals their true self to a human and doesn't (ehem) silence them?

Nihilistic: The Masquerade is actually something that only exists in the modern day timeframe, back in the Dark Ages the clans were much more fragmented and Vampires were less discrete about their nature. According to the license, this is why you have a lot more mythology and superstition in those days; the Kindred were more exposed to normal society. All that changed around the time of the Inquisition. Its a cool aspect to the license, the whole "death of legends" thing has always been a great literary theme. Its nice to imagine that the supernatural hasn't left the world, just gone into hiding.

The Q3Fortress (http://www.q3fortress.com) Mod for Quake 3 Arena was released last night to a large group of Alpha testers made up mostly of Quakeworld Team Fortress and Team Fortress Classic Clans. The Testing was loads of fun and the mod already looks great at it's first release. A bunch of screen shots of the first night of testing can be found at: http://www.qiiiarena.com

incite: Does John Mullins ever stop by your office to intimidate Raven employees? Is he as hard as you make him out to be?

Love: John Mullins has been to Raven several times and only once did he ever beat somebody up. Hey, Jeff Lampo (an artist) had it coming; he shouldn’t have taken the last can of Sprite from the vending machine.

DR: How will control issues be addressed?

RP: The best thing we can do is support an end user's free choice of interface. This means that we should allow end-users to make their own configurations. And, since you can already get a PC style interface for your Dreamcast (keyboard etc), even the most finicky game players can find a configuration they are happy with. But the good news is that the Dreamcast standard controller is designed in such a way that for most games (particularly for those used to playing console games), the control will feel very natural. Gearbox and Valve will be working closely with Captivation (the team doing the technology port) to make sure we're happy with the control scheme. And since we've all played just about every PC first-person game that's gone to a console -- and had the same complaints everyone has about the controls -- you can imaging that the default configuration we come up with for this title will be as good as it can get.

1st place: DOM-Reliquary- by ruineR
http://www.planetunreal.com/ruiner

2nd place: DOM-Hysteria- by Entropy and CyanLongBow
http://www.unreality.org/cyan/mainmaps.htm

3rd place: DOM-Syncronicity][- by No ReMoRsE
http://mappershaven.homestead.com/mappershaven.html

Trigger Darts" - I wanted to include something you could shoot, but the Mouse metaphor kind of falls apart there. What would a mouse shoot? I'm open to suggestions. As a placeholder, I've added these Trigger Darts -- purple meaningless cone pickups that you can accumulate and fire using your AltFire key. Firing them at the ball is a way of foiling your opponents from afar. Firing them at Mouse Fans (because of as-yet not completed code) will eventually cause the fans to disappear. You can still score a headshot on a Mouse Fan. Watch how fans from the opposing team react when you do.

MouseFan Cheers - MouseFans rooting for your team go bonkers when you score a goal.

Ball Behavior - The ball now behaves more like a ball should. It continues to get nudged as you kick it, it moves faster when you're powered by cheese. It no longer freezes and trips you up.

Still to come:

- Some semblance of documentation and more screen shots. Not much of a site yet....
- Better Blimp - I'm going to render this and make it an Actor. Moving brushes can only do so much
- Mouse Fan Jeers - If fans for your team LIKE what you do, the opposing fans should hate it, right?
- Wandering Mouse Fans - I'd like to see those guys walking around the stadium a bit.
- New Arena (s) - I want to make a pinball-style arena with bumpers that fling mice all over the place, and a booby trap arena, and maybe a MouseBall On Ice level.
- Single Player version - booby traps, puzzles, maybe a Cat...who knows?

To install the Bonus Pack, just double click the .umod file and it should begin installing. If you are having trouble, extract the ZIP file to a temporary folder such as C:\Temp, and then use Start Run to run the following command:
C:\UnrealTournament\System\Setup.exe install C:\temp\UTBonusPack.umod

"I don't understand how High Command can believe success is possible in this new "mission". We've fought back and triumphed against vastly superior odds before, but the prospect of facing SIX well- equipped strike teams worries even me. There's only so long a human can stay alert and fit in combat before finally succumbing to the need to rest. We're not robots here -- we're men and women made out of flesh and blood. If we are going to have any shot at coming out of this mess with our heads still attached we need to end the fight quickly. We can't let this fight turn into a war of attrition because if that happens, we won't have the resources or endurance to continue that kind of fight for long. Now you all know what's ahead of us, so let's go, go, go!"

-256x64 Jungle

-Designed for 2 Players

-Use Map Settings

-Veteran-Level Scenario

If Blizzard has its way, Warcraft III will once again change the playing field for strategy/RPG fans everywhere -- and all we can say about it is thank god. Strategy games have begun to smell a bit like that old pond behind the ranch house, but with any luck we'll all be drinking some fresh mountain spring water from Blizzard mountain come this winter. And hopefully I'll stop making wretch-tastic metaphors like the previous one when that time comes.

Computer Game Fan ponyed up a small preview of Gunship!, MicroProse’s new WWIII flight sim. They also include three shots.

"Evolva was inspired by many of the hot topics for the millennium such as cloning, genetic engineering and the genetically engineered food debate", Vince explained.

UC: If you had one paragraph to sum up Duke Nukem Forever. What would you say?

JA: Take all the action, suspense and thrill of you favorite movie, mix it with a healthy dose of Duke attitude and then tie it in with an incredible story and allow it to unfold under your complete control.

A moose head

Cuckoo Clock

4 Extra Wall Lights

5 Bonus Skins

a Slot Machine

5 New Houses, and more...

No one ever accused Ultima IX of lacking in the graphics department. The game shipped with absolutely beautiful scenery and landscapes; the game designers and artists obviously put a lot of thought into the details of Britannia. If the game would've shipped with a decent frame rate and more robust support for DirectX, U9 would've been the most visually impressive game of all time. However, unless you were playing the game on a weather-predicting Cray supercomputer being cooled by liquid nitrogen your experience was probably a lot like watching a slide show.

"No one ever accused Ultima IX of lacking in the graphics department. The game shipped with absolutely beautiful scenery and landscapes; the game designers and artists obviously put a lot of thought into the details of Britannia. If the game would've shipped with a decent frame rate and more robust support for DirectX, U9 would've been the most visually impressive game of all time. However, unless you were playing the game on a weather-predicting Cray supercomputer being cooled by liquid nitrogen your experience was probably a lot like watching a slide show."

By pre-ordering Allegiance at store locations, or online at EB World or Gamestop, gamers will receive an additional month of free Allegiance Zone membership ($9.95 value), plus either a Limited Edition Strategy Guide (for pre-orders from Electronic Boutique) or 16 Microsoft Allegiance Collector Cards (for pre-orders from Babbages & Software Etc.). Combine this offer with the one month of free Allegiance Zone membership already available with the retail purchase of the game, and players receive two free months of larger-scale games, special events, persistent scoring and rankings, and exclusive new content. Microsoft encourages gamers to place their pre-orders early, as all offers are based on limited quantities.

Wake up, shower, eat, work, sleep, repeat?. Sound boring? Maybe in real life, but not in Maxis and Electronics Arts newest sim game, The Sims. From our most basic tasks like going to the bathroom, to our most complex emotions like falling in love, The Sims has it all and then some...Highly Addictive. That's the best way to sum up this game. It will have you spending more time with your virtual family than your real one.

Grand Theft Auto 2 is definitely a fun and addictive game. I mean, who wouldn’t want to walk around the city with semi automatics killing everything that moves. Then when the police, secret service, and the army want you, you steal a tank and start massacring them. After you finish manhandling them, it would be about time to take over the world!! Muhahahahah... er, no, I don’t need a psychiatrist, thank you very much.

New 1st person perspectives in rich, highly detailed environments

Employ stealth, espionage action, and overwhelming fire power as each mission demands.

Full arsenal of exciting Q-lab gadgets.

Over 10 exciting missions in exotic locations - race through Istanbul, fight your way through
a Russian nuclear submarine in Baku, and ski your way through the Caucasus Mountains.

Follow the plot through real-time 3-D cinematics and exciting clips from the blockbuster movie.

Improved precision targeting for your lethal arsenal of more than 20 weapons.

Full Internet and LAN multiplayer support. (PC only)

3 new character skins: the Skaarj Hybrid, Nali, and the Nali WarCow. 11 new levels: DM-Agony, DM-Cybrosis][, DM-ArcaneTemple, DM-Malevolence, DM-Shrapnel][, DM-HealPod][, DM-Mojo][, CTF-Cybrosis][, CTF-Hydro16, CTF-Noxion16, and CTF-Darji16. Additionally, Epic has included relics to your game which extends re-playability to UT.

Every level designer has developed his or her own unique style of design. What are some of the things you do in deathmatch or single player levels to make your levels stand apart from others?

I disagree that every level designer has their own unique style. I only wish it were so, as I review level after level from off the net. When I check these levels out, even stuff that gets high ratings on the level review sites, I usually am bored out of my skull by what I see. With a few noteworthy exceptions, most everything out there just looks the same to me.

Here's what I do. It's dangerous, so be forewarned! I never copy anyone else blatantly. I make every map different from the last map I've done, and I never follow trends or what is perceived to be cool, especially on the Internet.

I build levels to please myself. That's why they are different.

Microsoft announced today that a new civilization has been added to Allegiance, its online space-action game that is currently in open beta. Coming to stores in April, Allegiance will be playable on the MSN Gaming Zone (http://www.zone.com) as well as via independent game servers worldwide. Allegiance combines furious space combat with the social challenge of squadron-based combat in a stunning 3D universe.

In the game's story line, the earth is destroyed and the remaining survivors have taken flight into space. Instead of banding together for mutual survival, humanity divides into several warring factions such as the Iron Coalition, GigaCorp, The Bios, and others, squabbling over the remaining resources critical to survival. The new civilization, the Belters, joins this mix of factions. They are comprised of a loose collection of independent traders, prospectors, pirates, and privateers. Led by unlikely hero Orion Sholes, the Belters pilot an odd mix of captured and jury-rigged equipment referred to as the "Junkyard Armada." Once the game ships, the Belters faction will only be accessible to subscribers of the Allegiance Zone.

Allegiance will be available in retail stores for an anticipated street price of US$40. Gamers can then choose to play on public-domain servers free of charge or access the Allegiance Zone, a subscription service that provides larger-scale games, special events, persistent scoring and rankings, and new exclusive content such as the Belters faction. Players are eligible for one free month on the Allegiance Zone ($9.95 value) with game purchase. The MSN Gaming Zone will host the Allegiance Zone as well as a continuously updated list of free game servers worldwide. The Allegiance Server Code will be also be made available as a free download to parties interested in hosting game servers.

Allegiance is currently in open beta. Gamers are welcome to download the game and joins thousands of other combatants in interstellar war. For details visit:

http://www.microsoft.com/games/allegiance/beta.htm

In Allegiance, players can pilot and customize many different classes of ships; from scouts and fighters to battle cruisers. They also have the ability to switch between a variety of combat roles, including pilot, turret gunner or base commander. Hundreds of players can engage each other in death-match style arenas or in cooperative play. Gamers will be able to represent their identity, through recorded accomplishments and medals, giving combatants the chance to become part of an ongoing, dynamic universe. Allegiance also features rich strategic elements such as controllable assets, researchable technology and command features.

The interview goes over 3 pages; has lots of images and information; and more importantly is a good read for any gamer, whether they be a SoF fan or someone who knows nothing about the game.

Here is the official press release:

"Windows 2000, the newest Windows NT platform, is upon us. The 32-bit operating system boasts enhanced ease of use, Plug and Play support, and DirectX 7.0a support built right in, among other features. Microsoft stands by its NT marketing angle, saying that Windows 2000 is for business users only, but when was the last time anyone believed anything Microsoft said without concrete proof?

We certainly didn't believe the company, so we took a long, piercing look at Windows 2000 Professional (the end-user version of the new OS) and tested it with scads of current, and a few not-so-current, games. Is it time to give up on Windows 98? Should you upgrade? In a word, no."

Also from them is a review of Quake3,

The game, like Quake II (Q2) is real easy to control and like Q2, Q3:A will be loved by millions, played by billions and soon enough there will be a little country somewhere called 'Quake 3: The Real Arena' where your only requirement for citizenship is a good PC, a fast Modem and a copy of Quake 3: Arena.

And a review of the Razer Boomslang:

This mouse is relatively compatible, it seems to run fine on Windows 98/98SE systems, but obvious drivers for windows2000 (aka NT5), have not been released, and this has cause for more than just a few hours hopelessly trying to get the darn thing to work. Also, it is suggested to use this mouse with a thin plastic mouse pad, such as the official Razer one (available to order online), because the conventional mouse pad just doesn't do the job. Normal mouse pads give drag to the sleek low profile of the Boomslang.

Secondly are from Empire Interactive - 3 new screenshots (short Q&A too) from Mind's Eye Productions' upcoming real-time sheep simulation, Sheep.

Third are from a Swedish game developer, The Other Guys, who have released the following 4 new screenshots from their upcoming 3D thriller action/adventure game, Side-Scene.

"Hardware manufacturers have long since acknowledged the need for greater system memory bandwith, and the two chipset giants, Intel and VIA, have taken drastically different paths. Surprisingly, Intel has abandoned its Rambus plans due to skimpy supplies and eyepopping prices, in favor of the latter's PC133 standard. KingMax takes your standard TSOP memory module and changes it into a unique BGA design, claiming much cleaner signals with less noise and greater stability at high memory speeds.

"I first used the demos that were provided that was supposed to demonstrate the “advantage” of having this card. I didn’t hear any advantage, though. The demo gave me only adequate 3D sounds. I couldn’t hear distinctly objects circling around me and over me. The direction of the sounds also confused me a bit. I didn’t know whether it was in front of me or behind me. It was quite disappointing."

The official Crimson Skies site offers gamers a wealth of information, including a detailed features list, story background, a multitude of screen shots, and concept art. The site also offers downloadable audio clips and AVIs from the game, as well as a behind the scenes interview with John Howard, the lead designer for Crimson Skies.

