Quick update that the Starsiege Players discord has moved servers, so head on over and join the (new) fray. Oh, and make sure you grab the Starsiege Installer and have a read through the beautiful web-based Compendium while you're at it.
5 years after Hi-Rez Studios acquired the Tribes license from Garage Games in 2010, they decided to release all of the games in the Tribes universe, including Earthsiege, Earthsiege 2 and Starsiege for free. That's amazing, but... that was still 5 years ago and the master servers were long since dead (2008 was our last update).
But fear not! Jenetrix and Wilzuun's got you covered. Here's what you need to get Starsiege up and running in 2020.
Step 1. Download and install the latest build of the game that has some patches enabling it to run on Windows 10.
Step 2 (optional). Download and install the extras that contains skins, glide wrapper, BMP remap tool, and the original documentation.
Step 3. Replace the contents of your master servers (master.cs) with the following (last updated Dec 9, 2018):
//---------------------------------
// master.cs
// Last Updated 12/09/18
//---------------------------------
# times here are in ms
$pref::maxConcurrentPings = 20;
$pref::pingTimeoutTime = 1500;
$pref::pingRetryCount = 2;
$pref::maxConcurrentRequests = 10;
$pref::requestTimeoutTime = 3000;
$pref::requestRetryCount = 2;
Step 4. Replace your addrbook.cs with the contents of this updated file, which contains a list of servers not currently broadcasting to current master servers (as of Apr 24, 2020). Create the addrbook.cs file if it doesn't exist in the root folder.
For more than 12 years I've kept the Junkyard online as a resource for those in the Starsiege, Tribes and Halo communities as every once and a while, a vet will reach out to me and catch up on old times. Well, the SS community has gone one step further this time and really come together in a bid to band together for the game that brought us together.
Edit: The Junkyard Forums are also back online! Certain caveats apply - certain forums have been marked read only until I see a community need to turn them back on. Catch me on Discord below or PM me on the forums for details.
Death-Strike brings word that a new master server has been put up for Starsiege - yes, the community is that dedicated. Editing of your Master.cs file and replacing its contents with those below will enable you to once again join the fray!
# times here are in ms
$pref::maxConcurrentPings = 20;
$pref::pingTimeoutTime = 1500;
$pref::pingRetryCount = 2;
$pref::maxConcurrentRequests = 10;
$pref::requestTimeoutTime = 3000;
$pref::requestRetryCount = 2;
//$Inet::Master1 = "IP:ss1m1.masters.dynamix.com:29000"; // original
//$Inet::Master2 = "IP:ss1m2.masters.dynamix.com:29000"; // original
//$Inet::Master3 = "IP:ss1m3.masters.dynamix.com:29000"; // original
The long awaited Cyberstorm v.1.2 project has finally been completed. The collaborative effort from several people (Crow!, Seraphim, borg_down, siopaomanX) was geared to make the Cybrids of Missionforce: Cyberstorm much more difficult to defeat in single player. More details and download links can be found below:
We had to do some emergency maintenance on the site, and a few things might have broke. We apologize for the forums being down for so long, but we've got a more powerful home now, and we're ready to rock.
Due to the maintenance, however, we noticed some minor glitches. Please report any problems you have viewing the site in the comments.
Please bear with us over the next few days as we perform some server maintenance. If you notice anything out of place, please let us know in the comments thread below.
Well, it was inevitable. Sierra announced earlier this week that it would end multiplayer support for 20 of its "heritage" titles, including Tribes 1, on August 16th. While this news, to some, may seem like the end of playing Tribes 1 online, Starsiege vets will remember the community fix that was put in place when Sierra ended Starsiege multiplayer support. To that end, Bloodyboots from our forums pointed out that a community run Tribes 1 multiplayer master server is already in the works, care of Tribes One.
So you've been in our forum arcade and you think you're pretty good. You may have even been in one of our previous tournaments. Want to prove you've got the biggest kahuna's? Register for our Ball Breaker tournament - our first 8 player hub-bub that is sure to raise more than a few eye brows. Spots are limited, so get in while you can.
Update 06/13: The ball break tournament has been replaced with the Glop:Melee tournament, see this announcement for details.
The crowd has spoken and Trajan has answered, delivering a bunch of previously unreleased media. There's a little under a dozen new screenshots, and several handfuls of (mostly) unreleased development art. You can find them all by using our Quick Search Tool and the Gallery keywords, "The Last of 2845 Media", as well. Enjoy folks, that's all she wrote.
An interesting blurb on why Starsiege:2845 was ultimately canned has been posted on our forums by BDUAres, originally posted by Vyper on the NTDF forums. Here's a snippet:
The project was cancelled because of a collection of events that totally derailed our ability to produce anything of significance. First, Vivendi forced us to drop our initial development on UT2004 to and take up development on Tribes: Vengeance. Even though we were very close to an ATR on the UT2004 engine, this made sense; they wanted to sell more copies of T:V. But Irrational Games totally hosed the Unreal engine to the point it was unmoddable. In addition, Vivendi's agreement with IG gave IG the exclusive rights to the T:V source code, so we couldn't fix what they broke.
The post also goes on to explain where Clancore is headed:
So, if you want to know where Clancore is going from here, imagine Tribes 2 combined with Mechwarrior in a unique Universe created by us. We'll finally be free to create freely without all the chains that have held us down for four years.
Head on over to this thread for the full post and to chime in with your thoughts.
I emailed Trajan regarding the release of any previously unseen 2845 assets and here's the summary response:
Everything that was not directly ported from StarSiege is being revamped to be used in their previously mentioned MOD project. This includes all of the music and other art assets. Sometime in the future, any artwork that will not be used will be released to the public. Unfortunately however, no details on the story that had been created for 2845 will be released to the public due to their legal contract with VUG.
Well, I've been so caught up with my career that I only just found out the bad news. While I can't say that I'm completely surprised, it does come as a shock and I am deeply sadened. So let me be the first, second, third, whatever number to welcome those first post posters, long time lurkers, or existing members to our humble community.
We've been around since the very beginning and remain the source for your SS Universe content, and we'd like to keep it that way. Please join us in our General Discussion Forums for your every day run of the muck chatter, or scroll down to our cleverly labeled Starsiege Forums to gorge yourself on insatiable Starsiege ramblings. Or if there's something that you can't find here, please feel free to drop me a line via email, Personal Message, or by posting a thread on the forums.
While SS:2845 may be dead, that doesn't mean that the community has to go with it. Welcome!
The second tournament has finished with silver hopping away the winner. In a new take on the original, silver weaved through traffic and leapt over logs, avoiding crocodiles and snakes with the best of them. Congratulations silver!
Before our third arcade tournament is announced, we'd like to hear your thoughts on our first two. Let us know in this thread.
Good news and bad news ladies and gents, good and bad...
As usual, we'll go with the bad first: the new TGE:A engine is proving to be a real nut buster; hence, the lack of obvious progress. Why this is case, I have no clue. It could be that the new engine is just going through the usual growing pains and patches will smooth stuff out or it might be compatibility issues with the old TGE.
And now for the good stuff. We've finally gotten some decent renders of the SCARAB mobile battlesuite. One of the new pic's can be seen in thumbnail below. The rest can be seen here.
Perhaps more interesting is that the SCARAB's role in the game has finally been clarified. They are, as expected, the bridge between infantry and Hercs, in addition to be the far precursors of the iconic powered armor seen in the Tribes games. The comparison used was if infantry are HMMV's and Hercs are M1A1 tanks, then SCARABs are the Bradleys and Strikers. For a more detailed explanation, click here.
In his latest blog entry, Arcanox reveals the end results of his work with Cliffswallow's original concept drawing.
Arcanox also mentions some very "very cool" and "very big" things coming up "on the horizon"...of course, he says absolutely nothing about these things. What else is new, eh?
Says Frankie on the new Frequently Asked Questions list. Phases one and two are now closed, so if you didn't receive that email invite, you're out of luck unless you purchase a launch copy of Crackdown (which I intend to do). Other neat tidbits include the unveiling of the laser, the mysterious X button, and the new party system. Check it all out below.
After a flawless victory in the first tournament, Falcon walked away, barrels in hand with fists triumphantly pounding his chest, the victor of the Donkey Kong Tournament.
The second tournament will be announced within a week's time for a brand new game to our humble arcade. What will it be? You'll have to stay tuned to our forums to find out.
Arcanox has once again updated his blog after a two week absence. Apparently, he's been busy working on different weapons for the SCARAB. He reports the completion of the SCARAB equivalent of the HATC, basically a giant six-barreled mini-gun. He's also testing out a recent design by The Cliffswallow, namely a missile launcher designed to allow the SCARAB to inflict pain on the larger hercs and base defenses. If it does go through, we can probably look to see some severe limitations due to its relatively small size. Below is a picture.
Arcanox also mentioned that the team is hard at work getting caught up in the art department so that they have something to show us on the new TGE:A engine. Currently they're working exclusively on the human side of things so don't expect any cybrid designs for a while yet.
For those interested, The Cliffswallow has also updated his own blog. He doesn't talk much about 2845, but if you're interested in his quest to climb Mt. Denali, you might want it a go. If nothing else, you can get some work out ideas.
Remember that Halo-esq Exoskeleton suit we mentioned not too long ago? The creator of the Trojan, Troy Hurtubise, apparently could not attract the US or Canadian military to the suit for an admittedly low per-unit estimated cost of $2000. Accordingly, Mr. Hurtubise is in some big financial trouble, after spending more than $150,000 on the prototype. So what better way to try and get some of that money back than to sell it on eBay. Though there is a reserve, it's currently only going for around $12,000. The Hamilton Spectator has more information. I still can't believe neither military wanted this suit, especially if it can do what Troy claims it can do.
The new Spartan Laser is the hot topic over at Bungie.net right now. The censored version of a supposed in-field report with soldiers gleans a myriad of tidbits detailing one of the most powerful weapons available to the UNSC. That, and it's red.
Thanks to droid17, it's been brought to my attention that the StarSiege Soundtrack was incomplete. I'm not sure how it happened. My best guess is that the download process was somehow interrupted when I got them from Smylodon. Either way, it's my bad for not checking all of the songs before sticking them up. So, with out further ado...
Just received word last night that within the next 48 hours, the first round of Halo 3 beta invites will be sent out to a select group of the online registrants. And don't fret if you don't get an invite, there still are a couple of ways to snag a spot in the beta: buy a specially marked copy of Crackdown, or qualify for the Live Rule of Three program that will be running in early February. Halo 3.com has more information. Keep your fingers crossed!
The rifle we've all come to love when coupled with a charged plasma pistol, the MA5C, has been laid spread eagle in the latest Top Story at Bungie.Net. This write-up, similar in detail to the one released on the Mongoose, reveals all about this pungent weapon, including its weight, length, rate of fire, and cartridge size, to name a few. If you're a sucker for details, start reading.
The UK magazine, Edge, has an inside look at what goes on at the Halo HQ, speaking to several crew members. Originally published to subscribers only, it is now available to the public at large and is quite an indepth read. Amongst other things, the prospects of Halo 3 are discussed along with the less than stellar presentation in Halo 2, all written as if off the record. Check it out!
This version of Weapon Selector is very different from its previous versions. The 9 weapon and vehicle limitation of v1.1 is now no longer existent. At the cost of simplicity, the HUD based selection system has been replaced by a visual selection, where players literally scroll though the vehicles and weapons that they wish to use the exact same way as they select weapons. A hologram (actually, its a staticshape, but I'm using poetic license and calling it a hologram ) displays which weapon or vehicle that is currently selected. This is all done at a vehicle station.
The glitches in the previous version, such as the lasers firing weirdly and the badger issues, have been fixed. Also, in order to give badgers a slightly better fighting chance against other hercs, I have added 4 components for the badger that players can choose from along with still being able to swap out the turret! These components include '4x4' wheel drive, 'Rammer' boosters, 'Jumper' hydraulics, and the ability for the driver to aim the turret (and still be able to carry passengers).
Unfortunately, the option for server owners to limit weapons certain weapons on certain vehicles has been temporarily removed. This will be added back in the next version.
All this and the mod is STILL server-sided, so players joining a server running this mod do not need to download anything.
If you have any comments, suggestions, or bugs/glitches to report, please e-mail me.
This is an update to the 1.1 patch that was mentioned back in the end of November, and fixes all known issues in that patch. More details are available in our file listing or by visiting the release thread. Note that you will only see servers running the same version in the browser listing. Apologies for the late news post.
Well it may not look exactly like the Master Chief in his real-life digs, but for copyright purposes, that's probably a good thing. But what the Canadian creation, dubbed Trojan, does bring to the table, is actual protection from bullets, explosives, knives and clubs. The creator, Troy Hurtubise, built the suit in hopes of protecting the Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan and US soldiers in Iraq. Troy claims that the suit could be built for about $2000 a piece, which is quite a bargain, considering what it offers. Hit the link below for more information.
Halo 3's new two-man super-quick ATV has made its public appearance on Bungie.net. B.Net precious details such as its top speed (just shy of 100 km/h), fuel efficiency (45-65 mpg), and its engine size (1000c). Quick? Yes. Super-quick? Yes, and I know a little something about speed. Visit B.Net for pictures and a lengthy description.
As usual, a good deal of behind-the-scenes work has been going over at Clancore. The latest update didn't contain that much that is directly interesting IE eye candy, but there are some interesting points. For one, the fact that the devs have already begun the transition to the TGE:A, notably by working on new, high-poly models. Look forward to seeing those new models within the next few months. Also mentioned was a good deal of rear echelon organization was taking place, namely logistical issues and new member orienteering. Once again, boring news, but in the end it should make things go by smoother.
Of greater interest to the public is the Clancore Development Network wiki, where the developers will be posting their techniques in the use of the Torque engine and general game construction. Hopefully, this will turn out to be a big asset for future developers, mod'ers, etc. Finally, there is the usual update in the staff roster. Some notable faces you might recognize are:
Dave "Diamondback" Meddish (USA) - Level designer, techno babble
Anyone that plays Tribes should recognize this name. A former Dynamix employee, Diamondback was a level designer and as he puts it a "hack writer" for both Starsiege:Tribes and Tribes 2.
Tim "mrdr" Kautz (UK) - Sound FX lead, technical advisor
mrdr is our new sound guy, and he has quite the pedigree as well. He is currently working for Splash Damage on Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars. Projects he has worked on in the past include Quake 3 Fortress, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, Doom3, Quake4 and a bunch of mods and maps as a contributor.
The creator of the StarSiege-Tribes Universe (except T:V, but we don't count that ) as we know it, Blake Hutchins has been granted the prestigious honor of having his story Sword from the Sea published in L. Ron Hubbard's 22nd edition of Writers of the Future.
Click here to check out his personal webpage. If you feel so inclined, you can give him an email.
Added the rough copy of the First Aid section I talked about in the previous article. Read it, and you may rest assured that, should your little Jimmy or sister Sue decide to play with fire or impale themselves through the lungs with a stick, you'll know what to do!
I've been dragging my brain for a while now, trying to think of some good 2845 articles to write...maybe some more interviews or an ATR review...but they all sounded pretty boring and not worth the effort. Still, I wanted to write something: that's when I noticed the Community section in tJY articles. Voila, I shall write articles that have personal significance to me. It is thus that I give you the first of hopefully many more to come: the Army LDAC/11B AIT Quicksheet, a sort study sheet for what's required in both infantryman's Basic training and the officer's Leadership Development and Assessment Course. Yea, another list For those of you who don't know, I've been through Basic training as an infantryman, I'm planning on going to Airborne school, and I'm also a ROTC cadet at Indiana University. There's a lot of crap that I have to memorize. This is some of stuff that I have to have down cold, and I thought I'd share it with you guys in case it helped anyone. If this boring, I apologize, and I hastily add that I'm also working on similar articles that should, hopefully, prove more interesting to an audience outside of Army hopefully. Look to see some articles on Land Navigation and First Aid in addition to references to the official manuals, which BTW, you as the public can easily access via Google(TM). I also plan to eventually give a written account of my experiences in Basic Training along the lines of an actual narrative.
[shameless plug]Oh, one more thing...I've also been busy writing short stories. I've always wanted to take it up as a casual hobby and I've finally managed to get myself moving. Strangely enough, I've started with Fire Emblem 7 fanfiction of all things...*shrugs*, still I'd like to think they're good enough that you could enjoy them without being familiar with the game.
A Trip to Market: A bishop finds himself in charge of a young girl, newly orphaned. Together they travel to the largest market in Araphen and all hell breaks loose. Not much action, largely a feel-good slice of life. Inspired by Les Miserables
Awakening: Another characterization piece and a WIP, though almost finished. This one focuses on explaining the role of Tactician's within the world of FE and introducing one very famous one, "Mark". Actual action and a little bloodshed plus hints of HP Lovecraft, woohoo! [/shameless plug]
Kyred has taken his modB back to the drawing board and after several hours of work, progress was made, not the least of which is an actual title
This mod is the server-sided variation of modB. This version does not require the people who are joining a server running this mod to have the client GUI's that modB required. Anyone can join. Also, many new "server owner friendly" options have been added to the mod. This allows the owners to control and configure what weapons can be mounted where, on which vehicles. The ever existing annoyance of the badger has led me to also give server owners the option to NOT have the little buggy customizable.
If you have any questions, problems, errors, or comments, then please e-mail me at kyred808@gmail.com
Feedback and suggestions are encouraged.
This baby lets you choose pick what weapons to mount onto your vehicles (looks weird on a badger O.O) when you select them from the vehicle station. You can even mix and match them up for some variety. There are even weapons that weren't put on HERCs in the ATR that were added in (like the two laser guns and some weird Cybrid weapon).
Installation is very easy (check the readme). The mod does not overwrite any files, and nothing is placed inside your "base" folder, so its easy to switch back and forth between normal SS2845 and the mod.
So far, the only noticeable problems with the mod is the two laser guns only fire straight when mounted on a vehicle, but this isn't a problem for the wraith though. Also when weapons are mounted on the badger, the back turret becomes unmountable (you can still fire from the diver seat though, and you can also aim from there too). So far, I have not seen any serious errors in the mod, so it should be OK for hosting.
Thanks to Kyred over at the 2845 boards for this little baby. A reminder that it is still in beta stage so if you have any problems, let him know by posting over at his thread.
As a Christmas present for all of The-Junkyard's users, Mhaddy has added an arcade feature to tJY forums where, once you login, you can pick and play from several classic games like Asteroid and Tetris. The server tracks your stats from game to game and displays the top three overall gamers in addition to also tracking individual game stats.
It appears as though everyone else in the world surfing the interweb for people they don't know on browsers other than Safari on a Mac can now enjoy Halo3.com in all of its Flash redirection, enlist now for Halo 3 multiplayer beta program goodness. Enjoy, unless you're on a Mac using Safari.
Well in case you weren't tuned into ESPN Tonight Night Football and missed the Halo 3 trailer, you can grab it in a streaming .asx right here (after jumping through a few hoops, of course).
Bjarne Stroustrupk, the father of C++, gave Technology Review a very interesting interview where he defends his C++ language against attacks dealing with the amount of freedom it allows and also criticizes what he believes are major problems with programing conventions in general. Click here to read the interview.
Probably the most exciting Halo 3 news since we knew there was going to be a Halo 3. Gaming blog site, Kotaku, has some details on the upcoming Halo 3 multiplayer beta program that will open for registration this Monday. The test is still slated for Spring 2007, as we mentioned earlier, but registration is just a few days away. At the moment, Halo3.com still links back to B.Net, so until it properly redirects, prep those button mashing fingers for a suave application.
As we mentioned a few weeks ago, on December 4th, a Halo 3 commercial will be airing on ESPN Monday Night Football. What we didn't know, was that the commercial will be a mix between CG and live-action - contrary to what was stated earlier. Air time details to salivate over: it will air between 5:50 p.m. and 6:20 p.m. PST on ESPN and later at 8 p.m. PST on Xbox.com, following by a heavily-taxed Live Marketplace posting. More details available on b.Net.
Lots of changes again, click here for a complete list.
Known Issues
The quickchat sounds work for some people and not for others. We've been diddling with this for several days now and have been unable to discover the problem. We will keep working on this and the solution will be presented in an updated 1.1 patch in the near future.
How to use Server Admin features
At the bottom right of the players screen (hit F2 while in game) you will see a Login button. Press that and type in the server admin password set in the preferences ($Pref::Server::AdminPassword) and click OK to login. You can also use the console function SAD(Password); to the same effect.
Once you have logged in, you will be shown as a [Super] on the gui and will be able to right click any player on the gui. Right-clicking a player will bring up a menu with Kick and Ban. Those are the only two options at this time. To clear the popup without selecting a menu item, you can either left click on any player or close the gui.
IMPORTANT:After applying the patch, go to C:\Program Files\Starsiege 2845 Alpha Tech Release\SS2845\base\prefs and delete your CLIENTPREFS.CS, SERVERPREFS.CS, and CONFIG.CS FILES.
After that go to C:\Program Files\Starsiege 2845 Alpha Tech Release\SS2845 and run cleanDSO.exe before starting the game. You will need to reset your configuration data after doing this.
Those of you who dismissed the ATR when it was first released should give it another go. It's still only an ATR, but by and large the glaring tech issues have been fixed and the main problem is just finding a server with enough people to have fun.
Last week the official SS:2845 forums moved to a new home on the Clancore Network. Click the jump below to be transported to the new location. Be advised that any personal messages that you had on the old forum may have been deleted and you may have to reset your password as well. Join in on the festivities!
The ATR's final (1.1) patch is slated to be released next Monday. It will feature all of the following changes as well as a few more:
- Working weapon focusing (aiming)
- A few new vehicle loadout variants
- Key remappings for all vehicles in options screen now works
- Fixed issue with multiple people entering single seat vehicles
- Fixed bug with health, armor, and shield bars not updating
Kind of dropped the ball on this one, but yesterday was the five-year anniversary of the release of Halo to the masses on the original Xbox and to commemorate the event, Bungie has a plethora of juicy announcements. Here's a snippet:
Public Halo 3 multiplayer demo hitting Live "this spring"
New Halo 2 maps "this spring" (X360 only!) unfortunately not free, though no price was quoted
New commercial set to air after Monday Night Football on December 4th (and available online everywhere shortly thereafter, including Live)
One of the interesting things about the commercial was the news that it was going to be CGI - not in-game footage, as Bungie is oh so well-known for. Their response? They're not ready to show it off yet, being as protective as they are, though it intrigues me as to why now they decide to jump to CGI... I digress. Oh, but did I mention, public multiplayer demo?
1up.com has landed a slew of new Halo 3 screens to whet your appetite. Is it just me, or do they fail to impress? I mean, they look good, but not Gears of War good. Let's hear your feedback in the comments.
The second and final patch for the 2845 ATR will arrive sometime during the week of Thanksgiving. Perhaps more exciting is the news that development has now been moved to the TSE... well, the TGEA now. (Torque Game Engine: Advance) Look forward to seeing in-game screenshots from the new engine after the patch's release.
The 1.0a patch that was released yesterday has been updated to include a few missing files and some additional bug fixes (shouldn't it be 1.0b?). If you have already downloaded and installed the patch, you will need to download the new update. The good news is that you don't have to uninstall - just patch over your existing installation.
However, the news, unfortunately, isn't all good. People are still complaining that they are having issues with the ATR, including problems with the turrets on one of the newly released maps, Hellforge. Hopefully the team can sort out these issues quickly so that we can get back to playing the game.
Our Starsiege War Stories Writers forum, though not heavily trafficked, contains some genuinely grade-A fanfiction - and we're still getting more stories coming in. Shhhh has posted part three of Silver Tears for your reading pleasure, and you can grab parts two and one on our forum.
If you've got some SS fanfics stored on your HDD, we'd love to read 'em. Swing on by our WSW forum and write!
IVI mentioned yesterday that we'd be seeing the first of a series of small patches released for the ATR, and today, we've got 1.0a. Aside from the numerous bug fixes (bye-bye crashes!) to the HERCs, maps, and GUI along with the tweaking of various items, the dev team has included three new maps for us to play with. Hit the comment thread below for a full list of changes in the patch, or click the jump below to get the goodies. Be advised, this patch sports a big, bold, yellow warning:
After the install is finished please make sure to navigate to the games install directory (default is C:\Program Files\Starsiege 2845 Alpha Tech Release\SS2845) and double click the CleanDSO.bat file to run it
It is recommended that you change your network settings (in the game under Options>Network button) to the following:
Although the ATR was only released a few days ago, we've already got our first community created map. Created by Aiserou, check out Morning Light Mountain! And if you've created a map of your own and need hosting, head on over to our archive and submit it. tJY's got you covered.
The first of a series of small patches that attempts to address some of the crashing issues will be released tomorrow. It will also contain 3 new maps that did not make it into the initial release, some game balance changes, the ability to add a password to dedicated servers, and more. Look for a complete list of changes to be posted in these forums in tandem with the actual release.
A few other notes: I've put the ATR manual up as a seperate download for those of you who do not wish to download the entire game for whatever reason. That's available here.
Secondly, ClanCore has put out a call for mirrors and there's already several up. For those of you who have been hesitating over a DL because of FileFront issues, this is a good time to give the ATR another thought. That's available here.
It seems many people do not know all of the gameplay features available in the ATR, especially those concerning grenades. Trajan has posted a list of commonly overlooked features that includes such things as remote detonation of grenades and side thrusters for the Wraith.
Those of you trying to access starsiege2845.com or mechnexus.net will be met with an 'account suspended' page... probably due to a bandwidth drain (or did Trajan forget to pay the bills?)
No word from the dev team yet, so stay tuned for updates.
Unfortunately, we've been having some trouble with our DNS over the last week or so with the transition to our new server, so we've been having some trouble accessing our admin CP. Nevertheless, I'm posting this by hax0ring the database to bring you the good news. IVI announced it last week and again yesterday. The day has finally come, folks, the ATR has arrived!
The official thread is located here with the exclusive download, care of File Front right here.
While I'm on a Mac, I will not have the pleasure of testing this out until I can get over to one of my PCs, but swing on by the comments thread below to let us know what you think. And get on those servers and enjoy!
Also spotted on Kotaku comes wind of two new Xbox 360 exclusive games being created by none other than Peter Jackson. The director has started his own game development studio, Wingnut Interactive, in conjunction with Microsoft Game Studios and screenwiter, Fran Walsh.
The first project will be situated in the Halo Universe (it's not Halo 3 or Halo Wars), but new IP property created in conjunction with Bungie Studios. The second game will be entirely original and "fundamentally change how people think about games" - coming from a movie-maker's point of view.
At X06 yesterday, Microsoft unveiled a real-time strategy game in the Halo Universe, Halo Wars, developed exclusively for the Xbox 360 (d'uh). From the creators of the Age of Empires series, Ensemble Studios, they will put you in charge of the UNSC armies as they unleash hell upon the Covenant. As Kotaku points out, this explains why the fan created Halo RTS, Halogen, was axed earlier this month.
Peter Jackson, the Executive Producer behind the up and coming Halo movie, sat down with Quint from Aint It Cool News and discussed various issues about the much anticipated movie. Big points include the question mark over director Neill Blomkamp, a newcomer to feature films, visuals, what rating they're shooting for, and the strength of the script.
2845 developer Asphodel recently posted a short glimpse into where development is heading in terms of radar and other sensors. Click here for more details.
I'm just now placing the finishing touches on the sensor systems that will be functional in the ATR...The sensor objects themselves have to scale from infantry all the way up to hercs...everything with a sensor will communicate what it is seeing. This really adds a lot to the tactical experience because now you have scout hercs and capturable sensors across the map.
We have a new poll up now asking aproximately how long have you been hangin' around this place. Please vote as we use this information to help tailor this site to you, our audience.
Wondering what kind of music you'll be hearing in the ATR, or what the 'brids will actually sound like? Or how about if there will be any post-ATR patches or new media released? Well, a myriad of insightful questions have been answered on the 2845 forums by Lujan and later clarified by Trajan. One of the more interesting answers came in response to the status of the single player campaign, from Lujan:
We have our storyline set out (meaning the content and flow of the plot), what the missions are (roughly), and how the missions will carry the plot forward. We know the mission locations and have done some concept work on how the large layout will go. For instance, one stage of the game will have the player at a beach head base of the Artemis Armada. We've done a fair amount of work of how the camp will be laid out and what the surrounding terrain will be.
We have a lot of SP assets modeled and some of them skinned, but no actual maps have been made yet- all the mappers are concerned with perfecting the ATR maps at this point.
Head on over to this thread for more juicy details.
Build 0.0.9r was released today and along with it, a couple of interesting items, including a hackable switch and auto turrets. More on these items as information becomes available.
In order to take control of a neutral auto turret, an infantry has to run up to the control computer for it (the hackable switch in question) and "hack" it. Currently this just consists of holding down the interaction key for about 10 seconds while you watch a bar decrease to denote time passing. Once the turret has been succesfully "hacked" they will support whichever team did the hacking.
This is basically the same thing that happened in SS with maps like Balance of Power where powering down on the center pad let you capture the turrets.
Post ATR this hacking idea will be expanded and made more complex than the simple implementation in the atr, up to and possibly including there being a "hacker" loadout for the infantry, and we've even kicked around the idea for a new gametype that focuses on it.
EDIT: Added "neutral" to turret description for clarity
EDIT2: Also, teams start off with a couple of dedicated auto turrets. Yes, you can sneak into your opponents base and hack their auto turrets so they shoot at them.
EDIT3: Before someone asks yes, we have an "interaction" key that will allow you to interact with a variety of things depending on context.
now set for early October. This from Trajan earlier this evening. We'll see if they're able to make this timeline. In the mean time, we should be seeing some videos of hercs coming out over the next few weeks. Hopefully we'll get lucky and we'll see more than just the Emancipator and Goad in action, though it's unlikely since those are what is slated to be in the ATR. Finally, it was also said that Filefront will be the primary method of distrubtion in the early phases of the release if only because of the massive bandwidth usage that the ATR's file size will naturally entail. As always, stay tuned for details.
A final round of ATR testing will be beginning shortly and the devs have decided to ask for a new set of applications rather than just pull out the old ones. If interested, click here and read through what you need to do to apply. Please note that you must be at least 18 to enter because you will be signing Non-Disclosure Acts and you also must have access to a high-speed internet connection.
The burning trees initiative that we mentioned back in June has finally begun. The Media Kit was released on Saturday and contains a number of "coming soon" posters (large and small), and do-it-yourself CD labels / sleeves. What're you waiting for? Download the 69MB media kit, print off the posters, burn it to a CD, and spread the love!
After a triumphant run as one of the lead news and content sites for the Tribes and Starsiege series of games, PlanetTribes has finally closed its doors. While the site will remain online for content retrieval, it will no longer be updated. Here's the message from Rifter:
Greetings from the Planettribes.com staff. The Starsiege and Tribes franchises have had a very exciting run, but it is time for us to move on. Tribes started out as an off-shoot of Starsiege (as a matter of fact, this site was origionally planetstarsiege). While Starsiege was the last game of Earthsiege series, Tribes took up the banner and continued from Tribes to Tribes 2, to finally Tribes: Vengeance. We have seen the game start as a minor off-shoot of a major series, and turn into an online phenomeon in its own right. What we leave behind on this site, is an archive of the wisdom of our community. From hosted sites, to our still-active forums, and troubleshooting pages, so you can continue enjoying one of the greatest games ever created. Thank you for your support over the years, and hope to see in the future. Look to Garage Games to continue the greatness of the spirit of Tribes. Planet Tribes has had a very rich tapestry of people that helped to make it happen. From our founder, tAng, to the current staff, we have had a great crew bringing you the latest in Tribes, Starsiege, and Torque news.
Milestone 4, the last milestone before Release Candidate 1 (and a short jaunt from TSE going gold), will be released very soon from Garage Games. This is great news for the Starsiege:2845 development team, who as you all should know, will be moving to the TSE for the full game once the ATR is released (on the TGE).
More details along with renders and in-game movies available right here.
Build 0.0.9p has been released with details available for consumption right here. Nothing big to note in this release; however, as many a developer knows, it's the tweaking that takes the longest.
Oh, you'll also want to keep a close eye on this thread in about 30 minutes.
Edit 1:30pm: The new art thread link above has been updated and therein you'll find a movie (low and high res) and a screensaver of an Ajudicator firing. Nice work!
Edit 08/16: A new shot of the Tyr has emerged later in the thread along with news that the Subjugator has to be remodeled (due to technical issues), and an update on the build of other HERCs. HERCs will also employ "faux ragdoll physics" for the ATR.
You'll spawn as a pilot or infantry, then go to a vehicle station to select a vehicle and rig. You'll have the rigs pre-saved, as in SS- the vehicle depot will be available from the main menu of the game, so you can twiddle in your off hours. We plan on having several vehicle pads available in every base.
As far as vehicle-specific pads... we might force indoor pads to not spawn flyers, or some smaller pads might not be able to spawn juggernauts, but beyond concerns of that nature I don't think we'll be imposing many restrictions.
Further down in the same thread, he goes on to say that in the final, you'll be able to spawn directly into a HERC if so desired; however, for the ATR, you'll be walking to your HERC.
A new look for the main SS:2845 website, which has been moved to clancoregames.com/s1, was unveiled today. Content in some of the sections is a little scarce, however, and the community has identified a couple broken links, non-existent images, and other such errors - though Lujan notes that these sections will be filled in over the coming weeks. It's good to see they've finally moved away from PostNuke and took up Joomla as their site CMS (transitioning CMS' can be quite a headache).
Aside from the new look, some new content has appeared as well. Go check it out!
In a startling discovery in the latest build update, HERCs in the ATR are to receive multiple hitboxes (contrary to what was reported earlier). The Cliffswallow notes to avoid killing yourself every time you shot your weapons, multiple hitboxes had to be implemented. GoldenShadow also posted up this image of the Eman hitboxes.
Woopah! Toe shots for all!
Update 07/31: Clarification from Trajan on hitbox allocations:
Each piece has a hitbox. Feet, lower leg, upper leg, chassis, shoulders (where applicable), antennae (where applicable), weapons, etc.
Eventually this will be carried over to the other vehicles and even the infantry (i.e. head shots).
While there was an internal build release of 0.0.9o a few days ago, details have yet to surface publicly. Therefore, due to the slow news week, I've culled what few tidbits I could find from the 2845 forums:
The Wraith and Badger can now squish infantry (details)
Almost two years ago we mentioned that there will field repairing in 2845. Just today, Trajan elaborated on this point, mentioning that the Badger will have a repair/reload station built into the back of it, similar to the Rover in T:V. Cool beans.
Wondering why there were so many maps mentioned in today's update? Well that's because the originally planned < 5 maps for the ATR has been bumped up to 10-15! On page 77 of the ATR Build List Updates thread, Trajan mentions that since it's going to be quite a while between the release of the ATR and any releases on the TSE, the team thought it'd be prudent to release a few extra maps to keep us occupied.
Conversely, some have questioned the need for so many maps on inclusion if it's so easy to develop for the TGE. What'you think? Let us know in the comments thread below.
The SS:2845 ATR Build Update List has been updated once again, signifying the release of yet another build (we're up to 0.0.9n as of today). Now, quite a ruckus has been made on the official forums over the last few days on what exactly the team is working on in the ATR. If you'll note, quite a number of updates include the generic "art / map updates" - to which some have coined as filler. Afterall, Trajan did say end of last year that all that was left on the ATR was polishing.
When it comes to any type of system development, sometimes fixing bugs and polishing other features introduces new issues that in turn, need to be fixed and subsequently polished. Rest assured, the team isn't just sitting on their hiney's, folks. To that end, Trajan has included specifics on the previously generic map / art updates in this build update. Enjoy!
On a different note, there's an interesting debate on the number of mounts that the Eman will have starting at the top of page 75 -- though Trajan has given the seal of approval on 2 mounts (a contrast to the 3 mount Eman pics recently released).
While Mhaddy has been busy covering hitboxes for the upcoming SS:2845 ATR, I have found something much prettier: new 2845 screenshots taken straight from ATR testing. Additionally, Trajan has announced that due to coding issues and time constraints, the Predator will not be making an appearance. Instead, the Athena will be making a flashy entrance with the ATR.
To see all of the pics, until we update our own gallery, swing by the main 2845 gallery to see the eye candy. To see Trajan's announcement and original post, go here.
As an addendum to our earlier note on hitboxes, Trajan has clarified that while the HERCs may only have one hitbox for the ATR - weapons can still be blown off without damaging the HERC itself. Weapons are treated as separate objects with their own hit point system. Good news indeed!
Interesting snippet from the ever-growing ATR Video Thread on the SS:2845 forums, Trajan mentions that vehicles in the ATR will only have one large collision box - so in other words, if you hit them anywhere, it'll do damage to the whole thing. Now before you jump off the top of your house and scream vulgar obscenities about how the world has wronged you - I'd like to point out that this is just for the ATR, implemented due to time constraints. After the ATR, all vehicles will have multiple hitboxes with localized damage (re: how Starsiege was). And breathe.
Update: And no, there will not be a patch or addon released for the ATR that will update it in any way (including the addition of multiple hitboxes).
Following shortly after the buzz generated by tJY's exclusive release of the ATR Testing Video, Jake "Trajan" Massie has posted a request for setting up some "burning trees" for the upcoming ATR release:
We're looking for some people willing to help us get the ATR out there by setting up some burning trees. A "burning tree" basically works like this:
We send a CD with the ATR on it to 10 people. Those 10 people burn 10 copies of their CD and send them on to 10 more people who do the same, and also burn some extras they give away on campus, or stick on the local EB Games or Gamestop counter, or send them to friends, etc. Basically a pyramid method of distribution.
Obviously this means we are going to try to get the ATR to fit on a standard CD, which costs basically nothing these days. Pack of 50 goes for less than $8 at Office depot.
If anyone can help us with this, please post your name in this thread and Lujan or I will get in touch with you when the time comes to discuss the details.
Thanks for your continued support and patience.
If any of you would be willing to help out with the upcoming distribution of the ATR, please post with the requested information in this thread.
Keeping in mind that the video was entitled an ATR Wraith test, many people have posed the question as to why we didn't see any HERCs in it. Afterall, we did see the Badger and infantry. Well, HERCs are still being perfected, quotes Trajan, and he won't let anyone see 'em until they're absolutely perfect. Snippage:
Hercs are still WIP and no one is going to see those till they are friggin perfect looking. Right now all the various components that make a herc are mostly done but we're in the process of putting them all together. The testers are getting access to the initial versions of them in this weekends build so you'll probably see some vid of them shortly. Or maybe even sooner, I don't know. Things are moving so quickly now I'm seriously almost losing track of everything that's being done on a daily basis.
I almost let it slip out yesterday, but buttoned right before the cat was out. But it doesn't matter anymore because the video is live and exclusive to the Junkyard! Prepare your drooling buckets folks, because once you click the link below there is no mouth that will be left un-salivated. Running just over 3 minutes and just under 70MB in size, we've got extensive Wraith battles, turret orgies and infantry action.
Grab the movie from our server below or hit up the torrent file -- I was on it this morning and got rates of over 300kb/s, so please be kind and don't rape our bandwidth, k? And if you jump on the torrent file, please seed for as long as possible, everyone benefits.
I'd also like to take a moment out to thank our sponsor, Future Point Web Solutions. If it weren't for them, tJY certainly would not be around today, nor would it be able to offer you this video. So if you're looking for a fast, reliable, and cost effective host -- please visit Future Point and tell 'em tJY sent you!
In the same new staff announcement thread that I just mentioned, Trajan subtlely mentioned that the team was on the home stretch for the ATR. Now, does this mean a few days, a few weeks, a month, more? Who knows, but what is nice to hear is that things are progressing along their merry little way. To boot, Trajan even hinted at some new media releases soon… could tJY be the lucky recipient? Shhhh! You didn't hear it from me.
Trajan announced this morning five new additions to the SS:2845 team. Three of them are returnees, including Vailias, Asphodel, and Cinderkarst, while the new kids on the block include Tilkor and community nut, Cliffswallow. Welcome to the team, guys! Hopefully this will give the project its much needed kick in the pants to get things rolling again.
Long-time community member BOLL has been interviewed over at Bungie.net. It is an interesting article that gives an insight into the life of BOLL. Thanks HBO.
Here's the deal. Not to be conceited, but not everyone can draw too well, and... I can *somewhat*.
So!
From now until I get back from a vacation in July, I'll be taking your random musings and scribbles on napkins of Cybrid Hercs. Once my makeshift deadline of [whenever I feel like it, 2006] ends, I'll pick a winner and then redraw the design, just because.
It doesn't really matter how badly you draw, just as long as it doesn't look more like throwup than a Herc. I can use my imagination.
And yes, if you send in a joke image of a Cybrid herc with a big smiling happy face for a grill, I might very well pick that as the winner. I do not care! All merchandise must go! OMFBBQ!
Also, I might not pick anything at all!
Don't care if you share your thoughts, post your designs or even ask for help. The more the merrier. The only thing at stake is our wasted time, which obviously isn't that valuable.
Another story from 1Up on Halo 2 not utilizing the Live Anywhere technology (as previously mentioned). Exclusive content (maps and map editor) will be heading to the Vista version, but no cross-platform play, unfortunately. Though I can definitely see the justification behind this, don't you think it'd be a good idea for MS to use Halo 2 to push the Live Anywhere technology?
The Halo Desktop Suite, by JJ Ying, has been updated. It comprises of a WindowBlinds 5 theme, dock icons, a winamp theme, a rainlendar theme, a login screen theme and cursors. I have personally been using the WB5 theme for a week or two now, and it is a must-have for the style centric Halo fan. Head on over to his blog to download it.
In this week's Weekly What's Update, Frankie has posted a new screenshot from the E3 trailer, and introduces a new team member, KP, and puts him through his paces. Frankie even throws up an origami-of-sorts Mister Chief... check it out!
We've finally received a new media update from the 2845 boys in the form of some new eye-candy for our mental and spiritual pleasure. The first bit is several flash animations featuring either a gorgon or executioner.
The second is a 4-way comparison shot that shows the old models from Starsiege of the executioner, goad, and gorgon and their new ones. What is most interesting is we finally get to see the new goad as it is in the Torque engine and presumably how it will be in the ATR.
Over on that E3 2006 Xbox Press Site, among other things, you'll find a .zip of uber high resolution screen grabs from the trailer. And by uber high, I mean super high: 6400*3400. Enjoy the mind-numbing high resolution goodness.
Spotted over at that crazy gaming blog site, Kotaku, there's wind of an easter egg hidden in the trailer. Could it be the Grunt Crossing road sign? Or a cross-fade of Cortana's voice and Gravemind? Who knows! Banter about it in our Halo 3 forum!
Narcogen over at Rampancy.Net has read between the lines of Bungie's official Halo 3 FAQ and adds his own informative and insightful two cents. It's quite an interesting read but do keep in mind that some of the information is purely speculative. Check it out!
If you've some questions on Halo 3 or the newly opened Halo 3 section on Bungie.Net, drop by Bungie's Halo 3 Forum and our very own Halo 3 forum here on tJY -- and make your voice heard!
Hot off the heels of my sweaty E3 news blogging festivities is this blurb from HBO noting the 103MB trailer for Halo 3 available on the Xbox Live Marketplace (and apparently only available there). So what are you waiting for? Go home and download it now! You knew it would be there.
Update: HBO also has news that the Live Marketplace also has a Halo 3 theme and gamer pics available. w00t.
Update 2: Evergreen here - just wanted to mention that more Halo 3 goodness for the 360-less (or those of you having severe slowdowns trying to get the Xbox Live Marketplace version) - there are four downloadable versions of the Halo 3 E3 2006 trailer at bungie.net, along with several other links to screenshots, wallpaper, FAQs and more. These links don't appear to be live yet, but hopefully we'll see the content soon. The additional content links are now active!
Spotted over at Kotaku, apparently they got a glimpse of a Microsoft exec sporting a brown and gold Halo 3 t-shirt. Could it be... the announcement of the sequel to everyone's favourite game almost upon us? Check back in an hour for the details of Microsoft's post-press event!
I mentioned earlier that I was working on getting a TeamSpeak channel running as well as our Ventrilo channel and I've finally managed to do it. Same story here: you do not have to be a registered user of tJY in order to use this so you're free to bring your friends whenever you want. All of the necessary information for starting up can be found here. I do ask that you read the whole page so you're familiar with the rules. Just some quick reminders and extra points:
Don't advertise this publicly. While, as I said it's fine to bring your friends in whenever, this is a gift to users of tJY from the admins. Please don't spoil it for other junky's by bringing causing the random masses to discover it.
Because TeamSpeak is capable of maintaining much higher numbers at once, we can now offer permanent subchannels for clans. However, I highly recommend you first ask our gracious hosts at Easy Gaming for your own channel.
Finally, help me out again by filling out the poll so I can get a rough idea of how much interest there is in this.
Due to an ironic twist, namely me enlisting in the United States Army, I will be absent for about 9 weeks of the coming summer months. It is likely that I will be missing the launch of the ATR and even if I were to be on hand, I would still not be around for much of the rush that could come after its release. Since Mhaddy is only superhuman and already very busy with college and his job, tJY is going to need one or more new interns to pick up the slack in the 2845 matters.
Your duties would include one or more of the following: keeping track of news and putting up blurbs on the main page, adding pictures to the 2845 galleries, and adding files to the 2845 files section. No one will be expected to write any articles or conduct reviews, though if you feel up to it, no one's going to stop you.
The only real requirement (aside from a working copy of the ATR) is that you be dedicated to covering SS:2845 as best as you can. We do not want people who are going to be lazy and inconsistent. You are only obligated to work until I return, but until then we really need everyone we take on to be hitting on all cylinders. Don't think that we're so desperate for people that we won't drop idlers. Now going beyond the requirement of dedication, what will really help you be selected is: prior experience in similar positions, basic knowledge of HTML and/or BB Code, experience with content management systems, photo editing skills, and knowing how to use an FTP program to upload files to a website.
So now that that's out of the way, what are the rewards? Well first, should you choose to stick around you're already well on your way to becoming a full staff member. You also get a spot on the staff page and finally you get whatever pride/ego boost you can take from doing a public job well done. If you're still interested, send an email to iviaedhros@gmail.com No essays required, simply give me your available hours and why you think you'd be good for the job, plus whatever else you might like to include (task preferences, extra skills, etc.)
UXB writes that Series 3 of the Halo CE Chronicles is available at his website. He says:
The Halo CE Chronicles tales of the first ring is now releasing videos from
the third season of production at their website http://hcec.halomaps.org.
Season three, unlike the first two, is a full 90 minute feature titled "The
Valley of the Forerunners" telling the story of a marine contingent
investigating a valley on the Ring world. It is being released in 11 parts
one a week and the first seven parts are currently available for download at
the website.
GG frontman Tim Aste recently gave an interview to Eurotribes over the Torque Shader Engine demo and Tribes look-alike, Legions. You can view the interview here.
Spotted over at Team Xbox, is another rumour that Halo 3 will be released in March 2007, before the summer release of the movie. As TXB notes, this release schedule would be in line with "previous rumours that claim the next Halo game will allegedly focus on the origins of the Forerunners, while the movie will follow the events of Eric Nylund's "The Fall of Reach" and therefore answer some questions left unanswered in the Xbox 360 game."
As always, nothing is official until you hear it from Bungie, but alas, interesting fodder nonetheless.
From the TribalWar thread below, I've culled a few interesting snippets for your perusal:
Legions was originally planned to be a full-fledged game, as opposed to just a tech demo (as shown at GDC); however, the GG crew received an offer from Microsoft to develop a game for the Xbox 360 Arcade. Accordingly, the idea "was shelved" because the offer from MS was much more attractive, on a number of fronts.
Therefore: Legions will be a community-developed game, similar to what Realm Wars is... was
Legions is being developed on the TSE, and all source code will be made available to the community
Shooting for RC1 for TSE for the end of the Summer
Skiing is modeled off of Tribes 1 style
The TSE is being developed on the PC and the 360 -- and they can communicate with each other. I see some pretty cool developments coming out of this ability.
Legions is being developed for the love of the Tribes community, GG won't be making any money off of it
Our much acclaimed resident Starsiege fanfic writer, TimberWolf has put together another story for your reading pleasure. Entitled, How to Save a Life, it's Timber's latest since A Fool in the Rain written last November. So swing on by the thread, have a read, and let him know what you think.
Developer Tim Aste, aka ajaxprojection, put up a thread over at TribalWar and basically invited the public to ask what they wanted. Amazing, they got through several pages of Q&A's before it degenerated. Those of you interested in what's going on over at GG will certainly find it interesting.
Hey guys,
Finally back and recovered from GDC, and catching up on 3rd party work.
Sorry we didn't have any time to get more information out right before or after we went to GDC, we were running into some serious issues with some new batch rendering stuff we implemented from TSE360 for performance and we were making builds on the ride down to San Jose. It ultimately ended up with us cutting a some stuff out for performance and stability reasons (i.e. foliage) last minute because while we intend to have it in TSE Release, having your tech demo crash on the Expo floor is bad news.
SO anyhow, there's a ton of confusion on what we were doing right now, I tried to be clear in some of the Q&A stuff about the fact we are bringing a preview of a tech demo down to GDC, and we are evaluating it as a full-game project, but I didn't want to get any expectations up.
While many major news outlets could care less, the Tribes community is probably the most hopped up on it (and confused), so fuck it, hit me with your best questions, and I will check this thread and try to clear up exactly what you want to know. Obviously, there will be questions I can't answer (i.e. promise dates, that sort of thing), but other than those sort of things the gloves are off, so go for it.
The folks over at Kotaku.com had a chance to sit down with Tim Aste from Garage Games to chat about their "not Tribes" Legions demo, which we mentioned last month, at GDC '06. Apparently, the GG crew was approached by Vivendi to create another Tribes game but they (for some unknown reason) turned them down.
Legions, with an official announcement coming next month, is essentially Tribes, with the Kotaku folks noting that it felt more like Tribes 2 than the original. And while the demo, which was put together in four months, didn't feel ready to play, it had an unmistakably Tribes-esque feel, complete with skiing.
Can't wait for the official announcement next month!
This week's weekly update over at B.Net is rather small, but includes a few noteworthy items: upcoming playlist changes (that Frankie promises will "all be cool", Eric Nylund's next Halo novel the "Ghosts of Coral" details, a track listing for the soon-to-be-released Halo 2 vol 2 soundtrack, and some cool concept art. Click the link below for more juicy details.
Renwerx development has put some big news at their new site. First off, they've changed their game name from Voilant Assault to Ascension. Secondly, they've ported their game over to the newly developed Torque Shader Engine, the engine the SS:2845 will be using as well. The best news comes last and that is they've released an Ascension Tech Preview Video. Check out the links below to see it.
In anticipation of the public release of the StarSiege: 2845 ATR, I've secured a free channel over the voice chat system Ventrilo. This is a free gift to you, our loyal viewers of tJY, to use whenever you wish. It is not for registered users only -- you will be able to bring anyone into it. All the info you need to get started can be found here. I do ask that you read through the page before you get started (it's fairly short), but just in case you don't , I'd like to call your attention to 3 little details. First, please don't advertise tJY's ventrilo channel. It's perfectly fine to bring in whoever you're playing with, but don't go shouting in the streets that people can come in here for free. This is just something to help our viewers out and we don't have the capacity to handle a big flood. Second, we will not be providing permanent channels for online groups except in very special cases so don't bother asking. If you would like your own channel or server, try contacting our hosts at Paradox Clan. Third, do me a favor and vote in the poll to your right.
On a final note, I do plan to get a channel or perhaps even server going for TeamSpeak. Originally I had planned to have them at the same time, but my deal with our host fell through. For that I apologize.
Plague has just updated his online comic, Heritage, which follows the exploits of two Fireborn infantrymen in an abandoned cybrid base. The newest pages can be viewed here.
News rolls in from Bungie.net that the second volume of the Halo 2 soundtrack will be available to purchase on April 25th, just over a month away. Prep your wallet, folks!
After much hounding from the community, Trajan broke down and threw up a new shot from the ATR, viewable here, which at first glance, is nothing too spectacular. It's first-person shot of an infantry man with what appears to be a laser rifle. However, you might notice that it's on a winter map - something we haven't seen before.
Well, you knew Bungie was working on something special, and in the latest Weekly Update, Frankie reveals just that: The Halo Graphic Novel (HGN). Juicy details:
The HGN is a 128 page, full color, high quality hardcover graphic novel, featuring an anthology of original stories, including one big story, and three shorter tales. Side stories, if you will. It should be available in July, 2006.
Now while the idea was conceived by Bungie, they've hired some real talent to put the art together. You can check out some concept art and read more about in the update or swing by Marvel.com for their side of the story.
By now I'm sure you've all read about Sony's plans to do a worldwide launch of the PS3 a la Xbox 360 this November. Personally, I don't think it can be done (and I'm not the only one), but regardless of my opinion, it does put Halo 3's alleged rollout back into the picture, says some analysts, despite previous contradictory conjecture. Interesting speculation to say the least, heh.
While it's only been a couple of weeks since the ATR was available to closed public testing, it has been in development and testing for over a year. So what's the hold up? In short, aside from switching engines, a triumphant loss of coders resulting in being short-staffed, it boils down to marketing. Read a little more about empathy right here.
They're looking for a coder interested in focusing on adding enhancements to the upcoming TSE engine from Garage Games. The ideal candidate would have knowledge of DirectX and OpenGL, shaders, performance optimization, occlusion theory and implementation, rendering algorithms, etc. You will also need a working knowledge of Torque and possess a copy of TSE.
If this does interest you, please remember that this is strictly non-profit ie no $$$
If you're still interested, send an email to Trajan with your credentials.
I found an interesting blurb over on Kotaku.com regarding Xbox 360's HD DVD and PS3's Blu-Ray. Mainly, this blurb, which was sourced from Gamerscore, is an argument for HD DVD and why it will prevail over Blu-Ray.
However, what I found intriguing was it's correlation to an official delay announcement from Sony, saying that they need more time to perfect the Blu-Ray disc. While originally slated for release this spring, the PS3 has been delayed to "this holiday season" in Japan. Who knows when the U.S. launch will occur. 2007 anyone?
Lujan has just announced the lucky few who get to get in early for ATR testing. Congrats' to those who made it in! If you did make it, you should be receiving an email shortly if you haven't already.
Aakash "Aakash" Verma
Adam "Ace" Rorabaugh
Anthony "Blank Redge" Chou
Colin "Rhettigan" Dean
Chris Drake
Daniel "Denalin" Carew
Devlin "Cliffswallow" Baker
Fedde "Smylodon" Blokland
Ian "Razorjack" Redden
Jeremy "loop" Mahler
Jim "Mercy" Aske
"Chewspit"
Joseph "Gauss" Lawhorn
Joseph "Fatal Error" Miller
Kyle "|Blitzkrieg|" Johnson
Lisa "Moon_Fusion" Dodd
Nicholas "NoRC" Tod
Oscar "Epictetus" Sinclair
R. Todd "The Noid" Brennan
Russ Drake
Richard "END3R" Hairr
Seth Joyner
William "Nartiq" Giles
TES IV: Oblivion, Bethesda's "next-gen" RPG for the PC and Xbox 360 (see the Junkyard's preview here) will ship on March 20th and should be in stores by the 21st or so (dependent on location). For the official press release, click here. If you have unused vacation time/sick days, March 21st would be an excellent time to use them.
In addition, be sure to check out the complete list of minimum and recommended PC system specs (including a list of supported chipsets) over at the official Oblivion FAQ.
One of TribalWar's helpful denizens has put up a link so the public can download his skin archive. Those of you who still play Tribes 2 will probably want to check this out.
The ATR Build Updates have continued to come in at a steady pace. While I usually don't announce them, I figured 6+ updates together might warrant some extra attention. Currently the ATR is at build .8o..one can only hope we get through 9 quickly. Click here to view the latest updates as well as all past ones.
Just a quick note that our Starsiege:2845 Press Coverage page has been finally updated to reflect the latest news releases from the community. Additionally, our Uber FAQ page has been given an update as well, along with our own customized version of The Things We Know, courtesty of IVIaedhros. So head on over and read up on the latest 2845 goodies. And as always, if we've missed anything, please feel free to bite our heads off.
Give your old SS discs a quick polish and warm up your particle beam weapons. Sun and Shadows is organizing a StarSiege bracket tournament with 1, 2, 4, and 8 person teams. Those interested in participating need to register at the Sun and Shadows forums and head on over here to get themselves and any potential teammates signed up.
Though initially thought of as unfeasible due to massive power requirements and the large amounts of shielding needed to safe guard the user, the ELF has apparently made the transition from being a vehicle only weapon to the hands of the common grunt. No word yet on its capabilities.
Plague's Heritage series has received an update with pages 20-23 now available to see. You can view the new pages and the old by clicking here.
The main villain draws ever closer, folks. And you know what that means! Huge scenes of fighting, dismemberment and chaos! Huzzah! Anyway, be amazed at how much information I can fit into little bubbles - I know I was.
I'm looking forward to that "dismemberment and chaos". How about you?
As we mentioned last week, it has been announced that Halo 2 will be coming to the PC, finally, though it will only be making an appearance on Microsoft's up and coming OS, Windows Vista. Not surprisingly, this has quite a few Windows 2000 and XP users mighty peeved. Francisco wrote in to tell us that he has started a petition to get Halo 2 on these OSes - swing by and sign it if you're so inclined.
The 2845 dev team is now accepting applications for ATR testers. If you're interested in being an ATR tester, please carefully read this post and send an email to Lujan.
Just some quick caveats before you even read:
*You must be at least 18 years old
*You will be required to sign a Non-Disclosure agreement ie you promise not to leak any info about the game
*There is actually a lot of testing involved. Testers who do not reply for 48 hours will be permanently dropped, though anyone with legit reasons will be excused.
*Anyone doing it just to get a peek will be perma-banned from the forums.
*You must be able to use TeamSpeak and IRC.
Good luck guys. I hope to hear that a few junkies have made the cut.
The Tribes series was always something of a niche game and it probably never had a real chance to become a huge hit. With the commercial flop of Tribes:Vengeance and Vivendi Universal's withdrawal of support from the license, there hasn't been any reason to hope for another sequel...until recently that is.
The first bit is a screenshot from GarageGames developer Tim Aste's blog. The armor should look familiar to Tribes fans. Even more importantly isa video that was posted at TribalWar that has many of the series' hallmarks: jetting, skiing, and massive, hilly terrain, and a spinfusor-like weapon.
I remain highly skeptical about all of this. This could easily be some dev doing test work on one of the two Torque engines, a scam, or something else. There's also the matter of VUG's well-known policy with their intellectual property: if it's theirs, you can't use it without express legal permission; doesn't matter how dead or useless it may seem. Look for more updates on this folks. This could get interesting. Check out the original news flashes at TribalWar if you're interested in looking for some more tidbits.
*New Flash: GameCloud officially questioned the guys at GarageGames and it has been confirmed that they are not working on a successor for Tribes. The video and picture were both from a tech demo designed to showcase the Torque Shader Engine. *sighs* Sometimes I hate being right. Long live Voilant Assault I guess...
The titles the World Cyber Games intend to use for their next season has been revealed... and Halo 2 is notably absent from the list. Xbox 360 games appear on the list in the place of Xbox 1 games. It is possible that Halo 2 will reappear as a PC game when H2PC is released. In other related news, the MLG confirm that Halo 2 is a permanent game for this season.
There is no easy way to say this, but, the man behind That Weasel Television, ThatWeasel, passed away on the 7th of February. His girlfriend wrote in to us with the tragic news and while she didn't provide any information on how he died, it was very sudden. The legacy of ThatWeasel will live on through his website as she will be taking it over.
A while ago I downloaded the various in-game movies that were featured in StarSiege from SSU, but I didn't have the right codecs to view them. Instead of DL'ing the codecs, I promptly forgot about them until they came up again recently at the 2845 boards. Well, I've finally got them set-up and they're now available for download.
The movies: Intro Movie
The Time Line
Human Ending
Cybrid Ending
That's right, Microsoft has officially announced that Halo 2 will be going to the PC. However, they've thrown in a twist: Halo 2 will not run on any of the current operating systems. Instead Microsoft has opted to release Halo 2 exclusively for Vista, their upcoming OS slated to be released the second half of this year. Check out IGN's article for additional details.
As we mentioned a few weeks back, the beta sign ups for the Anniversary Edition of Dark Horizons: Lore are now online! Voyager dropped us a line with the following recruitment blurb:
Wanted: 1st/3rd person gamers. For online beta testing of the new Anniversary Edition of Dark Horizons LORE Invasion. Players must want to experience first handed the genetically engineered infantry units, go boldly into new environments and take out new vehicles out for joy rides!
If you are willing to accept the challenge and willing to dedicate your time to this test, WE WANT YOU!
This version will be a major expansion of the current game, including but not
limited to:
- Upgrade in the core engine and art pipeline
- Addition of several new mission environments
- Addition of Power Armors and several accompanying vehicles
- New game play elements design around the addition of Power Armor
- New MAV weapons
- Expanded in-game COMCENT functionality
- New Vehicles
- And many more special add-ons we just can?t talk about yet!
There's actually been an update about 2845. Just what is this world coming to anyway? Anyways, quick summary pour vous:
A second round of ATR testing will be beginning shortly in the next few weeks. Trajan will put out a notice along with an application and everyone will be free to apply. I believe they're looking for 10-15 testers.
In case you didn't notice that, "...in the next few weeks." part, we can now make some good guesses of when we can expect the thing. If the final testing begins in the next few weeks then I'm betting that we have about...oh, 2 months left. That's kinda long, but we should be seeing more visible markers of progress as we get closer.
A new umbrella website is being developed that will basically combine the current 2845 site, the Fanfic Archives, the Clancore site, Mechnexus, and Clancore Developer Networks. The new site will have a wiki, blogs, a squad database, and a variety of other community-related goodies.
The ranks have thinned noticably in the 2845 team, hence the delay. Trajan also adds that a helluva lot of work has been going into this with many staffers pulling more hours on the project than their actual jobs. Is that hardcore or what?
I've written a review for Indigo Prophecy or Fahrenheit as it's typically called outside of the USA. Be sure to check it out. And of course, critiques and other feed-back is always appreciated.
I've been throwing around the idea of adding more articles to our archives lately and I'd like to get a feel of what the community itself would like to read. If you have any specific ideas or requests, please voice them in this post.
Microsoft has made the beta 2 version of it's latest IE incarnation available for public DL. Sounds like the big thing is that they will incorporate a tabbed browser similar to what FireFox uses. For those interested in DL'ing, click here for a direct link.
The Ghost's Starsiege Expansion is a "mod set" handler application for the Starsiege computer game. Starsiege in itself is an open ended game meaning that it is easily moddable to the point where the game is no longer Starsiege. The GSE is a set of scripts that allows the user to "plug-and-play" between various mods that have been properly formatted for the GSE. The GSE also comes packaged with three mod sets.
...
I warn you now, these mod sets were never fully completed. Therefore there are still things in the GSE that can possibly crash Starsiege or even your computer (mostly it comes from the campaigns, Haunts in particular).
To change mod sets: There is a file called datLoad.cs. Open it in a text editer. Where it says year simply change the numerical value to that which you want to play. Make sure that the ; is still in place at the end of the line. To play regular Starsiege, simply put in the number 2828, 2797 for 2797, and 4101 for 4101.
A lot of blood, sweat, and tears were put into making this. It's just unfortunate that it was never completed.
The good news is that one campaign (Traces), is already finished, along with 3 unused mod sets, and SoMeOnE has announced that he will be working on two other modsets as GSE compatible; one a conversion of an older mod called Ragnarok and another something brand new called 2831 which will change Starsiege's statistics, weapons and vehicles to be more in line with those of the old Starsiege: Rebellion board game.
The GSE is and was probably the most ambitious Starsiege modding project ever attempted. It is definately worth your time - even veterans will find the Traces campaign a challenge. Go on over and grab the GSE from the website.
It's Confirmed: Halo 3 will NOT Ship at PS3 Launch
Wed Jan 25th, 2006
Posted by: at 23:25 PM
After months of speculation, rumour and the fact that even Bill Gates said it himself, Halo 3 will not be coming out when PS3 is launched. In a joint interview with Engadget and Joystiq, Peter Moore squashed any rumours that the next installment in the Halo franchise would be coming out in the near future. So when will the blockbuster game come out? All signs point to "when the time is right."
For some more info, check out the posting on Xbox Today
You can also check out another interview with Peter Moore over at Engadget, where he talks about Xbox 360's HD-DVD Drive, Xbox Live, and more of his thoughts on Halo.
I've created a new edition of The Things We Know list that was originally made at the 2845 boards. The new version is more organized, gets rid of repeated information, and includes various links that go along with whatever it's talking about. I've also added the contents of the 2845 cheat sheet to it for convenience's sake.
SoMeOnE noted on the SS:2845 forums that he has [finally] given the Starsiege:2845 Hub a new look. He notes that the content on the site is still out of date, though now it just looks prettier . Head on over and check it out -- be sure to let him know what you think.
Voyager from Max Gaming Technologies, the folks behind Dark Horizons: Lore Invasions (read our recent review and interview), dropped us a line to let us know that a special Anniversary Edition of the game will be available summer 2006. This major expansion includes the following:
- Upgrade in the core engine and art pipeline
- Addition of several new mission environments
- Addition of Power Armors and several accompanying vehicles
- New game play elements design around the addition of Power Armor
- New MAV weapons
- Expanded in-game COMCENT functionality
Voyager notes that this expansion will be available at no extra cost to current DH:LI owners. What's more, a new testing program will be opening in the next few weeks that allows current owners to participate in Phase 1 of Testing, with an open Beta Test closer to release in 2006. Good stuff.
MLG has put up part IV of their very well written Newcomers Guide to Halo 2. Parts I, II, and III focused on the fundamentals and now part IV takes a look at the highly competitive MLG arena. Check it out.
Thanks to a dedicated fan,[PBG] Slingshot, tJY is now the proud owner of the second known DH:Lore review on the net. Well, the second "official" one anyways.
Another video for Tribes:Vengeance has been released? It never rains or it pours right...anyway, you can check out the first episode of the Shadow Legion Chronicles. You can either stream it online or DL it as a .zip file.
Need a volunteer that has access to a good server, IMPORTANT
If you are interested please email me a list of your server and connection specs and availability at trajan@clancore.net. Be advised that due to the nature of the project we will need you to sign the standard non-disclosure agreements that the rest of us have signed yada yada.
As an FYI for those wondering, your dsl or cable connection does not qualify as "excellent". Serious inquiries only please.
Thanks in advance
IMPORTANT eh? Server testing you say? This is a good sign says I.
Over at IGN, they've made it a tradition to forecast their gaming predictions over the coming year. In this year's 2 part series, they cover the release of Jade Empire 2 and the possibility of a larger Xbox 360 harddrive, among other speculation. One of the most interesting predictions they have this year is that Halo 3 will ship in 2007, in conjunction with the release of the Halo movie. This seems to make sense, seeing how its very unlikely it'll be released as a spoiler to the PS3 debut, a point that Microsoft bigwig Bill Gates stated and later retracted. But when will we get the first glimpse of this hotly anticipated title? According to IGN, "you can bet your bottom dollar Microsoft will debut Halo 3 at this year's E3"
Take it for what you will, but IGN has a history of making good on its predictions.
Tribes:Vengeance... since when did we start covering this game? Yep, it's been a while since we've had anything worthy of reporting when it comes to good old T:V, but now *surprise* we do! Just A Game is the beginning of a new series started by MuNansen over at Mu Productions Online. The machinima (using in-game footages) is primarily set up in T:V though it does feature footage from both Doom and BF:1942.
Be sure to check out several of Mu's other video's as well, especially his award winning flick: Ours Again.
tJY's Plague has finally updated his Heritage Comic Series with several new pages. Ironically enough, the update came about because he's been too sick to do anything else. Here's to ill-health eh?
Here it is... nearly 90 MB worth of skins taken from a collection of nearly 1000 MB worth of skins. Huge thanks to BigPappa of TribalWar for collecting all of these originally. A "TY" is due to Mhaddy as well as he is the one who converted all the files to their proper .vl2 format (I'm technically challenged ) Click here to download!
Note: If you can't find the skin you're looking for and you can remember its name, send email requesting it to either iviaedhros@gmail.com or bigpappa@tribalwar.com and we'll see if we can hook you up.
Eventually I plan to put the skins in here up individually with pics...no tellin' when that'll happen though
Recently at DarkspARCS dropped by for a visit to the Mechnexus' forum and that announced that there's an indie effort underway to make a short (8-10min) MechWarrior movie. The reason you ask? Well a full length MW movie had been planned, but no one in Hollywood wanted to take it up. This effort is aimed to prove that venture has merit and not only makes a good story, but would earn some $$$.
So how can you help? You can start off by going to www.mechwarriormovie.com and signing the petition. Also, should you be a skilled artist they are looking for people to fill the following positions:
The graphic designs for each of StarSiege: 2845's factions have been made public, minus the Metagens. You can view the original compilation here. While they have not been released individually, I've been doing work with paint and you can get photos of each individual insignia at the 2845 developmental gallery. Note that these are not final renditions.
Until very recently, we have only had pictures of the Scarab in its first developmental phase, which has been dropped because it was too blocky. There was a second design iteration, but that was dropped because it was too tribes-like. As you can see with the new pictures here and here, the design is very closely related to the heavy armor of Tribes 2.
It's been a while since we last spoke with our good friend, Adrian Wright, over at Max Gaming about their mecha game, Dark Horizons: Lore Invasions. So we thought it was about time for an update. What we got was much more than that -- Adrian was kind enough to sit down with us for one helluva'n interview. Check it out as he updates us on the progress of Lore, the introduction of infantry, and comparisons to Starsiege:2845. Click the linky below:
As expected, the ATR isn't out in time for Christmas. I guess Trajan was too busy stealing presents from orphans eh? We do have an ATR update however. Most interesting of all is the "herc mounting turrets". Who knows what this is though there has been some speculation. I'll keep you informed on the details. Have a happy post-Christmas; IVIaedhros out.
As I've mentioned in the past, it's been a tradition to post up my Tribes rendition of "T'was the Night Before Christmas"... on the night before Christmas. So I present to you, A Tribes Christmas.
Another poem you'll want to check out in this winter solstice season is A Halo Christmas, originally posted by Red Loser on the HBO forums.
Not to be outdone, Feret has written a Starsiege Christmas carol entitled, God Rest Ye Merry Basilisks. Lastly, in a thread that was bumped up from last year, forumulite Weatherlight has also spread the festive cheer with his own rendition, right here on our own forums.
From all of us at the Junkyard, we wish you a safe and happy holidays!
mrsmiley of dropped us a line to let us know that the infamous T'Was the Night Before Christmas poem has been put together in a pictoral fashion by a group of artists from the community. Swing on by Halo Babies and bask in the warm glow of artistry. Or something.
Oh, and check out the latest strip while you're there.
In this week's (or rather, last week's) Bungie Weekly Update, we receive confirmation that the official Halo 2 soundtrack will go on sale "sometime" in the first quarter of 2006. There's also word that we may be seeing more Halo novels in the future -- no confirmation yet, just word that discussions have been taken place -- good news, regardless. Frankie then goes on a rant about idiots on Live and more complaints regarding the recent switch to ranked Team Snipers.
And on that note, I'm definitely not a fan of the switch. I don't have a problem with the games being ranked and fighting people of (now) somewhat equal skill to you, but it's the fact that you can't bring in guests anymore that irks me. Personally, I rarely play Halo 2 on my own -- it's only when my buddies come over and one of our favourite game types was Team Snipers -- and now this is something we can't enjoy anymore. *grumbles*
...in the latest Halo Babies strip, that is. Head on over and check it out! And be sure to swing by their store for some last minute gift ideas for that special someone on your yet-to-be-completed Christmas shopping list.
Spotted over at PlanetTribes, it appears as though the Tribes 1 Master Servers are down but fear not, the community has a fix! An alternate Master Server is online at alpha.primehosting.us:28000, courtesy of ZedRWX. From PTT:
In order to use this master server, in Tribes, go to Options>>Network and click on the Add button to add the new master server. Just copy and paste alpha.primehosting.us:28000 as the address.
If you're running a server, you will need to add the aforementioned entry to your ServerPrefs.cs file; conveniently, one has been prepared for you and is available right here. Happy fraggin'!
Bungie.Net has put up a story on how Nicole, better known as Spartan-458, came to be in Dead or Alive 4. Apparently, Team Ninja (makers of the DOA series) wanted the Master Chief but Bungie politely denied, saying that:
Master Chief is busy, fictionally speaking. We left him at the end of Halo 2, involved in a very large scale galactic conflict with world-ending repercussions. Fictionally speaking, he just wasn't available for fisticuffs.
The article is a great read, as it gives you background information on Nicole (including her body size & stats) and Frankie lays to rest some of the rumours surrounding her inclusion in the Halo universe. Check it out.
While looking for various game to tide me over until the 2845 ATR is released, I came acrossed a little gem called Dark Horizons: Lore Invasions. GarageGames is having a holiday discount for Dark Horizons: Lore Invasion. In order to purchase DH: Lore, you simply go here and DL it. Normally it costs $30.00 USD to purchase, but if you type in "PlayLore" when on the purchase screen you will get ten dollars off. Definitely recommend this for your gaming pleasure. If the site doesn't sell off the bat, download their demo and try it out for yourself.
As I noted in my latest .plan, I was one of the lucky ones to land an Xbox 360 (and I didn't pre-order ). Somewhere between working M-F 8-5 and the many sleepless nights that ensued since I came home with the 360, I managed to write up a pretty detailed review of my [new] favourite single player game: Call of Duty 2. Check it out! This is but the first of many 360 reviews to come to tJY, so stay tuned.
Bungie's weekly update is online on B.Net. This week opens with some news on the director for the Halo movie (namely, there isn't one yet), greviences on the new playlists, word that SketchFactor is now a Daddy (congrats!), and a small bug on the 360 emulator that has now been reversed. Head on over to the update for all the details.
I missed this update a while back, but thought I'd throw it up in time for the holidays. Halo Babies has opened a store where you can buy all sorts of Halo Babies gear, including t-shirts, sweat shirts, and a framed print (which kicks ass). A bunch of new items have arrived, so be sure to check those out while you're reading the new strips!
The SS:2845 ATR Build List has been updated once more. This was a rather hefty update, but the one item that caught my eye was this: "disabled cluster bomb and remote detonation on main wraith bomb". In response as to why the cluster bomb has been removed from the ATR, Trajan had the following to say:
The cluster bomb looks very cool, but it unfortunately drops your fps to 5 when too many are on the screen at once. There are a few different approaches we can try that will achieve a similar effect, but we currently don't have the time to spare to keep dicking around with it so we're dropping it for the atr.
We do plan on going back later and trying to optimize it so it's usable.
Yes, I'd rather play the game at something higher than 5 frames per second, wouldn't you? For more banter, jump to the forum thread or head on over to tJY's own ATR Build List for just the updates.
Several weeks ago, former 2845 dev and well-known StarSiege server host Rock put up a lengthy post on his website detailing how he managed to save his computer from a particulary virulent Trojan Horse programn. With his blessing, tJY now keeps a copy of the article in our tech archives. You can view it here. Be sure to check this out. It's an enjoyable to read as well as informative, especially if you're a technically challenged individual such as myself .
I know we don't normally cover the B-tech universe, but with most major mecha sites already dead I thought it would be appropriate to help out a bit. Besides, tJY member and S&S guru Feret is involved and the feret is cool. Anyways, we have 2 games that are forming and should be good to go shortly. Feel free to drop by their sites and sign up if interested (yes, even if you haven't played before ). Check out the links and info below provided by Feret:
O'Kirwin's Corsairs
This game is still in the organization phase and is looking for 2-3 more players to command a company of Battlemechs of various designations.
Rommel's Sabres
The most recent information is on the forums as we are in the midst of reorganization. The reorganization involves each player commanding a Lance which they build using 2750-3050 Tech as well as some approved customs and modifications.
Alright this is a last call post.
We are about to begin NPC and Character Generation for the Rommel's Sabres (part deux) once that is completed Anyone interested will be put on the waiting list.
Well it was mentioned in last week's Weekly Update over on Bungie.Net and again noted in Tuesday's newspost, but the Halo 2 playlists have finally been updated. Courtesy of Frankie, here's a brief overview of what was changed:
Major Clanmatch and Head to Head have been removed.
Minor Clanmatch has received a change in configuration. It will now be called Clanmatch and will allow for team of 4-5 clan members each. Your Minor Clanmatch ranks will persist to the new Clanmatch playlist.
Two new unranked playlists have been added, Rumble Armory and Team ActionSack.
6v6 Team Battle has been added as a ranked playlist featuring team sizes of 5-6 players each. Big Team Battle now supports only larger team sizes of 7-8 players each.
Team Snipers is now a ranked playlist and has a total of 15 maps. Your hidden rank will now be displayed.
WE DID NOT WIPE ANY STATS, STOP LISTENING TO RUMORS! CALM DOWN!
And kudos to HBO who points out that Tied the Leader has put up a nice synopsis of the new gametypes in their latest blog; a great read for those curious about Action Sack. See ya on the servers.
Another update has been made to the ATR. Unlike in previous builds, a lot of work this time around seems to be centered on tweaking HERC implementation, which as some of you may remember, is what was holding up the previous release. More details can be found here, or jump to the forum thread for more banter and speculation.
This sounds good to me, though my horrible ignorance in all things relating to hardware does not allow me to really judge anything. Below is what Trajan has said so far on the subject.
...we are now development partners with Creative Labs. They will be assisting us in working on the OpenAL and EAX sound implementation in the final release. And depending on how things go (popularity wise) possibly some free advertising.
The Creative thing is not a huge deal, at least not in regards to the ATR...Creative makes sound cards such as the Sound Blaster and Audigy. Basically what it entails is we get access to the Creative SDK's and source, we get some free soundcards to use for testing, and we get special developer pricing on any hardware made by them we wish to purchase. We also get one on one access to their software engineers and support staff.
The long-term benefits indeed look interesting. More on this as it develops.
Over at the 2845 boards, one of the members spotted a few interesting articles over at ExtremeTech.com detailing a series of tests on the performance between the AMD and Intel graphics cards. The lowdown is that the Intel, despite in some cases better specs, was consitently out performed by AMD.
For a better summary as well as links to the original articles, check out the article over at the Mechnexus.
Over at TeamXbox, you can read a snippet from an interview Peter Jackson did with Dark Horizons. Of note are a few comments he has about the upcoming Halo movie that he will be producing. So far a director hasn't been chosen for the movie, but there's been some speculation that it could be Guillermo del Toro, who directed such films like Hellboy and Blade 2. The film is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2007.
We're all aware of how well movies based on videogames do (ahem, Super Mario), so here's hoping it doesn't suffer the same fate as previous games that have made it to the big screen.
Check out the article over at TeamXbox, and some more tidbits over at Xbox Today
Winning the award for strangest news item of the day is this little nugget over at Games Radar. An un named source claims that "one particular 'highly anticipated' Xbox 360 title is currently taking up four 9GB DVDs". Using their logic, that must mean Halo. If you want my honest opinion, it is a space filler. But I have been proven wrong before.
Trajan has informed us that the SS:2845 team is once again need of coders. The team needs individuals who:
Own a copy of TGE (or would be willing to buy one for $100)
Have some experience with it, either coding or scripting. C++ experience is an acceptable substitute
MOST IMPORTANTLY: Are willing to put a decent amount of time into working on this project <-this is KEY
He mentions that a "decent amount of time" is equal to a couple of hours a day. So if you know anyone that fits the bill, please have them email Trajan directly at trajan@clancore.net. What are you waiting for? Throw up some help wanted ads in your dorm or drop in on that chess club meeting: the 2845 team needs programmers, stat!