In Crimson Skies, the planes are faster, the engines are bigger, and the guns are more powerful. In this alternate history, the year is 1937 and the United States is fractured into squabbling nation-states brought about by the weight of the Great Depression, regional prohibition, and mounting isolationism. Giant Zeppelins crisscross the skies carrying both passengers and cargo, and airborne bandits are a constant threat. It is a time of gun ship diplomacy and airship piracy, as dastardly villains, beautiful air-privateers and valiant militia forces battle for control of the skies over North America.

The transcontinental railroad and the budding highway system are in shambles due to the constant border wars of the hostile nation-states of North America. In an effort to maintain commerce and trade, flight becomes the vital lifeline connecting allied countries. America has fallen in love with the airplane, not the automobile, resulting in an explosion of unusual and exotic hot rods of the sky.

The creative team of FASA Interactive, acquired in 1999 by Microsoft and led by Jordan Weisman (one of the creators of the BattleTech universe), John Howard and Dave McCoy, is providing the vision and design expertise for the Crimson Skies PC game. Zipper Interactive, the development team behind "MechWarrior 3," is leading the day-to-day development of the new game.

[RW] What are some exciting features we can expect in Daikatana?
[Kelly Hoerner] Well, that's a pretty general question, because there are so many great things. Lots of new engine enhancements, the Sidekick concept has never been done at this scale before, practically four different games in one, etc.

GAMELINKS.NET: Any speculation on where gaming technology and the demand for games is going in the next 10 years? It appears that there has been a resurgence of focus on the single-player experience by game development houses like Valve Software and Looking Glass Studios to name a few. Do you think that games will continue moving in this direction or start heading more into the massively multiplayer persistent online worlds?

RANDY PITCHFORD: : I think it depends on the game. There are a few things being made right now. We've got pure games - like Quake 3 Arena. There's and objective, a winner and a loser. We've also got simulations (including massively multiplayer games). Simulations basically give us a pile of stuff and a set of rules. In pure simulations, the objectives are less specific. You may want to collect stuff, or get famous or kill things. Simulations less often have winners and losers. We've also got narratives. These are games that focus on presenting locations and subject matter and carrying the player along as the protagonist of the story.

Some of us will focus on the simple rules. Quake 3 Arena, for example, is like tennis or something. It's just a basic set of rules, a couple of tools, and an environment to play in. Quake 3 Arena is closer to the dictionary definition of a "game" than Half-Life is. But, Half-Life is cool too even though its single player game isn't as much of a "game" as Quake 3 Arena is... Know why? Because it's not just a game, it's an experience. It's high-quality digital entertainment. It not only challenges the player, but provides a sense of place and tells a narrative. The reason why we like Half-Life is a combination of the reasons why we like playing other games and why we like going to the movies. Unfortunately, game makers very rarely are equipped with the same training and experience as a good screenwriter - but they think they can handle it. That's why most narrative based games are just stupid.

I think the games that get made throughout the rest of history will be directly related to the available technology and the desire of the game maker. If a game maker wants to tell a narrative, there's little chance it will work as a massively multiplayer simulation no matter what the market says is the smartest business decision. And, the more game makers look at business trends to influence their decisions about what kinds of games to make, the more gamers will be begging for something new and different to come along.

Players are assigned mining rights to one of a million plots of land--each with a unique landscape--on the planet Visitor. A claim requires that people strengthen, mine for wealth, and protect their land from the assaults of other participants. People can band together and pillage the land claims of other colonists, or build elaborate defenses with others for protection. The action continues 24-7, even when one is not logged on. Gamers may connect to find that their base has been damaged, or even destroyed. For that reason, creating alliances is crucial in 10six. A person's MDN is their clan--the higher the MDN, the greater the power and responsibility. When an MDN member is assaulted, all members are alerted in real-time.

SoF has been stirring up interest world wide, and it seems like its going to be a big hit, especially since games like Rainbow6 have come out, that sort of genre is really booming. Do you think SoF will add new things to the genre, or just build on it and do a good job at that?

SoF is more geared towards action rather than the strategy elements of Rainbow 6. Certainly GHOUL and the way we have used the modeling system have progressed the genre to the next level. The pure amount of animations, textures, and bolt-ons for the enemies is huge, and as far as I'm aware, leaves the competition in the dust. We have a ton of cinematics which the designers have spent a ton of time on, and they look great. The whole goal of SoF is to make you have fun while giving you a fast paced experienced (i.e. lots of enemies that come after you, as well as various skill level settings / customizability).

Nox's isometric graphical perspective and action/role-playing hybrid gameplay are unquestionably reminiscent of Diablo, but Nox provides a more action-oriented experience. Character movement is quick, and combat is very fast paced. There are no ethical codes to adhere to unlike in some traditional RPGs. You can't attack characters who aren't enemies, but if the game lets you destroy an object, slaughter a creature, or pilfer a nonplayer character's possessions, then you can rest assured that it's the right thing to do. Since causing chaos isn't penalized, action is almost constant as your character frantically runs through levels, smashing objects and dispatching monsters or other players.

There are some games that are so revolutionary, that they are talked about even years later. System Shock, with its subtle blend of action and role-playing, was one of those classics that a lot of people claimed to have played, but not enough people actually did. Warren Spector, the man behind System Shock, has decided to expand on what he learned in that game, combine it with a gripping plot of conspiracy and paranoia, put it around the Unreal engine and give it all a shiny new polish. The result is an upcoming title from Ion Storm called Deus Ex, which may be one of the strongest early candidates for game of the year.

"Under development by Canadian-based Barking Dog Studios in conjunction with Relic Entertainment, Homeworld: Cataclysm extends Homeworld's revolutionary gameplay with the addition of new ships, an enhanced interface, "fog-of-war" style-visibility limits, way-points, and more control from the sensors manager."

"People seem to be taking it for granted that the PS2 is going to go over big here in the US. I think that is a dangerous position to take. Let's look at what the PS2 offers point by point, and see if we can draw our own conclusions."

With the planning and partial development of Tribes Extreme, then it's cancellation, the Tribes community is now awaiting the release of Tribes 2, the sequel. Tribes 2 sets us ahead in time one year from Tribes, 3941 CE, where the Starwolf Tribe is attacked by a new tribe, the BioDerms. Many new features have been added for the return of this popular series including enhanced weather effects, motion capture animation, multiple huds, and much more.

Still, if you liked Diablo, pick up Nox. The single-player game has enough interesting twists and benefits to be considered a worthwhile game in its own right. The levels are inventive, the graphics are solid (especially the way Nox handles line of sight), and there are tons of options for getting the game to run well on a wide variety of computer configurations. Maybe you’ll even enjoy the fps-to-rpg multiplayer conversion. I had loads of fun with the single-player component but it was over too soon and was too restricted because of the inability to play cooperatively. While I have serious doubts about the staying power of Nox, it’s great to have a very good action/rpg title to recommend during the February drought to hold us until the release of Diablo II.

Corkscrew Follies offers an amazingly generous 30 new scenarios, compared to 21 in RollerCoaster Tycoon, making this one of the few cases I have seen where an expansion actually has more content than the original release. The new scenarios are quite different, both from each other and from those in the first game, so you never feel like you are just encountering the same old challenges. Even the names of the new scenarios are more creative than the original set, including Haunted Harbot, Funtopia, Jolly Jungle, and Adrenaline Heights. The topography is no longer limited to grassy parks, but includes such seemingly inhospitable settings as seaside cliffs and deep canyons. The new challenges are far more sophisticated than those in RollerCoaster Tycoon, so to succeed, you must have a more versatile set of profit-maximizing strategies.

Some of you may have noticed that I've been a little harder to get in touch with lately and have been a little less responsive to emails and the like. That's because I've been trying very hard to wrap up all the loose ends around here before I move on. Yep, that's right -- after almost 12 years here at Dynamix it is (past) time for me to look for a new set of challenges and see what life is really like out there. :) I'll be joining a small local startup... kinda like I did 11 1/2 years ago.

I think Dynamix has some extremely bright and talented people working for them and a whole slough of exciting projects (both in progress and soon to be started). It's hard to leave. In particular, it's gonna be really weird seeing Tribes 2 for the first time on the shelves! But, given my personal situation and my current opportunities, I feel this is the right move for me now.

Now, how am I going to fit all the "stuff" from my office into my car? ;)

A while back we talked about releasing a Linux dedicated server version of Half Life: Opposing Force. I wanted to post an update on how that's going. We've had the "port" done for quite a while now and it's been tested and works just great. The only problem is that, since we're a commercial add-on, we need to put WON net support into the Linux dedicated server. This is turning out to be a harder to deal with issue than I originally anticipated. Some changes to the WON libraries since we released Opposing Force, plus the basic differences between the Windows and Linux versions have been delaying the Linux dedicated server.

I'm still working on the Linux version when I can and I would like to get it released ASAP, but unfortunately I have to resolve these WON issues before I can get any farther.

On the brighter side of things, it looks like Sierra has dropped the price of Opposing Force. The product description on their web page store has it listed at $29.95, and the current weekend ad flyer for Best Buy has it listed for $24.99.

"I like this game, I'm a little bit disappointed at the split screen multiplayer mode and the music but other than that I think I've found a great superbike racing sim. The developers paid careful attention to every single detail of superbike simulating and I must say that I'm very pleased with the outcome. Highly recommended for superbike racing fans."

"The Everglide Giganta measures at a large (maybe that's why it's called the Giganta) 9.5" high, 11.5" wide, and 0.25" deep. That's one cool (and big) mousepad you got there. Unlike other mousepads that has a rubber, sponge-like surface, the Giganta has a sleek polymer coating to let your mouse "ever so glide" across it. On the bottom of the pad are 5 rubber points so the pad won't glide across your desk. Of course, on the lower-left side are the words "Everglide Giganta" on it. Do you think they're advertising this pad? Nah..."

Ever wondered how gaming computer companies such as Alienware or Falcon choose their parts? Or who they prefer, 3dfx or NVIDIA? Check out our latest exclusive interview with GamePC, a new company that specializes in computer gaming machines.

Hard Truck was an anticipated title for the sheer reason that it allowed would be truckers to have a virtual area to deliver goods, and to even do a little truck racing. As most of you know however, the game fell flat on its face. Well trucking fans, get ready to jump back in the saddle. Hard Truck 2 is only a bit more than a month away, and it is looking promising.

The first game I tested the Charger in was Rally Championship. It seems that my worries about the lack of pedals were totally unfounded. I actually found the paddles easier to use once I got used to them. The feel of the wheel was great, it has a good tension and returns to centre well. The control afforded by the wheel is excellent and certainly does not give away the low price tag, the wheel for my Playstation cost twice as much and doesn't perform anywhere near as well.

IGNPC: One of the biggest additions for EverQuest players in the expansion pack will undoubtedly be the addition of the Lizardman race the Iksar. Tell us a bit about them and their homeland of Kunark.

Brad McQuaid: The Iksar are a neutral-evil race of Lizardmen who once ruled Kunark with an iron fist. Their empire has since declined, leaving ruins of their once great cities strewn across the continent, inhabited by exotic races and monsters.

IGNPC: Each of the cities in EverQuest has a very distinct feel and flavor. For example, Kaladim (the Dwarven city) is carved from the inside of the ButcherBlock Mountains and is very dark while Kelethin (city of the Wood Elves) is built on pedestals high in the treetops. What's the character of the Iksarian town going to be like?

BM: The Iksar home town, called Cabilis, is in the process of being rebuilt. Many buildings are new or refurbished, yet there are still ruins around town, testament to the fact that it is being built upon the remnants of an earlier city. If the city is to be compared with anything from real life, I'd say it mostly resembles Venice, including some waterways.

Today's new barrage of highly overclockable Coppermines raise the requirements bar again with 133MHz FSB rapidly becoming the minimum requirement for hardcore overclockers. While the aging 440BX unofficially supports 133MHz, AOpen's AX63 Pro, powered by VIA's Apollo 133 Pro comes with native support as well as other goodies.

Wait, a non-Intel AOpen based on an Apollo chipset? Does it live up to its family legacy, or is it the end of AOpen's reputation as a rock solid overclocker's choice?"

14 - Ridge Racer 64 - N64 / NINTENDO OF AMERICA
15 - All Star Tennis 99 - PLAYSTATION / UBI SOFT
15 - Boarder Zone - DREAMCAST / INFOGRAMES
15 - Carrier - DREAMCAST / JALECO
15 - Colin McRae Rally - PLAYSTATION / SCEA
15 - Fighter Destiny II - PLAYSTATION / SCEA
15 - Jackie Chan Stunt Master - PLAYSTATION / MIDWAY
15 - LEGO Rock Raiders - PLAYSTATION / LEGO MEDIA
15 - NHL Blades of Steel 2000 - PLAYSTATION / KONMAI
15 - Rayman 2 - PLAYSTATION / UBI SOFT
15 - Saga Frontier 2 - PLAYSTATION / ELECTRONIC ARTS
15 - Test Drive Rally - PLAYSTATION / INFOGRAMES
17 - Deception III - PLAYSTATION / TECMO
17 - ECW: Hardcore Revolution - DREAMCAST / ACCLAIM
17 - ECW: Hardcore Revolution - N64 / ACCLAIM
17 - ECW: Hardcore Revolution - PLAYSTATION / ACCLAIM
22 - Army Men Sarge's Heroes - PLAYSTATION / 3D0
22 - Crusaders of Might & Magic - PLAYSTATION / 3D0
22 - Superbike 2000 - PLAYSTATION / EleCTRONIC ARTS
24 - Fear Effect - PLAYSTATION / EIDOS INTERACTIVE
25 - Renegade Racer - PLAYSTATION / INTERPLAY
25 - South Park Rally - N64 / ACCLAIM
28 - Omikron - DREAMCAST / EIDOS INTERACTIVE
28 - Urban Chaos - PLAYSTATION / EIDOS INTERACTIVE
29 - Carmageddon - PLAYSTATION / INTERPLAY
29 - Eagle One - PLAYSTATION / INFOGRAMES
29 - Roadsters - PLAYSTATION / TITUS
29 - Street Sk8ter 2 - PLAYSTATION / ELECTRONIC ARTS
29 - Time Stalkers - DREAMCAST / SEGA

M A R C H

M A R C H

TBA COMMAND AND CONQUER RENEGADE
18/02/2000 Rally Championship
25/02/2000 NOX PC
03/03/2000 SUPERBIKE 2000
10/03/2000 ULTIMA ASCENSION
17/03/2000 C&C TIBERIAN SUN FIRESTORM
24/03/2000 Theme Park World
24/03/2000 CRICKET 2000 PSX
24/03/2000 CRICKET 2000 PC
31/03/2000 TIGER WOODS 2000 PGA TOUR GOLF PC
31/03/2000 TIGER WOODS 2000 PGA TOUR GOLF PSX
31/03/2000 F1 2000 PSX
31/03/2000 F1 2000 PC
31/03/2000 NEED FOR SPEED PORSCHE 2000 PSX
31/03/2000 NEED FOR SPEED PORSCHE 2000 PC
04/08/2000 Rugby 2000 PSX
04/08/2000 RUGBY 2000 PC

stonewall: How did Monolith come together and take over Blood development from Apogee/3d Realms in 1997? What was Monolith doing between 1995 and 1997?

Jason: Your question requires an incredibly in-depth answer, and unfortunately I don't have time to write the dissertation that would be required to do this justice - so here is the quick summation: Blood development - The owner was a friend, the game looked cool we just bought the company and helped to finish it up (which took a year). Between 1995-1997 - We were scrambling and trying not to run out of money while we slowly realized that LithTech was going to run WAY over budget.

Point Release Stuff

There was a lot of new functionality added in the latest point release, primarily centered around mod development support. We are still sifting through all the feedback e-mail but here are some problems and solutions based on what we have found so far.

1. If you are are not seeing the new "Mods" menu, it is likely that you are running something that replaces the UI. ArenaSpy and several other mods have their own UI DLL's or QVM's so you will not be able to see the point release UI. This can be remedied by removing any extra UI mods. This can also cause a problem with auto-download in that if you connect to a server that sends you something, you cannot see the download progress because the UI your using does not support it. The download is working but you just see "Awaiting gamestate" ( because your not using the new UI ). If you see partial files in baseq3 or an fs_game path this is what happened. Again, using the UI that comes with the point release solves this problem.

2. If you have chosen a 3rd party model or skin, you CAN still connect to and play on pure servers. The caveat being that you will temporarily revert to Sarge. This works just like it always has.

3. If you are using a cracked executable, you will no longer be able to connect to pure servers. "You ruined the game, I cannot cheat anymore!" is not a valid complaint.

4. If you are not able to join a server and you get an "unpure" client message, it is likely that you are loading content from an invalid PK3 file, loading DLL's for gameplay or loading content outside of PK3 files. If you have modified any of the official PK3 files this will also cause you to not be able to connect to pure servers. The other case in which I have seen this is if the server was set to pure and not restarted. I am still looking into this one.

5. I have seen reports of non-pure clients not getting kicked fully and remaining semi-connected. I have be unable to duplicate this problem. If you have details on this please forward them to me.

6. If you cannot see a 3rd party model, I have tracked this down to the method which it was zipped. It appears that some zip programs do not store directory names as individual entries in the zip files. I use Winzip and it works fine.

7. You can use 3rd party UI's to launch games and connect to pure servers. Once you have connected to a pure server, the client will reload the UI based on what the server flags is ok. This will explain running a new UI ( like ArenaSpy ), playing on a pure server, exiting back to the menu and ArenaSpy is gone.

8. There have been a couple of reports of not being able to load nn number of maps, others have reported no problems. We load around 2500 maps from the development directory here and with that and locally I have not been able to duplicate this issue. And no, there are not 2500 maps we did not release.. these are largely successive numbered versions of the same maps.

If you have any information that could help identify a problem or an exact set of reproduction steps for unpure clients not getting fully kicked or not being able to load maps from baseq3, please forward the information to me at raduffy@idsoftware.com.

And for those of you wanting to try out that new Mod menu, I highly suggest HeadHunters or Fists of Fury those along with many others are Very Cool.

"You will be Amazed
In just over a month, the most technically advanced Nintendo 64 game ever created will be announced. It will not look like a Nintendo 64 game at all and you will be delighted by the genre gap it fills. Until that announcement, I will speak very vaguely of it and make you very, very angry."

Make sure on March 15, 30th you check out IGN.com ever day, because I am sure you all want to actually see a good 64 game, besides Goldeneye :0

Looming over Tatooine in a transport ship is the largest shipment of these pit droids that Watto, the Toydarian junk dealer, has ever purchased. Watto was hoping to sell the droids for various uses on Tatooine. Unfortunately, it turns out that these pit droids are only good at one thing -- fixing Podracers. Waiting idly in their ship, the pit droids have already caused more damage than even Watto's star mechanic, Anakin Skywalker, could possibly repair. Desperate, Watto begs the player's assistance in moving these mindless mechanicals from their transport ship to the Podrace Arena where their energies can be put to good use.

If you have a Mac Powerbook notebook computer and travel a lot, I strongly urge you pick up a set of these speakers in the matching color. They easily will fit in the bag with the Powerbook, and will give you better sound than the built in speakers. Especially for a boring night in a hotel room when traveling on business, this will make DVD movies sound a good bit better by separating the speakers more.

Even for PC users, these speakers make a good add-on for any notebook computer if you use it to play movies. For home use as well, they are a reasonable replacement for the serious bargain bin speakers that come with many low cost PCs. These aren't quite rock your world speakers, but I have spent more than these speakers cost on a steak. As an inexpensive and very portable speaker system, these fit the bill.

The development team for Hired Guns was one of the first licensees of the Unreal engine. As in many situations like this, we rewrote and modified much of the Unreal engine.

For instance, modifications to the interface and input capabilities were made to allow simultaneous control of the four team members. We integrated extensive enhancement and optimization of the rendering-pipeline to support simultaneous, realtime, multiple-viewports rendering. The core AI handling was completely rewritten in order to make the enemies and characters act and react in realistic ways. We developed numerous tools and utilities as well as heavily modified the Unreal editor, to support the scope of the Hired Guns levels.

I found it a bit disturbing that Microsoft aimed its new OS at the corporate cash cows and no one else. Not once did they mention the graphics workstation community (which to this point was using WinNT) or the multimedia community (not too much of a surprise, though this seems to be Apple's target market of late). Still, despite this neglect, I believe a lot of other types of users would be interested in Windows 2000, and Microsoft failed to mention any other than the business user. With its more stable NT-based kernel, multiple processor support, a new TCP/IP stack, as well as assurances from the beta that it's a pretty solid OS, I would think a lot of users might want to give this OS a spin. Gamers like me want to know how it stands up to games; these features (particularly the dual processor) could make it an ideal platform for gaming. These features mildly excite me, as well, and I really wanted to take a copy back home.

CogniToy are not aiming for the lowest common denominator. CogniToy are not even pitching at the average 24Hr Gamer. Instead, CogniToy have opted for a cerebral, deeply intellectual game, which may thrill some, or may be shunned as geek genre. Described as a game where you "create robotic vehicles using a wide array of different components, program their behavior, then set them free to compete with each other", MindRover is best described as a strategy/programming hybrid with a healthy dab of action, which favors brains over brawn. Let me assure you that you won't need to adjust your PS2 mouse rate for this game.

"The Ratpad will give you the advantage over the other Quake III players with its plastic design. Because of its smooth surface, the Ratpad give you even more accuracy than a normal pad would. Combine this smooth surface with the razer mouse, and you will find yourself fragging more than ever before. At first, I thought that this pad would not change much, it would just give my computer desktop a stronger gamers look to it. But it really does improve your gameplay."

General Requirements

The following requirements apply to all positions listed, in no special
order, below:

1) Must be at least 17 years of age. GameSurge works to keep a fairly
professional manner, and the fact that maturity is needed;
2) Must be reliable and organized day in and day out of the position;
3) Must have excellent writing, grammatical skills, solely because we
thrive on professionalism;
4) All positions are, of course, non paying jobs. You must be dedicated to
your staff position--if you begin to slack, you will be immediately be
released from staff.

News Reporter

News reporter positions are very demanding jobs. Staff members who post
news are required to find and post news regarding the gaming community in
particular, and hardware. News reporters, on average take at least 3 hours
a day doing news. This includes finding and posting news. This position
can require staff to visit up to thirty (example figure) or less different
sources, multiple times a day for news.

Requirements: HTML knowledge, some DHTML, CGI experience.

Reviewer
Reviewers must be able to write a very detailed, well-written review of
either a software based product or hardware product(s). This position
requires you to write a review at least once every three weeks. Requesting
products must go through me, and for hardware specific requests, I must
interview the staff member.

Requirements: read above general requirements.

Previewer

Previewers must devote their time on researching a software or hardware
product. Researching products can not only be stressful but strenuous for
the previewer. Applying for this position requires you to do some research,
they must know when to give credit to a gaming related site, since GameSurge
does not want to get into any illegal trouble. Previewers must be able to
preview a game at least a minimum of one month. You must be dedicated to
apply for this position.

Requirements: researching skills.

Last before least, you must tell us in your short resume these specific
things:

1) Real name;

2) Age;

3) ICQ contact (if applicable);

4) E-mail address (for contact specific reasons);

5) Past experience;

6) Sites (does not have to be gaming related) you've worked with before (if
applicable);

"The card won't be available separately from Dell Dimension B computers for approximately one month. After that, the card will likely become available separately from graphics card makers. No product announcements have been made at this time.

Prince doesn't expect people to purchase Dell systems just for the exclusive card. "[There are] people who have machines that are two or three years old," he said, "and they keep saying 'I'm gonna wait a little longer until...something new comes out.' This is that thing that's new."

Ultimately, there's still a lot that we could say about this game and that's a tribute to the enthusiasm and talent of the team. They've got a very clear direction and are managing to stick very close to the X-COM idea while simultaneously taking the license in a new direction. Martin told us that staying close to X-COM is extremely important. After all, they love it too.

The initial release of the iBeta Falcon 4.0 Realism Patch can best be characterized by calling it a set of base changes that we will use as a jumping off point for further revisions. Many of the modifications employed by this patch address inaccuracies, omissions, and problems with the underlying data. In addition, we have also brought some logical sense to the amour, blast, and damage values – now they are more consistent and (we hope) more accurate. We have also improved the ground unit organization to bring it into a more realistic context

Gixman: Programming the artificial intelligence was probably one of the most challenging aspects in creating UT. Is it getting easier? What do you want to see?

Cliff: In theory, it would be great to have an AI that you just program and knows what to do in every situation and instantly know every single arena but I don't think that's going to be happening for a long time. As a level designer and a game designer, I want to sit down and say O.K. I built this area to be sniped at. I want to be able to tell the AI that this is a good sniping spot without taking the time to figure out that that's a good sniping spot.

Melbourne, FL, Feb 18, 2000

D-Link, the leading Digital Home Networking Manufacturer today announced that it has entered into a sponsorship relationship with the Online Gamers League (OGL), the gaming industries pioneer online Gaming Ladder System (GLS)and fastest growing gaming leagues, to support the growth of the OGL and extend the services to the gaming community.

The sponsorship will help the OGL extend it?s cutting edge community-based collaborative online gaming environment. As the premier competitive amateur Gaming League, the OGL provides the most exciting game challenge and team play competitions, ladders and leagues, and gaming statistics.

"The OGL is widely known as a pioneer in community-based collaborative online gaming," said Bradley Morse Vice President of D-Link. "They clearly are providing an awesome opportunity for gamers who want to test their skills in a competition or tournament atmosphere to measure their success and abilities."

"We at the OGL appreciate the support from D-Link, the Gamers leading connectivity company", said Ray Graham, Jr. President of the OGL. "Their support will allow us to beef up our equipment and add more features to our members."

"The gamers are the top echelon of computer enthusiast and they have always been the early adopters of advanced technology," said Bradley Morse Vice President of Marketing at D-Link. "Over the past two years, we have taken the advanced technology from our high-end products, which are designed for the corporate market, rescaled them and delivered this advanced technology to the mass market for gamers and others who are interested in acquiring high performance communications technology."

The OGL is one of the largest Gaming Leagues in the world with 70,000+ active members in several different leagues. The competition on the OGL is extreme. The OGL is a true pioneer in the gaming league arena. While most gaming organizations featured win-then-eliminated tournament play, the OGL brought to the masses the concept of an automated gaming ladder system. The Game Ladder allowed organized teams or individuals to join and challenge those above them; the challenge was, and remains, to be number one on the ladder. This concept allowed for more dynamic, long lasting rivalries to form and further deepened the sense of community and competition

"We wanted to reach out and support gamers, and the Online Gaming League seemed the best way to give back something and support the gaming community," continued Bradley Morse. "As one of the most popular gaming leagues, the OGL provides free access to leagues and competitions to a wide range of gaming titles and creates excellent range of competition for teams."

The story unfolds via cut scenes before and after levels. Occasionally a cut scene will occur during the course of a level, adding another layer of depth to the game's story. The cut scenes allow for changing mission objectives, and also give the player a wider look at the overall action. Most importantly, they help convey the sheer viciousness of The Hand; after seeing some of the particularly brutal cut scenes, players will have no doubt that those terrorist scum mean business.



To help add a high degree of authenticity to the game, Raven sought out and hired the real John F. Mullins to consult on the game's development. (And, for the curious, John F. Mullins really was a "consultant" for the U.S. government--which means he's probably killed lots of people. We recommend staying on his good side.) Raven used Mullins's expertise to fine-tune the game's feel, and from what we've seen so far, the extra effort is paying off. The weapons that populate Soldier of Fortune all sound and feel extremely realistic, and the atmospheric sound effects, particularly in the missions set in Bosnia, are spectacular. Throughout that section of the game, gunfire and explosions echo across the battlefield, and occasionally a chopper will fly overhead; players will have little doubt that a full-scale war is raging all around them.

You can change your car settings before each race. The amount of fuel you are carrying but remember that fuel is also heavy! The type of tyres, the downforce and automatic gears. There are other ones but I think these are the main ones. Pit stops are also very important from here you can change all the options. You can also save your game, which is very useful, if you decide to try the Le Mans 24 Hours really in 24 hours! :-)

Q3A 1.16i Beta is now on our ftp site. This is a small executable only patch that enhances security. It is available in three flavors, Win32 ( a .zip file ), Linux ( a .gz ) and Macintosh ( a self extracting archive ).