Oh, and the ATR build notes have been updated. Mostly maintenance and tweaking updates in this build, but we do find out that the laser turrets (and presumably all turrets) have an alternate firing mode. Neat.
Former 2845 dev and long-time StarSiege server host has released the latest version of his user friendly admin program. A list of some of its abilities:
Password-controlled Admin Access
Automatic Banned-IP list verification
Automatic addition of players to the Banned-IP list. No editing of files or scripts.
Automatic expiration management of Ban List entries.
Automatic detection and run-time monitoring of R99 server crashers.
Automatic detection and run-time monitoring of color-tags.
Automatic detection and run-time monitoring of idle players unnecessarily consuming connection bandwidth.
Automatic logging of game activity.
In-game ping of players.
Automatic detection and display of stealth players.
Auto-Heal after a fight.
Extensionable. You can extend the package's capabilities without changing its basic features.
Reassign/reacquire admin capabilities to/from another player
Display player info for all, or an individual player
Server-Flipping so you can remotely restart your server into skirmish mode, then when you're finished, you can flip it back again to your standard server
Server Map Randomization
TDM scoring has been repaired so that players who leave the server don't change the team's score.
More information has surfaced regarding RSS feeds and Starsiege:2845 (yay!). This time around, Feret posed the question of whether or not players could individually add an RSS feed [ingame] that pulls headlines / blurbs from a particular website (similar to how you can in Firefox, for instance). This would not be global to all players (a la the once ingame Tribes 2 forums that had to be pulled) but rather, visible only to that player and his GUI. Trajan gave his typical "we'll consider it" response, though the probability of seeing something like this (either native or modded) in SS:2845 remains high, IMHO. We might not see it in the ATR, but I can definitely see this appearing in a final release.
*Sigh* You know you're starved for new news when the most exciting thing going on with 2845 is RSS feeds. Makes me yawn just thinking about. However today, we have a new bit of info that is slightly higher up on the cool scale. Below is a summary of the weekly development process that the dev team goes through.
You sure do update your art assests a lot...
Yes, yes we do. The process works like this:
We have two seperate internal builds that we use, one for the art team and one for the coding team. This seperation is to make sure that if someone accidentally fubars something it doesn't completely halt production across the board.
On Sundays and Wednesdays the two internal builds are then combined into the team build that you see me listing the info for in this thread. We then have a few people run around in a server to test the team build and make sure everything is kosher, make suggestions on what needs to be tweaked/changed/dropped/etc.
The Art team build tends to get updated an average of about 10 times a day by various team members, sometimes more. Depends on whether or not some people are in school or out at the time. This can be everything from someone uploading a new level design asset to new weapon effects to new HUD art to new maps to whatever. For example yesterday I myself submitted 3 changes to maps I am working on.
The coding team build tends to move slower, due to having less coders than artists, and it's much more involved work. And that's it in a nutshell.
Okay so it's not that cool, but the ATR is supposed to be released soon *smash wood repeatedly* I do plan to try and get another exclusive something or other however, so don't despair 'k?
We mentioned a few days ago that in the latest SS:2845 build, an RSS reader was incorporated into the GUI, but details surrounding what exactly it was were unclear. Trajan has now clarified that it will be used to easily post game related news and announcements ingame from a website.
Like for example an announcement of master server downtime, an upcoming patch, that sort of thing. This allows us to be anywhere in the world and post news by using just a standard web browser, and the news will show up directly on the games main screen when people play.
He goes on to say that it may be opened up to community related news sometime down the line.
2845 skinner Cenobite has recently been touting benefits of the new Half-Life 2 mod, Dystopia as an alternative to the Tribes genre, which as you may have noticed, is in a very deep rut. Dystopia is a cyber-punk based game which shares some of Tribes gameplay characteristics such as the 3 armor system (light, medium, heavy) selectable sensors, a super jump (no jetpacks unfortunately), etc. The demo is already available for free at there site. If you're interested, be sure to check out their FAQ and Abouts page.
Several days ago, Garage Games released the latest version of their venerable Torque Gaming Engine. The newest build (v1.4) is quite extensive and seems to focus mainly on streamlining the technical aspects of the engine as well as making it more user friendly.
Torque Game Engine 1.4 Now Available Torque Game Engine 1.4 Now Available for Download. Urgent News Okay, now that I've got your attention. I'm here to let you know that we've got an amazing update to the Torque Game Engine for everyone. Sure, you've all been hearing the news about TSE and the work we've been doing on the Xbox 360, that was yesterday. But at the end of the day, it all comes back to our pride and joy.... the Torque Game Engine. We've added so many features and enhancements to TGE that it might feel like the first time again when you load up TGE. So sit back, relax, (don't worry, I won't play any head games), and let me tell you about some of the cool new features.
For those of you who are following StarSiege: 2845, the ATR will be released on the 1.3 build. Interrim development will continue on the 1.4 build of the TGE. Once TSE (Torque Shader Engine) is released, the game will be ported over to it.
New ATR build updates have been made public. Mainly just fine tuning and maintenance updates this time around. However, one item that caught my eye was the RSS reader on the HUD -- though what exactly this is remains unclear. Click here and scroll down to the bottom to see the update as well as all previous entries.
MLG have posted a primer for Halo50K4, which will be happening this weekend in Atlanta. There is some more information about the bracket system, and a large amount of general information about the event.
If some of you will remember, the 2845 dev team now keeps regular updates on the ATR. Usually these will come out once a week. Now, if you simply click here, you will be taken to a complete list of those updates. The list will be added to as new updates come out and there will be a news post regarding them. FYI, the current guess for the release is more or less Christmas. A few members including myself have heard that the devs would really like to get it out before then. As usual this is not official, just the guesswork done by community members off hints.
Oh and have a great Thanksgiving everyone. I hope you enjoy yourselfs; I certainly will.
The Halo Babies forum is full of regularly posted art from a variety of talented individuals around the Halo community. mrsmiley takes a look at one such artist, Andrew-sama, the first of a new feature on Halo Babies.
And while you're over there, check out the latest strip too!
Spotted over at PlanetTribes, modder extraordinaire, Super Powio, has released version 3 of his popular Starsiege Tools. New in this version:
A new simplified and organized directory structure involving batch files for creating textures. Now all you have to do to remap a texture is just drop your 24-bit texture into the folder matching the palette you want to map to, and then execute the batch file. (Users who want to use a custom palette will still need to use the command prompt to add a few parameters.)
Now you can create your own .PPL files using MpMerger, allowing you to create brand new worlds with their own palettes and textures. (.PPL files are the palette packages that Starsiege loads depending on the game mode.)
New support for the ZED editor, including a custom-made palette. Now you don't have to remap the colors every time you restart the ZED editor.
Head on over to this thread on the Sun and Shadows forums for more information and download links.
Earlier this month with the release of the ATR build notes, we mentioned that there was a small chance that we may get to see the Predator in the ATR. While not yet confirmed, the team has continued to work on its implementation in the latest build (announced yesterday). It was also mentioned that the Wraith will have the ability to fire rockets -- which will be in the ATR.
You might notice things looking a bit different around here (and you may not if you have a custom scheme selected). I've mentioned it several times in my .plans, but over the weekend was the first time that things officially went live. A new site design, tentatively named Reborn has been created for tJY, as our previous layout has been in effect since mid 2002, I thought it was high time for a change. If the scheme hasn't been automatically loaded for you, you can select Reborn in the little dropdown box in the upper left-hand corner of the page. The site will be refreshed and what you'll be left with is a new and improved tJY.
The most noticeable difference, aside from the layout, is the game navigation menu. In the upper left-hand corner, there are three game icons, each denoting a series that we cover: Starsiege, Tribes, and Halo, respectively. If you click on an icon, the respective game series menu will load on the left. The menu should stay open if you revisit the same page, though we are aware of a bug that exists when you navigate away from that page, the menu will close (we are currently working on a fix).
There is also a matching forum scheme (also named Reborn) that you can select from the Preferences pane in your User CP or at the bottom left-hand corner of every page.
However, we understand that not everyone will be taken by the new scheme, so we've enabled the option for you to go back to the "old tJY" at any time and you can pretend this little makeover never even happened, thanks to Sitekore. Simply select your desired tJY scheme from the dropdown box and your preference will be saved for future visits.
In light of the new layout, we've put up a new poll for you. It asks what you think of the new Reborn scheme, so please cast your vote and leave your comments in the thread below. We'd love to know what you think (good or bad)!
According to his latest dev journal, recently spotlighted and highly talented mapper, Stormtrooper MIB, has left the SS:2845 team for reasons unknown. We at tJY wish him the very best in his future endeavours! Once again we are reminded that the team is currently looking for new blood; be sure to get in touch with Trajan if you're interested.
The Bungie Weekly Update for this week has been posted at Bungie.net. Some news about the DOA character, and some more news about the next playlist update.
HBO's 343 Guilt O' Lantern pumpkin carving contest has ended and the winners were announced. Prizes, however, were just recently sent out including the first place winner's answering machine recording. Big deal you might think, but did I mention that Tim "Guilty Spark" Dadabo and Steve "Master Chief" Downes left the message? Head on over to HBO for the recordings!
One of Starsiege:2845's very talented artists, Zero-Optix, is throwing in the towel. Due to numerous personal endeavours, including spending more time with the wife and kids and expanding his air brushing business (go figure), he has decided to leave the SS:2845 team for an indefinite amount time. We wish you the best, Zero.
This week's Bungie Weekly Update is now up over at Bungie.net. Pretty small update this week, with some odd news about Marty, more information about backwards compatibility, and some sad news about Big Team Battle.
Thanks to the help of Jeff [RA], the Junkyard can offer you five new SS:2845 tracks. Well, these tracks aren't so much new as they were lost in the server crash of March '04. Regardless, they are now once again available to the masses. Jeff also hooked us up with the Starsiege:2845 skinset for Starsiege, available here. Just a little something extra to help tide you all over until the ATR release. Enjoy!
Want to work for the 2845 dev team, but know you just don't have th3 skillz? Trajan has posted a need for a website manager...basically what you do is add the news blurbs to the main page. Only thing that's required is a little spare time and decent grammar/spelling.
...we are currently looking for someone to manage the news on both this site and the mechnexus.net site. No coding experience is required for either, you simply need a small amount of free time each day and good grammar skills. If interested please email me at trajan@clancore.net
FYI, I believe the 2845 site and all related to it are php nuke sites.
The fifth update on the progress of Prometheus, a very exciting Halo 1 and 2 modding application, has been posted over at HaloDev. Good to know about Grenadiac's cat.
It seems like only yesterday that we posted about Halo 2's release among the masses, when it fact it was a year ago yesterday. Well, to celebrate this auspicious occasion, a huge retrospective has been posted over on Bungie.Net. Frankie takes us through Halo 1 & 2 on the 360 (and how kickass it looks in 720p widescreen), reminisces about Halo 1 and its roots, the evolution of the Halo logo, an interview with Louis Wu of HBO (and his uncanny resemblance to Kenny Rogers), the beautiful Bungie Princess at Halo 2's launch event, and finally, a quick word with Ryan McCaffrey of OXM.
Go check it out, and be sure to come back tomorrow when more backwards compatibility details are revealed.
We have another call for the talented to join the 2845 dev team. See below for more details... that always makes me think of some cereal box ad. Weird huh?
Skinners
Skinning of vehicles, avatars, buildings, terrain texture generation.
Experience with graphics design packages, preferably Photoshop but Corel is acceptable also. Should have the ability to emulate different styles if needed. Ability to UV unwrap models is a big plus. Samples of previous work requested.
3d Modelers/Artists
We currently have openings for several 3d modelers, both hi and low poly. Experience with either 3ds max, Maya, or Lightwave and ability to UV Unwrap is essential. Ability to work quickly and accurately from concept drawings is a must. Skinning and/or animation capabilities are a huge plus. Experience with sci fi oriented hand held weaponry design is also a huge plus. Please provide link to online portfolio or include link to .zip file of previous work.
If you are interested in any of these positions please contact me directly by emailing me at trajan@clancore.net and including the following info in the body of your message:
For whatever reason this week seems particulary blessed by the gods of StarSiege since we now have yet another fanfic, following hot on the heels of TimberWolf's A Fool in the Rain. This particular story began as a request of 2845 forumite Griph Weathers of Maestro for a fanfic with his alias in it, but it quickly grew into sprawling story that tied many of the different threads of the StarSiege universe together. Pull up a chair and click here. It's a long one.
A site called "Latino Review" has posted a review (of sorts) of the Halo movie. Apparently. The review itself, which can be found here, is basically a description of one of the acts. The "reviewer" never reveals how he obtained this script which I assume is heavily guarded by some rather large flaming ninjas. Regardless, if this review DOES turn out to be accurate...it doesn't sound like the film will be that different to the Halo games. He claims there is a PoA crash scene, and that the ending of the film is identical to "the game" (he doesn't state which one). There are no spoilers unless you haven't read the books or played the games... give it a read and let us know what you think.
Podtacular's customs and call-ins episode for this week is now up. Go give it a listen! Also, Red vs Blue Episode 66 is now up for sponsors. Thanks to HBO.
Just under two weeks ago, Edgen dropped me a line with his newest montage entitled, The Spartans. Now, being the busy guy that I am coupled with the fact that I procrastinate a lot, afforded me the release of it only tonight. Anyhow, this new piece is astounding, clearly one of his best to date. It weighs in at just under 9MB and runs just over 6 minutes, give it a listen!
I am MereCatfish and I am going to be around now as a Halo Intern to fill up the news page with some of the good stuff (ie - Halo news) and I will be seen around the forums.
Some of you might know me from HBO or Gearbox, I hang around there quite a lot. I look forward to getting to know you all, hope you all get to know me too
In an effort to keep the continue the community more informed with the status of the ATR, Trajan has released a series of ATR build notes which contain brief summaries of what was fixed / added / tweaked. Some interesting tidbits from the last few builds: smoke grenades for the grenade launcher (previously just a rumour), addition of a new map, and a preliminary implemention of the Predator (which may or may not see light in the ATR).
Trajan has finally commented on all the issues that have been raised during the past few weeks, what with all the threads popping up declaring that the ATR must be immeaditely released. After the initial slap-fest, some new facts have been gleaned. Since I have nothing else interesting in terms of 2845 news, I thought I would share them
1) The ATR has primarily been delayed because of an issue with the implementation of Hercs, presumably something in the coding is wacked out.
2) The rumour going round that map load times were problematic was snuffed. Most maps load in under a minute and that figure will only go lower once they actually start optimization, something which has been largely ignored due to more pressing issues IE point one.
3) The reason Trajan hasn't posted is because he's been without power... something about he lives in Florida and they just got hit by a hurricane.
I don't think it comes as a surprise to anyone that the ATR was going to be delayed, again. The Halloween release that was Trajan last aimed for has been missed and we are left with no new release dates (probably a good thing). Before the flaming over missed release dates and such begins, I think it's important for you all to take a step back and read this editorial. Hopefully it'll put a few things into perspective for you, or at the very least, give you the opportunity to see both sides of the story.
According to Gamasutra, a professional game development community, Microsoft will not be releasing the XBox 360 in volume. In fact, due to an apparent low volume in manufacturing, the XBox 360's retail sales are expected to ramp up slowly over the course of the coming year. As a side effect of the announcements, XBox sales are slipping and are expected to continue to fall.
It seems Microsoft is still taking a major loss on their home entertainment division, and they expect these losses to continue to increase.
Don't count on getting your new 'box this holiday season, but plan on there being some major shortages across North America.
We have a slew of new 2845 spotlights to give to you today... by now we should have almost the entire current staff featured at one point or another. Enjoy and try not to hurt yourself.
Spotted over at HBO, Tecmo and Bungie have officially announced the inclusion of Spartan-458 in Dead or Alive 4 (details). As Louis Wu mentioned (and chatter on our forums allude to), nothing is official until you hear it from Bungie.
We've added our second level designer to our list of Starsiege:2845 devs in the spotlight (the first being Sentinal). Cinderkarst brings us not only a new spotlight, but also a new screenshot of Mars from the ATR; available both in his spotlight and our Torque Gallery. Check it out!
Apparently the immensely long wait for any hard material from the 2845 team has finally gotten to some of the fanboys. Long-time 2845 and tJY follower Weatherlight wrote a detailed post about why the ATR should just be released and once others saw it, they followed his lead. Click here to see it and 2845's co-director Tsa Rye's response.
A couple of new Halo Babies strips have been posted.
Weekly What's Update denotes over 50,000 Xbox Live accounts have been banhammered (wow), more details of Spartan 458, and a cool Hokusai print of Mister Chief.
Xbox.com and Xbox Live are currently down for 24 hours as the new site and service are launched. Preparations for Xbox 360 are also underway. Thanks R.Net.
Major Nelson's blog has been updated with a preview of the Xbox 360's web integration (implementation of which partly responsible for why Xbox.com is down now).
Thanks to the efforts of resident SteelFire, tJY now has yet another set of StarSiege Universe documents in its library...I think I'm safe in saying only StarSiegeUniverse can beat us in terms of collated SS universe info and that's quite an accomplishment. Hopefully our archives will only continue to grow as we dig up more files. Stay tuned as I'm trying to get several SS gameplay guides up.
According to a recent news post over at Kikizo Games, the answer may not be the one we've all assumed. Kikizo Games mentions that in, "...a recent interview with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Microsoft's J Allard not only wouldn't say when Halo 3 is coming to Xbox 360, he wouldn't even confirm it's coming at all." Allard goes on to say that Bungie is currently working on a 360 title that will be of the same caliber but that we should expect not more of the same, but instead, a title that holds itself. He never drops a name. When asked about Halo 3, Allard closes with, "There is going to be a "Halo" movie. I can confirm that."
When it was announced back in April that the RenWerX group would be creating their own game and not working with the Legends Team, many details were still left unclear. Well, yesterday many of those details became clear. Volitant Assault is the name of their new Tribes-esq game on Garage Games' Torque engine. RenWerX had the following to say:
RenWerX is happy to announce that many more of your favorite Tribes mod's will be coming to Volitant Assault! RenWerX has recently reached partnership agreements with both Meltdown and Team Aerial Combat (TAC). We are all very excited to have the best mods apart of the upcoming game. Team Great Terra War (GTW) continues to help with the core game and their exciting mod, expect some previews soon.
More information, screenshots, and concepts can be found on their new site, so check it out!
Our newest (and only) freelance writer, Aequitas, has put together a preview of the latest game in The Elder Scrolls series, Oblivion, coming holiday 2005 for the Xbox 360 and PC. Obligatory snippet:
Oblivion starts off with you in an Imperial prison, similar to your starting situation in Morrowind (Bethesda apparently has a prison fetish... what's wrong with having a kinky developer?). Conveniently enough, your cell houses a secret passage that the Imperial Emperor (voiced by Patrick Stewart) makes use of during an assassination attempt. After being told to step aside for the Emperor, who heads down the passage, you are literally thrust right into the action, fighting through assassins in order to catch up to the Emperor, in what essentially counts as Oblivion's "training" session. After dispatching countless assassins, you eventually come across the dying emperor (guess he didn't get away, shucks).
Apparently the recent German translation of the 2845 Uber-FAQ sparked the interest of others who's primary language is not English. Thanks to local 2845 resident Symlodon, we can now give you the 2845 Uber-FAQ in het Nederlands.
On a related announcment, if you know of any non-english sites that are or would be interested in covering 2845, post the url in our comments thread (link below) or email myself at iviaedhros@gmail.com. Also, it would help a great deal if you could write down a brief description of that site in English as well as in the language(s) of the site itself. Hopefully the international interest in both the 2845 and tJY will only continue to grow as a result of this.
Spotted over at HBO, the latest Game Informer magazine has broke the story of the Halo character that will be appearing in the upcoming Dead or Alive 4 on the Xbox 360 (details). Drum roll please... all of you who thought Frankie's bouncy silouette picture of Cortana was leading to something more... were wrong. It was a red herring. The mystery character is a female, however - a Spartan in Mjolnir armour, aptly named Spartan 458. It's also been pointed out that the second hangar bay from Cairo Station is in the game. Cool!
Kirsten wrote in with news that PraetoriaGuard has released episode four of The PraetoriaGuard Live! series, a Halo Machinima comedy. This one's entitled, "Polly Want A Cracker?" and comes in both hi-res and low-res .wmv formats (sorry Mac'ers). Check it out!
Our resident Starsiege fanfic writer, TimberWolf, is at it again. He has put together another story on our War Stories Writers forum (which is terribly underused, I might add) that picks up where one of his previous 'fics, Reunion, left off. For those of you who read Reunion, you'll note the similarities in 'lovey dovey' tone in his latest story, I Feel Home. Check it out and be sure to leave your comments.
An interview on Game Informer.com sheds a little more light on Xbox 360's backwards compatibility support. Microsoft's Peter Moore mentioned that MS "...will probably be in a position in about two weeks to give [us] a list [that] will go up on Xbox.com and it will get updated as more and more games get through certification." It is not yet known how many games will be on this compatibility list, and no games were listed (though I think it's safe to assume headliners like Halo 2, will be on the list).
As emulation is required to play Xbox games on the 360, Moore points out that the backwards compatible games would need an update download: "There will just be an auto-update that you may not even be aware that happens." The example he uses is for Crimson Skys - if it becomes backwards compatible, an update will be posted on Xbox.com and if there is enough user interest, an email alert could be sent out. He continues, "Bottom line, you will start seeing more concrete information in two weeks. We will post a list. The guys continue to pound through these games and the emulation is working well. After launch, we will continue to do it. Until consumers show lack of interest, then we will move on."
Looks like the 360 may be more backwards compatible than previously thought. Good news indeed.
In an interview over at Gamespot that was covered by Kikizo Games, J Allard comments that early adopters for the 360 are going to be in for a rough time. He mentions that the first set of games to launch on the system won't be true indicators of the system's true capability (d'uh), but he also goes on to comment that developers have had to cut corners to meet the early launch date. What's more, Allard goes on to hint at possible supply problems this Christmas, noting that "...there are going to be would-be Xbox 360 owners sitting empty-handed this Christmas." There's nothing like building up that "gotta get a 360 before they sell out" mentality.
An interesting note in the article came from the fact that MS is learning from its mistakes with the Xbox and notes that while their major in-house games (Project Gotham Racing 3, Kameo: Elements of Power and Perfect Dark Zero) are set for launch day one, if they're not ready - they won't ship. Why? Because they have learned with Halo 2 that, "...you don't ship a game before it's ready."
ThatWeasel, the host for this year's Rockets on Prisoners Awards, has put together a number of pre-release awards ceremony videos. Nominees and winners have been announced for the following categories: Best Musical Score, Best Documentary, Best Montage, Best Music Video, and Best Trailer. There will be three new winners announced over the next three days - so swing on by and check it out.
2845 dev Zero-Optix has just put out what is easily the coolest wallpaper yet. Check out the Halloween Wraith. Zero-Optix notes that this skin will eventually be available in game.
Thanks to the efforts of -NTDF-TheHammer, tJY's Uber-FAQ is now available in German! Hopefully it will help to turn 2845 into an internationally played game as StarSiege itself was. You can see the new version by clicking here. Please help the StarSiege community and the 2845 devs spread the word by letting any Deutsch sprechers know about this.
As always, suggestions and/or corrections can be emailed to me at iviaedhros@gmail.com
We mentioned at the beginning of September that our very own Dan Chosich was moving on to bigger and better things than his 2070 Wired Films could take him to. Well, several threads later and one big announcement, and Sentient Arts was born! The new site is not devoted on the Halo universe, but rather the broader creative community as a whole - designed as a useful tool for creating and exploring artistic ideas.
The site makes extensive use of CSS and looks great in Firefox and Safari and though while viewable in IE, it isn't always pretty. But head on over to their forums and share your thoughts!
"Rumours" seems to be the choice word among news posts this week. Anyhow, there have been rumours that Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings trilogy, upcoming King Kong) would be working on the Halo movie. Well, put that speculation aside because there's an article on Bungie.net that confirms just that: Peter Jackson has been named as the Executive Producer.
Moreover, the special effects powerhouse WETA - responsible for the visuals in LOTR and King Kong - is also on board. They'll be the ones responsible for bringing the Halo universe to life on the big screen, and if their work on the LOTR trilogy is any testament, you can rest assured that it'll kickass. So as Frankie pointed out, Bungie really is in this for the long haul. Kudos to HBO for the heads up.
Originally reported on Joystiq, there is a rumour floating around that Halo's movie script was leaked and was available on the Riches Will Rust forums as a 118 page PDF download. Xbox365.com is now reporting (who heard through HBO) that the leak was a fake. Louis Wu comments, "The poster is brand new to that forum, with no personal info shown... and the script itself shows itself to be... well, below Bungie writing standards is a nice way to put it. Anyway - the script is fake (that's from an official source, not just me), but that fact isn't stopping it from getting all over the internet today. Spread the word, if you can."
It is interesting that the richeswillrust.com site is no longer available, though. More banter and theories can be found on the HBO forum.
While this normally wouldn't qualify as a news blurb, I know everyone is impatiently waiting for the ATR, so I thought some 2845 news would make things go a little quicker. The question was asked whether or not infantry would be able to lay on the ground and perform other actions (other than "running and gunning"). Trajan confirmed that infantry will be able to crouch, prone, combat roll, and possibly have a 2nd person view (camera facing the infantry, IIRC). Not surprisingly, the only thing that you'll be able to do in the ATR [in regards to the infantry] is "run and gun".
Well, Halo 3 may not be coming out for a while, but that doesn't mean you won't be playing with a Halo character on Xbox 360 before then. A recent news post at Game Informer mentions that in Dead or Alive 4, a launch title for the 360, we will be seeing a hidden unlockable character from the Halo universe. And this recent newspost over at Bungie.Net doesn't deny it. So who could this mystery character be? Bungie mentions that it could be anyone or anything, but the animated .gif at the bottom of the B.Net article appears to be hinting at none other than Cortana (who would fit right in with the DOA girls). Though in true Bungie style, they're keeping tight-lipped about everything, so keep guessing! Kudos to HBO for the heads up.
Leaked Halo 3 screenshot? Xbox Users Group claims that they've gotten their hands on just that. news0r later writes on the purported screenshot, attempting to analyze the veracity of the shot, but I'd just like to mention that there still is no official word from MS or Bungie on Halo 3 - so don't get your drool buckets ready just yet. Still, it's a nice shot.
Because of recent PM conversations with Trajan in addition to the usual discussion at the 2845 boards, there's a new collection of facts I can share about the 2845 development cycle. For convenience's sake I'll simply list them below.
*For a while myself and others had the view that support for Mac OS's might not be included in the final product. After PM'ing Trajan, that fear has basically been put to rest. You can now expect that the final builds will support both Mac and Linux operating systems, though the ATR is still Window's only. The error came about because that was idea when it was still a T:V mod and no one bothered to ask until recently if that changed.
*Recently brought up is the issue of whether or not there would be any official mapping or skinning contests once the ATR is released. The idea being that the best products would be included in the final build and the winners received their names in the credits. 2845 mapper Cinderkarst and former coding guru [url=http://legacy.the-junkyard.net/spotlights.php?action=viewspotlight&id=62]Sentinal [MIB][/url] unhappily had to squash these rumors. Problems with continuity were cited, but more importantly, they pointed out that anything made in the ATR would be rendered obsolete by the upcoming TSE engine. Basically all of the art and level assists that relate to graphics will be reworked. Yes the underlying themes and motifs will remain, but everything else basically has to be redone. The TSE simply allows for so much more that there is no reason to keep anything done before. To get an idea of what the TSE will be able to do, Cinderkarst said that area's at least half the size of Rhode Island will be possible.Check out this thread for more details on that issue.
*While the contest idea had to die there's no reason to give up hope on working with 2845 as a non-dev. From the beginning the game has been designed with giving support to community projects. For one such example of their effort to make 2845 a more modifiable game, take a look at the beta form of Clancore Developer Network. Other plans include devs creating "official community map packs" akin to UT, large amounts of available art and level assests available as well as documentation (see the Clancore Dev link above), and direct support from a few select devs for other mods, including a Tribes mod of 2845.
In pursuit of tJY's goal of becoming the ultimate place to go for anything related to the StarSiege Universe, I've scoured the famed Men In Black's website for new SS downloads and I've brought back quite a handful. Everything from radical changes in gameplay of the Sentinal, Command and Conquer, and NASH Herc mods to simple scripting tutorials and skin packs. Check them out in the StarSiege Files Archive.
There's a new comic strip series starting up at Halo Planet, cleverly titled "The Halo Comic"
Looking to play Halo-related games on your cell phone? In-Fusio has joined sides with Microsoft to bring you just that. Check it out
All the cafuffle over www.origenxbox360.com turned out to be nothing more than a European-only contest where the two grand-prize winners will be flown back to the US for an Xbox 360 launch party. Sorry, no l33t Halo 3 release information.
I certainly can't say I'm shocked, though I am dissapointed. Oh well, life goes on...
Bad news: Ain't gonna make that September release date.
Good news: It's really close to being done
I could give you a list of valid excuses as to why we're going to miss the September release, but the bottom line is no one gives a crap about excuses. Suffice it to say the build we have is playable, but way too rough around the edges in certain areas to release to the general public. Especially after seeing some of the comments from certain quarters about the video we released. These comments convinced me that these rough edges need to be buffed as much as possible so the ADD crowd isn't confused. Therefore I'm making the executive decision to hold the release until we get some things polished up. Our sincere apologies on this but IMO releasing what we currently have would be detrimental to the well being of the project.
And I might as well spill this now...
As an FYI, we've brought a few select people from outside the staff on board to help us with bug and balance testing. These are people I hand picked due to personal experience and knowledge of their work habits. This testing is starting this week. After we get a few key issues smoothed out we will probably be bringing in a second larger team that will be overseen by this initial team.
In regards to this last part...please do not flood my inbox with "HAY MAN I WANT TO TEST STUFF" emails unless or until I ask you to. If you do before then I will just ignore them.
In the meantime, if anyone has any questions, I'll try to answer them.
Update: Trajan has mentioned that he plans to have the ATR out before Halloween, as they are "...just as eager to get this off our backs and out the door so we can move on as you are to get it."
I have been debating a long time whether or not to get Sony's PSP as I have been looking for a new toy to amuse myself on the rides in and out of work. However, that $300 CDN+ price point was just a little too steep for me to swallow, so last week when the Game Boy Micro was released in Canada, I couldn't pass up the opportunity. What's more, as it is backwards-compatible with GB Advance's over 700 titles, the game library was looking mighty fine. Take a look at my impressions on Nintendo's latest offering in the mobile gaming arena.
A new machinima video is being planned by TW member MuNansen. An experienced director who made the BF1942 movie Ours Again is now beginning the process of creating a movie for T:V. He already has voice actors lined up, but he needs live actors for the actual filming. According to him, he's looking for good...to great players. While skill is important, he emphasizes that,
MOST IMPORTANTLY, though I need people that are interested in working to make a good film, not screw around. There's plenty of time to mess around during a shoot, but the job needs to get done and I need people who can enjoy doing that and later enjoy seeing the results of their efforts. My past actors have enjoyed filming a good deal, probably more than I'm making it sound, but I need to be clear how important it is that we're on the same page.
If you're at all interested, check this thread for additional info and his email. If you still have T:V (I threw mine away ) and are at least moderately skilled, I highly recommend doing this.
Houston Vehicles Online Devoted Gamers recently had a chance to sit down with 2845 Producer, Jake 'Trajan' Massie, to get a few of their questions answered. Despite consistenly referring to the game as Starsiege:2854, the interview is actually quite interesting. No new information has been released, but I think the interview does a pretty good job of summing up some key issues and features of the game. You also get to read Trajan ripping on Tribes:Vengeance, heh. Obligatory snippet:
HVo: My condolences. Greatest Triumph?
Jake Massie: The greatest triumph would be the fact that we got legal permission to do a game based and set in the fictional universe we all love. And that's worth all the sweat and tears.
Today's Friday, and you all know what that means: new Halo Babies! This week's strip was written by PBDemon, the runner-up to HB's recent Red vs. Blue contest. Check it out!
Dennis Powers writes in with news that the conclusion of season two of the Halo CE Chronicles has drawn to a triumphant conclusion with episode 20 and 21. Episode 20, entitled Home, concludes the battle for the energy cannon and episode 21, Naming, entails the outcome of the relationship between the Commander and the Station AI. Episode 21 also includes selected outtakes. More details on the final two episodes can be found on the Halo CE Chronicles website.
I've happily stumbled acrossed some old Tribes related fanfics that were written by Blake Hutchins and several other Tribes community members including Nabterayl and ConfigSys.Boy!. Many thanks to The StarSiege Universe for once again managing to surprise me with a new gem of long lost (to me anyway) information.
In an effort foster community growth and to help with the development of SS:2845 and any future games, a new website has been made. ClanCore Developer Network is a holding site for all the knowledge the devs have accumulated in their work. Includes various how-to articles, links to development tools for the Torque engine, etc. As of now it's still very much in the formative stage, but as time passes it should become quite comprehensive.
Although we've mentioneda fewthingsthatwill be making it into the upcoming ATR, we haven't posted an updated listing of the other stuff. Well, Crow has come to the rescue in this thread, with the assistance of Symlodon. Below is what you can expect to see the ATR (roughly):
- One or several maps to play on
- 2 HERCs (Goad and Eman), unbalanced (or at least only roughly) in terms of speed, damage output or shield/armor strength
- A tank
- Infantry (Human and Cybrid); animated, but not refined
- Some basic weaponry for shits and giggles. Don't expect it to be balanced. For all we know, a rocket launcher (IF it's in there) may be as useful against vehicles as a handgrenade.
- The Wraith (human fighter), unbalanced
- The Badger, unbalanced
- Some base objects, perhaps a mannable turret
Please note that the aforementioned items is an unconfirmed / unfinalized list. It is the best that we have to go with at the moment, however. We'll keep you updated as more information is released. Or you can just wait until the ATR is released within the next two weeks.
As promised, I've finished my review on Guild Wars so be sure and take a look through it. As always critique, varying oppinions, or simple praises are welcome. Just click on the "comment" button below.
Well, in addition to Kaffein's spotlight that we released last week, we've got a slew of new Starsiege:2845 goodies for you today! First up, two more spotlights to bring our 2845 spotlight count up to 19 dev team members. Trinity is one of the dev team's very talented texture artists - many of the game's weapons were skinned by his hand. He has also done a lot of skins in Tribes 2 for the Skinner's Guild. Read up on Trinity and his scary encounter with Boy George! Our other spotlight is on Sevnn, one of the many hard working coders on the team. He treats us to a very short 'n sweet spotlight, check it out!
Next, Lujan (who we spotlighted earlier in the year) has treated us to another Developer Diary. He brings some perspective on the team's progress and goals compared with what the many critics have been saying, and he also writes some juicy updates on the ATR - which is still on track to be released this month- and its development status. Our fourth Starsiege:2845 Developer Diary is not something you will want to miss.
And lastly, after a lot of hard work, our Starsiege:2845 Quick Search Tool is finally ready for release. The QS Tool is your one-stop resource for accessing all of the Junkyard's 2845 information. All of our content is available, fully indexed, from this one page. All you have to do is enter your search terms, pick your archive, and click search. There are also quick links around the community and filtered 2845-only news headlines (along with a quick news viewer). And as always, if you have any comments or suggestions on how to make the QS Tool better, we'd love to hear from you!
I was hoppin'a ride on the trolly yeste'day and I happened to run into Stuntmutt ove'here, so I popped him the S'Q, and he responded dutifully. Okay, I admit my British accent is horrible, but that's besides the point -- we have a new spotlight for you today! Check out what this Brit has to say in our next spotlight. Oh, and he included a One One Se7en strip for us as well.
Jim_Raynor aka Andras Ostrom stopped by our forums yesterday promoting his recent movie creation: Gladiator Evolved. After about a month of work, Andras has meticulously recreated the opening battle of Gladiator between the Romany army (Spartans) and the Germanians (Elites). Here are some of the comments left by reviewers from HBO's MPRRS and in our thread:
- "This may be the single best video to ever pass through the MPRSS."
- "That was the greatest match-up between audio from a movie to Halo I have ever seen."
- "Woah. This is definitely how a war machinima should be made."
- "I just handed out the highest rating I've ever given on a MPRRS piece -- 98%."
- "I must say that's the best piece of editing and production I've seen since Dan Chosich's Halo50K Framework. Well done doesn't even begin to describe it."
- "That's excellent. I just watched Gladiator the other day, so I knew what I was looking for, and saw it just about every time. Very well done."
I just finished watching the movie myself and I am absolutely floored. The 12:20 movie comes in two flavours: an 80.9MB Quicktime and an 81.5MB WMP9; both available from HBO. Head on over to the thread and leave your feedback!
It's been quite a while since our last spotlight here at tJY. This next one focuses again on a member of the Starsiege:2845 dev team, following in such great footsteps as Sleepy bright eyez and Edgen. So without further ado, I present to you, Kaffein, a fellow sound fx designer.
I've looked through the 2845 site and I've uploaded all of the scans that they've collected. By going to the 2845 Press Section, you can view every magazine article about 2845 that has come out over its long development. Check 'em out.
Trajan has posted an immediate opening for skinners for Starsiege:2845. He notes that applicants must have a type of portfolio with previous work ready for review and they must be able to work right now. The talented skills of individuals like Cenobite and Trinity are currently being occupied with real life duties; accordingly, Trajan needs people now. So if you're interested, head on over to the thread for more information or contact Trajan directly.
xheadshotmastax wrote in earlier to let us know of a new Halo CE map that he put together: War of Hog. It's a big map with plenty of Warthogs and a single pelican to ensure plenty of vehicular combat. Check it out!
Tony Skinner writes in with news that he's created a script that adds MechWarrior-style jumpjets to HERCs in Starsiege. To install, just direct the self-extracting archive to your Dynamic directory and map the jets ingame.
Since the release of the Starsiege:2845 ATR movie, aside from the phlethora of praise for the dev team, the community has come back with several questions on the ATR, including TGE -> TSE conversion, level design, and HERC / infantry animation. To help spread the word, here are a few common questions:
Is it going to be a long and tedious process to convert the game from TGE to TSE? Chemeleon: Its actually a pretty straightforward port. Majority of the code changes are in the renderer area, so code should move over relatively straightforward. Dts's dont need changed, and dif's just need reconverted from .map to .dif with a new converter. Then setup material settings for all the textures used. So I'd guestimate probably a week or two for the basic port once we're ready if it goes as expected.
Anything regarding infantry speed or animations...
Mhaddy/Trajan: It's just an ATR, the game isn't polished, and nothing is finalized. The above is still being worked on.
What about the contrails on the wingtips of the Wraith? Will they be map-specific?
Mhaddy/nazbot: There was talk about having contrails being map specific (relating to whether or not there is an atmosphere on the planet, moisture in the air, etc.), and while it will not be fixed for the ATR, it may be implemented for the final. Though it has not been given priority.
One thing I noticed was that there were no shots of the Goad. Is it not finished yet, or are you being secret surprise-planning bastards? Trajan: The Goad is finished. We had to send both the Eman and the Goad back to modeling to make some changes last week to support the type of compartmentalized damage we want to implement, because the first thing we tried sucked. All the vids of the Eman shown were taken some time back before it was sent back to the woodshed. We never bothered putting the Goad in until we had tested things with the Eman.
How easily can I implement a chainguns that blows soap bubbles instead of shells?
Mhaddy/Sonofman: Very easily. With the auto-download feature that is present in the TGE/TSE, once you get your modifications in place, the client will simply download the needed art and run it. By executing the scripts that you have written from the mission file to substitute such art, you can literally make map/mods.
Oh, and a pair of high res. shots of the opening 'big building' in the ATR can be found in our Torque Engine gallery.
It's finally here! This morning, Trajan announced that the long awaited movie is now available for to download for the masses. Please keep in mind that the movie you are about to watch is from an Alpha Tech Release -- not a beta, not a demo.
Note: Use Windows Media Player for viewing. Also, you're encouraged to set up your own mirror and post the link at this thread. Bit torrent links will be arriving shortly as torrents are set up.
The community is restless. As you know, the community was promised some new ATR video footage due out by [url=http://legacy.the-junkyard.net/index.php?action=linknews&id=1819][August] month's end[/url]. Well, today is September 1st and the elusive video has yet to surface. After much community prodding, Trajan made the announcement that the video is currently being created. What this means in regards to a release date is anyone's guess, but it's reassuring to know that it is at least being worked on.
We'll have the video for you as soon as it's ready for release.
Dan Chosich of 2070 Wired Films is throwing in the site's towel. He is not able to part with details just yet, but "something better has come up" that he has "always wanted to do when [he] got involved with the Internet." He promises a more interactive, community driven and updated website. In late September, Dan's joint partnership will be made public and perhaps we can see what his new $4000 G5 can do, heh. To reassure the community, Dan mentions:
Realisitically, it's going to be a much more interactive/community driven site than this is. The work I will have done (past, present, future) will be just a small facet of the site. Really there is nothing to lose (except the name 2070Films), and so much more to gain.
More news on this as Dan makes it available. Head on over to this thread for more information and chatter.
A few updates from around the community that have been sitting in my inbox (sorry for the delay):
HymnToNinkasi from the PraetoriaGuard wrote in with news of a new Halo 2 community site, Halo2Gametypes.com. Straight from the man himself:
This website is dedicated to the growing Halo 2 Community and the gametypes that are emerging. From Zombies to Speedball - if you've played it online, chances are, it's listed here. Find out what other people think of it - and how they might tweak it. Invented your own gametype? Submit your gametype using our submission system and see how other people rate it. You can vote on any game type to increase it's popularity. The top five game variants, as rated by the Halo 2 community are posted.
The 100th strip has been posted on Halo Babies. Wow, 100 all ready?
The HB crew has also released a special version of their site specially formatted to fit the PSP. If you've got a PSP, surf on over there now!
Episode 17 of the Halo CE Chronicles is available. This one is available in the usual three formats: WMP9 (22MB), QT (20MB), and streaming Flash (8MB). And in case you missed any of the previous episodes, they are available in the season two archive. Kudos to Daniel Powers for the heads up.
The-Junkyard's Plague has released five new pages in this Heritage graphic novel. He's also mentioed that the final page count will be somewhere around 100 so you can be have plenty of material throughtout the coming year.
A couple of people have wrote in with news that Halo 3 has appeared as a pre-order on Best Buy for May 15, 2006. Once again, I remind you that nothing about Halo 3 has been confirmed and just because it appears on an e-retailer's site doesn't mean it's official. Even Bill has been corrected.
The Starsiege:2845 team loses two individuals from its very talented roster this week. Sentinal parted ways at the beginning of the week, as noted in his final developer journal entry. He stated that after two and a half years on the team, it's time for something new. Sentinal was a mission designer for the ATR, his most recent work being the Mars map.
Vailias has also stated that he's leaving the team for an indeterminant amount of time in his final developer journal. A combination of heading back to college and a promotion at work unfortunately has to take precedence over his work on the team.
Once again I'm reminded that the crew at ClanCore are doing all of this on their spare time. This is all non-profit work and work that they are taking on in addition to their real life fulltime jobs. Kudos to Sentinal, Vailias, and everyone on the team for working so hard for a community that loves you so much.
Update 2:39pm: Despite two prominent members of the dev team leaving, Lujan has reassured us that they are dedicated to hitting their sometime in September ATR release deadline.
Dmaster_chief dropped by our forum last night to spread the word about a pretty encompassing project, whereby comradx is planning to make a full length, feature film of Halo 2's storyline. Here's what he had to say:
Ok guys, here is what my project is all about. I am attempting to take the amazing and captivating storyline form halo 2 and express it in a huge, feature length film. In total, the final product will be around 2 hours once completed and I plan on making dvd version of the film complete with interactive menus and title screens and even cool extras like previews, how to's, etc…I am pretty sure it is quite illegal to launch a dvd that I charge for so if anyone wants it, all they need to do is pay for the S&H. I plan to release the movie sometime late this summer.
The release will be in episodes as to not overwhelm those who want to dl it. Each episode will consist of one area in the game. For example, the first episode will have some cool previews for other great halo films, the film's intro, and everything from the opening game cinema up thru the time when MC leaves cairo station. I will use co-op for the 3rd person stuff. Each area is planned to have around 5-10 minutes of footage, but keep in mind that most areas in the game consist of 2 or 3 levels.
Here's the trick, to capture halo 2's immersive storytelling, I threw out the option of using the MP part of the game like every other film made using the game thus far. Instead, I am trying to use the SP campaign to get my footage.
My goal is to recreate the entire immersive atmosphere I felt when playing thru the storyline, but to do it in an even more cinematic way. I want it to feel epic and engaging and exciting and even dramatic when appropriate.
Mhaddy has just alerted me to the fact that the DL URL for Cinderkarst's T2 MapPack was missing in the page's construction...thus making it impossible to actually download the file. Way to go eh? Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused tJY's Tribals. The link has been fixed the pack should be good to go.
More details have surfaced over the upcoming Halo movie. An article in Varitey mentions that Fox and Universal will pay Microsoft $5 million USD against 10% of the movie's gross; down quite a bit from MS' original offering of $10 million USD against 15% of the movie's gross. Moreover, while MS will be consulted on the project, they will not have approval over any of the elements. The Master Chief will be hitting the big screens in summer 2007. Thanks HBO.
Spotted over at HBO, XerxdeeJ from Tied the Leader had a chance to speak with the man behind the Master Chief's Mjolnir, Steve Downes. The phone interview comes in several pieces (each ~3MB .mp3's) and talks about a myriad of topics, including how Steve got involved with Bungie, the Halo phenomenon, and his possible involvement with the upcoming Halo movie. Check it out!
Episode 16 of the Halo CE Chronicles, entitled Harmony, has been posted. As usual, three flavours are available (WMP9, QT, Flash) for your viewing pleasure, check it out! Thanks Dennis Powers.
And a reminder that the recent Halo Babies RvB contest has come to a close (as of midnight last night). Be sure to swing on by HB on Friday when the winners are announced (as judged by the RvB crew themselves).
QRF_Voyager sends news that the first ever LORECon, a large Dark Horizons: Lore LAN recently held in Philadelphia, went off without a hitch. You can find a synopsis of the event along with a captioned gallery on his site, right here.
Sketchfactor has put together an interview with Major Nelson, Programming Director for Xbox Live. Many topics are covered, including the history and background of MN, cheating and feedback in Halo 2, and some Xbox 360 Live snippets. It's definitely worth a read, thanks HBO.
Edwin Davis, creator of this beautiful set of Halo 2 Mac OS X icons, has put together a pair of Mac Halo Screensavers. Unfortunately, these screensaers are available for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger only and he has no plans of releasing them for Windows *sigh*. In either event, both are available in our Halo 2 General Downloads or from Edwin's site.
A new Halo Babies strip popped up on this past Friday. This one has the Chief and Cortana introducing the Kitchen Helper 4000. Check it out!
Episode 15 of the Halo CE Chronicles has been released, entitled Conflict. It's available in three flavours: WMP9, QT, and Flash. And just in case you missed any previous episodes, be sure to check out the archives.
The winner of the SS:2845 Cybrid Buggy Contest has been announced. Badboi came out on top with this stunning entry and as such, lands his buggy a spot in the final release of the game along with a $200 gift certificate to Bestbuy / EB Games. Trajan had the following to say:
This was a really close contest compared to the previous ones, with this design beating out the closest competitor by only one vote. We'd like to thank everyone that participated, there were some really great entries and inventiveness shown.
Just wanted to send you guys word that... Well... There's no easy way to put this really...
My friend and I had created a Tribes 1 tutorial site for snipers... Sniperwolf's School of Sniping (which has since been taken down by my request due to spamming using the planetstarsiege email forwards)...
I was iNsAnE, my friend Edward "Augie" Schroeder was SniperWolf...
He was out in Iraq with the Marine Reservists in Ohio in a real sniper division... sadly he was one of the 14 that didn't make it out alive. Just wanted to forward this to you, and let you guys know that there is one less Tribes player amongst us.
-mike "iNsAnE" pad
Please take a moment out of your day and remember Edward "SniperWolf" Schroeder. He will be in our prayers.
Trajan has posted the pictures of the top contenders for the Cybrid Buggy contest. As usual, tJY's very own Plague is doing very well with his design. However, he has some strong contestants to fight with, particulary the artist Scorpius who had a previous entry in the Cybrid tank contest and was one of the final contestants.
We've mentioned Dark Horizons: Lore a few times on tJY: the persistent online mecha game by Garage Games. Well now, if you're in the Philadelphia area on August 20th, you might want to check out this massive Lan party at Dave and Busters. An Infantry mod as well as a new Lore RPG game are set to debut at the Lan, so if gloating rights and swag isn't enough to sway you, maybe the exclusivity of the event will. For more information and registration information, head on over to the website!
A few updates from around the Halo community:
- New Halo Babies strip entitled, A Changing of Hats
- Halo Babies has a new contest up: just create an idea for a Red vs Blue-themed comic strip and you'll have a chance to win some cool swag.
- The Halo CE Chronicles just released episode 14, entitled Searching. Check it out.
- A new Halo 2 podcast has surfaced called Podtacular. Two episodes are available so far, go check 'em out!
Sometime in September. I'm not going to be specific because some catastrophe always happens that bites us in the ass whenever we do that. At this point given the state that things are in I'd say this has at least a 90% chance of happening. The team is fired up, things are moving fairly fast, we managed to overcome some annoying obstacles, and stuff is looking better every day.
In the meantime we should have some video out by the end of this month.
That's it for now. Stay tuned for more updates as we move along.
Straight from the man himself. Keep your fingers crossed eh?
It's long been known that the ATR will be downloadable but the question regarding just how large of a download was never answered (or brought up?). Well, in a new 'question thread' on the 2845 forums, Trajan piped up:
The latest ATR build we are currently working on clocks in at just under 200mb. The final ATR release (Ver 1.0) will most likely be in the 250-300mb range.
The ATR has about 1/4th of the amount of content the final MP release will have, and that's being very conservative on the estimate.
You do the math.
In regards to a NoCD patch (similar to the one SS had) for MP / SP, Lujan had the following to say:
The MP will be free and the SP is still up in the air. I would assume that if the SP campaign is distributed in any hard format (CD, DVD...) then the MP will be included.
Thats just speculation, though, not any kind of inside information.
As for the NoCD patch; the MP won't need a CD in the first place and if there is a fee associated with SP then it will certainly not have any sanctioned NoCD patch.
Thanks to the keen eye of Prometheus, we can bring you new SS:2845 eye candy. In Kore's latest Dev Journal, he posted a screen of an Eman and a trio of infantry in the ATR. The Eman is weaponless, though the Cybrid and Human infantry are both packing heat. Sentinal later confirmed the mannable turret in the background.
Speculation continues to soar as to why the Eman still doesn't have weapons mounted. Details.
Trajan has put out a request for people with experience with print and silkscreen operations. As part of their grass roots promotional effort for 2845 the devs are planning to make 2845 themed bumper stickers and T-Shirts in bulk. Trajan has requested that anyone who can give them tips or help with the actual production either post a reply in this thread, PM via the 2845 board, or email him at trajan@clancore.net.
HymnToNinkasi dropped by our forums to let us know of a new Halo 2 anti-cheating website that just went live. Halo 2 Cheaters.com is devoted to ridding the game of those matchmaking cheaters. Through community submissions on cheating incidents, the staff confirms the validity of the submission and proceeds accordingly. With the latest patch in place hopefully we won't be seeing more of this tomfoolery on the servers, but it's good to see the community taking matters into their own hands. Check it out!
Some recent developments in the whole world of Halo 2 for everyone. If you haven't been following the state of Xbox Live, it's become apparent that the new maps released for Halo 2 have introduced some security problems - namely making it easier for cheaters to improve their standing. In addition, the proliferation of specially-modified savegames allow an unfair advantage in online games; causing a massive spree of "cheating" and illegitimate "modding".
Bungie have since released the latest auto-update for Halo 2 (the fourth mandatory update for online play over Xbox Live) to detect modified content and ban Live accounts from participating in the Matchmaking process.
More details can be found in last Friday's Weekly What's Update for those confused about the changes.
(On a personal note, I haven't had the occasion to play Halo 2 in a while - last night I downloaded the Autoupdate and played for about an hour in Matchmaking with a friend. While the usual assortment of pretentious kids, whiners and sore losers is still present, I was relieved to not have to deal with cheating!)
Spotted this story over at Xbox 360 Hacker.net. Apparently, some kid [with no idea what an NDA is] got a hold of his step dad's 360 development kit and decided to give it a whir. The fun didn't stop there though. The kid started ranting and raving on a number of gaming forums about his alleged 360 but went one step further – and provided pictures of him and his new 'box.
Aside from the hilarity of some kid maybe most likely costing his step dad his job, what caught my eye in particular is the Halo 2 load screen in one of the shots. The first weary step towards backwards compatibility has been taken with a "top selling Xbox game". Also interesting is a note regarding an enormous external power supply and a new swank dashboard.
Dennis Powers writes in with news that episode 11 of the Halo CE Chronicles has gone live.
Episode 11 continues the saga of the Station Commander and his Station AI. The Fearless engineering crew is dispatched to the outpost to get things running again and the Station AI is faced with a difficult decision.
Both Windows Media Player and Quicktime versions are available of the 7:36 minute long episode. Grab it here!
I've just finished adding all of the July update's pictures to the SS:2845 gallery. You can view them and the rest of the Development Gallery by clicking on the link below or the entire gallery by clicking here.
As promised last week, hmsabre has delivered two new Starsiege maps into our quaint SS map archive. First up is CTF_Red_Star, followed by Burst_Arena. Neither maps contain custom terrains, so you do not have to download these maps if a server is running 'em.
The question was posed whether we would be seeing a Cybrid flyer in the ATR; naturally, the answer was a resounding Trajan-style no. However, the question of whether there was even a finalized Cybrid flyer soon rose up to which Lujan succinctly responded, "Not that we've released." Lujan later clarified that a Cybrid flyer was in production and may be released in a public update down the road; otherwise, we'll be kept in suspense until the final. Those thinking about the Advocate should be reminded that it will not be playable in-game.
And on the topic of the Wraith, Trajan also mentioned that it would fly very much like the Shrike did in Tribes 2 -- except with more firepower. Great for Tribers, good for Siegers?
Trajan confirmed that we will be seeing the recently-released Wraith omnifighter in the upcoming ATR. The only bad news is that the Argus APC was bumped out to make room. But don't worry -- the Argus isn't going anywhere, it will show up "later down the road".
It has long been known that Starsiege:2845 will feature jetpacks and the July public update features several beautiful shots of the jetpack itself. However, even though it's been stated before in, amongst other places, the SS:2845 Uber-Faq that jetpacks will not be like those in Tribes, the question still pops up as to just how limited these 'packs will be. Nabterayl, a writer on the 2845 team, shed a little light on this subject in a recent post:
The jet pack doesn't (well, won't) operate like a Tribes jet pack, no. For one thing, as Trajan said, it will slow you down - so you gain vertical mobility in exchange for some horizontal mobility. This is supposed to be a valuable tool but not turn you into a flying superhero that spends half your time in the air.
The 2845 board has once again lit up with another update and it's a big one. In it, Trajan details what has been going in and what they have implemented so far. And of course, there's the eye candy
Synopsis
Besides coding, the big reason the game is being delayed is that base architecture had to be completely redesigned due to the TGE's technical limitations. On a different note, Trajan is very happy with the amount of sound and art assists his team is generating. The devs have made a huge amount of miscellaneous sound effects and skyboxes (20+) and many of those will eventually be available to mappers, including the ones the devs do not use. After dispensing that, Trajan gave the coding break-down.
v0.0.5b
-initial herc code included
-large and various art updates (maps, sounds, etc)
-fixed some key remapping errors
-changed the cloaking scheme so infantry can now cloak anytime
-added Time Aste art content pack #2
v0.0.5a
-made all the keys remappable
-added explosions to the badger and wraith deaths
-added ability to toggle the HUD on and off (ctrl+h)
-wraith model updated
-wraith skins included
-panorama screenshot enabled
-initial wraith weapon started
-grenade launcher now using proper projectile
-moved various configuration files to the prefs folder
-depot can now be closed properly
-various gui fixes
*Important note* The ATR will only run on Windows, however the final will run on Linux and possibly and Macs
You've probably read at least one of his stories published on tJY over the last three years (and if you haven't, you don't know what you're missing). TimberWolf dropped by our forum this morning with a new Starsiege fanfic, entitled Reunion, which is a continuation of the Alone and Home Again storyline (details). Obligatory snippet:
"Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend." -Albert Camus
Click on the comments thread below to view Reunion.
After the release of our two new Starsiege maps (details), hmsabre dropped by our forums with a work-in-progress co-op campaign map - and promise to bring by several more. You can grab the WIP map from tJY right here.
Just a quickie update: Look for a July public update on the SS:2845 forums sometime soon. Trajan has confirmed the appearance a public update for the month of July -- contrary to public belief. We'll keep you updated as we hear more.
Our last poll asked what next-gen console do you want and the results, to me at least, were very surprising. I figured that PS3 would come out on top - but not by the ~30% margin that it finished with over the Revolution and the 360. Interesting.
Our new poll is a little more technical and asks, what type of modem do you have? Vote now!
Since the ATR video that tJY was promised has been so long delayed, Trajan has sent in some new pics just for tJY. They may not be a video, but they are easier on the bandwidth and still pretty cool. Be especially sure to check out the pictures of the Wraith omnifighter as they are the best released to date. All pictures are working models from the ATR, though many lack the details they will be given later on. Go to the 2845 Torque Engine Gallery and check out the first 5 pictures.
The-Junkyard's T2 map library has just received a large update with the addition Cinderkarst's map pack. The pack contains 11 new maps including Hymn of Morning, Aracan, Xerxes, and Sands of Eventide.
A quick recap of the happenings over at Halo Babies: mrsmiley offers some guidance regarding what should be done with the growing abundance of cheaters on Xbox Live in this week's strip. Clan HBN hands out a butt-kicking to KP's HBO Spartans, synopsis and game stats are available right here. And finally, a reminder of what has been heeded for years: don't trust anyone but Bungie for Halo news in this strip.
A while ago I put out a call for maps and, much to my surprise, someone responded. We now have two more maps for StarSiege: 1 on 1 and Martian Night. For a full listing of our SS maps, you can view the archive right here, and if you'd like to submit your own map, you can email us or upload it yourself.
This past weekend, Trajan put out a request for coders and modelers to work on the Starsiege:2845 project. An exact number was not given, but a "few" individuals are needed for the following volunteer positions:
Coders
Excellent C++ skills are essential, and a keen interest in games and a good understanding of Internet application design and online gaming is highly beneficial. Previous experience working with the Torque engine and Torque script is a huge plus as is experience in graphics programming (ideally OpenGL/DirectX). Must own or be willing to purchase a copy of the Torque Game Engine. This is a key development role so please no casual interest applications.
3d Modelers
We currently have openings for several 3d modelers, both hi and low poly. Experience with either 3ds max, Maya, or Lightwave and ability to UV Unwrap is essential. Ability to work quickly and accurately from concept drawings is a must. Skinning and/or animation capabilities are a huge plus, as is experience with the Worldcraft/Hammer editor. Please provide link to online portfolio or include link to .zip file of previous work when applying.
If you've got the skills and want to get apart of a great team, then visit this thread for more information.
Information regarding the third 2845 design contest (others) have been released. Trajan is calling for a Cybrid equivalent to the Human Badger with the following characteristics:
1. Must be a Cybrid themed design
2. Ultra light weight class ~ approximately 10-15 metric tons.
3. 1 revolving turret mounted fixed weapon
4. Should be a wheeled vehicle
5. Approximately 3-4 meters tall at the highest point. (This is assumed to be the weapon turret)
5. Supports up to 2 passengers, a pilot and a gunner
6. Cockpit area should be completely enclosed (i.e. passengers are not visible when on board)
7. Should have a repair/reload/inventory station on the back end
8. Design should have substantial ground clearance and off road capability
One FYI: We are trying to steer away from using the Cybrid "grill/face" on our non-Herc vehicle designs, so please bear that in mind. While using that design concept is not forbidden, it's really not what we are looking for, so unless you come up with a real stunner of a design, you run the risk of getting dinged points for using it.
If any of the aforementioned guidelines seem vague, browse through a couple of pages in the thread as several items have already been clarified.
Before reading, please take another look at the title of this news post, emphasis on rumours. Eurogamer caught wind of some rather juicy Halo 3 rumours, much more succulent than the previous ones. According to a post on the Team Xbox message boards by, "...some bloke who claims his mate's uncle works for Bungie", the darker and more gritty storyline to Halo 3 will be set to thousands of years before the original.
What's more, Bungie has some rather extensive plans for online co-op and multiplayer, as they are "...attempting to maintain an online co-operative component for the campaign supporting more than two players at once," and that Halo 3 "...will have a multiplayer mode which pits players against bots in scenarios that are directly connected to the story of the game." More than fifty players – on select maps – are planned for Xbox Live.
Furthermore, several maps from Halo 2 will be returning in multiplayer mode, including Zanzibar, Hang Em High, and Sidewinder, though they will be in a more war-torn state. And if that weren't enough, there is also a map editor and movie maker in the works and you will be able to send and receive maps / movies over Xbox Live.
This sounds too good to be true. And you know what they say if it sounds too good to be true...
Update: These rumours had me tingling all over, so I decided to speak with Louis Wu of HBO to ease my mind. He knowledgeably pointed me to part one (apparently) of Narcogen's rumour control over at R.Net. It put a lot of what was mentioned above into perspective; be sure to give it a good read to help form your own opinions.
Another design contest will begin shortly. As before with the Olympian replacement and tank contests, entries will be graphical in nature and winner will eventually be choosen. Winners will recieve some sort of actual prize along with the honor of your name in the credits and your design in the game. Details will be coming soon so dust off your old water color set.
The Xbox 360 backwards compatibility story continues to get richer and richer. One of the biggest hurdles that Microsoft has to face in trying to get the 360 backwards compatible with the original is not to do with the processing power (three 3.2GHz PowerPC cores vs. one 733Mhz chip); rather, it has to do with the GPU. The original Xbox featured an nVidia GPU but the 360 features an ATI GPU. In order to run Xbox games that have specific calls to nVidia hardware, MS would have to somehow emulate the nVidia GPU – a feat that, while not impossible, would prove to be extremely difficult to do through reverse engineering. What MS needed, was a license agreement with nVidia and in a story on 1up.com, it has been confirmed that MS and nVidia have reached an agreement. No details have been released, but with confirmed reports of PS3 being fully backwards compatible with all PS1 and PS2 games, this is definitely good news for the Xbox community.
A couple of tidbits sprung up on the SS:2845 forums recently.
First up, Trajan has confirmed that the Disruptor cannon will not be making an appearance in 2845. So, rejoice or riot, but that damned weapon is gone. *rejoices*
Secondly, in a thread that we mentioned last week, Trajan pulled out an old Scarab concept compilation which complements Hideyoshi's sketch that was posted earlier. Trajan's piece, available here, gives you a better idea of scale of the Scarab vs a human.
There is still much controversy over what "top-selling" Xbox games will be backwards-compatible on the Xbox 360, but a recent news post on TotalVideoGames.com lends truth to the story that Halo 2 will be amongst them. Xbox Live Director of Programming, Larry Hryb, or better known to the community as MajorNelson, playtested Halo 2 on the 360 yesterday and described it as, "...you couldn't tell the difference". Good news indeed.
Local 2845 junky, Gauss, recently put out a post asking what the dev members had the greatest difficultly with. To my great personal surprise, he recieved a serious response from not only Trajan, but from several of the other team members.
It seems that the Playstation 3 will have a supported Linux port after all. With IBM supplying the kernel patches, any version of linux will run nicely on the PS3 to run on the optional hard drive. Apparently, Sony will sell 80-120GB drives (which are still "too small" according to them) for the 2.5" drive bay included on the PS3. This hard drive will apparently include Linux pre-installed.
Also, Sony seems very excited about non-linear video editing and photo editing being done on a PS3, among other things. They want it to be a home supercomputer, and not a "toy" like the XBox 360 or Nintendo Revolution.
While browsing HBO this afternoon, a video interview with J Allard on the Xbox 360 caught my attention. One of the more interesting questions posed was in regards to whether Halo 3's release would coincide with the PS3's release (details and more details), to which Allard replied:
We're never going to ship a Halo game (if we were to make, hypothetically, Halo games in the future) - we want to have the Bungie team - we want to give them the amount of time they need to create the product that they envision.
A nicely danced-around answer by the Corporate VP. So, in other words, if Halo 3 were to be created by someone, they would be given enough time to build it the way they see fit – they wouldn't have to coincide with a set-in-stone release date. Check out the 12 minute clip for more juicy details.
A new wallpaper was leaked on the SS:2845 forums by head honcho, Trajan, yesterday afternoon. The Advocate, a flier that some will remember from the original Starsiege, makes its appearance in a beautifully amalgamated render by Vaillas – similar to the Marauder released a few days ago. Before you wet your pants, Trajan warns that it's only a prop and will not be playable ingame. So without further ado, check it out!
Concept Artist Hideyoshi has posted a previously unrevealed picture of a SCARAB storage area inside a human spaceship. The best thing about it is we get a good size comparison between a SCARAB unit and a human.
Check out our new poll and let us know which next-gen console you think you're going to buy.
Halo 3 Again?
Thu Jun 2nd, 2005
Posted by: at 23:10 PM
There's been lots of rumours about Halo 3 being released next year, including from the mouth of Mr. Microsoft himself, Bill Gates. Well now we can add more fuel to the fire. Team Xbox points out that on Gamestop.com, Halo 3 will be released on June 1, 2006 on the Xbox 360 for $59.99. Whether or not this information is credible is debatable, but keep in mind the same thing happened when the Halo Multiplayer Map Pack was prematurely listed on the Japanese Official Xbox site, and that turned out to be true. Until any real confirmation surfaces, we'll just have to keep hoping.
Due to increasing agitations amongst the natives, Trajan has put out a "State of the Union" announcement, basically bringing the fanbase up to speed with what's going on down at CCDG. The gist of it is:
They've been thrown off schedule (again) by personal conflicts with staffer's daily lives and jobs. Trajan mentioned the coders in particular were having trouble. Due to the regularity of interuptions, he says he will no longer be setting specific release dates. However, a great deal of progress has been made with getting 2845's technical guts fine tuned. He also unveiled this little beauty:
The Marauder
Also be sure to check out the 2845 Torque Engine Gallery for screens of some new test maps that were put out.
nVidia updated their binary Linux drivers yesterday for x86 and AMD64/EM64T with some exciting new features:
Added OpenGL 2.0 Support.
Added initial support for Xinerama + OpenGL; see APPENDIX V in the text README.
Added support for the EXT_framebuffer_object OpenGL extension.
Added NV-CONTROL support for manipulating DDC/CI settings; see the AllowDDCCI X config option in the text README.
Added support for GPU clock manipulation; see the "Coolbits" X config option documented in Appendix D.
Added support for NVIDIA Quadro G-Sync.
Added support for GeForce 6200 AGP.
Improved DPMS behavior on flatpanels.
Removed support for legacy GPUs; please see "Chapter 1. Selecting and Downloading the NVIDIA Packages for Your System" in the README for details.
Install NVIDIA OpenGL headers by default.
This is the first of nVidia's drivers to support OpenGL 2.0, enabling the development of an exciting new level of graphics support. OpenGL 2.0 supports a fully-programmable graphics pipeline, more flexible and powerful than Microsoft's DirectX 9 technology, which makes a whole new class of graphics possible.
Surprisingly, this release comes before the Windows driver, enabling OpenGL 2.0 support on Linux before any other. We can probably expect the Windows driver to share the same featureset as its Linux counterpart, possibly opening up the availability of the OpenGL 2.0 API for Windows developers to use. This should be encouraging to game developers on all platforms, and we may yet see games based on OpenGL 2.0 in the near future.
Plague has added 4 more pages to his Heritage series. Things are starting to look dark for our two Fireborn heroes as Plague seems to have discovered a fetish for drawing mangled bodies.
Computer and Video Games is reporting the first release date and price for the Xbox 360, albeit unconfirmed and in the UK. Play.com is listing Xbox 360 for an astounding £399, yes, pounds. The release date is slated for November 29, a little under six months away.
As CVG states, take this price and release date with a grain of salt, or rather, a "mountain of sodium". It has been stated in the past by Corporate Vice President and Chief XNA™ Architect, J Allard, that the 360 would be around $375 CDN, so over $900 CDN is a wee-bit overstated, I think. However, the November 29th release date is on par with what was previously ball-parked. Either way MS, a $900+tax console launch will not sit well with gamers - even if that $900 is a ball-park figure.
We noted earlier that the Halo PC / CE 1.07 patches were out that fixed a networking vulnerability that allowed a malicious user to cause a server to hang. Well, Mac 1.5.2 - which brings Mac inline with PC users - has now been released (thanks HBO). Mirrors and more information regarding the patch are available right here.
This week's Weekly What's Update has been posted over at B.Net. This week features questions that were pulled entirely off of HBO's forum; of the 97 questions posted, 25 were answered. Head on over and check out answers to such questions as additional emblem downloading, how often the team plays Halo 1, and if any more books are currently being written.
mrsmiley points out the continuation of a January feature with the Master Chief. This time around, the MC's adventure is at E3, and we are invited along for the ride. Head on over and check it out, oh and, best picture ever.
A couple of days ago, the 1.07 patch for Halo PC was released and made available via the auto-update feature if you were running version 1.06; otherwise, you'd have to follow instructions in this thread. The 1.07 patch for the Halo CE client is now available which you can grab directly right here, or snag the dedicated server here. If the link is hammered, you can head on over to Gearbox Game Zone to grab it.
The patch addresses a networking issue that could allow a malicious user to cause a game to hang on the server.
It would be hard to argue against the case of increased image quality and colour vibrancy when using component Monster Cables for the Xbox. Many people, including Dan Chosich of 2070 Wired Films and Java Man, one of our Halo Interns, have made the switch from Microsoft's HD pack to Monster Cables – a switch that I can't afford to make at this time, heh. In either event, after the Big Three released their Next Gen console blurbs, Dan fired off an email to Monster Cable to see whether they would be supplying DVI or HDMI cables for the upcoming consoles. A PR employee replied back with:
"[a]t this time, there are no plans for HDMI or DVI cables for these game consoles".
It's too early to start throwing a hissy fit about the decision; keep in mind that, it took a while for the Monster Cable component cables to appear for the Xbox, too. Still, food for thought.
Last week we mentioned that Bill Gates himself said Halo 3 was coming for the Xbox 360 – just in time for the PS3 launch sometime next year. This morning, HBOpoints out a little back pedaling by Robbie Bach, Chief Xbox Officer in a post in today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Obligatory quote:
We haven't announced anything on what Bungie is doing or where we're going with the future of the 'Halo' franchise. With all respect to Bill, I don't run Bungie's studio, and neither does he.
After a very long editing session, the final version of Cinderkarst's intervew is up and open for the public to see. While there are still a few minor errors left the fix, it's basically done and it's been done very well, with the possible exception that we all used waaay too many smiles. If you've been following 2845, be sure to check it out.
IGN Xbox has posted a preview and brief description of the 5 upcoming multiplayer maps for Halo. Currently no screenshots have been posted, but should be released in the coming weeks.
The map pack will be available in stores on June 28th, and can also be downloaded on Xbox Live on the same day for $11.99.
Trajan has sent in updated system requirements for the upcoming ATR. Keep in mind that the ATR will use the older TGE while the final product will utilize TSE. So in other words: the ATR will not be an accurate reflection of the final's requirements.
Windows® 98/00/Xp
CPU: 1 GHz (2 GHz and up recommended)
RAM: 256 MB RAM (512 MB RAM suggested)
Hard Drive Space: TBA
CD-ROM: 8x Speed
Sound Card: Direct Sound Compatible
32MB or better video card (128MB and up recommended)
While technically I don't believe these shots are new, I personally don't recall seeing them before so if they have been released, they haven't been well exposed. In either event, some sleuthing from The Cliffswallow on the Starsiege:2845 forums revealed ~seven "new" shots of existing renders and concept art. None of the shots are extraordinary, but in the media low that has been of late, new angles and colours on old stuff is cool. Head on over and check it out. Look for these shots and a few others in our updated gallery and vehicles page later this weekend.
"We're not sure where this came from, and is incorrect. At launch, Xbox 360 will be backward compatible with the top Xbox games. Our goal is to have every Xbox game work on Xbox 360. You will NOT need to purchase a new 'version' — your original games will work on Xbox 360."
In other words (I was going to paraphrase Narcogen from R.Net, but this is much easier):
You will be able to play the XBox games you currently own on the XBox 360. The people that make these things happen are working hard to make sure that as many titles as possible will be playable on the new system.
Cinderkarst has agreed to an open interview via IRC this Sunday at 8 PM Eastern. Everyone is welcome to come and ask questions provided you're polite and don't spam any devs out of turn with questions....that's my job
Those of you who do not have an IRC capable chat program will need to download one in order to join this. [URL=http://www.freewarehome.com/Internet/Chatting_and_IRC_t.html]Click here[/URL] for a list of links to several programs. Trillian is my personal recommendation, though it is not the only good one out there.
[B]The date and time of the interview is subject to change! [/B]
Another interesting tidbit popped up on the Starsiege:2845 forums yesterday morning. It has been confirmed that infantry satchel charges will be present in 2845. What's more, Trajan notes that there will be more than one type. Kamikaze bomber, anyone?
Earlier this afternoon, in a response to whether or not SS:2845 will feature ragdoll physics, Trajan was spotted saying: " ...we'll see" and "We're looking into it...". Previously, he stated his dislike for ragdoll physics because of the poor implementation there of, and what the big man doesn't like... In either event, join in on the banter right here.
There has been a lot of speculation regarding backwards-compatibility on the Xbox 360. With it recently being announced that the PS3 will fully support all PSX and PS2 games, and Nintendo's Revolution supporting Gamecube games and being able to download Nintendo's entire catalog of NES, SNES, and Nintendo 64 games (details), the question of Xbox 360's support is much desired. An article over at Gamasutra mentions that Xbox 360 will be backwards-compatible with select titles from Xbox, but more interestingly, an article at Newsday.com has confirmed news, from David Hufford, Xbox group product manager, that Halo 1 and Halo 2 will be amongst those select titles. Hurrah!
With the recent frenzy of Xbox 360 news the last couple of days, I suppose it is only natural that a fair share of Halo 3 rumours come out with it too. The most interesting of which may not even be a rumour. An article over at Gamespot has Time magazine quoting Bill Gates that Halo 3 will be launched on the day that PS3 is released. Read on:
"Note to the hard-core faithful: the next version of Halo will not, repeat not, be ready in time for the launch of Xbox 360. It will be part of the all-important second wave next spring. 'It's perfect,' Gates says, radiant with bloodlust. 'The day Sony launches [the new PlayStation], and they walk right into Halo 3.'"
While there is no official word from Bungie yet, I find it hard to deny Gates himself. Kudos to Ted the Bellhop and Evergreen98 from our forums (and the myriad of others) as well as Wolfy from Sector 7 Halo for the heads up.
After much work, Legends 0.4.1c is here and ready for install. Many of the bugs and complaints submitted by users have been dealt with in this latest release, including:
In-game Admin setup system with plug-ins (Base Rape, Team Damage, Tourney)
Observer Camera
3rd Person Reticle
New Plasma Turret: model, sounds, team skins and script
New Inventory Station: model, team skins and script
New transitory GUI to improve art quality while developing a better GUI with new exe.
New maps (Roughland and Ocular) for CTF
Map updates (new skies, terrain etc)
Deployable Station added with temporary art
Server crash fixes on mission change
Bugs fixed which were causing server lag – inventory accessing pause, plasma turrets etc
Simplified Server/Client Prefs files into one Prefs.cs file, moved adminuserlist.cs to /prefs
A lot of script changes and fixes (including the Arena Gametype)
For all the info, including links to download the latest release, head on over to their website.
Dan Chosich, of 2070 Wired Films fame, posted an update on his forum yesterday with a blurb on his latest project. A pair of tantalizing After Effects screens has been posted of his new movie, currently in progress, which remains under disguise. He mentions that updates will be posted as work progresses. I can't wait, Dan!
(Please check out my latest .plan regarding the lack of blurbs from me). Here's a quick recap of a few things going down in the last week in the Halo community:
- A very large Halo Babies art update, complete with forum comic strip series, fan strips, sketchbook art, and a slew of gallery art.
- A new strip at Halo Babies courtesy of Starscream 187.
- A neat Halo 2 Stats Widget for Tiger (I'm waiting for something to come out for Konfabulator).
- Some unconfirmedHalo 3 rumours courtesy of HBO and Danish game site, Game Reactor.
- More unconfirmedHalo 3 rumours (this time in French)
- A really late blurb regarding last week's Weekly What's Update (just in time for today's!).
Recent speculation has been running wild with Microsoft's rumored plans to launch the successor to the Xbox before Christmas 2005 - and this evening, Xbox 360 is making its appearance.
If you want to see the next generation of what Microsoft has planned to take over the world, you might want to catch some news at popular Xbox modding site Xbox-Scene, check out the pretty pictures and tech specs at TeamXbox, or watch the OurColony Alternate Reality Game video in Windows Media Video streaming format.
Among top system specifications for the console include a tri-core PowerPC-based CPU, with each core capable of running at 3.2GHz with two separate threads (for a total of six hardware threads); a custom ATi graphics processor running at 500MHz with 48 shader pipelines and a unified shader architecture; 512MB of RAM and built-in 802.11a, b and g wireless support.
Finally, you can check out the newly-launched Microsoft Xbox 360 site with images of the console in almost every possible manner conceivable. It's the first volley fired in the next-generation console wars, and is already shaping up to be a very interesting evolution of technology.
The Junkyards very own Plague, has been busy lately with his latest creation: a fanfic in graphic novel style. As of now he has 6 pages up, with more to come.
The story itself revolves around two Fireborn infantrymen that are sent to Naiad, one of Neptune's moons, as reinforcements to a Cybrid base that has been under investigations for the past year. The base itself was found abandoned, which is an oddity since the time at which it was abandoned was before humanity was even a threat to the outer planets, and there is no sign of a conflict between Metagens and Prometheans. Our two heroes will discover the history behind this place and uncover the source of many mysterious occurences that have affected the sanity of many of the scientists working there.
mrsmiley wrote in a couple of days ago with news of the latest Halo Babies strip (available here), which I had forgotten to blurb.
In other news, while the site is down at the time of posting, episode 56 from Red vs Blue, Calm Before The Storm, has been posted for sponsors. Kudos to GreenLeaf for the heads up.
At the time of writing, there is a little over 50 days until the new Halo 2 maps are available. You can check out a real-time counter right here, and be sure to check out Bungie.net for more information. Kudos to HBO for this one.
I'm beginning to feel like a broken record...but in a good way
Tsa Rye, 2845's co-director and official beer meister, was the latest target for my PM'd questionnair and the results can be viewed here. While there wasn't anything about the upcoming ATR that could be revealed, Tsa has provided an interesting look into ClanCore's formative years, how they operate, and (dare I say it) their plans for the future.