• Quake 3 Arena Point Release for Mac
• Quake 3 Arena Point Release for Linux
  


• Quake 3 Point Release for Windows

"I love a good desert. There's something about a huge expanse of seemingly barren wasteland that stirs something deeply in my soul. The blistering heat purges away all the outside cares of the world, leaving only the fragile core of my innermost being in its wake. The experience is just magical. Oh, and you can get a really awesome tan. Chicks dig a nice tan."

- Gregory Raj, author and self-proclaimed "Guru of the Stars"

-256x192 Desert

-Designed for 2-6 Players

-Requires Brood War to Play

Attention to Detail (ATD), the creators of the first Rollcage game, has released even more (5) screenshots from their upcoming sequel - Rollcage Stage II.

Cryo Networks sent GA the following 2 new screenshots and details from Venice, the first historical 3D online game of strategic management and training based on the economic system of 16th century Venice.

Activision releasedthe following 4 new screenshots from Raven Software's upcoming Quake III powered shooter, Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force.

Take 2 released a load of screenshots of 'Flying Heroes', an action packed 3D shoot'em up on the PC thats planned to be released at the end of May.

"(1602 A.D. is) an empire building game with its own distinct little charm, which is also fun at first; but once you get down to the real business later in the game, it lacks the feature and sophistication to keep you coming back for more. Recommended only if you are starving for a new empire building game."

At Air Combat USA, the grand-prize winner will actually fly a light-attack fighter aircraft. Behind the controls of a SIAI Marchetti SF260 aircraft and coached by an air combat instructor, the sweepstakes winner will be able to maneuver through a series of high-flying dogfights. Then, at the Cessna Pilot Center, the grand-prize winner will learn to fly in a brand new Cessna aircraft using Cessna's CBI.

To be eligible to win, consumers must visit the official "Pensacola" Web site each week and answer one multiple choice question based on that week's episode. First- and second-place prize winners will be chosen each week, and the grand-prize winner will be selected from all correct entries over the entire four-week sweepstakes period.

The grand-prize winner will receive a trip for two to Air Combat USA along with the private pilot CBI, one hour of flight instruction at the Cessna Pilot Center in Southern California, and a Microsoft Game Pack featuring the award-winning "Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000" and "Combat Flight Simulator," along with a Force Feedback joystick. Ten first-prize winners will receive a Microsoft gamepack featuring "Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000" and "Combat Flight Simulator," along with a Force Feedback joystick. One hundred lucky second-prize winners will receive Microsoft "Flight Simulator 2000."

The hit action hour, "Pensacola: Wings of Gold," continues its third season. The series stars award-winning actor James Brolin as Lt. Col. Bill Kelly USMC -- call sign "Raider" -- as a tough veteran Marine fighter pilot in charge of an elite, war-ready Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), a combined air and ground combat force. The unit's purpose is to carry out the most dangerous, top-secret missions in the air, on the ground and at sea.

Cessna and Cessna Pilot Centers are leading the industry in the production of light aircraft and flight training. CBI is the most comprehensive private pilot curriculum available. Featuring full-motion video and fully interactive graphics, CBI allows for an easy transition from a flight simulator to the real thing. More information about learning can be found at http://www.flyandbefree.com/.

Raven Software is looking for several talented and experienced
level designers to join our team.

We are looking for highly motivated, creative and skilled people
who have experience with the Quake technology in any form
(Heretic 2, Half-Life, Quake 1-3, SiN). The abillity to
adapt is a strong plus, and any background in code or
scripting will go a long way.

At this time we can only accept applications from people who live
inside the continental United States. The position is a
full time one and it requires that you move to Madison, WI.

If you think you have the drive, determination, and creativity to
make it as a designer, drop me a line with your resume and
a little bio about yourself. We also need to see your best
single player level to date... this should be in one of the
previously mentioned games.

Still playing the SoF demo? Jump on-line and amuse your
friends and co-workers...

enable the console and set these bindings up:

bind wave 1
bind wave 2
bind wave 3

The point release is now available on our ftp site. It is marked as a beta as there are a lot of functionality changes and we have a finite number of machines and scenarios we can test with. The included readme contains a lot of information, please review it. The release is available for all three platforms, Win32, Macintosh, and Linux.

"Welcome to the 7th edition of PriceClips, Digital Clips' inhouse monthly guide to the latest computer component prices laced with juicy insiders' information on upcoming trends. Every month, several people from the DC crew dragnet Hong Kong's infamous Mong Kok Computer Center for the cheapest computer prices. Yup, we're the folks who look incredibly nerdy in our school uniform (yes we have to wear ties and blazers and the whole lot here) walking around like a lab tech with a clipboard, stacks of illegible notes and frenzied arm movements. Readers from Hong Kong, if you ever see one or two guys clad in horrible school uniform jabbering at each other in English and incoherent Chinese, that's me and some poor DC folk I dragged along. If you're American and feeling left out, aww...don't be, since we also compile a monthly list of the cheapest street-level prices for the same range of products."

Rayman 2: The Great Escape (PC)

"Probably one of the most surprising games of 1999 would have to be Rayman 2. The mix of console gaming on PC's has been very popular recently with more and more people playing games for their single player enjoyment rather then fighting it out over the internet in the latest First Person Shooter. Rayman 2 serves up a nice wholesome gaming experience of which everyone should try. Even though fragging it out over the internet can be fun, it becomes tiresome and if your in need of some change then Rayman 2 is definitely a good start."

"The graphics in Crazy Taxi are absolutely stunning. Since the Naomi hardware, which the arcade game ran on, is nearly identical to the Dreamcast hardware the game is arcade perfect. True, there is some frequent slowdown in the game at some points (the cable car stop for example), but this doesn't serve to affect the game much at all. All the graphics in the game are extraordinarily well crafted, and move realistically. The cab is a work of art. The movements it makes are hyper realistic, and in an emphasised kind of way. It genuinely feels like you are driving a real car by the way it moves. Add to this a plethora of special effects like particle based sparks and smoke from the tires makes for a visual treat."

REDMOND, Wash. (Feb. 16, 2000) Microsoft Corp. today announced its latest PC sports title, "Baseball 2001." Microsoft® "Baseball 2001" boasts a revolutionary unification of the awarding-winning Baseball Mogul simulation technology with Microsoft's tradition for eye-popping graphics and edge-of-your-seat gameplay. "Baseball 2001" features a newly added comprehensive front-office management simulation, intense graphics, ambient sounds and seamless arcade action to produce the most complete out-of-the-box PC-based baseball game.

"Our goal was to create the type of baseball product that fans have been clamoring for: one with superb graphics and sound, unparalleled arcade action, and an unprecedented ability to manage every aspect of a true major league baseball club," said Ed Fries, general manager of the Games Group at Microsoft. "The Baseball Mogul code combined with Microsoft's established graphics and gameplay does just that while letting you play as a player, owner and general manager."

Endorsed by two-time All-Star and 1997 Rookie of the Year shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, who graces the game's box cover, "Baseball 2001" carries on the Microsoft tradition of quality and innovation. The award-winning Baseball Mogul technology allows players to control key front-office aspects of the game, letting them handle everything from the financial responsibilities of tracking a club's payroll to the general managerial duties of fostering trades and signing free agents. For example, a high payroll will result in less money for free agency, and this will be reflected in the quality and quantity of free agents that a ball club can sign during the season.

"Baseball 2001" continues the tradition of eye-popping graphics with its 3-D motion-captured player animations, and its high-quality sound effects, such as the crack of leather on hardwood, add to the ambience of the ballpark. Topping off the game's audio-visual offerings, Arizona Diamondbacks announcer Thom Brennaman returns with his trademark play-by-play commentary to call the action of "Baseball 2001."

id Software level designer Paul Jaquays relays his E3 memories and expectations.

Stomped @ E3 has the scoop once again, this time from Tim Williams of Planet Moon about what they will show of Giants at E3 2000.

Secondly are from Take 2 Interactive who have sent the following new screenshots from Illusion Softworks', the developers of Hidden and Dangerous, upcoming
action/fantasy racer, Flying Heroes.

Thirdly SouthEnd Interactive released the following 4 new screenshots and a development update for their upcoming first-person close combat fighting
game, Blitz - Disc Arena.

We here at the Gamer’s Press are proud to kick-off our entry into the Online Education market by presenting to you ­ our readers ­ a new series of informative and life-changing articles we like to call "The Gamer’s Guide to Life". These self-help courses will assist you in molding and shaping your life through a series of easy-to-read articles featuring step-by-step instructions on how to achieve personal success and wealth. Each of these installments will not only contain the knowledge necessary to achieve fame and fortune, but will also have self-assessment quizzes at the end to test your comprehension of the course’s content.

Today we inaugurate the series with a course entitled "How To Be a Game Reviewer." Once you’ve mastered the disciplines outlined in this column, you’ll then be ready to move onto the following self-paced study courses ­ which will be published in the future:

"How to be a Young, Arrogant Game Developer"
"How to be a Game Industry Marketing Executive" (see Note below)
"How to Build a First-Person Shooter"
"How to be a Operating System Zealot"

(NOTE: All courses require that the student be a member of a sentient species EXCEPT for "How to be a Game Industry Marketing Executive". This course has no pre-requisites.)

And don’t think we’re restricting our guides to just the computing industry. No sir ­ we’ve lined up an all-star cast of celebrity writers who’ll be stopping by with courses such as:

"How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker
"How to Get a Real Job Doing Something Useful" by Rev. Jesse Jackson
"How to Pick up Young Chicks" by Woody Allen
"How to Live Drug-Free" co-authored by Robert Downey Jr. and Scott Weiland, lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots

Here's a quote from the first installment, How to be a Game reviewer:

"Step 2: Use Search Engines to Supplement You’re Pathetic Lack of Knowledge

Let’s face it ­ if you’ve played enough games to want to write about them, you probably haven’t spent much time reading the classics or studying ancient history. This means that you have a high probability of coming across like an idiot whenever you try to say something that’s non-gaming related. Fortunately, with the invention of the Internet you no longer have to remember all that crap ­ the Internet’s stored it all for you! So, if you’re reviewing a copy of "Pharaoh" and would like to sound smart by throwing in the name of some Ancient Egyptian ruler just remember that your "History Diploma" is no further than a few mouse clicks away. Just hop over to Yahoo, and type in whatever it is you wish to sound like an expert in. Before you know it, you’ll have your readers gasping "Gee… he’s pretty smart for a basement-dwelling 300-pound loser!""

VE: What do you think is going to be the biggest misconception about LithTech Online? Why would you bill it as the biggest misconception? How about clearing that up right now?

JH: I really don't know. Hopefully, we will always be clear with people.

VE: For the average joe gamer, what does all of this mean and how will it affect them? I mean, could we possibly see bigger and better games because of this announcement? Why or why not?

JH: To the joe gamer this is what it means: MORE SELECTION of products! When we are done, a MMPG should only cost around 4MM to develop, not 15MM. That's a big difference, hence the game will get more MMPG's to choose from.

Diablo II PC: 1st Half of 2000
Mac: 1st Half of 2000
Warcraft III PC: End of 2000

"What surprises me is the multiplayer mode of this game. There's no cooperative adventure mode! Meaning that you cannot buddy up with a friend and proceed to explore a random dungeon with some other random
players. No back stabbing, no helping out each other. It's basically Quake style. You have the equivalent to last man standing, capture the flag and deathmatch mode for multiplayer. I don't like it, but you may..."

"I will say that our schedule is for a downloadable (free) patch to add multi-player capabilities, followed by an add-on with new missions and features, though none of this is official. As for the 1.2 patch, it should be out soon. There were some internationalization problems and it is hopefully in its last round of testing."

Action-RPG Nox ships out today

Westwood Studios Action-RPG to arrive in stores Feb 16

LAS VEGAS, February 15, 1999 - That pounding sound you hear is that of giant stone fists being dropped onto the heads of unsuspecting warriors, wizards and
conjurors. This can mean only one thing: Westwood Studios Nox is shipping to stores today and will be on store shelves in North America tomorrow.

Nox is a game of savage combat and sneaky tactics set in a mystical land filled mwith discovery and deceit. Nox's lightning-fast action is fueled by a combat
system that's easy to use yet gives players tremendous gameplay depth and infinite possibilities. With more than 100 unique spells and weapons, players must use their wits to create devious combinations and tricky tactics.

The battle happens in the world of Nox, which Westwood's game designers have filled with intricate detail. The top down viewpoint gives players an expansive view of the world. True line of sight means never knowing what's around the next corner, creating an intense level of suspense.

The dynamic world of Nox is further enhanced with the addition of an advanced physics system that delivers realistic interaction between players and the
environment. Roll boulders to block doors. Move candelabras to light a darkened room. Break through walls. Use water to extinguish flames.

The single player game will take gamers through the three lands of Nox, pitting you against vicious monsters and powerful wizards. Driven by an epic story,
you'll progress up skill levels and learn three schools of combat: the way of the Warrior, the knowledge of Conjuror, and the disciplines of the Wizard.

Nox promises an intense multiplayer experience with five multiplayer options: deathmatches (teams and free-for all melees), capture the flag, and king of the
realm. Multiplay will be supported through Westwood Online, an online gaming service with more than a million members.

Welcome to L.A., 2005. Governments from every nation on the planet have sent representatives to Los Angeles for the signing of the United Nations Nuclear Abolishment Treaty. With such a high number of potential political hostages, the threat of a terrorist act is being taken very seriously. It is the job of the LAPD SWAT Team to insure the safety of all the ambassadors and insure that the signing of the treaty will take place.

Picture yourself cuffing a suspect, thinking everything is clear, when you hear your teammate shouting from across the room, "DROP THE WEAPON, DO IT,
DO IT NOW!" Talk about intense. Sometimes they'll get the idea and drop their gun and surrender, but more often than not, they'll start spraying bullets and it'll be up to you to take them out or take them down. You'll need to remember that you are a cop...

The bottom line is that this game looks very real. Combine that with the nerve-racking situations that your team is in and I guarantee an adrenaline rush.