Against all odds, a one Rapher has been single handedly building up six classic gametypes for Tribes: Vengeance. Among the ranks are a remake of the ever so popular Tribes gametype LT, Arena++, Team Deathmatch, and Deathmatch. These four mods are nearing completion and almost ready for a public beta, so keep your eyes open for that. Two upcoming mods Rapher is working on include a complete Duel mod, and Team Rabbit. Rapher also mentions that he is interested in finding volunteer servers to host the current versions of several of these mods as form of open beta:
Many people have been hounding for releases, but I have been reluctant because I desired a highly polished release complete with all gametypes. I have changed my tune. The community is certainly not getting any larger, and I am fearful of waiting. I am willing to make a compromise. Instead of mass public release, I’d like to get some of the gametypes on a few select servers first. Think of this as a public beta. If you are a server admin, and are interested in hosting a gametype, please PM me in IRC with your server information, and the gametype(s) you desire to host. I’ll always be in #rapher in IRC, so feel free to drop in and say hey.
Wolfy from Sector 7 Halo writes in pointing out that JPOGDNA has created an educational video on teabagging. Apparently, there is an art to that dip 'n stick tactic. If you're interested, head on over here and check out the short clip.
With the recent slow down over at ClanCore forums, I've been scheming in order to wrangle some more staff interviews. SleepyBrightEyez has been the first (hopefully not the last) to answer my call and he's graciously consented to answer some of my questions. Sleepy, along with Edgen and Kaffein, have created all of the music that you will be hearing in the final releases. For those interested, that music can be found here . SleepyBrightEyez also has his own website where all of his music is available for download, along with a few funky drawings. That would be found here.
Looks like VU has come out with the short straw in hand. We'll see later how they recover from this.
Bellevue, WA and Los Angeles, CA - April 29, 2005 -- Valve and Vivendi Universal Games (VU Games) today announced the settlement of a pending federal court lawsuit filed by Valve in August 2002. The parties have resolved their differences, and the settlement provides for the dismissal of all claims and coaunterclaims. Under the settlement agreement, VU Games will cease distribution of retail packaged versions of Valve's games, including Half-Life®, Half-Life 2, Counter-Strike™, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero and Counter-Strike: Source, effective August 31, 2005.
Additionally, VU Games has notified distributors and cyber cafés that were licensed by VU Games that only Valve is authorized to distribute Valve games to cyber cafés and grant cyber café licenses. Cyber café operators that were licensed by VU Games have also been notified that any license agreement from Sierra Entertainment, Vivendi Universal Games or any of their affiliates or distributors that may have granted rights to use Valve games in cyber cafés, whether written or oral, is terminated.
It was recently announced that Microsoft has begun the "Battle to Save Earth" global Halo 2 tournament. All 24 Xbox Live regions are involved with regional winners and a global champion. Prizes are pretty swank, including a 1/2 scale MC statue, $2000 in cash, a 24k gold Halo 2 game disc, an HDTV, and more. If you're interested, and are over 18 years old, head on over to the signup page.
mrsmiley writes in with news that Halo Babies has a new strip up today. This one comments on Bungie's balance decisions on the magnum in 1.1. Check it out.
As E3 gets closer and closer, more details and rumours about Xbox's upcoming successor are emerging. Over the past few weeks, several images have been leaked which could in fact be actual shots of Microsoft's upcoming system. Over at IGN Xbox, they have posted these pictures, which include shots of a controller, memory slot and of the system. As of right now, everything is speculation, but these pictures seem to conform with popular belief and system expectations. Check it out here
HBO notes a forum post by "Major Nelson" (Larry Hyrb), Director of Programming for Xbox Live, that offers an interesting look at what happens to the paid content for Live services if your Xbox console suddenly dies:
Q:My box broke, and I need to get a new one. I went to (insert favorite retailer here) and got a new box...how can I get the maps I already purchased onto the new box.
A: You will need to purchase the content again. Premium content is tied to the Xbox it was downloaded on NOT the gamertag.
Another backpedal operation by Microsoft, it seems - people with knowledge of how Downloadable Content functions have always been well aware that downloads are "keyed" to specific Xbox units, through serial number and/or EEPROM values.
Interestingly enough, back when Xbox Live was being demonstrated to beta testers and fansite personnel, one of the questions asked was with respect to recovery of downloadable content - Microsoft personnel assured gamers that content purchases would be stored with their gamertag, so that if their console was out of commission they could recover paid content. Guess this didn't work out from a sales/marketing perspective... so if your Xbox is on its last figurative legs, the best option will be to purchase the Expansion Pack DVD to ensure you can transfer the content to a newer unit.
It is with great pleasure that I announce the hosting of my site, Bigs Lego Herc Bay, by The Junkyard.
For those that don't know or don't remember, Bigs Lego Herc Bay is a collection of my work in designing, building, and 3D rendering of futurist combat machines using only the parts available from Lego. Over the years, the collection has grown to over 100 models including: Hercs from Earthsiege 2 and Starsiege, tanks from Starsiege, and many tanks, fliers, Titans (a form of herc) and yes, even a few of the dreaded Mechs! Most of my them are my own design or based on design concepts suggested by others. On a future note, I am already hard
at work developing designs based on the available pictures of the new Starsiege:2845 vehicles.
I started my hobby a few years ago and then would post them to the forums of the NTDF, my Starsiege squad. Them I started posting them to the official Starsiege forum. After a few months, Vicki Hansen, aka AnnieO, talked me into allowing her to set up a site to publicly display my work. That site served me well, but it came time to move on. Thanks to Vicki's friendship, hard work and patience, the site has been completely reworked and is now ready for the public.
At the site, you will find all my work sorted by name. There are 3 folders specifically for models from the Earthsiege 2, Starsiege, and one for mini designs.
I would like to invite all visitors of tJY to stop in and look at my work. Look around the site, sign the guestbook and leave me comments; good or bad, make design suggestions, post design ideas or requests, or just drop me an email. I am always happy to hear from fans.
It's official, the new Halo 2 maps that we spoke of earlier are now available over Xbox Live. Containment and Warlock are free of charge, while Sanctuary and Turf are available for a small fee of $6.99 CDN+tax for the pair right now. However, if you can wait until June 28th, you'll be able to snag the latter pair for free - but, who among us can wait?
The MC doesn't quite know how to handle his sword in this 'strip at HB
Halo CE Maps has moved to a new address (though the old one will still forward you over). This change will bring the website in line with a new family of websites in development by Dennis Powers.
The Halo CE Chronicles can now be reached as its new home.
And finally, Dennis Powers points out that he has put together a new site for hosting movies for Halo and Brothers in Arms. Check it out!
A month after the patch cancellation, Vivendi has decided to release an interview between three Vivendi marketing heads and two Vivendi forums moderators. The moderators were told that they could ask any question and Vivendi would pick and choose which ones they would answer, and to the surprise of everyone, not a single question was left unanswered. Here's a taste of what was asked:
Q. When did the patch go into QA at VUG? How close was the QA process to being complete?
A. The patch was in QA testing in February. The addition of PunkBuster support required a complete QA cycle for testing, basically equivalent to the testing done on an entirely new game. This testing is described as "very expensive". The QA process was not near completion when the patch was cancelled.
Q. Would Irrational Games be allowed to release an unofficial/unsupported patch if they wanted to? Could or would VUG release the source code or any other further tools to the game to allow the community to effectively take over its support/development?
A. No. Tribes: Vengeance is built on several licensed technologies and Irrational Games has also invested its own proprietary work into the code. VUG would not be able to legally clear the way for unofficial patching or source code release due to the split ownership of the game's technology and design elements.
One of the few things I do to help the ClanCore team is to help maintain the FAQ for the site. I wrote the old Uber-FAQ, which is simply an extension to the part that Trajan had a originally made. While the revised version is not yet up at the 2845 site, you can see it at The-Junkyard by clicking here. In particular interest to you would probably be the story summary, which condenses SS history up the point of 2845, and the Expanded FAQ section. Enjoy
Over at IGN Xbox, they have posted a nice preview of the 4 upcoming maps that will be released, which are Containment, Sanctuary, Turf, and Warlock. There are several in game videos of these maps posted in the video section, as well as a nice interview with Brian Jarrard from Bungie, who talks about their map making process and how they decided to tweak the melee, grenades and other weapons with Bungie's latest autoupdate, which came out on Monday.
Over at Bungie.net, they have finally given us a definite date of when these maps are going to be released. Containment and Warlock will be available for download on Monday, April 25th for free, while Turf and Sanctuary will have to be bought for $5.99 USD for the pair.
StarSiege: 2845 now has a new Imperial Legion: Adamant Storm. While it shares the same basic design as the Fireborn and the Blood Eagle, a new cosmetic theme is noticable - especially in the helmet - which looks like a samurai's. It is not currently known whether or not this design will be featured in the ATR.
In other news, Trajan has issued a reminder that ClanCore has a need for coders, skinners, and 3D modelers. Click here to apply.
Remember that oft-promised update for Halo 2? Well, it seems as if Bungie's weekly update now informs users that the Autoupdate will be delivered on Monday, April 18th to Halo 2 gamers over Xbox Live. There's a lot of information - weapon rebalancing and cheat fixes - so if you're into Halo 2, check out what you can expect to happen!
For more than a year now, the Staff here at the Junkyard have been writing .plans to keep you abreast of upcoming goodies to the 'Yard, or simply to rant about what's going on in our personal lives. In an effort to implement additional features or update them more often, we're asking you how often you visit them. Please vote now!
And results from our previous poll are now in. We asked you why you came to the Junkyard, and from the non-exhaustive list, you responded with a resounding reply: Downloads. Oddly enough, this was followed by "Other", and then Community. For those of you who responded with "Other", please fire an email over to staff@the-junkyard.net and let us know what you're looking at .
And for those who come to tJY for the downloads, we urge you to fill out our file submission forms to notify us of files in our respective communities that need a high-speed home, bandwidth courtesy of our sponsors, Future Point.
As of today, StarSiege 2845 has now passed it's 2nd year anniversary. To commemorate the occasion by releasing quite a few new pics. Particulary exciting was a picture of the previously unseen Wraith fighter/bomber and an unamed Minotaur replacement. Those pictures can be seen here. Be sure to read through at least the first three pages, as Trajan answered an unusual amount of questions.
Last week, the Great Tribal War team announced that work on the MOD for Tribes: Vengeance would be discontinued. At the time, there was no mention of the gametype being recreated on any other game engine. This week the team has announced that the MOD will be continued on the base version of RenWerx' future game. Along with this news, the name "Great Tribal War" has been replaced by "Great Terra War" since the game no longer has any official ties with the Tribes Universe.
The Weekly What's Update gives another look at the upcoming patch for Xbox Live gameplay, which apparently is in the process of certification over at Microsoft. (One thing not mentioned in the article is the fundamental reason why Bungie can't just push this update out: Microsoft certification also involves "signing" the code - without this digital key, the patch will not run on an unmodified Xbox console. If a game were to fail certification, the publisher can't release it.)
And... a pretty cool QuickTime VR "screenshot" has made it out - it's of one of the upcoming maps, Warlock.
Trajan has just announced that, in light of 2845 being a stand-alone game, VU has renegotiated their legal contracts with Clancore Development Group. Here's the low down:
1) The multiplayer component will be absolutely free and available for all to download.
2) VU reserves the right to charge for the singleplayer.
3) Clancore has final say on release dates and the responsibility of any patches.
RenWerX has announced they will not be working with the Legends team to produce a game (reasons) instead, they will be producing a complete game themselves. RenWerX does plan to make both a Base game and their Renegades mod for it, but needs everyone's help:
We want both Base and Renegades to be formed by the Tribes community, and to do so have put together a custom living design plan for both. If you are interested in making sure the next tribes-like game or Ren mod plays like you want it to, please see our design introduction page.
In addition we plan to keep the Renegades name for our Mod, however need a name for the Base/ the game overall. We have put together a voting / suggestion process on our forums in this thread, and would appreciate anyone interested in contributing doing so.
We still plan to release this game for free, but also we will now be able to release all of our scripts, models, maps etc. for other mods to use too. With our divergence from legends we plan to work with many mods to make sure anything they would like to see in the game engine is in there so they can bring their mods to new levels. If you are interested in more information for modders please see our modding page.
Finally, our team is rounding out nicely, we are at 46 people right now with some amazing talent. We do still have jobs open however, so please see our job listing page if you think you can help. As always for those who want to make a monetary donation we have a donations page and that page also explains how we use donations.
It wouldn't be the first time that this happened to me. In this week's strip over at Halo Babies, spam hits HPC. Check it out! While you're over there, be sure to check out Covenant Rat Race and Helter Skelter, the previous two strips that went unmentioned at tJY.
We currently have openings for several 3d modelers, both hi and low poly. Experience with either 3ds max, Maya, or Lightwave and ability to UV Unwrap is essential. Ability to work quickly and accurately from concept drawings is a must. Skinning and/or animation capabilities are a huge plus, as is experience with the Worldcraft/Hammer editor.
If interested contact me directly at trajan@clancore.net . Please provide links to online portfolio or include an attached .zip file of previous work
That's the news flash Trajan has put out for 3D modelers at 2845's main site. If you're interested, email him and you may want to go here as well.
As always, Clancore can make use of qualified new staff acrossesd the board so if you have the interest and talent, email Trajan anyway describing what you want to do along with past examples of your work.
Dennis Powers from Halo CE Maps writes in with news that Episode 9 of their flash-movie series, The Halo CE Chronicles, has been posted. This episode runs 7:30 long and weighs 8.4MB. Head on over and check it out!
There is another new addition the 2845 fan gallery, the DarkStar Aerodyne Fighter, courtesy of dfacto. While your in the area, be sure to check out the rest of the fan gallery and the other 2845 pics at the 2845 gallery. Also, be sure to browse through 2845 fanfic gallery if you have not already.
After a long debate, the Great Tribal War team has decided to count its losses and drop the MOD for Tribes: Vengeance. Random explains that the MOD itself may be continued on another game, but it has been decided that Tribes: Vengeance has neither the population nor the future on its side. If you would still like to see this MOD to completion in some form or another, you can give your opinion here.
Our third Starsiege:2845 developer diary has been posted by Edgen, one of the two very talented music artists on the team. In this issue, Edgen speaks to the current state of music in the game, as well as several of his personal (and professional) projects. Check it out right here.
Additionally, we were lucky enough to snag three exclusive SS:2845 tracks from Edgen when he wasn't looking. The Legend Continues, Loading Shell 02, and Loading Shell 01 can be found in our Starsiege:2845 music archive. Enjoy!
Dolbex points out another Halo 2 player interview from MLG. This time, Joe "Dyslexia" Renaud sits down with Str8 Rippin's Foulacy over Xbox Live to get the lowdown on his team's continued success at MLG events. If you want an inside look on one of the top players in Halo 2 and his team, you'll want to read this.
He also writes in with news that information on MLG Orlando has now been posted. Check it out!
Apparently downloads are a big reason people frequent tJY, so I've searched high and low for some new ones related to SS:2845. Unfortunatly, the devs don't hang on my bell so no new 2845 downloads. However, I did get a new download up called The StarSiege Writer's Guide. Basically it's a series of documents that combines information from StarSiege's famed compedium much of the other fiction that surrounds the game. Even if you are not interested in StarSiege as a game, I would recommend this.
The speculated downloadable content for Halo 2 is secret no more. Head on over to Bungie.net for an incredible amount of details as to the new patches and downloadable content.
In short, Microsoft plans to make the upcoming game patch available to all users by releasing a standalone expansion pack, complete with nine new maps and special documentary content. The disc will cost $20 USD, and will be released on June 28th.
Of course, these maps will also be available over Xbox Live - in late April, two of the maps on the disc will be released as free downloadable content, and two additional ones will be released at that time as premium, paid content for $6 USD. On June 28, the remaining five maps will also be released as premium content to coincide with the release of the expansion pack disc (for $12 USD.) Eventually, in late summer, all maps will become available as free content: if you're patient enough, you won't have to pay a dime for all the content, if you're an Xbox Live subscriber.
Screenshots, detailed descriptions and a lot more are available at Bungie's site; the official Xbox PR line is at Xbox.com. Higher-resolution images are available in Bungie's Halo 2 screenshot gallery. This is an incredible amount of information - much more so than anything given out before the game's official launch - so go take a look!
Just shortly after the announcement of the patch cancellation, Gavin Manley of PC GameWorld expresses his opinion on Vivendi's move and what it might mean for the future of gaming. It seems that the Tribes fans are not the only ones upset about this:
Let this serve as a warning to anyone who is considering buying a game which is funded by VUG. They don't care about your game. They care about profits, and profits only. Buy a buggy game at your own risk. Chances are it will never get fixed.
Hopefully this patch announcement will stir up enough people to cause VUG some concern.
With the Tribes:Vengeance 1.1 patch cancelled, and T:V effectively dead in the water, Random, head of The Great Tribal War, questions the future of the MOD. He is asking for community input on this one - what do you think GTW should do? It has already been suggested moving to Torque, and with several other MODs, including Starsiege:2845 (now a full-fledged game), and recently Renegades, already having made the switch, it doesn't seem like a bad idea. In either event, head on over to the thread and toss in your input.
Just two days ago, it was announced that the 1.1 patch for Tribes: Vengeance was back under (or to begin) development. Well, this afternoon, guy welch confirms that the 1.1 patch has been cancelled and that no further updates to T:V are planned. What does this mean for the community? It's like shooting a dead horse. Way to go, VU. Kudos to Random for the heads up (unfortunately).
Normally, we release spotlights individually, at precise intervals, but today I thought I'd do something a little different, and release a pair. First up, we've got Aldaron, long-time Starsiege community diehard and Staff at Sun and Shadows. Next, we have our 16th Starsiege:2845 dev member spotlight. This time, we shine the light on another writer, Nabterayl. Once again, if you missed any of our previous 2845 dev spotlights, you can grab them from our press coverage page.
The tension is building: The most recent Bungie Weekly What's Update offered some hints and speculation - namely that the Korean Xbox.com site had announced upcoming downloadable content as a retail game release. Early this morning, some folks on the HBO Forum discovered an ebgames.com page pointing to the possible existence of a Halo 2 Expansion Pack, which is currently purported to contain new cinematic and mini-documentary videos, as well as nine new maps. The listing has since been pulled from EBGames' site, but the title of the page (Halo 2 Expansion Pack | EBgames.com) indicates that there's something of substance here.
A cached copy of the page has been posted on the HBO forums; however, since it's a Geocities site, the bandwidth may not hold out very long.
Update: I've mirrored the archive of the site available here on our Halo 2 General Files page. Thanks to TheLethalSpartan for providing the cached version.
Update 3 (Mhaddy): Gamesradar.com has purportedly confirmed the contents of the expansion pack: nine new multiplayer maps, as well as a new cinematic video and a mini documentary on Bungie. They also mention that it will be available in US stores on May 24th. Waiting on Bungie to confirm this.
Jeff Gross, from the Video Gamers League, writes in with news that the VGL will be hosting a nationwide Halo 2 tournament with over $20,000 in cash prizes, along with a 2005 Scion xB! Registration for both team and FFA games in the 112 tournaments across the US opens today; fees for teams, free for FFA. For more information, check out the VGL website, or check out the press release in the comments thread below.
For what seems to be the third time, Vivendi has announced that the patch for Tribes: Vengeance is on its way. The only thing that was said is the fact that the patch is in development and that it may patch less than was originally believed:
Sorry for the long delay on news about this patch. I am able to make the following announcement:
The patch is in progress/test. It adds basic map fixes and punkbuster support. No ETA on release.
I will keep you posted on further updates.
Some may say that it is good that they are at least saying something about the patch, but it seems as if they aren't even doing that.
It seems like Microsoft can't get a break with the Xbox - and they rightly shouldn't, in this case. The Register noted on Saturday that they've posed several questions to Microsoft about the recent Xbox power cord recall - namely:
- Several users report that the v1.0 and v1.1 power supplies, not the cable, is to blame for the issue. What's the cause of the Xbox catching fire in rare instances?
- Why are users 1.2 and up getting cables when there isn't a problem with these later models? Why are they being sent a replacement cable?
Recent developments seem to indicate that some users with Delta power supplies - which, so far, have proven to be soldered in a much better fashion than the Foxlink Revision A supplies - are also receiving replacement Ground Fault Interference cords. It's also noteworthy that just having the replacement cord may not save your Xbox console from shorting out and requiring repair.
The Register also mentions an online petition, (which typically gather no official response from companies) with over one thousand "signatures" so far. Good to know that not everyone is just sitting down and accepting their new cords without question, at least.
Amid all the rumours of Bungie's big release of its upcoming downloadable content, we now might have some direct evidence of how and when it's going to be released. Over at IGN Xbox, they posted an interesting article which linked to the Korean Microsoft Xbox page, which listed "Halo 2 X-Pack (Expansion Pack)" under its "Coming Soon" page. IGN also reported that this release would be a disc that cost $19.95.
Its interesting to point out that on this week's edition of Bungie's Weekly Whatsupdate, Frankie made reference to a major announcement about the details of their new multiplayer maps, and how they would attempt to make it available to as many people as possible. Releasing an expansion disc seems like the most logical way of making the content available to those who don't have Xbox Live, which seems to give some truth to this story.
Another eyebrow raising fact is that when you click on the link to the Korean Xbox page, there is no mention of this Expansion pack anymore. Perhaps they realized their little foible and took it down in an attempt to keep the surprise a surprise.
In any event, its all speculation at this point. For the definitive answers, it looks like we'll have to check out Bungie.net next week for the big announcement.
Dennis Powers of Halo CE Maps writes in with news that the eighth episode of the Halo CE Chronicles has been made live. Episode 8, For All Things a First, runs just over 6 minutes long and just under 7MB - head on over and watch how the Spartan and the AI continue their search for the way home.
In case you haven't seen it yet, but I'm sure noise has gone around the Halo community:
Penny Arcade challenged Bungie to a Halo 2 tournament. What can be seen now on Bungie's front page is an animated .gif of the Master Chief body humping Fruid F*cker. While Bungie gloats, while Penny Arcade tris to recover their honor. A Splinter Cell tournament is to go down next week.
mrsmiley points out a new art update over at Halo Babies. The theme of this week appears to be art created in MS Paint; now, before you jump to conclusion, you absolutely must see some of this art - specifically, one by KloHunt3r. Also included is a slew sketchbook art and three new fan strips. Check it out!
mrsmiley also writes in with news that the final Bungie Fundamental has been posted. If you missed the first two, you can view them here.
Random from The Great Tribal War writes in with news that they have released a StartRole mutator that will modify which role players start as. This is a server side only modification, so your clients will not have to go through the trouble of installing on their own. Here's a little more incentive to download the alpha release of TGTW, if you haven't already done so. Head on over to the thread for installation instructions and download links for the StartRole mutator.
Our latest spotlight at the Junkyard falls back on the Halo community - Subnova, in particular. This individual is also a regular on the HBO forums. Just dying to figure out who it is? Click here!
TribesMovies Opens its Doors
Mon Mar 14th, 2005
Posted by: at 15:09 PM
One of the most powerful tools Tribes has to turn people to play the game, whether as newcomers or returning veterans, is its amazing movies. With its expansive worlds and fast-paced, high-flying action, Tribes is a spectacle to watch. When playing the game it isn't as noticeable, but thankfully the Tribes Community has some wonderful directors and cinematographers to reveal this marvel. In response to these wonderful movies and their enormous powers, TribesMovies was made. Featuring a truly massive database that is easily navigable, this site is definitely one to keep tab on. Also be sure to refer non-tribers to this site, there are many Tribes fans out there who have yet to realize it.
Over at IGN Xbox, they have compiled together everything that's known so far about the next generation console system from Microsoft. This includes the already publicized system specs, its new marketing game plan, and its plans to upgrade the Xbox Live Services. One thing to note is that many insiders have speculated that Halo 3 will not be a system launch title, but would be released the day Playstation 3 comes out.
IGN Xbox believes that the console will launch sometime this fall, most likely in November, and will roll out with a marketing plan even greater than Halo 2. If that's the case, we won't have to wait long to hear more about their upcoming system.
RenWerX announced today that their popular Renegades mod will be switching from TV to the Torque engine. We will be working with the Legends team to establish an amazing base, virtually redoing all the graphics and models that are currently there (along with various other additions), and then expand upon that to form the Next Generation of Renegades. Renegades will be 100% free to download once completed! For those who have questions on our switching, please see our reasons.
This is a huge opportunity for Renegades and Tribes but we need YOUR help! In order to create a professional game we are going to have to expand our 30 person development team to include even more people! Not only are we working on Renegades now but the entire base of the game too. We need everyone from modelers to mappers to managers, see our job listings page and check if you can help us out. If you would rather help with a monetary donation, we finally have put up our donations page, we have various uses for funds now (like license requirements) so all donations are welcome.
All of our current code (18,000+ lines) is now available for download, and our maps are being converted back to base for future release in a map pack (for full details please see our resource release page). When we release our map pack we will also release an bot pack featuring bots for multiplayer including seak and destory by none other than our Calsa! As always feel free to join our mailing list to be notified of anything Renegades related. Finally we will be having a public chat for those who want to talk about things or hear some of what we have planned with the switch. It will be Sunday, March 20th, at 9 EST on irc.dynamix.com channel: #RenWerX you can also join us from our java chat page.
Have you ever wondered, after scanning through some juicy SS:2845 news, who it is that puts such things up for your enjoyment? Or perhaps, you were reading through certain reviews and you thought to yourself What enigmatic genius could possibly write something so inspiring, yet practical; so easy to read, yet deep??? Look no further, for by simply clicking here you can view him for yourself. Enjoy
For the many who don't want to worry about fishing for new maps on a weekly bases or don't want to waste time with Tribes: Vengeance's in-game auto-downloader, |NERV|Guardian and |NERV|Product19 have created a stand-alone map auto-downloader and installer. Once up and running this nice little gadget will scan VengeanceMaps' map list and upon your word will download and install any maps you choose. It's that simple. Keep in mind that this program is still in beta form and will include more features, such as only listing maps you do not have, later.
At the end of last month, we mentioned that TimberWolf, our resident Starsiege fanfic writer, put together a short story, From the Grave. Well now, Timber points out another 'fic posted in our War Stories Writers forum, entitled Another Day in Hell. Obligatory snippet:
In a blaze of blue and green light those pilots announced their arrival on the battlefield. Like the Titans of old they smashed though the ruined husks of buildings and charcoal grey of burnt out trees. The battlefield was their play ground, their world, their natural habitat. With each step they took they struck fear in all who stood ahead of them, or in the instance of the infantry, those who stood under them.
Just two days ago, Diotoir posted news that the Great Tribal War threw up a preview of the alpha build of the MOD. Random has now posted an alpha release of the game for the public to download and test out. You can head on over to the thread for more information and download links of the 20MB file.
Random also points out that the team is looking for dedicated volunteers to help with the development of the MOD. Many areas are open, and if you're interested, you can contact Random on irc.dynamix.com in channel #gtwar or e-mail one of the members at random150@gmail.com or bugspray@gmail.com.
mrsmiley writes in with news of brand new, one-of-a-kind Halo Babies emoticons. While designed for the Halo Babies forums, he points out that anyone can use them on their own forums (with a smilies pack made for phpbb, though you can just extract the smilies from the zip file and manually install them on other forums).
Mentioned earlier, HB also has a new 3 strip mini-series regarding the Bungie fundamentals to creating a successful video game. Well, fundamental #2 has now been posted. Enjoy!
Great Tribal War Alpha Preview
Thu Mar 10th, 2005
Posted by: at 19:04 PM
With progress going smoothly on Great Tribal War, lead programmer Random150 has released a preview of the alpha. Random informs us that GTW is close to going alpha and has released a video to keep the masses drooling:
The GTW is proud to announce the release of our Alpha release preview. This is small collection of videos that we have made.
GTW is now playable and features the majority of the GTW gameplay. We currently working on a release at the end of the week (minus any major problems).
The first major map pack for Tribes: Vengeance is finally here. Assembled by Vengeance Maps' Geiss, this pack is released with the hope of encouraging the use of custom maps on servers and the continued creation of custom maps. Weighing in at over 200 MB and containing 29 maps, including revisions of retail maps, this pack is a must have for both those who host and those who play. Thanks to all the hosts volunteering their bandwidth for this map pack. The pack comes as either an auto-installing executable or a RAR file.
the Junkyard continues its series of spotlights on the Starsiege:2845 team members. Today, we have Lujan, the General Project Manager in our sights. You can check his spotlight out right here. And be sure to check out our comprehensive SS:2845 press section to keep up-to-date with the major news items in the community, along with our 14 previous SS:2845 dev spotlights.
Interesting news from Gamespy today: the site claims to have new information regarding the specifications of Xenon, the codename for Microsoft's next-generation successor console to the Xbox. They've based their projections on development kits seen at GDC (Game Developer's Conference) - and it looks like Xenon will be sporting three PowerPC 3.0GHz cores, an ATI graphics chip based on Shader Model 3.0 and a generation beyond the X800, a standard 12X DVD drive and 64 to 1024MB memory cards.
Check out the article if you want more information - it's much more detailed than anything that has been publicized for a while.
mrsmiley writes in with news that the usual Monday (posted on Tuesday) art update has gone live at Halo Babies. This week includes a slew of gallery art, lots of sketchbook art, along with a couple of new fan strips. Head on over and check it out!
I forgot to post this blurb up yesterday when I posted the spotlight; nevertheless, last week we brought you Plague from the Starsiege community. Today (or rather, yesterday) we turn to the Halo community and shine the spotlight on an individual who likes to make his voice heard. Check out who it is right here.
Remember all those news-flashes I put up a while ago saying that 2845 had an urgent need of coders/scripters? Well, the engine change's magic seems to be continuing as nine new coders have signed onto the project. Here's to a faster release. Check out the link below for the thread that was announced in and click here for a current listing of all staff members.
Dennis Powers from Halo CE Maps writes in with news that Episode 7 of the Halo CE Chronicles has now been posted. In this episode, the Spartan deals with the loss of his friend and the AI tries to understand the concept of grief. Check it out!
We have this thing on the Junkyard about leaving polls up way too long, but today, IVIaedhros, our trusty Starsiege:2845 lacky, decided enough was enough, heh. In an attempt to further develop our content and focus our efforts, our new poll asks why do you come to the Junkyard. Vote now!
Regarding our old poll, the results speak for themselves. That's odd, I would've though the Ending would've taken the prize.
On the programming end of things, a new article has surfaced that talks about Halo 2's integration with the middleware physics system called Havok. Even if you're not an aspiring game designer, it's still worth checking out to find out how exactly developers deal with game physics in a FPS-style setting.
Trajan has just announced what SS:2845's multiplayer game types are planned to be, in addition to WAR and CTF.
Deathrace 2845
Players race to be first across the finish line, but it takes more than speed to win a race where every vehicle on the course is armed to the teeth. A grueling cross-country race to the finish - or at least to the next respawn checkpoint.
Supply Line
A classic battle over natural resources. Teams attempt to stockpile a quota of ore, which must be extracted from automated mines scattered across the map. Once a mine has been captured robotic ore haulers begin transferring ore to the controlling team's base. Supply Line challenges teams to coordinate their efforts to intercept the enemy's ore haulers and capture their mines, while simultaneously protecting their own lines of supply. Teams will have to be efficient as well as coordinated, since they pay for every respawn, including that of their ore haulers, out of their stockpiled ore.
King of the Hill
Whether played as a free-for-all or as a team battle, the goal remains the same: seize uncontested control of the map's single objective and hold it against all comers for as long as possible before time runs out. Victory points are accumulated for every second in control of the objective, but lost for every second somebody else holds it, ensuring an ongoing and vicious battle for control.
Convoy
An operation all too familiar to veterans of the Cybrid wars. One team forms a convoy of four vehicles and its escorts. At least half the convoy vehicles must make it across the map to win, while their escorts must ensure their safety in enemy-occupied territory. The other team is tasked with intercepting the convoy and destroying at least three of its critical vehicles before they can break through.
Assault
Another classic military operation: the big push against a known target. One team is given control of a prepared position and must defend a vital objective against waves of attackers. The other team must fight their way to the objective and destroy it before time runs out. If the attackers succeed, the teams switch roles and the defenders must perform the same feat faster than the attackers did.
Team Death Match
A pitched battle where the objective is not an installation or waypoint but the enemy force itself. Teams must coordinate their efforts to maximize enemy casualties while minimizing their own.
mrsmiley writes in with news that Halo Babies has posted one of its patented art updates, viewable here. You've been warned: you might find this update a tad bit, cheeky. He also points out a new 3-strip mini series that captures Bungie's success in creating video games. Very cool!
A couple of months ago, we put together a preview of a pre-alpha build of Operation: Matriarchy. Buka was kind enough to send an alpha copy of the game for us to preview. You can check it out right here, along with its gallery.
Our last spotlight covered Ducain from High Impact Halo, and that was almost three months ago. Not to worry though, we've got one for you today, and there will be several more over the next week or two. Our first spotlight is on an individual from the Starsiege community, and you'd have to have been living under a rock not to know who he is. He is also a member of our Junkyard Network, with his site being hosted with us for just over six months now. He is also known for his concept sketches and designs, several variations of which have made their way into Starsiege:2845 (in some form or another). Without further ado, I present to you, Plague.
Recently Microsoft issued a press release dealing with the dangers of Xbox power cords. Most console owners will have received at least one piece of communication from the company on the recall; I've been told through my usual newsgroup and forum perusals, as well as by my Xbox Live-associated email account, and again by postal mail.
I have a personal interest in the regular upkeep of my two Xbox units - both modified and stock - and after reading the controversy about what exactly the recall is for at Xbox-Scene, I decided to take a closer look at the situation. Our newest tJY Exclusive article, Xbox Power Cord Replacement: Better than Nothing takes a look into the possible truth and reasoning behind the recall. Comments can be left in the associated forum thread - if you have an Xbox, let us know what you're planning on doing about the recall.
Earlier this past week, Doobie Chi, a frequent tJY forum goer, member of the Halo Doobie Clan, and good friend of many people in the Halo community, passed away. Doobie Chi was struggling with diabetes at a young age but eventually lost the battle. A couple of threads have popped up on WiredFilm's forums with last good byes and prayers. On behalf of the Junkyard Staff, I would like to offer my condolences to Doobie Chi's family and friends. Rest in peace.
Bittah SS:2845 Interview
Wed Mar 2nd, 2005
Posted by: at 00:24 AM
In response to Clancore's decision to create StarSiege: 2845 on the Torque Shader Engine, Bittah took the initiative to get a bit more information out of the modding team. One would imagine that with such a large transition in development, delays would be inevitable, but Clancore seems to be reporting the opposite:
The change to the Torque engine is obviously a big step towards a more refined and better game, and your team indicates they were 100% for the change - Has this impacted your development time in any regard?
Yes, and rather drastically I might add. In the last 4 days one (just one) of our guys has managed to get semi-working versions of the Badger attack buggy, a Herc, and human infantry in game and running. I've posted a few pictures in regards to this in my journal on our website.
By way of comparison, we worked on getting the Badger implemented in T:V for almost a month and it still only had half the features of the version we just put into Torque in one day.
Needless to say if we can keep this level of development going, and at this point I certainly think we can, we're looking at a huge decrease in overall development time compared to the speed we were moving with T:V.
The interview runs in at six pages, focusing on the engine swap and also includes two new exclusive renders. So head on over and check it out.
Random from the Great Tribal Warpointed out on IRC this evening, that Legends has officially entered back into active development. Very little information has been released regarding this announcement, so it is not yet known if development will take place on the original Torque engine or the new Torque Shader Engine that SS:2845 recently moved to. However, a public call for a texture artist and a sound guy has been issued, so if you're interested, check out the aforementioned thread link.
TimberWolf, our resident Starsiege fanfic writer, points out a new story posted on our War Stories Writers forum. His latest work is entitled, "From the Grave". Here's a blurb:
The night was a stillness of dark that lofted a cloak across the landscape throwing it into blackness. The stars were hidden this evening, behind clouds of purple and dark blue that flooded the sky. Most would be sleeping in the mist of this night, but one was awake in front of a screen of snow.
If you've got a hankering for more of TimberWolf's works, head on over to the forum, or click here to search our news. Otherwise, head on over and read his latest!
In a somewhat unexpected move, Trajan has just announced that the T:V ATR is cancelled due to concerns over dividing up their work force and any identity conflicts it may have with the final product. However, he has also said that they would be releasing an ATR on the older version of the Torque engine in several months time; late April to be precise. Please note that the final product will use the newer version of the Torque.
Another Friday, another What's Update from Bungie. This week's topics of interest include a description of the horrible things Microsoft could do to anyone from Bungie revealing downloadable content too early; Frankie's personal views on cheating (slightly more informative than the usual "we're going to hunt those rascals down and give them what's-for!"); and a confirmation of an upcoming patch. One known thing about the upcoming patch:
Are you guys going to fix the "Red Team Always Wins Draws" bug?
I mentioned these a while back, but I don't think that many people actually caught on to how much these things give away. There are over 13 seperate staff journals that are maintained at the 2845 homepage. Trajan's journal in particular has been well maintained and he's been kind enough to supply several new photos, which I recommend looking at because you'll likely see any pictures he or other staff posts there before I can get them up at tJY.
MrSmiley writes to let us know that there's some "sweet art" newly online in today's Halo Babies Update - by far, the art lives up to the description. A piece definitely worth checking out is tanqexe's Halo 2: Ambush.
Just a general Halo and Halo 2 news update from recent days - here are the important goings-on to keep up with:
The Feb. 18th Weekly What's Update discusses Bungie "working like mad" on cheating fixes and upcoming downloadable content for the game. For the number of times the community's heard about cheating, this may placate people who feel they've been unfairly skunked.
There are also have been several gameplay footage videos announced and released over the past few days at various Halo fansites. If you are an amateur Halo/Halo 2 filmmaker, HBO, in particular, has asked that you seriously look at the quality of your films; recording non-specific multiplayer footage and adding a soundtrack of your favourite angsty band in Windows Movie Maker is something that can be done by nearly anyone. Unless there's something unique to your movie, most sites will take a pass on hosting your work - the general message is "keep on trying, but send in your best movie when you're ready."
First off, I've finally finished in collecting and adding to the Junkyard all of the development pics that were made public when SS:2845's main website went online. You can view all of those pictures by clicking here, so be sure to give that a glance to see if there's something you haven't seen.
On another note, I've finished a short review over Morrowind's GOTY edition.
The devs are looking for a catch-phrase to use when describing 2845, similiar to how T2 has "Team Combat on an Epic scale" and T:V has "Vengeance reigns from above".
I'm looking for a catchphrase that not only acknowledges the complexity of the game and large scale combat theme, but turns it on it's head and makes it an advertising point that appeals to other snobbish pseudo-intellectuals such as we.
If you're interested, post your ideas here I'd recommend giving this a go, since you get some small bragging rights and also because many of the entries seem rather...er..lacking.
After a long silence about the patch, it seems there is hope of an answer, and possibly even a patch, sometime in the near future, but with VU Games as good as dodging deadlines as they are at dodging the press, let's not get our hopes up. The most substantial good news actually comes not from Vivendi PR but from Even Balance, Inc, the creators of the infamous PunkBuster, who say that a contract has been agreed upon:
Even Balance, Inc. has been contracted by Vivendi Universal Games, Inc. to integrate PunkBuster™ into Tribes®: Vengeance. The latest installment in the popular online franchise is being developed by Irrational Games and published by Sierra™. PunkBuster™ will be available for Tribes®: Vengeance in an upcoming patch.
Another promise and another deadline has been made on Monday by Creole Ned, Official Vengeance Forum Admin, who said we will be getting word soon:
Guy Welch will be commenting on this soon. How soon is "soon"? No more than a week.
Hopefully we will know what is going on and what to expect by Monday.
Just last week we mentioned that episode four of the Halo CE Chronicles was released. Well, Dennis Powers of Halo CE Maps writes in with news that Episode 5, "Thy Pain be Mine", has now been released. Head on over and check it out if you're in the mood for some Flash lovin'.
It's Friday, and you know what that means -- new Halo Babies! mrsmiley points out the new strip this week featuring the Arbiter (finally), and as an added bonus, a couple of elite sketches. Check it out!
The SS:2845 website has recieved a pretty large overhaul. Check it out, here. Be sure to check out the right hand column for some new dev journals. They are a completely new addition. Hopefully the devs will find time to update them at least once every two weeks or more.
As a reminder, the devs for SS:2845 are always accepting new applications, particulary now with the move to Torque. If you feel your talents could in anyway help the team (from website junkies to artists), click here.
What they have an especial need for:
Scripters/Coders
Seeking dedicated C++ programmers to play key roles in the development of this MOD. Excellent C++ skills are essential, as is experience in graphics programming (ideally OpenGL/DirectX). A keen interest in games is essential and a good understanding of Internet application design and the online gaming space is highly beneficial. Should be well versed in object oriented programming (OOP) routines. Previous experience working with the Torque engine is a huge plus.
Scripting candidates should have previous experience in working with the Torque engine. Examples of previous work is requested.
Skinners
Skinning of vehicles, avatars, buildings, terrain generation.
Experience with graphics design packages, preferably Photoshop but Corel is acceptable also. Should have the ability to emulate different styles if needed. Ability to UV unwrap models is a big plus. Samples of previous work requested.
Animators
Animation of 3d models of vehicles, weapons, infantry units, buildings, and various structural and terrain elements. Experience with animation in 3ds Max. Candidates will be asked to provide a demo/portfolio.
Human Character Modeler (Hi poly)
Looking for someone experienced with hi poly modeling of human facial features that will be animated for cutscenes. Experience with 3ds MAX, Maya, Lightwave, or comparable programs. Ability to model from concepts. Samples of previous work requested. Animation skills a huge plus.
Graphic Artists
We have an immediate need for competent artists to help us prepare rough conceptual illustrations, package design concepts, and general advertising for this MOD. Should be able to draw various styles in black and white and color, either traditionally or electronically, and must be able to draw people. Ideally, final art would be delivered in Photoshop format.The artist should feel comfortable exploring a given concept while drawing various environments, vehicle designs, human forms and expressions, etc. Storyboarding experience is a big plus. Send us some samples of your work for review. Your relevancy for this job will be gauged on the quality of what you send, so send the good stuff.
Random from the Great Tribal Warpoints out the progress made on the new inventory system and deployables - available in picture form below, or a nifty little 5MB video clip. While things aren't yet finished, they're coming along quite nicely.
Kudos to Jeff who points out some news regarding the long-awaited T:V patch:
Guy Welch will be commenting on this soon. How soon is "soon"? No more than a week. It may seem like a long time for a response but at least there is a timeframe now.
Yes, we still have to wait.
It ain't much, but at the very least, it's something. If you feel the need to comment, check out the VUG thread right here, or swing by our comments thread below.
This is huge...I'll let you read this for yourselves
It's taken me some time to figure out how to approach this thread and present the news it contains, because I know it is going to cause a bit of an uproar. In the end I decided to approach it in typical no-frills Trajan fashion and just cut to the chase up front. Unfortunately there is just too much info that needs to be conveyed to make this short, so read carefully.
In several key areas, Tribes:Vengeance has turned out to be unsuitable for the unique needs that our envisioned gametype requires. That's not to say T:V is a bad game in and of itself, just that the final product is structured in such a way as to make it unusable for our particular requirements. Believe me when I say we've tried approaching the situation from every angle, and it's just not tenable.
So I have discussed the situation with VU games at length, and they have graciously agreed to allow us great leeway in regards to what we can do to make sure this project reaches fruition and achieves success, and have given us their blessing for the following to occur:
It gives me great pleasure to announce that, going forward from today, Clancore will be joining the ranks of developers working with Garage Games and their upcoming Torque Shader Engine in making Starsiege:2845 a full fledged stand alone game project, and it will no longer be a MOD for Tribes:Vengeance.
Obviously we're very excited to be working with all the great guys at Garage Games, particularly in light of the fact that as some of you may remember they have just a little bit of history with the Starsiege and Tribes universe themselves.
To say the staff is extremely fired up about this switch is the understatement of the millenium. For those of you already familiar with the TSE, the advantages inherent in the engine are almost literally made to order for our particular situation. These advantages are in a word "huge", and will allow us to modify our original goals for the game upwards in many key areas.
Here are just a few:
We will have access to actual source code, instead of having to work around things using scripts.
The improved netcode will allow us to up the recommended max limit for multiplayer servers. This means 64 player servers and on up may easily be possible with higher end boxes and fat pipes, there's no hard cut off at 32 anymore. And it should allow people to run a decent sized game on home grown servers and standard broadband.
The way terrain is handled by the engine will eliminate the OOB grid and offer the more free flowing endless style environments that were previously found in Starsiege and Tribes.
Torque has a large, well established support community and third party support.
People will also be able to again make their own skins and client side scripts. If you knew how to do these things in SS or Tribes, then you'll be able to do them in 2845 with minimal learning curve involved.
I know some of you are probably scratching your heads and going "Isn't Torque an old engine that they used in Tribes 2?" Well, this is not your daddy's Torque.
The new Torque Shader Engine (TSE) updates the look of Torque so that it has all the bells and whistles other modern game engines have and puts in all the latest goodies; normal mapping, updated lighting effects, shaders, incredible advances in viewable distance, etc. Click here for some screenshots:
I could go on and on about the benefits, but I'm sure some of you have a few questions about what this means going forward, so here's the scoop on our new timeline:
We are still planning on releasing an ATR in March (patch or no patch) on the T:V engine. We've done quite a bit of work on it, we might as well do something instead of just let it drop, and we figure you guys that have been hanging out for the long haul should get something to piddle with while we make the switchover.
While the guys continue to work on the ATR, Tsa and myself will be launching a new website and a massive recruiting drive this weekend. The new people we pick up will be paired with some of our existing staff that are not directly involved at this stage with the ATR and assigned the tasks of starting to move things over to the new venue. Switching over to Torque should help us immensely in finding new staff for certain key areas that we've had trouble filling of late.
Initially there will of course be a time setback as we adjust and shift our methodologies, but once that's complete we expect the work to fly by compared to our previous pace due to everyones familiarity with the engine, having direct access to the source code, and the extensive support options that we did not have before.
We'd sincerely like to thank VU Games for its continued support of this project and look forward to forging strong ties with Garage Games as we go forward from this point. Things can only get better.
So, that's it. We would have liked to continue working with T:V, but as time went on it became apparent that it just wasn't in the cards. Our only other options were drop the whole project, release it in crippled form on T:V, or try to move it to another engine that would accomodate our needs. I understand that there might be some consternation or confusion in various segments of our community, because people tend to not like drastic changes like this, but we are 100% certain that we made the right choice. And I'm sure that all of you, once you see the obvious advantages inherent in this move, will agree with that choice in time as well.
Thank you for your continued support and understanding as we make this transition.
Here's the link to the thread in case you want it.
While looking through some old news, I realized there's a lot of information spread out over time and much of that information has changed. So, here's a list of recently released and confirmed information. These can still change, remember, but for the most part you can accept these as facts.
*The ATR is scheduled for the end of Feb. , but VU's delay in releasing the patch is preventing it. The ATR will continue to be delayed in the hopes that the patch will be released. If the patch is not released by sometime near March, the ATR will be released regardless
*The final release will be staggered with the multiplayer and singleplayer released seperately from eachother. The Compedium will be released in a similiar fashion, with the gameplay oriented part being released with the multiplayer and the story related part being released with the singleplayer.
*There will be quickchats a la Tribes 2.
*Cinematics will be apart of SS:2845, however they will most likely be rendered only in the in-game engine.
If you do want more information, you can always check out tJY's SS:2845 section as I try to keep that current. Another excellent place to look for information is the FAQ.
Dennis Powers from Halo CE Maps writes in with news that a new episode of their Halo CE flash movie series, The Halo CE Chronicles, has been released. Episode 4: I am What I Am, is 5MB in size and runs 4:28 in length. Obligatory description:
As our intrepid pair continues their journey to rendezvous with friendly forces the Spartan learns something new about his AI companion and a foretelling of things to come is revealed.
mrsmiley from Halo Babies points out that the latest strip is now live. He also mentioned that Gruntsone put together a special Art Pad message for one of HB's forum mods, who recently sucamb to a skiing accident. If you've ever wanted to see Gruntsbane draw in real time, you'll want to check this out.
Dan Brennan writes in with news that he's started up a Halo Photoshop contest, entitled, "Halo in my Hometown". There is a lot of nice swag up for grabs including an Xbox mod kit, $100 in Mastercard gift cards, an official Halo PC strategy guide, and lots of other neat stuff. How do you win? Full rules can be found here, but, the object is to Photoshop something from Halo into a real photo (though you don't actually have to use Photoshop to create your masterpiece). If you're interested and have a creative knack, head on over here for more information!
For those impatient statistics hounds needing to tabulate their most recent Halo 2 games, Bungie has announced that the gigabytes of data related to them are now back online - so full statistics capabilities have been restored. Go get 'em!
Diablo III that is... for those interested, Blizzard is seeking a new lead game designer. This is a big opportunity for those who are willing and able. I highly recommend it .
Dan Chosich of 2070 Wired Films has posted a small teaser of his upcoming Halo 2 video, that we mentioned last month. He points out that he didn't end up getting the amount of people he had planned to shoot these scenes, but what he has put together looks promising nonetheless. For a link and more information, check out the thread.
Java Man, our newest Halo Intern, has expanded his repitoire and put together his first preview here at the 'Yard. Buka was nice enough to send us a pre-alpha build of Pathologic, the upcoming first person horror adventure from Ice-pick Lodge, and he takes a look at what's in store for us.
mrsmiley writes in with news that he has churned out one of the largest fan updates ever over at Halo Babies. Several fan strips, a couple of sketches, and a slew of gallery art are all part of this week's update. Head on over and check it out!
Halo 2 statistics on Bungie.net have gone into overtime for maintenance, as the sheer volume of data tracked is taking significantly longer to complete. All statistics are still being logged; they just won't be visible online until the updates are complete.
For those interested in Halo: Custom Edition (HaloCE), Bungie also has a interview with some mappers, modders and community members working on the Halo2CE project - a modification for HaloCE that brings the best aspects of Halo 2 to the PC platform. Sounds pretty interesting, and it's the first time a project of this scope has been mentioned by Bungie. Might convince a few new people to try out Halo Custom Edition, or bring a few more people back to the game - either way, pretty awesome stuff.
First off, I've added a new article to the SS:2845 Fanfic Gallery. It's a poem by Scipio, who has written another one of the works in the Gallery.
As a reminder, you can check out the new pictures from the latest SS:2845 update at the Gallery under In-Game (T:V).
Finally, I have another bit of news, unrelated to SS:2845. I've finished the Thief: Deadly Shadows review and if you're interested in reading that, click here.
Two major news items of interest in the Bungie/Halo world this weekend. First is this Friday's Weekly What's Update, waxing missive on Gamertag changes, possibility of downloadable content (chances are good only maps will ever be downloadable), the denial of the persistent February 9th rumor (nothing special's going to happen) and the generic Bungie non-committal response as to a Halo movie or the possibility of Halo 2 for PC or Mac.
The second item (it's also mentioned in the Update) is that Bungie.net statistics are going to go down for maintenance at approximately 10pm this Sunday, while new storage is added for the Xbox Live statistics database. All your gaming statistics will be saved; they just won't be live on Bungie.net until the maintenance is complete.
Master Chief in Hollywood?
Sun Feb 6th, 2005
Posted by: at 14:25 PM
Well it was bound to happen. After many rumours and much speculation, its pretty much a done deal. According to Variety.com, Microsoft has recently finished a deal with Alex Garland, writer of the film "28 Days Later," to adapt the popular Halo games into one movie. Due to the immense popularity of this game, the movie is sure to be a hit, but we all know how well movies do that are based on videogames (ahem, Super Mario Bros, Street Fighter, to name a few). It was also noted that Microsoft isn't going to be involved beyond the script developing stage. Lets all hope that this upcoming movie won't deface the beloved Halo franchise. More news on this blockbuster announcement will follow as it becomes available. In the meantime, check out the article here
While discussing the latest announcements at TribalWar, Trajan made several comments about the terrain styles that they intend to employ. Most of the pictures we've up to this point have been styled very much like Tribes and StarSiege. Specifically, they've been an endless plane of low, rolling hills. Apparently that effect has been purposeful, but Trajan also commented that is not how it's going to stay. Here's a quote below...
...there will be differences in some of the later maps. We plan on adding some limited amount of buttes, escarpments, outcrops, canyons, and so forth for variety and to act as points of interest for infantry. The locations used for the ATR just all happen to actually have rolling terrain in real life, hence the look. But yes they do bear a strong resemblance to the Darkstar [Tribes, SS] engine terrains.
Here's a general roundup of all the Halo/Halo 2 news that's gone on for the past few days:
retsamola has posted a video of himself embedded in Halo 2 on the HBO Forum. With the magic of Adobe After Effects, anyone with a green screen and a bit of skill can create their own scene where they're after those pesky Covenant.
Bungie's Store is having a clearance event of sorts. If you want to stock up on some Halo swag, now's your chance to do it for slightly cheaper.
Tons of movies have gone up at HBO lately; specifically Ripp0n'sMontage, an Xbox Connect Halo 1 skill video (use the BitTorrent link if you can); SirDougOfUsbek's creation of ridicule and tomfoolery when one of the party members falls asleep in a Live game; more Halo 2 movies and MLGPro's Zanzibar Tips.
In a project simliar to SS:2845, MTS leader Masakari is looking for new development team members to help with his project. A total conversion mod for Battlefield 2, he's working towards making a combined arms game that successfully blends Mechs' along with infantry and other, more standard vehicles.
Randomhero from the Helljumper Hangout writes in (I'm a few days late posting this) with news that he has started up a Halo art contest open to all US and Canadian residents. Simply put, create a unique piece of artwork and send it to Randomhero, judging will take place the middle of March with some great Bungie Store swag as the prizes.
The contest closes at the end of the month, so get your pen, pencil, paintbrush, or Wacom ready and get creative!
Just a quick update to set aside the many rumours that have been flying around: Trajan has confirmed that the only vehicles that will be present in the ATR are the Goad and the Emancipator. Almost like the original ATR .
Edit: Trajan has corrected me: he points out that the Eman and the Goad are the only HERCs in the ATR, not the only vehicles. I suppose that means we can expect to see a tank or two, or perhaps even infantry? Time will tell.
On a different note, those wondering how the repair bay will function, Trajan pointed out in the same aforementioned thread, that a shower of nanites will flood the vehicles, causing quite the orgasmic experience. Cool!
Tanqueray dropped by our forums with news that Trajan has posted an update on the SS:2845 ATR over on the official forums. Included in the update is confirmation of what we have all suspected and should (by this point in time) accepted: the ATR has been delayed until late February; due to the delay of the long-awaited T:V patch. Trajan also points out that the ATR will consist of a lot more goodies and will be a lot more polished than previously planned. For more information on why the ATR has been stepped up, as well as news on the final release, and 14 new shots of the over 200 objects in the game, head on over to the thread.
Bungie's Weekly What's Update for this week was posted yesterday. It covers specific criteria on banning, an explanation as to why the Zombies gametype can't be released by Bungie, and a few other nuggets of information.
Thanks to HBO for the heads up.
mrsmiley writes in with news that the latest Halo Babies strip is now live -- hey, it's Friday, right? Anyhow, swing on by HB.net and check it out, this week comments on that oh so annoying "pop-in" glitch that we're all very familiar with.
dolbex wrote in two days ago (and the email got lost in my inbox) with news that Synide has put together a Lockout / Colossus trips video available on MLG-TV and a streaming version available for VOD Subscribers. He also points out that Zanzibar will be available sometime today, so check it out!
He also points out that the first blurb from MLG DC will be made live tonight at midnight.
As we all wait patiently for the promised patch (some of us wanting it to play the game; others, for the release of the SS:2845 ATR), guy.welch brings a little news from the PR side of things as to what's next for T:V:
Tribes: Vengeance will be part of a major Microsoft promotion at retail chains next month.
Otherwise, what can I say? The game did OK, but like many other games released in Q4 2004 we did fewer units than their publishers/developers expected. We're partially to blame -- so many consumer dollars on the PC went to Half-Life and World of WarCraft (which was the biggest PC launch ever) -- which we published just weeks after T:V.
Whatever is going to happen next month, it better be big as the community is fading fast. Numbers from T:V.com indicate around 150 players are currently active. Yipes. Thanks to Bittah for the heads up.
The gaming group, Sun and Shadows, were originally a bunch of StarSiege players who got together to work on fanfics and other stuff. In fact, two of their members are responsible for the Devastation Arch featured here at tJY. However, over the years, they've evolved to cover a wide variety of other games and they're currently looking for new help. Check below:
For those of you that don't know, Sun & Shadows is a website by gamers, for gamers which provides support for several games to an intimate community of players. We started out as a site specific to the Starsiege community, but have expanded and are continuing to grow and expand our available services. As part of our tasks lined up for completion in the New Year, we have set a long list of priorities for ourselves. This list of priorities includes everything from producing skins, maps and customization options for players, to wikis for the community members, to producing MODs of games this community knows and loves.
Now, we are quite dedicated to doing all of these things and more, but this requires a truly huge, concerted effort. We believe that everything we have planned will be cool, fun and helpful both to new players and people who have been around this community a long time - and we want to make it happen. In order to do this however, we also need manpower. Anyone who is interested in making contributions to the Starsiege community at large in any way, shape or form is encouraged to get in touch with S&S reps and do whatever interests you.
To give you some idea of what we need people to do, I have a short list of things which we need which are absolutely vital:
-Any skills that are Starsiege related, including mapping, modding, skinning, Zed design, coding, etc.
-Any skills related to Tribes: Vengeance / UT2004, including mapping, modding, skinning, coding, animating, etc.
-Starcraft players and mappers with their own custom maps, we will host them.
-People who know Wiki! We're planning extensive Wiki support for the S&S website and other community resource centers linked to S&S, such as the Ghosts site, TA, Elementals etc.
-Anyone with PhP-Nuke skills is always welcome to help us improve our existing website's format!
-Squads which want a firm base of support and contact, we still host Squad websites and will be happy to accomodate you if you are going to be playing in the upcoming 2845 ATR or another game that our community supports!
-Anyone with skills in Flash, again help is needed in this department.
-Starsiege fiction writers! We really always love having help archiving and creating new Starsiege fanfiction! We maintain a large database of "unofficial" fiction stories which we are always looking to expand upon. Squad history fiction and timelines also welcome. We also maintain a separate timeline for an "alternate" Starsiege universe, if you are interested in working your squad into the Ghosts' series of fiction as well.
-Last but by far not least, we need artists. If you enjoy art and like drawing or creating 3D models of hercs, vehicles, landscapes etc. we would really love to have your help. In several planned upcoming projects, the Ghosts and S&S community is searching for more artistic talent in bringing ideas to life. There's also a strong possibility that any art assests which we deem to be of particularly good quality may eventually be represented in MODs of Starsiege or Starsiege 2845.
Well, there you have it. Anyone who fits these criteria and enjoys such work, S&S is out there and could desperately use a hand. Please be advised that, as with anything for the community by the community, there is no pay involved. We do this purely for fun and to help players enjoy their online supporting experience more. I hope that some of you feel inclined to volunteer yourselves for this. I'll also answer any questions you might have about our plans or what we're doing in this thread as well, if there are any. Happy gaming folks!
After more than a year of being part of our great network, 343 Guilty Spark has finally closed its doors. Bluestone had this to say:
It's been a great 2 years working on 343GS; It really has, but recently I have felt that the constant maintainence and up-keep that goes into the site, is just taking it nowhere. To put it bluntly, I've had enough; I want to move on. Although it sounds hard to believe, I have enjoyed every minute of it and leaving 343GS behind is no easy task for me. I cannot thank those people enough who have helped me out on this project, and I am tremendously grateful for their work. But, alas; It is going to end here. I'm not leaving the Halo Community, you'll still find me around; it's just that this site won't be part of that unique Community that we all know and love. While I am very grateful of everyone's help, I am also tremendously sorry that it has turned out this way. For the daily visitors, the Forum regulars or just the people that paid a visit once in a while, I apologise for this website's early, and sudden, departure.
We wish the best of luck to Bluestone in his future endevours.
Andrew from Xbox Ottawa writes in to let us know that Fire Team Charlie 17: The Worst of Both Worlds has been released. High resolution .avi and .mov is available for members, while those who have not made a donation will have to settle for low resolution .avi and .mov torrents. You can grab the 12:15 length film right here.
The Bungie Weekly What's Update is live for this week -- the Bungie Pentathlon seems to have put a cap on its size, so the majority of it (once again) is about cheating in online games, and what's being done to stop it. Major Nelson of the Xbox Live team weighs in on all things Live-related, and Bungie drops some more hints relating to possible downloadable content.
While it's getting a little tiring hearing about cheating, and no sign of a patch in sight to fix some of the major issues with respect to geometry glitches, it's still a quick, informative read if you're keeping up with Halo 2 online.
Head on over to Bungie.net to see their latest update. This week's edition is shorter than most and answers the usual questions about cheating and banning on Xbox Live. One thing of interest is that Frankie mentions the Bungie Pentathlon, which apparently is the cause of this week's shorter than usual update. More details will follow on Monday, so keep those eyes peeled.
mrsmiley writes in with news that Halo Babies has a new strip posted which explains why Halo 2 environments aren't destructible. Heheh, simple and to the point.
The SS:2845 staff are looking for input from experienced shout casters.
Trajan: "....if any of you have legitimate experience with shoutcasting matches we'd be interested in hearing your ideas on what would make for an optimum observer functions setup.
Please be very specific and include even what you would consider the most basic functions in your description, as we are building things from the ground up here, and we have no previous experience ourselves to draw on."
If you have any advice, post here or email Trajan at trajan@clancore.net
Now for a small highlight. We've had the April fools edition of the SS:2845 timeline for a quite a while now and if you're familiar with StarSiege and/or the SS:2845 board, you'll get a kick out of it.
Note that is the April Fools timeline, so don't believe anything it says!!!
In an effort to increase their target area, Vivendi has made the wise decision to start selling Tribes: Vengeance on Direct2Drive. So for those too lazy to leave their computers, you can now get Vengeance without the hassle. Direct2Drive has also agreed to send out some ads for downloading Tribes: Vengeance with their system.
So if you still have yet to buy Vengeance, you can now download the game for $29.95.
As is well established by now, the patch for Tribes: Vengeance has been delayed. The silence in the wake of the delay has brought large numbers of people to doubt Vivendi and Irrational Games . With many people ranting and screaming for answers, the only response received was from IrritAnt saying that he couldn't respond:
I really can't comment on the patch. Period. I'm sorry, I'd like to share everything that happens here with you guys but it's just not possible.
A few days ago, a little more information was released by guy.welch on the situation regarding the patch; enough to make it understandable as to why they cannot say anything about it:
The patch has been delayed from our initial December release date due to an outstanding agreement between two third parties. They need to come to terms before we can proceed.
Many rumors are flying around as to exactly what is going on, but nothing can be confirmed at this time. If you have any theories, or comments, feel free to share them in the forums.
mrsmiley is back from his NYC vacation but what he didn't tell us, was that the Master Chief went along with him. Accordingly, mrsmiley wrote up his adventures in a funny little story. Definitely check it out, it'll make you laugh .
"Unauthorized Halo 2 Battle Guide" Available
Tue Jan 18th, 2005
Posted by: at 15:37 PM
Amazon.com writes that the Unauthorized Halo 2 Battle Guide has been released. It's written with tips from Crew 116, one of Halo 2's most prolific clans, so it seems that the book would be very useful to players and upstart clans alike. If you need help with your technique or philosophy, this book is for you.
Several months ago, SS:2845 was entered in the 2004 Golden Spanner Mod of the Year Awards. The first of its kind, Golden Spanner offered serious prizes, coverage by major media and industry, and thousands (around 8 thousand to be exact) of voters. Hundreds of entries were previewed, a great majority on HL2's Source engine, but many on others as well.
In the end, SS:2845 pulled off third place, which is both hugely surprising and extremely awsome! Considering its competition (a 3D StarCraft mod and a Half-Life 2 co-op) and the fact that they're moddin "the best game that no one played), I'd say they did pretty darn well
The ATR release date has been pushed back from late January to mid to late Febuary due to the delay in the T:V patch arrival and the fact that the ClanCore devs have not been told what the patch includes.
...the ATR release is almost certainly going to be delayed till sometime into February. Even I can't get details on what the patch entails or when it is coming out, though I do know for sure it includes adding Punkbuster. Which is one of our main concerns seeing as how depending on how it is set up it could possibly prevent people from running the MOD if it thinks it's a hacking attempt. We'll also have to deal with any bug fixes or other changes and right now we have no idea what those may be. Why they are pulling the "top secret" treatment on this is beyond me, but at this point to be safe I'm going to go ahead and say there's a 99% chance I'll be pushing the release back to sometime in February, probably the latter part of the month.
That's the major news, but there has been another small update. One of the board members, Plague, asked Trajan about playing 2845 on T:V maps. Here's that discussion:
Plague Will the ATR be able to use existing T:V maps? As in, can I load up an Irrational map/mission and play within it? This question also applies to any alterations that could be made to SP maps, although I'm sure this would be too extensive a change to be easy.
Trajan No, not unless you modify the map by adding in support for all our vehicle and infantry classes and whatnot, and adjust the scale of everything as JHD just mentioned. At that point you might as well just recreate the map from scratch, it would be faster.
Newest Bungie Weekly What's Update is live for the evening; the epic issue of "omg cheetz" is looked at in great detail. Apparently thousands of people have been pulled tonight, so any chronic griefers will be spending the night on hold with 1-800-4MY-XBOX, trying to weasel their way back onto an account.
There's also information on networks, clans, and "Trench" is noted as a key word for an upcoming piece of content in testing at the moment.
dolbex points out that the registration for MLG's first event in its 2005 season in Washington, D.C., is now online and ready for sign ups. A $10,000 pot is up for grabs in the Halo 2 tournament, so if you're interested and able, you'd better swing by here and check it out.
dolbex also points out that the 2005 Video on Demand is now available. It features access to all of 2004's content, new downloables, and direct access to MLG-TV.
Finally, MLG is also hosting a new video contest with the chance to win a Video on Demand pass, a major event ticket, and a slew of other MLG swag. All you have to do is create the coolest fan video. There are a lot of fine details, but if you've got some time and the editing know-how, check it out!
New Wallpapers at Bungie.net
Fri Jan 14th, 2005
Posted by: at 10:59 AM
Bungie.net has some new wallpapers available today. They were created by AGDTinMan, and a new batch will be available next week. The wallpapers are very nice, and I'm sure next week's will be just as good.
sav2880 dropped by our forums with news of an upcoming Halo 2 tournament in West Chester, Ohio. It's going to be held at a video games store that he works at with total prizes of a minimum of $300. If you're interested and in the area, swing by the details page, and his JunkieBlog for more information!
Interesting news the past few days at HBO - there seems to be a reversed message in the "Whisper in the Storm" cutscene for Halo 2. IceWeasel located prayer or poetry type dialog, and at this point quite a few cleaned-up versions have been posted.
Unfortunately, some people have taken it upon themselves to extract the sound files from the game to try and hear a clearer version. That in itself may help with some difficult-sounding words, but when people ask for it to be distributed, problems arise -- and with that comes the whole legal grey area of where something becomes fair use and where intellectual property - specifically artwork and sound - have been unfairly snatched.
Marty O'Donnell has posted his views on the subject - they essentially come down to "things aren't as cool if you cheat to find them", where "cheating" can be extracting game data, or asking Bungie for too much help in the way of things. After all, finding things out on their own is what the Halo community's been known for the past few years. Marty also alludes to additional secrets buried in the audio of the game; if you're an audio fiend or have heard something interesting in Halo 2, it might be worth a second look now...
A very small news bite has been released by one of the co-directors, Lujan:
We haven't released the details of how the radar will work in SS: 2845 quite yet, but you might be interested to know that there are many different kinds of sensors available to the vehicles. Take that to mean what you will.
It sounds like they are going to depart from the tradition StarSiege, where there was only kind of sensor with 2 modes (active and passive). How this translates into actual gameplay is anyone's guess: this might mean your hud could be enabled to see in infrared or some other spectrum, a la Metroid Prime, or it could also mean that your sensors will work basically the same way, but by switching types you gain certain advantages and disadvantages.
Some Halo 2 Techie Tidbits
Mon Jan 10th, 2005
Posted by: at 22:52 PM
While browsing the Howstuffworks website, I stumbled upon a couple interesting Halo 2 articles. One of which is an interview with Chris Butcher of Bungie Studies, who created the artificial intelligence of Halo 2.
"Because the characters are forced to perceive the world around them, they are, in many ways, limited like the player by their senses -- in their overall awareness of what is going on around them. This limitation creates more lifelike behavior for the AI characters, as they can be surprised, make mistakes and decisions based on their perceptions of what's going on around them."
The next article is another interview with Chris Butcher. In this one, he talks about the network code implemented with Halo 2 and how it works with Xbox Live. Check it out here.
Although these articles are somewhat old, it's an interesting read for those who want to know about the technical aspects of the game.
Trajan and a few others have put together a list of helpful free-ware tools for general game modding and mapping. Might be nice for some of the more technically inclined out there, so not me . Here's the link. If you like what you see, check back occasionally and see if they've updated it all. Or you could add your own programs of course.
One of my pet projects for about 2 months now has been to assemble some of the best of the SS:2845 community's fan work. So far I have 9 different pictures up as well as plenty of fanfiction and one full-fledged physics paper, though more may come in time. Seriously, even if you don't care too much about the 2845 project, I'd really suggest at least glancing through some of this stuff.
Yesterday, Frankie posted a new Weekly What's Update. This edition gives a very long, well thought out explanation of the status quo on cheating, as well as info on site and stats troubles. This update also dispels a couple of rumors on unlockable content.
To accompany the recent Operation: Matriarchy preview, tJY has a preview of the upcoming horror FPS, Hellforces from Russian developer, Orion Games. Check it out!
In case you were wondering what happened to Monday's art update over at Halo Babies, it's here now. The holidays got in the way of mrsmiley's usual duties but without further ado, here is Monday's art update. While you've over there, you'll also want to take a look at the new comic, where the new Cortana has her say.
The StarSiege guys are always looking for new talent to use, but they've once again stuck up a specific list of people they really need. Scripters/Coders and Skinners are still urgently needed, but now they've released info saying that they would also really like to have several other positions filled, including: animators, web designers, and somone specifically well versed in human character modeling (like facial feature movements and such).
After long wait, Irrational Games has finally released the Tribes: Vengeance Art and Style Guide. This package includes all of the skins, templates, and meshes used in the game to allow anybody with the will to do so to edit them. The guide assumes that you have a general knowledge of editing and creating skins and meshes and builds on those skills with its how-to document "Guide to Creating Art for Tribes®: Vengeance." So for all those who have been wishing to get their hands on these, they're now yours; just follow the link below:
Over at IGNXbox, among their predictions for the next gen Xbox which is speculated to be launched in Fall 2005, they believe that Halo 3 will not in fact be a launch title, but will be released in the Fall of 2006.
According to IGNXbox:
"Bungie will not cut corners to try and make launch only one year after Halo 2. It will buckle down and make a killer third game in the series, perhaps ending the series proper, while simultaneously working on a brand new franchise unrelated to Halo that's not a first-person shooter. "
This adds more fuel to the Halo sequel fire, as it was recently reported over at Team Xbox that Halo 2.5 will be a launch title for Xbox 2. Could Bungie be releasing both Halo 2.5 AND Halo 3 for Xbox 2?
Both news stories are both unconfirmed, but seem to be interesting developments.
Wow, I didn't see this one coming. A new Tribes:Vengeance single player demo has been released, this time following the path of Mercury, the armoured assassin. The demo weighs in at a hefty 415MB, so if you still haven't picked up the game yet (com'on, it's $29.99), and you haven't tried the other demos, you should definitely give this one a shot as the Mercury missions were pretty cool.
Due to the impending ATR release date, new information regarding mapping has been released from ClanCore. First off, Arclight (level design) has released a set of mapping tools that he's designed for public use. They are, in his own words
makeAlphaMap.exe - I wrote this because my hand painted terrain textures end up looking like crap and I didn't like World Machines' interface. This takes a heightmap and, based off of height ranges you specify, generates an alpha map for use within TVED.
makeHeightMap.exe - I wrote this just for fun but started using it because I couldn't quite get the quality I wanted from other programs and haven't found any that could automatically balance (in Tribes terms) a heightmap. This randomly creates a heightmap based on settings you specify. It has options to automatically 'balance' (or mirror) a sector of the heightmap.
Also, Trajan has released a standardized guideline for SS:2845 maps. Though they may always change later, these are the basic specs they use when creating maps for the ATR.
Dan Chosich of 2070 Wired Films fame mentioned in a forum post this morning that he has begun work on a new Halo 2 movie. He points out that, so far, he's really impressed with the footage captured and the amount of detail in Halo 2 that often gets overlooked when you're running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Swng by the thread for more information and updates on the movie as they become available.
Well, our Tribute to Bungie poetry contest has finally ended, and we've got some winners for you all to glare at enviously. Swing by the announcement page and check out the winning submissions -- there's some good stuff in there, whether you're a Bungie fan or no.
In my last .plans post, I said that I would create a showcase gallery for the best of SS:2845 fanworks and because this is supposed to be for the community, I'd you all to help select what gets in there. If you simply want vote on what you want to see, click here, and go to the Concepts and Fanfics sections. Glance through and see if there's anything in particular you like. If there is, go mention it in the comments thread down below.
Now if you don't want to just look at others works, you can submit your own works. If you do, not only is there a chance that it could make it into the upcoming fan-gallery, but there's also a small chance that it could be used by the ClanCore design team in the development of SS:2845. If you don't believe me, the Badger, the Tyre, the Subjugator, and the Incursus all were originaly community ideas.
This week's installment of Bungie's Weekly What's Update has been posted on Bungie.net. It addresses Multiplayer issues, and Bungie.net features. The update also hints at downloadable maps in the near future.
I've finally managed to get the Open Interivew edited to satisfaction. In attendance were several staffers, including Lead Developer Trajan. I was disappointed by the number of people in attendance, but I did schedule it on a major holiday, so my bad.
Just a reminder to those in the Austell, Georgia area: Halo 2 Mayhem, a 4 vs 4 Halo 2 tournament is still all-systems go for the weekend of February 19th. We mentioned back in November that you have a chance to win up to $1000, but it'll cost you $200 to register a four-man team. If you're interested in trying your l33t skills out, head on over here and check it out!
Been anxious to find out who the winners of the tJY Tribute to Bungie contest are, and if you're one of them? The wait's almost over: the Junkyard Staff have been making a list, and checking it twice, so to speak. We'll have the results of the contest posted by the end of the week after our judging decisions have been finalized.
If you entered the contest and want to make sure we can contact you (in the event that you've won a prize), please make sure all your user information is correct in your tJY Forums User Control Panel; this will help us in verifying and contacting the winners.
There have been many rumours and unconfirmed reports floating around the web, but Team Xbox finally has "the scoop" on Halo 2.5.
"Halo 2.5 will be an Xbox 2 launch title and is going to run in HDTV resolution with new, improved textures and graphical effects. All the stuff that people expected from Halo 2 but didn't make the cut will be there."
As stated, "All the stuff that people expected from Halo 2 but didn't make the cut..." is a pretty broad term. But as Team Xbox points out, even if it comes with online co-op, more multiplayer maps, or the final conclusion to the Halo 2 story, it'll be worth it.
"The technology that powers Halo 2 has been designed from day one to take advantage of the next generation hardware," the insider added. "In Halo 2, the Xbox was pushed to its limits but now the game will reach new heights with the advanced hardware."
What's more, and this is the kicker:
"Now, here is the twist. Halo 2.5 will come preloaded with the optional HDD. It'll be one of the two reasons to get the Xbox 2 that comes with a hard drive. The other reason… well, you'll just have to wait"
Please keep in mind that while these tidbits are from "the inside", they are still unconfirmed. But if you're still inclined, click the link below for more tidbits.
There have been two updates released by the folks at ClanCore recently. The first is that there will a series of character vignettes before the final release. The purpose of the vignettes will be to help explain SS:2845's three main characters backgrounds and motivations. More information, along with the first vignette, can be obtained here.
Next update is that an improved fansite kit has been released. Additions include:
*Large resolution pictures of some of the vehicles and infantry units
*Some previously unreleased in-game shots
*2845 banners and buttons
*Fonts
*2845, CCD, and Sierra logos
*A flyer saved at 300dpi, that you can print out and use to promote the project
Well, the promised open interview with dragonspit has come and gone and and it can be officially be called "successfull". Though dragonspit himself didn't not show up until around half-way through the interview because of computer problems, Trajan (the head director) as well as several other staffers showed up and answered both my questions and many others from community members who showed up. That interview will be up as soon as I'm able to get the transcript edited, cut, and transfered to my new computer. In the meantime, I have another interview with dragonspit that I had conducted earlier as a back-up.
The Bungie Store has a new item: a Legendary Beer Stein. The stein holds 1 liter, displays the Legendary emblem and Bungie logo on one side, and costs $18.95. This would make a great use for your Christmas money.
Earlier this year, we were able to sit down with the folks from MADia to get the scoop on their upcoming sci-fi shooter, Operation: Matriarchy. Well now, publisher Buka was kind enough to send along a pre-alpha build of the game for us to check out. So here is the end result, and be sure to let us know what you think!
It's been a tradition two years running here at the 'Yard to post my rendition of The Night Before Christmas, entitled A Tribes Christmas. So without further ado, I present to you, A Tribes Christmas.
You might also want to check out A Halo Christmas, originally created by Red Loser on the HBO forums. Weatherlight has also continued the holiday cheer with his own rendition of The Night Before Christmas, right here on our own forums.
And finally, Feret has put together a Starsiege Christmas carol entitled, God Rest Ye Merry Basilisks. So hed the advice from last year, and have a safe and happy holidays!
On behalf of all of the Junkyard Staff and Interns, I'd like to take the opportunity to wish all of our friends across the Internet a Merry Christmas (or just a general "Happy Holidays", if that's more your style.)
It's certainly been an interesting year so far for not only us at The Junkyard, but in our respective gaming communities as well. Please be sure to join us during these last few days of 2004, and as the new year of 2005 begins!
EGM Interviews Pete Parsons
Wed Dec 22nd, 2004
Posted by: at 23:07 PM
HBO mentions that EGM's interview with Pete Parsons, Bungie's Studio Manager, is available here. The interview is a longer, more informative version of the one that appeared in this month's Electronic Gaming Monthly.
One of SS:2845's concept artists, dragonspit, has agreed to a live interview with me this Thursday at 8:30pm Central. What makes this one special is it's not just me doing the interviewing; anyone may come to this and ask questions.
If you do decide to come go to this thread for more information. That thread is where I'll post any changes. Also, in order to participate in the open interview, you must register at the ClanCoreForums.
Andrew from Xbox Ottawa sends word that Fire Team Charlie 16 has been released to the public. It weighs in at just under 14 minutes long and ~55MB in size, served in quicktime and divx flavours, and can be downloaded right here. Comments can be left in this thread.
mrsmiley wrote in yesterday with news that the usual Monday fanart update is not to be missed over at Halo Babies. Several fanstrips, tons of gallery art, some sketches, as well as two female Spartans and a Cortana desktop. Lots to look and drool at over at HB.Net.
We mentioned back in November that the boys at Irrational had a new patch for Tribes:Vengeance slated for a December release. Well, an update from Guy Welch informs us that the patch has been pushed back to a January 2005 release. I hate to say I told you so, but...
Tribes is an amazing series of games that just hasn't always gotten the credit it deserves... it's just too bad that this game didn't get the sales numbers that its quality deserves. This may mark the end of the Tribes series, but at least it went out with a bang.
Congratulations to Irrational Games on achieving these awards, it's no small accomplishment to come in second to Half-Life 2 for most awards received in the PC Games category.