Look at me. I’m a college student in the midwest and I’ve got a generic laptop. It’s a Pentium II 233. 64MB memory, 3 gig hard drive. I’ve been living with it for the past year and a half. It’s stable. I don’t get blue screens of death (too often). Netscape works great. I can browse the web at a good speed. Hell, who needs speed on the web? It’s not like all webpages have streaming video (your modem couldn’t even handle it) and CD-quality sound. What is all that crap anyway? It does some fancy stuff and looks pretty, but do we really need it? SIMD instructions? Bah.

LithTech™ Inc. To Create Massively Multiplayer Game Operating System
The First Massively-Multiplayer LithWorld To
Feature a Popular Fox Interactive Franchise

(Kirkland, WA, February XX, 2000) LithTech Inc. today announced they have begun creation of a licensable, multi-genre, massively-multiplayer technology which will be a full featured extension of their proprietary LithTech 3D Game Operating System (3DGOS). The new technology, LithTech Online, will standardize the development of immense, persistent worlds, referred to as “LithWorlds™,” in which users can interact with others online.

Also announced today, LithTech Inc. is proceeding with an arrangement with Fox Interactive to provide a licensed property for LithTech’s first persistent world. Several Fox properties have been discussed for the world’s environment although one has not yet been selected.

“There is no doubt that massively-multiplayer persistent online environments are a huge and growing market. For this reason, we’re dedicated to investing $15 million into research and development of the fully licensable LithTech Online,” comments Jason Hall, CEO for LithTech Inc. “We are very excited to be working with Fox Interactive on the first of many future LithWorlds. Their strong entertainment properties will provide interesting environments and characters for us to develop and work with.”

LithTech is a licensable technology for multiple platforms that functions as a complete, full-featured, 3D game operating system which allows developers to easily design, develop and focus on content without reinventing new technology for each project. LithTech Online will provide developers with a standardized set of flexible tools designed for rapid development of unique, online universes that support thousands of users at once.

“The issues involved in the development of large-scale, concurrent object oriented systems is an area in which I have invested a great deal of research time,” comments Dr. Gregory Whitten, Chief Software Architect for LithTech Inc. “The standardization of a comprehensive and easy-to-use technology-set for online development will open new doors and markets for the entire industry.”

Raven Software is looking for several talented and experienced level designers to join our team.

We are looking for highly motivated, creative and skilled people who have experience with the Quake technology in any form (Heretic 2, Half-Life, Quake 1-3, SiN). The abillity to adapt is a strong plus, and any background in code or scripting will go a long way.

At this time we can only accept applications from people who live inside the continental United States. The position is a full time one and it requires that you move to Madison, WI.

An independent source has confirmed for GameFan Online that a brand-new Tomb Raider game, titled Tomb Raider: The Movie, will hit retailers just in time for Christmas. The game's set to follow the story of the upcoming Paramount Pictures film, and will be released this November for the PC, Dreamcast and PlayStation 2. We’ll keep you informed as more details on Ms. Croft’s next adventure surface--so keep your browsers right here at GameFan Online!

You get online and want to play a game. You start mIRC and join the channel your friends always meet in. (Actually, the script joins it for you automatically). You see a friend on the channel who is playing something (their name ends in -p). So you click on their name, and select "get server". You'll now see the game they are playing and the IP of the server their playing on. Another click or 2, and select "Launch Game", and the game starts and connects to the same server!

Client Patches:

Version 1.0.0.5 (Original retail version) to 1.0.1.6 patch (26.2 MB)

Version 1.0.0.9 to 1.0.1.6 (7.2 MB)

Version 1.0.1.3 to 1.0.1.6 (6.1 MB)

Version 1.0.1.5 to 1.0.1.6 (OpFor) (6.1 MB)

Server Files:

Win32 dedicated server upgrade (7.9 MB)

Win32 dedicated server (87.7Mb)

Linux dedicated server (87.7Mb)

Linux dedicated server upgrade (7.3 MB)

Being a huge fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation has made me partial to anything Star Trek. There is only one exception to this rule, Star Trek video games. I have been eagerly awaiting a great star trek game for many years. The last Star Trek game I played that I thoroughly enjoyed was the Star Trek: Starfleet Academy on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. That is, until now. When I first received it in the mail I checked out the screenshots on the back of the box and they looked very impressive. Not only that but the plot sounded very encompassing. From past experience I knew that these things can be quite deceiving and started to play with a bit of bias expecting the game to be crappy. To my dismay, rather surprise it wasn't. Here finally in my hands was the Star Trek gaming experience I have been waiting for.

The first section of the Flight Simulator 2000 Software Development Kit focuses on the Adventure Programming Language (APL), and contains documentation and all the necessary components for a sample adventure. The Flight Simulator 2000 APL SDK is intended for experienced software developers familiar with a high level programming language such as C++. (Microsoft Product Support cannot offer assistance in using the SDK or for developers creating add-on products)

Future releases of the Flight Simulator 2000 Software Development Kit will provide information on topics such as Aircraft, Panels & Gauges, and Scenery. To learn more about the Flight Simulator 2000 APL SDK, visit the title's official site here.

Flight Simulator 2000 continues Microsoft's tradition of working directly with aircraft manufacturers, pilot organizations, flight training organizations, respected flight instructors, aeronautical engineers, and other leaders in aviation to add authenticity and experience to the product. Key partners include Jeppesen Sanderson, Cessna, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), Flight Safety International, Bell Helicopter Textron Inc., Mooney Aircraft Corp., Systems Management Inc.; and pilots John and Martha King, Rod Machado and Patty Wagstaff. Flight Simulator 2000 is currently available at retail locations around the globe.

Leading up to the event, there are growing reports from the townspeople in two major riverside towns of something massive and black appearing over the water -- but then when looked at directly, it vanishes. Additionally, there are reports of several travelers finding specially crafted weapons in remote sections of Dereth. These deadly weapons are said to be similar in appearance to the weapons once used to fight a war against the deadly Shadow creatures. It is thought that these weapons may again be helpful in stopping the Shadows that have recently evaded the isle of Dereth.

Asheron's Call is a massively multiplayer role-playing game playable exclusively on the MSN Gaming Zone that draws together thousands of players within a dynamic, 3-D online world. Players can create truly unique characters by choosing between extensive combinations of visual appearance, attributes and skill sets. Asheron's Call immerses players in an intense role-playing environment where they must compete or cooperate with thousands of other online players. An extensive system of allegiance and influence greatly enhances social interaction. The online nature of the game facilitates an evolving and dynamic adventure inside a consistent universe. The game will never be solved because there will always be more areas to explore and quests to complete.

For more information about the Asheron's Call event, please visit this site

Asaina al-Arqis read late into the day, poring over ancient texts for some reference to the gigantic bridge-like structure appearing and disappearing over the river near Holtburg. At dusk, soon after she'd lit her candle, a weariness stole over her that could not be explained by the warm spring air, and she soon bowed her head upon the desk. When she finally awoke much later, the larger moon had just begun to rise, and by its light, she could see the dead candle with barely a dimple around its wick. She began to stretch her arm, then stopped -- the desk was bare where her manuscripts had been.

Something rasped on the floor behind her, and she leapt from her chair. A bone-white figure clad in tatters emerged from the stacks. Its attention was bent over a book in one hand. In its other, it held the missing parchment. Heart pounding, she cast about for escape as it slowly raised its head, to reveal eye sockets like pits floored with angry-hot magma. Instinctively, she averted her eyes. A lich! But who, and why?

"The fools in Frore," said the undead monster, "made a toy of the prism, and now the old magic is loosed; the suspended war resumes. Many hidden things will return, and the heretic will kidnap and toy with your people. Reassemble the weapons and fight him! Rally your feeble people, Asaina al-Arqis. Tonight I let you live."

She understood none of this. "Who is the heretic?" she asked, but received no answer, and realizing too late that she should not look up, she stood transfixed by those burning eyes. The horror of that stare lingered with its afterimage glow as the lich grinned, faded, and was gone.

We've all seen the familiar "aliens invading the Earth", "Earth invading the aliens", "battle in an alternate reality", "one man versus an entire army of bad guys", and "escape from the brightly colored evil space planet" theme hundreds of times in hundreds of games. What's left for a gaming company to do? Simple... take all these ideas, roll them into a single game, and refine it into something unique.

"By hiding behind the "veil of anonymity" of the Internet, folks tend to lose all inhibitions and wind up acting like complete chowder-heads. Nowhere in the known universe is this axiom proven more than in the Internet's "killing fields," the cyber-cesspool of human opinion known as "Usenet," or as it's called by some folk "the newsgroups" (or as its called by me, the "place to get free pictures of naked women")."

"On the surface, Diablo II might look a lot like Diablo on a 3-D engine, with new character classes and literally hundreds of new features, improvements and gameplay tweaks; it's got a much larger scope than the original Diablo could ever have dream of. On a purely cosmetic side, the interface has been redone, as has the paper-doll character inventory and statistics screens--not to mention the new skill tree that eliminates the spell book."

"DevStudio is an Intergrated Development Environment designed especially for UT scripts and is similar to Microsoft DevStudio (not that complex.) Here is a list of the main features:

• projects make, build commands, errors are shown in "output"
• window within UTDS
  
• syntax highlighting
  
• error recovery
  
• mutator wizards
  
• AddClass wizard

and much, much more."

Here at the Job Database, we've setup an index of Gaming Sites/Volunteers looking for each other, with the info you'll need such as who to contact, their e-mail address, their ICQ info, and Job Description/Previous Experience. This Database is a resource for gamers by gamers, and open to anyone!

Tony Hawk 2
We found out this week, perhaps by accident, that not only is the brilliant Tony Hawk Pro Skater going to appear on PlayStation by the end of this year on PlayStation, but that players will have the option to design their own skate parks and environments. How's that for frickin cool, eh?

Who would you say has had the biggest impact on gaming in the last year and why?

Greg: I think it was Valve with their amazing work on Half Life. Not only did they raise the bar for first person shooter genre, but in the process they made the minimum standard of excellence for games in general to rise to a higher level. In essence, they've made it harder to make a "great" game. Fortunately we all love a challenge.

Fed-HQ: Could you talk a bit about the premise behind the game? Concept, plot, etc.
Well, the title of the game is DS9: dominion wars. Obviously based on the DS9 Star Trek series, and we're concentrating on the middle to the later part of the DS9 series. Basically the game is a real time tactical space combat game and we're different from other real-time strategy games because there's no base-building. What you can play are three sides, and four races. You can play the Federation, the Klingons, and the Dominion side is made up of the cardassian and the Jem'hadar. in multiplayer you'll be able to play all four sides, in single player the Cardassian and Jem'Hader are combined into the Dominion. So the concept behind the game is that you're in the middle of the Dominion Wars.

To be honest, when I first received my copy of Silver in the mail I was skeptical. I had read other reviews and looked at various screenshots of the game, but was unsure as to how exactly it worked. After playing it for days on end I came to my conclusion. Silver could have been one of the greatest games of 1999 if only they would have put that extra bit of effort into the game.

Will Wright’s latest brainstorm has turned into something much more than a people simulator. Sure, on the box the company line is "The People Simulator from the Creator of Sim City ™" but this game will not only simulate the computer people, it will draw you so far into the game that all sense of time and material necessities will be lost.

"FEBRUARY 9, 2000 -- PowerPlay, an effort to make the Internet a better entertainment platform, gained momentum this week as six leading game development studios and content and Internet tools developer, Applied Microsystems, joined the initiative. The latest additions to the list of developers who have gone on record in support of PowerPlay are:

-Bungie -Oni and Halo.
-Dynamix -Tribes, Tribes 2.
-Gas Powered Games -- Dungeon Siege.
-Jellyvision - You Don't Know Jack, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
-Nihilistic - Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption
-Raven Software -Soldier of Fortune, Star Trek: Elite Force, Hexen 2

The SWAT3 Giveaway is still going on at Exxtreme3D! Until the end of February, 4 lucky people will win a copy of Sierra Studio's latest achievement, SWAT 3: Close Quarters Battle. All you have to do is sign up for our newsletter, register for our forum, and then fill out the form on our contest page! It's that simple! Winners will be announced on March 1st through our newsletter.

For complete details, just head on over here.

BB: Earth 2140 used the traditional top-down view of many RTS games, however, in Earth 2150 you make the move to 3D acceleration most notably in the environment. Tell us about the terrain, and the addition of weather effects, and how they will effect gameplay?

Jim: The terrain is true 3D in the sense that units move up and down the hills and valleys of the battlefield. Mountains and cliffs are impassable, water can be crossed by building bridges. Trenches can be dug to prevent enemy incursions. All of these factors play a big part on where and how the player develops his base and conducts operations. As far as weather effects are concerned, day and night play a big role. For example, the Lunar Corporation (LC) is dependent on solar power; attacking them at night is a good idea since they're reliant upon battery power then and won't be able to recharge. This means their building defenses are weaker. However, they do have other advantages. The LC can build weather generators that create weather effects on the map. Wind and rainstorms prevent flying units from taking off. Meteor showers rain down fiery destruction.

Unreal Universe: You leaving to join The Collective came as quite a surprise to many Epic fans. What prompted the decision?

Myscha: Unreal Tournament was a super fun project, but it was taking a long time. The end result is a superb deathmatch game that has excellent gameplay. But on a personal level the work was not very challenging or interesting for the amount of time it was taking. The Collective was working on an intense single player game driven by an existing mythology (Star Trek Universe) and a unique visual real time action adventure gameplay model. I was in need of a challenge and a pipeline for game development that would keep me busy and intrigued with little time to breathe or relax. Thus after completing the levels that were going to go into Unreal Tournament, I moved to the Collective as a step forward. I love Epic and am great friends with the entire team, but as a designer I like to keep things fast paced and moving. Unreal Tournament was a simple game to make, everyone knew what it was supposed to feel like, how it was supposed to play, and how it was supposed to look, but it was simply taking too long for me. This is certainly not due to the skill level and talent at Epic, but rather the amount of technology and compatability required for today's games to satisfy user equipment and hardware.

Battlezone II is the follow-up to what many believed was the sleeper hitof 1998. Now armed with an all new engine and enhanced graphics, will this latest sequel pull the game out of its slumber?

"If you are a 2600 subscriber, pay daily visits to Rootshell, writem articles on AntiOnline, rewritten kernel, hang out in fully-encrypted and invite-only loops and think NSA stands for No Such Agency, then this article probably isn't for you. If not, you may wanna read it, everybody's talking about it, now it's time to actually know about it..."

IGNPC: You mention that gamers have contributed heavily -- is that something you value highly?

BS: The fan input is very important. I'm surprised that more people don't think so, as these are the people that play the game, these are the ones who take hundreds of hours, and you know they have their pet peeves, and they have them for a reason. Not everyone posts a comment or a suggestion that's correct or that we can implement, but it'll at least get us thinking and looking at it -- saying, "That's a symptom of this", "You know what, that is bad", "We didn't fix that up the first time", or, "What a great feature". We've culled many features that are in the game right now directly from messageboards. It's a great way to pass information along. We have a million people out there who have an opinion on BG.

FEBRUARY 9, 2000 -- PowerPlay, an effort to make the Internet a better entertainment platform, gained momentum this week as six leading game development studios and content and Internet tools developer, Applied Microsystems, joined the initiative. The latest additions to the list of developers who have gone on record in support of PowerPlay are:

Bungie -Oni and Halo.
Dynamix -Tribes, Tribes 2.
Gas Powered Games -- Dungeon Siege.
Jellyvision - You Don't Know Jack, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
Nihilistic - Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption
Raven Software -Soldier of Fortune, Star Trek: Elite Force, Hexen 2

"It's hard not to support a movement aimed at improving everyone's Internet experience," said Chris Taylor, CEO of Gas Powered Games. "The list of game developers and other tech companies supporting PowerPlay is a great example of industry cooperation that will have a positive impact on all of our games."

The PowerPlay initiative is composed of Internet companies, service providers, and game developers cooperating in the definition and deployment of an open industry standard to improve the Internet entertainment experience.

The first stage will be a proof of concept deployment for US dial-up customers. Following the initial deployment, PowerPlay service will be available outside of the US and for higher speed connections (DSL/cable modem).

The PowerPlay initiative also includes Bioware, Captivation, Cisco, Click Entertainment, Ensemble, Epic, Gearbox, Looking Glass Studios, Outrage, Red Storm Entertainment, Relic, Ritual, Shiny, Valve, and Volition.

That's right! You Counter-Strike server admins asked for it, and now you have it! The official CS admin resource, Counter-Server, is now officially open! You will find everything you need to run and optimize your Counter-Strike server - How To's for both hlds & hlds_l, scripts, tools, FAQ, lists of both CS specific and general HL cmds & cvars, forum, and even a bit of raunchy pr0n for you freaky admins. Let us know if you would like to see any content added - this site's for you!

Results of previous poll:

What's Your favourite game to play online?

Half Life (+mods)        126     14.48 %

Quake Series               247      28.39 %

Unreal Tournament      265     30.46 %

Evercrack-er-quest      70        8.05 %

Tiberian Sun                15          1.72 %

Tribes                          22          2.53 %

SC/BW/Wc2Bne         55          6.32 %

AOK                           10          1.15 %

Another                        33          3.79 %

I don't play online         27          3.10 %

TOTAL                        870        100.00 %

"What’s that Command? A storm moving onto our position and we should seek shelter immediately? Sir, with all due respect, my men have been to the far reaches of the sector and fought off bandits, rebels, Protoss and even the Zerg. We are not afraid of some... [STATIC -- END OF LINE]."

- Last transmission of Captain Jonathan Rogers, KIA during a freak hailstorm on Grnaki Prime
Size:198 x 128 Ice
Designed for Broodwar

"One thing I'd like to mention, though. We first tried this camera out on Mike's computer (which was an AMD Athlon) and the darn video wouldn't install (or it wouldn't detect the camera). So we then tried it on my computer (which was an AMD K-6/2) and it worked. So we don't know whether Mike's computer is just messed up, or the camera was not designed to support an Athlon."

There is at least one female character you can pick up for your group, but most things are pretty male-oriented. There are an ABUNDANCE of "harlots" in town for you younger guys to try to hit on. Morte (the floating skull companion to Nameless) is a sexist pig, and has plenty of crude remarks to make about having his way with the female zombies running around. You have no other choice than "Nameless One" as your primary character, a male.

A nice little tidbit for those who don't know, the latest PC Gamer features "the Sixth Annual PC Gamer Awards."

Of course, our favorite game was giving the award of "Special Achievement in Innovation."

The mention of the graphics in Freespace 2 can only garner a few possible words, the majority of them consisting of amazing, stunning, awe-inspiring and masterful. Freespace 2 contains, without a doubt, the best graphics in a space combat sim to date, not to mention give any other genres top graphical performers a run for their money. The graphics are crisp and clean, nicely textured and most importantly - run smooth as silk.

I got a press release from the center of appeals this morning, telling us about what I think it is the marine course taking a look at Delta Force 2. Is that the case?

Yes it is, actually what happened was one of the marines who has been with the marines for 19 years, who is a master sergeant from North Carolina. He has been a fan of Delta Force 1 and active in the online community. When he heard about Delta Force 2, he contacted our project manager Patrick Hewitt and asked if he might get his hands on a copy of it. He actually sent out 8 copies and the end result is he is now starting a program to use it as a training aid.

Even as world still trembles from the recent clashing of FPS giants Quake 3 and Unreal Tournament this past Christmas, a new wave of shooters prepares its assault on the market. One of these upcoming titles hails from the veteran design house at Raven Software - designers of the popular Hexen series. Their new title, "Soldier of Fortune" (SoF) promises to bring a new level of realism to the FPS genre by way of realistic weapons, locations, and lots of wound appropriate gore.

In SoF you play John Mullins - a soldier for hire. Through the course of the game Mullins is pulled into a plot that pits him against a powerful organization bent on destruction (Hey - they aren't sellin girl scout cookies). Through grit and skill Mullins will prove that one well trained man with an impressive arsenal of destruction at his disposal really can make a difference (Not to mention a whole lot of bloody holes in his opponents).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Multiplayer demo of Nox available tomorrow at www.westwood.com

Gamers can sample fast action of Nox Arena over Westwood Online

LAS VEGAS, February 10, 2000 - Starting today at noon, gamers will be able to download a multiplayer demo of Nox from www.westwood.com. Nox is the highly
anticipated action-RPG due to go on sale in North America on Feb. 16 and around the world on Feb. 19.

The Nox demo lets players play Nox Arena over a land-area network (LAN) and Westwood Online, Westwood's free multiplayer game service. Up to 16 players can
play at once.

The demo features the conjuror character class. Conjurors have access to more than 30 spells and can cast and control creatures, as well as custom design
traps. He'll also get plenty of experience wielding staffs and bows to fend off enemies who slip past his magically summoned defenders.

The full version of Nox feature threes character classes, the Conjuror, the Warrior and the Wizard.

As the Warrior, players can equip and use all manner of swords, battle axes, war hammers, and chackrum. Warriors leave magic to the Conjurer and Wizard classes, though Warriors do have five powerful abilities, Harpoon, War Cry, Bezerker Charge, Tread Lightly and Infravision.

The Wizard is an expert in the mystic art of spellcasting, ranging from enemy confounding illusions to devastating displays of metaphysical force. He'll also learn to set magical traps that contain deadly spell combinations.

The full version of Nox features an array of multiplayer options never before seen in an action-RPG. They are Capture the Flag, Nox Arena, limination, King of the Realm, and Flag Ball.

Nox is a game of savage combat and sneaky tactics set in a mystical land filled with discovery and deceit. Nox's lightning-fast action is fueled by a combat
system that's easy to use yet gives players tremendous gameplay depth and infinite possibilities. With more than 150 unique spells, weapons and skills, players must use their wits to create devious combinations and tricky tactics.

The battle happens on the world of Nox, which Westwood's game designers filled with intricate detail. The top down viewpoint gives players an expansive view of the world, but there's a twist. True line of sight means never knowing what's around the next corner, creating an intense level of suspense.

The single player game will take you through the three lands of Nox, pitting you against vicious monsters and powerful wizards. Driven by an epic story, you'll
progress up skill levels and learn three schools of combat: the way of the Warrior, the knowledge of Conjuror, and the disciplines of the Wizard.

Much more information about Nox can be found at www.westwood.com. The website is updated daily with news, the latest art, and downloads. During the next two weeks, leading up to the release of Nox, the website will feature a downloadable AVI from Nox every day.

At this point you can drive around in the scout vehicle. It has four wheel drive and independent suspension. It handles pretty well, though at high speeds it tends to under-steer. Have to be a little careful going fast on the uneven ground or you can end up upside down. Vehicles are going to be pretty fun :)

Anyway, we are putting the finishing touches to SOF, putting in all those little tweaks that makes a great product rather
than just a good one. Games are all about fun, but there is no doubting that a polished front end, and a full feature set
always help that along.

Microsoft today announced that gamers can now participate in the open beta of Allegiance by purchasing the (CD-enclosed) March issue of PC Gamer that is now widely available at newsstands. As word of this beta availability spreads, the MSN Gaming Zone (http://www.zone.com/) is expecting thousands of fans to flood their servers. This free public beta will run through the month of February. Allegiance combines furious space combat with the social challenge of squadron-based combat in a stunning 3D universe.

The March issue of PC Gamer can be purchased at major bookstores including Barnes & Noble and Borders, and other stores where magazines are sold; including large supermarkets, Walmart, CompUSA, and Fry's.

In Allegiance, players can pilot and customize many different classes of ships; from scouts and fighters to battle cruisers. They also have the ability to switch between a variety of combat roles, including pilot, turret gunner or base commander. Hundreds of players can engage each other in death-match style arenas or in cooperative play. Gamers will be able to represent their identity, through recorded accomplishments and medals, giving combatants the chance to become part of an ongoing, dynamic universe. Allegiance also features rich strategic elements such as controllable assets, researchable technology and command features.

Planets, novas, nebulae, black holes, asteroids, naturally occurring wormholes, and over 36 user-controllable spacecraft are rendered in amazing graphic detail. Unique digitized sounds delivered in 3D stereo accompany conditions ranging from the thud of asteroid impact to the scream of failing shields.

Jeh: Tell us how DM-Faith came about? How did you come up with the idea for it?

Sean: The basic idea came to me while running, just an image of a bunch of weird platforms floating in space, connected by invisible walkways. Initially, the only key to the layout was going to be an elaborate color-coded mosaic on the ceiling. Of course, that would have been about as much fun as dodging highway traffic while reading a street map. Many people have made the connection to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, but that didn't occur to me until later.

11) What about your upcoming mod Rocket Arena:UT? Can you tell us something about it ?

Not much to say right now. Its going to be really cool. Each level designer at Epic is going to contribute a map with 5 or 6 arenas. In addition to that, we've got some level designers from the community work on maps. The mod will have the gameplay features of Rocket Arena 2, plus some new stuff unique to
UT. (And professional voices and art!)

The transition to 3D has brought Britannia to a smaller scale but without
altering the level of complexity characteristic to the series. In fact the game easily
provides at least 70 hours of gameplay for Ultima fans and at least 100 hours of gameplay
for newcomers.

In StarLancer, countries from around the world, including the United States, Russia, and Great Britain, have formed strategic alliances and now battle for control of Earth, Venus and other planets across the solar system. As part of a newly formed, ragtag aviation unit, the 45th Volunteers Squadron, players must prove themselves in this struggle for freedom of the solar system.

StarLancer delivers a level of graphic details and special effects not currently found in space combat games. More than 80 types of spacecraft are rendered in extraordinary 3-D detail adding to the complexity of the dynamic mission structure. Players fly in over 25 gripping missions that range from escorting marine boarding ships to free POWs to leading an assault on space stations built right into an asteroid field. StarLancer will also include some exciting multiplayer features. Players can work together cooperatively throughout the entire story, with up to four players. Gamers can also dogfight in six different deathmatch modes with up to eight players via LAN or the MSN Gaming Zone.

StarLancer is being developed by Digital Anvil and Warthog as the prequel to FreeLancer, the winner of the 1999 E3 Best of Show. The game will be available at retail locations throughout North America in late April with an estimated street price of US$49.95.

REDMOND, Wash. (Feb. 9, 2000) Just in time for a new golf season, Microsoft Corp. today announced the availability of its new "Links 2000" 10-Course Pack. Fans of the best-selling PC golf simulation series Microsoft "Links LS" are sure to enjoy the improved graphics and true-to-life tournament play featured on the championship courses. Using the powerful game engines of "Links LS 2000" or "LS 1999," the add-on pack includes 10 upgraded versions of the most popular courses in the "Links" series, all optimized for tournament play. In addition, with its estimated retail price of $19.95, the 10-course pack offers unprecedented value to fans of "Links."

Through the add-on pack's 180 holes of golf designed exclusively for the "Links LS" series, players will be able to relive the excitement of the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina and feel the serenity of Pennsylvania's Latrobe Country Club in fall foliage. The PC golfer on a tight schedule can enjoy an all-new fantasy executive course, Three Canyons, set in a challenging desert bowl. The championship courses are faithful re-creations of some of the world's best courses and are sites of major professional tournaments and other popular venues. Additional courses are Firestone Country Club in Ohio, Castle Pines Golf Club in Colorado, Sea Island Golf Club in Georgia, Kapalua Plantation and Kapalua Village in Hawaii, and Entrada at Snow Canyon and Bountiful Ridge Golf Course in Utah.

The "Links LS 2000" 10-Course Pack will also enable PC and online golfers to experience the thrill of tournament play as the pros do. Each course has been upgraded and is tournament-ready, complete with leader boards, ambient sounds, television towers and thousands of spectators lining the fairways - all of which makes for realistic golfing on the PC. Online tournament golfers will enjoy the added variety and realism as they compete at popular "Links" sites.

Although the 10-Course Pack is compatible only with the "Links LS 2000" and "LS 1999" versions, owners of previous versions of "Links LS" may be eligible for a $15 upgrade rebate* when they acquire "Links LS 2000."