Just a quick blurb from Vailias on how SS:2845 will be installed on your machine (when the holy hour arrives):
"Will the mod overwrite TV files?"
no.
"Will i still be able to play classic TV?"
should be. This mod can co-exist with T:V without interferance. The shortcut will have a bit of a change in its command line to tell the EXE to load our files and such rather than the stuff for T:V. Works the same way as Unreal tournament's mod system.
"Will it be a full/seperate install or application outside TV?"
It still uses TV_CD_DVD.exe for the core, and will be useing some of the resources from TV, but there is enough content that it will be an install (of sorts) to a subfolder in your TV directory
"Will the mod server work with the TV ded server app?"
Not sure. We'll find out soon enough.
mrsmiley points out a new guest strip by Jaxx, with Gruntsbane still on vacation. Moreover, mrsmiley was also able to snag an interview with the talented artist. I gotta say, I like her style.
Apologies for not getting this up sooner, my mind has definitely been elsewhere the last couple of weeks. In either event, dolbex wrote in on Monday mentioning that there are a pair of new articles and an interview up at MLGPro.com. The first article takes a look at some of the less intelligent players on Xbox Live and this writer's views on how to police such ignorance on the system. The second article offers some... interesting ways to "survive Halo 2 (without losing your job and girlfriend)". And finally, you might want to check out the interview with Xena, "the best female Halo player out there". Enjoy!
The ClanCore Development team now has 2 new members to count towards their ranks, dunce_boy and Nefilm!
dunce_boy will be joining our skinning staff. Some of you may remember his highly rated submittal to the T:V skining contest several months back, or his skins for T2. He also did some skinning for the Legends project.
Nefilim will be joining our level design group. He's got quite the resume. He was contracted by VUG to design several maps for the re-release/final patch for T2. 23 of his maps are now included with the final patch as part of the Classic and TR2 mods. He designed several maps for Eve of Destruction mod, most of which were also converted to Battlefield:Vietnam when the mod moved to the newer game.
If you would like to see a few pics of their work, links to even more of their past work, go to this thread.
Remember though, that they could always use more staff. If you're interested at all, click here.
Renegades Announced for Vengeance
Tue Dec 14th, 2004
Posted by: at 15:02 PM
RenWerx, creators of Renegades MOD for Tribes 1 and 2 has announced that they will be continuing the tradition:
RenWerX has released its first preview into the up coming mod Renegades. The preview includes both information and media images and can be seen HERE. In addition RenWerX is hosting a second public chat on Sunday, December 19th, from 8-10pm EST on irc.dynamix.com channel: #RenWerX (if you don't have irc you can join in at http://renwerx.com/chat/). Stop on by and share your thoughts with the team about what you would like to see in Renegades and to find out more information (if you can't make it feel free to post your thoughts/questions in our forums)! They would also like to remind the community they still have many job openings, see their site for more details. Finally, make sure you sign up for the Renegades mailing list in order to receive important Renegades information including things about the private beta.
RenWerX is also currently running a TV server called "RenWerX Custom Map Test Server" playing custom maps 24/7, come on in for a good time!
A while ago, I asked Trajan (SS:2845's leader) if any competitive leagues or ladder systems were being set up for SS:2845. Currently, plans are for an automated version of SSL (StarSiege League). The venerable TWL has also committed itself to hosting ladder competitions for SS:2845.
One more bit of news that ought to interest both those following SS:2845 and those interested Tribes only, the website MapRaider has taken up not only many Tribes maps as a result of the fall of tribes2maps.com and several others, but has also agreed to host SS:2845 maps when the mod is officially released.
Two interesting blurbs on SS:2845 have appeared on the TribalWar forums in response (though unrelated) to the release of the Badger. First off, Trajan offers a clarification and reminder of the game types that we can expect to see in 2845. He points out that, "...[their] primary focus is on military style team combat, not e-sports." Accordingly, the focus will be on a WAR gametype, not DM or CTF.
On the same page, just a little farther down, he points out once again why the team has settled on a first-person view inside the cockpit. Heh, I can still remember the days of the ATRs where you could attach a camera to your weapon's projectile and see over hill after hill after...
This will be old news to most people, but in order to avoid confusion, there are now two less vehicles in the SS:2845 vehicles and infantry gallery: the Banshee and the Razor. Both were nixed some time ago in favor of new designs, which have not been disclosed. Also, partly due to coding issues, the Pouncer Bike is dead and has been replaced by the Badger.
Our old poll was getting a little bit long in the tooth - it asked: "Are you among the 1.5 million+ Halo 2 preorders?" 73% of the ~1500 respondents noted that yes, they had a preorder for Halo 2; there are quite a few Halo 2 fans around! You can also view the previous poll results if you're so inclined.
Our newest poll asks what the worst part of Halo 2 is. There have recently been some community members coming forth their opinions of the game; I suggest you take a look at our Halo 2 Post-Release Review and then chime in with what you believe the biggest drawback to the game is. It's because there are quite a few things to praise about Halo 2, that it's interesting to find out what didn't work this time around.
It's been here since November 9th. Halo 2 has become the Xbox's premiere holiday title and saviour of Xbox Live as an online gaming service. And now that the starry-eyed initial impressions of reviewers and gamers have passed, we're proud to present the Junkyard's Halo 2 Post-Release Review of the game.
The review covers many of the impressions gamers have expressed while playing the game, and its positive points and yes, even its few deficiencies. Curious as to what some people have been referring to as "pop-in" cinematics? Want to see how the User Interface can be distracting to some extent? We've got all manner of pretty pictures, too!
If you have any comments or questions about the review, feel free to stop by our forums and let us know what you think!
You've no doubt seen at least one of his movies, or read one of his tricks sometime in your Halo gaming endevours. Well, we've got our spotlight focused on Ducain from HighImpactHalo as he sheds a little light on his trickster career. Check it out!
The last time we mentioned sales for Halo 2, it was sitting at 5 million copies worldwide. A news article on GamesIndustry.biz is now reporting 3.3 million copies total of Halo 2 in the US alone. The standard edition sat at number one on the sales chart and the limited edition not far behind in third place for the month of November. The only game to rival Halo 2 was Rockstar's GTA: San Andreas.
Apologies for not getting this up sooner. Yesterday, mrsmiley wrote in to let us know that Halo Babies has once again been blessed with a guest strip from Stuntmutt. He also points out a new fan strip by ripper714. Check it out!
With the ATR's scheduled release date, the development team at ClanCore are in especial need of additional staff. Any person from skinners to map makers can be used, but they're really need coders/scripters and skinners.
For some time now, StarSiege: 2845 has been in the running for best mod of 2004 and it's made it to the finals. Pretty good for something that's not even out yet, eh?
Anyway, show your support by registering and vote.
This evening, Louis Wu of HBO uploaded a new poll regarding gamers' favourite multiplayer maps, after an interview at MLGPro with Max Hoberman at Bungie. Max suggested that he wouldn't rule out the possibility of classic Halo: Combat Evolved (or the newer Halo PC/Mac) maps being released as Downloadable Content for Halo 2.
While there are no guarantees, if you're longing for a favourite multiplayer map to return in Halo 2 (besides Blood Gulch and Battle Creek, which already exist in the game as revamped versions of the originals), you might want to cast your vote and check the current standings!
There is now less than a week remaining to submit your poems to the Junkyard's Tribute to Bungie poetry contest! If you've been stewing over some ideas for a poem, make sure you get your submission in before the contest ends on December the 13th.
If you haven't been considering entering a poem, remember that as long as you have at least 4 lines and put some thought into your entry (along with following the other contest rules), you have the chance to win some pretty decent Bungie-related swag! It's not that much effort, and you can enter the contest without too much hassle - just register for the Junkyard's forums and submit your entry. Registering also gives you access to post on our great community forums, so if you haven't registered yet, this is a great opportunity to get to know some of the tJY community, and get in the running for some prizes!
Thanks to all our entrants so far for their submissions -- and remember that poetry doesn't have to suck when it's about Halo!
Achronos, Bungie's resident webmonkey, writes that Bungie.net will be down for 30-60 minutes following 1:30 PST (4:30 EST) tomorrow for a bugfix and performance upgrades. After this time period, the site will be back up, with the exception of the forums and private messaging system, because these services require a substantially larger upgrade.
The Badger series of trucks are all-terrain, all-environment multipurpose utility vehicles designed to carry passengers and infantry supplies despite the worst Mercurial heat, Venusian acid, Martian dust, and outer system cold. Badgers can be outfitted for a variety of missions, but increasingly popular is the fast attack vehicle configuration with 40mm autocannon. In this configuration, designated FAV-9, the Badger is ideally suited to armed reconnaissance missions, since the autocannon's coaxial camera can double as a short periscope. Even more important in the eyes of the infantry, though, the autocannon gives Badger drivers the firepower necessary to deliver critical supplies to men and women in the very midst of combat.
Though the ClanCore Devs have had a hard time getting new stuff out to the public due to hard work on the upcoming ATR, they've managed to find it in themselves to release some new pics and info on [URL=http://ccforums.mechnex.net/index.php?showtopic=6730]the Badger[/URL]. Designed for use by both the Imperial and Colonial factions, the Badger's concept was originally thought out and designed by Dfacto.
With the SS: 2845 mod project as large as it is, Mhaddy decided to delegate some of the responsibility of covering it to somone else in order to free himself up a bit and I ended up getting picked (I think I'm the only one who applied), anyways...
Quick bio:
My real name is Andrew (Andy) Baer and I live near Dallas, TX. I was and still am an avid fan of the original StarSiege and the Tribes games, especially Tribes 2 so I've been watching SS: 2845 for quite a while. While I'm not on the staff, I have written the [URL=http://ccforums.mechnex.net/index.php?showtopic=3365]the expanded section of the FAQ[/URL] and I created and manage [URL=http://ccforums.mechnex.net/index.php?showtopic=6152&st=0]the Past Submittals list[/URL]. I'm basically SS: 2845's official paparazzi/news hound. Hopefully I'll be able to get feet under me right quick, but if I do screw up, go easy on me 'k
Our latest spotlight inductee comes from the Halo community. Some might remember BOLL from his Halo PC hex modifications, others by the plethora of cool stuff he submits to HBO. Regardless of where you've heard that name, check out his spotlight!
This week's Weekly What's Update is very concentrated on Xbox Live information. There is information on how to avert one of the new patch's bugs, as well as interesting insight into the workings of proximity voice. If you have had problems with Xbox Live and Halo 2, be sure to read the update.
HBO points out that Edwin Davis has created a set of 38 high-res 128*128 Halo 2 icons for Mac OSX. You can grab the 900kb .sit file (in a variety of other formats as well) from his server or directly from tJY. BOLL has also created his own set of 59 32*32 Windows XP icons which we have also mirrored for your downloading pleasure.
It wasn't too long ago that we mentioned that Halo 2 racked in 1.5 million preorders. Just last month, 24 hours after the release of the game, it was reported that Halo 2 made entertainment history, making over $125 million. Now, HBO points out that the game has now sold over 5 million copies worldwide. What's more:
The Xbox Live community has already logged a record-setting 28 million hours playing "Halo 2", more than any other Xbox Live game in the two-year history of the global service.
After leaving us to wander blindly through Mojo, the cut-scene creator used in Tribes: Vengeance, Irrational Games has finally released a guide for using the program. The 3-page PDF isn't exactly the best of teaching tools, but it is definitely better than nothing, so if you have any inkling to give Mojo a shot, this guide is a must.
SketchFactor writes in a newspost on Bungie.net that the H2 Xbox Live playlists have been updated. Two new categories of play, Team Slayer and Rumble Training, have been put in place. In addition to this, the average length of matchmaking games has been increased, Sudden Death has been removed in several assault games and several ranking fairness issues have been addressed. You can see the playlists in their entirety here.
Halo Modding News
Tue Nov 30th, 2004
Posted by: at 21:32 PM
Verdafolio, of Demented Puppy, sends word that there have been a couple of advances in the Halo modding community recently.
First of all, Gil27 has compiled many of the existing Halo 2 mods (including a working Flood Juggernaut!) in a video on the Halomods forums.
Secondly and, I believe, most importantly, a third person view mod has been released for Halo PC. Keep in mind that this is an early version, and the mod is still undergoing development.
New Wallpapers at Bungie.net
Tue Nov 30th, 2004
Posted by: at 20:15 PM
Shishka, Bungie's fan-become-employee artist, has taken it upon himself to create two fantastic wallpapers at Bungie.net. The first portrays Master Chief and ODST's, while the second shows off Tartarus and several other Brutes.
Monday's usual art update on Halo Babies is now live. Along with the plethora of fan art and fan strips in this update, mrsmiley points a Halo 2 cinematic compilation video put together by zero. The movie weighs in at 45MB, but be forewarned: it contains massive spoilers. There is also some cool Halo 2 flash animations available on their forums, with promise of an upcoming 3D flash game. Check it out!
Jamie writes in to let us know that Tribes:Vengeance Files has officially opened its doors to the public. At the moment, content is somewhat lacking, though with the site just opening, this is expected. This site is hosted on the UGO Network, so sufficed to say, they have plenty of bandwidth to spare -- so when things do get populated, this will be a great resource. Swing on by the site and check it out.
I hope you guys have been writing up a storm because today is the day: the Junkyard's Write a Poem to Bungie contest is officially open! For the next two weeks we will be accepting poems from you as tributes to Bungie to all of their hard work on the Halo games for some l33t swag. Heard enough? Registered on our forums? Then submit!
Many, many people have complained about the look and feel of T:V and how it looks and acts too much like a cartoon. Well, the Starsiege:2845 team has taken this into consideration and posted a couple of screens showing what things look like when the ambient lighting is dropped. A much more dramatic effect is produced, as evidenced by the T:V Jump Tank in a hangar. Trajan also points out in response to a member's observation of the "glowy thingy" underneath the 'Judge in one of the shots in the PC Gamer UK magazine:
The glowy thing is the glow produced by Cybrid tech, it's one of the things we're using to visually seperate the humans and Cybrids.
Head on over to the thread for the shots as well as what role ambient lighting will play in the missions in the game.
There's a little blurb on the SS:2845 forums from SleepyBrightEyez about how he creates his music.
...when I work on my tracks, I take note that they will be looping in game. I try to make the beginings and ends fade into each other. I've done a lot of listening in game and out and I think they work pretty well. Some of them relax me which is nice when I'm sniping from the shadows, and some pump me up which is fun when I'm going head first into the action. That's just my personal opinion though.
It's always been a pet-peeve of mine when you're battling it out ingame, listening to some adrenaline pumping tunes, and then all of a sudden, the track cuts out and starts over. It's good to see that this won't be a problem in SS:2845!
IVIaedhros points out two previously released (though not reported, here anyhow) Starsiege:2845 scale comparison shots. The first shot sticks a Subjugator and a Hellhammer in the middle of Lambeau Field and the second compares the foot of a 'Judge and Infantry. Very cool!
It was first mentioned back in mid-October (and a couple of times thereafter), but the long-awaited Starsiege:2845 spread in the UK PC Gamer has finally hit the shelves (I've got my copy!). Several juicy tidbits are released in the article, along with some new pictures found on the CD that accompanies the mag. There's a thread on the SS:2845 forums discussing the release along with a scanned shot of the article (though it will not be linked here, due to policy).
One of the more interesting tidbits released was the clarification (and indepth description of) level play, along with a 50% percentage completion rating, given by PC Gamer UK. It's yet to be determined how accurate that rating is; however, even if it's in the ballpark, it's exciting stuff indeed.
Update 11/27: Word from Trajan is that they are a little past that 50% completion mark, but not by far.
It's Friday, so you know what that means: new Halo Babies! With Gruntsbane still on vacation, the series of community-drawn comics continues. BOLL has created the community strip this week, and mrsmiley points out that if you're having trouble following it, you might want to review a few strips.
The folks from Bungie have poured their heart and soul, and sweat into Halo and Halo 2, which we've spend countless hours and many sleepless nights playing. They have given us so much, and I for one, think it's time we give something back to them. It is my pleasure to officially announce the Junkyard's "Write a Poem for Bungie" contest! Now's your chance to show how much you really care, by writing one helluva sappy poem for the creators of these wonderful games.
Head on over to the contest page to learn more about the contest, the rules, and some of the prizes that you can walk away with. The contest will open this Monday, the 29th, so start writing now!
I'm sure it comes as a surprise to no one that there is a lack of Starsiege:2845 news. When the ATR was announced back in mid-October, Trajan made it clear that public updates and news would be scarce over the next few months. This makes sense as the team needs the time to devote to getting that ATR out in January. However, Vailias has answered a call for some news:
...personally I'm often pulling 10 hour days on this mod, and working in 5 of its departments. Things are moving along at a steady pace, and if it continues across the board, I for one, am confidant about the January Release date.
The texturing and modeling continues to be impressive. HalfLife 2 is the first game I have actually gawked in awe at a wall. This just might be the second .
He reassures us that the december issue of PC Gamer UK (that we've mentioned a couple of times) will include some cool unreleased pictures and other juicy tidbits.
SketchFactor points out in this Bungie.net forum thread that the Halo 2 playlists will be updated next week. For those of you who have been dissatisfied with the variety of Halo 2 play on XBL, this should help. Thanks to HBO for the notice.
The reason I'm posting this is because on the weekend I was attempting Halo 2 Legendary, and suffice to say, I didn't get very far. Spotted over at HBO, Mike Miller has put together three movies along with a nice summary of existing tips and tricks to help the troubled. I'll definitely have to take an indepth look at this later tonight .
We mentioned last friday that this monday's Halo Babies art update would be a big one. mrsmiley wrote in with the news that there is a new fan strip, four new pieces of fan art, a new 3D fan desktop, and even a new avatar. Check back tomorrow for more forum art features, and view this news post for the goods.
Update 11/23: mrsmiley wrote in once more to remind us of the hugefan art update that is currently posted over at Halo Babies. Pictures, desktops, fan strips, and a few work in progress pieces are up for your viewing pleasure.
For the large mass of people who are having trouble modifying their display in Vengeance, and for those who are just too lazy to figure it out, pr0nigy has made the ultimate HUD resource. GrappleWorks.com allows you to select what HUDs you want on your display by use of a simple web page with a nice preview window. After you've designed the perfect setup, you simply download the files and copy them to your Vengeance folder. GrappleWorks is updated often with all released HUDs to make sure that you can customize your display just the way you want it, so get on over there and build your own.
guy.welch has announced that T:V has now dropped to $29.99 USD. Whether you see this as a good move, or just a push towards the bargain bin, it still means that those who are low on funds can now purchase the game, or are atleast $20 closer.
Yesterday on the Starsiege:2845 forums, Trajan confirmed that, as infantry, you will be able to ride along the tops of HERCs and tanks. As Hibo mentioned, imagine being able to sit on top of an Apoc's pod, firing alongside other infantry. Cool stuff! As for ways of getting on top of the Apoc in the first place, Trajan pointed out that one way will be released in the upcoming PC Gamer UK magazine that we mentioned last month.
It appears Ridley Scott is considering directing a Halo movie. But, as the article says:
Don't know if Ridley's budged. Or how serious Bungie is about licensing the movie rights. But a HALO movie from the creative team behind ALIEN, and who also toyed with STARSHIP TROOPERS, would seem to be a great fit. What I wonder is if these parties can't come to an accord, why wouldn't Bungie be open to somebody like James Cameron?
What if indeed. This is an exciting rumor in any case.
Today's Weekly What's Update is now available at Bungie.net. This week's update mostly addresses multiplayer issues, but beware if you have not yet finished the Halo 2 campaign; there are several light spoilers.
Paul Foust of CJ Games wrote in to let us know of an upcoming 4vs4 Halo 2 tournament in Austell, Georgia. $1000 grand prize along with free food all day, sounds like a good deal, though the $200 entry fee for a team of four seems a tad steep. If you're interested and in the area, head on over to the site and check it out.
There's a new guest strip online over at Halo Babies. StuntMutt from One One Se7en fame decided to drop and spruce the place up. Check it out! Look for a bit art update on Monday.
Dolbex points out that he'll be sending a list of questions regarding Halo 2 multiplayer to Bungie in the next 12 hours. If you've got a question and want it answered by the crew themselves, nows your chance. Head on over to this news post for more details, or jump directly to the forum thread to post your question. Hurry!
And while we're on the subject of multiplayer, B.Net has news of a sneak preview of Prima Games' Halo 2 Strategy Guide available. More previews are available of the 260+ pg guide from Prima's and Piggyback Interactive's website. See this newspost for more information and download links.
I can't believe I missed this in my inbox, but on Monday, Dolbex wrote in to say that the first of a two part series of Halo 2 player reviews is now up on MLGPro.com. Six reviews and a plethora of user comments have made their way into this week's part. Heck, by time you read this, the second part should be up! In either event, check it out.
Every week, the B.Net crew will be assaulting the Xbox Live servers looking for victims. Last week it was the folks from IGN.com that had their egos served to them like a prime rib on a platter. This week, it was Louis Wu and the crew from HBO that suffered at the hands of Bungie. Check out the story right here.
Part X of our view on realism in Halo, As Real As a 'Survivor' Elimination, has been posted. Skseifer and the Captain discuss the Maw this week as we bring the series to a close. Enjoy!
Bungie has released a patch for Halo 2, which addresses several issues, including problems with 480p resolution on HDTV's and less wait for matchmaking in Optimatch and Quickmatch (although greater ingame lag has been reported since the patch). The multiplayer map Foundation will be made available to all who download the patch.
To receive the patch, simply log in to Xbox Live through Halo 2. You will be prompted to install the patch. Select "Yes," and the update will begin.
Weatherlight, local Starsiege fanatic, posed a question to the Starsiege:2845 team asking them how things aredone and coordinated on the team. Trajan offered some insightful responses, check it out.
Have a high-definition TV and find that Halo 2 is cutting off some HUD elements? Or annoyed that some arranged games on Xbox Live are taking longer than they should to match you up with opponents? Bungie released the second patch for Halo 2 (the first "update" was issued on game release, it's unknown what, if anything, that it did) today over Xbox Live. All Xbox consoles connected to the service will automatically download the patch when a user signs in.
If you don't have Xbox Live, Bungie notes that there's a 2-month free subscription card included with the game. If you don't have a broadband connection or a credit card (to sign up for the service), they recommend you take your console to a friend's with broadband and Live.
In addition, Bungie has remotely unlocked the "Foundation" map, which could only be accessed previously by completing the Campaign mode and then performing a tutorial. The map is a small one, similar to Wizard from the original Halo.
The 1.06 hotfix for Halo PC was released today, due to a vulnerability in v1.05 that allows a hacker to execute malicious code by imitating a Halo PC server. If you are using v1.05, you'll have to follow the instructions here to automatically install the patch. Users of versions 1.04 and earlier can download the patch from Halo PC's automatic updater.
Rumours and pleas for Halo 3 have already been raised on our forum, but this news post on HBO only added to the fire. Louis points out that Game Informer magazine rumours that Bungie is already hard at work on Halo 3 for Xbox 2. Please keep in mind that this is only a rumour. There is no official word from Bungie, but interesting speculation indeed.
Update: HBO states that Bungie indicated the "Coming February 9th" was a completely false, baseless rumour. While I'd personally like to see the actual negative confirmation from Bungie (which might be posted this Friday, who knows?) the statement pretty much concludes this case. (Evergreen98)
ARGN has a recording of yesterday's conference call with the I Love Bees voice actors. I was there, and it went very well. Present were Kristen Rutherford, the voice of Durga, the Sleeping Princess and Melissa, Yuri Lowenthal, the voice of Kamal, and Zan Passante, the voice of Jersey. You can grab the 7.4 MB sound file here.
H2 Action Figures, Series 2
Sun Nov 14th, 2004
Posted by: at 10:01 AM
Figures.com has pictures of Series 2 of the Halo 2 action figures up. Series 2 will include:
The Drone - a cicada looking insect critter - will join the second assortment of Halo 2 action figures come this January. Series 2 will also star: a new Master Chief (armed with Tactical Shotgun and Magnum Pistol w/ removeable clip), White Spartan (Battle Rifle, Submachine Gun and Plasma Rifle), and a new Warthog (with Anti-Aircraft Gun) [and two blue Spartans].
The feature also includes a nice picture of the Drone figure. I know what my Christmas money is going to be used for .
Brian Morden in Halo 2
Sun Nov 14th, 2004
Posted by: at 09:50 AM
Jay, the Younger confirmed that the voice of Brian Morden lives on in Halo 2. Brian also had a line in Halo: "The Autumn, she's been hit!" in the ending custscene of Pillar of Autumn. For more information on Brian Morden, go here. Thanks to HBO for the heads up.
Foundation
Sun Nov 14th, 2004
Posted by: at 09:33 AM
IGN has a guide up on unlocking Foundation. Foundation is a small, unlockable multiplayer map in Halo 2, similar to Wizard in many aspects. It looks like a fun map, and I'm definitely going to take a stab at unlocking it.
I haven't talked about Halo 2 yet but that's because I've been playing it every night. For me it's a lot like Halo 1 in that I lost interest in the single player campaign almost immediately but I'll be addicted to the multiplayer for months. Tycho beat the entire game and he assures me that I'm not missing anything. In fact when I asked him about the ending he swore and kicked over a chair. I don't really care about that though as what I was looking for out of Halo 2 was an improved multiplayer experience. The addition of Live play along with new weapons, levels, modes, abilities and the possibility of DLC is enough to make me happy with my purchase.
Truly and love-hate relationship. Check out the rest of it right here (scroll down a bit).
Kyle Knight from DieCastExpress.com points out that a Limited Edition Halo 2 Evolution Set is now on sale through Figures.com. Preorders are now being accepted with shipping starting in January. If Halo action figures are your thing, then you'll want to check out this offer now.
My apologies for getting this up so late, I managed to overlook this blurb in my inbox on Thursday. Anyhow, Laura Mitchell, editor of The Paly Voice (a local Palo Alto high school's journalism website) mentioned that they've wrote up an article up on the midnight release of Halo 2. Check out the recap of the local momentous event.
Whoops, I'm a little late in getting this up, but Trajan posted a little teaser on the Starsiege:2845 forums about what you will see in the upcoming ATR. Quick analysis: more infantry, an updated HUD, and perhaps an inventory screen. Plague offers a more in-depth analysis later in the thread. Moreover, Trajan later informs us that nothing in the 200*200 snippets has been shown before. Does that team love speculation and torture or what!
We found out a little bit about him in our Spotlight earlier in the year. Now, with the release of his recent movie and behind the scenes write-up, Cybrfrk from HBO caught up with Dan to learn a little more about the man behind the camera.
4. You recently achieved something that every Bungie fan wants -- can you tell me what it is?
Every fan wanted to play the game early - I suppose I achieved that. I doubt every fan would want to edit something or watch the process everyday. Most fans would want that instant gratification of just hitting a button and watching it all unfold, it's not that simple. I doubt people would have been envious if they saw the state the game was in. A lot of the light maps were broken most of the time, some of the builds had no texture or bump-maps, there was no music and the only cinematic was the Gas Giant opening cinematic. The fact that I was capturing footage/playing the game definitely sounds cooler in your head than what the reality of it was. Multiplayer looked good, but the documentary is about single player so it didn't matter all that much. Some thing's worked and a lot more didn't. Seeing how Bungie pulled this game off is the greatest kick in the ass that the documentary throws at you.
Ever since the release of Halo 2 this week, there have been several questions. Bungie\'s taken it upon themselves to answer several of the most common ones in an \"Update\"; if you\'re irked at waiting to have an online match made, peeved about 480p TV resolution cutting off, or want to just see some solid confirmations to questions, go ahead and read.
I was personally impressed by the responses; they\'re detailed and actually give a decent response, rather than the slightly evasive (necessarily so) answers given during Halo 2\'s development.
The Bungie Weekly Update is back in its new form. This week, there is a Q&A with Frankie about problems that have popped up in Halo 2, their fixes, and what Bungie is doing about them. The Update also includes some info on the workings of Halo 2's physics engine, Bungie's official stance on Halo 3 and the reason that Frankie is bald. Go give it a read!
The *Tribes: Vengeance 1.2 Update* is under development and is slated for a December release. The update will include fixes to known map "holes," implementation of PunkBuster Online Countermeasures and several other fixes.
A full change log will be available with the release of the update.
Released yesterday, HBO points out a very interesting PR from Microsoft that I think speaks for itself:
"Halo 2" broke entertainment retail records in its first 24 hours on store shelves. Microsoft Game Studios today announced that the highly-anticipated game sold through 2.4 million units in the U.S. and Canada, driving cash register receipts to the $125 million mark.
One of our good friends and hostees, Dan Chosich, was involved with the production of the Halo 2 Limited Edition documentary included with the metal-boxed copies of Halo 2 being sold now. He's put up an incredible site about the experience. There are significant "spoilers" under the "Reason" link so you may want to hold off on reading that page until you've completed the Halo 2 campaign mode. It's a great read, though; it's effectively a "chronicles of production" of Halo 2 from the inside, which should appeal to all Bungie fans.
Dan's also created an intro trailer for the site; you can grab your (QuickTime) copy from our Halo 2 Files page if you're up for some excellent filmwork. If you're not familiar with Dan's incredible video editing and filmmaking, check out his site!
It's been a while since our first issue in May from Config, but with just 2.5 months left to the ATR, Vailias has given the Junkyard quite an update. For the uninformed, Developer Diaries give you an inside look at things from the developer's point of view, giving you status updates on particular departments of the team. This issue deals with Vailias' personal strides (and struggles), scripting and coding, as well as some of the difficulties in animating HERC movement.
And with that, check out the second issue of the Junkyard's Starsiege:2845 Developer Diary.
Kudos to Halo2Gamer who pointed out on our forums that GotNext has a contest up to win a free copy of Halo 2. All you have to do is correctly answer three questions and you'll be entered into the random drawing. Head on over to the site or forum thread for more information.
We're nearing the end of our "As Real As a Survivor Elimination" series. skseifer caught up with the Captain once more to discuss the level Keyes, the second last level of the game. Check it out right here.
As most of you know, Halo 2 releases November 9th, 2004 at 12:01AM for select stores. I'll be going to my local EB Games to pick up my pre-ordered Halo 2 Limited Edition copy, along with some other good swag. If you're planning on attending a launch event this evening, drop by the Comments thread (attached to the end of this post) and write back with what happened and any pictures/videos you may have taken.
I'll be back later tomorrow with my copy of Halo 2 safely clutched in my hands; I hope the rest of the Halo fans out there have a happy (and productive ) November 9th!
Bungie.net has a story up about Louis Wu's most recent LAN party, Crisp Death: Fall Foliage from Shishka's point of view. It's very well written, and does a good job of outlining the gathering's events. The column also poses the question: "Was Fall Foliage the last great Halo LAN?" This article is definitely worth a read.
You can find my account of Crisp Death: Fall Foliage here.
Bungie has posted the Halo 2 manual on their website in PDF form. It is definitely worth a look, as it reveals a lot of new info about Halo 2; both storyline and that about Covenant species. The manual also details and names all of the new weapons and vehicles, and tells about changes to existing ones. If you want to be ahead of the game when you get your copy of H2, read this!
Bentllama updated his blog today with some information on what the atmosphere at Bungie is like, with Halo 2's release almost here. He also included some nice shots of massive H2 billboards covering the sides of buildings in Toronto.
If you think hair is overrated, then this contest is for you. mrsmiley points out a new contest that just opened up at Halo Babies. There's some pretty cool swag up for grabs, including a Limited Edition Halo 2 Official Xbox Magazine, a Halo 2 poster, and a Halo Babies tshirt, to name a few. All you have to do is shave your head as a tribute to Frankie. Got a bic (or bald already?), check it out!
Last Thusday, I went on a trip to get an I Love Bees DVD. You'll find my account of the I Love Bees phenomenon as well as an inside look at the DVD here.
We have a special treat for you today: quite possibly the largest spotlight ever to grace the Junkyard has been posted. That Weasel, from That Weasel Television was kind enough to fill out this spotlight on his vacation so that could publish it now. You definitely don't want to miss this.
The final strip for Halo Babies' 30 comic series that started back in April has been posted. mrsmiley also points out that Gruntsbane, the artist of the comics, is taking a well-deserved two month vacation from Halo Babies to attend to personal matters. This is not the end of Halo Babies content though, as this news post so eloquently points out. Community-drawn strips from Stuntmutt, and Akba, to name a few, Halo Babies in French, contests, and even a Halo Babies store by the end of the year are but a few of the items on the horizon. Head on over and read the details for yourself!
There's not really much to say about the final Halo 2 Update, other than it being the last of the line for Halo 2. Frankie's discussion this week steers towards Xbox Live and Bungie.net integration with statistics and Clans for the system. There's also a promise of more weekly content -- something "quite different" from the Updates, but still weekly. Go and give it a read!
There's an excellent singleplayer campaign with a suprisingly good story, plus a multiplayer mode that takes me back to the days of the original Tribes. If you're a Tribes fan, it doesn't get much better than that.
Vivendi has released another trailer for Tribes: Vengeance. With all of the reviews released so far, they now have alot more rave reviews and impressive scores to boast, so they took this prime time to make yet another trailer. Be sure to share these among friends who have not decided whether they are are going to buy the game, or who may not even know that Tribes: Vengeance is a game; it seems that since Vivendi isn't going to use these trailers as a marketing device, we must do it for them.
It's been a while since we last mentioned any T:V reviews. They're still coming in and thanks to Blue's, we've got a list for you:
The folks over at Fappin never had the pleasure of playing T1 or T2, so a truly unbiased review is given here. They settle on a 4.5 / 5 rating.
The Adrenaline Vault review had a lot to say. Individual ratings for the musical score, sound fx, interface, and graphics, to name a few, are given along with a synopsis and final thoughts. Avault landed T:V a solid 4/5 stars.
The review over at Gamehelper settles on an 8 / 10 rating, though they seemed oddly exuberant over the fact that you can throw a flag to your teammate (something not unique to T:V).
Finally, 3D Avenue rolls in with their review of T:V. The reviewer clearly isn't a hardcore Triber, but you can tell that he has some experience with the series. 87% was the final verdict.
mrsmiley points out Halo Babies' monday art update. Included in the update are several featured forum creations; among them a Kirby MC and even a Fido MC. You'll also want to check out the latest fan strip, sent in by Big Cortana. Enjoy!
We're nearing the end of our view on realism in Halo (perhaps just in time for Halo 2? ). In either event, part VIII of "As Real As a 'Survivor' Elimination" has been posted by skseifer and the Captain. In this part, we take a look at Two Betrayals. Enjoy and don't forget to leave us your comments, we want to know what you think of the series!
Home Front has been released! BGT from the HF mod dropped by our forums to spread the good news. General information on the mod and its features, 14 new screenshots, along with an updated mirror list are available here. For those of you with Battlefield: Vietnam, check it out.
Trajan, producer for Starsiege:2845, dropped by our forums yesterday with a little PR for mapraider, a very robust map database site. Until recently, the site focused on UT maps and variations thereof, but they are now covering Tribes 2 and T:V. Trajan also pointed out that this site will be the main resource for future community submitted SS:2845 maps, once the game's out, of course. For more details, head on over to the thread or visit mapraider.com and start submitting some content!
It's (or was) Friday, and you know what that means -- new Halo Babies! A new strip is now online for your viewing pleasure, along with a truly breath-taking desktop sketch by Gruntsbane. And if you missed the follow up to Monday's art update, be sure to check it out!
That's right, I went there. MiD33 wrote in earlier this week to let us know that his Halo website, for Tru7h is now online. The flash-only site contains a budding comic strip, Halo Lego, a Halo version of "Pimp my Ride", along with a slew of other art-related Halo goodness. Check it out!
CJ Scaminaci points out that the Fuzzy Entertainment team has released a small update on their project, The Enna Wars. Guns, vehicles, as well as a new mapping engine, called NetEdit, which allows users to create and configure maps with each other over the web in real-time, are included in the update. Swing by their site for the update and screenshots of their latest map.
If you haven't signed up for the Redvsblue.com forums yet, hop on over and get yourself an account -- because this week's Update is there. It's a short one, but with neat discussion of possible online features for Bungie.net after the game is launched, and the state of Mat Noguchi's boredom, it's a worthwhile visit.
Update: Since registering is not a viable option for everyone, the update is now on the front page of Redvsblue.com; the Mister Chief art is available here.
This is pretty cool -- Bungie has released new video footage on their Halo 2 Video page, including 30 and 60-second versions of a new Halo 2 commercial that's been circulating the airwaves, and a piece of footage from the Multiplayer section of the Limited Edition DVD, included with the metallic version of Halo 2. If you want to check out what might be included with the Collector's Edition, look no further.
At the moment, these files are Windows Media Video; HBO is currently converting several of them to QuickTime format, for people not interested in dealing with WMV files. (Be patient!) We'll update this post as necessary if more mirrors for the files or formats become available.
Update: HBO has announced a Halo 2 Multiplayer Featurette BitTorrent link (51MB) for those wanting a QuickTime version of the video.
Earlier this week, the question was asked whether hitscan weapons would find their way into the SS:2845 environment. Prompt, as always, Trajan denied their existence in the game stating that they were dropped due to their potential hacking attributes; as opposed to projectile-based weapons. On that note, he also pointed out that lasers will travel much faster than they did in Starsiege -- appearing almost instantaneous. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, hitscan, Vailias elaborated:
Hitscan from a code perspective is a weapon whos type (for Unreal based games) falls under "instant". That is a vector is calculated based off of your cursor position translated into worldspace, and whatever is under the end of that line gets hit.
BGT dropped by our forums once more to reveal the latest Home Front update. Alpha Centauri has been modified since we last saw it in the V2 movie two weeks back and for the first time, we get to see a finished HF Brute in-game. BGT also points out that the Home Front website is now back online.
The Fire Team Charlie series walked away with two awards at this year's Rockets on Prisoner Halo movie awards. The crew at XboxOttawa put together a winner when they created FTC 13. On that note, it's been a while since our last spotlight at the Junkyard, but this afternoon we return to the 'light with a feature on Andrew from the FTC series to see what makes him tick. Check it out!
Whoops - I missed this one. Wolfy from Sector 7 Halo pointed out earlier that a new Marines strip has been released. It turns out that casual Fridays are a little too casual.
The first review comes from Game Revolution. An interesting review, while not from a Tribes veteran, the reviewer did have some experience with the franchise. Overall, they gave Tribes:Vengeance a B+ on its report card. Check it out.
Next up, FileFront has put together a pretty harsh review of T:V (the worst I've seen, or we've covered). 2/5 stars was the final verdict from the crew, stating, "Do yourself a favor, and save up for the games, which will be absolutely revolutionary, instead of compromising for Vengeance's "been there a million times before, done that even more times" feel." Though the review itself lacks coherency in many, many parts, check it out for yourself.
Nico, the sound magician for Red vs. Blue, and The Strangerhood, amongst others, has put together a very thorough interview with Bungie's audio extraordinaire, Marty O'Donnell. HBO has the 30 question interview covering everything from Marty's history, to mysterious gold pieces that never made it into Halo, to the art of creating music itself. Lengthy, but chalk full of quality.
mrsmiley wrote in to let us know that a new strip is now online over at Halo Babies.net. Unlike previous weeks, this week's offerings consist of just the strip (which is beautifully illustrated, I might add). In either event, check it out!
This evening's Halo 2 Update is over at the Subnova Forum. It's a short one this week, speculating on the demise of Mister Chief after Halo 2 is available; and a brief conversation on Halo 2 ad placement on TV. There's also some guest Mister Chief artwork by BOLL. Take a look!
As promised yesterday, BGT from Home Front dropped by our forums with another update on the mod. This time he brings seven shots of a completely remodeled Cote D'Azur and news that Home Front V2 will be released at the end of the month, October 29th at 11:59pm EST, to be exact. Look for another update at the beginning of next week. Until then, feast!
The second Tribes:Vengeance release trailer has been released on the official site. Low- and high-quality streams are available in both .wmv and .mov formats. And if you missed the first release trailer, be sure to check it out while you're there. Again, seeing another trailer as good as this now makes me wonder why it wasn't released sooner.
Wanted to check up on the latest Halo 2 updates from Bungie, but didn't feel like sorting through a virtual stack of them? Check out the Junkyard's Halo 2 Updates mirror, going all the way back to the first Update. We've added the latest editions, including:
Another Tribes:Vengeance review rolled in today, this time it came from down under. GameArena has put together a two page review of the game from the view of an "...(at best) Tribes dilettante...". They rated it 8.5/10. Obligatory snippet:
Tribes Vengeance is a smart game because it doesn't try to do things that our out of its league. It's not pitching itself as the all-out graphics king, it's not selling itself on the basis of its Hollywood style story, and it's not promising to dominate sales figures. But what it does do is offer a great blended challenge for players looking for a skill-based experience. You get a satisfactory single player element for the first time, and very attractive graphics engine put to great use, and arguably the best, most enjoyable physics of any current market first person shooter. Tribes has been around long enough now that the premise, playing style and weapons are known to hardcore gamers; what won't be known yet is whether their interest will be sufficient to pack servers as the age of Half Life 2 and Battlefield approaches. Without a doubt worthy for teamplay fans and the kind of people who love a good trick jump, just be sure to tell your friends so they get involved too.
Check out the rest of the review. Thanks to Blue's for the heads up.
BGT from the Home Front mod stopped by our forums again to bring us another update in their countdown to V2. While HF is mainly a multiplayer mod, BGT points out that there will be a single player aspect to it, released as a mini mod. 12 shots are included in this update, along with the promise of another update on Friday as well as the release date for V2. Check it out!
If you haven't checked out the previous update, you don't know what you're missing.
The fine people at Bungie.net have opted to post some new information regarding Halo 2. Entitled "The Bungie Guide to Game Modes", it is described as:
A pre-launch guide to some of the game modes you'll be playing in November, and a good chance to get a little advantage over the opposition. First up, one of the newest, and most radically different game modes in the game.
The part available, Part 1, discusses the new Energy Sword available for use in Halo 2 multiplayer modes -- with reference to how it functions, different modes of use, and suggested strategies for succeeding with it as a weapon. There's also two new mini-screenshots (one of the UI, and one of some gameplay.) If you're at all interested in the weapon, go have a look.
News that Starsiege:2845 will be featured in an upcoming issue of PC Gamer UK has just reached the public. Trajan points out we will be treated to several never before seen shots coupled with some exclusive information about the game in the Chirstmas edition of the magazine. What's more, they've also expressed an interest in including the upcoming ATR on one of their demo disks. Look for the issue in the UK November 25th.
All right, our old poll was long overdue to expire, and in light of the recent news, a new poll has emerged. Simply put, are you among the 1.5 million+ individuals who have preordered Halo 2? Vote now!
Your opinions on the Tribes:Vengeance multiplayer demo: click here.
Just two weeks ago we mentioned that Halo 2 had hit 750,000 preorders. Today Microsoft issued a press release stating that Halo 2 preorders have eclipsed the 1.5 million mark in the United States alone. Snippet:
With phenomenal record-breaking video game pre-orders, "Halo 2" is poised to generate more revenue in 24 hours than day-one sales of any full feature movie in entertainment history, including "Spider-man 2," "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" and "Matrix: Reloaded."
You've heard all about it. We've spent a month waiting. Finally, the results are in for the 2004 Halo Rockets on Prisoner awards! Wolfy from Sector 7 Halo points out that the winners have been announced. The crew at Xbox Ottawa were the big winners this year, walking away with two awards with episode 13 of Fire Team Charlie. Go on and check out the rest of the winners!
Not to make the artists in the community feel left out, Sierra has released the Tribes: Vengeance Art Guide. This guide includes the skins and models for all the weapons, characters, and vehicles along with a Word document that has instructions on everything from making a new character model, to taking advantage of the glow effect, to adding new vehicles to maps. So if you are planning on making new skins or a mod, or you just want to see the inner workings of the engine, then this is definitely worth the 33MB download.
The beta version of the Tribes: Vengeance Developer Kit has been released. It will allow you to modify scripts in order to create mutators, customizations, and modifications.
For those of you who still have not decided whether to buy the game and those who just want to see what others think of Tribes: Vengeance, HomeLAN Fed has released their own review. Overall the review reflects very well on the game; the only bad things mentioned were the rather annoying bugs and the sub-par packaging used. With only minor cons, HomeLAN Fed gave the game a 92%:
In retrospect however, it's worth noting that the game isn't perfect at this point, and there are a couple of outstanding issues with the game that while they shouldn't discourage players from picking up the game, should be fixed. While this doesn't have Tribes 2 beat in the bugs department (Tribes 2 was known for too many patches, including an infamous rollback patch that undid a patch), of most importance as far as bugs go is an issue with voice/sound-effect speed in single player cutscenes, where characters can sometimes end up sounding like chipmunks. This makes it very hard to keep engrossed in the single player story, although between sub titles and the fact that it only occurs when 3D audio mode is used means that there is a reasonable work-around. For multiplayer, there is a particularly annoying bug with the flag where it will get stuck in ceilings and other odd places, and has to return on its own before the game can continue; it's realistic in that it's like playing Baseball and someone has knocked the ball over the neighbor's fence, but that doesn't mean it's an enjoyable reproduction. There are also a couple more minor glitches in multiplayer, although they aren't show stoppers; our biggest concern is simply that there are so few people playing the game for it being out for nearly 2 weeks (Ed note: it hasn't been released in Europe yet, that's on the 22nd) �" a player count at 9pm EST on Monday showed only around 700 people online. This won't stop someone from enjoying the game, but it makes it a bit hard to find a good game at times.
Eep -- meant to post this earlier today. As noticed on Rampancy.net, Narcogen has posted a new Retort on the state of the recent Halo 2 leak. I'm always a fan of the Retorts, and this one is no exception -- Narcogen does an excellent job of dispelling the most common myths about game piracy, especially in the instance of a Bungie game being leaked.
Continuing our coverage of all T:V reviews, tonight we found that Computer And Video Games has put together a review to call their own. Their review starts off a little controversial, but in the end, they wind up giving T:V a solid 9 out of 10.
It's a game that appears to lag behind the current crop
of high-budget, high-intensity shooters, with comparatively basic graphics, sound, ragdolls and peculiarly bouncy object physics - but it's also a game with some rarely seen sparkle. Whether you're marvelling at its remarkable fluidity (milked straight from the bosom of the goddess of gameplay), or ogling the epic, five-character narrative that leaps from generation to generation and consistently flicks your intrigue switch - it's clear that Vengeance is on to something good.
BGT from the Home Front mod, posted quite an update on our Halo forums this afternoon. He points out that the site is currently down because Gamespy is experiencing some "difficulties" with their dynamic servers. In either event, the update contains eight new shots of the interior of their Covenant Cruiser as well as several shots of the Phantoms and Seraphs. Head on over to the thread for the pictures and the rest of the update!
One of our own community members, MrFluffyPants, has created a TrueType font based on the Covenant language symbols in the Flash and images at Halo2.com. The file is located in our Halo 2 General Files section. For reference, the font contains only uppercase letters. If you want to make your own Halo 2 encoded images, or simply take a look at what the font is like, go and grab a copy!
This week over at Halo Babies is a dosey. First up, we've got the usual Friday strip, available here. Next, the crew put together an interview with Junpei and Murph MacManus, the folks behind the MCandCortana strips. Lastly, with the news of the French copy of Halo 2 making its rounds in the warez scene, Halo Babies has put together a Halo Gamers Against Piracy message: something to let Bungie know the community is piracy-free. For more information, check out the news post.
A second Infantry skin has been released on the Starsiege:2845 forums: The Imperial Order of the Fireborn Knights.
THE FIREBORN Formal Rendering: The Imperial Order of Fireborn Knights
Motto: Ex medias flamma salus (From fire comes salvation)
At the end of the Starsiege the Imperial Knights, who had served as the vanguard of humanity’s defense, were bereft of many of their number - including nearly the entire Order of the Furious Stars. In honor therefore of their sacrifice, most especially in the defense of the North American heartlands, that unit was retired at the end of the conflict and a new Order was christened to take its place.
For alternate views and more information on how the Fireborn came to be, head on over to the thread.
Earlier this evening, I'd informed a friend that Monday's Halo 2 update was likely to be the last. I was pleasantly surprised to be found incorrect; Bungie has released another Halo 2 Update for this crazy week in the Halo community. This week, Frankie talks about a new difficulty challenge for Legendary: in co-op mode, if one player dies, both are sent to the last checkpoint.
There's also some multiplayer news, in the form of a note about the possibility to try NinjaNaut, a Juggernaut game variant where the Juggernaut has triple overshields, is invisible, and is the only player in the game with a motion sensor. Sounds intense!
Update: Since some functions of the Rampancy.net site are down, I've changed the links in this article to reflect the static copy of the Update.
Microsoft's Halo 2 site has relaunched, in a Flash-based whirlwind of Halo mystery. There's new media there; although newcomers might be put off due to the incredible complexity of what's available. Text is in a Covenant-style coded alphabet, so get your secret decoder rings out, and see what you can find!
Being busy playing the game itself, I haven't had much time to actually post information concerning it, so quite a list of news has piled on my desk (luckily Mhaddy has been there to keep things from going to an utter standstill ).
So to start things off, there are two new reviews of the game. Today, Access Gamer released a review that covers the game quite well and reveals that, for once, the author has played at least one of the games in the series and understands it's elements:
Vehicles do make a comeback, however, but veterans will be disappointed with their function. Since the general size of each arena is smaller than the previous games, with the emphasis on faster movement, Vengeance isn’t as dependent on tanks and aircraft for transportation. Of course, they do play a role in certain situations but you’ll likely find that using your jetpack or “ski†capabilities will provide the same effects with increased maneuverability. Plus, the lack of a selection will make most players stray away from vehicles all together due to the fact that its human nature to grow bored of what we have access to in a constant basis. All in all the vehicles situation is a matter of personal preference - you either cherish the vehicles and are disappointed in Irrational Games decision to cut back on them, or you embrace the fast movement of the game without the vehicles, making the combat more personal.
Not having much bad to say, Access Gamer gave it a final score of 8.4 out of 10.
Our next review comes from eToyChest who describes the game as decent but still better than most first person shooters:
The single player campaign has a story behind it, and that story is conveyed in the cut scenes which break up the action. There's both arena-style bot matches and missions, detailing the story of the struggle between the Tribes and the Imperials, who exiled the Tribes to separate planets. The missions themselves are decent, but they're broken up by quasi-multiplayer bot matches which are quite dull. It gets a bit redundant to play the same arena a few rounds in a row, utterly dominating the incompetent AI each and every time. Of course, it's better than the string of plain bot matches presented in Unreal Tournament 2004, and certainly better than the nonexistent single player in Tribes 1 and 2, but it still falls short.
All things considered, eToyChest has given the game a rating of 80%.
Next on the list of items to cover comes an article from GameSpot. Rather than a review this time, GameSpot has released an actual WalkThrough of the game. Covering everything from what weapon is good for what, to an actual step by step instructional page for each individual level, this walkthrough has everything you could want in getting started and finished with the game; however, I cannot vouch for the validity of the walkthrough as I would rather beat the game by my own accord than follow predetermined steps, so don't take my word for it.
Our next article comes from TribesRolePlayers. ConfigSys.boy! is at it again and has posted some clarifications as to exactly what Mercury is and what he is doing in the story for those who are a bit confused. Without revealing spoilers to the plot of Vengeance, the best explanation was given by Thrax, former producer of the game:
The idea was that Mercury was part of a small group, possibly derived from the metagens, who have been living close to / with humanity since shortly after the siege ended (define shortly however you'd like - I wouldn't think too shortly as suspicions would be quite high to start with). Mercury's method of existence would be much like that of our Mr. Weathers. Body to body as need be. Perhaps with the technology to vat-grow bodies that would become the preferred method of transfer, but really, the only difference between Harabec and Mercury is the origin of their intelligence.
What exactly was behind Mercury's long term goals I can't say. We may never know.
The clarification intro page can be found here, but be warned that if you go farther than that first page, you are likely to run across some spoilers.
At the end of our overhaul, we find a new resource that will provide you with an ongoing list of LAN parties that will be covering Tribes: Vengeance and registration information regarding them.
To recap, here's a list of the latest updates and links to them:
Good news for the fans of Starsiege:2845. This morning, Trajan announced (thanks Feret) that the team is looking to release a playable Alpha Tech Release of Starsiege:2845 sometime in January of 2005. Many of the Starsiege vets will recall fond moments and battles in the old Starsiege ATRs, released in January 1998, otherwise known as the glory days. Starsiege ATR1 was the first online game I ever played and it was the first game to really get me involved with the whole online community aspect of gaming that I, previously, never knew existed.
Trajan also mentioned that they are hoping on releasing three to four original maps in the ATR; maps, being one of the key components that the team will require feedback on. This is indeed great news for the community!
Update: Details on how the ATR will be handled:
The Alpha will be time and server limited. In other words after a period of time it will no longer work, and you won't be able to host your own servers with it, only connect. The same way Vengeance handled their beta testing.
I can see the reasoning behind their motives, but I still think it would've been cool to play an old SS:2845 ATR years down the road, like SS.
It was almost bound to happen, but Bungie and Microsoft have officially confirmed that a French PAL release of Halo 2 has been leaked to the Internet at large. There's several newsposts on HBO, and articles on several major news outlets (this BBC article gives some insight, while IGN details the reasons why one shouldn't get the leaked copy.) While we will tolerate discussion surrounding the leak, keep in mind that any spoilers, bragging about having a copy, or posts purporting illegal activity will be duly noted and offenders banned. There's a fine line there; while we want to open up the discussion to comments about Bungie and how they might deal with it, any posts that seem out of line will be canned.
I've started the discussion out with a tJY Exclusive article entitled "Leaky Pipes: What's Become of Halo 2"; feel free to comment using the forum link below.
mrsmiley writes in to let us know that Halo Babies has entered the third dimension, in art. We mentioned last week that community member, nrek, was in the process of getting the Master Chief in 3D, and finally he has succeeded. You can also check out his progress up until this point, two new 3D fan strips, as well as two new 3D fan desktops. Nice work indeed.
The new Tribes: Vengeance movie that we mentioned a few days back has now been officially released on the official site. Quicktime and Windows Media versions are both available, so if you didn't grab it on the 9th, watch it now.
Edit: Do you think the gameplay in the movie was a little quick? While browsing the TribalWar comments thread for this announcement, Guy.Welch of VUGames posted that the gameplay in the movie was indeed sped up communicate the fast-paced action inherent in the game:
There are some cuts where the motion is sped up from the original game. I think this helps communicate the speed and excitement of actually playing while helping the trailer show more of the game in a short time. The editor was going for a cinematic feel and we're really happy with the results.
We mentioned back in the end of September that a blurb for Starsiege:2845 would find its way into the November issue of Game Informer magazine. A scan of the article can be found on the SS:2845 forums, though we will not link directly to it here.
BGT from the Battlefield: Vietnam mod, Home Front, stopped by our forums to let us know that their version 2 trailer has been released. If you'll recall, Home Front was originally planned as a Battlefield: 1942 mod, but later moved to the more advanced BF:Vietnam engine. There is a lot of content in the just over six minute flick and BGT points out that it's just the tip of the iceberg.
Check out the thread for additional information and mirrors. And see if you can tell who did the music for the movie. I'll give you a hint: he's one of the talented music artists working on Starsiege:2845. Good stuff all around!
Voodoo Extreme has literally tossed up their review of Tribes: Vengeance. The review consists of 10 dot jot-style points and a final "buy it" blurb at the bottom, it's concise to say the least. You might want to check out the comments page for additional thoughts. 9.2193563/10 was the final score, which has got to be one of the most interesting ratings I've seen in a while. Kudos to PTT for the heads up.
As announced by SketchFactor on Bungie.net, this Monday's special Halo 2 Update contains three important elements: one, that all versions of Halo 2 have "gone gold" or have been Released to Manufacturing (RTM). The second item is a selection of quotes from Bungie staffers; and the third, wicked item? A video was promised on Friday, and Bungie's delivering. Follow the link to read and obtain!
Due to the undoubtedly high load that Bungie's servers will experience, it's best that if you want the video, that you wait for the official announcement from HBO of the creation of mirrors for the two versions. In addition, HBO and Mythica will also be creating BitTorrent seeds, as well as alternate resolution QuickTime versions of the videos. (Right now they're only available in Windows Media format.)
Update: Lots of mirrors, as well as Quicktime versions are now available, thanks to HBO.
Update: Brian of Mythica has posted a BitTorrent link for the high resolution file. You can grab the .torrent and get a copy faster that way -- I'll be contributing some seeding bandwidth to the cause myself.
Last week we mentioned that Gamespy put together a T:V review based on their "out of the box" single player gaming experience. Well, they've had ample time to sit down and enjoy the [patched] multiplayer experience and as such, they've written a three page review denoting just that. 4/5 stars was the final verdict.
Kaffein points out that in the Games Domain review that we mentioned yesterday, there was a new trailer released. It weighs in at 22MB and runs 1:30 in duration. You'll definitely want to watch this movie, as it comes across as more of a theatrical trailer for a movie, than a trailer for a PC game. Makes me wonder why something like this wasn't released sooner!
Looking for this evening's Halo 2 Update? Well, it was supposed to be a new video of Halo 2 gameplay; but the elusive Bungie Webmaster seems to be having difficulties sobering up. As a result, the Bungie.net site and forums are acting kind of flaky, and the team opted not to post a video with the way the site is acting at the moment.
Frankie's mentioned, though, that Friday's "weak excuse for an update" still contains a new Halo 2 screenshot (which makes the update non-weak by a factor of ten, in my opinion), as well as a promise for a Monday update, complete with video! So go and check out the screenshot; read more about the Webmaster's ingenious way of obtaining copious quantities of booze; and wait until Monday arrives for some cool new Halo 2 footage!
True to their word, VU Games has released the standalone dedicated server we spoke of earlier in the week. The beta client weighs in at 174MB and can be downloaded from Vivendi's site. Mirrors will be posted as they come online.
A week ago Saturday, Louis Wu of HBO fame held a LAN party at his house, cleverly titled, Crisp Death. One of our usuals, MrFluffyPants, was one of the lucky ones that made it to the auspicious event and came back with many a picture, and a write-up of his experience. You can read about it or skip directly to the pictures.
Wolfy from Sector 7 Halo writes in to let us know that there's a new Marines strip posted. This one finds Sarge in an, interesting, predicament. Check it out!
mrsmiley points out that Halo Babies has a new strip online this morning. It's Friday, remember? He also points out that there is pretty slick-looking 3D fan wallpaper posted, along with another in the making. Cool!
Games Domain has put together a standard review, rating T:V 8.0 out of 10, the lowest rating we've seen so far.
Gamespot has their two-page T:V review online. They settled on 8.8 out of 10.
And finally, 1Up.com threw together their review, and settled not on rating, but on this quote: "Vengeance is still a worthy heir to the throne, though, and it may convert more players to the Tribes style of online action than either of its predecessors managed."Update: ConfigSys.boy! points out that 1Up did give T:V a rating of 8.5, I just missed it (now that it's been pointed out to me, I don't know how I missed it...).
Kudos to Mills for the first two reviews, and PTT for the last one.
The man behind the MLG updates writes in again to let us know that the New York Times has an article up today on world of competitive gaming, and go figure - MLG is written up. Read it right here (free registration required).
While we're on the subject of MLG, and New York, I thought this would be a good time to mention that MLG is giving 50 people the chance to play Halo 2 five days before it comes out -- in New York City. You've got to be 18 years old and be able to transport yourself to Times Square in NYC on November 4th. Soiled yourself yet? Go read the details!
The 2004 MLG season is finally drawing to a close in New York. dolbex points out that there is $50,000 in cash up for grabs in the Championship Invitational. There is another several thousand being given away in the form of goodies, raffles, and other assorted items. Sooo... you might want to check it out. Of course, the entire event will be broadcasted on Video on Demand, MLG's video subscription service.
Due to the unfortunate nature that Tribes:Vengeance didn't ship with standalone dedicated server support, the community was just a wee-bit in an uproar. TribalWar has news that a stripped down version of the dedicated server has been created for free download. It's currently in the hands of VU Games for approval and should be out in the next few days.
However, the question of why this issue ever arose has been posed many times. TW was again fortunate enough to sit down with Patrick Dillon, Brand Manager for Tribes:Vengeance and get a few things straightened out. It turns out that, the standalone DS was not put into the development cycle early enough and as a result, they simply ran out of time.
Just how popular will Halo 2 be? Well, in a recent Seattle Times article, it was stated that about 1 million copies of Halo 2 had been preordered thus far in anticipation of its November 9th release. However, in a more recent article over at Gamespot, clarification of "about 1 million copies" turns out to be 750,000 units. That's quite impressive if you take into consideration that it took Halo almost five months to reach the 1 million mark. Thanks to HomeLAN Fed for the brief.
Tribes:Vengeance is now in the hands of many happy reviewers. Thanks to PTT and Blue's for some of the reviews.
Gamespy has posted their single player impressions, concluding that the, "...solid single-player campaign captures the "feel" of Tribes gameplay" with a few bugs.
ActionTrip gave it an 82 in their hands-on, saying that, "Irrational Studios should be applauded for translating the action and intensity of the Tribes multiplayer game into a mostly satisfying, single-player setting."
Released yesterday, Sierra thought it necessary to release a patch for Tribes:Vengeance before it hit the shelves today. This small 2.6MB update is a minor patch that includes general updates and is required for online play.
Update: Thanks to Jeff for the heads up on additional mirrors!
Last month we mentioned that there was a ton of new footage from MLG Atlanta available from their $20/year Video on Demand subscription. Well, for those too cheap to fork up $20 for some grade-A Halo gaming footage, I'm proud to announce that MLG has just released MLG-TV, a free version of their Video on Demand service. Here you can watch rebroadcasted episodes of some of their past events.
Head on over here for more details, or view the goodness directly: visit Video on Demand, then click on MLG-TV in the left navbar. Thanks to dolbex for the heads up.
Over on the Tribes: Vengeance Forums, Sierra Web Producer guy.welch posted some Tribes: Vengeance tour dates:
Tribes: Vengeance will be participating in the Game Live National Fall College Tour. This state-of-the-art tourning system will bring you an interactive gameplay preview experience like you've never seen before. Catch the tour at these locations:
September 27 @ University of Maine
September 28 @ University of Massachusetts
September 29 @ University of New York, Buffalo
October 2 @ Penn State University
October 4 @ Temple University
October 5 @ University of Maryland
October 6 @ University of Deleware
October 7 @ George Mason University
October 8 @ Marshall University
October 12 @ Louisiana State University
October 13 @ University of New Orleans
October 15 @ University of Arkansas
October 19 @ Sam Houston State University
October 21 @ University of Kansas
October 22 @ Univeristy of Minnesota
October 26 @ Central Michigan University
October 27 @ Indiana University
October 29 @ Ball State University
November 3 @ U.C.L.A.
November 4 @ California State University, Long Beach
Yesterday (geez, getting a little behind on these blurbs), Bluestone from 343GS wrote in to let us know that he's put together a new flash movie, entitled Capture the Flag. It's a cool little flick in a silhouette-style animation. Check it out!
The nominations for this year's Rockets on Prisoner awards are now in. That means it's time for you to vote! You will want to read the rules before voting lest your vote be cast aside. I don't know about you guys, but I'm casting my Best Sound, Editing, and EFX vote for 2070 Beginnings by Dan Chosich, heh. In either event, check out the nominations, the rules, then vote!
Thanks to Wolfy from Sector 7 Halo for the heads up.
Part VI of our view on realism in Halo has been posted in our community article repository. In this article, Captain Roy Luthan and skseifer take a look at 343 Guilty Spark and we find out that the Captain really has some bent up aggression towards the Covenant and Flood . Check it out!
The countdown is on -- in this week's Halo 2 Update, Frankie mentions that Halo 2 is now in a stage called "Release to Certification" - where Microsoft will "sign" the Halo 2 Xbox disc and start sending it to manufacturing.
This means that Halo 2 is done! For the rest of October, Bungie's focus will be on Bungie.net and integration with Xbox Live and Halo 2.
This week, Frankie suggests that players start to pick clan names in order to ensure that they can jump right into online play. Go and read the Septultimate Update and start making plans for November!
mrsmiley has informed us that there is a new strip up at Halo Babies where the MC and Cortana meet up with an old friend. Last week, we were shown a bunch of sketches of the new and improved Master Chief. This week, we get to see several more. Enjoy!
Fueled by threads in the VU Forums, and the release of the single player beta, many people have been wondering just how deep the Tribes:Vengeance story line goes. Yesterday, guy.welch, Web Producer for VU, added his thoughts on the matter confirming the existence of a Cybrid in the T:V campaign. Earlier this morning, both Trajan and ConfigSys.boy! confirmed guy's findings in the SS:2845 forums. Trajan also mentioned,
There are also a few other twists that you will dig if you are a fan of Starsiege.
You'll have to wait until some time after the game is released to get the fully story, however .
Wolfy from Sector 7 Halo wrote in earlier this afternoon to let us know that GameStop has a sparse product page up for a 5-piece Halo 2 Mini Figure set from Joyride Studios. Wolfy has also confirmed with Joyride that the $10 Halo 2 set at GameStop is legit, so if collectibles are your thing, check it out.
We've got a new poll up for you this evening, to coincide with the release of the Vengeance multiplayer demo. We ask whether you love it or if you hate it. Vote now!
Results from our previous poll are now in. Almost half of you thought that T:V with a single player campaign was a hit, while the rest of you voted that it was either too early to tell or you thought it was a miss. I guess we'll have to wait until October to get the fully story.
To celebrate the release of the multiplayer demo, the official Tribes: Veangeance website has been given a face lift. There is a lot of new content available on the site, including an informative, though concise Game Overview section. Head on over and check it out!
The Tribes: Vengeance multiplayer demo is now live. Swing by this thread in our forum for quite a complete list of download mirrors, thanks to Jeff. As you might have guessed, all of the mirrors are being hammered quite heavily -- some are already down due to the bandwidth drain. As a result, I would highly recommend the FileRush BitTorrent link. I tried five or six HTTP mirrors and the most I could pull in was 80kb/s to 100kb/s; whereas, with BitTorrent, I'm pulling in a steady 300kb/s. If you chose the BitTorrent link, be sure to leave your window open for a while after you're finished downloading so that others can benefit from this great system.
Regardless of the mirror you chose, download the demo now and we'll see you on the servers!
Menzo has finally spilled the beans and posted over at TribalWar that the Tribes: Vengeance Multiplayer Demo will be released tomorrow at 10am Pacific Daylight Time:
Ok, the multiplayer demo is done, we are going to release it tomorrow at 10am Pacific Daylight Time.
There aren't any exclusives on this. I was originally going to ask people who wanted to host the demo to PM me but Colosus kindly informed me that everyone would PM me even if they weren't planning to host it.
And since I can't test everyone's bandwidth you'll just need to grab it from FilePlanet, GameSpot, or somewhere else tomorrow and mirror yourselves. Or throw up a tracker for BitTorrent. Your call.
- Menzo -
- Tribes PR Guy -
On a related note, he has also informed the public that the Multiplayer Beta master servers will be taken offline Wednesday at 10am Pacific Daylight Time.
Update: Of course now that Menzo has finally announced the release date for the demo, a problem has bared its ugly head. Here's the news straight from the source:
Ok guys, I know this really sucks, but we found a really big problem with the multiplayer demo after it had already been seeded. We're going to have to delay it by a day or so to fix the bug.
Here's the bug we found: if you install the MP demo, then install the full game, then un-install the MP demo (which makes sense to do), the uninstaller for the demo whipes out your CD key information for the full game. Big problem.
So we look really stupid right now.
We seeded the demo file to quite a few mirrors for distro tomorrow morning. I'd like to ask your help in making sure that, if you see it go up, you let that site know that it's not the right file. The multiplayer demo will not go up tomorrow. It's certainly possible it'll be Wednesday, but you can imagine how gun shy I am about that right now.
mrsmiley writes in to let us know that there are a pair of new fan strips up at Halo Babies. You can grab 'em here and here. Also, every Monday, mrsmiley and Gruntsbane will be selecting their favourite pieces of art from their forum gallery and featuring them in a newspost. Head on over here for more details and this week's featured art!
We recently had a chance to sit down with the Founder of Max Gaming Technologies, Adrian Wright, to speak with him about Dark Horizons: Lore. We discuss how he got involved with MGT, some of the features that DH:L offers, and where it's headed in the future. Check out the interview in its entirety here.
We've seen a few buildings and objects from Starsiege:2845, such as this or even this, but the majority of items released to date have been weapons, characters, HERCs, tanks, and even infantry. To that end, Trajan has posted a random sampling of 10 pieces of level design concept art on the SS:2845 forums. Keep in mind that some of what you're viewing are works in progress, others are finals, while others still will not be included in the game. Below, is my favourite piece released; a Human Command and Control Center. In either event, check it out!
SanchezTheLlama from The Enna Wars (the folks who were developing Project Halo until Bungie legal ground it to a halt) wrote in earlier to let us know that they have installed a new web-based chat system on their site. To celebrate, this coming Friday, they are having a live Q&A session with the developers of The Enna Wars at 7pm CST, followed by a release of new screen shots. Head on over to their site to check it out.
the Junkyard is now fully up-to-date with all of the latest Starsiege:2845 updates from the September 1 public update to the recent eye candy. Our general information page has been updated with new statistics, such as a confirmed 101 components.
Sunder Cain, the third and final playable character has been added to our characters page, along with his .pdf character sheet (thanks SSU). The Juggernaut class Mortar has received new information. The Gorgon MK II and the Juggernaut class Hellhammer have been updated, and the Metagen Genocite and Incursus have been added to our vehicles & infantry page. Several new shots have found their way into our gallery. We've also added a new category: In-Game shots from the Tribes: Vengeance engine, distinct from the UT2004 engine shots.
Dan Chosich of 2070 Wired Films posted an update in his forums regarding the current status of his upcoming movie:
I started a movie on Friday, which I hope to get done by the 9th of November. I have a lot of school and a trip planned before that date so understand it won't be heavily motivated by graphics but it should be pretty cool. I did the first 14 seconds complete with music and sound effects, it sounds ominous and a bit like orchestral tuning of instruments (which is what I wanted to do with the Framework but I could never get the right sound). So I think it will be worth watching.
He hints at the fact that he may include some footage from HBO's upcoming lan in the movie. Cool stuff!
Frankie gets "j'pwned" in this week's edition of the Halo 2 Update. Update: (Subnova may be acting slowly for some folks; we've mirrored the Update locally in case you can't get to it.) Sounds like the game's wrapping up development in preparation for an upcoming release. (Wonder when that is? ) Go and read!
Spotted over at TribalWar that Menzo has revealed what will become of the Tribes: Vengeance beta once the multiplayer demo is released:
I think we're going to send an email out to everyone about this, but we are going to be turning off the multiplayer beta when the multiplayer demo is released. We really want people to convert their servers as quickly as possible and don't want the community to be split.
The demo will not be held exclusively anywhere and we'll be giving it to as many mirrors as possible as soon as possible. In fact, our web team has been experimenting with BitTorrent stuff so we'll likely host a seed for it at launch as well (we did that with the SP demo).
Everyone will need to download the demo - it's roughly the same size as the beta was.
There's a new strip up on Halo Babies this week (it's friday, after all). Last week we were given a quick glimpse of the MC's new look, this week we see more of it . You'll also want to check out Gruntsbane's concept art for the new MC design, and the last episode of "Road Babies" which has been released to sponsors only.
Last week we reminded you that Tribes:Vengeance would be featured on MTV2 in their Video Mods section, in particular, Cmon Cmon by the Von Blondies. Well, we've finally got some footage to show you! Head on over here to view Julia, Daniel and their crew rock out to Cmon Cmon.
ConfigSys.boy! dropped by our forums earlier this afternoon to showcase two brand-new Starsiege:2845 screens, hot out of the T:V engine. We showed you the first shot that came out of the T:V engine last week that didn't quite make the cut for the upcoming Game Informer magazine. Config, along with the rest of the Starsiege Universe crew snagged the next two. Click the shot below to check out the rest!
After several years of work, Irrational Games has finalized the game and is starting production of the CD. A multiplayer demo should be out shortly, and although the game is done for release, the team is still listening for feedback.
Tribes®: Vengeance Goes Gold!
LOS ANGELES, CA (September 21, 2004) -- Vivendi Universal Games announced today that their upcoming PC first-person action game Tribes: Vengeance has gone gold and will ship to retail stores in the United States on October 5th. A multiplayer demo for the game will be made available online before the game is released.
A single-player trial version for Tribes: Vengeance and more information about the game can be found at the official website: http://www.tribesvengeance.com.
In Tribes: Vengeance gamers become immersed in a roiling galactic thriller. Throughout the game, the player catches glimpses of myriad interrelated stories that unfold behind-the-scenes and is given the opportunity to experience the full scope of the single-player story through multiple viewpoints and characters. Utilizing the all-new Vengeance Engine powered by UnrealTM technology, the world is brought to life with characters that have facial expressions and fully-realized personalities, vehicles that kick up dust as they pass by, and weapons that display spectacular effects. Tribes: Vengeance will also build upon the Tribes series' legendary online multiplayer action by continuing to focus on team-oriented goals and fluid movement. Particular focus is being given to making Tribes: Vengeance easily accessible to the video game modification (MOD) community. Irrational Games and VU Games have worked together to ensure that Tribes: Vengeance's game modification tools are easily accessible and robust.
Also, the final T:V Designer Diary was release a few days ago. This four-page article features 15 developers for Tribes: Vengeance from Quality Assurance Leader to Producer.
Headsets, that is. dolbex informed us that this weekend at MLG's LA event, they will be giving away 10 Plantronics Halo 2 headsets to the winners of the various Halo events taking place. Can't make it out to LA? Well, HaloTV also has details on how you can win one from the comfort of your own home. Head on over to MLG for more details.
Plague, well-known in the Starsiege community for his concepts and sketches, put together a superb wallpaper of the three playable characters in SS:2845. Chemeleon, a 3D artist on the team, dropped me a link in IRC to colour versions of that very sketch that he spent all weekend bringing to life. Available in 1280*1024 and 1600*1200 resolutions, you'll definitely want to check these out.
On Friday, Bungie announced that there would be a slightly different Halo 2 Update: Bungie staff would answer some questions that were submitted as posts on their forums. The topics were limited to multiplayer only, and a ton of new information came out.
However, the threads are slightly cluttered at this point with many people posting their own opinions and making a futile attempt to get questions in after the deadline. So the newest News Story at Bungie is a summary of all the questions answered, plus a few new ones answered that weren't answered in the thread. Go for it -- some neat stuff was confirmed this weekend!
Part V of our "As a Real 'Survivor' Elimination" series has now been posted. In part V, skseifer and the Captain sit down to discuss the Assault on the Control Room, while also reminiscing about other nostalgic things. Check it out, and don't forget to leave your comments!
Ever wonder what the end result of Halo 2's improved physics will be? Warthog launching, a pastime enjoyed by quite a few Halo video creators, will have changed in slightly different ways than in Halo: Combat Evolved.
As mentioned back in August, the When Pigs Fly Warthog launching contest is now up and ready for submissions. There's prizes available from Shishka, Boxer, Stuntmutt, Dogsounds, Warbow and Blackstar, and the Halo Babies crew. Thanks to MrFluffyPants for the heads-up notice; it should be a decent contest!
Earlier we mentioned that a big contest would be unveiled on September 15th, but our server move kind of complicated things so we were unable to bring you the breaking news. However, courtesy of HBO, we're now up-to-date. Introducing the Halo 2 Backstage Pass Sweepstakes where you could win a visit to Bungie's HQ for three days and two nights to play Halo 2. There are 20 winning spots, five of which will be awarded to North American residents.
Wolfy from Sector 7 Halo wrote in earlier to finally announce the 2004 Rockets on Prisoner, Halo movie awards. The RoP awards started last year by Emil from the now deceased CobaltNova. It was a contest created to recognize some of the best filmmakers in the Halo community. It's no suprise that last year's winner was Dan Chosich from 2070 Wired Films, hosted right here at tJY (details).
However, this year is going to a little different than last year's in terms of voting. This year, judges are obsolete and the voting is now up to you! You'll definitely want to check out the voting rules before casting your vote in each of the five categories available. Head on over to Sector 7 Halo for more information on this great contest!
We mentioned at the end of August that Tribes:Vengeance will be making an appearance on TV in September. This is just a little reminder for you all that T:V will be airing on MTV2 tonight at 9:30pm EST / 6:30pm PST in a half-hour episode of "Video Mods". Don't miss it! If anyone grabs a copy of the show, please let us know.
dolbex wrote in yesterday to let us know that there is a ton of new footage (over five hours in fact) from MLG Atlanta up on MLGPro.com's Video on Demand service. If you're interested in a subscription to MLG's VoD service, it'll run you $20 USD for a year. For more information, head here.
This week, the folks at Bungie.net have decided to do something slightly different: Earlier today, SketchFactor announced that people could post certain multiplayer questions until about 5pm EST this evening to be answered by the development team. That period of time is up, and the answers have rolled in to this thread on the Bungie.net forums. Do not post anything (questions or otherwise) in here; it's for the devs' answers, and it will probably earn you an account ban.
Go on and read what the community wants to find out! (And feel free to comment in our forums.)
mrsmiley wrote in (what a coincidence, it's Friday!) to let us know of the new strip up at Halo Babies. Not only do we see the return of Frogblast, but the MC has received a virtual face lift as well. Check it out! And be sure to check out the latest fanstrip, released a few days ago.
If you're reading this that means your DNS has been updated and you are now viewing tJY on its new server. Future Point Web Solutions, our sponsor, has moved us to a bigger and faster server to better meet the needs of our growing community. We are hurriedly trying to get things back up and running but thankfully, this move was mainly transparent, with the exception of the DNS update of course.
Now, as many of you probably know, tJY has had its fair share of hosts. Jumping from one host to another, we just couldn't find somewhere to call home. Then came along Future Point Web Solutions. These guys took us in when no one else could and gave us one helluva comfy place. Please, take a minute and stop by their site and see what they have to offer. They have starter plans from as low as $6.99 / month that offers 300MB space, 10GB of bandwidth, unlimited user accounts, several MySQL databases, and a slew of other options. If you're in the market for an affordable, reliable, and quick web host with top-notch support staff, Future Point is where you should be headed. Check 'em out.
For those of you with a Game Informer magazine subscription: count your lucky stars. Trajan posted in the SS:2845 forums that in the upcoming issue of GI, there will be a small write-up on SS:2845 -- including two or three exclusive screenshots. One such image, is included below.
Update 09/17:Look in issue #139 (November 2004), in the Secret Access section.
Spotted over at Blue's, FileFront has thrown up their own preview of Tribes:Vengeance. What sets this preview apart, however, is the fact that they compare T:V with a variety of other games on the market including, UT2004, Quake 3, and the Half Life series, in addition to providing the obligatory T:V overview. Here's a snip:
The Quake 3 Crowd (Quake 3 vs. T:V)
For those of you major Quake 3 junkies that whittle away your lives in Q3's Deathmatch or Capture the Flag modes, I can only suggest one thing: stay away from Tribes: Vengeance. T:V is nowhere near as fast-paced and violent/gritty as Quake 3 is, and as an old Quake 3 junkie myself, there were numerous parts of my body that were simply screaming "Dear Sweet Trent, quit playing! Every pixel we see makes us die a bit more!" throughout my T:V playing sessions.
In short, stay away Quake 3 addicts. Stay far, far away.
dolbex wrote in to let us know that details for MLGPro's upcoming L.A. appearance, just two weeks away, is now online. He also reminds us that this event is a major, meaning that you get twice the bang for your buck -- that is, the points are worth double. Check it out.