The actual gameplay is about as wild as can be. You have two courses to select from, the arcade one and a custom DC course. You also have a choice of four separate characters, each driving their own unique cab. You then start driving around town like a mad man, looking for a customer to pick up. When attempting to deliver your passengers to their designated area (Pizza Hut, baseball stadium, etc.), anything is game. You can drive on dirt, grass, hills, buildings, sidewalks, other cars, ramps, and even under water. The faster you deliver them, the happier they will be (aka. not kick your car) and the more time will be allotted for you to complete future pickups. Once you run out of time, your total earnings are tallied and you are given a grade, kinda like school, and an overall rating of how you stack up to other players. This isn't exactly Driver or anything close to it. It's pure arcade madness, and that's definitely a good thing.

-Fixed problem with MPEG capture broken in DesktopTV
-Fixed problem with Desktop TV Mute button not working on a single click
-Fixed volume of TV doesn't go mute when playing recorded mpeg
-Fixed video captures having a bar of extra video on the right side of screen
-Fixed PAL NICAM audio problem in the MSPAPI.dll of the vfw driver
-Fixed audio corruption when capturing MPEG-2 files in VR
-Fixed GPF when screensaver runs with VR open
-Fixed problem with surf function not working properly
-Fixed problem with app not displaying error message if it cannot get an overlay surface

[trenches] Soldier of Fortune seems to be covering all the major news sites nowadays. But all are seems to complain about the unadvanced AI and Sound systems. Which new features are going to be added to the final version?

[john] The sound systems are being worked on by Creative Labs and Aureal directly, I have full confidence that they will have all the issues brought up by the demo fixed for the final release of the game.

Nathan is working full time on AI and scripting, making sure it is all tweaked and up to par. It has come along leaps and bounds since the OEM version we released in October, expect another order of magnitude improvement for the final game. The biggest problem is that all the enemies in SoF are human and so are expected to be as intelligent as real people. If you have to fight zombies, mutant creatures or demons from the void, then you don't know how they act, so who can tell if they are dumb or not?

"Soulbringer looks like it could be a worthwhile alternative to those who think there's too much clicking and not enough plot in Diablo-type games... The most notable thing about Soulbringer is the ability to change the camera angle as you see fit. You're no longer restricted to a standard ¾ overhead view, or a "behind the character" viewpoint."

"Kodak, a programmer on a mission to bring some old classics new life has done a port of Heretic to Linux. The game is hardly cutting edge, but it does bring back some of that retro fun in a much updated fashion. That page is found"

Really, the whole setup looks very much like Wolfenstein 3D, with the players’ health, ammo and armor ratings across the bottom. There are some items scattered around that can be used in a simple inventory system, like flashlights and papers. (The papers are a nice touch — activate them and the Nazis ignore the player for a short amount of time.) Power-ups — which in recent shooters have been logically placed — are back to the "spinning object in the middle of a room" motif.

Microsoft announced today that on Wednesday, February 9, beginning at 6:00pm PST, lead developers from Microsoft Research will be in the Zone Theater Chat Room (http://www.zone.com/zzzz/auditorium.asp) to talk about Allegiance.

Soon to be released, Allegiance combines furious space combat with the social challenge of squadron-based combat in a stunning 3D universe.To participate in the Allegiance chat, click "Chat & Events" on the navigation bar across the top of any Zone page, and then click "Chat Rooms" and "Zone Theater Chat" in the room list.

For more information about Allegiance, including how to participate in the open beta program now underway, please visit the game's official site at:

http://www.microsoft.com/games/allegiance/

At the Korean news conference, I did NOT say that Terrans would
become strong in the new patch. It must have been a
misunderstanding on someone's part, maybe mine in explaining well
what the patch was meant to address.

GX: Are you going to keep boo (the hamster) in the game and what about any of the other characters, Player Controlled and NPC's from the first?

DA: We are definitely bringing Minsc back and we couldn't leave Boo out in the cold now could we? Minsc and Boo were definite crowd favorites. We polled our audience and asked them what their favorite NPCs were from Baldur's Gate and who they finished the game with. The characters that most people had at the end were Minsc, Imoen and a few others. You will be seeing them in BG2 as well.

"The description of this... piece of software says and I quote it's a timekiller that both casual and hardcore gamers can enjoy. Even with a busy schedule, you can squeeze in a quick game, read an exclusive
novella or sit back and be entertained by a touch of murder and mayhem. An average gamer who doesn't really keep up with the happenings around town go into a store, saw an Interplay published game developed by Blue Byte and endorsed by Stephen King, and went "cool!"... you get the idea. Whether or not you wanna call it a foul play is entirely up to you, I'll just stop right here."

Video Driver -
Either Default OpenGL or 3DFx OpenGL. Voodoo3s use Default
OpenGL as they are 2d/3d combo card.

Resolution -
I don't think I'll go over this one :)

Fullscreen -
Not an option you get with V1, V2 or Rush cards as they
only run fullscreen without special drivers. If you try and
run a 16 bit only card on a 32 bit desktop, then it will
not work.

- Added support for: RogueSpear, F18E Super Hornet, Monaco Racing 2, SpecOps 2, FreeSpace 2, Nation Fighter Command, Revenant, Abomination, 21st Century Sailing Simulator, FIFA 2000, Virtual Pool Hall, Big Bang, Dungeon Keeper II, MisterBoom, Purgatory, Soldier of Fortune, 1602 A.D.
- Added retail maps/gamemodes for Quake3 arena, Wheel of Time, and Unreal Tournament
- Added support for new Quake3 fun names.
- Added a new Ad Button to display animated advertisements.
- Find Players on the Internet Games servers list now remembers previous searches
- Wheel of Time and NerfArena now show the correct process name
- Fixed cutting(CTRL-X) text from the chat input line.

FS: I've read some earlier interviews where you said you were into bombs and stuff. You were a miscreant kid, right?

John: Yeah in a lot of ways…I looked back and I was an arrogant little jerk when I was a teenager. I matured over the years and when I look back now, I don't think THAT highly of myself as a teenager. I mean, I was really smart, I was already programming computers in a lot of ways. But I was amoral at many times.

• Smoke Bombs
• Spy Drones
• Repair Drones
• Base Alarms

Playstation 2, how cool is this machine? Because I am starting to wonder if we are going to get sucked into the hype faze or is this machine as powerful as they say and is it more powerful than the Dreamcast?

Well it is pretty cool. I have not seen a whole lot of the marketing demos that they pull off with like the free looking water and stuff like that. What I have mainly been looking at is programmer demos and stuff like how to throw off triangles in the screen and how to implement control and stuff. From what we have done so far it definitely looks like it is going to live up to the expectations. It is definitely a very fast machine.

-The ability to give units spells that don't they normally have. (medic using mind control etc.)

-The ability to make spells researchable at any building.

-The ability to change a non-spellcasting unit to a spellcasting unit. (marine using Psi storm)

-The ability to train heroes and other units at buildings. (hunter killers at spawning pool etc.)

-The ability to give units other abilities such as nuke painting and repairing. (probe repairing)

-The ability to create new units through substitution of powerups and critters. (assassin etc.)

-The ability to modify non-active buildings and give them a new button set. (temple builder)

-The ability to make new button sets and menus (spell menu)

-Basic editing tricks you need to know.

One thing I'd like to point out regarding the SoF demo patch (which has no firm release date yet - you'll hear from RJ when it's ready, be assured)... most likely, it won't incorporate the improvements to client prediction that I recently made (BTW - thanks for lending me your ears Jake, Pat & James).

It's quite phenomenal - how you can loose sight of the wood for the trees... when you're toiling away so close to a problem - you can get stuck in this thought loop and don't realize you're stuck in it until someone else points out the obvious that you just fail to see! Predicted in-view weapons are now very stable, without the oddities and artifacts that are present in the SoF demo. Needless to say, I'm sleeping a lot better now too. More generally, we are all feeling pretty freaking good about the way things are looking on SoF - it's really come together and will be our best game yet for sure.

Thanks Blues News.

"After release of this third and "final patch", Origin has closed down it's Ultima IX boards to everyone. Old posts can still be viewed, but new messages cannot be posted. Many have taken this as a sign of abandonment by Origin, and a kick in the face to the loyal fans. To top it all off, there is no mention of further work on patches. Where does this leave those that have gained nothing from the three patches? Tweaking. Origin says download this driver, tweak that, defrag this, set this to this, upgrade, ad nauseum. All this tweaking, upgrading, defragging, reformatting and reinstalling windows does not have to be done for any other game I own, so why this one? I have a decent machine that runs games spectacularly (PII450, 128MB, GeForce SDR), but chokes on Ascension. Do you know why? Because it was built on Glide and had Direct 3D support thrown in at the last moment."

Since then there has been a fair bit of noise about these two games. Both Diablo2 and NoX are highly anticipated RPG games and both are best sellers in their own right.

JackChaos goes and compares NoX and Diablo2 in their latest article. Despite the fact these two games havent been released yet its still a good -if somewhat flimsy- read. Read the article.

"After release of this third and "final patch", Origin has closed down it's Ultima IX boards to everyone. Old posts can still be viewed, but new messages cannot be posted. Many have taken this as a sign of abandonment by Origin, and a kick in the face to the loyal fans. To top it all off, there is no mention of further work on patches. Where does this leave those that have gained nothing from the three patches? Tweaking. Origin says download this driver, tweak that, defrag this, set this to this, upgrade, ad nauseum. All this tweaking, upgrading, defragging, reformatting and reinstalling windows does not have to be done for any other game I own, so why this one? I have a decent machine that runs games spectacularly (PII450, 128MB, GeForce SDR), but chokes on Ascension. Do you know why? Because it was built on Glide and had Direct 3D support thrown in at the last moment."

-Added "Ping Optimizer" tab to the program.
-Added "Custom Scripts" tab to the program.
-Added 3 custom scripts.
-Replaced 3 key selectors with just one.
-Individual ammo can be purchased for sidearms and pistols similtaneously.
-Reduced chance of the purchase/radio menu staying on screen after using aliases.
-Changed visuals/positions of things.
-Fixed ALL known bugs from Beta v0.3 user feedback
-Fixed big bugs in the "Ping Optimizer"
-Other miscellaneous crappy bugs fixed.

Gamespy: How do you handle the pressure of knowing Thief 2 has to meet some high expectations from fans? Since you're the project director, won't they come looking for you if they aren't happy?

Steve: Thief 2 is really the team's game. No one person has dominated the design or implementation of the game. Everyone has contributed in some important way to the game. Everyone has put some part of his or her hearts and souls into the game. Everyone on the team feels like this game belongs to him or her. It is our game. Being part of a creative environment where everyone is empowered to contribute creates a great confidence in us and our work so there really isn't any pressure or worry about failure. Plus we know that Thief 2 kicks ass!

CTG is a teamplay mod that gives all members of a team access to a type of weapon when your team is the last to control its spawn point, while none of the opposition will have that weapon until regaining control, which likewise deprives their opponents. In addition to control of the arms race, these captures are a significant part of the mod's scoring, as grabbing a weapon nets you three frags and two more for each of your teammates..

MEMO 3451GS12
FROM: Office of the Surveyor General
RE: Naming Policies

In the last few months I have seen a rash of new planets, continents, oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, mountains, plains and valleys with suggested nomenclature based on geographic features found on Earth. While I do not wish to single out any specific survey team as being particularly uncreative, it was brought to my attention that just today a body of water located on Exgelia IV was given the name "New Aegean Sea". I have examined the maps and photographs of the area in great detail and have read the survey report thoroughly. Although this body of water does indeed bear some resemblance to the Aegean Sea located off the coast of Greece and Turkey on Earth, it is with great hesitancy and reluctance that I give this name my final approval. Be advised that the next of these uninspired reports that comes across the desk of this office will be immediately rejected.

WSM/es

256x256 Jungle
Designed for 2-8 Players

Half-Life update 1.0.1.6 contains two new maps for Team Fortress Classic and a variety of server enhancements.

The New Maps
* Badlands - Primarily an outdoors map with an emphasis on vertical positions, Badlands features traditional capture the flag play through a twisted collection of step canyons-a locale tailored for the sharp shooters.

* Crossover - A mix of exposed outdoor areas and tight indoor spaces littered throughout the corridors of two symmetrical bases, this map provides a venue for varied and fast paced CTF games.

Server Items
We have addressed a number of server side items in this release, including the Linux message of the day fix and a number of other items requested by our Half-Life server administrators.

Blake Hutchins: Could you describe in general terms what you plan to implement?

MARK FROHNMAYER: Sure. Basically, it goes like this. You buy the game, take it home and install it. During the installation, you have to register your copy across the Internet. When you do so, you get a unique account number and you set up a login name and password. You can tell your computer to remember that information automatically so you don’t have to keep typing it in. After you’re done, you have a unique TRIBES 2 account that you can use to log on to any TRIBES game on any machine, provided you remember your login name and password.

TIM GIFT: The CD key is only used the first time you install and log on. It’s kind of like a proof of purchase. The unique accounts will provide server administrators who host TRIBES 2 greater control over who can play on their servers. Right now, server admins can ban by IP address, but that doesn’t keep the offending player from logging back on under a different IP. With TRIBES 2, the ban targets the player’s account number and effects a permanent ban for that player on that particular server.

"The graphics are top-notch. If they were focusing on realism in this aspect, they did a great job. The characters look fairly human, though…heh…the main character is a joke. After seeing all these thugs, working along side your big-ass partner, and decapitating every bad guy in site, you'd expect your character, John Mullins, to be a sly military undercover agent, dressed in black, with a pair of tinted shades to seal his identity, right? Well, this guy looks more like the dude from Walker Texas Ranger than anything. It's pretty funny, to say the least. Now, ahh…having said that, the environments themselves are very nice. The train is kinda, boring, but hey, there's only so much you can do to the top of a train to make it look interesting. As I said previously, the gore factor is up there, so really hope you like the color red, as it will be present throughout the entire game. The explosions and special effects are decent, but still leave a little something desired. I mean, come on, if you can decapitate someone in about 15 different ways, I'd think we could expect a realistic explosion when blowing a gas container. A minor letdown, but we shall see how it turns out."

LAS VEGAS, Feb. 7, 2000 - Westwood Studios today announced that The Meet Nox Tour's next stop will be Feb. 12 at Game Domain, a cyber café in Springfield,
Va, in the Washington D.C. area. The event will give 40 gamers a chance to play Nox a few days before the game hits the shelves on Feb. 16.

Here are the details.

WHAT: Meet Nox in the Washington D.C. Area
Subtitle: Hecubah Does D.C.