Being both a big fan and player of the Tribes Series, and StarSiege… I’m making an attempt to bring together both communities of Tribes & StarSiege. If anything, the site is like the younger brother of the once tribesplayers.com that used to exist. So please do at your own will check it out, and if you like it, join, and help spread the word if possible.
He also mentioned that if you're talented with graphics, and want to help out with the new site design, to give him a shout. With that in mind, stop on by the TSSplayers.org and see what they've got under construction.
Maybe you've never even thought about what program you use to browse websites. For most users of Microsoft operating systems, it really doesn't seem like too much of a choice: Internet Explorer is what came preinstalled with your computer.
The problems with Internet Explorer are fundamental to its core components. Browser Helper Objects (BHO's) are the main component of spyware applications and hijack utilities, often requiring a reformat or serious spyware removal with high-powered, dangerous applications. If you're not an expert computer user, this sort of thing will slow you down, cost you money and waste your time. Plus, you could be unwittingly exposing your computer for crackers to use as their launching point for attacks.
While alternate browsers have always been available (Netscape is one of the most widely-recognized names around), most people won't consider them as an option until it becomes necessary to do so. The Google Toolbar, a welcome extension to Internet Explorer, helps block some popups and gives easy access to Google's searching capabilities. There is a better way to deal with browser security, though.
The Mozilla Organization announced the release of Firefox 1.0PR today. For those unaware, Firefox is an alternate browser that blocks popups, lets you browse multiple pages in one browser window, provides easy access to searching capabilities, and is immune to ActiveX exploits. It installs and uninstalls right alongside with Internet Explorer; and is the browser of choice for many of the technically inclined people at tJY.
It's something to consider looking into, anyways. Only a 4.5MB download for Windows versions; a more secure and snappy browsing experience; and something to look forward to if your "random toolbar of the day" in Internet Explorer has enraged you one time too many.
Update: Oh, and the best part: (the part that really helps out in a Halo-related way!) If you've ever had trouble submitting Fan Fiction stories to HBO, Firefox is a much better way to perform the task.
TribalWar is at it again and has created yet another amazing utility:
TribalWar is proud to present its brand new Developer Support site. The goal is to provide a centralized location for all of your Tribes: Vengeance developer needs. It is a community fed site, which means it is up to the community to create the content. We are currently looking for anyone who wants to be involved in writing tutorials, FAQs, and contributing to the Wiki.
If you are planning on mapping, scripting, skinning, or modeling for Tribes: Vengeance you won't want to pass this site by: Check it out!
Spotted over at HBO, it appears as though on this upcoming wednesday, Microsoft will be revealing a big Halo 2 / Xbox Live contest. Details are scarce at the moment, but in two days at 9:00am PDT, something big will be unleashed (just helping to spread the hype ).
Two new Tribes:Vengeance previews have surfaced today. The first, over at Eurogamer.net offers quite a history on the Tribes series and then delves into their impressions on the T:V build they played. You can read that right here.
The next, over at GameSpot offers an updated hands-on multiplayer preview. This preview is rather short, but is a nice little read as an overview of the current state of T:V. You can grab that right here.
mrsmiley dropped us a line earlier this evening to let us know that a new Halo Babies strip has surfaced on their site. Also, the second part of mrsmiley's downpour movie has been made available to sponsors only. Cool stuff!
Halo Babies hosts this evening's Halo 2 Update, with a few topics like attract videos, the Halo 2 Documentary and the inclusion of spoilers with the Halo 2 Special Edition disc set. To keep in the know, check it out!
As promised by Thrax yesterday, the T:V Single Player Demo is now available at FilePlanet. If you don't like FilePlanet, you can download from the assortment of mirrors listed below:
With the release of Tribes: Vengeance beta, community-made scripts have started flooding in. TheRoDent has created an InfiniteSpawn for Tribes: Vengeance which will not only restart a crashed server, but restart when the .ini file is changed. Not to be outdone, codec has released both a T:V Player Finder which allows an easy medium for searching for players online without starting the game up, and to complement this he has created the T:V Launcher which allows you to join a server from your browser, making the T:V Finder even more useful.
Menzo mentioned that tomorrow the Single Player demo will be available for download via FilePlanet's Exclusive Membership Service at around 10am and available publicly around noon.
Spotted over on the official Tribes: Vengeance forums, Guy Welch, Web Producer for Vivendi posted a note on behalf of Ken Levine, General Manager & Creative Director for Irrational:
Tribes: Vengeance is almost done. It's been quite a trip. Video game development takes a long time. It's been nearly three years since we first got the call from the Sierra guys with a simple question: "Hey, what do you guys think of Tribes?"
Frankly, I was suprised they were thinking of Irrational for this game. After all, wasn't Tribes a multiplayer, team-oriented shooter? What about Freedom Force, System Shock 2 and Thief made them think we were the team of choice for this project? "Well," they said, "we really want this game to have a story..."
The biggest challenge for us was the fact that we were making two games. One of which (the single player) we had a fair amount of experience with. The other, (the multiplayer) we had a lot to learn. And to school ourselves, we turned to three solutions. First, we had a team at Sierra (Thrax, Menzo, Marweas) that lived, breathed, and quite likely eat Tribes. Second, we expanded the team to include people like Michael Johnston to make sure we were on the right track. And finally, and perhaps most importantly, we listened to the community.
Let me just say this: The Tribes community is freaking nuts. I've never seen such a passionate, intense, vocal and dedicated group of fans. It has been an honor and pleasure to come into this fully formed community and try to make something that looks, sounds, plays and _feels_ right to them. It has been challenging, confusing, frustrating, perplexing, and incredibly rewarding. We've done our level best. The game is nearly there. But that's not the end. Because Tribes has, and always will, belong to the community. That's what Tribes: Vengeance is more moddable and flexible than any other Tribes game. We wait to see what you think of what we've done, and perhaps more importantly, how you are going to top us.
And there you have it. The bar is set and the steaks are in!
I must apologize for not getting this up sooner, andrew z from Fire Team Charlie dropped word that the latest FTC video, now up to 13b, has been released. This 8:15 movie, self-proclaimed to be the funniest video yet, is available to members only; however, you can head over here and check out what others are saying about it.
Four years ago, as the TribesPlayers site lay dying and the last embers of life ebbed out of the TPBB a few intrepid fans of the Starsiege and Tribes Universe embarked on a crusade to establish a new community site devoted to that universe. It was envisioned as a place where fans of the rich tapestry underpinning this beloved franchise could come and find an atmosphere friendly to their fanatical devotion and encouraging to their penchant for roleplaying and fan-fiction pursuits.
Since that time we have seen a lot of changes here at TRP\\SSU. We've moved servers three times, changed domains once, and had our fair share of catastrophic outages. More importantly though we've expanded our focus to become more than just a haven for franchise fanatics, but also to be a living archive of the Universe; A constantly updated and edited encyclopedia cataloguing every epoch of the history of the Starsiege and Tribes franchises. It has been an arduous, seldom understood, and often trying journey but it has been worth every moment of it.
Good ol' Tycho from Penny Arcade has added his two cents (and thensome) about Tribes:Vengeance. It's actually one helluva good read as Tycho vents about the many things he likes (and dislikes) about the Tribes Universe. I hope you enjoy this snippet of Tycho commenting on player feedback and his rebuttal to those that think T:V has been altered to suit n00bs:
The fact of the matter is that Tribes is a hard-core game. The game has been sped up to a terrific degree. If you think it caters to new players, I call you an fucking idiot without a moment's hesitation. The things a master player can do with the grappler and the improved skiing will make it impossible - impossible - for initiates to retaliate. And that's just in demo - give those guys a couple weeks with the retail. Wait until a buggy pulls up in front of your base and five heavies pop out of the mobile spawn like some military clown car.
Needless the say, Tycho's blurb is a very heart-felt speech. I think you'll enjoy it. Kudos to Feret and Chemeleon on IRC for pointing it out.
Gamespy has tossed up an updated preview of Tribes:Vengeance based on their musings with the latest build of the single player campaign. While they seemed impressed with the progress that Irrational has made with T:V, they do finish the article off with a "something to be desired" note:
On the downside, this segment demonstrates that the A.I. is currently iffy. It also highlights how much work remains to be done on the audio, with many weapons sounding way underpowered, particularly compared to Tribes 2, which featured some of the best sound design ever to grace a shooter. Also, most of the voiceovers in Tribes: Vengeance currently sound cartoony or bored.
If you want the whole story, head on over to the two-page article and read it for yourself.
Part IV of our "As Real As a 'Survivor' Elimination" series has now been posted in our community articles section. This series was created by skseifer, our new Halo Intern, and he speaks with Captain Roy Luthan and they discuss realism in Halo on a level-by-level basis. This week's article is the Silent Cartographer. If you missed any of the previous articles in the series, be sure to check them out!
It's Labor (or Labour, if you're Canadian) Day, but that doesn't mean we're all free from work. The latest Halo 2 Update has been mirrored and is now available for your reading pleasure, in case you didn't catch it the first time.
mrsmiley wrote in to let us know of the huge art updates over at Halo Babies. Gruntsbane has collaborated with community artist, akba, to come up with a very cool semi-vectorized official desktop. There's also a new fan desktop posted along with a new fan strip. Finally, be sure to stop by their forum gallery as a slew of new community art has been posted. In particular, a very cute baby elite and an interesting helmet-less MC piece.
Hit and Miss
Sun Sep 5th, 2004
Posted by: at 13:05 PM
BBC news has an article out talking about the effects video games have on our minds and bodies, and Halo is used as an example. Thanks to HBO for the heads up. So before you enter your next altered state of consciousness, check out the article! |BBC Article|
Friday's Halo 2 Update is at the HaloPlanet Forums, where Frankie deals out the bits of information on Halo 2 for the week. It's transpired that the manual has shipped; the game's nearing completion and that Mat Noguchi's desk looks similar to my personal computer station (or even this desk.) Go and read!
There's a slew of new goodies over at Halo Babies this evening. First up, a new strip has been posted up by Gruntsbane, continuing from last week's. Next, five new strip backgrounds have been released -- some that were used in this week's strip.
Finally, last week we posted a video that mrsmiley created for MLG's downpour event in Seattle. He also created a little write-up of the event and finished it off with a promise to release more footage to sponsors soon. Well, soon has arrived and the first video is now available. I just finished watching it, and it's pretty cool. mrsmiley has plans for a series of videos, highlighting and highs and lows of their 777 mile Seattle venture. In either event, if you'd like to see it, you have to become a sponsor, so .
Last week we mentioned that the Tribes:Vengeance multiplayer beta was released on Fileplanet to subscribers only. Well, now one week later, the beta is open to all Fileplanet users! I know all of you have been dieing to play T:V, so now's your chance -- but you'd better get your place in line, as no matter where you're downloading from, you're in for a good wait.
Go here and signup, then once you have validated yourself, copy your T:V key down, and then off to download lines! See ya on the battlefield.
Edit Sept 13: More mirrors added.
Edit Sept 5: More mirrors added, thanks to Jeff, Bittah, and the official T:V forums.
Edit 1:00am EST: Bittorrent link added below.
Edit 12:54am EST: For those of you grabbing the beta via the public links below, please don't hammer them. These people are generously offering their bandwidth to the public at no expense to you. Actually, I'm surprised a bittorrent link hasn't surfaced yet.
Edit 8:49pm EST: If you don't want to wait in line to download the beta, you can try one of the following mirrors (though you still have to go to Fileplanet to grab your key):
- SP and MP search list (thanks Suddenly_Dead from TW)
- http://www.filerush.com/torrents/tribesv_mpbeta_en.exe.torrent
- http://www.5assedmonkey.com/Files/tribesv_mpbeta_en.exe
- tv.studio31.org [link taken down, bandwidth squelched]
- htvnet.com [link taken down, bandwidth squelched]
- ty.serverseed.com [link taken down, bandwidth squelched]
- [URL=http://games.internode.on.net/]Internode[/url] (Registration required)
- [URL=http://games.bigpond.com/pc/resources/files/details/html/13534]Gamearena[/URL] (Registration required)
- [URL=ftp://ftp2.jetstreamgames.co.nz/pub/fps/tribes_vengeance/tribesv_mpbeta_en.exe]JSG NZ[/URL]
It's been a while since our last SS:2845 spotlight, but today we bring you: DefconFunk! He's another code monkey but probably is the only one on the team who wears a kilt in a bar (seriously). Head on over and read his spotlight if you have no idea what I'm talking about.
You will have undoubtedly seen at least one of his sketches or concepts, or read one of his fanfics as the latter are renowned in the Starsiege community. Some of his concepts have even made their way into the SS:2845 project and countless others have inspired other designs. Well, it's been a while in the making, but Plague's revamped site is finally online and complete right here on the Junkyard Network. So, swing on by and check out some of his great artwork.
In yesterday's SS:2845 public update, one of the vehicles released was the Metagen Genocite which bears a striking resemblance to the Goad we all know and love. Several, let's say, "issues" have arisen with the new design and Trajan stepped in to set things straight:
The Genocite is an evolutionary Metagen design based on the Promethean Goad. Therefore it is supposed to look like a Goad+.
As time goes on it further evolves into the longer legged and larger version that you see in Cyberstorm (see here).
In the same thread, Trajan also mentioned that while there will be strong design similarities between Promethean and Metagen Cybrids, they will not share vehicles. It'll be interesting to see what the Metagen Judge looks like .
During my daily rounds, I noticed that Starsiege Universe snagged a Starsiege:2845 biosheet; the third and final playable character in the campaign: Sunder Cain.
Sunder is a grizzled veteran of the Starsiege and the protagonist for the second chapter of the Starsiege 2845 story.
Well, we warned you it was going to be a doozy. Trajan has posted the latest Starsiege:2845 public update on the official forums. The team has finally received all the bits and pieces that they need from Irrational to get some serious coding done on the game -- they also get to experiment with all of the new modifications that the Irrational team has developed.
About 77% of the components (i.e. engines, reactors, shields, cloaks, etc.) and about 80% of the weapons have been completed. This is quite a milestone when you stop to consider that there are 101 components in total and over 80 weapons in the game (both HERC and Handheld).
Two new vehicles and two remodeled vehicles make their appearance in this update: the Metagen Genocite, the Imperial Gorgon MK II, the Metagen Incursus, and the Colonial Hellhammer. And for all of those wondering if the Metagens will look different from their normal Cybrid counterparts, I only urge you to take a look.
The team is also looking for help. So if you think you have some l33t skillz and want to be part of a fantastic team, head on over to this thread for more information.
There are too many goodies in this update to mention, to swing on by the update and check it out yourself! Kudos to Feret for the heads up.
mrsmiley dropped word that a new forum has opened up at Halo Babies, this one dedicated solely to artwork. Akba has also inaugurated the forums with the beginnings of a vectorized Halo 2 Master Chief. There's also a new fanstrip posted by Polarbear, so swing on by Halobabies.net and check it out!
Starsiege:2845 is already making headlines. Badboi pointed out on the official forums that in the October 2004 issue of Computer Gaming World, Starsiege:2845 is listed as the fifth mod in a list of five that you can't live without. As Badboi mentioned, it's a mod for a game that isn't even released yet and they're already saying that you can't live without it. No pressure, eh guys?
If you haven't caught the August 27th Halo 2 Update, now's your chance. It's been added to our copious archive of the Bungie writeups.
Interestingly enough, counting the Mini Halo 2 Update, the number of Halo and Halo 2 updates is exactly equal. Frankie's updates tower over Matt's content in sheer volume alone -- so Halo fans thinking that content is lacking, you can check out the difference between the two series.
Wow, I really have to stop going away for the weekends! A few days ago, a new Halo Babies strip was posted -- in continuation of last week's and let me be the first to say that you're in for a surprise. Head on over and check it out for yourself.
Founder of haloTV and Halo aficionado extraordinaire Synide has jumped into the light for all of us to see. Take a look into the life and mind of a true Halo fan as we add synide to our list of spotlight victims.
If you're using Windows XP, chances are you've heard or been prompted to download Windows XP Service Pack 2. I've found quite a few compelling reasons to install it; namely, the firewall being enabled by default should help slow down the rapidity of worms spreading.
It's not perfect - many of us at The Junkyard refuse to use Internet Explorer (even with the security enhancements provided by SP2) and instead recommend going with Mozilla or Firefox for your Web browsing needs. If you're on a Mac, chances are you're using Safari; and Linux users are pretty safe out there with any browser. But SP2 is a step in the right direction.
And there are a few drawbacks when going to a completely new way of thinking about security. Namely, one of the games that we cover - Halo - has its two PC editions (Halo PC and Halo Custom Edition) affected by a few problems with SP2. To fix these problems, you can either uninstall SP2 and keep up to date with other individually issued patches; or try and troubleshoot the problem.
Bungie, Microsoft and Gearbox have released several files to try and resolve issues with the Service Pack; as a result, there are now links in our Halo Files section to the various patches that have been released. In total, there are two possible file replacements (Strings.dll and binkw32.dll), and you can try setting your AGP Aperture size in your BIOS to 128MB (if you don't know what this means, then don't.)
With the public release of the Tribes: Vengeance beta, TribalWar has unleashed the TribalWar Competition System amongst the masses. Designed specifically for Tribes: Vengeance, the TCS will probably become the most popular ladder for the game. The system seems really well done and powerful, but don't take my word for it, head on over there and get your clan in before everyone else!
Spotted over at TribalWar, Menzo has posted commenting on what will happen now that the beta has gone public:
Now that we've launched the multi-player beta, what's next for Tribes: Vengeance?
- We have a single-player demo that will be launching some time in September. I'm not going to get more specific than a month right now.
- The team is feverishly working to finish the game. There are a lot of people not getting much sleep in Canberra right now - I'm sure they can use all the support/thanks/kudos/bug reports/beer you can send their way
- We're currently planning to have the game at the World Cyber Games Championships from October 7-10 in San Francisco. It should be a cool event. We'll likely use the multiplayer beta in a tournament and give out some pretty cool prizes (high-end CPUs and videocards). Expect Tribes: Vengeance-related VIPs to be on hand to sign posters and other Tribes paraphanelia. Word on the street is that we'll be making a limited edition T-shirt to give away that should be pretty cool. - Tribes: Vengeance will ship in early October worldwide
It's been a long road, but a great one. Shipping a game like this on time is a HUGE accomplishment, and one that shouldn't be overlooked.
It's finally time to load up the spinfusor and take to the skies! The moment every Tribes fan has been holding their breath for has finally come. Effective as of now, FilePlanet Exclusive Subscribers can finally get a chance to download and play the third Tribes Game. For the next week, the game will only be accessible to those who can fork up the money to subscribe, but after that it will be distributed among the public, so for those who can't wait, head on over and get it while it's hot. If you do not yet have a subscription but would like to get one just follow this link and sign away. For those who are already member, you can just zip on to the download page. Props to TimberWolf for the heads up.
Friday equals Halo 2 Update, and it's the kind of stuff that I'm personally a fan of: development details, as the game progresses. It's really useful to know how much work it takes to create a game, and this week's update is exemplary of that.
Bug fixing? Animation? User eXperience? Manuals? All of that's around. Go and read 'er.
mrsmiley wrote in to let us know that he's prepared a write-up of MLG's recent downpour event that took place in Seattle this past weekend. Along with the write-up, mrsmiley has put together an eight minute video (33MB, .wmv) highlighting the event in all its glory. The write-up is great and the compilation is actually pretty cool, if you don't mind a little shakey-cam Halo 2 footage. In either event, check it out right here.
The folks over at pc.ign.com have put up a hands-on preview of Tribes:Vengeance. The preview takes you through the reviewer's experience of the current single player bulid as Princess Victoria and later as Princess Julia. Here's the obligatory snippet:
At this stage, the outdoor missions and graphical environment there feel very polished. The character models also look pretty good, and the voice acting is professional. Although the textures on the indoor missions are still a little rough and the geometry a little basic, you could tell it was still a work in progress. The spaceship takes heavy damage during this segment, and many objects simply sunk into the ground instead of getting scripted destruction animation. Vengeance ain't a budget game, so you can rest assured that this is just placeholder stuff. The single player campaign as a whole may not bowl you over, but it's looking quite respectable at this stage--we're looking forward to seeing the finished product.
Needless to say, they were very impressed with T:V. Head on over here and read it for yourself.
Wolfy from Sector7 Halo writes to let us know that there's some great news in the new October issue of Official Xbox Magazine. To that extent, he's published a short summary of the changes and updates for Halo 2 that are currently known. If you're desperate for new information about the game from a reasonably official source, go and see what's new!
Adam 'Menzo' Kahn just sent this press release our way...
Tribes®: Vengeance Characters to Appear in Music Video on MTV2
Julia, Jericho, and Daniel Perform the Von Bondies’ “Cmon Cmon” in new show “Video Mods”
LOS ANGELES, CA (August 24, 2004) – Vivendi Universal Games announced today that characters from its upcoming first-person action game Tribes: Vengeance will appear in a music video for the song “Cmon Cmon” by the Von Bondies. The video will appear with others on the television show “Video Mods” on MTV2 and will air every other Saturday beginning September 18th at 9:30pm ET/ 6:30pm PT.
Tribes: Vengeance is due to be released in early October. More information about the game can be found on the official website at http://www.tribesvengeance.com/.
For complete information on MTV2 “Video Mods” visit www.MTV2.com. There fans will get to see each video from the show in its entirety after it appears.
MTV2 “Video Mods” is produced by Tony Shiff and Big Bear Entertainment.
He also included some screenshots for your viewing pleasure.
If you've been too distracted by all the "bees"-ness going on today, you might want to remind yourself how hard these developers have been pushing to get a quality game out, come November.
Last week, part II of our As Real As a 'Survivor' Elimination series was posted and skseifer and the Captain discussed the realism in the second level of Halo, Halo. This evening, or rather, morning, we have part III posted where the Captain takes a look at the Truth and Reconciliation level. Head on over here to read the article and be sure to leave your comments!
A little under two weeks ago, we mentioned that Halo Babies was having an avatar contest - the first ever in HB history. Well, mrsmiley wrote in to let us know that it has been decided that the members of the community have the responsibility of voting for the winner. Head on over to this thread for voting details, but be quick about it, voting ends on Thursday with the winner announced on Friday.
While you're over there, be sure to check out the newly submitted fan strip.
TribalWar has news that Bytor, the man behind Tribes2Maps.com, is finally letting the site go. Many things have come up in his life, mainly his new-born son, that must take precedence over his online life. There is no set date as to when T2M will be going down, but Bytor mentioned that it will be within a few weeks time if he doesn't find someone to take over operations. Head on over to TW's comments thread for Bytor's full departing wishes. Oh, and this also means that our semi-weekly sometimes two-year-old MOTW announcements will be no longer posted. And for those wondering, he will still remain onboard to his handle Dynamix IRC duties.
Tons of activity this morning on the Halo 2-related front:
When The Axons Go Hot
The Alternate Reality Game known as I Love Bees has exploded with traffic this morning, due to the fact that locations noted by GPS coordinates have payphones, ringing at certain times. More details can be found on the unfiction forums - but it seems like things are coming to a head. There have been recent subtle indications that Microsoft is behind this as a Halo 2 promotional campaign. Nevertheless, for the sake of Halo community sites, anyone who reads this should restrict their discussion of the topic to forums that are dedicated for this purpose.
MrFluffyPants wrote today to mention that Alpha Base, a Halo PC clan, is holding a Halo video contest that deals with one of the most entertaining physics tricks in Halo: Combat Evolved -- the Warthog Jump.
The contest details note that "Since, due to destructible vehicles, this will not be as possible in Halo 2 as it is in Halo, we should cherish (Warthog launching) it while it lasts." A requirement of this contest is that the videos be filmed from an Xbox console - so PC and Mac Halo users aren't eligible for this one. Up to two entries are accepted per person.
And what would a contest be without prizes? Up for grabs are art pieces from known Halo and Bungie community figures, including Shishka, Boxer, Stuntmutt, Dogsounds, Warbow and Blackstar.
I was away for the weekend and unfortunately didn't get a chance to post up the usual Friday Halo Babies blurb . In either event, there's a new strip up at Halobabies.net. Entitled, "Cartographically Challenged", the MC and Mister Chief attempt to get themselves out of their little mess.
mrsmiley also sent word that you can grab a sneak peak at the T-Shirts that will be available at MLG's Seattle event that we mentioned back in July. Nice lookin' shirts.
It's Friday, and that means there's a new Halo 2 weekly update; hosting responsibilities fall to the HBO Forum and the 7th Revolution Forums (although the 7th Revolution forums require registration merely to view; the registration process is the usual phpBB2 standard.)
Hundred hour weeks? Aggravation with engines? It's all there this week; go and read as the Bungie team gets down to the wire for this November.
KineticPoet has posted a list of changes, in the TribalWar Forums, that have been made for Beta 05, which will become the open beta version. The large amount of changes in this beta that were requested by closed-beta players is impressive and shows how much attention Irrational is giving the public. A great example is with the grappler grabbing an open flag:
Among the changes is a grappler change that is controversial. The grappler can no longer grab flags from the field. The reasoning is that this ability, as it's currently implemented, is instant, seemingly magical, and therefore confusing and frustrating for a large number of players.
For the entire list of changes you can either view the original post via the link below, or check out the list through the comments link.
Spotted over on the official Starsiege:2845 forums, Trajan posted a blurb on how damage will be handled in the game. For those of you worrying, it will not be handled the same way as it is in UT2004 or T:V, but a la classic Starsiege.
Each vehicle will be divided up into sections and each section will have its own damage values, the way the original SS handled it. In other words you can have a shoulder pod blown off your Apoc and still keep playing, the vehicle is not treated as one big object.
It's been a while since there was any news regarding anything to do with Alex Seropian's new company, Wideload, but two days ago an interview surfaced on GamersInfo.net. The interview doesn't release any new information about Wideload's top secret Halo engine-powered action game, but definitely check it out to refresh your memory.
Tribes:Vengeance may be entering its open beta stage fairly soon. Word is, while there is still no official, pinned-down, release date for the open multiplayer testing, plans to begin it could be as early as sometime this month. Kudos to Blue's for the heads up.
dolbex, from MLGPro fame, writes in with news that he has tried his hand at the Megabattle picture technique (details). However, instead of recreating random battle shots, or even Red vs Blue episodes, he has recreated famous moments in MLG history. Currently, there are four screenshots available and one panoramic Quicktime VR movie. Hit the link below and check it out!
Gamespot has posted a new hands-on preview of the Tribes: Vengeance single player campaign. The brunt of this article is a description of the first level in the campaign. The campaign seems to start out with you knowing absolutely nothing about what is happening:
The game starts with the main heroine, the Imperial princess Julia, pointing a gun at a defeated foe on a rainy night. We don't know much about the situation, such as who the man is and why she's pointing a gun at him, but he surprises Julia by handing her a fragment of a disc, which triggers the next sequence, which is a flashback to 20 years earlier.
The second sequence is set on an Imperial flagship, and you now get to play as Victoria, an Imperial princess on her way to her arranged marriage. It doesn't take long to figure out that Victoria is something of a spoiled brat, and it takes her older sister, Olivia, to talk her into going along with the marriage. However, the flagship is ambushed by the Phoenix tribe, which boards the ship. Victoria is cut off from her family, which means that you have to control her as you run around the ship, trying to find a way off.
Not to be outdone, IGN has released 8 new videos featuring some great single player action. Also, new to the list of article providers is FiringSquad with it's preview of the multiplayer beta. Although this preview is basically a history of the franchise and an overview of the game in it's current state, it is still a good read and definitely worth your time. Be sure to check it out.
Colosus of TribalWar was kind enough to not record only one but two videos of the Tribes: Vengeance Single Player. Featured in these videos is parts of level 1 and level 4. In the first level you play Julia as an adult while the 4th level is her at the age of 5. Be sure to check these videos out, they are very reassuring and entertaining.
Well, our Xbox 2 / Xenon poll has finally ended (results). We asked if Microsoft's next generation console should include a hard drive, just like its predecessor. Results are overwhelmingly, yes. In fact, 94% of you said yes with a small 3% saying memory cards are fine, just 2% said a separate addon, and 1% of you was an error in rounding .
In any event, a new poll is now up, this time concentrating on Tribes:Vengeance. We ask you what you think of the T:V single player campaign idea. As you know, the first two games were almost completely multiplayer only, with Tribes 2 having an, at best, rudimentary attempt. So, do you think Irrational can pull it off? Do you think it'll be a hit, a miss, or is it too early to tell? Vote!
A little over a week ago, I mentioned that community member, and now Intern, skseifer, wrote up an article on the realism in Halo. He caught up with an eight-year veteran in the US Marines, Captain Roy Luthan, and went step-by-step through the first level of Halo, the Pillar of Autumn. Today, skseifer and the Captain venture through the second level of Halo, Halo. Check it out.
News today from HBO and TeamXbox: Microsoft has released the Halo 2 European box art and it's quite the site. There's also a higher resolution image (1314x1866); the box does carry the Xbox Live Online Enabled banmner, but since the back of the case is not visible, there's no telling what Xbox Live functions are definitely in the game.
The game also carries a rating of "16+", and a link to a European ratings site (Pan European Games Information) is provided below. What's interesting is that this rating is based on a voluntary system, based on publishers' responses to certain questions. However, this rating would have been officially checked before it was granted. For what it's worth, Bungie would have rated the game using a similar form to the Word documents available on this information page. (Also notable is the fact that Halo: Combat Evolved received a 16+ and Violence descriptor for most countries, except Finland where it received a 15+ age category.)
(Personally I think that this European version completely trumps any rating system I've seen in North America for honesty and accuracy. As someone typically against ratings systems, this 16+ isn't too bad of a guideline for Halo.)
Kudos to TribesRoleplayers for the heads up on this one. ActionTrip has put together a very thorough two page preview on Tribes:Vengeance's single player campaign. The preview takes you step-by-step from the beginning (and I mean the beginning) of this reviewer's awe-struck adventure through the first three missions of the campaign and its ups and downs. Here's a snip:
I was struck at first by how richly detailed the textures and colors were on the surrounding environments and the characters themselves. The next thing I noticed however was the faces of the characters and their animations in the opening movie appeared stiff and did not look very good. After playing Doom 3 for the past week or so, I can understand why I would react like this at first, but as I got wrapped up in the game and its story, I found myself being much less critical.
You'll also want to check out the 30 new screenshots in beautiful 1600*1200 resolution from the SP campaign. Head on over to the preview and check it out yourself!
Last Friday's Halo 2 Update that came courtesy of the Bungie Princess has now been added to our Halo 2 Updates repository. So with Frankie in Mexico, the update being released on Friday the 13th, and the Princess in charge, head on over and check it out once more.
Our good friends over at Tribes2Maps.com have put up a new map to hold the Map of the Week spotlight. This week it's No Quarter by Lagg_Alot. It's a Siege map weighing in at just under 500kb. Here's a snip:
Here is a little Siege map that incorporates a few extras that make this a relentless onslaught of incoming hostiles. The Sentry Tower hosts a Spawn and Inventories that if captured by Offense could turn the whole mission into a short order. Defensive Base access is hindered by Entrance as well as Inner Base Force Fields, making it difficult for the attackers to get at the Objective Force Field Generator. The attackers have multiple Deployed MPBs to launch their Siege from all sides. This mission comes with modified Bot support that will not disappoint even the best Tribes 2 players. I hope you enjoy.
Head on over to Tribes2Maps for more information and map download.
On the official Starsiege:2845 forums this afternoon, Trajan posted that we can expect the next public update on September 1st. He also dropped a not-so-subtle notice that this next update would be the biggest update since the pre alpha demo released in February. So mark September 1st on the calendar boys and girls, because this one, is going to be a doozy!
After an inexcusable amount of time, our Starsiege files and maps have received a much needed update. A couple of new maps have been added, while a slew of old map URL's have been updated (some were down since the server move). Our files section has been updated with several new scripts and utilities along with the Starsiege-renown MIB Scripting Tutorial (Thanks MIB). New files and maps will continually be added as time goes on and our revamp of the Starsiege section at the 'Yard continues. If you would like to expedite the process, please notify us of missing files.
You might also have noticed the new Starsiege:2845 headers that we uploaded a week or so ago. If you have a favourite image or otherwise cool Starsiege or SS:2845 shot that you think would look goo in our header, be sure to let us know!
The fourth weekly update for Halogen, the C&C Generals Total Conversion Mod has been posted on the Directlect Studios forum. This update is pretty massive, topics include: units of the Covenent (units of the UNSC was in the third weekly update), UNSC Superweapons, a few new model renders, as well as the announcement of Halogen for The Battle of Middle Earth; an upcoming LOTR game by EA games. The BoME Halo Mod will be independently developed from the C&C Generals TC Mod, so it won't be a port. Head on over the update to read it for yourself! Thanks to HBO for the heads up.
Tonight's update focuses more on Bungie as a company and its employees as people are starting to feel the crunch approaching the end. Still worth a read - frankly I'm glad we won't be able to snipe through walls.
Wolfy from Sector 7 Halo dropped us a line to let us know that there's a new Marines strip available. I don't know about you, but somehow I don't think their defenses are going to hold... In either event, check it out.
mrsmiley dropped in on us with the usual friday greeting: new Halo Babies! This week's strip is now online so head on over and check out who's on point. While you're over there, be sure to check out the first-ever Halo Babies Best Avatar Contest for your chance to win some l33t Halo Babies swag.
Please join me in welcoming the newest addition to our network, the Starsiege:2845 Hub. This small, but dedicated SS:2845 fansite is run by community nuts, SoMeOnE and Aldaron. SoMeOnE writes,
Hello, and I'd like to say thanks to tJY for allowing the Hub to move over here. The SS:2845 Hub is a fansite that I started by myself back in Feb. of 2004. The Hub is an information site about the upcoming Total Convertion Mod for Tribes: Vengeance: Starsiege: 2845. Drop by and have a look around, may find something you like.
Spotted over at Haloplanet this evening, I noticed something that didn't quite belong in Halo, a mech. As it turns out, that mech belonged to IceTiger and a mod that he's currently developing called Pipedream. Things are coming together really well, but don't take my word for it, head on over to his site or this thread to view his latest creations.
Colosus posts in the TribalWar Forums the finalized design for the Tribes: Vengeance box. The box is quite different from what the Tribes series is used to. Also, if you look at the bottom left corner you will see that the game is rated T, which is new information.
Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, and now San Francisco. On September 11th - 12th, MLGPro is taking over the University of San Francisco for an all-out brawl in Halo and a variety of other games. The site is now up and running so head on over there and check out the details on the Battle of the Bay! Kudos to dolbex for the heads up.
Posted earlier in the afternoon on the official forums by Trajan, it has been confirmed that the Pouncer will not be making an appearance in Starsiege:2845. The exact reasoning behind this is not yet known, but Trajan did mention that it will be replaced with some type of wheeled buggy. More information on this as it becomes available.
Update 08/10: Vailias mentioned that two-wheeled vehicles in UT2004 are incredibly hard to implement. While this is not the only reason why the Pouncer was removed, it definitely didn't help it stay.
SanchezTheLlama wrote in this afternoon to let us know the next installment of The Enna Wars team interviews is now live. In this interview, Sanchez sits down with the 2D artist on the team, Aaron 'DontNeedOne' Froom to chat about his contributions to the project. Be sure to leave your comments in this thread, if you're so inclined.
Our very own Halo Intern, skseifer, recently had a chance to sit down with one of his buddies who is currently enlisted in the U.S. Marines, to chat about realism in Halo. Check it out right here and be sure to leave your comments in this thread as you ask yourself, just how real is Halo?
Just in case you missed last friday's Halo 2 Update, you can now check it out locally in our Halo 2 Update repository. The goodness that is Frida Kahlo is now available at tJY. Enjoy!
I spotted an interesting thread on the Starsiege:2845 forums last night. In an odd twist, a community member didn't badger the team for information on the game, heh, but rather, IVIaedhros asked how the project has impacted the team personally. At the time of writing, more than half a dozen members of the team have responded including, Trajan, ConfigSys.boy!, and Vailias. Here's a snip from Vailias' post:
Social life is basically out the window. Not that I was an avid party goer before, but I really don't get out much now. Most annoying thing on the project to date has been the executioner. The whole process took forever and was conceptually difficult to get through during the skinning process.
Head on over to the thread and read the ongoing additions. It really makes you appreciate what these guys are doing, especially given the fact that they're doing it solely for the love of the game, and community.
We mentioned back in July and August that the devs over at Starsiege:2845 were holding another community vehicle design contest, this time, for a tank. The winning entry has been chosen from over 30 submissions, and it was a difficult choice to make, but in the end, Axian came out on top. Click the thumbnail below to view the announcement thread and full image. Thanks to many who sent in news, but Weatherlight was the first to get it in.
Back in July, it was one of MLGPro's pro players, Strangepurple, who was the one being interviewed. This time around, the tables are turned and Strangepurple was lucky enough to catch up with some of the folks from Bungie at the recent Xbox Holiday Showcase in New York to talk Halo 2. He wrote up his experiences at the MLGPro site, along with a couple of screen caps to stimulate your eyeballs. It's a good read, make sure you check it out!
Ack! This is what happens when you go away for the weekend: news backups. Our last Halo Babies blurb mentioned a mystery that would be revealed in the next comic. Well, two days ago, that comic was released! Head on over to Halo Babies (if you haven't already) to see what the MC finally found.
Spotted over at TribalWar, Michael 'KineticPoet' Johnston has posted a list of changes made to Tribes:Vengeance since the beta. You can check out the massive list of additions and fix'ns in this thread but keep in mind that they're subject to change without notice .
Also of note, at 9pm EST tonight, WOFN will be chatting with Yogi of TW and Falhawk of Teamwarfare about their plans for T:V competition and how their ladders will adapt. Later on in the broadcast, several T:V beta testers will be joining WOFN to share their opinions on how T:V is shaping up thus far. Check out #wofn on irc.dynamix.com or visit their site for more information.
I'm a little late in getting this up, but better late than never. Anyhow, CaptainBiggs from our Tribes forums has started a thread with real honest-to-goodness footage from the Tribes:Vengeance beta. Footage was captured by Fraps and taken by Celios.
Cray also posted a compilation video by Musashi demonstrating some pretty unr33t skills in T:V. Click on the comments thread below to view them all!
Update 08/09: Cray let us know of an ongoing list of T:V beta movies that is being updated on the TribalWar forums, check it out!
We mentioned last week that local tJY writer, TimberWolf posted up a new Starsiege fanfic on our War Stories Writers forum. Well, due to popular demand, he has decided to continue the Alone series with the next installment, Home Again. Head on over to the thread and check out the sequel!
Prepare Yourself!
Sat Aug 7th, 2004
Posted by: at 13:55 PM
The latest Bungie Top Story tells you how to become super duper extremely prepared for the coming armageddon that is Halo 2. Oh, and don't forget the genital illness excuse.
This week's Halo 2 Update is over at the VideoGamesNZ Forum this evening and it's plentiful with information. Character animations, dialog and additional dancing-around-the-bees issues are common this evening, so go on and read!
There's a no mercy, bats-out-of-hell sale at the Bungie Store. They're closing the store doors on August 31st, so get all your back-to-school gear today!
Almost two weeks ago, we mentioned that die-hard Starsiege nut, SoMeOnE, had way too much time on his hands and created a trio of pixel art Athena's. Local Junky, Weatherlight, tried his hand at pixel art and the results are quite spectacular as well. In this thread, he explains the history of his pixel-Apocalypse, the new animated version, as well as the new Gorgon model that he is currently working on. Nice work!
With MLG Seattle just around the corner, its only fitting that we should find out how the last event went first, right? Well, Dolbex has done just that with his uber-article over at Bungie.Net. Head on over and check out the day-by-day Halo-fest extravaganza!
Dolbex from MLGPro fame wrote in to let us know that he's conjured up an interview with the man behind the the art over at Halo Babies, Gruntsbane (who we spotlighted almost a year ago). Gruntsbane talks a little about Halo Babies' history, the changes that have been made to the site and content, as well as what's in store for the future. He also chats about what you can expect to see at MLG Seattle when the Halo Babies crew make their appearance at the event later this month.
To top things off, we have also updated our SS:2845 overview page that was updated with information from the recent Tribal Wars: West event. Even our press coverage page has received a minor, but much needed facelift.
However, due to the overwhelming content rush, it's only natural to miss or misprint a few things. While you're browsing through the newly updated content, if you notice something missing or out-of-line, please give us a holler. You can also take advantage of the gallery's, files' and links' submit features to earn some tJY Tokens. Regardless though, let us know what you think of the new content and its layout.
Last Friday's Halo 2 Update has now been added to our repository. The European flare that emblazens this latest update is actually a very entertaining read, if for nothing else than its oddity-factor . In either event, check it out!
We've all read the previews from the big sites, IGN, Gamespot, and Gamespy, to name a few. But, what about the average Tribes player? Celios, a casual T1 and competitive T2 player, wrote up his thoughts on the Tribes:Vengeance beta and posted it on TeamWarfare. Here's a snip:
Spawning:
Probably the best thing that has changed spawning-wise is the ability to select your spawn spot (want to be at the main base? Just takes one click. Wanna be dropped at the rover? You’re there.) Keep in mind however, that you don’t pick exactly where to spawn, only the spawnsphere. Regardless, this is already far more efficient than T1 and T2.
IFFs (Indicator Friendly/Foe):
In the latest patch, these have been changed back to the standard Green/Red rather than coloring based on ‘race’ (Imperial, Blood Eagle, etc.) It’s also important to note that the flag carrier no longer has a special waypoint and that all enemy IFFs will disappear if a sensor is disabled.
The write-up is very thorough, touching on many of the minor aspects of the game that some of the larger sites don't publish. It's one helluva read and is being continually updated as well (though the last update was July 26). In either event, check it out at TWL right here. Kudos to CaptainBiggs for the heads up.
For those of you unfamiliar with the ilovebees phenomenon that has peculiar implications to Halo 2, there currently is one week left before the second ilovebees.com timer completes:
"PHASE 1 COMPLETE: Network throttling has eroded.
In 7 days this medium will metastasize."
There have been quite a few deliberations on the subject(the game Wiki is an excellent source of information) but there's been a unique discovery. bentllama, a Bungie "Cananimator", had posted another interesting post entitled "...loose lips..." on July 25th. Draw your own conclusions and feel free to comment!
Posted up on the new site, the SS:2845 team points out that the Tank Design Contest (details) that was opened early July is finally closed. The team has received over 20 quality entries so it'll be tough to decide the winner. In either event, one must be chosen and the lucky winner will be announced exactly one week from now on the official forums. Good luck to everyone that entered!
Update 08/03: Correction, there are 30 submissions altogether. Great, it'll be even harder to select a winner now, heh.
The official Starsiege:2845 website has received one helluva'n overhaul. Not only has it been remade visually, but there are also a slew of easter eggs hidden around the site. Pay particular attention to the media galleries when you're searching around. Oh, and both Starsiege2845.com and Mechnex.net both point to the same splash screen to enter the site - so update your bookmarks if you're so inclined.
Update 8:17pm: I didn't even notice this egg, but it was pointed out on the SS:2845 forums. Good eye, Nighthawk!
Trajan also fired off an email early this morning to let me know that the Human Infantry unit has received a facelift as well. Head on over to the official forums to check it out.
There's a new Map of the Week over at Tribes2Maps.com. This week it's VietNam by LCE.Xarlos. It's a CTF map that weighs in at just under 1MB, here's a snip:
Nam is comprised of a very large map with a river splitting it into two sides. It has approximately 750 trees and dense layers of fog. This is complemented by rocks, low lying water areas, and small shrubs. Because of the fog it is a sniper's nightmare, but for the tactical player, and anyone interested in a whole lot of fun, it is amazing. The map is huge, almost 2000m between each base. Sides are completely balanced.
Head on over to Tribes2Maps.com for more information and map download.
If you're into Starsiege fanfiction, you'll no doubt recognize the author of this new 'fic. In his time here at the 'Yard, TimberWolf has posted 10 stories for our readers to dig into and yesterday, he upped the count again. In our Starsiege War Stories Writers forum, he added his latest work entitled, Alone. Character development is a big thing in TimberWolf's stories, so you might want to check out some of his previous works before diving into this one, but if you don't have the time, this one is a great place to start.
Our last mention of the Tribal Wars: West G4-TechTV blurb was that some footage from the event would make it onto the airways. Well, some great first-hand commentary from Tribes players, TW-devs, and even Thrax made it in but unfortunately for the Starsiege:2845 crew, no footage was aired. Grab the just under three-minute broadcast from Tribal War (thanks Colosus) or from tJY directly.
This week's Halo 2 Update is posted in a unique way this week; Frankie has been to London and Germany in order to get the rating boards of the respective countries to approve a build of Halo 2. The highlights this week are an almost obsessive fear of being cavity searched at the airport; the adventures of travelling in Germany; and the ratings the game received. Go on and read "Bungie's Euro Dash"!
mrsmiley reminded us today that the 50th Halo Babies strip has finally been unvealed. But, you're going to have to wait another seven days before you see what the MC is looking at . And while you're at Halo Babies, be sure to check out the details on their MLGPro Seattle appearance. If you're in the area, stop on by and grab some Halo Babies merchandise!
Yesterday, HBO announced that one of the teams participating in the Halo 2/Mountain Dew contest had detailed their experiences with a build of the upcoming game. While some changes mentioned in this writeup are good, logical choices for Bungie to make, others I'm mildly concerned about. To this extent, I've written an article about the changes so far.
Readers should be responsible, however, for the fact that the build mentioned is still in beta, post-beta or development. As such, the changes mentioned are likely not final and are subject to tweaking before the game's release. (The fact that I've written this article ties in with my belief that pre-release games should not remain hidden forever; rather, they should be documented for historical and evolutionary purposes.)
One particular feature should help new players out. "Skiing," a classic Tribes technique involving skimming the ground at great speed, has been made much easier -- it's just a matter of holding the space bar. With all friction removed from your character's feet, sliding downhill is very natural. With judicious application of thrust to clear uphill gradients and keep up your speed, you can cover longer distances very fast. Picking out a good route still requires practice, and it's very easy to slam headlong into a building or pillar, so old Tribes pros shouldn't throw up their hands in horror just yet.
Firehawk fired an email off to me last night, but I was a little preoccupied and didn't have a chance to get it up until now. Anyhow, as we mentioned a couple of days ago, Starsiegeplayers.com is now up and running but they need your help to get it fully operational. If you have a link around the Starsiege community, be sure to submit it along with any downloads that you may have. Also, stop on by their forums and say hello.
She also mentioned that, like the former SSP, community banners and links are also being placed along the top of the site. If you have a 500*60 banner and want to display your squad / fansite with pride, contact Firehawk directly.
The people at IGN have outdone even themselves and released one new designer diary and a new Vengeance preview. For starters, IGN gets Michael Johnston, senior designer for Tribes: Vengeance, to discuss the road to Gold. Johnston sums the process up well in his opening paragraph:
Tribes: Vengeance is nearing completion. With a healthy amount of polishing, tuning and fixing left to do, in some ways the next two months are as daunting to me as the previous two years combined.
The second article is a runthrough of part of the Single Player to give us a taste of what we are in for. Here's an overview of one of the missions described in the article:
This mission is a series of progressively harder challenges. First up are vicious Glorax, savage animals from the Imperial menagerie. After dispatching them, Dan sends one of his squad to man a nearby turret. He needs to keep an eye on the health of the turret and make any necessary repairs as the next wave of attackers, a squad of Blood Eagles in this case, appears.
After this the Imperials themselves start to take the field. First, a lone warrior emerges to whet the crowd's appetite. He's followed by a full squad of Imperial soldiers. By now Dan should have managed to scavenge some extra weapons from the fallen soldiers and can turn their disc launchers and grenade launchers against further waves.
For some time now, TribalWar has been working on a competition system for Tribes: Vengeance. In a 7 minute demo, Yogi takes a tour of the entire system and shows all of it's nitty gritty details. Also, the team would like your feedback:
After watching the movie, feel free to comment in the thread or join us in #tcs on IRC for further discussion. Remember, you make the ladder. Please provide constructive criticism so that we can make it perfect from the start.
We are currently in private beta of the TCS system and will move to an open beta soon.
The folks over at pc.ign.com have thrown up a preview of Starsiege:2845 based on their viewings at the recent Tribal Wars: West event. A thorough summary of the game and what is planning to be accomplished in it are included; providing a very nice overview of things. Several of the statistics that Steve the reviewer mentioned are new to me, so I'll look into getting them confirmed by the team. Update 12:24am: All facts and figures mentioned in the preview are accurate as of now.
A couple of Scarab images (also seen in the Gamespot movie) that I haven't seen before were released along with the write-up but otherwise nothing new that you haven't seen before. In either event, head on over and check it out!
Any of the true veterans to Starsiege will remember this site. Starsiegeplayers.com used to be the central hub of the entire community before it was taken down by Sierra. There have been several attempts by a multitude of community members to get the site back up and running, but it was finally some of the guys from the Red Armageddon that finally succeeded in getting it back up.
Weatherlight pointed out that the site still needs some tweaking, and while I can't say as I care for the PHPNuke theme very much, it's great to see something finally up at that addy. Stay tuned for updates on the site and its progress.
Kudos to Weatherlight and Firehawk for the heads up.
GameSpot has joined the rankings with 4 new gameplay videos of the game we are all holding our breaths over. Also, GameSpot has a developer interview with Alex 'Vailias' Newton, lead animator for StarSiege: 2845, and another interview with Chris 'Thrax' Mahnken who discusses the process of polishing the game for release.
As most of you may know, last week IGN posted up a new Tribes: Vengeance Beta Preview. To keep on the ball with this ever evolving game, IGN has released a new Beta Update. Not only does this article relate the new and improved features and styles of Vengeance, but comes with a handful of new screenshots mentioned previouslyand a total of 23 new videos!
Also, ZOD has released a 20 minute long video of pure gameplay footage. This is the first time that an entire match has been caught on tape. The main problems blatantly visible with the game are the ground vehicle physics, but other than that the game looks beautiful. Be sure to check both of these out for all of the amazing footage. If you had nothing to do for the evening, you do now!
mrsmiley wrote in to let us know that Halo Babies has been updated with a new fan strip, this one is entitled, "Dirty Diapers", heheh. They've also got a new vectorized fan desktop up along with some new fanart (both of which I could've sworn I've seen before...). In either event, check out Halobabies.net for the goods.
NDA No More
Mon Jul 26th, 2004
Posted by: at 00:00 AM
After several weeks of closed beta, the non-disclosure agreement over Tribes:Vengeance has finally been lifted. With the public now free to say whatever they want about the game, we can ask for ourselves how a certain aspect of the game performs. To start off this momentous event, NextWish has released a large amount of videos featuring the main bugs in the game. Also,PC Gameworld has taken some nice videos of the game which can now be seen here.
NOTE:NextWish's Site is being hit hard, please be patient when downloading the movies. Also, keep your eyes peeled for more videos, screenshots, and previews; this is just the beginning.
I must apologize for the delay in getting this up, miscellaneous jobs around the 'Yard kept me very busy. In either event, our Starsiege:2845 section is now fully synchronized with the latest public updates. The newly released Colonial Shockmace and Imperial Saber have been added to our weapons page featuring new updates on the weapons found around the forums.
The Promethean Executioner has also been updated as well. I don't know how I missed this the first time around, but Vailias mentioned that the Exec (and I'm assuming all vehicles?) will feature almost no symetrized areas on their skins. This means that, unlike in Starsiege, you'll be able to have one side of your HERC looking completely different than the other side. Sweet!
A very interesting thread popped up on the Starsiege:2845 forums regarding HERC repairs, rescuing pilots, and jacking vehicles in the field. Trajan stepped up and set the record straight for rescuing pilots and vehicle jacking:
In the unlikely event that a pilot can escape, if they can make it back to their base they can hit an inventory pad and call up a new vehicle. If their old vehicle has not already been destroyed it will auto destruct to make way for the new one.
And no, there will be no vehicle jacking. At all. Ever.
And in regards to HERC and infantry repairs:
Yes, there will be field repairing, but it will be limited, in several ways.
There you have it, straight from the horse's... mouth.
The Tribes Council meeting has adjourned and Yogi is here to post the conclusions. The main focus of the meeting was on hosting and administrating Tribes: Vengeance. Both small-time admins and corporate admins were at the discussion to add their two cents. Here's a snippet of the action that went on:
The first item brought to the table was remote administration. Unreal provides what appears to be a great HTTP interface for administering a server. For the little guy with a few servers this is true. However, from Homelan’s point of view there needs to be a telnet type of interface that would allow remote console access and the use of TriCon style applications.
Also, during the discussion Chris hinted that the game's requirements were as such: 1 GHz CPU, 256 MB RAM, GeForce 2 video card.
For those interested in hosting and administration of Vengeance, be sure to check this article out.
Our last update on the Tribal Wars: West event and Starsiege:2845 was that some footage would be aired on local television stations, including G4-TechTV. Another update has surfaced on the SS:2845 forums and Trajan confirms the G4 TV footage and Vailias later mentioned that Pulse will also be airing something this coming Friday. Again, if anyone has the capabilites to record the show(s), let us know!
Gamespot will also be including a write-up of some nature on the project sometime this week to be featured in their Tribes:Vengeance section. We'll keep you updated!
Having tested the game for several weeks now, PC Gameworld has shared their opinion about the beta. Much is said about the game itself and areas that need improvement, but also, the preview covers how seriously IGA is taking the beta:
This is without a doubt the most organised and well-run beta I’ve ever been in. The developers are very accessible, in multiple ways. Testers can chat to them via IRC (“HI RUSS!!!”), on messageboards (where bugs are reported and gameplay is discussed) or in game, where someone from IGA (Irrational Games Australia) can sometimes be found playing.
What’s more, the developers actually listen, and encourage feedback on all parts of the game. Recently a lengthy discussion was had about gameplay and balancing. I was very surprised and pleased when I saw a new patch come out within a week that addressed almost all of the concerns of the testers.
The preview is short and sweet and also features some very impressive screenshots, so head on over there and check it out.
We recently had the opportunity to sit down with the MADia team to chat about their upcoming sci-fi shooter, Operation: Matriarchy. The game features a shared storyline with MADia's previous two games, Echelon (which you might remember reading about a few years back) and Echelon: Wind Warriors but this time instead of flighting in the air, your feet are firmly planted on the ground.
I was just about finished my nightly forum lounging when I came across this thread on the Starsiege:2845 forums. SoMeOnE (that really is his name ) had some spare time and put together a pixel-based Athena. Check out his end result below and what it was originally based off of. Nice work!
Update: SoMeOnE has created another version of the Athena, this one comes complete with ELFs! To boot, he has also created a cute little emoticon.
I'm a little late in getting this up, but, better late than never, right? In either event, the Grunt Brigade comic we mentioned a couple of days ago is finally back online. There are now three strips up, and the neat little Doom-style Halo shooter is available for download.
Frankie suggests that he's been to an international location involving "sauerbraten" - a German word, which the American Heritage Dictionary defines as "a pot roast of beef marinated in vinegar, water, wine, and spices before being cooked."
Skyboxes - the visuals that you see when you look "up" (in Halo, usually involving the Halo in some way, shape or form) - are coming along.
Game water - two kinds.
David Candland needed "a special icon to represent a specific team member. Max suggested adding a large sombrero or foam cowboy hat to the friend icon. Although I laughed initially nothing better popped into my head. Fine, sombrero it is…for now." Unrepresented speculation is that either the host or the "team leader" will don the Webmaster-esque headgear, even if only in icon form.
This post and its content were provided by one of our forum members and a fellow Halo researcher, MrFluffyPants.
This morning, something quite strange cropped up. It seems the Halo 2 Theatrical Trailer has an Easter egg of sorts. At the end, for two frames, the www.xbox.com URL under the Xbox logo changes to www.ilovebees.com. The site appears to be hacked, but looking deeper will find many an odd detail. Among these are the META keywords and cryptic messages scattered throughout the domain. It has been noted that the countdown on the front page is to August 24, 77 days before Halo 2's release (remember Bungie's odd fascination with the number seven). Some odd phrases can be found in the hex for several of the site's images as well.
I called the number provided in ilovebees.com's WHOIS data. A fairly normal-sounding answering machine came on (a recording can be found here), and I left a message. You will be updated if I get a return call.
The site's owner put up a blog after the hacking occurred. Much information about the site can be found there, in addition to some posts by "Cortana" that are excerpts from the Cortana Letters. There seems to be a connection that Bungie is involved in some way; why would they not take legal action if one of their copyrighted characters was connected to a hacking?
This incident, dubbed The Haunted Apiary, has even managed to make its way to Slashdot. Discussion is also underway at The HBO Forum, Bungie.net, and unfiction.
Seems there's finally an ad movie for Halo 2 out now, but I haven't seen it in any commercials. (It's being played at various Loews theatres before movies begin.) Fortunately, it's available on the net at files.bungie.org. It's in Quicktime format and 2.1 MB big. Thanks to Halo.Bungie.Org for the heads up! Enjoy!
Update: If you have Windows Media Player 9 or higher on a PC, the copy available at MSN TV is a bit more crisp with the text.
Let the Competitions Begin
Thu Jul 22nd, 2004
Posted by: at 14:56 PM
Vivendi Universal Games and Irrational Games were nice enough to give 35 spots for the Tribes: Vengeance closed beta to Bittah. For the next two weeks, Bittah will be holding several competitions for these openings in their new forums.
The competitions range from Tribes 2 matches, to paragraphs of why you should be in the beta, to funniest caption on given images. Head on over there and use your imagination. Good luck!
mrsmiley dropped in to let us know that there's a new Halo comic strip in town. Grunt Brigade was home to a promising artist that was planning on joining the already crowded Halo comic strip scene; that is, before the site ran out of bandwidth. However, mrsmiley has informed us that new hosting solutions are already underway and the site should be up sometime in the near future. Until then, keep checking that url!
Avatars and Banners For All!
Wed Jul 21st, 2004
Posted by: at 14:50 PM
Have you ever browsed through the tJY or any other Halo forum and just felt that something was missing? Well, have no fear! The people at Grunty Thirst can help you solve your problems! Just pick from a wide array of avatar and banner images and you're all set! Don't have what you're looking for? No problem! Just e-mail one of the designers and tell 'em what you need! They'll fix you right up!
Two more beta previews have been released today; one from TribalWar and the other from GameSpot. The GameSpot preview is nothing special but simply repeats everything that we've already heard. On the other hand, the TribalWar preview is a must read. Written by Imposter, a Tribes 1 Vet, this preview shows his personal opinion on the game and its future by means of explaining the largest aspects of the game. Be sure to read Imposter's preview and atleast check out GameSpot's 36 new screenshots.
The third weekly update for Halogen has been posted locally on our forums. Dispraiser treats us to a slew of new renders, including the all-new UNSC Light War Factory as well as new, "special" Warthogs. Additionally, a list of units has been released, making a total of 13 units available for the UNSC. The first part of "Making the Warthog", a special feature, was unvealed here where Dispraiser gives us the low-down on how his models are, well, modeled. Very interesting stuff and this is only the tip of the iceberg! Head on over to the thread to read it for yourself.
Dispraiser2 has posted the Halogen Weekly Update in our Halo Mapping & Modding forums. Halogen is a Command & Conquer: Generals total conversion modification; you can visit the official site and catch up on all the action.
Some nifty modelling screenshots this week; for those people into the C&C series, this would certainly be something to check out!
Our good friends over at Tribes2Maps.com have elected yet another Map of the Week. This week it's Irwinter by ToKrZ. It's a CTF map weighing in at just over 340kb, here's a snip:
One of my larger, each team has 4 structures to defend, one main base with the flag stand, one vehicle station and two rear defense towers. Water can be advantagiouse to offensive tactics.
Head on over to Tribes2Maps for more information and map download.
It's long since been known that the Diamond Sword tribe will not be making an appearance in Tribes:Vengeance. That is, by Irrational anyhow. Black1ce stopped by our forums to let us know that his team of MOD'ers are on a mission to change that. They're trying to create all new models, armours, textures, bases, sounds, and even a single player campaign if they can drum up enough support. Swing on by the thread for more information or head to Diamondsword.com to check out the status of the project.
Black1ce sends a message of help. The Diamond Sword team is looking for a few good modelers:
I'll get straight to the point. Basically the DiamondSword Tribe isn't going to be included in Tribes:Vengeance because Irrational is taking a few liberties with the timeline and story even though the DS team was in Tribes and Tribes 2. That's all well and fine, but we over at http://www.diamondsword.com Have taken a liking to our favorite tribe... So we've decided to model our own. What we're trying to come up with is, models, armors, textures, bases, sounds, and even a single player campaign.
As of today I'm looking to recruit a few modelers experienced in modeling programs specifically. And it doesn't help to have more people of all types.
A slew of updates have arisen over at Halo Babies. First up, they have six new pieces of fanart along with a fan desktop for your viewing pleasure. Next, they've opened a new section of the site: fan strips! Visitors can now create their own (or modify existing Halo Babies') strips and have them published on the site. If you're interested in submitting, send mrsmiley an email; otherwise, head on over to Halo Babies to be visually enlightened!
With closed beta in full swing, many people and websites are getting the chance to preview the game like never before. As we reach closer to the open beta and even the release of the game, more and more holes in the Vengeance story should be filled in. To start this process, three gaming websites have previews of the Tribes: Vengeance beta.
The first preview we come across is that of GameSpy. The GameSpy preview has nothing special to say that hasn't been said before. The only interesting paragraph was the first one, which admittedly had me a little scared at first:
There's so much stuff packed into Tribes Vengeance that it's hard to know where to begin. At least that's how I felt after my initial forays online with a beta version of the game. From a distance, it would be easy to dismiss as an Unreal Tournament clone, but after a few brief sessions, it's clear that Tribes Vengeance has its own unique feel that should please longtime fans of the series -- and hopefully some new players as well -- when it arrives in stores this October.
The second preview comes from Action Trip. This is different from what we have heard before: it is an actual story of the author's adventures in the game. I found this preview to be a relief since it shows that this is still, in fact, Tribes. Again, only one paragraph truly grabbed my attention in this preview:
Soon thereafter the mission ended. A summary showed what each side had earned in the way of points. Another nice addition in Tribes: Vengeance is that points are not solely gained by flag captures. Rather you are awarded points for taking out key objectives like sensors and for things like executing difficult shots in midair. The enhanced scoring system is sure to bring bragging to a whole new level as people can now compete on a variety of levels depending on their play style.
The massive five-page overview from IGN really does not show us anything brand new, but puts all the pieces of gameplay into perspective. From armors to vehicles to maps, this preview categorizes every aspect of Tribes: Vengeance that is possible to categorize in beta form:
Maps
Arid
Although the name of the map suggests a desert-like setting, Arid is a dry, mountainous area with a long bridge that runs over a central lake. You'll find all of the vehicles on this medium to large sized map that features plenty of flat roads and floating orb-shaped bases on either side of the lake.
Cavern
Like the name suggests, this small, tight level is housed entirely inside a closed cavern. Each faction has a tall, thin tower based on opposite sides of the cavern, with an exposed flag in a small depression outside the front door. The slight slopes with small moguls allow for quite a lot of speed and vertical action for such a small map. Although it's an entirely enclosed level, it does feature fighter crafts for mid-air battles.
Be sure to check these previews out and keep on the lookout for more previews in the wake of the closed beta.
The latest Bungie Top Story features some very interesting information on vehicle destruction in Halo 2, including blastable hubcaps. They also explain dual-wielding, boarding action on vehicles, and yet another picture of a grunt with no breather. When will they just leave that critter alone?!
Hello, everyone! Wow, it feels great to be apart of this place. For all you guys wondering who the hell this is, I'm the new Halo intern, Jesse AKA skseifer. Apart from my very cool, very hip job at Pizza Hut, I'll be the one doing some updates for Halo 1-2 and a side job as writer, too. If you want to get in touch with me, you can hit me up on Yahoo Messenger, my ID is skseifer. That's about it, hope to see ya guys around the forums!
While I was attempting to find a way to access this week's Halo 2 Update, I spotted an interesting thread in the Penny Arcade Forums, purporting to have Halo 2 beta UI screenshots.
The screens appear to be taken off a TV set and sport a changed user interface - they're not very good quality, but still quite cool.
The original poster (Cruzn15) mentions that the images were originally found at the xblG Forums, linked to media at 1up.com.
For those of you wanting a look at even more Halo 2 screenshots, your taxi has arrived.
For those of you looking at this Friday's Halo 2 Update at the Penny Arcade Forums, you may have noticed a few ill-tempered folks in the remainder of the forum thread. This front-page post by Gabe seems to indicate that the forum itself is not the ideal place to host the weekly update.
As of now, the link on the Bungie.net homepage points to a login dialog; this has never been the case with an update requiring registration before. In the event that it was some overzealous moderator closing the thread early, I've opted to make our cached version of the Update available one day earlier than usual. Here's hoping the PA folks can get this sorted out; in the meantime, if you haven't caught the update, go ahead and read it (and optionally view the Mister Chief art, which Frankie admits is quite poor this week.)
Bungie.net has put together a pretty thorough article up on everyone's dream job: testing video games. The articles starts off with some of the ups and downs for working at Bungie; naturally, the up that tops my list would be Halo 2, but hey, that's just me. In either event, after thoroughly describing what it means to be a tester and its merits, a plug for becoming a tester for Bungie / MS is dropped. If you're interested in working for the former (or the latter...) or even if you're just interested in reading what exactly a video game tester must endure, stop by B.Net and check it out!
Ever wanted a Starsiege:2845 icon? Well, if so, you're in luck! Smylodon from the official forums put together a genuine 32*32 SS:2845 icon by public demand (available here). He didn't stop there though: he also went on to create four more Starsiege-related icons (grab 'em) which you may recognize from the Starsiege animated .gifs package that we have available. He also mentioned that more are on the way, so stay tuned!
Gamespot has thrown up a Tribes:Vengeance Q&A with four devs from the Irrational team. The Q&A covers a lot of ground but focuses mainly on the team's progress throughout the beta. Here's a snip:
GameSpot: We understand that Tribes: Vengeance is in a beta test state. Could you give us an update on how the game, as a whole, is shaping up? How is the single-player campaign coming along, and judging from the testing you've seen so far, how well is the single-player game acting as a multiplayer primer?
Ed Orman: We've begun our closed beta, which is a limited release of the game, to a select group of people, most of whom have played Tribes: Vengeance before. Our intention is to use the closed beta period to begin taking feedback on balance and tuning, but also to iron out any major bugs before we open up the beta to thousands of people. So far, this has been entirely centered on multiplayer. We'll begin our closed testing of single-player very soon.
Head on over to Gamespot to read all of the three page Q&A.
mrsmiley dropped us a line to let us know that the latest strip is now live on their site. In order to understand this comic, however, you've got to know a bit of Bungie history. The inside joke really is on the inside .
Eurogamer's Tribes And Tribulations
Fri Jul 16th, 2004
Posted by: at 18:54 PM
In a two part interview, Eurogamer.net talks with Thrax about how the game came together and how it will continue. The first half of the interview covers how the game was developed, what issues they covered, and such; the second part goes over the community side of the game, the beta, system specs, etc.
Eurogamer: How is the beta testing going?
Chris Mahnken: It's going really quite well. You know that things are going well when they pick out a really tiny thing and they really focus and they get super angry that you're not willing to change this one little thing. The game is obviously fun and they can't find anything major that they're really having issues with, so right now, er... Well this is kind of a bad example, but in the heads-up display we have a friend-or-foe indicator, called IFF, and it's just a coloured triangle about somebody's head. On previous games it was green for friendlies and red for enemies. In this game, you can see up here now [gestures to a game running on a projector nearby], you can see there's yellow for the yellow team and red for the red team, and if you're on the blue team it's blue, and so they're very upset that the red team has red IFF indicators over their heads all the time. So that's their major issue right now. [Smiles]
Yet another Starsiege:2845 snippet from the the official forums. We've mentioned it a couple of times on various weapon pages, but just to clarify: there will not be any double shot weapon variants in SS:2845 (details). As Trajan explained, this isn't an uber-weapon modification .
He also went on to explain that the weapons and other various components that will be present in the game will all serve a purpose. There will not be slight incremental changes in these items to serve as content filler; light and heavy variants (i.e. blaster and heavy blaster) are about as... variant as you're going to see in the game. To further the one-variant thought, we mentioned back in March that there will only be one type of auto-cannon.
It has long been explained on our Starsiege:2845 weapons page and mentioned briefly in our news that infantry will be supplied with default melee weapons, such as the Imperial Saber or Colonial Shockmace (details). However, in an ongoing effort to squash rumours, Trajan posted an update on the official forums.
To reiterate, melee weapons are non-interchangeable; meaning, when you spawn, the melee weapon you have is the only one you'll have. They are more or less the equivalent to the default knife that you receive in other games. Moreover, while they are powerful, they are not "one hit kill wonders" and will only be effective against other infantry (d'uh). Lastly, the most that you can expect out of melee fighting are some jabs or [perhaps a] block: do not expect melee fighting to match that of Star Wars.
We mentioned earlier (here and here) that members of the Starsiege:2845 team were going to appear at this month's Tribal Wars: West event. Well, Trajan mentioned yesterday that the SS:2845 presentation is going to be aired on seveal television stations, including G4-TechTV. Both Vailias and Cenobite have confirmed attendance at the show. If anyone is in the LA or surrounding areas and gets G4-TechTV, let me know!
Our good friends over at Tribes2Maps.com have reviewed another map of the week. This week it's Engine Trouble Classic by Lexor. It's a CTF map that weighs in at just over 135kb. Head on over to the site for more information and map download.
dolbex also sent in word that MLG has put up an audio interview with the [former] #1 ranked player in the MLG League: Strangepurple. Clap, Sundance, and Anakin chat with the leader of Shoot to Kill and find out why he quit the world of professional gaming. You can snag the 14MB .mp3 interview here, but be forewarned: the server is being hit pretty hard and it may take a while to download.
dolbex sent word that B.Net has put together an interview with the MLG crew. Topics include how MLG came to be, where its headed, and how Halo50k3 got mixed up in it. Here's a snip:
Later this month, the MLG is rolling through Atlanta with the Halo50k3 event. Can you give us a quick rundown of the highlights of this latest Halo competition?
SD: I think Dolbex is the man to answer that one.
Dolbex: Sure. The 50k series I think has always done a good job of putting on a show. Plenty of televisions, great staff, and of course, tons of Halo. What we haven't had in the past is the resources that MLG brings to the court. 50 Sony Wega TVs, brand new Xboxes, projectors and screens galore, and of course tons of promotion that 50k3 just would not have seen without MLG. So, I think what people should expect is the quality run tournament from the past with an injection of the most illegal, body hair-nuking, steroid you can find.
A pretty thorough interview and a great read. Check out the rest over at Bungie.net!
The fifth weekly update for the Zanzibar MOD makes its usual appearance on the Halomods forum. The highlight of this week is the 1:13 video showing off the newly crafted energy sword. Stefander also mentioned that the base that we saw last week has finally received some textures! A couple of screens are also present to wet your whistle, so head on over and check it out.
Spotted over at HBO, Project GTA: Codename Halo has also posted their second weekly update. Included in the update are shots of the first map, a nice shot of the finally in-game Walther SMG, as well as an introduction of three new staff members. Read the rest here.
The second weekly update of Halogen: C&C General is up on the HBO forums. This week we see a lot of updates on the modeling and coding fronts of this total conversion MOD. Check out the t-shaped Grunt model along with the rest of the updates here.
mrsmiley dropped us a line yesterday to let us know that community artist, Sparkie, has put together a very anime-inspired helmetless Master Chief sketch. This is the third publicly available rendition of the MC without his helmet, with the other two pieces available on HBO.
If you've ever wondered what John-117 might look like behind that visor, check out Halo Babies' fanart section.
Sorry for the lateness in getting this up, but I just returned from my vacation in Vermont . Anyhow, on Saturday, ATI sat down with the folks from Irrational Games to get the low-down on the graphics side of Tribes:Vengeance (go figure). Anyhow, the interview goes pretty indepth with technical specifications but later on also talks briefly about about the company and the game itself.
Q: What graphic tools were used during development of Tribes: Vengeance?
A: All our art is done using 3ds MAX 5, character studio, and Photoshop. We produce normal maps for our characters using ATI's NormalMapper tool. Additionally we have our own in-house tool for producing the detailed cutscenes needed by the T:V storyline.
Definitely not your run of the mill interview and if you get off by hardware TnL and the like, check it out.
The 13th episode of Fire Team Charlie has now been released to the public over at Xbox Ottawa. The low res. DivX and Quicktime bit torrents are up on the movies page for your downloading pleasure. Of course, if you were a member, you could've grabbed the 173MB DivX high res. version on Friday, heh.
A lot of work has been put into this flick, so if you've got a moment, they're love to hear your comments.
Tank Design Contest
Sat Jul 10th, 2004
Posted by: at 12:08 PM
Starsiege: 2845 is holding another vehicle design contest, this time for a tank. If your tank is chosen, not only do you get bragging rights and your name in the credits but also the chance to win a $50 gift certificate, Half-Life 2, and an 80GB hard drive. Head on over to the official page linked below for complete information.
Update 07/12: Thanks to Roy_Fokker for pointing out that you win all three of the aforementioned prizes, not just one.
SanchezTheLlama wrote in earlier this evening to let us know that the third interview in a series of interviews on the Supreme Conflict: The Enna Wars team is now up. This one is on Scott 'HipboyScott' Watrous, a 3D artist on the team (you might remember him from the spotlight that we had on him this past April). In either event, the interview covers Scott's placement on the team and also unveals some of the backstory of SC:EW as well. Head on over here to read it.
Picture the situation: You're working at a video game retailer in November 2004. A large majority of your customers have pre-ordered Halo 2 and are demanding copies as soon as they arrive. In order to get the copies by Bungie's promised release date of November 9th - a Tuesday - though, they have to be shipped out earlier in the previous week.
There's a huge incentive for stores to sell the copies as soon as they arrive for shipment, though. The store can be known as the first in the area to have the game available, selling copies and getting more value on their investment upfront. This article at MSN GamesRadar purports that Halo 2 will be released on November 11th in the United Kingdom, so that copies of the game can be shipped to stores at a later date. Bungie has apparently confirmed the retailer distribution method.
As a result -- you may not get the copy of Halo 2 that you want on November 9th, regardless of your location in the world. It'll be interesting to see who ends up with the first legitimate retail copy; and what Microsoft might enforce as penalties towards retailers that might release the game early.
Just a plethora of info in this evening's Halo 2 Update; mainly how Bungie does play testing and how usable Halo 2 is supposed to end up becoming. There's also the saga of "Roger's LA Odyssey", a story of attempting to get some beta DVD's burned for the internal Halo 2 beta test. Go on and read about Bungie's trials and tribulations in their attempt to get the game out for November 9th.
The crew at Warcry looked at the other side of Tribes: Vengeance, asking what the major third-party contendors were going to bring to the table. Both TribalWar and Team Warfare are in preparation to open separate Tribes: Vengeance Competition Ladders. Neither of these ladders will be a simple, constant battle for top place but will run in seasons ending with a closed tournament to determine the top clan. As an example, here's what Tribalwar has planned:
“TribalWar has been working on a ladder/league system for about 6 months now.” Colosus told me. “Every single portion of it is custom built and designed to specifically for the Tribes games. No longer are administrators going to be arbitrarily chosen from the community for how much they suck up to the owner of the site or how good of a player they are. The day to day administration of the ladders and leagues will be performed by professional, dedicated, unbiased employees of HomeLAN (our hosting company and partner).” The TribalWar team is clearly mapping out their plans for a more professional but still communal system. “Any decisions requiring arbitration, appeal or rule/map changes will be handled by a council of elected officials from the community. We have created a democratic administration system. The council size changes depending on the number of teams on the ladder. All council members must be nominated, seconded, run a campaign and then be voted on by the players of the ladder. We’ve even included an impeachment process should a council member not be doing his/her job.” Sounds like a local planning meeting at city hall, doesn’t it? He also explained the gameplay focus saying, “Along with the democratic administration system, we’ve decided to go with a full hybrid system for the ladder. The hybrid is run like a ladder for a specific amount of time and then at the end of the “season”, the top 16 teams are locked from challenges and are seeded into a bracket system to determine the winner. The ladder is re-seeded based on the outcome of the tournament. The reason we decided to go with this system is because of how stale the top 10 gets after playing on a ladder for a while. Timing your challenges can be tough and you get sick of playing the same teams over and over again. With this new system, you’re guaranteed to play everyone in the top 16 and proving whether you’re worthy of getting that number one spot.”
I missed posting this last night, but Wolfy from Sector7 Halo wrote in to let us know of a "semi-new" remix of everybody's favourite Halo Theme (which has been downloaded from our Halo file archive over 12000 times) over at Overclocked Remix. The remix was created by Freemind and GrayLightning and weighs in at just over 4.5MB. Download here!
Today is Friday and you know what that means: new Halo Babies! mrsmiley wrote in to let us know that the new strip is now live. Head on over and check it out!
Your HaloTV, that is. dolbex writes in to let us know that MLG Atlanta - 50k3 has teamed up with HaloTV to broadcast the mayhem straight to your PC. HaloTV is a constant video feed broadcasting matches, RvB episodes and even live shows. During 50k3, you can expect some roving "crowd cams", and interviews with the players themselves. This seems pretty cool . Head on over here for more information.
To end off Bungie Day, Frankie posted another 3D screenshot. As Louis mentioned, this one is unique insofar as it consists of time as well. When you rotate the camera around the action, the 'Hog in the center is blown to bits, thanks to a pile of explosive fusion cores.
The seventh day of the seventh month is a very special day around the Bungie community. Why, you ask? It's Bungie Day, of course! 'Dem crazy Bungie folk and their fixation with the number seven... In either event, mrsmiley of Halo Babies fame has taken the liberty of creating a flash movie to commemorate this event, viewable here. Enjoy!
We posted late June that at the upcoming Tribal Wars: West event on July 28th that a few members of the SS:2845 team will be showing the press a short presentation of their progress so far. Well, Vailias let it slip that there are very good odds that we'll be seeing some new footage released after that. Let's hope Trajan is in a good mood .
robottwat brought news to us via our forums of a Halo tournament going down in Eastpointe, Michigan "sometime" in August. If you're at all interested or live in the area, check out the site or visit the comments thread below for more information.
CaptainBiggspoints out a new Tribes 2 flick that was just released by sYs|yavor. Entitled, "Now We Are Free", this movie tries to show what "Tribes 2" really means; demonstrating the intense action that you can find in it that isn't available in other FPSes. I found the music didn't quite match the gameplay, but its definitely a nice ~3:00 long compilation. Check out the comments thread below for more information and download links.
In tJY's 13th Starsiege:2845 dev member spotlight, we have a modeler and skinner. Those who have spoken to him will probably remember their conversations as "eccentric" or "interesting", but will no doubt have enjoyed it. Without further ado, I give you, SONOFMAN.
In somewhat unrelated news, I'd like to pass on Trajan's message: vote for SS:2845 at the Mod Database. If SS:2845 is nominated for the community's favourite MOD, not only is it great PR for the MOD but it also helps them recruit talent. That being said, nominate SS:2845 right here. You can also visit their profile by visiting our links page.
Stefander, Lead of the Project Zanzibar mapping/modding team, has posted some screenshots and text on our forums dealing with the latest updates to the upcoming level. It's a reproduction of the Zanzibar level shown for Halo 2 at E3 2004, for Halo PC.
As posted at HBO and subsequently looked at by yours very truly, there's a significant problem with sparse adoption of Halo PC, Custom Edition. The problem extends beyond not finding a good server - the lack of demand means that updates for the game are not forthcoming from Gearbox.
If you're up for improving numbers of players on Halo CE:
I'll make it even more clear: if I see more than 1,000 people playing Halo: CE during a peak hour I will petition the Gearbox team to do at least one more patch that fixes a couple of the CE issues and any other low-hanging fruit the team can do safely.
But caveat emptor:
I do not want you guys to spend a lot of time trying really hard to get over 1,000 people to play only to find that it's harder than you thought and your work doesn't bring you any return on your time investment because you only managed to get up to 700 or 800 people.
You're just going to end up blaming us again...
If you can put effort in and not blame us if it doesn't go the way you hope, then please GO FOR IT!
If you can put effort in and make things happen and break a thousand, then we're on board!
But, if you put a lot of effort in and you can't break the threshold, I'm going to be really, really disappointed in you if the flames start again.
Do you understand the risk?
Risky business indeed.
Thanks to HBO for the heads up, and STB for the informative summary.
15K+ lines of combat dialog. Formerly secret level renamed to a newly secret level. And according to Mister Chief, the Beta is done. Interestingly enough, Oddball is back in the game currently; and King of the Hill is a strong possibility for a returning gametype.
dolbex sends word that photos from all previous MLG events (including the latest Chicago Midwest Mayhem event) have now been posted on their site. Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, the gallery is empty...
Moreover, six videos (more to be added daily) from Dallas and Chicago are now up, showcasing raw footage from the tournaments. Head on over to MLGPro.com for the flicks.
Many have sent in news regarding this update, so I apologize for not getting this up sooner. Anyhow, the Starsiege:2845 team has released a mini public update to wet your whistle. A redesigned Promethean Executioner is the highlight of this update, IMHO. However, an updated COIL Rifle render along with two new infantry handheld weapons: an Imperial Saber, and a Colonial Shockmace were also unveiled. Want more? Head on over to the thread for the goods.
Along with this update, five new Staff members have been added to the team: Triger, Aslan, Super Powio, Kushtaka, and BoomCrash.
An update to the compendium item below, Trajan let me know that the manual is a 120+ page pictorial manual / historical reference that will be released in .pdf format. Great for those who want to print it out!
mrsmiley writes in to let us know that the usual "Friday Strip" is now live on Halo Babies. Naturally, this one picks up where last week's left off. Additionally, Gruntsbane has cooked up another desktop for your viewing pleasure; entitled Jenkins. Enjoy!
Tribes2maps.com Presents the [T2M] Map Pack. Consisting of just under 40 diffrent maps from both CTF and Siege gametypes. Many have custom interiors and terrains to create a whole new tribes experience. All maps are top-notch and none have been featured in any other map packs to date. This is the Tribes Mappers contribution to the community. You can grab the map pack right here.
The folks over at Mechnexus have scored a sneak peek at the upcoming manual for Starsiege:2845. It's in a very preliminary stage at the moment, as many of the images used are there as placeholders, but I think you'll agree that it's coming along very nicely. Reminds me very much of the original Starsiege manual. Check it out here.
Kudos to Weatherlight for the heads up.
Update: Trajan let me know that the manual is a 120+ page pictorial manual / historical reference that will be released in .pdf format.
CJ Scaminaci, project lead for The Enna Wars wrote in to let us know that he's put up an interview with Sean "Kornman00" Cooper; the tools and AI programmer on the Enna Wars team. The interview is rather small but CJ mentions that it's merely the first in a soon-to-come series. You can check that out here and be sure to catch our spotlight with kornman00 right here.
Posted on Forerunners.org, it appears as though Cortana.org is going offline for a while. Until further notice, the site will remain down but sometime in the near future, Steve Campbell (head honcho of C.Org) will post why she went down. It'll be interesting to see why the site went down, as Steve mentioned in his spotlight, the site was opened in partnership with Gearbox Studios. We'll keep you updated.
Battleground: Halo is no more. After many years of working their way up the proverbial ladder, the former crew of BG:Halo have finally reached the top rung and their goal. What was once just a Battleground, is now a Planet! Announced yesterday, Site Director, Fluffy, had a few things to say:
We have now taken a big step into the IGN/GameSpy Network and have now reached the goal that the first staff set back in 1999, the same one we've always had, to become a Planet-site. Today is a big day and I'm proud to announce that we've now reached one of our major goals.
Nice job guys! Head on over to HaloPlanet and see what the crew has in store for you.
dolbex sends word that if you're interested in winning a free entry to Halo 50k3, it's as easy as impressing your Mom. A little confused? Don't be, it's simple. MLGPro.com is holding an "Impress Your Mom" contest for some free MLG swag and a Halo 50k3 entry. All you have to do is send in a short clip of your best multiplayer kill in Halo and if your entry is chosen, you win. Check out MLGPro.com for more details. Oh, and the deadline is July 20th -- so get movin'!
Last week, Gamespy put up the first two parts of an exclusive three-part series preview of Tribes:Vengeance. The first part took an indepth look at single player and the second part took care of multiplayer. Along with the write-ups are several new screens that I haven't seen before and are pretty snazzy looking. Here's a snip from the multiplayer write-up that pretty much sums things up:
As you can tell, much of the Tribes universe has stayed remained intact, but there have been a significant number of changes. The many tweaks, while minor, will require some re-acclimating for veterans. In the end, though, it's still all about Tribes-style fun, which certainly remains intact. As developer Irrational Games has said all along, it's trying to make the game more accessible while not losing the core audience; at this stage, it looks Irrational is well on its way to achieving that.
Next up, GenGamers got a hold of several new screenshots (some which were present in the above Gamespy previews) which are available here.
About a month ago, Bungie.net released their last wallpaper entitled WortWortWortHog and it was hit. Now, based off of the high-res OXM scans released almost two weeks ago, artist Lorraine McLees has created another stunning desktop called OXM Cover+ (at the bottom) in resolutions from 800*600 to 1600*1200.
Sneak peaks of articles are kinda cool. To speculate on the availability of a Warthog in 2551 is equally as interesting. Frankie's let readers know (along with some tasty concept pictures) about what kind of vehicle to consider in the next few centuries.
Almost two weeks ago, the Starsiege:2845 team flew in to see the Junkyard crew in their newly-painted Colonial Argus APC. We also mentioned that an Imperial-skinned version would be making its way into our vehicles page soon. Well, as promised last week, the Imperial-skinned Argus APC has landed at tJY. Check out Trinity's latest handywork right here!
Today, Trajan posted news that a few members of the Starsiege:2845 team were invited by VU Games to attend Tribal Wars: West on Friday July 28th, at the LAX Airport Marriot. A 10-15 minute presentation will be made by the team around 4pm EST. So far, both Trajan and Vailias are planning on attending so it should be a good show. Head on over to Tribal Wars for more information.
Over at Tribes2Maps.com, they've thrown up a new map of the week. This week it's Starscape by ZOD. This is a CTF and DM map weighing in at just under 2MB. Here's a snip:
Starscape is part of a totally new and never done before type of mission, we call it MapMod. MapMod is a self contained MOD within in a single mission. The idea behind MapMod is to have totally different games each time the mission changes. Each MapMod will be different from the others. Starscape is a flight sim set in space and has several new models including Vehicles, Mines, asteroids and bases.
Head on over to Tribes2Maps.com for more information and map download.
Many an-update from the Halo mod community over the last couple of days. First up, NiTrOuSoXiDe has posted a New Mombasa update on the Halo Revolution forums. A great amount of progress has been accomplished with this update with texturing work being virtually complete as of this date. Modeling has been stepped up on the Battle Rifle and graphically, the mod is looking much sweeter. Unfortunately, the picture that was posted is down as Halocity (where its hosted) appears to be down as well. NiTrOuS also mentioned in the thread that we can expect an official trailer from the mod very soon.
Next up we have Halogen, a C&C Generals total conversion mod of Halo, this update brought to you by HBO's forum.
Zanzibar's 3rd weekly update has been posted on hte Halomods forum. Modeling is moving right along with texturing not far behind as Stefander mentioned, next week we'll be seeing a lot more in-game shots; rather than rendered models.
Finally, BF:Vietnam's Halo mod, Homefront, has posted another update on their site. A couple of sweet looking vehicle renders (both in-game and models), a certain Blood Gulch base has been stoked, as well as some new building renders.
This week, Frankie's taken the Halo 2 Update to MLGPro.com. Although much of John Butkus' writing was CENSORED, there's still some cool information as to promotional events, testing and a writeup from Marty this week.
Earlier this morning, Vailias and Trajanclarified a few things regarding human and cybrid handheld weapons, which was explained briefly on our weapons page. It turns out that both humand and cybrid infantry will be able to carry two selectable weapons at once. The difference, however, is that cybrids will be able to use both weapons at once; whereas, humans will only be able to use them one at a time. Trajan also mentioned that a default melee weapon that is non-interchangeable will be supplied, along with grenades and "other such things".
I'd also like to point interested readers to Rampancy.net, where Narcogen has done an incredible job sharing opinions and debunking rumors about the backwards compatibility issue involved.
This is a more substantial leak than previous ones, and we've got 2 sites displaying them this time. XBox-Scene and Spong.com have leaked documents describing the new XBox as being powered by one 3.5GHz IBM processor, a 500MHz ATi graphics processor, and at least 256MB of RAM. It will run a version of Windows NT similar to the one in the XBox, with a version of DirectX 9.
Interestingly, the IBM processor is a triple-core processor, with each core capable of two simultaneous hardware threads. At peak performance, this means 21 billion instructions per second. Read the links above for more info. (Looks like Ever found it before me. Oh well.)
Our previous poll asked: More than two players per team in Halo 2. Good or bad?
When rereading the subject -- I realized that it was possible to have more than two players per team in Halo: Combat Evolved! In fact, the limitation on teams for Xbox and Mac/PC Halo is the inability to have more than two teams per game. This has been reported not to be the case in Halo 2.
The results speak for themselves, in any event.
Our latest poll asks if Microsoft should include a hard drive in the next iteration of the Xbox, codenamed "Xenon". Some people, like myself, see the hard drive as an important peripheral that is crucial to any online-enabled console's success; others see it as a waste of internal console space and too expensive to justify.
While the most recent discussion around the console has been whether it will be backwards compatible (and Narcogen of Rampancy.net has written a stinging, excellent retort as to Microsoft's "response" to the alleged rumors, this may be another crucial factor if Microsoft wants to dominate the online console market. (If you're interested in making your vote count as to backwards compatibility, you can also make your vote count at Rampancy.)
MINI UPDATE!!! Tiniest Update Ever!
So, I just watched the cinematics for a level in the middle of the game, and they have the animation applied. looks great!
Two mirrored bases are set in the snowy valleys of the ColdPoint summits. The flag objective hovers in the air, above a sunken depression. It is easy to reach but hard to leave. Should a base be taken off-line by the destruction of its generators, a repair pack can be found on the bridge in the center of the map. Bot support is enabled and works fairly decently.
Head on over to Tribes2Maps.com for more information and map download.
Finally, don't forget about our vehicles page with the newly added Argus APC. Along with the Colonial-skinned version, soon you'll see an Imperial-skinned version, exclusive from the Junkyard.
During restructuring of its games division, Vivendi Universal closed the doors of its Sierra office in Bellevue, Washington. As a result, Sierra's Hoyle game line was shut down. About 350 people were fired as of yesterday. This is the third closing of a development company by Vivendi Universal in the last 2 months. The other victims were Papyrus Studios and Impressions Games. All three companies were cut off for not living up to corporate expectations.
Sierra Entertainment was the parent company of Dynamix (which was shut down for similar reasons), and owned the rights to the Starsiege and Tribes franchises, both originally developed by Dynamix.
Update: This closure does not affect the team working on Tribes: Vengeance (who was moved from Sierra to VU Games Northwest almost a year ago) or Starsiege:2845. Rejoice. Thanks TribalWar and Trajan.
Some of his latest works include the Cybrid PBW and the redesigned Promethean Adjudicator. He's a skinner, a modeler, and an animator on the Starsiege:2845 team. Who am I talking about? Our next spotlight of course: Vailias.
Hop on over to the 343GS Forum, where the short, nonetheless sweet Halo 2 update is residing this week. Frankie gives up the goods on the new HUD (you'll be able to have three weapons in total: a dual-wield set and a second weapon, totalling three.) Additionally the shield level and health meter have been "separated", making for some interesting concepts -- maybe a weapon that directly affects health, or an EMP-type explosion that only drains shield?
There's also hints of new Covenant vehicles and a possible new vehicle selection for the Waterworks level: although "Banshee" is the first thing that springs to mind, the Halo-gazing public might have noticed that the Banshee was seen in an earlier image of Waterworks. Time will tell... and by all means, comment on this week's writing... It's sure to be juicy fodder for discussion.
You've all seen at least one piece of his work. Now, Dan Chosich of 2070 Films fame has created a 52 second short comprising some of his best works (released and unreleased) in a film entitled, "2070 Films: Beginning". The film weighs in at just over 15 MB in size and is available from files.bungie.org or Mythica. Definitely check this flick out. Now.
A new strip has appeared on Halo Babies, continuing the plot from last week. To boot, two new community desktops have been added by akba; available at the bottom of the page. mrsmiley also wrote in to let us know of the new rules in place for posting comic comments. They seem pretty strict, so it's best if you check it out before more comments!
Earlier today we mentioned that the Argus APC was released in the latest SS:2845 public update. Well, we got our grubby little hands on the Argus APC showing off the Colonial colours and insignia. Check it out!
wolfy writes in that Bungie.Net has released high-resolution versions of the pictures in the recent Halo 2 article featured in the Game Informer magazine (article recently scanned in over at HBO) two months ago. Keep in mind that these screenshots are at least two months ago (re: pre-E3) so many things have changed since then (including graphics, lighting, layouts, etc.).
Also included alongside the high-resolution shots are updates on the levels that were featured in the article as well as a small Q&A with Jeremy Zoss, Associate Editor of Game Informer magazine. The Q&A isn't too indepth regarding anything Halo, but the write-ups and screenshots of Lockout, Waterworks, and Burial Mounds certainly are. Be sure to check this one out.
Oh, and keep your eyes peeled to Bungie.Net updates for the next little while. The Halo 2 assets from the latest Official Xbox Magazine (OXM) might make a similar debut soon.
Wolfy from Sector 7 Halo writes to let us know that another, much-appreciated round of Halo 2 screenshots has hit Bungie.net. The shots were published in a Game Informer magazine about two months ago; now, the high-resolution versions are available for fans to gaze at. While they're a good look at the upcoming game, the screenshots are noted to be from a previous graphics engine and "all of the screens, renders, and concepts are subject to change."
Having said that, here's an list of links to Bungie's Screenshot Viewer:
Of course, you'll want to read the article as well as look at the pretty pictures... so go to it!
Oh, and keep your eyes peeled to Bungie.Net updates for the next little while. The Halo 2 assets from the latest Official Xbox Magazine (OXM) might make a similar debut soon.
There's a new map of the week over at Tribes2Maps.com. This week it's Save Your Soul by yavor. This 6MB CTF map was designed for 28 players or more; head on over to Tribes2Maps.com for more information and map download.
As we mentioned yesterday, the next Starsiege:2845 public update was released this evening. Probably the most important part of this update is the news that he 2845 team is finally getting the Tribes:Vengeance code sometime this week. This is way off their projected schedule for receiving the code, as we mentioned back in April. As a result, SS:2845 will not be released with T:V, nor will it make their projected Q4 release date.
Next on the list of updates are three new Staff members: Nazbot, a code monkey; Dragonspit, a concept artist; Kaffein, a sound effects artist. SleepyBrightEyez and Edgen also released several new tunes (Siege is amazing); downloads are hosted on their personal sites and will be mirrored at tJY in our SS:2845 music section later this evening.
Also released is the first finished rendering of an aircraft - the human Argus APC. This amoured personnel carrier can hold six infanty and one pilot; serving mainly as a gunship / personnel carrier. A new weapon was also released - the human infantry grenade launcher; updated renders of the mini-chaingun (now renamed as the "minigun"), and the blaster rifle.
Finally, a new kickass (though 1024*768) Predator wallpaper was released, photoshopped by Zero-Optix. Check out all the goodies on the official SS:2845 forums.
Last but oh so not least, the year 2844 was added to the timeline, check out the final installment before the game's timeline, right here.
CJ 'SanchezTheLlama' Scaminaci from The Enna Wars dropped us a line earlier today to let us know that the beta of Enna Chat is now available. This is a Mac-only (for now) MChat IRC-clone and I must admit, it's pretty nifty looking! Head on over to The Enna Wars for more information.
Wolfy from Sector 7 Halo writes in to let us know that a new strip of The Marines is now up. This one pokes fun at the downtime that S7 has received over the last little while. Check it out!
Trajan dropped a not-so-discrete hint on the Starsiege:2845 forums regarding the next public update. Make sure you're home tomorrow mid-day as Trajan promises this will be, "...quite large and have lots of pant wetting material." We'll keep you posted.
Also spotted on the forums was a blurb from Trajan about how lasers will function:
Weapons will still be able to fire even at low energy levels just as in Starsiege, obviously at much lower damage levels.
The difference is most weapons (lasers definately) will require both lock and visible reticle for convergance. So if you lose your HUD, lasers will just fly randomely all over the place, you will no longer be able to continue sniping sans HUD.
So if you plan on hitting someone they had better be standing 10 meters in front of you, and the size of a barn. Otherwise you're just going to be putting on a pretty light show and telling everyone in sight your shields are down and to stop what they are doing and shoot at you.
Lastly, pulse lasers are going to use insane amounts of energy, and have a very short range, so don't think you'll be able to just stand there and mow. Trying to boat them will definately not be a good idea unless you are suicidal. They will require finesse to use, they aren't the sgun equivalent for this game.
Like the 2845 team has said many a time, "this isn't Starsiege."
tJY's Forum Store is, well, a store... for our forum. Inside you'll find a bunch of useful and / or useless items to enrich your forum going experience. Items are purchased with a tJY currency known as tJY Tokens - those little gold coins that are floating around the Junkyard. tJY Tokens have no monetary value in the real world, yet.
tJY Tokens can be earned many different ways but most visibly through community contributed content: submitting news, links, files, maps, demos, gallery shots, strategies, and articles. Additionally, there are dozens of ways to earn tJY Tokens through our forums, but it'll be up to you to figure out how.
Check out the comments thread below for more information on the Forum Store, Tokens, and a slew of new features to the Junkyard!
Friday's massive Halo 2 Update has now been added to our archive. In case you missed it on Friday (and even if you didn't), be sure to check it out, and make use of that search function to find out what the ESRB had to say about Halo 2.
The guys over at Bittah.com have got their hands on some footage of Tribes:Vengeance at the closed alpha test that went on last week. The result? A 4:42 minute 120MB flick of pure gameplay footage that can only be described as l33t. There are some awesome MA disks and nice flag caps as well. This thread has a list of mirrors; I highly suggest the bit torrent mirror, it's flying right now. Enjoy!
This week Frankie's posted the update over at the Forerunners.org forum -- and it seems to be in the home stretch. Two new animators have been recently added (one's from FASA Studios, of MechAssault fame), a room with three hundred Xbox units is shown, and some comments about a "proximity voice", presumably for Xbox Live taunting!
Our 11th Starsiege:2845 dev member spotlight is up. This time, Zero-Optix offers a short and sweet blub on his life and gaming history. In case you've missed any of our previous SS:2845 dev member spotlights, you can catch them all on our press coverage page.
Mentioned three days ago, the official Tribes:Vengeance beta signups were opened. The next day, Thrax posted on the TW Forums some details regarding the nitty gritty of your chances of making it in:
Closed beta will be very small. We've had over 10,000 people register for the beta so far, and there doesn't seem to be a slowdown in sight. We will have less than 250 total openings in the closed beta until the Tribal-Wars LAN in late July. Of those, I've already filled about 100, which leaves 150 for those of you who are still hoping to get in. With my current database, that gives you less than a 1.5% chance of being selected. By the end of the week I estimate that your chances will go down to well below 1%.
However, if you want to take part in the beta there is a way you can have a 100% chance of getting in. Go to your local EBGames, or GameStop and pre-order (Marweas did it at Software Etc for $5) and then register for the Tribal-Wars LAN. Bring your receipt and you'll get a beta CD and you'll be in. I highly suggest that you do this now, because once the T-Ws spots fill up you won't have any way to get into the beta.
So if you're near the Chantilly, Virginia Westfields Marriott or the Los Angeles Airport Marriott from July 22nd to July 25th, you might want to think about signing up. See this thread for more details.
mrsmiley wrote in to let us know that the usual friday strip is now visible on Halobabies.net. Also on the table are three fan-submitted and Gruntsbane-modified desktops. Be sure to drop by the desktop comments and let yapyap know what you think of his work!
SanchezTheLlama wrote in to let us know that the second bi-weekly update for The Enna Wars is now posted on their site. This update covers some engine improvements, dynamic physics to introduce interactive environments, as well as some map and model renders. Head on over to the update to read all about it.
Funky dropped us a line to let us know that HaloSpy CE has been released. This new version of HaloSpy is now compatible with Halo CE. There are many new features: auto-download from map mirrors, a buddy list to find players online, a game summary export feature, and server favorites. Head on over to Funky's site for more information or head to our file archive and download it!
After an inexcusable amount of time, all of the Tribes: Vengeance sections are completely up to date. All images in the gallery, armour, weapon (now including packs and deployables), and vehicle sections are currently on track with all images released. So check out all of the images and information in the new and improved Tribes: Vengeance Section.
GameSpot got the chance to shoot a few questions over to Ben Hutchings, the game's senior animator, about the task of animationg Vengeance:
GameSpot: Tell us how the team has gone about creating the characters of Tribes: Vengeance.
[B]Ben Hutchings: Rowan [Wyborn] and David [Beswick] produced this very nifty little program called Mojo, specifically designed to compile and play cutscenes. It is here that all the characters, sounds, animations, and sets are brought in and work begins on setting up the shots according to the storyboards. Each character has its own set of tracks devoted to its speech, animation, position and effects, such as the jetpack flare. Mojo also makes use of effects, like motion blur, slow motion, and overlays for text and such. This paragraph on Mojo is being kept small. I can't begin talking about Mojo without devoting another two pages to it, since it is where we do about half of our work!
Also along with the three images released with the Q&A, TribesVengeance.com has released 7 new images. Large versions of these images can be found at IGN.
The signup process for the Tribes: Vengeance beta was announced at the Official T:V Website:
We are currently taking applications for the Tribes®: Vengeance beta testing program, which will begin June 14th and run for several months. The closed beta program will begin with a very limited group but expand weekly until later this Summer when the public will be invited to partake in the testing. Tribes: Vengeance will ship to retail stores worldwide in October 2004.
You catch the quick blurb about the release date in there?
The folks over at Subnova have officially lost the bandwidth battle. Any of you who has ever run a website knows just how expensive bandwidth can be, and due to lack of funds and late payments, Subnova's bandwidth has been cut off. The only reason its up right now is because of Louis Wu at HBO. tJY has had its fair share of downtime as a result of exceeding our bandwidth quota but fortunately, we have found a comfortable home thanks to Futurepoint Web Solutions - so we're lucky. But, until further notice, Subnova will be MIA. I don't know if its too late to donate, but send Deimos Fawkes an email and see what can be done to help out.
Just in case something gets yanked, just a reminder that Friday's Halo 2 Update has been archived locally.
Starsiege: Tribes is now available at Sierra's Download page. No longer do you have to have a FilePlanet ID to download the game. Now that it is no longer exclusively a FilePlanet download, more mirrors should be popping up all over the place.
A new Map of the Week has surfaced over at Tribes2Maps.com. This week it's Caladan Polar Cap by _Tex. This is a CTF map that weighs in at just over 170kb. Here's a snip:
The northern most reaches of Caladan, nice cold water to jump into after those uneventful dates. Only the Starwolf would give a damn about this place. Which is kind of ironic, because, they just happen to own it. The only reason anyone else would care about this region of the planet is for the vast oil reserves.
For more information and map download, head on over to Tribes2Maps.com.
Largest Vengeance Game to Date
Mon Jun 7th, 2004
Posted by: at 12:10 PM
The crew from Bittah was invited to play some Vengeance on Saturday. Twenty-eight people from Bittah and 5 people from Irrational were able to play, making this the largest T:V match ever. The best part about this event, is that many of the have created write-ups about the event and their opinions of the game. So far there are 13 writeups and odds are that there will be more when the crew gets time to write em. Click the comments link or go to the original post linked below to see the whole list of reviews.
Friday's Halo 2 Update has been added to our archive. If you haven't yet read this week's (or rather, last week's) update, then head on over to our repository and check it out.
Before him were men like Edgen, Roy Fokker, and Cenobite. Joining the ranks of our spotlights on the Starsiege:2845 dev team is Sentinal. Most of you would probably know him as Sentinal of the Starsiege Men In Black squad, but today he comes to us as a mapper on the SS2845 team. Check out our 10th SS2845 dev team spotlight right here.
Out of the gates this evening, the Halo 2 Weekly Update is over at Subnova; along with all the typical miscellaneous tidbits, a pitiful Mister Chief awaits your perusal. (You may have to be a bit patient when checking out the update; the Subnova page took a while to load over my 5Mbit line.) Update: Louis Wu of HBO mentioned that Subnova has a beta server available where access might be faster and more stable. You'll want to check that link out if you're interested in just reading the update (and not posting comments.)
Something I think especially rocks was mentioned, as well: "Cuban did the damage type reporting so the game engine can have different messages appear for Melee kills vs. Sniper kills vs. Needler kills, plus we track them as separate stats which is cool." For those of you who have seen the E3 2004 demos, there are different HUD messages depending on the manner of death; now apparently there are going to be statistics tracked, as well? Just brings narcogen's (and many of the community's) wishes a bit closer to reality.
Almost two years ago, we reported news from Mechnex, the all mecha-related news site. Then, last year around this time, we mentioned that Mechnex.net as we knew it, was no more - the site was turned into Starsiege:2845's home. A little further down the line, SS:2845 got a new home at SS2845.com, but Mechnex.net was still used as a forwarder. Well, Mechnex has been down long enough and today Trajan mentioned that the Mechnex has been reborn as Mechnexus. Check out the redesigned site and all the mecha-related news you can handle right here.
mrsmiley writes in with updates at Halo Babies. The usual strip is up that further advances the ongoing plot. As Mista_B mentioned, the strip is in story mode, heh.
As noted on HBO and posted at Bungie.net, the Bungie Webmaster is back with an ornery assortment of answers for those unfortunates crossing his path. My favourite blurb -- one of the most helpful ones -- involves a poor soul who's clearly eaten too much pie.
Go ahead and read the bitter, twisted responses of the Bungie Webmaster, and learn that the Halo 2 Custom Edition metal box will not bend relativity and contain an extra Xbox DVD case.
An interesting thread appeared on the Starsiege:2845 forums yesterday. A community member posed the question if you'll be able to choose your name and squad in SS:2845. Today, ConfigSys.boy! responded saying no. Unlike the original Starsiege where you had a lot of lenience in your character's placement in the story, in SS:2845, you will have a lot less say in your character's... character. The writing team felt that role you played in the original weakened the story and player immersion. Config explains the role you'll play in SS:2845:
...you will play an actual character in our campaign. (Three characters in fact.) A living, breathing part of the universe who you will get to know and with whom you will empathize. We feel that this decision will help players become more attached to and involved in the story as it unfolds. It also gives us more room to provide the player with concrete details regarding setting and relationships with other characters in the story, thus contributing further to the immersion factor.
But is this a good thing? Personally, I liked playing the de-protagonized character in the original - I liked being a Duster. Let us know what you think!
There's a new Map of the Week over at Tribes2Maps.com. This week it's 1914 by gaz. This is a CTF map that weighs in at just over 1.3MB, here's the snip:
This map is loosely based upon trench warfare in World War One, it has 2 lines of trenches, separated by about 500k of no mans land. There is a destroyed Starwolf base which adds an interesting twist (bug actually ) to play... There are a lot of turrets defending each teams trenches. Iventory stations are available by each teams flag stand and there is a MPB at the other end on each teams trench.
Head on over to Tribes2Maps.com for more details and map download.
Spotted over on the SS:2845 forums, Cenobite, a member of the 2845 dev team, posted that Skinnersguild.com is back up and running. This Tribes 1 and Tribes 2 skinning site is still looking a little bare from what it was some time ago, but stop on by and help out with the content! You might notice that the site looks awfully simlar to the SS:2845 forums, heh. Nevertheless, check it out.
half the sky from TWL writes in to let us know of their updated uber-Tribes:Vengeance FAQ. Credit has now been given to the respective sites from which information was gathered and half mentioned that there are a few extra tidbits regarding stat tracking and deployables; c/o KineticPoet.
Way back in August of 2003, the Starsiege:2845 folks held a vehicle design contest where community members had to create a heavy Colonial HERC and the winning entry would land a spot in the game. The winner of the contest was Dacon with his Tyr design. Well, until now, that concept sketch was the only thing that we had to remember our dear ol' Olympian by.
Just released, is a completely modeled, skinned, and tweaked version of the Colonial Tyr. The result is truly breath taking. Check out this six-weaponed behemoth right here, and be sure to see this thread for more information on the Tyr, and its history.
Friday's Halo 2 Update has been added to our Halo 2 Update repository. Check it out, and don't forget to make use of that search function to find that itty bitty tidbit of information you know you're looking for (even before you knew you were looking for it, heh).
The Enna Wars, formerly Project Halo, has moved on to a new server. tJY has had a long history with these guys, including an interview, and a spotlight on one of their devs. Well, you can now reach the Enna Wars at their new address, here. From all of us here at the Junkyard, we wish you the best! As a final goodbye, we leave you with a spotlight on their head programmer, kornman00.
CJ "SanchezTheLlama" - you may know him from The Enna Wars - writes: "I just launched sanchezthellama.com, which is a custom Halo CE map site. We have public uploads, forums, screen shot uploads and a lot more."
No map downloads seem to be available yet; though if you're a map creator, you can likely begin uploading content and help STL get started!
And this Friday, I'm managing to post some news for the first time in a while, thanks to HBO and Rampancy.net for keeping constant with the Halo 2 Updates. This week's is posted on one of the new Bungie.net forums, New Mombasa.
Although Frankie admits to the update being the "smallest and lamest" one in weeks, it's a refreshing change from the swath of info released at E3. Cinematics featuring everyone's favourite Sargeant; a new CTF map with a "decidedly Covenant feel"; and the obligatory Mister Chief drawing are all ready for perusal. Go and read!
Spotted over at HBO, Bungie has just released one of the coolest little utilities I have seen in a long time. 3D screenshots. You heard me, Halo 2 pictures in 3D! You can read the technical "how-to" here, but in short, the gameplay was paused and individual screenshots were taken around point of action. The result is a matrix style screenshot that must be seen to be believed. The first 3D screenshot is of an Elite devasting a group of MC's in Zanzibar. Check it out here.
mrsmiley writes in to let us know of the usual digs over at Halobabies.net: a new comic. Additionally, to make up for the lack of non-comic-related artwork during their E3 adventures, Gruntsbane has created two new desktops, and three new 175*175 avatars. Swing on by Halobabies.net to grab the new releases.
PlanetTribes got the scoop on the fourth character to be released by the Starsiege:2845 team. is a Metagen Cybrid designed by Audacity. Head on over to PTT for the biosheet!
The folks over at Tribes2Maps.com have released yet another Map of the Week (surprised, anyone?). This week it's Deathmoon Rising, by EEPROM. Deathmoon Rising is a CTF, Bounty, and C&H gametype that weighs in at just over 3.2MB. Here's the snip:
The premise of this map is simple; some crazy tribe went and built a huge Beam gun on the moon of Oxen that orbits a large planet called Sultan. This gun can vaporize a whole city in seconds. The enemy tribes have come to take control of the Mega Gun base. One thing I would like to point out, there is a screen in the Mega Gun control room located deep inside the Mega Gun Base that will show the status of each defense tower (online or power down), simple but effective.
Head on over to Tribes2Maps.com for more details and map download.
Apple Developer Connection has released an interview with Westlake Interactive -- the folks behind Mac Halo. The interview is pretty exhaustive with technical jibber jabber on how Mac Halo was created, but for those of you [like grey] who must know how things works, check it out.
CJ 'SanchezTheLlama' Scaminaci, project leader for The Enna Wars writes in to let us know of the first of a weekly update coming from the team. Topics covered include details on the design and engine (including self-shadowing which we mentioned earlier in May), modeling, and quite a few shots of development tools that they have been working on. While the update is rather short, included are two new music tracks; one of which will probably be used for the introduction of the game. Stop on by their forums to comment on the update.
A new website has come into radar with it's release of some video taken at E3. Jetpack.tv decided to take the T:V overview one step further and make one with the help of footage from E3 itself. Now not only do you get to hear about how the game plays, but you get to see it as you hear it. The video covers the new weapons and the new speedpack. Also, the Rover is covered in this video. It seems two new characteristics of the Rover are covered: it follows the direction of your mouse (ala Halo Warthog style) and is very hard to flip. Be sure to check out this well-made video a Jetpack.tv.
I mentioned yesterday that Bungie.net was going down for a couple of hours this morning for some upgrades. Well, they have been revealed. Five new forums have been added along with about 30 new avatars. However, with the good news comes some bad news. Since the 7th Column has grown so much so quickly, Bungie has had to temporarily shut off chapter creation until the site is revamped with the new Bungie.Net code. Head on over to the story for more information.
The first issue of our exclusive Starsiege:2845 Developer Diary has been posted on our Starsiege forums by ConfigSys.boy!. This issue focuses largely on the writing team's accomplishments and hurtles, though a synopsis of the current status of the other divisions is included. Config goes indepth to explain just how difficult it is to match the level of quality and detail that is inherent in the Starsiege Universe. An extensive character list, voice acting, and obscure historical references are just a few topics discussed in this issue. Head on over to our forums for the full diary.
The Starsiege:2845 Developer Diary will be an ongoing thing at the Junkyard. Each Diary will focus on a particular division of the development team to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the team's progress, and hurtles. Be sure to leave your comments in the thread!
andrew from Fire Team Charlie writes in to let us know that FTC12 has now been released to non-members of the site. There are two high resolution versions offered, a 60MB DivX .avi version and a 46MB .mov version, both zipped. You can grab both version from their movies page right here.
It wasn't even that long ago since Bungie.net received a major website update, but news by Achronos suggests there's more updates right around the corner. Tomorrow morning starting around 9:00 a.m. EST for a couple of hours, the entire B.Net web services will be taken offline for the update. Stay tuned to the site for some very visible updates and a lot of behind the scene upgrades.
Spotted over at HBO, I've got some good news for Halo CE mappers out there. Baka from the Gearbox forums has created a neat little utility that will allow you to export maps from 3DSMax and GMax into a format that Guerilla and Sapien like. It's entitled, of all things, Chimp. See this thread for more information.
Additionally, while at the Gearbox forums, I spotted new shots of the Mombasa map, currently in development.
Are you tired of trying to glean information out of FAQs filled with outdated and inaccurate information? Do you ask yourself "Who asks these questions so 'frequently' that we need a whole guide for them?" Well, trouble yourself no more. Your Guide is here. The T:V Guide that is.
The T:V Guide is a community-involved project that combines all the knowledge about Tribes: Vengeance in one coherent, easy to use package. With the help of afex, Configsys.boy, Ben Reed, Zoolooman, MrSniper and Krytoss, TribalWar presents the T:V Guide.
The special part about this entire project is that YOU control the content. See something missing? Submit it. See incorrect information? Submit a change. This is a community project and you set the pace. Feel free to join in or just sit back and enjoy the content. We hope you enjoy this new feature.
Want to know what’s going on with Vengeance? Don’t cry, just pick up your T:V Guide.
This is just a quick update to let you guys know that the latest Halo 2 update has been archived in our Halo 2 Updates section. Grab the article in its entirety right here. And as always, if you're looking for a particular snippet in this update or any previous one, search for it!
ConfigSys.boy! of TribesRoleplayers.org sends word that they have updated their Tribes: Vengeance Single Player Fact Sheet. New information comes courtesy of this year's E3, blurbs from Irrational Games' Michael "KineticPoet" Johnston, as well as TribalWar's SP video; among other places. TRP's Fact Sheet is pretty comprehensive compilation of available information, so swing on by and check it out.
And yes -- this week Frankie's posted the update (yet again) to the HBO Forum, because some people thought last week's edition was faked.
What's news this week after the E3 showing? Development on the game is still going strong; more combat dialog than ever before; and a cryptic message of "ridin' the pickle" were all parts of this week's post.
News from mrsmiley over at Halobabies.net this week is a little out of the ordinary. For starters, the winner of Halo Babies' Spoiled Sponsor contest that we mentioned earlier in May has been drawn into their 40th strip. This six-panel strip can be found here.
Next, while most of us were at home or at work, working, mrsmiley and Gruntsbane were lounging at this year's E3. While they were there, mrsmiley had the opporunity to catch the originator of Halo Babies, Lorraine McLees, in action. Check out the 18MB, 1:21 flick of Lorraine sketching the Master Chief right here.
Dan Chosich of 2070 Wired Films has posted his write-up of E3. It comes complete with about two dozen images of all Halo 2- and Bungie- related shots as well as a short 1:46 composition flick that Dan put together of the show and some of its highlights. Stop by the site and check it out!
Dan also posted that he's looking for a newshound to take care of posting news on his site during the summer months. I spoke with Dan earlier about his absence during the summer and while it must remain secret for now... let's just say, you'll be proud of him.
Well, it's been a while since our last spotlight, but our latest one should make up for things. We turn our lights on a man who was involved with Rampancy.Net before it was called... Rampancy.net. Check out the spotlight of the man who brings you the news over at R.Net: Narcogen.
The 1.05 update for Halo Mac has been released. This update addresses a number of graphical issues that users have been complaining about. Fixes are as follows:
Additional functionality which provides reflective surfaces for objects and vehicles on some NVIDIA hardware has been added to the NV Shaders rasterizer.
A Model Reflections option has been added to the Halo Graphics Settings window. This option is only available in the ATI Pixel Shader and NVIDIA NV shader modes. We strongly recommend disabling this option on lower-end video hardware.
A PC game bug which prevented eMacs and other analog monitors with high refresh rates from syncing to 640x480 resolution has been fixed.
Some issues with hardware fogging when using the Vertex Shaders rasterizer have been addressed.
Head on over to the MacUpdate page for more information or snag the download directly. Kudos to Marcy for the heads up.
Our good friends over at Tribes2Maps.com have thrown up another Map of the Week. This week it's TRON Arena, created by Uncle Bob. Naturally, it's an Arena gametype and clocks in at just shy of 800kb. Here's the obligatory snippet:
Well a first try for an arena. I was sitting down a few days ago and the movie TRON was on. And I just got done playing tribes and I said to myself, that would look cool as a arena feel. Something different and new as far as atmosphere and feel. Then I thought why dont I make some player skins! Well it took some time and still I am nowhere near done with them.
Head on over to Tribes2Maps.com for more details and map download.
Jeff revisits the Starsiege master server issue that we brought up a couple of days ago. Apparently, Butterbean of RA has been in contact with Sierra and found out that the Starsiege and Tribes master servers now point to a new address: master-la.masters.dynamix.com. I have yet to try this out on my system, but word is that only AK and CA servers do not show up after editing your master.cs file; all other servers are visible.
See this post in our forums for more information. If you don't know how to update your master servers, check out this news post for instructions. Additionally, if this fix doesn't work for you, be sure to pick up the alternate master server fix in our files section. Drop by the comments thread below or the original thread to let us know your results.
It seems BeyondUnreal got a chance to interview Tim Sweeny of Epic Games at E3 about their upcoming Unreal Engine 3. I guess Unreal 3 must have been quite impressive. Here's an excerpt:
BU:UT2004 required 5.5 gigs of hard drive space to install. This has got to be a strain a lot of people's systems. So you're talking 2048 x 2048 texture sets, what kind of system and memory is this next game going to take?
TS: Well, we are aiming at the kind of PC that we think will be mainstream in 2006. We will also be able to scale it down. Basically DirectX 9 cards will be minimum spec, so any DirectX 9 shipping today will be capable of running our game, but probably at reduced detail. If you only have a 256 meg video card you will be running the game one step down, whereas if you have a video card with a gig of memory then you'll be able to see the game at full detail.
I'm already starting to feel the age of my GeForce FX 5900, and nowIi find out it'll be the minimum spec! Is this really the future of games?
Kudos to ConfigSys.boy! who dropped by our forums to let us know that the year 2843 has been posted in the Starsiege:2845 forums. Here's the obligatory snippet:
Martians hold a candlelight vigil for Riana Yashida-Jones as she clings to life in a Tharsis City hospital. To their surprise, they are joined by a silent contingent of Imperial citizens bearing flowers in the name of the Emperor. Within days, most of Yashida-Jones’s old squadmates have rallied to her. NewsNet reports downplay her turbulent personal life. Colonial-Imperial tensions ease.
Imperial security forces on Titan uncover a Trojan Horse cell operating at Eskadani Station. The cell includes a network of smugglers, Long Patrol communications officers, and SCARAB-laborers. Security is tightened across the moon as an atmosphere of paranoia infuses the outer colonies.
With the posting of 2843, there is only one more year left to the Intermediate Timeline. Head on over to the Starsiege:2845 forums for the full year. See if you can find Hex's subtle Starsiege Compendium reference.
Earlier this evening, CJ Scaminaci, project leader for The Enna Wars, stopped by our IRC chatroom to give us an update on the status of their project. He mentioned that they have just completed a working demo of their newly written self-shadowing engine (among other things) and that we should be seeing screenshots in a couple of weeks. Head on over to their public forum to more information!
Update: Just received word from CJ that the team has reached a breakthrough in the engine. Screenshots are arriving now instead of in a couple of weeks time. Here's what CJ had to say:
Here's an image pulled from the new Dynamic Lighting Engine (Enna DLE). Note how the models actually cast shadows on themselves and on others, as well as realistic shadows across the ground.
Another first person account of Tribes: Vengeance has hit the web. Michael 'Perrin' Hendry has submitted his hands-on preview of the latest installment in the series. This review seems to be more reassuring than previous accounts claiming that the physics were way off. The only main problem Perrin had with the game was that with the shield pack:
Ahhhh, this was going to be easy. Mortar 1 lands right by him. The blast sends him flying, but he's still fine. Shrugging I step back and fire in rapid succession. 2,3,4,5,6, and 7 bounces back and I get caught a bit in the blast, as his teammates swarm over me finally having decided that I was indeed not a delivery guy. As I started complaining loudly about the lack of death to their flag carrier, the man beside informed me he must have had a shield pack. To which I replied "I don't care if he's got 30 stacked shield packs and was covered in mortar-off, 6 mortars should have torn through him. The response was that he thinks the shield pack can stop up to 75% damage. That I just shook my head at, it's got to go. 2 hits from a mortar fine. but 6 hits in there, and he's still living? Especially since medium is the new armor of the masses, that's gotta change.
Luckily alterations can be made to the shield pack's power by simply replacing a few numbers.
Subnova joins the horde with their E3 2004 report. Though it may take a while to load, it's well worth the wait - split up into four parts, their report contains over 100 pictures and a plethora of highlights from the show.
On another note, I meant to post this up earlier, but naturally, I got side-tracked. Last friday's Halo 2 Update has been archived in our Halo 2 Updates section. Check it out here. Don't worry, the MC will return next week!
The guys over at Bungie.net sure don't waste any time recuperating from E3. A pair of 1600*1200 screenshots have appeared on the site. At the moment, the full resolution links don't appear to work, so head on over here and here for the uber-quality shots. Kudos to Rammy for the heads up.
Brian "Vanthra" Hammack of the Dark Horizons: Lore team, who frequents our forums from time to time, is back from E3 after playing DHL on a 20 foot plasma screen. He mentioned to me on IRC that Max Gaming is going to be posting a news release on their site later this week with updates on the game and comments from the staff. Also stay tuned for our forum for personalized updates .
Update: Vanthra has posted the aforementioned news release on Max Gaming. Check it out here. Be sure to check out this post in our forums for some close-ups of a few booth-babes .
If you've tried to play Starsiege online lately, you've probably noticed that there aren't any servers showing up. This is because one of the master servers is still down. But fear not - there is a fix! Prompted by this post in our forums, Jeff replied with a fix. In short, because master server 1 is still down, all you have to do is comment it out from your master.cs file. This is how your master.cs file should look with master server 1 commented out:
After some good T:V time, Colosus of TribalWar took the time to write an in depth review of the game we have all been craving. Featuring 10 glorious pages, this review covers all major aspects of the game including the recently released deployables, such as the mine:
Mines are a deployable object in Tribes: Vengeance. No more tossing them out of your belly button like grenades. This prevents mine-disc combos, which I am not sure if I like or dislike yet. I feel people are a little too dependant on mine-discs, but I enjoyed them. We’ll have to wait and see.
One nice feature about the mines was that your team mates can run over them and not die (no more newbies not noticing the mine and you getting kicked for TKing). Also the mines are rather large, making them easier to see.
This afternoon's HBO link seemed interesting; apparently Teddman and Zondaro at the Opa Ages Forums posted some of their E3 2004 experiences after they were able to gain access to the press room, where invitees and bigwigs were able to play the Zanzibar Single Flag CTF mode in Halo 2.
In any event, if you're not one for reading (even though the content is worth it), you should check out this picture at minimum: Halo 2 UI - "Game Lobby"
The article and images also appear to be available from The Next Level News.
The folks over at Euro-tribesplayers.com had some time to speak with Ed Orman, Tony Oakden, and Michael Johnston on the deployables available in Tribes:Vengeance. The interview is finally up, as it was promised a couple of weeks back. Here's the obligatory snippet:
Q: The first is that will you need to wear a specific armor type to carry and deploy some or all of the deployables? A: [MJ] No, carrying deployables isn't armor specific
Q: Ah, so no longer will we have player kitting out in medium armor simply to place turrets. Can all deployables be destroyed as in the previous Tribes games? And how much damage can each deployable take? A: [MJ] Yes. At this moment we are still tuning the deployable health station
Five deployables are revealed: mine, catapult, turret, repair station, and inventory station. The images posted in the interview, while they are high-quality, are a little shotty at best. Tribes Roleplayers has cleaned up the five aforementioned deployables and the deployable station in their gallery. Check out ETP for the full interview.
In the Tribalwar Forums, KineticPoet explains how the sensor system will work in Tribes: Vengeance:
Each team has one sensor. If your sensor is active, all enemies show up on your radar and all enemies have indicators over their heads. If your sensor is inactive, no enemies show up on your radar and no enemies have indicators over their heads; however, all friendlies will still show up in your radar.
Not sure whether this is a good or bad move; like many ideas, it has it's pros and cons. Read the whole thing and find out all the details before you judge it however.
Another topic discussed in this is that of the command screen:
T:V still has a command screen. It's a large square version of your radar. You press and hold 'C' to view it. It doesn't take up the whole screen and it's slightly transparent. It also summarizes the current map and game type objectives on the right-hand side. All information on your command screen mirrors what you see on your radar.
The same screen is used when respawning. If you have multiple spawn areas from which to select, this is where you select where you want to respawn. Spawn selection doesn't slow down the game...T:V CTF still has a 2 second respawn time (same as in previous Tribes games).
It is reviews like this that count, actual encounters from actual gamers. It is right here that will make or break any game. In the Tribalwar Forums Nordramor posted his thoughts of Tribes: Vengeance from time playing it at E3. His opinion on the game closely mirrors that of Musashi. He says that if anything needs to be changed, it is the physics:
Skiing is weird. You accelerate while skiing, but slowly. Basically, it had the acceleration of T2 Base skiing, but with no slowdowns while going uphill and no discernable speed cap. Due to the size of the maps (small), you didn't have much room/need to skii long enough to go fast. You can cross the whole map only touching the ground 2x for a few seconds in a Heavy with an E-Pack. T:V skiing right now is pretty much it's own thing; it's not a direct translation of skiing from T1 or any of the T2 physics set.
You can read the whole thing in the original post, or by clicking the comments link below.
Halobabies.net has thrown up a new strip, which of course, continues where the previous one left off. Gholsbane writes in that Gruntsbane has posted a work-in-progress sketch of his work on this strip. This sketch can be found here. It's always interesting to me to see how these things get put together. You might also want to check out our recent interview with Gruntsbane and mrsmiley for more background goodies.
After what seems like an eternity, tJY has finally put up a new poll! Our newest poll asks, "More than two players per team in Halo 2. Good or bad?" Vote now!
Results from our last poll are fairly positive. Almost half of you thought that our forum upgrade was beautiful and that it was a wise move. 22% didn't like the upgrade and thought we should move back to vBulletin 2, while 16% didn't even see a difference (which means you aren't visiting often enough! ). Finally, 11% thought the upgrade looked good but needed some work. See the final results here.
PlanetTribes T:V Interview
Fri May 14th, 2004
Posted by: at 23:57 PM
TINman of PlanetTribes got the chance to catch up with Chris 'Thrax' Mahnken and peg him with a few questions. Alot of previously unasked questions were presented with this, such as questions regarding the GUI and skinning options. Here's a snippet:
Please tell us about the new Fuel and Ball game types:
Fuel Game Type:
The fuel game time is quite simple. There are 3 fuel tanks on a map. Each team has one as well as a neutral in the center. Each team side will start with about 30% full, with the neutral having about 80%-100% full.
The idea is to steal fuel out of the enemies tank, as well as the neutral tank. The first to get to 100% win.
Ball Game Type:
The ball game type is EXACTLY like bombing run in UT2k3/UT2k4. Except you have jet packs.
Frankie's posted this week's Halo 2 update "live from the show floor"; if you've watched any of the videos available, you might be aware of the initial parts of the update already. In any event, there are some cool facts around this time about Halo 2:
"The game actually supports 16 - great news for LIVE, but even better - it supports 16 players for System Link too. Finally! Everyone gets his or her own screen, one way or another."
"You can form clans - your can customize emblems - sharp-eyed gamers might have noticed a Spartan supporting a Ninja on Fire emblem, a blue metal suit, with yellow secondary colors. Being able to customize your player is kind of awesome. Naturally, Covenant Elites can do the same thing."
"Fans of Warthog jumps will be pleased to know that they can roll explosive fusion cores into a pile, park a Hog and basically light the fuse (with a few well placed Battle Rifle shots)."
Go and check out the update, and if you missed out on E3 this year, find out about the Fanfest and what's in store for Halo 2.
Haven't got a clue whats going on? Need to be filled in on some things? We have just what you need - an article that wraps it all up cool and simply. Written by our very own content monkey, Bongo, this article will sum up some things seen in (the) Halo 2 demo over at E3. Interesting read, although he says Halo 2 was delayed... puh!
Aside from the unclear information... it's a good analysis of the available information. Go ahead and read!
Three hands-on previews of Tribes: Vengeance were released recently, one from TribalWar, one from IGN, and one from HomeLAN.
We start off with the HomeLAN Preview of the game. Not too much was said about the game other than the general ideas that have been fed to us since day one; however, there was one sentence out of the whole preview that cought my eye:
The two maps we got to play were sufficiently huge in the Tribes tradition with one in a massive arena and the other in a more pastoral setting.
It seemed like in the game's infancy, Sierra was promicing a game for smaller groups, but later it was said to expand to up to 32 players by default. These hints seemed to be pointing to a smaller game, but after hearing this, I suppose that is not true.
Second in the lineup comes the TribalWar Preview by Musashi. Unlike all other reviews of the game, Musashi reveals the bad side of the game. In attempts to keep gaming companies on their good side, most media about games will be what is good about it and what will be improved from previous versions; however, this is unrealistic to what the game players themselves want to hear, especially in such a torn community as the Tribes one. Musashi gives a review of the game based on the original of the Tribes series:
Shocking as this is to hear from a Triber, this game is lacking in ground-time. Think about it: Where did you get the real speed from in T1? You didn't get it from the long jets; you got it from the skiing. Ground-time is needed to bring balance to the game, using jets 100% of the time is like eating steak for every meal without any salads or side dishes-- Sure it tastes good but pooping will be unpleasant. The grapple, speed boosters and other features (fun as they are) only exacerbate the problem; it is possible to play the arena map without touching the ground at all.
The final hands-on preview of the day comes from IGN. This preview really says nothing ground breaking about the game, simply the same old stuff that we have been hearing. They say that the water does not slow you down much at all, which is visible in a recently released video. Personally, I think the water should slow you down, since it would take skill to avoid the water and continue on the same path. The most inruiging part of the preview seemed to come from the second to last sentence of the article:
There will be six different characters to play throughout the 15 single-player missions, and you'll play both the "good" and "bad" sides. While multiplayer is a big focus of the game, there will be no co-op play through the single-player campaign, but Chris did say "we may, in a future game, add co-op."
A co-op single player may be interesting, although possibly a bit too easy. Well that's it for now, keep your eyes open for more updates!
In related news ConfigSys.boy! has posted the FTP addresses to several new videos and a Vengeance trailer. Links to these can be found at the TRP News Post or by clicking the comments button below. All images and videos will be added to the-Junkyards dabatase as soon as possible.
More Halo 2 news available: IGN Xbox has posted a Halo 2 Q&A session with Pete Parsons, Bungie Studio Manager. It's been revealed (among other things) that Halo 2 will support more than two teams per game. It's interesting that RandomHero from our forums predicted this when this Halo 2 MP shot was released.
From the current news, the session also infers that a 16 player maximum has been selected for the game; not to say that this couldn't change in the future, but "in the (January alpha) test, you could play up to sixteen."
There's a new Map of the Week over at Tribes2Maps.com. This week it's An Epic Tale, by DRIFTER. Here's the obligatory snippet:
This is not a small map! Bases are over 2000 away from each other. A base and 2 other towers stand in the middle of the map ready to be taken.Withforcefeilds at every door. Only way in is to hit the switch! Each teams base...well I sould say each TEAM has 3 bases. One for Air vehicles,ground and all vehicles. Keep from standing in line to long. And I uped the amount of vehicles to. Only 5 captures to win..like I said Big Map! Bases have ok defence. Team work will be the key to making it harder to get in and out. Had a few people test it for me and it went smooth for it's size. I don't think it will be a problem. Like always I hope you injoy this map!!
Head on over to Tribes2Maps.com for more details and map downloads.
Official T:V Website Launched
Tue May 11th, 2004
Posted by: at 23:24 PM
The address http://www.tribesvengeance.com has been registered for as long as the game has been known to the public, but had nothing on it, until now. The website has several new pictures in its galleries and a nice trailer for the game. Be sure to check it out and keep your eyes peeled for updates this E3 week
The Halo 2 info just keeps coming. More Halo 2 screenshots have been made available on Bungie.net to go along with some of the newly released E3 2004 Multiplayer content.
I may have reiterated some of the links and locations available in the previous post just to have a better complete reference... In any event:
Kudos to MrFluffy who pointed out that B.Net has put up eight new Halo 2 screenshots, care of the E3 bonanza that's going on right now. Things are just looking amazing! Check out those shots right here - don't forget to click on the image that pops up, as a higher res version is available. Fluffy also pointed out that Xbox.com has posted uber-high resolution (2560*1920!) versions of seven of the eight B.Net images in a handy ~4MB .zip file, grab that here.
Surfing on over to HBO reveals yet another two unreleased screenshots. The first, here, and the second, here.
The definitive release date for Halo 2 has been announced: November 9, 2004; confirmation is available at Bungie.net. Additionally, a barrage of information has been made available due to the E3 show going into full swing.
You also might want to try preordering Halo 2: exclusively available to the early-bird preorder crowd, is a metal case containing Halo 2 Limited Collector's Edition (a 2 DVD set) featuring the following, as according to Bungie:
* The Making of Halo 2: Behind the Scenes of Bungie Studios.
* Featurettes on Game Design, Animation, Music and More.
* Deleted Cinematics and Characters
* Art Gallery: From Concept to game
* Commentaries from the Development Team
* And much, much more.
Part 1 of the latest Starsiege:2845 Public Update went live nine days ago. What looks like to be Part 2, was posted today. The previously released Promethean Adjudicator has been redesigned based on input received from the public. The result is sharp, very sharp (see below). You'll notice the redesigned Judge features a rad gun, two PBWs, and an EMP; all of the Cybrid design.
Also released was a very slick 1600*1200 wallpaper of a Judge cookin' a human pilot with its rad gun. Beauty! Head on over to the thread for more eye candy.
Just a quick heads up that our Starsiege:2845 section has been updated to reflect the latest releases from the public update on May 1st. The update released a lot of Cybrid weaponry, and even a new handheld human weapon called the shot blaster, which will function a lot like a shotgun. Our gallery has also been updated to reflect the new Cybrid structure, and the two WIP cinematic models. Finally, our SS:2845 files page has been updated with a new wallpaper set: a Predator, a Medusa, and our exclusive Imperial Pilot wallpaper.
mrsmiley writes in to tell us that the latest strip over at Halobabies.net is now up. Naturally, this one is a continuation in the series that they have going on right now. While you're at the site, be sure to vote for Halo Babies on the TopWebComics Top100 list. They started off at rank 800 and in just a couple of days time, they are already at rank 14. Vote now and help the best damn online Halo strip out there!
Dolbex, the guy behind the Halo50k tournaments, writes in to tell us that he is now the new PR guy for Major League Gaming. He also mentioned that the next major tournament coming up is Midwest Mayhem, in Chicago on June 19th and 20th, in the Sheraton Towers. For more information and to sign up for some crazy Halo action, head on over to the site.
An interesting sidenote, HBO mentioned today that Gamesradar is reporting that there will be a playable demo of Halo 2 at this year's E3. As of this time it is still unconfirmed, but adding to the fire, this update focused quite a bit on what the team has been working on for E3 and a lot of it (IMHO) sounds like they're gearing towards a demo. JMTC. Anyhow, enough of my rambling - head on over to BG:Halo for the update.
For those of you trying to download Tribes 2, you may have noticed that FilePlanet has pulled the plug on the download. Here's what Menzo had to say about it:
We need to look at how our servers are holding up to the relative onslaught of new accounts and determine if we can give FilePlanet the OK to distribute more CD-keys. Given that E3 is in a couple days, however, it's possible that our guys are a little distracted with more important things - things that actually make us money.
In the original post, Menzo explained that giving out unlimited CD-keys may be too taxing on the T2 auth server and possibly crash it. To be on the safe side, the amount of keys released was 5,000 to start. You could wait for them to make a decision on this, or you could just go out and buy Computer Gaming World and have it now. Check out the comments link to read all of what Menzo had to say.
GameSpy was able to get the scoop about the Jump Tank, the final vehicle of T:V, from Chris 'Thrax' Mahnken. Unlike the tank of Tribes 2, this vehicle is tracked, but includes two jump jets to allow it to jump over obstacles. And now for the obligatory quote:
GameSpy: OK, so this is the "jump" tank -- does it work in controllable bursts like the jetpack, or is it just one big jump? How high can it go?
Chris Mahnken: It's one big jump -- higher than me, but not high enough to be called flying. The jump is really just enough to get you past some obstacles; for instance, you might use it to jump a river that you otherwise couldn't cross.
GameSpy: Do you have any control over the tank while in the air?
Chris Mahnken: You have some control, but not as much as with the jetpack.
Included with this interview are two nice pictures of the Jump Tank.
Keep in mind that all of these mirrors are extremely overloaded at the moment; if you can use the BitTorrent link, it seems to be the fastest available, and will help other users' speeds out. (No apparent torrent is available for the Halo Editing Kit as of yet; you'll have to pick your poison with the HTTP mirrors. )
With the release of Tribes 2 for free, Zod and other contributors have created an all-in-one update which includes not only the latest patches but commonly-needed files including Defense Turret, T2TV, and many map packs. For those who just got the game, and those who haven't kept up to date with the latests MODs and scripts, this is a must have. You can download this compilation via the Tribalwar Resourse Database.
As promised, both versions of Tribes are now free for download via FilePlanet in celebration of the upcoming game Tribes: Vengeance. You must have a GameSpy ID in order to recieve the Tribes2 registration key, so make sure you get one of those before downloading. Have fun waiting in line .
Please note that the version of Starsiege: Tribes is not the current version, you must download the 1.8 to 1.11 patch from FilePlanet or from our own Tribes file section.
Undoubtledly, Zigma is laughing his head off right now. Yesterday's announcement of the closing of Tribes3.org was a big hoax that fooled everybody. Personally I don't see how Zigma can sleep at night, but I must say that it is a relief to hear that T3o will be back online, with a new layout, soon.
I'm a little late in posting this, but Tribes2Maps.com has featured another map in this week's Map of the Week. This week it's Rig Attack created by EEPROM. If you were a T2 veteran, you are sure to have played on at least one of this guy's maps as they're everywhere. Description:
This fight takes place on an all water planet with a solid rock core with high traces of a rare mineral used for powering large star ships. The defenders are loading up a cargo ship with this rare mineral on a Supply Depot Rig. The attackers have landed just outside of the Rig’s sensor range and begin their assault from two Mark V drop ships in hopes to capture the Rig and this rare mineral. The defenders must defend the Rig at all cost. Losing the Rig will not only lose the match but also lose the minerals needed to power their star ships. Attackers will be hitting hard with full vehicle support (excluding the mobile base cause it just won’t float) and from two different directions cloaked for a surprise attack. Even though sensors may not be able to pick up the drop ships SAT scan shows them on map view and the defenders know they are coming. Attackers must take out both gens located in the upper levels of the Rig to lower the field bars and doors that will allow them access to the Rig control switch.
Head on over to Tribes2Maps.com for more map details and download.
Just spotted this post over on the Starsiege:2845 forums, Trajan mentioned that hand held weapons are not interchangable at all. This means that only humans will be able to use human weapons and vice versa for Cybrids. The reasoning for this is consistency in look - meaning that when you see a Cybrid, it'll look like a Cybrid and not a, "...hodge podge of tech." But rest assured there will be plenty of similar weapons for both sides.
In the same thread, Trajan also mentioned that about 80% of the "common" vehicle weapons and components will be the same for both sides, while 20% of the vehicle weapons will be unique to either side. Naturally, the common vehicle weapons will have similar attributes (damage ratio, firing rate), but the visual appearance will be completely different. This is evident by comparing the human ATC and the newly released Cybrid ATC that was released in the latest public update.
There are a ton of other little snippets and goodies that the dev team has mentioned in this thread. Be sure to check it out.
Due to recent activities, I am a little late in posting these up, but better late than never. We have received two exclusives from the Starsiege:2845 team. The first, a wallpaper of three Imperial Pilots in the desert, available here; the second, the final rendering of the in-game (low poly) version of the Mjollnir Missile Launcher, available here. Enjoy!
Cortana.org has posted the Halo Editing Kit tutorial today. Additionally, HBO has mirrored the directory in the event of server troubles; either mirror should work for interested modders. Some new screenshots of Sapien and Guerilla (the Halo resource editors) await; go and check it out!
Edit:Clarification, Bungie also gave the HEK tutorial to HBO - it was not mirrored in the event of server troubles.
We recently had a chance to sit down with Joel 'Gruntsbane' Casebeer and Matt 'mrsmiley' Dunn of Halobabies.net to get a behind the scenes look at what goes on over there. We found out what's involved in putting a comic together, where the ideas come from, and what's next for Halobabies. Gruntsbane even took the liberty of creating us a unique headliner strip. Check it out here.
Trajan has released another public update for us to drool over. Featured in this picture exclusive update are some nice shots of some new human vehicles and hand held weapons, some Cybrid vehicle weapons, and some nice cinematic models. Be sure to check it out!
I am sad to announce that Zigma has closed the door on T3o. With a sense of hostility in the air and Shaman King music in the background, Zigma closes a good chapter in Tribes history:
Server moves are a drag, I know. We've had a total of 3 right now but this one won't make it.
The database is huge, and alot of code has to be re-written and optimized plus I/ the team don't
exacly have root on this box (which would make things somewhat easier) It would be a pain
to do it over again, no thnx.
T3o = Down for Good.
I would like to thank Zigma and the T3o team for all the hard work they've put into their website, and their great contribution to the Tribes gaming community itself. Fare thee well.
IGN has posted up a new Designer Diary, this time featuring lead artist at Irrational Games Andrew James. Check it out:
I'll start with what the Art Team has been doing. Since we're approaching Alpha, most of the art for the game is now complete. The level assets, characters and weapons have been complete for some time. The vehicles are now complete and looking great. James has been working hard going over some older assets and bringing them up to snuff, and putting the finishing touches on the weapons. Brendan has been working on finishing the water, vehicle and pack effects.
The cut scenes have been completed to 2nd pass standard and are now getting lip-sync, facial expressions and final animation tweaks. We now have the final dialogue in, and I really think they are going to blow you away.
Menzo has posted over at Tribalwar that IGN will be debuting the final new vehicle for Vengeance next Wednesday and that all information about deploydables, including graphics, will be released sometime next week over at euro-tribesplayers.com. Also, ATI has announced that they will be featuring Tribes: Vengeance at their E3 booth to show off their latest graphics technologies. Keep your eyes peeled for more news.
Those of you who have been keeping up-to-date with my .plans would know how hectic things have been around here lately, but I must apologize for not posting this up sooner. Halobabies has announced the winner of their Spoiled Sponsor contest, and the lucky individual who gets drawn into the next comic is Kracka. On related note, the next comic in the series has been posted [a couple of days ago] and it's entitled "Faulty Code". Check it out.
The people at Gamers Depot go the chance to sit down with Ed Orman, Michael Johnston, Rowan Wyborn, and Tony Oakden and hammer them with a few questions. All of the basics are hit in this interview such as descriptions of the armor classes, types of weapons, and classifications of vehicles. This last subject is an interesting point because nothing has really been said about any of the vehicles, all we have had to speculate with are pictures of them. Here's what they had to say about 'em:
The Rover carries a mobile spawn-point and inventory station, allowing players to spawn at its location and gear up. This has big strategic implications, as you can imagine.
The Tank is the armored beast you’d expect, with the main gun under the pilot’s control and a support weapon for a gunner. Taking a page out of the infantry’s book, it’s also got jets mounted on it’s back that launch it into the air for short durations, giving it more flexibility when it comes to moving around the map.
The Fighter is a single-man flying machine with almost perfect maneuverability. It’s essentially a hovering weapons platform, allowing the pilot to position it wherever they want and bombard ground and air targets.
The Assault Ship is our Gunship – the pilot’s armed with a forward firing explosive projectile, and the two gunners both have anti aircraft guns. It’s heavily armored, capable of vertical take off and landing.
From the information that's appeared lately, it seems that several events have transpired. Several weeks ago, a post from one of the Gearbox developers for Halo PC seemed to indicate that there were some issues regarding the release of the Halo Editing Kit and "Halo 1.05". 1.05 would have been the latest patch for Halo PC, containing such enhancements as "fast shaders" to improve graphics performance.
Hellface's post seemed to indicate the following events: that Microsoft was dragging their feet over the patch release/editing kit release; or that Gearbox would not be allowed to release any subsequent patches.
Thankfully, recent events proved that these were not correct assumptions. Effectively what is happening to Halo PC is that there will be a new, separately-maintained multiplayer only release called HaloCE - "Custom Edition". It will not be supported by Microsoft; rather, Gearbox will have more direct control over patching and updates. This release will be needed to play custom-created content online. Additionally, the Halo Editing Kit will be published to work with HaloCE.
So what's to know about HaloCE? Here are some useful links that may provide more information:
This GameSpy Interview discusses the impending release of HaloCE. Interesting information includes the following:
--> Improvements to the multiplayer side of HaloCE include: Fast Shaders (improves performance up to 60% on pixel shader hardware) and improved network code (reduces player "warping" ).
--> Halo Custom Edition (HaloCE.exe) and the supporting data is about 200MB in size. The Halo Editing Kit is about 250MB. Both will be offered as separate downloads -- not through the Halo PC autopatch system (although HaloCE will have its own patching utility included.)
Found over at Rampancy.net, Frankie's posted a "know thy enemy"-style article that details the Covenant religion and society. For those story theorists, this article gives a bit more background about the collection of races, especially the Hunters (seen in Halo) and Engineers (which cannot be seen without a bit of modding.) Comments can be left in the Halo General Discussion Forum or
We'll be adding this information to our Halo and Halo 2 pages in a short while. For more up to date happenings with site sections, you may also want to check some of the tJY Staff .plan pages. More information as it appears...
Remind me never to take Friday night off again -- because that's when all the Halo, Halo PC and Halo 2 information gets published. First of all, this Friday's Halo 2 Weekly Update has gone live over at Bungie.net. "Short and largely pointless", the specific tidbit that's worth mentioning follows:
"We’re trying something different with the look of the health and shield system people knew in Halo 1, so eventually that is the biggest difference people will notice. We’re also toying with an icon system instead of text to warn you about low ammo, reloads and no grenades... We’re also bringing back a favorite feature that has been missing in Bungie games since the Myth series."
Wonder what this feature could be?
To read the rest of the update, go on over to Bungie.net!
Keen Dreams, the creators of the well-known Meltdown MODs, has announced that they will be making a Tribes 1 and 2 MOD for Tribes: Vengeance. Here's the low down from Mr. Keen himself:
Due to the direction Tribes:Vengeance is heading, the Dev Team has decided to make a Tribes 1/2 mod for T:V first before working on Meltdown 3, since it is a required base to work off of.
Based on the interest level of others, this mod may be released, possibly even open source, so that other servers can play "Tribes 1/2 with better graphics" on their servers if they don't like Tribes:Vengeance.
Just received this sad bit of news in my mailbox this afternoon:
Fropco.com and all of it's sites are shutting down. It's been a fun run, but all of the staff here are just too busy to continue running the site, without it falling even more into inactivity. We'll still be around the community, and we wish you guys the best of luck with your sites, and maybe we'll meet up again sometime.
On their site, frop posted up that sites hosted by Fropco will not be taken down but will be unavailable until fropco.com is moved to a smaller server. He also posted up the source code for ESO Fropco, which is available here. Best of luck to you guys.
Although previously mentioned some nine months ago on the Starsiege:2845 forums, the question of having pilots in see through cockpits has risen up again. Vailias was first to shoot the idea down with a less than definitive answer, but soon there-after, Roy_Fokkerconfirmed that pilots will not be visible (or at all present) in the cockpits of HERCs in SS:2845. The devs are using a utilitarian approach to the development of this MOD, where they are trying to make it playable by the greatest number of PCs out there. In UT2004, the Adjudicator is running about 6000 polygons and Vailias mentions that if you add pilots with see-through cockpits into the mix, you're easily pumping that count up a few thousand. Thus, to keep the game playable, such things have to be cut. Sorry guys (I was looking to visible pilots too).
Received this newsbit via our IRC channel, it appears that HomeLAN has put together an interview with Alex Seropian about his big announcement yesterday. HomeLAN tries to squeeze even more details out of the guy about his plans for the company and their upcoming Halo engine-based game. It's available here. I also missed this one yesterday, but pc.ign.com has their own interview with Alex, right here.
Colosus of Tribalwar got the chance to have a chat with Chris 'Thrax' Mahnken about the 4 packs of Tribes: Vengeance. Previously we had only known about three packs: the energy, repair, and shield packs, but Thrax has also spread the dirt on the new speed pack. Here's some of what he had to stay:
Speed Pack
The speed pack has a passive effect of increasing walking speed of a player and an active effect of decreasing reload time on all weapons.
TribalWar: How much of an increase in walking speed?
Thrax: Well, for instance, a heavy can normally walk 50 meters in 7 seconds without the pack. With the pack, that decreases to 5 seconds. A medium can walk the same distance in 6 seconds without the pack and 4 seconds with. And a light can walk it in 5 seconds without or 3 seconds with. Give or take a few tenths of a second as I was just timing that with my watch.
TribalWar: Does the speed pack effect skiing speed?
Some slightly more definitive specs have been leaked form China for the XBox 2 (Xenon). Note that these specs are not final and are unconfirmed and subject to change. But here's what we expect:
Three (3) 3.5GHz CPUs (unspecified architecture)
500MHz GPU with 10MB of video RAM
256+MB system RAM
possibility of a built-in hard drive.
Here's my speculation: The three CPUs in the diagram look suspiciously like Pentium 4 CPU. Don't be surprised if that's what they are and not the G5s everyone has been hoping for. (I say this because G5s haven't been released above 2.5GHz yet, and because the L1 and L2 cache listed is similar to a Xeon processor.) Additionally, the block diagram suggests that the "20-80GB hard drive" is undecided.
I'm nust say I'm intrigued by the graphics subsystem. It's architecture is similar to an ATi graphics processor, but I can't tell what kind of architecture it is.
Nevertheless, it's more information to chew on. Enjoy your speculation.
Spotted over at HBO, ex-Bungie employee, Alex Seropian, has started up his own gaming company called Wideload. A press release about the launch is available here but you'll also want to check out HBO's conversational-style chat with the man himself right here. One of the most interesting tidbits about this whole thing is that Wideload's first game will be based off the Halo's engine and hopefully will debut sometime in 2005. At the moment Alex can't release too much information on the company or its plans, but according to this article on CNN, there are seven ex-Bungie employees working at Wideload...
Over the last four months, we've talked quite a bit about Project Halo. Then just last month, it was announced that Project Halo was being discontinued due to legal reasons and lack of support from Bungie. The project was eventually renamed as Supreme Conflict: The Enna Wars and taken on a new focus (details). Well now, we've put together a spotlight on the 3D artist working with the team, Scott 'HipboyScott' Watrous, to get an inside look at things. Check out his spotlight right here.
As another week passes, Frankie has come through with another Halo 2 Update. This week's edition is hosted at the Halo Center forums and discusses the improvement of Grunts, the frantic pace that everybody's working at, and a whole lot of other *CENSORED* stuff.
Apparently Halo Center was down earlier, so Bungie has given permission for fansites to mirror the update today. Visitors should try to access the content at the Halo Center mirror first; otherwise, a backup has been made here at The Junkyard.
mrsmiley sends word of a couple of updates over at Halobabies. First up, Joel has put together a new strip with a subtleRed vs. Blue mention. He has also put together a really beautiful desktop. This one is entitled "Blam!", and is available here.
Just a small update that the latest Halo 2 Update, posted on the 16th of April is now available locally at tJY for all of your archival and searching needs. Yes I know it's a bit late, but we've been really busy here at the 'Yard lately (if you read our .plans you would know that ).
In other news, our Tribes:Vengeance section has received some big updates. The vehicles, weapons, and armours pages are all up-to-date with the latest information and tidbits available. Enjoy!
About a week ago, we sat down and had a chat with two of the sound artists working on the Starsiege:2845 MOD, Edgen and Sleepy Bright Eyez (interview). Well, way back in November of last year, we caught up with Sleepy Bright Eyez on a more personal note and put him into our spotlight. We were finally able to catch up with Justin Durban aka Edgen and have a one-on-one chat with him in his spotlight.
With many people being concerned about privacy lately, it's always good to have a profile of what large companies could have in store for the future. Due to the Xbox.com upgrade and Xbox Live update to Tsunami, I've decided to release the final installment of Terabits and Tsunami a day early.
Specifically, the release date is so that I can take a look at Xbox Live 3.0 and perhaps illustrate its new features. At present, my console returns "Xbox Live is not responding" when coerced into connecting to the service; I should hopefully be able to profile the service upgrade for anyone interested, when the patch hits Xbox servers.
Having said that, go and read the third installment of the Terabits and Tsunami series. If you're the tin-foil hat wearing privacy fiend, you may find some solutions mentioned frightening enough to put your Xbox in the microwave. (Not that I recommend it, of course...)
Spotted over at HBO, XBox.com sat down with Bungie Community Manager Brian 'SketchFactor' Jarrard to talk about the new and improved Bungie.Net. It's a pretty short interview, but an indepth one at that. Here's the obligatory snippet:
Xbox.com: What makes the Bungie community special, and how are you planning to support that?
Jarrard: I think it's the people that make our community what it is. I'm continually amazed by the cool and creative things people out there are coming up with. These aren't just fanboys, who troll around forums talking about how, “Halo rulez!” (though every community needs some of these folks to wage war on other boards). These are smart people, who have a connection with Bungie's games and other fans across the globe. Fan Web sites, fan fiction, original artwork, movies, replica costumes, LAN parties, tournaments—all of these things expand the realm of our community and drive more people into our universe. We will continue to support these efforts by amplifying and promoting their achievements, while also providing some tools and resources to [help them] keep making great content. One of the biggest things we can do, as a fairly high-traffic developer site, is push users deeper into the community and raise awareness of the huge breadth of individual fan sites and unique creations that exist on the Web.
Head on over here to check out what Brian thinks of the community and where it's headed.
Almost a month late on this one, but it's better than never I suppose. The people at Voodoo Extreme got the chance to talk to Irrational's Ed Orman, Michael Johnston and Rowan Wyborn. The theme of this interview is rather broad; here's a snippet:
VE3D - What multiplayer game types are included? Any new game types?
[MJ] Our goal with game types is to cover the range of 2-32 players. We've experimented with several game types but we're starting to narrow down our choices to the ones that are looking to provide the most fun and variety. Actually, a game type in Tribes: Vengeance works a bit differently than it used to. We have a bunch of game objects that players can interact with in various ways, and a game type is just a subset of these game objects. After release, the community will be free to experiment with combining game objects in new and interesting ways.
Here's a rough summary of some of the game types we're currently considering:
CTF - In the past, CTF has been the game type of choice for many Tribes gamers, so we definitely support that. CTF plays best with 12-24 players, depending on the map, although fun can still be had with more or fewer players than that. In Tribes CTF, capturing the flag is of course the primary objective, but there are also secondary objectives like destroying the enemy's generator and sensor grid.
Sport (unnamed) - We have a sporty game type with a ball and goals. Tossing around a ball in a game where everyone is flying around with jetpacks can be lots of fun. This is a more demanding game type in terms of player skill. It tends to work best with smaller teams. Since it's challenging to get good at it, we expect it will attract a smaller hardcore audience.
Territories (unnamed) - This is a game type in the style of Capture and Hold (from the original Tribes game), Day of Defeat, BF1942, Onslaught and PlanetSide. We play lots of games here at Irrational and we're quite happy to extract some of their goodness for injection into Tribes. We're still working on maps for this game type, but we suspect it'll be well suited for 14-32 players.
Unnamed - A game type to support smaller numbers of players where the focus is on pure combat.
Unnamed - A new game type we're working on that is inspired by some previous Tribes game types like Team Hunters, Find and Retrieve, Capture and Hold, and a little bit of CTF.
Earlier this afternoon in the Starsiege:2845 IRC channel, I caught wind that the dev team will be receiving the modified Tribes:Vengeance code within a month's time. Heading over to the SS:2845 forums, Trajan confirmed the news after their latest chat with Sierra. Moreover, more gameplay footage will be able to be released as the dev team can start working with the real deal.
In a somewhat related note, there are rumours that Infantry in SS:2845 will receive smoke grenades -- as long as they don't hurt framerates too much. I love it when Trajan can't keep his mouth shut .
Tribes2Maps.com has thrown up a new map of the week. This week it's Solace, created by powdahound. It's a Siege map weighing in at just over 124kb. Snippet:
Gameplay: The Forcefield Generator, easily accessible to the offense, powers forcefields that protect the South and Center gens. The North, Center, and South gens must all be offline in order for the switch forcefield to go down.
Head on over to Tribes2Maps.com for more information and map download.
Last evening, Brian Hammack of Max Gaming Technologies sent us a brief press release about their game, Dark Horizons: Lore. The game is based on the Torque engine of Tribes 2 fame, and has promising screenshots and a community-oriented development team.