WHEN: Saturday, February 12, 2000
3:00 P.M. - 7:00 P.M.

WHERE: Game Domain
7223 Commerce St.
Springfield, Va 22150
http://www.gamedomainllc.com/
1-703-644-9136

HOW: Go to Game Domain as early as possible on Saturday, February 12. The store opens at noon on Saturday, so that's when sign ups will begin. The event is only open to 40 people, so sign up as early as possible that Saturday.

WHAT DO YOU GET IF YOU SHOW UP ON SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12 AND ARE AMONG THE 40 TO SIGN UP:

Four hours of playing Nox before it goes on sale.
A Nox T-Shirt
A free copy of Command & Conquer Tiberian Sun
Free food and beverages (Please post pizza topping preferences on the Nox message board at www.westwood.com)
Entry into the Nox tournament, featuring hundreds of dollars in prizes.

Show up early and be ready to Nox. You can get maps and information about Game Domain from http://www.gamedomainllc.com.

Once all 40 seats are taken, sign ups will stop, so it's important to sign up as early as possible.

An action/role-playing game, Nox is the first of a new franchise for Westwood Studios. It's a game of savage combat and sneaky tactics set in a mystical land
filled with discovery and deceit.

Nox's lightning-fast action is fueled by a combat system that's easy to use yet gives players tremendous gameplay depth and infinite possibilities. With more
than 100 unique spells and weapons, players must use their wits to create devious combinations and tricky tactics.

The single player game will take you through the lands of Nox, pitting you against vicious monsters and powerful wizards. Driven by an epic story, you'll
progress up skill levels and learn three schools of combat: the way of the Warrior, the knowledge of Conjuror, and the disciplines of the Wizard.

Nox promises an intense multiplayer experience with five multiplayer options: arena combat (teams and free-for all melees), Capture the Flag, King of the Realm and Flag Ball.

Westwood Studios is a prominent publisher of best-selling PC, and next-generation console games. Formed in 1985, Westwood Studios has released several popular titles including: Dune II, the Lands of Lore series, the Kyrandia adventure trilogy, MonopolyR for the Internet, the Games People Play series, Blade Runner and the Command & Conquer product line. Westwood is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Electronic Arts.

Electronic Arts, headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, Electronic Arts posted revenues of $909 million for fiscal 1998. The company develops, publishes and distributes software worldwide for personal computers and advanced entertainment systems such as the PlayStationRand the Nintendo 64R. Electronic Arts markets its products under seven brand names: Electronic Arts, EA SPORTS? , Maxis? , Origin Systems? Inc., Bullfrog? , Westwood Studios and Jane'sR Combat Simulations.

For the latest news and information about Westwood Studios, contact Westwood at 702/228-4040 or visit http://www.westwood.com.
# # #

For more information call:

The beta is limited to 800x600 resolution right now, but looks great in it. Space is very, very dark and cluttered in Allegiance. Asteroids, jump portals, space stations and spacecraft fill up the world very quickly. This is a big difference between Allegiance and the typical space shoot-'em-up. You cannot spot your enemy across the map with just your eyes. It's up to your scanners to see him.

• 3-D Ultra Radio Control Racers by Avault.
• Drakan: Order of the Flame by Intelligamer.

• Falcon 4.0 (Flash is required) by gg8.com.
• FreeSpace 2 by PC Gamer UK.
• Final Fantasy VIII by Game Over.
• Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned by Electric Playground and Gamesurge.
• Hangsim by 3D-Unlimited.
• Jane's F/A-18 by Computer Games Online.
• Jane's USAF by Thresh's Firingsquad.
• LeMans 24 Hour by EuroGamer.
• Mechwarrior 3: Pirate's Moon by Wewp! Entertainment.
• MiG Alley by Well Rounded Entertainment and by Games Domain Review.
• Planescape: Torment by Games Domain Review.
• SWAT 3: Close Quarters Battle by Game Revolution.



• Virtual Pool Hall by Games Domain Review and GameProWorld.
• Wild Wild West by Gaming Age.

(Kirkland, WA, February 3 2000 ) LithTech Inc. today announced the licensing of the powerful LithTech 3D Game Operating System to New World Computing, a division of The 3DO Company (Nasdaq: THDO). LithTech will be used to power multiple titles in the critically acclaimed Might and Magic game brand.

"We are thrilled that 3DO and New World Computing have chosen the LithTech 3D Game OS for use in the highly acclaimed Might and Magic brand," comments Jason Hall, CEO for LithTech Inc. "LithTech's ability to handle huge outdoor environments combined with state-of-the-art special effects will insure the talented Might and Magic teams can build the most beautiful worlds yet seen in the fantasy genre."

LithTech is a licensable technology for multiple platforms that functions as a complete 3D Game Operating System which allows developers to easily design, develop and focus on content without reinventing new technology for each project. The development environment includes all world and model building tools, newly designed rendering capability and complete source code necessary to bring a game team's concepts and production schedule to completion quickly.

"The flexibility of this engine lets us do what we do best, which is creating vast, entertaining gaming worlds," says Jon Van Caneghem, president of New World Computing. "The LithTech technology allows us to concentrate on the immersive game play and in-depth storytelling that the Might and Magic brand is known for."

During gameplay you will be forced to jump out of your car and become a pedstrian (but with a gun). By exiting your car frequently lets you leave your damaged car behind and steal and abandoned one.

Gamers Central: The game will mainly be a combat flight sim but it will also feature detailed ground units. Other than blowing these to pieces, will there be any other interaction between them and the aircraft the player will pilot?

Buka Entertainment: The game will feature a complex model of the relationships between different units and a large-scale strategic model. The units (and this includes air, land and sea forces) are not just objects for trashing: they respond to the changing military situation, including of course the pilot's actions, by altering their routes, dispositions etc. As this is a war situation, they all behave in a suitably warlike manner; the more important static objects are all defended by anti-aircraft installations, making offensive action in enemy areas risky. Any damage they inflict on your craft, or you inflict on any other object, will affect its physical model and thus its behaviour.

"Delta-Force2.com (http://www.delta-force2.com) has a report regarding US Marines using Delta Force2 (by Novalogic) as a training program. A trial is currently being setup and if a success then DF2 may be adopted by the entire Marines Corp as a tool to train individual and team tactics. A US Marine had this to say about the program: "The Delta Force 2 platform provides the realism, communications, and movement that is a necessary part of each and every Marine's "shoot, move, and communicate" mind-set while serving their Corps and country." For the entire news article visit: http://www.delta-force2.com/index.shtml"

-Fixed a health kit bug/cheat issue.
-Fixed armor/damage level bug.
-Fixed a server crash bug issue.
-Fixed OpenGL "black bug" with new maps.

Does 16 bit color have you feeling down? Jealous of your TNT2 owning friends? Contemplating breaking into your local Comp USA and grabbing an armful of GeForce cards? Want to have near 32 bit quality graphics in Quake 3 without upgrading and without an extra speed hit? I thought so. There is a way to nearly eliminate the color banding from the skies, HUD and other places in Q3 as well as making a huge overall improvement in image quality, even with a 16 bit Voodoo 3 card.

Gold Creek Technology has licensed the Unreal Tournament engine for use in its upcoming game Second Genesis, a sci-fi RPG that takes gamers to a new world filled with a variety of alien entities. Players will take on quests and explore space while attacking with martial arts and traditional weapons, in the feet of everything from a pimp to a mercenary (how's that for variety?). Alternate State Entertainment will be developing the game, which is slated for a Fall 2001 release date. Check out the teensy info on Gold Creek's website if you'd like more information.

"This new installment of the Test Drive series is an improvement over the previous versions of Infogrames' racing games. It has good graphic, nice sound and relatively good gameplay. The game does have some features to boast about, like several cars to choose from (I believe it's around 100, but I'm not sure, and no, I didn't count). That is A LOT of cars! This game has the most options of cars that I have ever seen! There are also a lot of tracks to choose from to race all of those cars. Although Infogrames can boast about features that I have just mentioned previously, the game does lack a lot of good car physics which hold it back from being a great game. If there is ever going to be a Test Drive 7, Infogrames should SERIOUSLY consider a major improvement in car physics. The game physics is so bad... that when I drive the Viper GTS, it feels more like the Econo Geo Metro! "

"Just when you thought Earthworm Jim defeated Psycrow for the last time he comes back. That annoying bird...I wonder if KFC can cook him up for Tooney Tuesday? Well Earthworm Jim and Psycrow are back ready to duke it out again, Chicken vs. Worm, but something is different now...they're both 3D! Giving another level of play and exploration, but all this seems familiar. You could almost call this Mario 64. Let's just say the concept for this game seems a little familiar."

Here's a clip :

"There are a whole lot of funny weapons that you can pick up along the way and launch at your opponents - cows, cats, dogs, rocks, evenn prostitutes and dildos. (Yep you read right) Hey we're talking about a South Park game here. There're also items that you can pick up, like Farts = Nitros; You can only stock up a maximum of three different weapons, the fourth one that you pick up will be discarded. Each weapon has a different effect,
for example, the dog will bite your opponent's bumper and drag his car to a total stop for about two seconds. There are also "Suck-Ass" pickups..."

What makes the game unique though is that within a given mission you have a wide range of ways of completing your task. For example, you find a locked door guarded by a turret activated by a camera. You can blow up the turret and blast your way in through the door with explosive charges. You can hack into the security terminal round the corner, deactivate the camera and open the door. You can sneak up to the camera and bypass it, then pick the door's lock. You can find an NPC who can give you a key to open the door...

And this is just for one door in the very first level of the game!

Intel has been having trouble lately in shipping two of it's P3 chips,the Katmai 750 Mhz and the Coppermine 750 Mhz to the UK. This 'drought' of chipshas caused companies like Dell and Dan a few problems as they rely heavily on Intel for their processors. While Intel say that the problem will improveit is said to be bringing big price cuts on the P3 processor when normal shippingto the UK resumes - expect these cuts to appear around 27th Feb.

How many FPS Action games have you played in your life? Probably one too many eh? Well out of all these action games only very few have made it to worldwide fame. Half-Life, the Quake series, and several others come to mind when action games are mentioned. Now there is a very promising game out there that has not receieved all too much publicity. It is Remedy Entertainment's Max Payne, a 3D-action game with a realistic twist to it. After speaking with the manager at Remedy, he is "very confident about the release of Max Payne", and expects it to go straight to the top. Well, I agree with him, because while using the MAX-FX technology graphics engine, and putting one great story behind one big bad daddy of a character, there is definitely something brewing at Remedy.

With the release of Wheel of Time back in November there are fair amount of reviews already posted by gamers who have never read the series. (burn you! Shadowspawn! Burn You!) Luckily there are those few Dragonsworn who have read and enjoyed the Wheel of Time series before they reviewed the game. (I've read the series 3 TIMES!!!.....who hasn't?!) You might think I have nothing but praises for this game, but a game it is and my duty to give you unbiased facts. The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth gives age to a FPS? When I first heard that a Wheel of Time game was to be made I had my doubts. An unfinished eight book series simply cannot be translated into a game. Furthermore I was disappointed that they made it a first person RPG. (this was right after the Diablo hype) Nevertheless Legend Entertainment has done so before with the Death Gate Cycle (7 book series) and proves to us that Wheel of Time is as rich as the novels.

In the wake of the recent Dark Thaw event, shadows and crystal creatures stalk the land of Dereth. What devilry is afoot, and what is to come? Gamers are invited to put their questions directly to the game designers this Thursday. Lead producer Scott Herrington, along with several of his cohorts responsible for the development of Asheron's Call will be on hand. In addition to the Dark Thaw, they'll be discussing ongoing plans for game updates, current issues in the game, tips and tricks, and more. The chat
takes place from 5:00 to 7:00pm PST in the Zone Theater Chat Room.

TIBERIAN SUN FIRESTORM TO BRING WORLD DOMINATION

Expansion pack brings innovative new multiplayer mode to Command & Conquer fans

LAS VEGAS, NV, Feb. 2, 2000 - Fans of Tiberian Sun around the globe will soon have the means to conquer the world. Westwood Studios today announced World
Domination, a unique multiplayer mode that will be introduced with Firestorm, the soon-to-be-released expansion pack to the best-selling Command & Conquer
Tiberian Sun.

After the expansion pack is installed and players log onto to Westwood Online for a multiplayer game, they'll have the option to help their chosen side,
either Nod or GDI, take control of world.

Commanders will find a continent, either Europe or North America, broken up into four sectors. Within each sector will be 30 or more territories to fight in.
They may chose to fight in one of the territories, along with thousands of others, each advancing the cause of either GDI or Nod.

Once one side claims all the territories in a sector, that sector will be conquered in the name of the victor. Once all four sectors in a continent are
claimed by either GDI or Nod, the war will be over and the victorious side declared.

The rules and battle maps will be pre-set for each sector. Players can choose to go head to head or two versus two, but they will not be able to change what
battle map they play on. They will be able to alter some gameplay options before the battle begins.

"World Domination lets players take part in a global struggle, not just one mission," says Steve Wetherill, executive producer of Westwood Online. "Every C&C fan has a strong allegiance to either GDI or Nod, and now they can help their chosen faction take over the world. It will be fascinating to watch the war rage and see which side will take control."

World Domination will begin in early March, just after Tiberian Sun Firestorm is on store shelves.

In Tiberian Sun Firestorm, the notorious NOD leader Kane has been defeated, but the battle for the future of mankind is far from over. A new more powerful enemy
has emerged. About 30 minutes of new film sequences have been created to tell this next chapter of the Command & Conquer Saga.

Created by the original Tiberian Sun team, Firestorm contains an arsenal of new features, weapons and hidden secrets. The expansion pack will feature 18 new
single player missions, 15 new multiplayer maps and exciting new units, including the Juggernaut, the Mobile War Factory, the Mobile Stealth Generator,
and the Cyborg Reaper.

More information about Firestorm's new units and features can be found at
http://www.firestorm.westwood.com

The Firestorm expansion pack requires a copy of Command & Conquer Tiberian Sun to run. Tiberian Sun's minimum system requirements are a Pentium 166 MHz with 32 MB of RAM, a quad-speed CD drive, a 16-bit sound card, and a Direct X(tm) compatible video card.