The engaging backstory, taken from the players' site, states:
Packed with adrenaline-pumping action, Dark Horizons: Lore puts you in command of six outrageous Mechanized Assault Vehicles or MAVs. Remotely piloted from control pods located halfway around the globe these giant war machines are bristling with the latest in 22nd Century weaponry including plasma rifles, cannons and missiles. Customize and pilot a single MAV or gain experience and take command of a MAV group. You can even take control of an entire battalion and fight with your friends as a unit. Join a conglomerate of free nations, the Federated States, or ally yourself with the resurgent Soviet block as the Eastern Confederation. Only the men and women piloting these massive machines will decide the fate of the resource rich No Man's Land.
Brian's also stopped by our forums and mentioned some interesting facts about the game. If you're at all intrigued by the concept, go and check it out!
Likely to continue the streak of the new Bungie.net promotion this week, the Halo 2 Update has been posted on the Bungie Underground Forums. Quite the amount of content there: Binary Separation Panes, animations and tons of other treats await. Even though it was also mentioned that this weekly image was fixed, Konqueror fails to display it in the forum properly, so any visitors having problems viewing it should check in here.
UPDATE: It should also be noted that the Jackal closest to the camera is carrying a Plasma Rifle, obviously giving the Jackals a considerably larger amount of firepower.
mrsmiley sends word that Halobabies has another strip up, continuing their series. This one is entitled "Gearing Up" and is available here. Gruntsbane has also decided to release four themed backgrounds that can be used to create your own Halobabies guest strips! mrsmiley tried his hand at making one, and the results were... interesting. Anyhow, check 'em out at Halobabies.
The second part of a tJY-exclusive series, Terabits and Tsunami: Online Gaming Evolved takes a look at the development of Xbox Live when integrated with Bungie's plans for Halo 2. Comments, compliments and flames should be e-mailed to myself, of course; or posted to this much-underutilized thread.
As a side note, this week's article references Brian Morden, a young man who played an integral role in the Halo community. I hope that the brief mention in the article serves to enforce his role as a kind person who loved Bungie and being a part of the community.
A lot of the time, the crew behind the music and atmospherics of a game get overlooked. Without their musical scores, games wouldn't be as much of an experience as they would be polished polygons. Here at the Junkyard, we recently had the opportunity to sit down with two extremely talented sound artists working on the Starsiege:2845 MOD and get a behind the scenes look into their lives and their work in the game. Check out our exclusive two page interview with Sleepy Bright Eyez and Edgen.
Back in August of 2002, we posted that Halo50k, the Halo tournament with a $50,000 prize, launched. Well, the man behind the action, Gary 'dolbex' Williams, is at it again. He sent us a PR today (viewable in the comments thread below) letting us know that now Halo50k3 has launched! For more details see the comments thread or check out the site.
Wonga. As part of Bungie's relaunch of Bungie.net, a new Halo 2 Screenshot has been posted for the masses. Weighing in at just over 1MB, this 1600x1200 beast of an image must be seen to be believed.
We've added the image and a preview to our Halo 2 Gallery.
There's also some other cool stuff available at B.net, as Tru7h mentioned yesterday. Today, the audio genius Marty O'Donnell has posted an MP3 of the music played at E3 2003, while visitors entered and exited the Halo 2 Theater. Entitled "Remembrance", it can be found in the Halo 2 Game Music section, or directly acquired.
Wow. As Evergreen predicted, the new Bungie.net site has been launched. I'm speechless - a beautiful new design with a very spiffy nav-bar, and more importantly, new content. New content includes: new art content, more info on older Bungie games, much more info on Bungie Staff, and DETAILED information on weaponry. Check that page out, there is some very interesting information, including weapon damage, reload speed, splash damage, and helpful tips for each weapon. There are also two feature articles, one on the new stuff going on at Bungie.net, and (my favorite) one on pre-Xbox Halo. I would highly recommend just browsing around and checking stuff out - you're sure to find something interesting!
Do you see the world in 1's and 0's? Do you stay awake at night wondering if the matrix is real? Well, in reality, you probably pretty lonely. But, that shouldn't stop you from applying to work for Trajan and his group of lackies over at Starsiege:2845. In this job posting, Trajan is seeking dedicated scripters / coders with experience in OOP to aid the team in the development of the game. Naturally work is voluntary. Head on over here for more details.
Many, many months ago, we put ConfigSys.boy! into the spotlight, a writer on the Starsiege:2845 team and the founder and administrator of TribesRoleplayers\\StarsiegeUniverse. Well, now we put one of his lackies of TRP in the spotlight, Wadmaasi. Many of the old 'Siege veterans will recognize his name from the Starsiege Compendium and from around the community. Check out his story here.
We mentioned almost a month ago that one of our hosted sites, Project Halo was being discontinued due to lack of support from Bungie. Nevertheless, today is the day that PH has been reborn! Still under the same URL, PH is now known as Supreme Conflict: The Enna Wars. For more details, head on over to "the explanation thread" over at HBO and be sure to check out their new website (in progress) at the same URL as before.
Many of you may have noticed that their previously public forum has been converted into a Staff Only forum but I've been holding off on this newspost until they got their new public forum up and running.
On another note, the guys over at Fropco have snagged an interview with CJ Scaminaci (project leader) and Scott Watrous (head 3D art). Check that out right here.
Someone wanted to be anal, so I'll clarify a few points:
3D Labs put the proposal forward almost 2 years ago. Yes, I was aware of that. The ARB has always been slow. Hence my use of the phrase "Real Soon Now" in the title. OpenGL 2.0's biggest-touted feature is OGLSL, the shader language that complements DX9's HLSL. However, OpenGL 2.0 as a whole has a fully programmable pipeline. Its extensions reach far byond just the shader language extensions. The architecture is virtually re-done. Lastly, the reason I said "We are currently at 1.4" is because in practise, most available OpenGL implementations do not yet support OpenGL 1.5, the current specification, and so isn't really "available."
Sorry for any confusion. (And another note: I do have an email address for comments.)
Wow, I've been had. For those of you who enjoyed reading Starsiege:2845's year of 2842 fiction that we posted nine days ago, well, it was a fake. Go April Fools . The real deal has been posted up on the forums and is available right here. Should've known better than to trust Hex on April Fools .
I thought breifly about including this in a tech article, but I thought it was too interesting to put off.
DirectX 9 games can use pixel shaders extensively now (as you can easily see in Halo), so using programmable shaders has come quite into vogue. As a result, 3D Labs put forward a proposal to the OpenGL Architecture Review Board (ARB) for OpenGL 2.0 (we're currently at 1.4). OpenGL 2.0 changes the way OpenGL works entirely, by making the full pipeline programmable - which has huge advantages over DirectX 9, by allowing games to completely control the visuals they display. The result? Real-time cinematic and life-like imagery is possible with techniques that developers haven't used since the DOS days. OpenGL 2.0-compatible games will potentially have visuals that will absolutely blow your mind. And the finalized specification is due in a few months.
Frankie has posted this Friday's Halo 2 Update on the Sector 7 Halo Forums. Loads more stuff this week than last: There's a new multiplayer map that's playable; a possible tracking-rocket Warthog appearance; and the real interesting part, an image of "April 2004" with Monday the 13th "X"ed off. (Personally -- I think the possible launch of the updated Bungie.net sounds like a good guess.) Speculate yourself and go read the update!
Adam 'Menzo' Kahn just released information stating that both Tribes 1 and Tribes 2 will be released for free in May. Here's what he had to say:
Vivendi Universal Games to Give Away Starsiege®: Tribes® and Tribes 2 Videogames for Free!
Company Celebrates Upcoming Release of Tribes: Vengeance by Offering Free Games on Computer Gaming World Magazine’s Special Edition DVD-ROM and FilePlanet.com Download
LOS ANGELES, CA (April 9, 2004) – Vivendi Universal Games announced today that it will be distributing the videogames Starsiege®: Tribes® and Tribes 2 for free on a special-edition DVD-ROM bundled with the newsstand edition of the June issue of Computer Gaming World magazine and online via FilePlanet.com. The giveaway is meant to celebrate the fourth-quarter release of Tribes: Vengeance, the next installment in the venerable Tribes franchise of PC action games.
The special versions of these games will be available in the June issue of Computer Gaming World, which will hit newsstands starting May 4, 2004, and will be simultaneously accessible for online download through FilePlanet.com.
Click the comments link below for complete details.
Ever wondered what Microsoft's plans for Xbox Live 3.0, commonly known as Tsunami, have been? Eager for even more Halo 2 discussion? If so, then The Junkyard is the place to be. My new three-part series, Terabits and Tsunami: Online Gaming Evolved discusses the great expectations Microsoft has for their console, online service and Halo 2; the ways that people love Xbox; and finally, possible future privacy issues once Bungie releases the next edition of Halo.
Kind of late in delivering this news, but on April 2nd, IGN posted a news article mentioning that both the targeting laser and the repair kit will be removed from Tribes: Vengeance. Here's the gist of it:
One of the features of the Tribes series seems to have gone the way of the dodo in order to make the game a bit more streamlined for new players that may not be able to grasp and understand its use. That's right Tribes fans, the repair kit is no more according to posts made by Michael "KineticPoet" Johnston on TribalWar.com. It looks as though the Targeting Laser will also be removed, although that removal is less likely to cause as big a stir in the community.
Mark 'old_skull' Szabo has informed me that on April 4th the first ever Bi-Coastal LAN Party revealed.
The First Bi-Coastal Simultaneous LAN Party!
CHANTILLY, VA (April 4, 2004) - Tribal Wars, the largest gathering of Tribes
players on earth, opens a new chapter in LAN parties by holding two
simultaneous, competing LAN parties on either coast of the USA. The party
starts on Thursday, July 22, and concludes Sunday, July 25, 2004.
Although this is the first Tribal Wars to be held, the team planning the
party is no newcomer to the Tribes LAN community. The teams that brought you
five years' worth of fun at UVALAN, the largest single gathering of Tribes
players on earth, and Tribescon, the West Coast's answer to the LAN
sickness, have teamed up to make this super-LAN a reality.
Tribal Wars will have the absolute best competition in any LAN room, along
with some of the community's best personalities. There will be amazing
sponsored tournaments, fantastic prizes, and the best party in the business.
"This is groundbreaking," says LAN organizer Tom "Cheater" Szabo. "For the
first time in history, LAN players at one coast will be able to compete with
players on the opposite coast." 2003's UVALAN 5 sold out to 400 players in
less than 24 hours, and was sponsored by many industry mainstays including
the Tribes gamesmaker Sierra, who showed off builds of their next Tribes
installment, "Tribes:Vengeance".
A sanctioned Tribes 1 and Tribes 2 tournament is tentatively scheduled for
this year, along with several other surprise activities for players. The
featured event will be an East Meets West showdown between the two sites.
May the best coast win!
"There are some great reasons to attend Tribal Wars 2004 this year," said
LAN administrator Mark "old_skul" Szabo. "In addition to a great party, low
ping, amazing machines and amazing people, we're going to be announcing some
more great reasons to attend in the coming weeks before the party." More
information will be released in the coming weeks on the official Tribal Wars
site, www.tribal-wars.com.
"Tribal Wars is bringing the next evolution to the Tribes LAN party scene,"
says organizer Matt "Colosus" DeWald. "For the first time ever, the two
rival factions of East and West can enjoy a singular event together. This
will truly be a spectacluar event and something you surely do not want to
miss."
UVALAN and TribesCon have traditionally been held during the summer months
and has regularly attracted many hundreds of players, gamemakers and
vendors. More information is available at http://www.tribal-wars.com. Tribes
and Tribes 2 are registered trademarks of Sierra Entertainment, Inc. http://tribes2.sierra.com for more information.
Tribes2Maps.com has released another Map of the Week. This week it's Vestige, created by dr boom. Here's the obligatory snippet:
I have been promising my wife that this is my last map for T2. I am putting this here so she believes me this time.(Good thing Vengeance is around the corner ) I have always wanted to make a siege map, so here it is. The map itself is fairly small. [Defense] The forward generator powers all external defenses. There are two solar panels that power all base stations. The basement generator powers the forcefield guarding the switch. Assets can be repaired. Vehicle-Shrike [Offense] Starts low, use terrain and fog to your advantage. No generator, but base assets are destroyable...there is a repair pack. Vehicle-Havoc.
Head on over to Tribes2Maps.com for more details and map download.
Some call him a visionary. Others call him Steve. I call him... Steve. Errr... nevermind. The important thing is that we caught up with the guy behind sites like Forerunners.org, Cortana dot org, and even back in the day, Marathon.org long enough to put him into the spotlight. He reveals quite a bit about himself as he finally clears up what many, many people have always bugged him about: his place with Bungie Org. So check out his spotlight and indulge yourself.
Starsiege: 2845 Public Update 4/3
Sun Apr 4th, 2004
Posted by: at 17:44 PM
Trajan of Starsiege: 2845 has released another impressive public update. This update consists of one new song entitled "Microwaves" and many new pictures including some nice, in-game infantry pictures. Also some pictures of new weapons have been released and updates on previously seen weapons, such as the Mjollnir. Be sure to check this out.
All of the known characters of Tribes: Vengeance have been added to the Tribes: Vengeance Character Section. From the religious leader of the Phoenix to the youngest daughter of the emperor, all of the characters and tidbits of information about them that was released in the IGN Character Interview is here. Go check it out and see who you will be playing as and/or fighting against in this game.
Over at the Tribalwar Forums Colosus posted a thread saying that Michael 'Scr8pin' Cowan has resigned his short-lived position as Brand Manager. As of now, there is no explanation as to why he is resigning, although Colosus thinks that it is possible that it was the ridicule he got in the Tribalwar Forums. Currently, there is nobody to take over his position, but it shouldn't take long for them to find somebody.
Another evening, another update. This week's byte of information about Halo 2 went to Battleground: Halo's forum. It's quite short this week, likely due to the tomfoolery present yesterday on April First -- but Frankie promises that he'll "make it up to you" next week. Go and enjoy the update, for its minute but irritatingly devoid content.
mrsmiley sends word that the Halo Babies comics that we've all grown to love are now served in a series. What does this mean? Basically, the same quality strips are still going up but now they will follow a plotline. Head on over and see the first in a series of comics. This week's comic is entitled, "A Day at the Beach".
No, not Greg Focker from Meet the Parents, but the programmer on a Starsiege:2845 MOD. Roy Fokker has been a good friend of mine for quite some time now. He's the guy that hooked us up with the pair of exclusive Starseige:2845 shots back in February. Well now he has made his way into tJY's spotlight; our eighth SS:2845 dev member to date. Check out what he has to say right here.
New Vehicle Revealed
Thu Apr 1st, 2004
Posted by: at 18:16 PM
IGN and Chris 'Thrax' Mahnken are starting the month off with a bang releasing a brand new, completely revolutionary vehicle, the SkyMule. Check it out:
IGNPC: So there's a new vehicle in Tribes now. Tell us briefly what you've added.
Chris Mahnken: There is a certain type of Tribes player who likes to do everything on their own. They are the Lone Cowboy players, and they needed transportation that would indicate their status as Cowboys. The SkyPony is for them. When you're riding on your SkyPony, you don't need anybody else. You are the Lone Cowboy.
IGNPC: It looks like a single-person vehicle. Can more than one person ride the pony? Like in Silverado where Danny Glover is riding the pony but his dad is on the back with the rifle? That'd be awesome!
Chris Mahnken: Right now the SkyPony is single-person only, but we do have some ideas for a SkyHorse and SkyMule for the expansion pack.
Starsiege:2845 has appeared in another magazine article (details), this time it's GMR magazine. I've never heard of it, but apparently, GMR is Electronics Boutique's magazine. This thread has more information on it but head on down to your local EB and pick up a copy of the magazine for $5. The information is a little outdated and claims that Starsiege:2845 will be shipped with T:V (something that has yet to be decided on), but it's a nice spread nonetheless.
The year of 2842 has been posted on the Starsiege:2845 forums. And boy, is it a doosey! Here's the obligatory snippet:
Transmissions from ISS Crimson Inquisitor fall silent shortly after she reaches her destination just outside Jupiter-L4. She is never heard from again.
Trojan Horse infiltrators succeed in releasing a new strain of nanophage virus into the New Dallas Metrozone. Thousands perish and panic ensues. When a group of infected survivors attempt to flee the city, Blood Eagle pennants guarding the perimeter gun them down and then proceed to raze the entire metrozone as a means of eliminating the contamination.
Check out the rest of the story in the thread right here. Only three more years, folks.
Edit 04/10: For those of you who haven't clued in yet, this was an April Fools joke. See here for details.
Thanks to the recent waves of information coming back from GDC concerning the Tribes Vengeance single player levels and characters the staff at TribesRoleplayers have now updated our T:V Single Player Fact Sheet with brand new info about the plot and characters of the Vengeance campaign. In addition we have also added a brand new section to our Media Gallery, featuring the revealed characters and brief descriptions of their roles and relationships. So wether you're confused or just insatiably curious, stop by TribesRoleplayers and check out the most comprehensive resources on the Tribes: Vengeance single player campaign available anywhere!
IGN has created a review of the build of Tribes: Vengeance shown at GDC. A new weapon is shown in this build which is rather different than anything we have seen in the Tribes series. Here's a snippet of what was said:
Along with the single player level that we had seen before was another mission taking place in an arena. This mission will challenge players to defeat robotic opponents in waves that get tougher and tougher in order to impress the elite enough to gain audience with the Emperor. We were also shown the new melee weapon in the game, which is pretty much a hydraulic knife that shoots out near the fist portion of each of the different kinds of armor. The weapon is not a powerful one and killing folks with it like cloaked players liked to do in Tribes 2 with the Shocklance isn't going to be common practice. In fact, the weapon is basically considered to be a last line of defense when all other ammunition is gone. It would take quite a long time to take down any enemies, especially in multiplayer, with the knife.
GameSpot has released an interview with Chris Mahnken in which he reveals information about the characters involved in the Tribes: Vengeance story. With the names and pictures of 10 characters, this interview has been the most revealing we have seen since the release of the pack system. You will not want to miss this one. Here's a sample of what he has to say:
Chris Mahnken: We have 10 new characters to reveal.
General Albrecht
General Albrecht has trained Julia from a young age and keeps her out of trouble as much as is possible. His position in the empire's military is vague, as he is actually a mercenary, but he frequently joins Julia on missions and has been chief advisor to the Empire for many years.
Daniel
Daniel is the popular "political" leader of the Phoenix. He's a good fighter, if a bit brash. He wants better things for his tribe, and he's willing to take what he sees as reasonable risks to attain them. You will be able to play as Daniel.
Esther
Esther is the religious leader of the Phoenix. She is both their soul and their conscience. Like all Phoenix, she can fight if the need arises, but she would rather think her way out of a problem, if possible.
Julia
Julia is heir to the Imperial throne and is fully trained in the arts of combat. She is driven by her own inner demons to defeat the various tribal factions. She is also the number one player in the coliseum battle-sports that are played within the empire. You will be able to play as Julia (both as an adult and at the age of five).
For the whole list of characters and other information, click the link below.
TimberWolf has once again graced our Starsiege War Stories Writers forum with another fanfic of his. Taking a break from school, he posts a short story entitled, One Missing. Here's a snip:
Jace entered the room, his heart heavy, and his mind cluttered. Just moments before he was fighting for his life against insane machines. Ones that had no value of life, and no instance of self-preservation to speak of. There were hundreds of them against his unit, they just came and came; like a dam had be opened. He and what was left of his squad had just barely made it out alive.
Head on over to the thread and check out the rest. Don't forget to leave your comments!
As we noted way back in February, in the upcoming May issue of PC Gamer (which isn't even on the shelves yet), there will be a spread of Starsiege:2845. The article features a couple of screenshots and a nice write-up summing up the progress and game pretty well. While there have been a few sites linking to a scan of the article, we are refraining from the linking or posting of the article until the magazine is off of the shelves. If you're one of the folks who receive the magazine in the mail - good for you. Otherwise, wait until the magainze is on the shelves and buy it. Support the magazines, they won't be around for long if this keeps up.
After the blunder that happened to the server hosting www.starsiege2845.com, things are starting to get back to normal. For starters, you may have noticed that visiting starsiege2845.com forwards you to their forum in progress, located here. Visiting mechnex.net will take to you an oudated version of the site, though it's still functional. Trajan mentions that you may need to reregister (or reset your password in my case) on the forums as they had to use an older database backup.
Remember that 33MB SS:2845 WOFN .mp3 log that we mentioned a little while ago? Well, if you don't have the time to sit through it or the bandwidth to download it, Smylodon in the midst of creating a text version of it. 42 minutes into it, you can grab the latest copy here. Check back for updates as he continues his tedious work.
Update March 30: Smylodon has updated the text interview, he's just about at an hour now.
Finally, our Starsiege:2845 music section has received a substantial update. We've added another 12 tracks to our archive, created by Edgen. Not all files listed are full-fledged musical tracks; some are works in progress or tunes that will be used to build atmosphere in the game. Head on over here to visit our archive and the 27 tracks that lay within.
With so much attention going to the Halo 2 Updates on Friday evenings, it's easy to disregard earlier events in the day. Because some of the features of the new Bungie.net will be, of course, Halo and Halo 2 related, it's only fair to mention SketchFactor's news post on Bungie.net:
Many of you may be wondering what's happening with the new website we've hinted at over the past few months. Well, I'm happy to say that the release of v1.0 is right around corner. In fact, next week we'll be giving everyone a sneek peak at the new Bungie.net (or, the "new hotness" as some have dubbed it). We know the lovin has been a little sparse around here lately, but it's only because we've been so busy behind the scenes building a better tomorrow. =)
What I should remind all visitors is that "next week" encompasses April 1st, commonly known as April Fools' Day, and usually Bungie and their band of miscreants offer something... foolish. So beware of any new Bungie.net features offered on Thursday, just in case.
Loads of greatness, even in the first paragraph of the Halo 2 Weekly Update, posted on HBO for this weekend. Really cool information this week: talk of Binary Separation Panes (BSP's) for the geeks; talk of a level where " (it is) set in a dry climate where dust, wind and sand all play a part..." for the graphics fiends; and juicy information on the introduction of dual Needlers. Maybe they won't be as useless this time around... In any event, you owe it to yourself to check out the Halo 2 Update!
If any of you have visited www.starsiege2845.com recently you'll have noticed that things are a little fishy. I just finished chatting with Trajan and apparently their host is having technical difficulties with the server. Thankfully, nothing in regards to the MOD has been compromised, but this is a set-back for the team that they really didn't need. Trajan is hoping to have things up and running soon. We'll keep you updated as we learn more.
Update: An temporary version of the site is up and running at www.mechnex.net.
Tribes2Maps.com has once again updated their Map of the Week selection. This week it's Silent Storm by MikL99. It's a Siege map weighing in at just over 230kb. Here's the snip:
Silent Storm is a Siege map. The Attackers have a Vehicle station and all vehicles to use. Attack the FF Tower to take out the FF's on The Main base. Take out the Equipment Generator to disable the Defenses Inventory Stations. There is a Bunker with Solar power that controls 1 Inventory station. Take out the Control gen To Get the Switch.Lightning has a good chance of hitting people. Teamwork is a must.
Head on over to Tribes2Maps.com for more details and map download.
Yet another thread has popped up on the Starsiege:2845 forums regarding the role of infantry in the game. This time the question posed is if infantry will ever tire or run out of energy. Trajan responded saying that infantry will never run out of energy or grow tiresome due to the tedious nature that would be inherent in this. He also mentioned, for those of you who missed it previously, that infantry will move at a default speed of 30 kph, which is the default speed in Unreal Tournament.
For those of you who think 30 kph is too fast, Trajan responded with, "even reducing the speed to 20 kph (we tried it) makes it pure monotonous hell to try to get around the maps when you need to hoof it." Infantry has to have some advantages when it comes to battling HERCs, eh? Small size and mobility are all they have. Head on over to the thread to join the discussion.
We noted a few days ago that WOFN was going to sit down with Vailias, Configsys.boy!, and Trajan of the SS:2845 team to chat about the progress and future of the game. For those of you who couldn't attend the show yesterday, Excal has posted the 33MB .mp3 recording of the interview, which is available from TribalWar right here. The show was awesome; there was over 175 people idling in the #wofn channel during broadcasting and Dreka (the DJ) really had the listener's adrenaline flowing with continuous face-offs between Tribers and Siegers. Nonetheless, good times were had by all!
This week's Halo 2 Update is posted at Bungie.net itself, using their own "Underground" forum. Frankie delves into the usual assortment of topics, all quite informative. I especially liked the speculation that since Marty O'Donnell was nowhere to be found, there was a strong possibility he was drunk this week.
If you're a sucker for content, here's a really neat snippet:
Why just this morning I was admiring a building on an Earth level when I noticed that there was ivy hanging from it. It wasn't hanging there last week, and here it was, green and leafy. One of the artists pointed out something neat too the ivy only hangs on one side of the street, the shady side. That's because ivy won't grow in ferocious, constant sunlight, which is just one of those details that makes a place feel more real.
And what kind of a Halo site would we be if we neglected to mention the newest Halo 2 Multiplayer Screenshot? Speculation will be all over the place, but you can bask in the glory. Interestingly enough, the shot was taken from a recent build of Halo 2 and was taken in Slayer mode (obviously from the development kit screenshot utility, as it's in a third-person view.)
Finally, those wondering where the Mister Chief Image is this week should learn to click on links.
mrsmiley of Halobabies sends word of a late, but updated comic on their site. This one is entitled "Mod Chip or Not" and was submitted by a sponsor, Deadsoul. He also points out that there are two new icons available. Be sure to swing on by and check them out!
Well, I knew this day would come eventually, though I was hoping it never would. CJ Scaminaci, the project admin for Project Halo has announced that Project Halo is being discontinued and moving to a new name. Here's what CJ had to say:
Due to lack of response from Bungie, the project has been halted and we will be redoing some things. We will be dropping the Halo theme for the game and inserting a new story. The project will continue in a way, but with a new name and story line. We can't continue without licensing from Bungie, and it doesn't look like that will be coming. So, we've decided to just make an all new game.
Thanks to all the Halo fans that supported us, and especially to HBO and the Junkyard for all their support. I hope you guys all follow our game, and thanks again for supporting us!
A small Q&A has appeared on Computer and Video Games with Michael 'KineticPoet' Johnston on the latest happenings on Tribes:Vengeance. Obligatory snipppet:
Could you reveal two of the new maps and, what features make them special? And can you explain how rag-doll physics will add to the multiplayer experience?
Johnston: We have one map that hasn't been shown yet which is a really long gorge surrounded by a relatively flat desert. The gorge looks great, filled with lush vegetation and bounded by rocky cliff faces. And it's pretty fun to jet and ski in. A bridge stretches from one end to the other with bases at either end.
Another map we have is completely underground, so you're jetting and skiing around stalactites and stalagmites as you travel between bases. Another map takes place in a massive outdoor arena reminiscent of the Coliseum, complete with cheering fans.
Liberation fever diminishes in scale and frequency as the peace settles across human space. Industry begins to shift from war production toward consumer goods. A thriving black market interferes with the economic recovery, however, and illegal narcotics flood the cities.
Tribes2Maps.com has updated their Map of the Week yet again. This week it's Turbide which was created by Celios. This Siege mission is a server-side map weighing in at 120kb. Here's a snippet:
The attackers spawn at the top of a large and tremendously skiiable hill. They must ski down to the first base and take out the Primary Generator to disable the FFs protecting the North and South Generators. The Primary Generator is rather easy to kill and should be down most of the time.
For more information and map download, head on over here.
This has been mentioned on the Starsiege:2845 forums for quite some time now, but it was finally officially posted on TribalWar, so I thought I'd help spread the word.
On March 21st (a Sunday night) at 9PM EST, WOFN will be sitting down with the Starsiege:2845 team to talk about the current status of the game and where they're headed in the future. To tune in, log on to irc.dynamix.com #wofn, sit back and relax. If you can't make it, not to worry - we'll have a chat log up soon thereafter.
Our last spotlight was with a dev from the Starsiege:2845 team, Cenobite. Before him, we had Sal 'Sluggo' Accardo from Gamespy joining us. Well, today we shift the focus back to our Halo community and shed some light on one of the heads of Cortana dot org and Forerunners.org, Tony 'Octanus' Poitra. Check out his spotlight right here. We also hope to have Steve Campbell who is the head of Cortana dot org with us soon.
I have also implemented a quick jump feature while viewing the spotlights for enhanced navigation. Enjoy!
Jasio from Project: MD3 has sent us the latest batch of screenshots along with an update on what's been going down since we last had a chat with him. Here's what he had to say:
We've been 'in the dark' lately, quietly making our way through Meltdown 3 and our progress is slow, but steady. Today I am going to do a quick concept/model release. I am releasing one concept art piece, which is the RAT (Rhino Assault Tank). I am also including unskinned models of the Laser Rifle, Sniper Rifle, Turbo Cat Grav Cycle, and the Firefly Light Tank. These are not finals, but they are close to it. They are of a lower poly count than that of what will be in the final mod. Most of these models as you can see are done by B. Graff , aka. Traxxas, who is an excellent modeller who pays great attention to detail and has really brought forth some great ideas, we hope that Traxxas continues to be a great influence in our modelling department. The Turbo Cat was done by Kazenohito, who is one of our newest modellers. He specializes in vehicle modelling and we really appreciate the work he put into this model. The weapon/vehicle names are not fully decided on yet and can change at any time. We have slowed down the coding part of the mod as T:V has changed their scripting methods, our programmers are currently learning how to fully customize the game to our needs. Sufficet to say, we are not dead.
He also mentioned to me that in the next couple of weeks he hopes to churn out more models and updates - we'll keep you informed! Until then, check out the eye candy.
CJ 'SanchezTheLlama' has posted the Project Halo: Webwar Evolved weekly update on the halo.bungie.org Forum. Among the inclusions this week are new music which might possibly become the theme song; discussions of level progress, and more information about the beloved 'bot, Lopez. Everyone trying to talk with Lopez should know that to start a direct connection before you begin trying to communicate.
Go ahead and read the update, with a promise of more for next week!
Halobabies debuted a new strip yesterday, this time on those fat exploding carrier forms. Entitled Open the Floodgates, this is one comic that I'm sure a lot of you can truly relate to.
Frankie's done his weekly duty for all the Bungie fans this week, and posted the Halo 2 Update on the Halobabies.net forums. This week, the Nightmare Armor guys visited Bungie Studios; we hear about visits from two different gaming magazines; and some intesting other miscellaneous tidbits. Go on over and check out the update!
the Junkyard's 51st spotlight is on another Starsiege:2845 dev. This time it's Cenobite that's up to bat. He describes himself as "the 'guy' who did the Master Chief skin for Tribes 2" but others will recognize his work on Starsiege:2845 as a texture artist. Check out his spotlight here. And be sure to catch up on any previous SS:2845 spotlights on our press coverage page.
...Katabatic Reversion is a Katabatic Remake like none other. It takes place at night in the middle of a blizzard.
What has been added: Middle base that can be captured once it is your team controls sensors, two plasma turrets, two sentry turrets, and two invos. The base is protected by force fields which no one can walk through. This base has many advantages one is its a great snipeing or mortaring spot. I have also add a snipers nest on top of the mountain on each teams base. which can be used for almost anything you want. Next in front of each base is a bridge on the ground connecting both of the two mountains that are gaurding the base together. This can also be use for snipeing and mortaring passing vehicles. but is also a good spot for cloakers to let their energy refuel so keep your guard up. There is a slight fog on the ground so it is harder to see on coming targets and vehicles.
Head on over to Tribes2Maps.com for more information and map download.
Want a guaranteed spot -- in fact, the last spot -- on the awesome Project Halo beta test team? Just hop on over to the Project Halo: Webwar Evolved forums and help them select a company name. CJ "SanchezTheLlama" has set out a few suggestions and requirements: keep the name G-rated; preferably with "Studios" or "Games" in it.
Since "Project Halo" is also only a codename, CJ's asking for suggestions for a replacement game title as well. Criteria include originality, no profanities, and no use of copyrighted slogans or titles (ie: Halo: Combat Evolved is a copyright of Bungie.) You can suggest a maximum of two of each type of title in the thread.
If your suggestion for company name is picked, you'll get the beta test spot, plus your name in the game (with an easter egg dedicated to it.) The game name gets their picture posted on the Project Halo site, with their name in the finished game and another egg in their honour.
ConfigSys.boy! has released the next installment in the Starsiege: 2845 timeline.
Final enclaves of Cybrid forces on Earth are eradicated. Cybrid forces in Antarctica make no attempts to flee the planet, but fight to the very last, employing self-destruct tactics whenever possible, reaping carnage among the enemy. Directed by Sword-General Letha Fairchild, waves of BioDerm attackers supported by Imperial Knights overwhelm the last Cybrids in a massive frontal assault. Mother Earth is free once more.
Long Patrol vessels lurking outside the orbit of Saturn report signs of substantial Cybrid fleet movement near Uranus. The numbers indicate a far greater number of ships than Imperial Intelligence estimates had provided for. Alarmed, the Imperial Navy dispatches a task force to Titan to guard against a possible offensive.
GameRankings has compiled a new Tribes: Vengeance preview which, although not releasing new information, highlights the features of the Tribes franchise that made it what it is, and then adds on to that the features which will supposedly make Tribes: Vengeance. Here's some of what they have to say:
Tribes is a franchise long overdue for more attention, the original slipped under the radar of a large majority of gamers when it was released back in 1998 and was well ahead of its time with its multiplayer only focus and very player orientated experience. Unlike other fps experiences such as Quake 3 and Unreal Tournament, Tribes was very much more a pure experience, stripped of unnecessary complicated weaponry and environments and replaced them with a variety of dedicated weapons and purely functional maps, allowing the player conflicts and tactics created by the community to be the driving force behind continued enjoyment rather than the limited thrill of gimmicky weaponry and maps. The introduction of the jetpack also helped separate Tribes from pretty much every other fps title on the market and it soon carved it’s own little niche.
Also, GameSpot has released two new screenshots: one featuring the amazing water detail of the engine, and another is a picture of a Blood Eagle heavy.
CJ 'SanchezTheLlama' Scaminaci writes to clear up some recent emails that he's been receiving: Project Halo is offering signups for testing Project Halo: Webwar Evolved, not Halo 2. It should be obvious that the two games are not one and the same. It also should go without saying that Bungie and Microsoft will not have a public beta test of Halo 2; you should check out what Project Halo is before blindly signing up.
Beta tests are not, contrary to what you may think, all fun and games. While beta testing games can be an enjoyable experience, the only reason they occur is to let members of the public help the developers test the game and search for any bugs present, before release candidate builds are published. Beta testing also involves the possibility of unstable software, crashes and poor performance. It should also go without saying that you should have decent computer or gaming experience before applying to such a test, so you know what you're doing and can submit meaningful test cases and bug reports.
Having said that, Project Halo appears to be a really promising game and if you do have the time, skills and equipment to participate, and you know what you're signing up for, by all means please e-mail CJ. (Remove the spam spoofer text before sending your message.)
Psycho-Kinetic Hyper-Geek from the Starsiege:2845 forums created a little something special for those of you still playing Starsiege. He has diligently recreated every SS:2845 Cybrid texture in Starsiege. This thread has more details on it, or if you prefer to jump right into it, head on over to his site to grab the skins themselves.
The update was also posted to the HBO Forum this week.
Note that when you're talking to Lopez, you must start a direct connection in order not to b0rk the beloved 'bot. If you have an AIM client installed, this link should start an IM session with Lopez.
Over on the SS:2845 forums, Trajan has posted the Imperial Basilisk's arch rival - the Colonial Medusa! It's mounted with dual EMPs and ATCs. Just looking at the thing makes my legs uneasy. They've really done a fantastic job with the Medusa, go check it out.
Edit 4:33: Trajan clarified that the Medusa is mounted with plain ol' Auto-cannons because in SS:2845 there is only one type of auto-cannon.
This week's Halo 2 Update went to the halo.bungie.org forum. Among the goodies this week includes a description of a twisted, destroyed bridge that apparently players will be able to drive on and dodge structure warps. A new water system's being implemented. A new Covenant weapon -- which has apparently been seen before, but never discussed -- will possibly be making an appearance, complete with a cool alien interface. Xbox Live OptiMatch features will make finding smooth, unlaggy games a breeze for the upcoming game. Go ahead and read the update!
Hello to you all!
I am a new Intern here at the Junkyard, and I just wanted to introduce myself.
I am Jimmie 'Challenge' Newton, and I am working on becomming a staff member for the Tribes section of the Junkyard.
Any questions/concerns <--(*sigh*) about me, feel free to e-mail me, AIM me at ChallengeMinus, YIM me at x_challenge_x, or MSN me at FILAS83@cox.net (alias: Challenge)!
In today's spotlight, we have a special treat for you. Earlier this year, we brought you a spotlight on the managing editor of Gamespy, John 'Warrior' Keefer. Now we bring you the senior PC editor of Gamespy, Sal 'Sluggo' Accardo! Sluggo enjoys long walks along Southern Cali beaches, while listening to the tunes of the piano key on in his head. Check out his spotlight here.
In this thread on the SS:2845 forums, Ditto pointed out that there are two new movies available on Gamespot. The only caveat is that, you have to register on the site to download them. I haven't seen them yet so I have no first-hand experience with them, but several people in the thread said that they have no sound, but are indeed new. Descriptions care of Ditto:
One movie is simple infantryman's view of the Cybrid Hercs plus the Eman. The player is running around the Hercs as they stand ready.. none of them are moving, but it gives you a nice sense of scale.
The other movie Asphodel runs you around in an Eman and a Harbinger giving glimpse of one of the maps the guys are working on.
Look for updates later this evening.
Edit March 6: Grab the movies from Gamespot here, or head to our SS:2845 movies section to grab them locally.
Only Six More Years..
Wed Mar 3rd, 2004
Posted by: at 22:20 PM
Velax of Starsiege: 2845 has released the year 2839 for the intermediate Starsiege timeline. Here's part of what happens this year:
Deep in the Pacific Ocean, TDF sonar probes detect a large, unidentified mass moving toward the west coast of North America at supercavitating speed. It successfully breaches the naval perimeter near Hawaii and then diverts its course north, toward the Seattle-Vancouver Metrozone. Concluding the bogey is KRAKEN, Imperial Navy deep sea assets scramble to intercept, but fail."
After a long lull in Tribes: Vengeance news, IGN has broken the silence. Irrational Games' Senior Programmer Glenn "experimental" Fiedler gets a chance to talk this time. Fiedler starts out his diary with a bang exclaiming that they are very close to an alpha version:
Everybody at Irrational is working extremely hard now that we're so close to being feature complete on the game, and things are really starting to come together from a big mixing pot of programming, art and design into a game that is fun to play.
For the majority of the diary, Fiedler talks about his job as a programmer and the pros and cons of being his job in gaming. This is a very good read not only for Tribes: Vengeance fans but also for anybody interested in becoming a programmer for a gaming company. On top of all of this, two new pictures of a previously-unseen map, or atleast a previously-unseen section of a map, have been added to the mix. Be sure to check it out.
Big-Ern of Battleground: Halo has released an interview with Claude 'Louis Wu' Errera, the webmaster and quirky personality behind the gaint Halo fansite halo.bungie.org, or HBO for short. Louis talks about his experiences with Halo PC, the massive amount of work involved, and what not to do when submitting content.
Spotted over at Blues, Warcry has thrown up an interview with Ed Orman, Lead Designer, Michael Johnston, Senior Designer, and Tony Oakden, Producer of T:V. No new screenshots were released with the interview and there isn't a lot of new content, but worth a read to check up on the progress thus far. Check it out here.
New email worm out today. Once again, it's a Junkyard visitor who is infected. The worm disguises itself as a text document.
The worm sets the mail with text like "I don't bite, weah!" and attatches itself as a password-locked zip file. The password is a series of 5 random numbers. Opening the zip file reveals the contents to be any of a .scr, .exe, .cmd, .pif, etc.
Please, for the love of Pete and all things sacred on the 'net: DO NOT OPEN ATTACHMENTS UNLESS YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY SURE OF ITS SOURCE. Use anti-virus software and keep it updated. Don't be stupid and make our lives harder by spreading the worm of the day.
CJ 'SanchezTheLlama' has posted the Project Halo: Webwar Evolved update on the Junkyard Forums fashionably late. The update includes some beautiful 1600x1200 screenshots and information on progress made with Torque so far. There's also an AIM bot available: contact LopezTheBot over your AOL Instant Messenger client of choice if you want to ask questions. Update: Lopez is currently experiencing technical difficulties; please do NOT contact the 'bot until further notice.
Banshees, you say? Well, yes. Hopefully you've been avidly reading my Banshee Handling articles, of which there are two, but if you haven't it's not too late. I've just posted the third edition, here, and it just might interest you. Take a look.
Adding to our SS:2845 dev team spotlights comes Adam 'Asphodel' Labbe, lead programmer on the team. Check out his spotlight and his uber-sw33t gaming rig right here. And don't forget to check out SS:2845's weapon modeler, Sectaurs that was posted a couple of days ago.
Over on the SS:2845 forums, Trajan posted an updated Basilisk render. You'll note that it has been redesigned from the original, featuring a more slopped cockpit, longer legs, and wider though shorter shoulder pads. Check it out in our vehicle gallery.
Edit March 2: My mistake - the plasma cannons will not seek after enemies in SS:2845.
Edit 1:20am: There has been a lot of cufuffle about whether there is going to be a Colonial version of the Basilisk and the short answer is no. The long answer, "No, there will not be a Colonial version of the Basilisk. The Colonial equivalent would be the Medusa." - Trajan
This week's Halo 2 update was posted at TeamXbox and has the usual array of assorted goodness. Lightmaps are one of this week's key features, and there's the ever-present Mister Chief sketch to make you smile. Go on over to TeamXbox and check out the news nuggets for this week!
Surfing the Internet this afternoon, I was surprised to notice that halo.bungie.org mentioned that a fake Halo 2 Update had been posted on the IGN Forums. Generally, although the Halo 2 Updates do arrive on Fridays, they'll often be public later in the evening.
I've obtained the text of the update from op_ivy on the HBO Forums and mirrored it at The Junkyard for posterity. Although this one's certainly not true, it'll be interesting to check if any of these fan-made predictions are true once the game releases.
Unlike what you'd expect, this article was well-written enough to initially fool a few people, much like the frequently-mentioned Linkin Park article a few months back. The moral of the story? Be careful of what you read on the Internet.
Trajan from the SS:2845 team spoke up in the forums regarding community map submittals for the game. If you remember (or experienced) in Starsiege, there were a number of "community [map/skin] packs" available to be downloaded. Unfortunately, the Starsiege skin packs weighed in at over 100 MB spread across ~9 .zip files and a large amount of those were from "vapourware" squads. In an attempt to strain out the nonsense maps / skins, Trajan mentioned that there will be a formal review system in place (similar to Tribes2Maps.com I would assume), where in order to be included in an "official" skin / map pack, they would have to pass a rigorous test. That, or bride Trajan, either one really. Read more about it here.
3*Gen. Stucky sent news that their clan, the 181st will be hosting a Starsiege tournament with cash prizes. At the moment, it is going to be a free-for-all with a minimum of $50 first prize. More information will be available on their website along with a preregistration form soon. We'll keep you updated as events unfold.
mrsmiley of Halo Babies sent word today that they've got a new comic posted. Head on over to the site and check it out. Also be sure to leave your comments to let them know what you think!
The year of 2838 has been posted on the Starsiege:2845 forums. This year is quite a busy one, so I'll just quote the obligatory snippet and leave you to read the rest:
In an epic, month-long battle that runs up and down the slopes of Olympus Mons, Colonel Verity Vargas defeats the last major Cybrid force on the red planet. Vargas is killed in the final assault, and is subsequently enshrined as the greatest Martian war hero after Bek Storm, becoming known as the Victor of the Battle of the Long Slope, the Third Battle of Olympus. The surviving Redhawk Raiders paint their HERCs black in her memory.
Like the Halo Babies artwork and community? I'm sure many Halo enthusiasts have seen the awesome comics and content that are available. Matt 'mrsmiley' has written to let us know about a new contest available. The take?
The winner will get to have themself drawn into an upcoming Halo Babies comic! Not only will your comic be released on the site as a normal addition, you will recieve a framed copy of your comic for your own personal bragging rights!
To enter into the contest, you'll have to become a Halo Babies Sponsor by donating $10 to Halo Babies. You'll get Sponsor status on their forum, and ensure that their site has oh-so-sweet uptime and new content for you. The contest is on until the end of April 2004, so you have from now until then to step up to the plate and possibly win!
Also noteworthy is their new animated short entitled "Tink". It's available in both QuickTime and Windows Media formats.
It's been a while since our last spotlight with a Starsiege:2845 dev member, so this morning, that record is broken. Coming to us live from tJY Spotlight's is Sectaurs! You may have seen his work on our SS:2845 section, where he has created some terrific weapon models. Check out what he's got to say right here.
As of 10:19 PM on Friday February 20th, 2004 - the Starsiege:2845 team grew larger with the new addition of Luke Garber. Luke will follow in Jeremy 'SleepyBrightEyez' Garber's foot steps [sometime down the road]; as of right now, he weighs in at an incredibly 8 lbs 2 oz, and just 20 in long. From all of us at the Junkyard, congratulations to the happy Father, Jeremy. Head on over to this thread for a shot of the lil' tyke.
Our new poll asks what you think of our newly upgrade forums. We had been running VB2.x.x for the longest time and while we had grown quite comfortable with it, I thought it was time for a change. So, not too long ago I took the plunge and we ended up with something that needed a lot of customizing to suit the tJY look and feel. I think we're getting close to completion on the forum upgrade, but we aren't finished yet. But, I urge you to vote on the poll or if you feel so inclined, let us know what you think.
Results from our previous poll are in and are available here. As it turns out, almost half of you said it was okay to scan and publish articles from a magazine after it was off the newstands. While it was a 27% split on whether it was okay to share the wealth immediately or that it was never okay to scan and publish the articles. Interesting.
Check out the update; if you're excited, and you have some skills with Torque, skinning or texturing, please let the team know -- they're in need of additional members.
Update: CJ has added that any developer that feels capable with Torque scripting or with C++ in a game environment should also contact them -- anyone with a Torque license or experience would be a tremendous help and should apply!
One of The Junkyard's hosted sites has had a visit from Bungie! 343GS is this week's site chosen to host the Halo 2 Update. Frankie's gone into a few more technical issues this week; for people liking content, this week's Update is chock full of it.
Read the Update and feel free to post your comments on the 343GS Forum!
Remember those loveable comic characters from Halo Babies? Remember the constant "Out of bandwidth" errors from Homestead? Well, fear no more - Halo Babies is back online with an entirely new site design, "Halo Babies 7.0". You'll find all the old comics, and a really neat Artwork section. Hop on over to Halo Babies and check it out!
For those already familiar with Halo Babies, you can find out what's new on the site.
Thanks to Matt [mrsmiley] for keeping us in the loop!
The Starsiege: 2845 Timeline has been updated with the year 2837. Here's a sample of what happens:
The famed knight Colossa Eun Alba suffers horrifying injuries during an assault on a Cybrid stronghold in Xanthe Province on Mars. The damage to his body cannot be regenerated properly; he is confined to a life-support biotank with little hope of full recovery. As a result, Eun Alba uses a VR interface to continue piloting HERCs and commanding forces in the field - against the advice of his physicians, who warn of possible permanent neurological damage.
As you may have noticed, our forums are down. We are currently upgrading to vBulletin version 3.0.0. Please be patient while the forums are being setup. This should take no longer than an hour; updates will be posted as they occur. Here's a little game to keep you busy while the update is in progress: Yeti Sports. That is all.
Update: The forums are now in working condition but still have to be skinned. Aesthetics will be added later, for now you will have to suffer the default theme.
Tribes2Maps.com has once again updated their Map of the Week. This week's map is Black Storm created by D.N.A.. Here's the obligatory snipppet:
D.N.A. here with another fun map! We hope anyway. Bases are small and well defended. Bases are just over 1000 apart. Vehicles are fly only and the terrain is not to even...not bad either. We used the "storm maker" from the new Dynamixs maps. Not a must download....but you will need to have it in order see the rain and clouds come rolling in. But besides that anyone can jion with no worries. Till next time be cool!
Head on over to Tribes2Maps for more details and map download.
But there is a little change from the typical Q & A sessions, The questions will not be asked in the forums, and devs constant answering, 200 of the same question, and browsing trough 40+ pages of junk, so a bit less stressfull for all parts than the typical forum Q & A session.
We have a Question submitance form wich will be up for a few days. So Start submitting questions!!!!
All questions will be answered (or those they feel like responding to anyway )
When answers arrives they will be put up in a typical easy read FAQ manner.
Last monday we mentioned that Starsiege Universe put together a pretty extensive interview with the writers of the Starsiege:2845 game. Well, this second installment features questions answered by the team regarding about the backstory, some of what we should and shouldn't expect to see in the single player campaign, and what they see for the future of gaming and their own careers in particular. Here's a snippet:
SSU: We know that the Blood Eagle were an Imperial Order of knights during this period in the history, and that they eventually became one of the Great Tribes, so is there any chance we'll get to see the possible roots of some other groups from the Tribes era? Maybe some info about the genesis of the Phoenix cult or the mysterious origins of the Diamond Sword?
Blake: No and no. One of our principal goals was to create a compelling story that left Sierra the maximum amount of freedom in deciding the "origins" of factions and characters in the Tribes end of the pool. We're not touching any possible roots, though there'll be room for Sierra to take what it wants and weave it into the continuity if desired. That's not our decision, though.
Victor: In other words, Tribes territory is guarded by slavering hounds and landspike turrets.
Along with this interview, they also managed to snag another two screenshots, here and here. And if you missed part 1, read it first.
As Starsiege: 2845 becomes more popular and further along in developement, a need for more volunteers increases. With this in mind Trajan puts up the wanted sign calling for more skinners:
Starsiege:2845 is currently looking for a few skinners to join our growing team. The succesful candidate should be well versed in Photoshop or similar programs and conversant in "photo realistic" design methods. Ability to UV unwrap a huge plus. For examples of the styles we are looking for, please check our picture gallery.
PLEASE NOTE: A portfolio or examples of your work will be required.
As an FYI, this is not a paying gig. All work being done on the project is strictly voluntary. The only benefit we can offer at this time is widespread exposure of your work.
A bit later this evening, but Rampancy.net is the benefactor of Frankie's latest Halo update. A Pac-Man style image adorns this newspost; go to it and find out all about it!
I've also courteously mirrored the Geocities site mentioned in the update this week before the bandwidth quota kicked in -- once the relinking of files is complete, I'll add a link to this newspost. Sit tight!
In the age of Mydoom, Melissa and LovSan viruses, it's important that users take some time to deal with network security. Whether you're on a 56K modem to broadband with an ungodly transfer rate, a fresh install of Windows on an insecure connection just screams "Infect me!"
For those gamers who prefer playing games to muddling with firewalls, I've written an article regarding setting up network security, specifically focusing on Windows XP. The information in the article can be applied to any version of Windows, however, and offers general network and softwall -- software firewall -- advice.
If you have your own views about network security that I haven't mentioned, please comment in the article thread; it's best to get multiple opinions when dealing with any sort of security measures.
Project Halo has been generating quite a stir on their forums in the last couple of days. Among the hustle and bustle, they have beeen posting a lot of questions on their forums in an attempt to get player input on what they'd like to see in the game. Some of the topics include the introduction of a new race, AI features, and graphics vs. player support. CJ has also created a questions thread for the community to get their questions answered by the dev team. And if you haven't yet registered on our forums, now's the time!
Make sure to check out halo.fropco's recent article about teamwork, entitled "Sum Utilis Militis". For the most part, it talks about what the ideal team would be; also attached is a tirade about the evils of teamkilling. Some interesting ideas in there, especially if you think you could be more effective in a team formation!
Yogi at Tribalwar has created a Dev Tracker similar to that of Bittah's Quote Archive. This nice little tracker allows you to search for information said by one of 18 people working at Sierra or Irrational Games.
After a four page ramble on the Starsiege: 2845 forums on the roles of Infantry in the game, Trajan finally put his foot down and threw up an official thread describing everything they have worked out thus far regarding Infantry in the game. Check it out.
I'm a little late in getting this up, but Feret dropped by our forums to let us know that Sun and Shadows is holding a Starsiege Skinning and Mapping contest. More details can be found in the forum thread or on their site. Cash prizes will be awarded to winners.
Gamespy Security Hot-Fix for Halo PC and Halo PC Dedicated Server
The GameSpy Security Hot-Fix for Halo PC addresses a rare crash bug that could occur if a malicious individual (hacker) purposely tried to exploit the GameSpy CDKey SDK. This Hot-Fix changes the version number of Halo PC and Halo PC Dedicated Server to 1.04 from 1.031.
So while this patch will not improve your end-user Halo experience performance-wise, it'll make it more secure. You can obtain this patch for your Halo PC client by letting the game automatically update, running the haloupdate.exe in your game folder, or get the standalone patcher from The Junkyard. Microsoft has also made the Halo PC Dedicated Server fix available.
All of the BUNGIE official servers are running the 1.04 fix already, so you should be in no want of a game if you're ready for Halo this evening!
Over at Tribalwar KineticPoet replied to a thread talking about respawning in Tribes: Vengeance. I found it rather intruiging; here's part of what he said:[Quote]There is a respawn delay for CTF, just like there was for T1 and T2. The respawn delay in T:V for CTF is currently 2 seconds (about the same as it was in T1...it passes by very quickly).
We decided to embrace the concept of suicides rather than fight it. It's an effective strategy in a fast-paced game that's about movement and positioning. By "embrace" I mean the way T:V currently works is that you press a key to force your own respawn. Doing so brings up your respawn menu. Your respawn menu allows you to quickly choose a respawn area (if there are multiple respawn areas). You choose your last respawn area by simply pressing fire, or you can choose a new respawn area by pressing a number key. Fast, easy. You'll have the option of selecting your area from a map.
The same respawn menu appears when someone kills you, and the same respawn delay is imposed regardless.
You can read all of what he said in the original post or click on the comments tab at the bottom.
Another topic covered by KineticPoet was that of customizing HUDs. Even though the Unreal engine technically does not allow client-side scripting, some loopholes can be created:
The third level is to create entirely new HUD components. No, T:V doesn't have full-fledged client-side scripting. What we have is a class whose data is exposed to scripters for the purposes of creating new HUD components. This data is basically anything that you have access to anyway. Energy/health levels, current equipment, player names, etc., all dumped into an accessible class that is isolated from everything else. So you *can* write client-side scripts, but all they're meant to do is look at the data in this class and use it to render stuff on the HUD. You could use this capability in order to create a different kind of energy bar (to use one of LouCypher's examples, one that empties to the left instead of the right), or to create an entirely new HUD component that wasn't included in the game (a list of players on your team, for example).
Again, you can read all the information in the original post or click the comments tab below.
On a related topic, Trajan has posted that the may issue of PC Gamer will include a full-page spread covering Starsiege: 2845. It will include an interview, a project writeup, and some exclusive screenshots.
Part Three of The Junkyard's Halo PC wallpaper is now live in our Halo gallery. In case you've missed it before, we post beautiful screenshots from Halo PC, without any distracting heads-up display to get in your way. Appreciate Halo without buying a $350 video card!
This latest update has screenshots from Death Island, Gephyrophobia, Hang 'em High, and Ice Fields. Expect two more updates of these screenshots before all the multiplayer levels shipped with Halo PC are complete; depending on interest, certain scenes from the campaign mode may follow.
Want to see Starsiege:2845 in full 1600*1200 high resolution glory? Well, now you can. Roy_Fokker was nice enough to pass along these two images to the Junkyard of everyone's favourite (or feared?) tank - the Predator. Check out our exclusives below or visit our gallery to view others.
Tribes2Maps.com has updated their Map of the Week again (it hasn't been a week). This week's map is the Egyptian Dunes MapPack 1 created by vXKitiaraXv. While the map was uploaded almost a year ago to T2M, every map deserves its chance in the spotlight, doesn't it? Check out Tribes2Maps for more details.
ConfigSys.boy! writes in to tell us of an exclusive interview with the writers of the Starsiege:2845 team. Blake "Hexabolic" Hutchins, David Griffin, and Victor Shekels pitch in on this massive interview (I haven't even finished reading it yet ) - and Config mentions that there's a second part to come next week. This week, topics include challenges the team faces in crafting their single player campaign, and how they are dealing with the expectations surrounding the project. They were also lucky enough to snag two exclusive in-game shots, which can be seen right here. Here's the obligatory snippet:
SSU: Have you all thrown out any bad ideas since the start, or was there just one kick-ass story always waiting to be told that simply needed development?
Blake: I always had in mind what I'd wanted to do with Starsiege 2, had Dynamix chosen to do that, so I dusted that concept off and put it on paper. We're refining as we go, which means tossing out what doesn't work, but overall, we've stuck to the original offering. I guess that means it's the "one kick-ass story." So far, no one's told me it sucks, and I have enormous faith in the writing team (and Jake's) demonstrated willingness to tell me when something ain't working right.
David: Well we did have one major change early on in the process, but it was more about implementation than anything else. We're still telling the same story, we just changed a few of our plot devices for delivering that. And of course it's gone through the usual refinement. As we go along and certain aspects of the story become more polished they will naturally push other elements to the periphery. For the most part though, yeah as Blake said, we've been working on telling the same story from the get-go.
Part two topics include the conflict between Earth and her colonies, the continuing development of Starsiege Universe canon, and some specifics about what else to expect in Starsiege:2845.
xendarven dropped by our forums to let us know of a few upcoming Halo tournaments in the Chicago, IL area. The Game on Entertainment (GOE) corporation is hosting the following:
2v2 Halo Tournament near Chicago, IL on March 14th (details)
4v4 Hardcore Halo Tournament in Chicago, IL on April 3rd (details)
CJ 'SanchezTheLlama' of Project Halo: Webwar Evolved has written us to confirm that the team has chosen to use the Torque engine, of Tribes 2 fame, for their upcoming game. While this means that the game will no longer be open source, the team still plans to make the game freely available.
CJ also mentioned that the team could use some extra members, preferably people with game development or engine design; although these assets would be a definite plus, anyone who thinks they could help out should contact CJ (remove the spam deterrent before sending your message) or drop by the Project Halo forum.
SanchezTheLlama of Project Halo: Webwar Evolved has posted this week's update to the HBO Forums. There are some new screenshots of the pistol, two new musical pieces, and some information about development progress.
Although this game was originally supposed to be free as in Open Source, where anyone could download the code and change it, one of the developers has purchased the Torque engine: the same engine used for Tribes 2. If the Project Halo team were to go ahead and use Torque to build the game, they could not distribute it as Open Source. They still plan to offer the game for free, but users would not be able to look at the code's inner workings. For those gamers that just want to play, using the Torque engine would make sense.
Nargogen from Rampancy.net wrote to let us know about his series of Halo guides, entitled The High Ping Bastard's Guide to Halo. Although the advice is mainly based on those with dialup connections or high-latency broadband connections, the advice in these articles is even useful for people who occasionally find themselves on lousy servers.
Four parts to the guide have been posted so far. The first part deals with vehicle selection; secondly, the concept of choosing weapons is discussed; and game types, roles and tactics is looked at in the third article. The newest article - Etiquette - talks about how you should behave if you're a HPB, or in a game with HPB players.
Kudos to Narcogen for the quality of the articles -- they've come in useful for even low ping bastards such as myself.
Once again, this weekend's Halo 2 Updates has gone live over on the Battleground: Halo forums. This week's update involves Frankie talking about a certain concept called "POOPS", which is not an acronym, but rather one of Chucky's terms for "instance geometry". Frankie's also attached another image to this week's update. Go on over and check it out!
Not too long ago, we mentioned that our network grew a little larger with the addition of Project Halo, joining the ranks of our hosted sites. Since then they have posted update, after update, after update, after update on the game. In light of these updates, we thought we'd better sit down with the team and get the inside scoop on what's going on. CJ Scaminaci and Sam Bantner, Leader Developer and Project Leader, respectively, take the time to answer our questions in this two page interview.
In a post that Trajan made today, he brought some very important news as to the eventual distribution of Starsiege:2845. First off, the game will not be shipping with Tribes:Vengeance at the end of 2004. This is due to a number of reasons:
Due to the size of the game (read: lots and lots of content), Sierra can't afford to include the extra CDs with T:V.
Because of how popular this mod has become, Sierra wants to keep their options open and assuming the team doesn't screw things up, it may get it's own box.
However, building on the previous point, if they do screw it up, Sierra doesn't want to include a, "...lousy product as an inclusion."
Trajan does offer these comforting words in response to the hordes of screamin' n00bs:
Provided the game turns out the way we invision, it may get it's own box, as mentioned above. This is what Sierra is hoping for. This is also what the staff would prefer as well, for several reasons I won't go into at this time.
We don't have to rush to meet a Q4 release date. While I know that may not sound good to some of you who are eagerly anticipating this game, realize that not having to absolutely meet that deadline means that we can make sure our final release is as bug free and feature rich as both you and we on the staff want it to be. Not some half-assed slop job rushed out the door to make a ship date. Be advised though, that despite what I just said, we are still going to try our damndest to make that Q4 deadline.
In the event that the game does not get it's own box, naturally, it'll be available for download on the 'net. For more information, check out the thread.
Secondly, there is a pair of Staff Interviews posted on their forums. This pair covers the Producer, Trajan, and "Team Leader", Lujan. Check 'em out.
Lastly, Hex has posted the year of 2835 on the forums. Be sure to catch up on the timeline.
Firstly, I'd like to take a minute and thank our host and sponsor, Futurepoint Web Solutions. On February 1, the Starsiege:2845 team released their prealpha demo movie and within a couple of hours their server was hammered so hard, the DNS wouldn't resolve. So, as soon as I got home from work I uploaded the movie to the Junkyard and set up a mirror.
Unfortunately, I had to take down the mirror last night due to the almost 50GB worth of bandwidth it ate up in the three day span. During that time, I was informed by a bunch of you that you enjoyed 300kb/s+ download rates (even at peak hours). Once again, this could not be possible without the fat pipes of Futurepoint.
Secondly, you may have noticed the support links in the top right-hand corner of the 'Yard. As we are a non-profit site, all costs incurred through the Junkyard must come out of the Staff's pocket. In order to help offset this, in the past we've asked for donations - again, all "revenue" made goes right back into the site and into things like prizes for you. If you'd like to help us out, click on the donate link at the top of the page, or visit www.futurepoint.com and sign up for a hosting account. If you do, please mention that the Junkyard referred you; it would help us out enormously.
Lastly, I'd like to say that there are going to be some big changes happening to the Junkyard in the near future as we decide where we're headed as a website. Stay tuned for more updates, and don't forget to keep checking our .plans!
Cenobite dropped us a line to let us know of an updated set of his Tribes 2 Halo skins. This thread has details on the skin, Cenobite mentions that you can now play as the Covenant and Cortana - in addition to the Master Chief (which you could before). You can head to the forum thread to grab the skinset or head to our Tribes 2 skins section for the updated and previously released skinset.
Our good friends over at Tribes2Maps.com have thrown up a new Map of the Week. This week it's Starwolf Incident created by _Tex. Here's the obligatory snippet:
A Starwolf invasion of a Blood Eagle controlled planet, lights the already short fuse on a bomb of tension between the two tribes. It was decided a single CTF game would resolve this matter once and for all.
tJY has a new spotlight on Robert "Psyrixx" Sogomonian of Psyjnir.org fame! Look into the mind of a true Bungie junkie (I happen to know that he owns pretty much every Bungie-branded clothing piece EVER) in this spotlight. Check it out!
Windows XP 64-bit edition for 64-bit Extended Systems has just been released and is available for free from Microsoft's website. Even during a good slashdotting, you can expect great download speeds. If you've got an Athlon 64 or Opteron-based system, I'd suggest downloading this while you have the chance. It's good for 360 days, and (according to some benchmarks I've seen) runs very quick. nVidia has beta drivers available, if you're worried, and I'm sure ATi and Via will have their drivers out sometime soon.
Colosus posts the sad news that Alex 'Marweas' Rodberg was let go as Brand Manager at Sierra Entertainment. We are all sad to see Marweas go as he was not only a strong driving force for the series, but a strong member of the Tribes community. Here's what Chris 'Thrax' Mahnken had to say reguarding Rodberg's departure:
I'm really sad to see Alex go. He's been a driving force behind Tribes for years and had a passion for the game that's rarely seen. We all owe him a debt of thanks for all the work he's done for a game we all love so much.
Colosus of Tribalwar was able to catch up with Marweas after hearing of the terrible news. Here's what he had to say:
Working on Tribes has been the best work experience of my life. I have full confidence that the team in charge is going to give us the game we've been dreaming about, and assure Tribes a long and glorious future.
As far as the community, they are the brightest, nicest, most caring fans any game has ever had. Know that all of you played a major role in reviving Tribes when it was down. My thanks and love to all the members and veterans of all the Tribes forums around the world.
Michael 'Scr8pin' Cowan will be taking the place of Marweas. He was part of the marketing departement for Tribes 2 and got a chance to try out the game at the recent Tribes: Vengeance press event. We at the-Junkyard would like to send our regrets to Marweas, but would also like to welcome Scr8pin to the community.
The crew at Bittah.com took the trip over to Canberra to pester the Tribes: Vengeance dev team for some tid bits about the game. The results of their trip were very impressive. Fourteen interviews and one travel diary later, Bittah.com has released their large collection with some nice information. Head on over to check it out.
While browsing the Tribes3.org forums, I came across a question by Mr K asking if Starsiege:2845 would have kill statistical announcements found in games like Unreal Tournament and Quake (a la "Double Kill!" "Triple Kill!" "Ultra Kill!"). While the topic hasn't been brought up before - this isn't a definitive answer, but ConfigSys.boy! responded to the thread denying the existence of these in the game.
While I love playing the UT and Quake series games, I would hate to see the kill announcements appear in Starsiege:2845. Good news for 'Siege fans like me, heh. BTW, if you're wondering where this question came up, you haven't seen the prealpha demo movie yet.
Edit: Trajan posted in the comments thread that there will not be any double / triple / etc. kills in the game, nor will there be, "...any stupid sounding announcer calling things play by play." Thanks Trajan!
Dan Chosich from 2070 Wired Films posted up in his forums to let visitors know of a small write-up (and movie!) of this past weekend's HBO Lanfest, entitled "Offensive Tetraboxing".
The article comes chock-full with pictures (including a group shot with Louis ) and a tremendous play-by-play write-up. See the article for the movie. More writeups and pictures of this event, from different participants are available from h.b.o. You can also check out Dan's posts on the HBO forum for more information.
Related to Evergreen98's news post on the Xbox Next, this press release comes in from IBM. IBM announced that Sony Group is investing $325 million to help with the production of next generation 65 nm chips (code-named "Cell" ). This chip will be used in Sony's "next generation computer entertainment systems," and that probably means the PS3. Seems everyone is turning to IBM these days.
Menzo posted a foresight into what we will be seeing of Tribes: Vengeance in the future. Here's what he had to say:
Now that the press event is over, let's talk about what's coming up for Tribes: Vengeance.
- We're going to clean up the trailer that Irrational made (just some minor changes to make it even better) and release that, hopefully in the next couple weeks
- I'm going to see about making a video of the Fighter (which is the real name for what we were calling the Pod) for release soon-ish. I don't want to put too much out there at once, though, and I'm sure you'd prefer the trailer, so the Fighter video might need to wait a month or so
- I'm working on our plans for Tribes: Vengeance at GDC in March.
- We'll have our usual release of a new designer diary on IGN.com some time in February.
- And just to tease you, I wanted to let you know that we've wrapped up a deal that I think is pretty huge. It's exciting stuff, but we won't be talking about it until April. It should be worth the wait, though. Commence rumor mongering. I won't tell you if you get it right, but I'd love to see some speculation.
- Of course there's E3 in May, and Tribes will have a nice presence in our booth. Count on a bunch of new revelations then - new weapons, new vehicles, tons of new info, etc.
Lot's of great stuff coming - this is just the start.
More "next Xbox" rumors have been floating around the Internet lately. There have been the hoaxes, such as the one where it shows a truck of Apple G5's being delivered to Microsoft. In reality, the picture was taken completely out of context -- the G5's were being delivered to the MSCopy shop. The person who took the picture in the first place was fired for "security reasons" after he posted the photo on his 'blog. Sad how some people don't do their research before jumping the bandwagon.
However, an actual newspaper has reported that "Microsoft leaks (the) details on Xbox Next", with some interesting decisions reported. Among the alleged changes for Microsoft's next console include the removal of the hard disk drive, the reliance on three G5 processors, and lingering doubts about backwards compatibility. As a current Xbox owner, I'm currently displeased with the suggestions presented in the article, and have written my own deliberate flame-like responses to these allegations; you can leave your comments in this thread.
Edit: The author of the Mercury News article is none other than Dean Takahashi himself. Dean wrote "Opening the Xbox", the definitive guide to the development of the Xbox console. It's become one of my most favourite non-fiction books to date, and you really should check it out -- Amazon has a "Sneak Preview" available.
Trajan has made the next public update to Starsiege:2845 available, in 6 separate threads on their forums. I'll give a brief synopsis of this wonderful update. Click on the thread links for full descriptions and details.
We've put one of the guys responsible for making Tribes3.org as beautiful as it is up in our spotlight today. Destos tell it like it is in today's spotlight. Oh - and be sure to check out his little Tribes flash comic strip, entitled Tribe Tards. It's recently been buried, but if we bug him enough, maybe he'll start it up again .
For those who missed the WOFN broadcast of the Tribes: Vengeance Press Event which occured January 29th, you are in luck. TribalWar has been nice enough to release their recording of the whole event. This is a must watch for anybody interested in Tribes: Vengeance and missed the event, and is definitely worth a second watch.
NOTE: You will need Winamp5 to view this video
In the wake of the 1/29 Tribes: Vengeance Press Event in San Francisco, both IGN and GameSpot have suffered from news overload. To start with, IGN has released an overview of the Press Event. They cover almost every aspect of the event, but focus mainly on the changes that Irrational Games is bringing to Vengeance. The four main points that Ed Orman and Michael Johnston focused on are summarized and covered through a large part of the preview. Weapon changes, one new vehicle, maps, and gameplay are brushed upon in this but not all that much is said about them. Moving along, IGN has also released 28 new astounding screenshots. These mouth-wateringly beautiful shots include pictures of a vehicle that has yet to be seen until now. It appears to be a very small, pod-like version of the Scout. Next on the list is an IGN Exclusive Interview with Ed Orman and Michael Johnston of Irrational Games after the Event in San Francisco. Unfortunately, I cannot say anything about this Interview as I do not have a subscription to IGN Insider.
On GameSpot's end of the event, we also see a Hands-On Preview. This article is more of an updated description of the game based on what was said at the event in San Francisco rather than simply explaining what was said. Later on word is said about the press event, but not to the extent of the IGN Preview. GameSpot has also released 26 new screenshots, many of which are the same as the IGN pictures but with a few differences. A whopping 8 new videos have been released in reply to this press event, including 4 videos of gameplay footage, two GameSpot Exclusive Videos - an interview and a look at Vengeance weapons and items -, and two SS: 2845 videos.
That about wraps it up. Be sure to check in later as the screenshots will be added to our galleries soon.
CJ also invites interested visitors to drop by their forums. There's also more content to come tomorrow on the halo.bungie.org forums; we'll announce it when it goes live!
I'm a little late in getting this up, but mrsmiley sent word that he has rolled his clock forward a day so he could make an update a day early. As it turns out, instead of being treated with just one strip this week, we've got two! Two One One Se7en themed strips, one even submitted by the man himself. Be sure to check 'em out.
Rams from Battleground: Halo writes in to let us know of a new article up, entitled Halo 2: Precognition, the first in a two part series, written by Viper (you all remember, Viper, don't you?). Gathering speculations and theories from a variety of sources, this article does provide an interesting (though not purely factual) look at what may be to come. Part two on monday.
Halo PC HUDless Wallpaper Continues: Three More Levels
The wallpapers posted so far have been met with approval, so if you're ready for at least one of the new Halo PC levels to adorn your retinas, check out the Junkyard's Halo Gallery and check out our twelve new wallpaper-ready HUDless screenshots!
You may have caught my last article on Banshee usage and tactics, published a month or so ago.
Well, a second edition on the same theme has been pieced together by yours truly, and it's now done and available at a number of locations, including the 'yard.
An article on Subnova.com states that Xbox prices could drop to $129 before E3 in May, and even down to $99 by summer. Console prices are dropping rapidly, especially the GameCube (I've seen them for $50). The article also talks about the battle Microsoft must enter to make sure it stays ahead of Sony and the PS3, as well as marketing strategies of releasing Halo 2, and even Halo 3. A short and good read, be sure to check it out! Thanks to Pallor for catching the article on CNN.com.
When video cards cost more than a motherboard and CPU combined, in some cases, it's doubtful that many of the younger gamers can get their hands on an nVidia GeForce FX 5950 or an ATI Radeon 9800 XT. This evening we'll look at one of my newest purchases -- the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro. While it's not the absolute top of the line video card, it will set you back some cash. You can see how it performs with Halo PC and draw your own conclusions.
Please leave your comments in this thread; I plan on doing some more amateur hardware reviews in the future, so be friendly or flame away!
Blizzard has now opened their Word of Warcraft Beta program for signups. Sign up now for a chance to join the beta. Applicants will be considered on a case-for-case basis, and all have an equal opportunity. (Translation: If you don't sign up, that just improves my chances. ^_^)
The graphics in Halo still are able to hold their own today. Some of the scenic landscapes in the levels are quite beautiful. But it's not like most people to fire up Halo just to show off some pretty pictures; chances are if you're starting up Halo Mac, PC or Xbox, you'll be wanting to play.
As a result, after the first Keanu-like "Woah" of delight because the game's graphics are darn pretty, many gamers don't have or take the time to look back at some of the scenery in Halo. To that extent, The Junkyard wants to make Halo's graphics more available to the hardened gamers who've "seen it all". Wouldn't it be cool to have your favourite multiplayer level or come face to face with a Hunter every time you look at your desktop?
"Sure," you might be thinking, "I can do that on my own. All I need to do is press PrintScreen in Halo, then convert the image, then set it as my desktop!" Yes -- but then the Heads-Up Display would get in your way, would it not?
To save viewers the trouble of applying patches to de-HUD Halo, convert images, or strain your videocard's vertex shaders, we're making images available from Halo PC to all viewers in ~1600x1200, JPEG format in our gallery.
Thanks goes to XLNC from the HBO forums for really getting HUD-less images off to a great start; you can view some original HUD-less images here or, if you're inclined to taking screenshots yourself, you can read XLNC's brief tutorial. If you think your screenshots would make great wallpaper, you can send them to us. If we agree, we'll add them to our collection!
As of this writing, there are eight wallpapers available for your perusal. More will be added in the coming days; for now, isn't it time you changed that boring background of yours?
In one fell swoop, here's what happened today in Halo news:
HBO transitioned two servers to HomeLan's control -- they're called Homelan_HBO_East and Homelan_HBO_West, and they're meant for anyone liking the eccentric mix of gameplay that the halo.bungie.org folks enjoy. For anyone not clued into the whole "East" and "West" titling -- these servers are physically located on the East and West coasts; join to the one nearest you for the best gaming experience. I'll be trying for a spot on one of these servers later this evening.
For those of you who read Xbox sites or forums (see this forum thread at Xbox365 for one such example), the rumors about Halo 2's release date are FALSE. Nobody, besides Bungie themselves, knows when Halo 2 will be ready for release. This unfortunately has to be made clear for some people: Until Bungie has made an official statement or press release, there is no definitive release date set. You can read the official Halo 2 FAQ from Bungie's site if that might help ease the pain of waiting.
343GS -- a Junkyard hosted site -- has a new wallpaper available entitled "Supremacy" in the Downloads section for your persual. The 'paper itself is 1024x768; scaled to 1280x1024 it still looks great. However, they note that "if you don't like red; though, leave this one ".
The year of 2834 has been posted on the SS:2845 forums. Here's the obligatory snippet, continuing from the year 2833:
Imperial Navy engineers discover how to use cachetech to effectively reduce the mass of the Alliance ships under Caanon's command. This advance permits immensely greater long-term acceleration with the same reaction mass use and cuts interplanetary transit time by almost 99%. Cachetech modifications are made en route, and strategic timetables are advanced sharply, the entire battlegroup going to high alert as tech crews race around the clock to prepare vehicles for battle.
Two more shots have been posted by that uber-happy guy, Trajan, to the thread we mentioned two days ago. A close-up of the Goad with a nasty looking ELF and a "used Pred lot". Check out the thread or our gallery for the updates.
Battleground: Halo just can't stay out of the headlines, heh. Rams sends word that they've kicked off a new series of features on the Halo community with an interview with the webmaster of Halo Online, PTM. Topics discussed include Halo and his site - interviewed by Nightshade. Check it out!
Project Halo is in need of a helping hand. Project Lead, CJ Scaminaci sent word that they're looking for developer in all areas: Mac, Windows and Linux platforms; or anyone else who is in game design and would like to contribute to this strategy / 3D FPS game. Get in touch with Scaminaci or drop by their forums to see what all the commotion is about.
I'd like to introduce our newest hosted site, Project Halo: Web War Evolved! Project Halo is an opensource, multiplatform 3D FPS / strategy game based on Halo. Over the last couple of days, they have made some great progress as this thread on the HBO forums shows displaying 25 work-in-progress renders of the objects in the game. To add to that, yesterday an update was posted on their forums showing off a quick rendered animation of the Katana - a ship to be used in the game. Visit their site for more information about the project or this thread to grab the movie.
We've leared of a virus that is spreading like wildfire, discovered earlier today. The worm is called w32.Novarg.A, and it remails itself after infecting a system. I'm guessing it scans the victim system for email addresses which it uses to redistribute itself. I would strongly suggest that all users update their virus definitions as soon as possible, and switch to an email client that is no vulnerable to these kinds of attacks. The entire Junkyard staff has already switched to alternative mail clients, and I suggest others do the same. update: Here is the McAfee advisory with a little more information.
As some of you may be aware, a little over a week ago I purchased a new 160GB HDD to store my tunes, pictures, web development related material, etc. on after my little 40GB drive died. Well, within 11 days of having that damned Maxtor drive in my PC, it conked out on me - taking everything with it. While I did have backups... none were recent enough to save me from going buck on the thing.
Where am I headed with this? Well, around that time we had received an email from one Jason Gworek, a Halo enthusiast who wanted to be spotlighted. So, we granted him his final dying wish and alas it's finally up! Enjoy .
Trajan has posted a few shots of the Emancipator from in the game to show how the game will look.
1. This is not a playable demo, so don't ask
2. The weapon sizes have not been properly set, so don't ask
3. The map is simply a test map, so don't ask
4. As always, anything and everything may or may not change, nothing is final
Edit 4:22pm: Trajan has updated the thread again (page 2) to show off close-up in-game shots of the Judge and Harbinger, and distant in-game shots of the Goad and Exec.
Edit 11:59pm: All shots now mirrored in our gallery.
Well, it's definitely been while, but our good friends over at Tribes2Maps.com finally have a new Map of the Week up. Maroon Bells created by Captain Radium weighs in at just over 500k and is set in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass wilderness area based on an U.S. Geologic Survey data. The scale is set to nearly true to life, and a neutral motorcycle rental station is available for scenic driving. Check out all the details here.
Frankie from Bungie Studios has informed the world again of yet another Halo 2 Update. This week's update was posted to Subnova; you can access it in its original location, at Subnova or check out The Junkyard's local copy. I especially like the artwork attached this week! Some juicy tidbits in there; one of the new multiplayer levels is tentatively called "Burial Mounds", and apparently it's quite complex. No guarantee that this'll still be its name (like how Beaver Creek changed to Battle Creek, and Carousel became Derelict) but already it's sounding real cool.
If you missed the last Halo 2 Update, you can view the Junkyard's Halo 2 Updates section.
On my daily rounds around the Halo sites, I discovered that Halo Babies is finally back up! If you remember, we mentioned just over a week ago that HBN was having some host troubles and was in the process of finding a new host and moving over. Well, the wait is... over, and to celebrate, they've thrown up a new strip (which apparently was up previously at HBO). But some new fanart is up to fill the void.
Edit 01/23: Halo Babies DOES have a new comic up, grab their 25th strip right here.
Three days ago, we mentioned that BG:Halo had part one of a two part feature posted. Well, today, Rams sent word that the second installment of their Halo 2 roundup has been posted. This one focuses on multiplayer, new abilities and characters.
John "Raider" from the Fropco Network writes to mention the development of a new Halo site, called halo.fropco. It's got quite the nice design, and we've added it to our Halo Links page.
Any site owners, please consider this newspost a call. For anyone who doesn't have their link there yet, or it's already there, just with an outdated/inaccurate description. E-mail us (news at the-junkyard dot net) with a site title, URL, and description, and we'll ensure the link gets revised or added. Any site wanting their site listed as a Halo 2 Link should e-mail us as well.
We won't be able to add all links to the section, so it's best if your site has something unique or interesting to offer to the Halo/Halo 2 community. In addition, we recommend that if you're planning on submitting a link, that your site looks reasonably professional!
According to an article on Team Xbox, Microsoft is planning to use upcoming IBM 65 nm chips in its Xbox 2. These chips could, as I've said before, possibly be a version of the PowerPC 970. Major advantages to this chip would be the possible 5 Ghz as development continues, and somewhere near the 3 Ghz barrier upon release. According to Team Xbox, this has been "confirmed." Thanks to MacRumors for the heads up.
HomeLAN, our previous hosts, are getting control over the Halo PC servers... sort of. Their popular server admin service, AnytimeAdmin will be looking out on the over 150 servers worldwide. To boot, HomeLAN will providing official servers on both US coasts.
Indeed good news for all. Read more about it here.
A little late on the post, but better late than never. The 1.03 patch has finally been released, meaning Macs and PCs really can play together now. I would tell you the pros and cons of the new patch, but unfortunately my Mac doesn't run Halo all that well. Or much at all, for that matter . However, many of the same issues of the 1.03 patch are probably present, due to the fact that Westlake uses the code given to them by Gearbox to create the Mac patches. Click below to be taken to MacSoft's support page, where there are several download links.
EDIT:Macosxhints.com has selected Mac Halo as their pick of the week, and gave it a 9 out of 10. Click here for the article. Thanks HBO!
We've received word from Xbox Ottawa that they have released FTC10 (of course if you were a member you would've had access to it for just under a day now, but...). Running about 11 minutes and 30 seconds long, the regular version weighs in at just over 56MB (ouch!) but is their, "...best work yet and [they] are very proud of it."
For the impatient, you can grab the low-res bit torrent now, or wait any number of hours for the high-res version to come online through affiliate sites and direct server downloads. Check out XboxOttawa.ca for more details.
Rams from BG:Halo writes in to tell us that the usual monday feature is on time (even if this news post isn't). I'll let Rams explain it himself:
Today's Feature focuses on the causal fan among us. With Frankie's updates now upon us it is important not to leave anyone behind. Banshee Ace's article, part 1 of the series, recaps what we know so far in regards to new vehicles and weapons.
The writers at SS: 2845 have updated their intermediate timeline with the year 2833. Click the link to check out what takes place after Starsiege and before Starsiege: 2845.
Trajan from the SS:2845 team has posted up a new wallpaper of the Emancipator (available here). The Eman is equipped with an MFAC and twopulse lasers (two small mounts) - a change from SS where the Eman had one medium lower mount. Trajan notes that, the beams from the pulse lasers are merely art at this point and don't necessarily reflect the finished beam. To boot, they are a little out of scale, but due to the upcoming PR event, some shortcuts had to be taken, heh.
In addition, another pair of Staff Interviews have been posted, this time covering Sentinal and SleepyBrightEyez, a mapper and musician respectively. You can check out SleepyBrightEyez's and many other SS:2845 musician's work right here.
Finally, the team is looking for an UT importer / animator to add to their ranks. More details can be found in this thread, alternatively you can email Trajan directly
It's happening now. Frankie (Frank O'Connor) of Bungie Studios has graced the entire Halo community with the initiation of the first Halo 2 Update. For posterity and to let us look back when all's said and done, The Junkyard has created a new Articles section specifically for Halo 2 Updates. Go there right now to get all the latest on the development progress of Halo 2, or view the update for January 16, 2004.
In the past, various Halo fansites would receive these updates on a rotating basis. It's unknown whether a site other than HBO will have the updates posted there; in any event, as soon as we know about the newest update, we'll have it live here on The Junkyard for you to view and discuss. This week's update was posted to HBO's forum.
Update: My mistake. I neglected to read Frankie's Weekly Bungie Update post on Bungie.net in my rush to fully digest the actual update itself. It clearly explains that a new site will be chosen each week to receive the Halo updates. Bungie.net will also keep archived versions, available on the Monday after the post; updates will be done "every Friday(ish)".
IGN has released another designer diary featuring Tony Oakden, Producer of Tribes: Vengeance. Here's a bit of what's covered in the diary:
The art team has finished second pass work on all the armours in the game. Not that the first pass armours where too shabby! Second pass involved general tidying textures, normal maps and specular masks and a bit of geometry work (some physique work too). The net result is a substantial visual improvement on assets which already looked great IMHO. Particularly impressive was the improvement in Blood Eagle armours. These where the first amours we produced so suffered a bit because we did not have all the rendering technology available for testing when they where being made. We've brightened the red a bit so they really show up in the levels now. I'm very pleased with the quality of our art. I think we have a very strong aesthetic coupled with a high technical standard.
We've now got unique first person hands and arms for all armours and tribes. We were not originally scheduled for this and I allowed a bit of feature creep to get into the schedule to get them done but I'm glad I did. We wanted a way for the player to know which tribe they where playing and more importantly the armour they had chosen without an extra icon on the HUD. The FPS arm is the most natural way to do this but obviously more costly from a development POV than a simple icon. However now that they are in and animated they look great. The heavy arms in particular look extremely cool with the weapons slung underneath and the hand grasping a joystick. The animations are nice too.
It all started in June of 2003 when Fluffy of Battleground: Halo was thrown into the Junkyard's spotlight. TankRamp was next, followed by Viper, and finally Dr. Lime - all Staffers. Finally, the time has come to shine the light on Rams, the assistant site director. Hey, whoever said we didn't save the best for last?
Before we can start, we need to understand what kind of game we're making. I'd previously played a fair amount of Tribes 1, but only a little of Tribes 2. During the period where we were still pitching to do Tribes: Vengeance, I played more Tribes than I ever had. Primarily, we were playing Tribes 1, and then later on Sierra gave us a bunch of free licences to Tribes 2, and once a week many members of the studio would log on and battle it out.
The point of all of this game playing was not to have fun (although we did), but to gain a better understanding about the mechanics. During this time, we were also thinking about possible additions to the game, and cruising the forums to see what the community felt was good/bad/missing. I began compiling a list of gameplay "tools" that we'd have at our disposal.
All of this research was compiled into the first draft of the design document, which formed the basis for the Prototype as well as the final product.
A few days ago, Colusus of Tribalwar planted a hint that they had something rather large to announce on January 15th. As promised, Colosus revealed Tribalwar's latest creation today: an internet broadcasting station exclusively devoted to the Tribes franchise. Here's a snippet of the press release:
January 15th, 2004 - Seattle - TribalWar is thrilled to announce the creation of WOFN; a new internet broadcast station and the latest branch of the TribalWar Network, which will offer a wide array of content exclusive to the Tribes franchise owned by Vivendi Universal Games.
WOFN makes its broadcast premiere Jan. 29 at 8 p.m. EST, followed by live coverage of a not-to-be-missed Tribes: Vengeance press conference at 10 p.m. EST, hosted by Sierra Entertainment in San Francisco.
Click on the comment link to see the press release in its entirety.
Rams from Battleground: Halo sends word that they've got another feature up and running. A preview of the BF1942 Halo MOD, Home Front, nicely complimenting their earlier interview that we commented about not too long ago. The preview comes complete with a slew of new screenshots and provides a good overview of the MOD. Be sure to check it out.
The first Halo PC multiplayer map has been released! Nick on the HBO Forumannounced thatMonoxideC has converted "The Library", a Campaign mission for Halo, to a fully-functional multiplayer map. Among being edited totally with user-created tools, you can play the map right now. (You'll have to give up Chiron TL-34, but Monoxide doesn't think that'll be too much of a hardship.)
In addition, a new weapon based on the Rocket Launcher is in the level. Named the Nuke Launcher, it appears to shoot a projectile that destroys anything within an enormous blast radius, similar to the Redeemer of Unreal Tournament.
So how does one start playing The Library? Simple. Just pick up the file from The Junkyard's Halo Maps section, read the README document, and use PPF-O-Matic or your favourite PPF patching application. Make sure to back up your original Halo PC maps first!
At this point in time, there are several Halo PC servers running this version of The Library, so you should be able to enjoy this map with other players. Congratulations to MonoxideC and thanks for the new map!
mrsmiley of Halo Babies writes that Halobabies.net has once again run out of bandwidth. Although the site will be accessible on the 22nd of the month, people seeking their Halo comic fix will have to wait until then for the newest Halo Babies comic.
mrsmiley also writes:
Despite this, the server space has been purchased, and the clock is ticking for the new HBN to arrive! Thanks to help from our sponsors, I was able to purchase twice the ammount of bandwidth we currently have, and with a much more competent host. Gholsbane has pretty much built the new HBN from the ground up with "convenient" and "coolness" in mind. We both hope to have everything up and running by the end of this month, and will keep everyone updated via the current site. Stay tuned for the next level of Halo Babies!
A year ago today, an unassuming little website consisting of one page and a forum was created after the hint that the third Tribes game was in the makes. One year later the site has boomed into one of the major Tribes: Vengeance websites. To celebrate their success of surviving the first year, Tribes3.org has thrown together a contest:
The contest will last for 1 week after we announce it and will be an based on who can write the best article (should be about 5+ paragraphs) about Tribes vengeance/ The Tribes Community. It can be about your experience in these past couple of years, a certain event, etc. Participants will be able to submit it via email and the best one will be posted using our brand new Uber News editor which was coded by no other then UberError.
Winner will receive a free copy of Tribes Vengeance when it hits stores at the end of the year.
Email your stuff to zigmaATtribes3.org
Congratulations on your first year and I hope you have many many more.
Spotted over at BG:Halo, Mrs_Doubtfire (she really is a he) mentions a new Halo PC map in the works entitled Mombassa; an urban warefare map full of vehicles and placement weapons. This map (as seen in the screenshot below) was inspired by the E3 Halo 2 trailer. BG:Halo has a slew of screenshots available here, and the revamped CobaltNova has more details available here (though unfortunately their site seems to be broken ATM).
Rams from Battleground: Halo sent word that Monday's feature (and today being monday), is up. In a Q&A format, Banshee Ace shares his knowledge of the game and his years of flying models in an article entitled, Ask a Banshee. I just finished reading it, and although I'm not a n00b at that wacky craft, as Rams puts it, it's, "...[d]efinitely worth your time if you are having some difficulties or just want to learn a few new tricks."
Hex from the SS:2845 team has posted up the prologue aka the teaser to the SS:2845 story. A little under 10 minutes later, he also posted up the first year of the immediate timeline. If you'll remember, Hexabolic was the writer behind the Starsiege and Tribes 2 fiction (with Chris Cole as the creator of the SS story), so you know the stuff is going to be of the utmost highest caliber.
Remember you can stay up-to-date with the latest updates on our SS:2845 press coverage page.
Last week's spotlight we put Dr. Lime in from Battleground: Halo - a site that is a member of the GameSpy Network. Today's spotlight is again related to GameSpy but gearing up to an editor on the GameSpy team - John "Warrior" Keefer. Check out what he has to say here.
Framerate from Battleground: Halo sends word that he has thrown up an interview with the leader of the Battlefield: 1942 Halo MOD: Homefront. The interview is short but informative and answers such questions as how the MOD came to be, where it's headed, and what sets it apart from Halo PC. Obligatory snippet:
What is the process that you went through to develop the mod? To be more specific, what steps did you go through in order to get from the beginning of the mod to the current release?
Oh boy well first things first. We concept the idea. Then I give it to the modeler. He models the vehicle/aircraft/building. Then it’s either given to the skinner or the person who modeled it skins it. Then it’s given to the coder. He exports the model into BF format. Then he codes it into the game, which usually takes 1-2 days. After a few things are coded we have a beta once a week. In these weekly betas we tweak out bugs and probs for next weeks beta. After that the beta went to the beta testers when we hit .09. They tested it on our big server and we worked out the bugs. After that we released the mod!
Find out more about the Homefront MOD here and the interview here.
mrsmiley sends word of a new strip up at HBN, introducing a new character. To boot, he mentions that a sketch of the MC's pistol and some new fan art has been added to the site. Be sure to check it out.
Synister sends word that the Fuelie Networks has opened up an Xtreme Gaming Center, with ladders in Halo, Tribes and Tribes 2. Though there is very little content up at the moment, he mentions that they're looking for ladder ideas and new admins. Stop on by and check it out.
The second season of RedvsBlue has begun! The first two episodes premiered at New York's Lincoln Center not too long ago and Ding was there with his video camera getting it all on tape. The good folks over mythica, omnight, blackstarproductions, coerce, subnova, and cybrfrk have all donated their bandwidth to host this 20MB .mp4 (a few of the mirrors list are .mov) file. Snaps of the NYC Premiere can be viewed here.
HBO also mentions that soon to come will be an interesting Q&A session with the entire RvB team, so look out for that in the near future.
Kudos to all those who've sent in emails, this thead, and to HBO for the heads up on this.
Sierra has released a Tribes: Vengeance Fansite Kit for people who want to create a Vengeance website. The kit includes movies, developer diaries, concept art, and over 100 screenshots. Even if you aren't planning on making a website, it's still a nice download with many excellent documents and media files.
The kit also includes photoshop files of some of the pictures and completely new pictures, such as this Imperial Yacht:
Earlier today, it was announced that Irrational Games was going to use the Havok physics engine for ragdoll effects rather than the originally planned Karma engine. After hearing this, Colosus of Tribalwar asked Chris 'Thrax' Mahnken about this sudden change. Here's part of the conversation between the two:
1) Why was it decided to switch from the Karma physics to Havok?
Two reasons. Improved physics, and minimized risk. The first reason is improved physics. Havok is simply the best physics package on the market. It's significantly faster and gives us some additional capabilities that were missing from Karma. The second reason was to minimize risk. When Karma was sold to Criterion (who turned it into part of their Renderware engine) it was left without any development or technical support. As bugs turn up there is nobody to fix them, which left us trying to cobble together workarounds to problems. Havok is supported very well, and by a team who are excited about the games we're making.
IGN has posted an article called "Xbox 2: What We Know" on all the current information about the upcoming Xbox 2 console (obviously). While part one is mainly a list of what IGN hopes to see, part two of the article is more hard facts. According to IGN's sources, the Xbox 2 will use an IBM processor, possibly a version of the PowerPC 970 (aka G5). This raises the question of backwards compatibility, since the Xbox runs an x86 processor. However, Microsoft did recently acquire Connectix, the makers of VirtualPC, a PC emulator for Mac. I've used VirtualPC, and when configured correctly, it can actually run quite fast. This technology could be used for Xbox 2 emulation. Other facts include that the Xbox 2 will have ATI video cards, beefed specs all around, including more RAM and a larger hard drive, and possibly wireless built in. Check the article out, it's a pretty good read, and if IGN posts part 3 we'll be sure and tell you here.
Starsiege: 2845 has released two new staff interviews featuring UberError and Trinity. You can check out these two interviews here. Also, Hexabolic has announced that pieces of the SS: 2845 story will be released by the end of this week.
CAVEAT: I want to stress that a good deal of this story's suspense depends on us not spilling the beans about certain key revelations that will become apparent as you read the (hopefully) tantalizing morsels we post. Please respect our desire to keep an element of surprise when the game comes out. The team would really appreciate not being pressured, though we realize some fishing for hints is a natural reaction. By the time we're done, I think you'll have a TON of material to look at even before getting to the story.
Wow. Spotted over at HBO, it seems as though Randy Pitchford was in a good mood just before the New Years hit. On the 30th, a thread was started by the man himself asking the community to post up as many questions as they could before 2k4 and he would try to answer as many as he could... before 2k4. Well, he delivered! One of the most interesting snippets I found was regarding coop:
Coop: There's a chance. We did some work with this already. To finish it in a shippable state is a tough problem with tons of man-hours of work involved and a huge commitment from MGS for testing resources. It's a tough decision to trade off coop for iteration of the on-line game and other new features / content.
A lot of other questions were answered including inqueries on Sapien and the H.E.K., performance issues (ATI and nVidia), player and vehicle warping, the chat and voting system, and the CPL. Check it all out in this thread.
A brand new year, and a brand new set of spotlights! Our first spotlight of 2004 is on yet another Staffer at Battleground: Halo - Dr. Lime. Coming at us with a very comedic attitude, his spotlight is definitely one helluva way to kick off 2k4.
Trooper from The Frag Factory sends along news that he has organized a 120 player Tribes 2 LAN spanning April 16th to the 18th. Here's what he had to say:
Hi, we would like to announce that a tribes 2 LAN Party has been organised and setup by some of the tribes 2 server admins and myself (Trooper) using my lan party organiser company called The Frag Factory.
This is a 120 player lan with players from all over europe attending including some of the best clans and players in tribes 2 available to date, this is our second tribes 2 lan as the first was a test run to check setup and popularity but so far this one looks to be a great event with already 120 players signed up interest and with the dates and venue been confirmed on (16th,17th,18th of april 2004) in stoke on trent is look to be a realy good time and for all the tribes communtiy player to get to see each other in real life for once.
Maybe it's the New Years. Maybe Trajan is still a little tipsy from that night, I don't know - but whatever it is, he's in a very good mood and as such as decided to endow us with another thread of goodies on the SS:2845 forums. Six pictures of the newly revealedHarbinger, Subjugator, and one poor Athena. Larger versions of the pictures can be found in their gallery.
He also posts a disclaimer that weapons used in the pictures are props only and my favourite picture (below) is for humour purposes only (read: you cannot step on other vehicles in SS:2845).
I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable (are you still hungover? ) New Years. To kick off the new year, we're putting up a new poll at the 'Yard on a topic that many see as very controversial: the scanning of magazine articles.
Scroll down the page just a bit, and cast your vote on the right side of the page.
And results from our last poll are in (details) and it turns out that an overwhelming 78% of you guys are looking forward to Tribes: Vengeance more than SS:2845 or even Halo 2 (which both finished at 11%). Interesting.
Trajan has thrown together a little public release celebrating the new year. Released in this update, Trajan has revealed a completely new Cybrid light HERC dubbed the Harbringer. Also the massive Subjugator, a huge Cybrid tank, has been released. Included in this update is some in-game pictures, a new complete weapon, and the announcement of 3 new members to the SS: 2845 staff.
We were a bit late out of the starting gate on this one, but what the heck. As we've previously reported, the 1.031 patch for Halo PC has long been available. But what about those users experiencing problems with their game, who are unable to update Halo without a standalone installer?
I've given the issue some thought, and here are the preferred two solutions at the moment: 1. Run the "haloupdate.exe" -- the file with the Legendary badge -- in your Halo folder. Usually this will be in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Halo; otherwise, just substitute in your Halo path for this location.
Running the haloupdate.exe triggers a manual search for any new patches; this does not require the game to be started. 2. Download the official 1.031 patch from tJY, or Microsoft's official server, now that it's been listed.
Although I highly recommend the first method in order to get your patches, rest assured that we will be more timely mirroring Microsoft's standalone executables, in order to reassure those who use us as a patching resource.
As promised, mrsmiley sends word that Halo Babies has been updated with a new strip and a new wallpaper that Gruntsbane has been tirelessly working on. However, to view the wallpaper you've got to be a members of the HBN.
Emil posted a thread on our forums with a small game regarding what 2004 will bring with respect to Halo. Predictions can be made, but a few simple rules exist:
(1) They have to be Halo related.
(2) Dont be afraid to add some spice to your prediction.
(3) They have to be relatively specific (e.g. "More people will play Halo," is what a 3rd grader would think of. "Halo 2 will be released in 2004," is too general.)
Head on over to the thread and post your predictions!
Jesse Knoll from the Return the Flag site sent us news that he managed to snag an short email interview with Randy Pitchford, President and Founder of Gearbox Software. The interview, covering multiplayer subscription games in all of its raw glory can be found here. I don't care for subscription games, so IMHO it's good news that Randy mentioned that Gearbox presently doesn't have any plans to incorporate "pay-for-play" games in Gearbox's future.
This interview was feed for an editorial style article that Jesse wrote on the controversial topic of whether multiplayer subscription games are a good thing and whether they can survive. Check that out right here. Finally, Jesse mentions another article he wrote regarding how Halo has ruined his Xbox experience which can be found here. Before you start venting, read the article first as the title is a little misleading.
Jay Moore of Garage Games recently sent us a press release concerning the launch of Planet ThinkTanks. For those of you who are unaware as to what ThinkTanks is - let me enlighten you. Developed by BraveTree Productions on the Torque engine by Garage Games, ThinkTanks is an addictive little light-hearted, fast-paced tank combat game. A snippet from the PR sums up Planet ThinkTanks best:
Planet ThinkTanks (PTT)is a community member site that provides fans a one stop destination for everything related to the game. From standard issue forums and custom skin downloads to tactical guides and a ranking system with real-time stats – the site will support established armies as well as player groups. Plans are being implemented to feature automatic matchmaking, scoring and fully managed ladder competitions where the outcome will be updated immediately after each game. Leagues will have their own exclusive forum areas on the site with the ability to launch private, customized game servers. In addition, there will be messenger tools made available so players can find buddies playing online and be able to post messages from the site to the game and vice versa.
Check out the online demo (requires Windows and IE) to try it out.
My apologies for not getting this up earlier - I've been down with the flu at this wonderful time of the year. Anyhow, mrsmiley of Halo Babies sends word that they're finally back up and running on their new server. However, as you know - hosts aren't cheap and to help offset their costs, they've put up a PayPal donations page, so send 'em a few bucks if you can spare it.
To boot, their newest strip is up and they promise another one this Friday, so look out for that.
Well, it seems as if it's a tradition around here. The Night Before Christmas, holiday cheer is spreading through the 'Yard and we'd like to share a little bit of that warm, gooey feeling with a few poems. The first, which was posted last year is entitled, A Tribes Christmas and is my rendition of the classic poem, the Night Before Christmas. Read that here.
Not to be outdone, the Halo community came up with their own version! Vector also posted this one up last year, entitled A Halo Christmas it too is a variation of the Night Before Christmas. Originally posted by Red Loser, check it out here.
Finally, our die-hard resident Starsiege fanatic, Feret, posted last year a Starsiege Christmas Carol entitled God Rest Ye Merry Basilisks. Check it out on our forums right here.
Seasons Greetings and Happy Holidays from all of us here at the 'Yard. If you had a few too many to drink at your annual Christmas party (well, you probably wouldn't be reading this if you had, but I digress...) - please, take a cab home or get a buddy to drive you. Be safe!
I know we said we had a suit that was 90 to 95% done -- only thing was we didn't have pictures.
Keep in mind we have about 8 suits being made right now. We'll have all 8 done within the next month -- all different colors. Email me if you have any more questions.
(Note that I've obscured the e-mail address for spam protection.)
Looking REALLY good. As Louis posted to HBO, "Man, I wish I had more disposable income..."
So I've put together a brief manual of sorts about handling Banshees, the purple flying thangs, in Halo on the Mac or PC. A little long, but with this to start with, you should have some good ideas on where to go if you want to wrap your mind around Banshee usage. Give it a look, in the Halo strategies section.
Computer and Video Games has put together a new, more interesting preview. No new information, but it is an interesting read. Here's a snippet:
With their disc-launching, jet-pack thrusting, physics-assisted skiing and epic CTF battles, the Tribes games have always been a niche series waiting for greatness. Despite having one of the most vibrant online communities around, the series has somehow managed to stay hovering just outside the mainstream, but Irrational's Tribes: Vengeance looks set to change all that. With an epic, multiple-perspective, timeline-skipping solo blast (think Pulp Fiction in heavy armour), it's set to take the tribal war into the big time.
On January 29th, 6:30 PM, at the Metreon in San Francisco, Sierra will be hosting a presentation that will show off the amazing new features of Tribes: Vengeance. Some of the people working on Starsiege: 2845 will also be there. If you are in the San Francisco area you should definitely try to go to this event.
Ditto of Starsiege: 2845 has created a thread where all confirmed information about the game will be posted. Currently, many vehicles and their pictures have been posted on the list, along with infantry and their abilities. This list will continue to lengthen as they get approval and as vehicles are implemented into the game. Keep in mind that what is on there now, is not all that will be on the game but all that they know will be on the game beyond a shadow of a doubt.
I'm a little bit late in getting this newspost up, but Webshift of Nightmare Armor sent me an email a couple days back asking for some news recognition and for anyone reading the "news" account to check out the site. Although they've been linked to by HBO, I wanted to hold off for a little bit to let them recover from the bandwidth reamage caused by it.
What this group of artists have done is incredible. They're planning on creating the Master Chief's MJOLNIR armor in real life; you should check out some images of what's available so far.
HBO's also mentioned that they have a "donations" list up for the pieces. Please note that the prices you see do reflect all the creativity put into these works, and good art deserves congratulations. What would you expect to pay for a great painting? Add the fact that Nightmare Armor is planning to make these pieces so that you can wear them -- and show your dedication to the game you love, Halo.
Thanks to Webshift and HBO for the information. Good luck with the armor, guys!
Our last spotlight was with FireSlash from the SS:2845 project, and the one before that was Rifter from PlanetTribes. Now we head back to the Bungie community and back to Battleground: Halo. If you'll recall, not too long ago we put up a newshound from BGH into the spotlight, now we put the "Vice Duke of Central Marketing Consulting" into the spotlight... Matt 'Viper' Anderson. He has been aspiring to become "spotlighted" for quite some time and his time is finally here, so head on over and check it out!
A couple of days ago, resident 'Siege nut, Bumpy Carrot, posted on the SS:2845 forums inquiring as to just how big the maps were going to be in relation to Starsiege's maps. Just yesterday, Vailas from the team responded:
The current scale(48 units to a meter, this is the same as UT2k3 is currently) and current engine (ut2003) allow for just over 10KM cubed maps, I tested this a while back and it should work, but it takes forever to get a camera to any one wall.
However a maximum size map will not allow for a skybox. Directly 10km sides will allow for a small skybox.
You should be able to simulate the majority of the atmosphere on an earthlike planet that way.
Just so you know that is equivelant to 1/4 the size of an SS map, and about 2.5 times the size of the largest available mechwarrior map.
So although the actual map size will be smaller than Starsiege's, one thing you have to keep in mind is that on SS's maps, only a small portion of any one map was actually used. Fighting was centralized in various quadrants and different parts of the same map were even reused for different missions. Thus, less explore room but as Vailas puts it, "...trust me its no fun to run at full speed across a map for 4 minutes straight before getting to anything."
After much work on the story and much waiting for Sierra to draw a verdict, the decision has been reached:
As of yesterday morning, we finally got sign off approval on our storyline from Sierra.
Yes, it was a very long time coming, but we think everyone will agree when you finally get to experience it firsthand that it was well worth the wait.
Congratulations to our excellent writing staff, who have done an absolutely stellar story treatment that breaks exciting new ground in this franchise. This was a major hurdle cleared for us and this project.
The guys over at HomeLAN got the chance to talk to Chris Mahnken, better known as Thrax, about the developement of the game and how they came to some decisions, among other things.
HomeLAN - Much has been made on creating a solid story-oriented single player experience for Tribes: Vengeance. Why was the decision made to have the game have more of a single player experience?
Chris Mahnken - The way stories are told in shooters really hasn’t improved since Half-Life released. You typically play an entire story from the view of one person, never seeing the important things which happen to other people in the story. Limiting yourself to a single character places a huge restriction on the type of story you can tell. We felt that it was time to push that boundary a bit. Some people in our organization were worried that switching characters in the middle of a game would be confusing to the player, but I think that we’ve convinced them that the gaming world is sophisticated enough to appreciate the change.
One of the other reasons is that the Tribes Universe is simply cool. It’s a great place to tell a story and the part of the timeline we chose is full of interesting events. The guys at Irrational are great at story driven games and I think everybody will be pleased with the story they’ve crafted.
One of the newest members to join the Starsiege: 2845 team is the next victim in this week's spotlight. FireSlash joined the team on the 5th of this month as a code monkey under the "gentle guidance" of the head code monkey, Roy Fokker. Check it all out here.
The SS:2845 team has released a fansite kit that contains 60 images and two fonts. If you were looking for some incentive to start up a site, this is it. We've put up a local mirror here.
Staff interviews 4 has also been posted. These interviews focus on Excelsiore, a mapper and Cenobite, a texture artist. All these updates can be found on our press coverage page.
Because of a sizable back log of articles we will be releasing two today and two on Thursday. This will help keep the subjects from getting too stale. First Strikeout is our first guest article submitted by Banshee Ace. It's a good read provided your familiar with the book (contains spoilers). The next article is Of Consoles by Viper and while it fails to make any sense it will make you laugh. Finally the mailbag is back and so is Viper after an off week. It's hilarious to read his responses to the real email we get everyday. Enjoy.
SS: 2845 Update
Sat Dec 13th, 2003
Posted by: at 17:08 PM
The people over at Starsiege: 2845 have released yet another major update with some really amazing content. The update shows some updated pictures and designs of the Scarabs and Executioner. Also, there are some nice pictures of the Predator and even some in-game shots! Head on over to the update to see all of the goodies they released!
Thanks to HBO and Tanqueray for the latest update on the status of Halo PC!
Gearbox, defying all of what must be the "official Microsoft patch testing procedure", has released the 1.031 Halo PC patch. It's available exclusively from the auto-update servers; no standalone EXE is yet available. Here's what Gearbox claims the patch does:
- Fixed the crash on startup bug relating to the intro movies.
- Anisotropic filtering is now NOT on by default.
- Saved games prior to 1.03 are now no longer compatible. Any levels that were unlocked as you progressed through the game are still available, but your checkpoints will be reset.
Keep in mind -- for those of you who play Campaign missions frequently, this update sounds like it does some nasty things in that area. HBO describes it as:
Warning: This update will kill all your saved checkpoints. Players can still jump to the levels they've opened but any in-level saves are going to be lost.
Let us and Gearbox know what you think of the patch -- I'm off to play and find out if anything else changed!
On my daily forum rounds, I came across this thread on the Gearbox forums where Hellface from GB comments on a lot of the issues people have been having with the TK system implemented into 1.03. Here's what he had to say:
- We are looking seriously into the possibility that there is some way where a suicide could be a TK. There's some stuff on this forum about it, and we are trying to pinpoint what exactly is going on. This shouldn't happen, and if it is happening, we will work to fix it.
- We are considering ways to make the system more robust in the future to address the few concerns that some people have. We actually have a few ideas that are pretty exciting to us, but I'm going to hold off on talking about them until they are more clearly defined and we are sure we will actually impliment them.
- From the TK setting tweak thread, the only tweak I saw mentioned consistantly was that some server admins have lowered the cooldown time from 5 minutes to 3 or 4. This seems to work better for faster paced games and allows for looser gameplay, while still stopping most TKers.
Good news indeed, though you've got to wonder if GB should be investing as much time as they are into this TK issue and not into other issues that have been plaguing Halo like all of the player prediction and warping issues.
We've got a few new hosted sites to announce this morning. First up, Halo Revolution. Stearsy brings us "The ultimate Halo fan site in the UK" and is chock-full of all kinds of information on Halo from the cut dry facts to neat tips and tricks. He sends note to drop by his forum with comments.
Clan MIA is a Halo clan - among the first that we've ever hosted.
Art of Death is another Halo clan, headed up by Soviet Spartan.
Exiled Alliance is a multi-game clan, Halo, Tribes 2 and (ugh) Counterstrike .
Seraphim is yet another Halo clan that has join our ranks. Stop by their forums and see what they're up to.
Finally, thought not new to us, Dan Chosich of 2070 Wired Films has posted an update on his forums - be sure to check it out.
Rams from Battleground: Halo sends word that todays featured article is the 4th installment of the Rams Report. After a sub-par outing Rams bounces back with a critical look at the Dave Mertz resignation. Also discussed is Halo for the Mac's late arrival, Gearbox's delay of Sapien, and One One Se7en's possible negative effect. Little late in getting this posted (read why in my latest .plan), but hey, better late than never, right?
Since the release of the 1.03 patch for PC Halo, there has been a lot of varied feedback. Threads on our own forum complaining and praising the new lead (thanks to the "improved" netcode), complaints on vehicle warping and meaningless pings on the Gearbox forums, Gearbox wanting your feedback on the anti-TK additions, as well as numerousothers begging Gearbox to revert back to 1.02 or complaints on connection hic-ups. Furthermore, one helluva post was made on the HBO forums by HBO-kingpin (that all really should read, it's long, but very well written) that was apparently deleted from the Gearbox forums. Hhmmm...
Just wanted to prepare everyone for an upcoming "dry spell" in our information release schedule.
We're all going to be gearing up for an event late next month where we'll be divulging some pretty cool info. A couple folks from Irrational are gonna grace the US with their presence.
So it's unlikely we'll release anything new until then. Maybe we'll see a new designer diary but it's unlikely.
Stay tuned for more info - we're trying something totally new for this event and we think you're going to like it!
The site director of PlanetTribes is the next victim to be thrown into the spotlight. He offers a short 'n sweet variation from the norm, check it out here.
Will SS:2845 have training missions like the original Starsiege did? Chances are... it won't. In this thread on the SS:2845 forums, Trajan posted, "We currently have no plans to include training missions. If we have extra time, we'll think about it." From a development point of view, their deadline is rapidly approaching and despite the amount of talent they have going on the team, it just isn't enough to include accessories like training missions. That isn't to say it isn't going to happen, but don't expect it in the initial release.
The long awaited 1.03 patch has been released. I know we're a bit late in getting this up, but our mySQL server was down so we weren't able to update it at the time . Anyhow, as mentioned earlier, highlights of the patch include:
Anti team killing. Increased respawn time multiplier for team killing.
Increased chat text length – Chat length has been increased from 40 characters to 64 characters
Networking performance – Enhancement to player prediction
New in-game scoreboard – Displays players, kills, deaths, assists and ping
The dedicated server 1.03 patch has also been released, and full details about that can be found right here. It's a sequential update, as you'll have to have the 1.02 dedicated server installed first.
Quite disappointing news. Apparently, some disgruntled CS players pulled a real gun from his car and pointed it at the head of a staff member at the Cyber X Gaming CS tournament. His friends actually encouraged him to shoot at the staff man. Read the Got Frag? article and the Slashdot article.
A little over two months after Mac Halo was Beta, it has been announced that Mac Halo is now Gold! HBO mentions that it officially went into duplication late Friday night (5th), so you should see the game in stores soon. Looks like over Christmas break, the PC folk may have a little competition, eh? Check it the full details in the press release below. Tru7h will be happy to hear this .
Battleground: Halo is proud to announce that each week they will be adding two new feature articles, one on Monday and one on Thursday. Todays article Two Betrayals deals with the Team killing problem that has plagued almost everyone, at least prior to the 1.03 patch. They have also amassed a small collection of past articles which they hope you all enjoy. If you'd like to submit an article, you can do that too. Thanks to Rams xxxiv for the heads up.
TerroX sent word that Legends 0.3.6 has been released and along with it - a crucial memory leak has been fixed. A bunch of new content and functionality updates accompany this build and TerroX reminds us to stop by the forums, IRC (irc.dynamix.com #v12), or the bugTracker to let them know how they're doing.
Other fixes and additions in this build include:
New Inventory Station Model
Grenade and Mortar Physics tweaked
New server query screen updates, you can now see the mission being played and other info about a server before joining.
AmmoHUD now has icons for all the weapons, grenades, and mines.
Two new maps: Aeolus and Big One.
You can download the latest version (and others) right here.
All armors can carry additional upgrade "packs" to enhance their battlefield abilities. All packs have passive and active effects. Simply having a pack equipped provides a benefit. You can also trigger additional related powers at strategic moments.
Packs run off their own internal charge which regenerates over time, and are not linked to the suit's energy. They are worn on the hips, and can be seen from the front or back. Among the most commonly used are:
A few weeks ago Jasio of Keen Dreams announced that Project:MD3, a total conversion for the highly anticipated game Tribes: Vengeance. The total conversion is a continuation of the popular Melt Down 2 for Tribes 2. We at the Junkyard got the chance to have a chat with Jasio, Head of Public Relations for Keen Dreams, to see what information we could get from him. Head on over to the Interview section and check it out!
iGames informs gamers about their "Halo for Windows" regionals on December 7th, in their latest press release:
Select iGames centers in the US and Canada are holding one more Halo for Windows Divisional tournament on Saturday, December 6th. Those same centers will then hold the Regional Free For All tournaments where you can win a chance to compete in the US and Canadian finals and represent your country in the Worldwide Championships in Los Angeles! Sign up for the December 6th Divisional today. Once you qualify for the Regional tournament, register for it at your game center or through iGames Halo for Windows minisite.
The prizes include 16 ATI Radeon 9800 Pro video cards for the finalists, and Alienware Aurora PC's for the top three players. Not too shabby!
Finally! After all of my rants and raves, Gearbox is finally releasing details on the 1.03 patch for Halo PC. Scheduled for release on the 8th of this month, this patch addresses a huge array of issues. Among the ones listed... I think you'll agree these are monumental:
Anti team killing. Increased respawn time multiplier for team killing.
Increased chat text length – Chat length has been increased from 40 characters to 64 characters
Networking performance – Enhancement to player prediction
New in-game scoreboard – Displays players, kills, deaths, assists and ping
Cinematic speech bug with Audigy cards fixed
Unfortunately, among the issues posted, the 11 character limit for monikers was not one of them .
Atari has their press release on the exapansion pack's release. You should be able to pick it up tomorrow if you haven't already. And since my paycheck comes (supposedly) tomorrow, I may do just that.
GameSpot has released a new preview for Tribes: Vengeance, along with 8 new screenshots. The preview covers nothing new, but the pictures reveal the sniper rifle and the repair pack, which is now on the waist.
. . . the energy pack will be a miniature power plant that increases the recharge rate of your armor. With a faster recharge rate, your energy-based weapons will become more effective, and your jetpack will recharge more quickly so that you can fly even higher than normal. The higher recharge rate will also let you force-dump extra energy into your jetpack to provide an immediate burst of speed in the direction you're facing. This ability will be helpful not only for covering ground, but also for making quick changes in your direction if you happen to be skating along a certain path and for making quick stops if you turn away from the direction you're skiing and hit your jetpack for an instantaneous reverse. You can even use this ability to fly over tall hills--you won't get quite as much height as you would by "rocket-jumping" (pointing an explosive weapon, like the disc launcher, at your feet, then firing and jumping onto the blast), but you won't sustain any damage from your own shots, either.
Another pack that will be featured in the game is the repair pack, a helpful item that continuously manufactures microscopic "nanorgs," which restore your character's lost health and armor strength. While this can be helpful to survive the initial damage you take from a surprise attack, you regenerate lost health and armor at a very slow rate, so it definitely won't make you invulnerable. However, the pack itself charges up gradually, and when it's full, it will disperse nanorgs into the air around your character and will begin to repair a nearby friendly target, similar to the way a health kit works. With a fully charged repair pack, you'll actually be able to get repairs on a damaged friendly target started, then move on to a new friendly target while the first recovers on its own. If settling down and quietly waiting for a full recharge isn't an option, as it likely won't be in the game's multiplayer matches, you can still partially repair any nearby friendly targets just by getting close to them.
GameSpy and IGN have signed a definitive merger agreement. The combination will create the web's largest network of gaming destination sites. Based on IGN/GameSpy traffic logs, the network will recieve 673 million page views per month and attract more than 22 million unduplicated unique visitors per month worldwide (According to third-party auditor comScore NetScore data). "Combining IGN and GameSpy will create value for both our audience and our clients," said Mark Surfas, founder and chairman of GameSpy. "For the gamer, this merger will provide the broadest array of information, services and content choices. For game publishers and advertisers, it creates a platform with the widest reach and the deepest set of marketing tools to target gamers and young men in general." The GameSpy/IGN merger is expected to be complete early Q4 2004.
We've got another Bungie community member in today's spotlight. This time it's Count Zero from HBO. He definitely has one of the most... *ahem*, unique avatars around. Check it out right here.
IGN has released another Dev Diary, this time with Marc Atkin, AI Programmer for Irrational Games. His main focus of the article is about how the focus creating AI is not to make them incredibly smart, but rather, just not have them do anything really stupid. His first paragraph summarizes his whole idea of how AI should and shouldn't be:
Artificial Intelligence (AI) - the art of making computer controlled characters look smart. In games, though, the goal isn't so much to give them human-like intelligence (which is one of the Holy Grails of computer science research and is what mad scientists are currently working on in their labs around the world), but to make them entertaining to play with and against (which is still "difficult", but certainly more doable). It's just that when a computer opponent does something really dumb, like just standing motionless while taking damage, it immediately breaks the game's immersiveness. You the player are reminded that it's all just computer game.
Tomorrow on GameSpot we will reveal a new Tribes: Vengeance weapon and talk for the very first time about Packs. There will also be the requisite new screenshots and a nifty piece of concept art of the weapon.
There's been a few minor events going on with regards to the Halo community lately, so I'm going to cover them in this elegant bulletted newspost:
Red vs. Blue Releases Season 1 DVD. The fine folks at redvsblue.com have seen fit to increase our ranks by yet another masterpiece. The Season 1 DVD, starring your favorite characters from the Blood Gulch Chronicles. You can purchase the shiny, attractive disc for $20 US, plus $2.50/$3.50/$5.50 for shipping to the United States/Canada/everywhere else. This would be an excellent holiday gift for your favourite Halo player!
Remember the X03 Video? The event in France where a supposedly-eliminated Halo 2 plot detail was dropped? If you've seen the shakeycam video, or if you haven't, you should check out the newly-released X03 video. halo.bungie.org and its copious bandwidth donators have been flooded with requests for the video, so in the meantime, you can hop on the Mythica TORRENT from our locally-mirrored copy and help other gamers get their fix! This is the 100MB, 640x480 QuickTime copy. A smaller version is also available for those with less capable connections. (Once your download is complete, please consider leaving your BitTorrent link open for a few hours.) We'll be removing this link once traffic to the main HBO and Mythica sites has returned to a reasonable level.
David Mertz leaves Gearbox. Whether you love Gearbox or not, David Mertz was the lead designer of Halo PC, and it's only fitting that we announce his resignation. Among other things, David (known as Alpha_Male on the Gearbox forums) noted that he completed tutorials relating to the Halo Editing Kit. He plans to take some time off and enjoy the holidays. Here's wishing you luck in your future endeavours, David!
We recently had a chat with the new Lead Designer of the Realm Wars project, Logan Foster, to see what's been going on with the project for the last six months. James Margaris stepped down as the Lead Designer, and a number of project changes were implemented, including the implementation of a core development team and scaling back the project to a fantasy theme FPS game. Check it all out below and be sure to leave your comments.
Out with the old, in with the new -- poll that is. Today we're asking you what game are you looking forward to the most. Is it Halo 2, Tribes: Vengeance or the SS:2845 TC MOD for T:V? Scroll down on your right hand side and vote!
Previously, we asked you what your opinion on video cards were... and the results were closer than I had expected. 38% of you were die-hard nVidia fans, while 32% of you were ATi with a surprising 5% going after integrated chipsets. Check out the full results here.
Its been a while in the making, but we have finally finished our Starsiege: 2845 section. While the MOD is still under development, our section is consequently continually under construction. Despite that though, our character, vehicle, and weapon information pages are complete with all of the latest information available. Furthermore, our file archive is bustling with wallpapers and a myriad of tunes from Edgen and SleepyBrightEyez, and our press coverage page is up - it'll keep track of every interview and press release the game receives.
And to kickstart the section, we're releasing our spotlight with the very talented, SleepyBrightEyez, a sound artist for the game. Check it out right here.
Thanks to Beren of Tribalwar, we have the rare chance to see who these people are making the game everyone is looking forward to. I must admit, the studio is a bit cramped, but it comfortingly reminds me of a LAN setup (minus the big open space). Thanks to Irrational Games for allowing this to be filmed and released, Kwango for the nice editting, and, last but certainly not least, Tribalwar for taking the time to film this.
Although we at The Junkyard aren't professional game developers, we thought it'd be interesting to give visitors and members a place where they can read about the latest happenings with individual tJY Staff members, as well as give Staff a place to rant, comment, and share their thoughts at the time in a technically-oriented context. .plans are almost like a 'blog, but without the comments and less of the girlish whining that many 'blogs consist of of late.
To get started reading our .plan files, you can check out the new sidebar on the left, listing the five most recent .plan updates, or visit the Junkyard Staff Page and click on a user whose .plan you want to view. The Staff page is also good for finding out information and statistics about our Staff members: if you haven't been there lately, you might be able to learn something interesting about us!
Thanks to Mhaddy for implementing the .plan feature! Let us know what you think of it. You can also leave a comment if there are any other features you'd like to see on The Junkyard -- we're always open to suggestions.
It would seem a bit out of our usual vein of reporting to discuss cars, of all things, but this is different. Peugeot's Hoggar concept car, "A son of the desert", built out of a carbon bodyshell with reinforcing stell rollbars, looks quite a lot like Halo's Warthog.
The people over at Sun and Shadows, after a few months of work, got the ability to ask a few questions. The result is a very nice, very extensive interview with Hexabolic, Velax, and ConfigSys.boy! And now for the obligatory quote:
JIHAAD: What are your inspirations for writing the history for SS:2845?
HEXABOLIC: I always like to refer back to the fiction adage “things get worse.” That means when you have characters in a story, things must get worse for your characters in order for you to produce compelling conflict. The second point is that things have to get worse in fresh and interesting ways.
That said, we’ve also tried to identify and preserve the core thematic direction of Starsiege, namely the familial conflicts (parent-child and brother-brother) and the powerful issues of authority, humanity, rebellion, and hubris. That’s a lot to cover, but you can find it all starkly displayed in Starsiege’s conflicts.
Tribalwar's Beren met up with the guys at Irrational Games in Canberra, Australia. Beren was nice enough to write an article about it and release som very nice screenshots.
Andrew of Xbox Ottawa wrote to tell us that the new Fire Team Charlie video is up (Episode 9, I suppose). Unfortunately, if you aren't a member, you have to use Bittorrent to download the files. I had some problems with my Bittorrent download, so I haven't checked it out just yet, but I've liked the previous episodes. Check it out!
Jasio of Keen Dreams has announced that Meltdown 3, a total conversion mod for Tribes: Vengeance, is in the makes. Here's part of what he had to say about it:
MD3 is the continuation on the Meltdown series of mods based around Tribes, and Tribes 2. Our latest mod, known as Project:MD3 (name wont be released yet) will be based off of the Tribes: Vengeance engine. We are currently using Ut2k3 as our base of development prior to porting the game to Tribes:Vengeance.
What is MD3 about?...
Well to put it in simple terms, by making a game set in the past (Tribes:Vengeace) the developers are restricting themselves to following a set timeline which is dictated through Starsiege, all the way up to Tribes 2. Our approach is rather different, we are moving on ahead and MD3 will take place about 150-200 years in the future from where Tribes 2 left off.
So what does that mean?...
This means that we are free to develop a plot and timeline of our own, without restrictions. It also allows us to advance the current weapons technologies as we see in Tribes, but also introduce new weapons, and a whole new approach to game play. The game will still retain its original "tribes feel" but will be more expansive with a greater amount of weapons, and vehicles on hand for the player to utilize.
Click on the comments link to read the whole announcement.
MacSoft has added a page about Halo for Mac on their website. It has a few screenshots, but they all seem to be Halo PC screenshots. One bit of information is that the release date is now December 11th, a week later than the original December 3rd date.
mrsmiley sends word that over at Halo Babies there is a new strip up, entitled, Lag? Or noob? He also mentions that there are seven new AIM icons in the cool crap section. Head on over there and check it out.
While TankRamp's spotlight isn't quite as long as our previous spotlight with ConfigSys.boy!, TankRamp does provide a funny read and has a pretty cool avatar . Find out about him right here.
Trajan announces that Starsiege: 2845 is looking for more coders to help with their upcoming Tribes: Vengeance mod:
We're currently looking for 3 more coders/scripters to join our dedicated team. Candidates should be well versed in object oriented programming (OOP) routines and MUST have a copy of Unreal Tournament 2003 to develop on. Experience with UnrealEd and UT scripting is required.
PLEASE NOTE: This is not a paying gig. All work being done on the project is strictly voluntary. Also please note as this project is being developed using intellectual property owned by Sierra you will be required to sign a Non Disclosure Agreement.
If interested, please contact me directly by emailing me at trajan@ss2845.com
One of our affiliates, 1337Guide has received a total site revamp. It's very pleasing to the eye, if a little monotone. Nonetheless, here's what Mafiso had to say about it:
After a long time and a lot of work, a better 1337 Guide is created. Now it loads faster, has less errors, much easier to navigate, and is a whole lot brighter. 1337 Guide 2.0. Besides the new look, more fan writings have been submitted and a new Teams/Clan section is up. If you'd like to see your team there, just email me at mafioso@1337guide.com. And for our forum goers, the new address for the forums is 1337guide.com/forums - not /forum. Anyways hope you like the new look.
As one site gets an update, another sites goes down. One of our previous sponsors, CobaltNova, closed its doors today due to unfortunate circumstances. It's a shame, as the CobaltNova Halo PC League really had a lot of potential. *salutes* Thanks HBO.
I'll be brief: Square/Enix has officially announced that they are working on Final Fantasy XII for the Playstation 2. No word yet on the expected release date.
All modders could take a few tips from ClanCore Design Group. Where most simply hang out and drool till a game is released, this 30-man team is prepping a total conversion for Tribes Vengeance a year before the game's scheduled September 2004 release date. ClanCore is currently working with publisher Sierra on the SS:2485 total conversion, and will be granted access to alpha code for the upcoming game as soon as it becomes available. At press time, however, the team was already pushing forward with the assistance of the Unreal Tournament 2003 engine. The mod will shift the focus away from the traditional first-person combat that's become a hallmark of the Tribes series, dealing instead with the Mech battles that characterized the Starsiege offshoot released in early 1999. One of the design team members is Blake Hutchins, a writer-producer who helped create the Tribes and Starsiege games at Dynamix, so you can expect good things from this project.
If you get a chance, pick up a copy of this to read the section. Congratulations to those at SS:2845.
The crew over at SS:2845 have posted up a mini-update to complete their last update. This one comes with a new campaign track by the very talented Edgen, entitled Imperial Infantry, three Emancipator wall papers, an update on the Eman vehicle status, the Shepherd and Goad vehicle status updates too.
TW was also able to snag the bio from the second character in the SS:2845, Daw Otobe, son of Hunter Otobe. We've mirrored the image below, check it out! Kudos to Eva-01 for the heads up.
Dave Mertz of Bungie has posted an update on the Halo PC 1.03 patch on the Gearbox forums. No content information has been released on it, he just posts up letting us know that work is steadily progressing on it and it's currently in the testing phase over at Microsoft.
He also goes on to mention that the Halo Editing Kit has been pushed back as well. Because of the major updates that must be made to the game to incorporate the levels of editing that they want to allow, it's taking much longer than they had anticipated. Nonetheless, work is steadily progressing, so it's all good. Thanks HBO.
It's interesting to read some of the replies in that thread. Everything from "I hate you." to "WTF? This was supposed to be out already!" and the occasional "thanks". Just remember guys, they never released any release dates for any of the patches and rest assured, it'll be out... when it's out. Just relax and enjoy the fraggin' .
RandomHero stopped by our forums to let us know of an Xbox LAN party that he's got going on. He mentions that his LAN party recently got sponsored by Bawls; so if you're in the Washington DC area, check out the thread or see the Helljumper Hangout for more details.
mrsmiley writes in to remind us of a very important date coming up tomorrow - that would be Halo's two year anniversary since it was brought to life on the Xbox. And as mrsmiley puts it so eloquently, what better way to celebrate than with a new comic?
The HBN site has also been receiving numerous facelifts over the last little while. If you haven't yet swung by the site, after checking out the comic, browse around.
...or it is, HaloPlayers: The Return? Regardless, today we shine the light on Barak from Halo Players; among the first Halo fan sites to come online. Check out his spotlight right here. Also stay tuned, because in the coming week, we will have ConfigSys.boy from Tribes Role Players and TankRamp from Battleground: Halo.
Dinky from HaloJuggaloProductions is in today's spotlight. HaloJuggaloProductions (currently undergoing a content revamp) is a Halo news site, that houses a lot of great Halo footage. Check out the man behind the scenes right here.
One of tJY's forumgoers, MrFluffyPants26, has taken a look at the world of Halo modding. While on the Xbox, modding is sometimes considered "evil" and "illegal" because of its connotations with modchips, the PC version of Halo has allowed anyone capable of running it to check out what modders have been able to do -- all without a development kit. Fluffy's community article, entitled "Bouncy BOLL", takes a look at one of the prime developers of Halo Xbox and PC modifications, and what modifications have done to the game. It's a good read, complete with an interview from BOLL! Plenty of pictures are included if you just want some cool eyecandy of the mods' effects. Give the article a read, and post your comments for Fluffy.
It's been a while since our last spotlight, but we're going to make up for it over the next week or so. Tonight, we've got the producer of the Starsiege:2845 TC MOD, Jake 'Trajan' Massie up in the spotlight. Find out what makes him tick right here.
In a thread at Tribalwar, Menzo (Sierra PR) released another "What's coming up for Tribes." Here's what he says we have in store:
- A new interview went up today on Gamer's Pulse
- We'll be releasing info on a new weapon and possibly a new vehicle later this month. We might also start releasing info on the packs in the game. We're still working on details
- A new designer diary will go up some time this month. It's currently being written
- UK readers will probably see a bunch of new screens and some new info about Tribes: Vengeance in an upcoming issue of PC Zone about hot games in 2004
- The next big update with lots of new information won't be until late January or early February, but it'll be worth the wait
tJY's last poll asked if you were satisfied with the performance of Halo PC. The results speak for themselves:
44% of respondents indicated that you were happy with the performance. 28% of you were dissatisfied, and another 28% didn't have the game yet.
Now that the Halo PC Demo is widely available, those who didn't have the game should give it a try.
Our new poll -- "What's your opinion on video cards?" -- isn't meant to wreak havoc. It's an honest look at what tJY readers think about the recent controversies surrounding cards, drivers and optimizations. Your vote counts, so use it!
For all readers who enjoyed my "Gearbox Giveth: and Gearbox Taketh Away" series (part 1, part 2 and part 3 are available if you haven't read them), I've recently found the time to discuss a feature of Halo: Combat Evolved that most people take for granted -- the user interface. Although the information in the article is based on Halo for the Xbox, PC gamers might also find some of the content relevant to Halo PC.
mrsmiley sends word that the new Halobabies strip is now up. Though there wasn't one last week, he's made up for it with some new content on the site. A new "cool crap" section is open to non-HBN members, where at the moment, you'll find a couple HBN banners and some AIM icons.
We've updated our Halo music files with three songs from the very talented artist, Edgen. Though these are not newly released, I just stumbled upon them and had to share them with everybody else. Edgen is also one of the sound artists working on Starsiege: 2845.
In addition, while going through some of our files, I noticed that our Halo theme was incomplete! My apologies to all those who have downloaded the theme - the full version has now been uploaded, so if you still don't have a copy of Halo's theme on your PC, download now.
Gamers Pulse got the chance to chat with Tribes: Vengeance lead designer Ed Orman and Tony Oakden, producer at Irrational Games. The enterview doesn't care so much new information, but more details on what has been established. The interview is definitely worth the read. Here's some of what was asked:
GP: How far along into the development cycle is the title currently?
TO: We are about two thirds of the way through development. We are almost at the stage where we have all the missions for the single player campaign in first pass form and all the core gameplay systems are in place. All that remains is to mix all the ingredients up to make a fun game! That’s easier said than done but we’ve left a lot of time at the end of the schedule for balancing and play testing so we expect the game to kick ass by the time it ships. Multiplayer is actually further on than single player as we do not have to wait for the AI to be complete before testing can begin.
I meant to get this up earlier, but I was preoccupied with a late showing of the Matrix: Revolutions, which I've yet to determine whether I like it or not. Nevertheless... yesterday, Tanq (and today UberError) reminded us that the SS:2845 site received a new URL and a facelift.
To boot, the 11/05 update has been posted on their forums and it is just loaded with new concept art, music and information. One of the most interesting things about this update is the introduction of the "Tribes-aspect" of SS:2845... Infantry. Check it out.
Microsoft has announced that it has agreed to use IBM semiconductor technologies in its upcoming Xbox products. Currently the Xbox uses a 733 Mhz Intel CPU, and this could mean that the very secretive Xbox 2 will use an IBM processor. The IBM press release clearly states that IBM will "power future Xbox products," but IBM technologies could be used elsewhere in the Xbox 2 system.
The question has come up several times in our forums whether nVidia or ATi was better. Most of the time I say exactly what nVidia is saying right now - both companies' new offerings perform on par with each other. In fact, nVidia is still apologizing for the incident with Futuremark's 3D Mark 2003, and have drastically changed their driver optimization policies to show just how they feel about it.
Ion Storm, iD, and a representative from Valve were also present, giving Firing Squad their takes on nVidia's stance at the Editor's Day.
A news post by SketchFactor over at Bungie.net describes the new improvements in Mac Halo. Apparently they're working the programmers like slaves and pumping out the game as fast as they can (after all, only one more month until its release as of today). Improvements include better performance on ATI cards. Beta 4 is also due for release (network play!) soon. Can't wait!
HaloSpy 0.8.0.16, a GameSpy-like Halo PC server query tool has been released today. It shows the full stats of a game, and allows you to create favourites (one of the many things I found missing from the ingame browser), amongst others things. Check out more details here. Thanks HBO.
For those of you curious as to why we haven't posted anything about Realm Wars since the end of June, well, that's because there hasn't been any news to report. However, given I am a little late in getting this up - recently, Jay Moore posted an update as to the status of the RW project.
The highlights include:
James Margaris has stepped down as lead designer, Logan Foster has taken his place.
A "core" development team has been appointed to take lead on the RW project. Community involvement is still requested, though on less critical aspects.
The core design of the project has been scaled back to a fantasy theme FPS game.
More details can be found here. More updates as they become available.
Spotted over at HBO, I thought this was rather cool. With no editing or hexing of the game, goatrope was able to get the Master Chief standing up empty handed. "For some reason, if you melee with an FRG or a Flamethrower, then immediately enter a Ghost, MC will be standing up, inside the Ghost, finishing his punch, all with no weapon. These won't work with any of the old weapons, so I would presume that Bungie fixed this bug in the original Halo with the Xbox weapons, but when GBX created the FRG and Flamer, they didn't fix it."
It's pretty useless, but it's a nice pose . It's amazing what people can do if only given the time.
TribesRolePlayers.org has released the third and longest complete chapter in the Prophecy of Tears collection. There are twelve vignettes in all full of backstory of the deterioration of the Children of the Phoenix and the inevitable rise of the Hordes. Head on over TribeRoleplayers' Official Fiction Page to check it out.
Gamesradar has in insightful reprint of Edge Magazine's Making of Halo article. It discusses the issues Bungie faced in their move to the XBox and why they enjoyed doing it so much. Someone pick up a copy of Edge magazine and let me know how good that article is.
From all of us at the 'Yard, we wish everyone a very spooky Halloween. So grab your jetpacks, jump in your HERCs, load up the Warthog or suit up in your Star Wars getup and have some fun! Don't forget to scare the neighbourhood kids. Happy Halloween from the 'Yard!
Kudos to TerroX for the heads up on the release of Legends 0.3.0b! 0.3.0b boasts greater stability, functionality, increased content and gameply. New maps have been added, and the physics engine has been tweaked as well. Click here for a full list of changes.
You can grab the Windows release here or here and the Linux release here.
The Cyberathlete Professional League got the chance the host an IRC Q&A with Bungie and Gearbox Software staff members. The Gearbox team has been working long and hard on their computer game and after its release, have finally gotten the time to sit down and answer a few questions about the future of Halo PC. The Q&A lasted over an hour and covered alot of ground. If you missed the event, you're in luck. We at The Junkyard recorded the event and now have it in a viewable, friendly format. Head on over to our article section to check it out.
Angel Munoz, founder and president of the CPL has been interviewed by SketchFactor at Bungie.net. The interview covers a lot of background information on the CPL and its inner workings. Topics also cover why the decision was made to add Halo PC to the CPL 2003 tournament roster, the results of this and what's in store for the CPL in the future. It's a great read, kudos to HistoryMaker for the heads up.
The CPL has gotten together with the founder and president of Gearbox Software, Randy Pitchford, to talk about outstanding questions on Halo PC and his position on the CPL advisory board.
The interview covers a lot of interesting and informative questions, such as the implementation of a demo recording feature (hopefully out soon) and the implementation of a new Assault MOD designed specifically for tournaments.
Found this in my mailbox this evening, a rep from iGames sends along news that coming this fall, iGames games center association will be hosting the official worldwide Halo for Windows Championship season. A tournament where you have the chance to win over $12,000 (USD) in prizes and a trip to L.A. to compete against contestants.
Want more info? Check out the press release here. And for even more information, check out the B.Net press release here.
We at the-junkyard have updated our Tribes: Vengeance File section to have all of the released Tribes: Vengeance videos. Head on over to the Vengeance Video Section.
Not too long ago, I received an email from a member of the community that had some extra time on his hands and wanted to give something back to the 'Yard. Shortly thereafter, I received another email from him with an attachment that read, "Jedi Academy Review".
And thus, here we are. Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy has been turned upside down and inside out by tJY's "Resident Star Wars Psychotic", Falcon. The review is pretty thorough and covers a lot of ground. We have a small review gallery up too. Here's a snip of our second community submitted review:
Until then, there are always the Jedi Knight games from LucasArts, the latest installment of which is Jedi Academy. In Academy, you play a young Force user named Jaden Korr. This is a pretty large leap from the previous Jedi Knight games, and the preceding Dark Forces games, where you were cast as Kyle Katarn. Kyle is back in this game as well, as your Jedi Master, but he’s not the main character for once.
Check it all out below. And if you'd like to send in a review of a game, be sure to let us know.
mrsmiley sends word that the Halo Babies site has been updated once again with a new strip. To boot, 3 new sketches have made their way into the members only sketches section. Check it out!
A little late in getting this one up, but Mr. Smiley dropped us a line yesterday letting us know that there's a new Halobabies strip up. This one's entitled Hunter Daycare and you can grab it here.
IGN has made another Developer Diary for Tribes: Vengeance. This diary, among other things, explains some of the differences between the art and models in this game as opposed to the previous Tribes games.
Back in the past things were different. When the Tribes themselves were just starting out they were desperate to assert their individuality through their fashion choices. Tribes: Vengeance reflects this by giving each Tribe it's own unique sense of style. There are 5 different types of armour per Tribe. These are Male Light, Female Light, Male Medium, Female Medium and the unisex Heavy armour. All of these are built to the different specifications of each Tribe.
One new image is released, but it looks very familiar:
... the Halo PC demo will be released! For those of you who still do not have the game, now's your chance to download 131MB of pure, adrenaline pumping fun. "The demo will feature "The Silent Cartographer" from the single-player campaign, "Blood Gulch" with limited vehicles for your multiplayer satisfaction, as well as support for up to 16 players in Slayer and CTF multiplayer modes."
We will not be mirroring the demo (at least, not right off the bat), as we don't have the bandwidth to handle it - but IGN downloads as well as the usual Fileplanet and 3DGamers I'm sure will.
Update 10/17: Some download mirrors, courtesy of Blue's:
HA|aD Monkey has updated his HaloURL script to version 1.1 which is an update to the last version that fixes a bug where HaloURL would not work if Halo was installed on a different drive. Our files have been updated and 1.0 has been removed. (more information)
Another T:V interview has surfaced, this time over at Gamesradar.com. Ken Levine, creative director over at Irrational Games is interviewed and reports an overview of the company, himself and T:V. The interview takes a generic look at the game and whilst it doesn't really report anything that we didn't already know, it does give a nice overview of the basics and new additions to the Tribes series. Here's a snip:
How do you think the online community will react to this game being single and not multiplayer?
The initial reaction was, "Why are you adding a single–player component? You'll ruin everything!" We expected this as, generally, people who love things don't necessarily want them to change. However, I don't think it is changing that much. When Sierra came to us initially and requested a strong single-player Tribes product, we said that essentially they were talking about two games. They recognised that it wasn't going to be a cheap or easy game to make and that it was going to take a lot of time and effort to make.
Tribes3.org got the chance to shoot a few questions at Trajan of the Starsiege: 2845 dev team. Here's just a sample of what the Q&A covers:
T3o: Assuming you guys pull this off and im sure with the many talented people you have, I truly see this project bieng a sucess. What is in store after it is released world wide, do you plan on creative/releasing downloadable extras as time passes like new hercs, maps, single player campains etc.
Trajan: Yes, we have plans for at least one expansion pack, provided that everything goes the way you outlined above. It will be a full expansion, meaning besides some new vehicles and other content and whatnot it will contain a mini-campaign as well. We have already kicked around some ideas for the story for it. It will basically be a side story that occurs at the same time our main story takes place, but gives you a different view of the action.
Trashman posts in the TribalWar Forums that a PCGames.de, German gaming website, has released some 30 screenshots that have not been seen. Most go along the lines of showing off the rover and the rocket pod, but a few are quite unique.
ConfigSys.boy! has sent word that TribesRolePlayers has created an overview of all the information regarding the Tribes: Vengeance single player. Here's what ConfigSys.boy! has to say:
We have culled every preview, Q&A session, interview and press release available to gather information on the plot, the characters, the background, and the format of the single player campaign. Then we cross-referenced that with our extensive library of universe knowledge to provide you with the most informative resource on the single player portion of Tribes: Vengeance available anywhere. So if you’re anticipating the immersive story that Irrational has promised us with Tribes: Vengeance as much as we are you will want to bookmark the Fact Sheet, and check back for updates as more information is released!
Tribes3.org is having a banner contest to see who can create the best banner for their website.
Tribes3.org is running a contest to see who can create the best banner. The winning banner will be used on our site. The only rule is that you must use our template which you can get here. You'll need adobe photoshop to see that file. All submissions should be posted in our forums.
GL and have fun!
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Feret
[B]I am the new Interim Squad Liaison and Battle organizer for the Red Armageddon, and I am trying to collect contact information from the people in charge for squads in the S&S community. If you or your squad would be so kind please email me at feret@sunandshadows.com your squad name, contact person, their contact info (email, icq, aim, website) etc I would greatly appreciate it. [/B][/QUOTE]
Following up on our spotlight with Zigma, we decided to put together a small interview with him to grab a few more details on himself and the site. Check it out here.
Computer and Video Games is at it again, this time with a more story-like and explanatory interview. This preview is probably the best written Vengeance article to date, emphasizing and elaborating on the non-linear story. Also, the second half of this article seems to focus on how they are trying to please the hardcore fans and attract new people at the same time. Also, this preview comes with some enticing new pictures which seem to focus on the dark side of Tribes. And now for the obligatory quote:
The direction in which Levine and co are taking the Tribes franchise is undeniably risky, and if the game doesn't please either the newcomer or the old guard then they're truly up Shazbot-creek without a Burner. But Irrational certainly has the talent to pull it off, binding an epic and revolutionary story with a vastly under-appreciated style of gameplay. As long as they keep the hardcore appeased, it looks like they're on to a winner.
My good buddy, Barak sends word that Haloplayers is finally back on it's feet. For those of you who have been around in the Halo community awhile, you'll remember HP as being among the first "major" Halo sites to pop up (aside from HBO and tJY ).
At that time, Haloplayers was at haloplayers.com but due to some problems with their host and domain registration, they lost control over haloplayers.com and had to move their site over to realhaloplayers.com, heh.
Anyhow, enough with the history lesson. Barak mentions that they've got the 1.01 and 1.02 patches mirrored, the forums are up and a little bit of content is up at the moment. Head on over there, say hello and make yourself at home.
Kudos to HA|aD Monkey who recently notified us of a new script out there. Entitled Halo URL, this little doozey adds the ability to Windows XP and 2000 systems for halo://ipaddresshere to connect to a server at ipaddresshere. It currently supports connecting to different ports and command line options. It's very easy to install, but be sure to read the enclosed readme file for more details.
Our good friends over at Tribes2maps.com have thrown up another map to be show-cased at the Map of the Week. This week it's Ghosts of Ymir by Riavan. The obligatory snippet of this CTF map:
After six and a half years, we're back on Ymir. This was our world once, warrior. Before the Hordes slaughtered us. Can you hear the ghosts in the wind? I can. - Starwolf Strike Colonel Akanruth
Head on over to Tribes2maps.com for more details and map download.
A new extended version of the recently-released videa has been given to TribalWar out of the generosity of Alex 'Marweas' Rodberg. The video is longer and more action-packed than the previous one and gives some real cool footage of both the Rover and the Rocket Pod in action. The video is definitely worth the download at 18.4 MB and 1 minute and 17 seconds. Thanks to Marweas, Sierra, and TribalWar for this video.
After a few days of downtime, SS2845.com is back up.
It looks like we're finally back up and operating, after a tumultuous week of server problems. Basically, over the past weekend our hosting service was badly hacked, which ended up in a full restore being mandated. No data was lost but getting all the ins and outs squared away on the php/MySql end took some time.
According to our host, last week another of their clients tried to install a chat spam program called PsyBNC. This violated the TOS agreement and our host terminated their hosting account and now believes they are the ones responsible for the hack.
The Day Has Come
Sat Oct 11th, 2003
Posted by: at 12:07 PM
As Menzo had promised, a large update was posted at GameSpot yesterday. The update includes an interview, many new pictures, and a new video. This update isn't just the same old, same old as many have been before but reveals a new weapon and vehicle. Both of which look very enticing. Here's a snippet from the interview to give you an idea of what I mean:
GameSpot: Tell us about the new weapon in Vengeance. What are its uses, and how does it fit in with the other classic Tribes weapons, such as the chaingun and the disc launcher?
Michael Johnston: The first new weapon we're announcing is tentatively called a rocket pod. It fires a cluster of spiraling rockets that constantly move in the direction you're aiming, which lets you control them while they're in the air. Tribes 2 had a missile launcher, but it was an auto-aim weapon that we didn't really like. The rocket pod is a replacement for that weapon. It's designed to be particularly effective against larger targets, such as vehicles, because you can potentially hit them with every rocket in the cluster. It can be used against players, too, but you might end up hitting them with only a few rockets.
They just keep getting better and better. The new Halobabies comic is up over at Halo Babies Network. Reminds me of the good 'ole days before the endless Halo LAN parties...Thanks to Mr. smiley for keeping us all up-to-date!
Hot on the heels of the 1.02 dedicated server release update, Gearbox and Bungie have released the 1.02 client update. It's supposedly a performance update, although I haven't noticed improvement or decline in the game. An HTML-formatted version of the Halo PC Performance FAQ can be found at a halo.bungie.org mirror. For those of you wanting the original .rtf document, it can be downloaded from Bungie's server.
Check out the new client patch and see what it does for you!
Saw over at TribesRolePlayers that the reason for ss2845's downtime is that their host had been hacked. The front page is still down, but Trajan has gotten the forums back up. Trajan has posted more information about the attack and says it was not directed towards them, but their host instead.
According to our hosting service, their servers all got hacked over the weekend to the point they needed to do full re-installs of everything, including the operating systems. The servers are back up and operating albeit some things still need fixing, i.e. our main website is still out of commission.
Basically that's all I know at this point, if I find out anything else that's noteworthy I'll pass it along.
With a little hope the site will be up soon with no data loss.
Gearbox has released the Dedicated Server 1.02 patch. This patch, "...adds the ability to run multiple instances of the server on a single machine, and enables rcon functionality in Halo." Maps are not included in the 7MB download.
Please note that it is not compatible with the 1.01 patch, so don't upgrade your machine until the servers have been updated at 9:30am pacific time tomorrow.
Mature Asskickers (for more info: http://matureasskickers.net/home ) is a large Tribes 2 clan that believes in not just being good at the game, but being a mature person as well. The only part (MA) seems to lack is in the Light Defense. We only have a few people available. If anyone wants to join, PM me at irc.dynamic.com #ma, or Email me at tonic@matureasskickers.net.
Less than a week ago, Gearbox Software, in partnership with Bungie and Microsoft released Halo PC. While some things about this game release have been seen as controversial (the need for a patch before the game was widely available, for instance), it's only fitting that we address this game in a proper review. Please leave your comments in our forum.
For those of you too lazy to read the review , the game received a score of 9.3 out of 10.
Well, the first Halo MOD has arrived. Spotted on the HBO forums, vwporsche has created a MOD for Blood Gulch. His MOD (available locally here) adds some new vehicle skins and adds unlimited rockets to the LAAG. Onward with MODing!
I'm a little late in getting this one up, but earlier today Mr. smiley sent word that the Halo Babies Network has a new comic up. Head on over and check it out!
Well, Gearbox has pulled out all the stops, and has made the Halo PC dedicated server download available for all gamers planning to purchase Halo. You do not need to own the game to set up a server for it! This is a pre-release version, and should be treated as such.
The version that The Junkyard is hosting requires you to copy the map files from Halo PC to your download directory. If you don't own a copy, you can download the full package: simply select a mirror from HBO's list.
As promised by Menzo, a new interview was done along with the release of several new pictures. ComputerAndVideoGames.com got the chance to shoot a few questions at Ken Levine, general manager and director of Irrational Games. Along with answers, Levine has given some pictures to please the needs of Tribes fans. Here's a snippet from the interview:
CVG: The Tribes storyline/history is exceedingly big. From which period of history are you taking the storyline for Vengeance?
Levine: Believe it or not, there are 12 different games which live in the Tribes universe. Not just Tribes games, but Cyberstorm games, Mission Force games and even a relatively old game called Hunter Hunted.
We decided to have this new game take place around 400 years earlier than the existing Tribes products. This allowed us a lot of freedom, as there is not a lot of existing detail about this period.
HalfLife 2, Valve's latest anticipated release has just had its full source code leaked. I've confirmed this with various sources, and I'm probably going to examine the situation more closely later tonight. Thare are numerousplaces where this is being discussed.
This is a bad situation for Valve, as this opens a lot of potential problems, ethically, legally, and technically. The bigest concerns are cheats, but also concerns include the licensing problems Valve may come under since the source includes a lot of commercial utilities and plugins that game developers commonly use. (Including the Miles Sound System.) Comments? Thougts? No, you can't have the source.
Just under a month ago, Westlake had updated their project status page stating that Halo had made the alpha stage. Now, that same page has been updated and Halo is now at the Beta stage.
They are really moving along! I just hope it's genuine work and they're not rushing it get it released in tune with PC Halo...
On the TribalWar Tribes on Topic Forums Menzo sends notice that a few new and amazing things are in the make and soon to be released:
Just a quick update on a couple things we're working on:
- We're going to have a new designer diary, and with that, a few new screens
- We're going to release information about a new weapon and vehicle in the game, and with that info, some screens and...a new movie
- Those of you attending the World Cyber Games championships in Korea will probably see a couple cool things from the team at Irrational, if we can get them done on time
Here at TribesRoleplayers\\StarsiegeUniverse we are constantly working to add new resources to help keep the community informed about the richly detailed universe of the Starsiege and Tribes franchise. Not just by adding comprehensive overviews like our Complete Universe Timeline but also by converting, whenever we can, original source materials into web-viewable formats.
A post on our forums by Craig 'EmpireEarth147' Guthridge pays tribute to Tribes 2. Entitled "A Tribute to Tribes 2", Craig remembers a time when T2 was in it's glory. Here's a snip:
I remember a time when I was a NOOB to the game of T2, When you could find Thousands of players on hundreds of servers everyday at any given time, and there were so many players that people specialized in one particular field…because there were so many to contend with. I remember a time when on any given day you could not get into any of your favorite servers because everybody on them was having so much fun they would stay full for hours on end, and you were forced to play anywhere you could get on. I remember a time when there were so many people on your buddy list playing it would tear you apart trying to decide where to play, and you could find people and friends in any game type playing for hours not even thinking of anything else. Siege, Capture the Flag, Arena, Rabbit, Team Rabbit 2, Gauntlet, Duel Mod, Death match, Mini Rabbit…and so on, were filled with the best you would ever see. I remember a time when the Ladders were full of teams’…teams that had the greatest reputations and the best players or so we all believed, teams that we wanted to be a part of.
Our poll comes to the end with varied results. The majority of you are in favour of us covering SS:2845, while 30% of you still don't know what it is and another 29% say no. Check it all out here. We'll review our options and post our thoughts and conclusions later this week. In the meantime...
We've got a new poll up at the 'Yard, this time asking "Are you happy with the performance of Halo PC?" Considering that most of us don't even have the game at this point and there is already a patch posted... well, it doesn't look so good. Nonetheless, head on over to the right and cast your vote!
Yeeep, there's a patch. Spotted over at HBO, Gearbox has released a patch bringing Halo up to 1.01 before most people even have the game. While we don't know exactly what the patch does, generally they improve things so... if you've got a copy of Halo - download this patch and let us know what it does!
Courtesy of Game Daemons, HBO now has a dedicated Halo server. While the server isn't rock solid just yet, Peter from Gamedaemons posts on the HBO forums asking people to test things out. Check it out at 69.12.12.101, currently running Timberland CTF.
Today, September 30th 2003, will remain a day in many gamers lives that they will never forget. Today is the day that many of them will never see the light of day... For many, today is the day that Halo PC hit the store shelves and once their copy was picked up (or delivered to them), they will not come out of their rooms. Rightfully so.
Microsoft has released an official press release claiming today as "Halo PC Day!" (not really) - but rejoicing and officially releasing the game to the public. And if you don't have your copy of Halo PC yet... what are you waiting for!
Among the first to get a review of the final version of Halo PC is none other than, pc.ign.com (go figure). A six minute video review and indepth guide (already?) are also available, but to IGN's exclusive paid service subscribers, the Insider. Right off the bat, they love the game, though, they are Xbox gamers at heart and as such the review does come off as a little biased. Nonetheless, they have nothing but praise for the game from design, to graphics (perhaps a little steep on the requirements though), to weapons, to balance, to sound - you name it, they love it.
Unfortunately, the game does "fall short" in a number of places... check out the review for more details.
Another heavy-weight that has a review out (actually before IGN) is Gamespy. Gamespy overall loved it, though criticizing the game's steep system requirements and repetitive level design (read The Library ).
There's a new strip up on Halobabies.net. This week's comic is an odd one, and to be honest with you... rather caught me off guard. Nonetheless, it maintains the same style we've grown to love over at the HBN. Head on over and check it out.
Dan Chosich has released another movie today, something he apparently created "...before he went to work..." because he was bored, heh. He mentions that it's not his highest caliber work, but he wanted to show the difference between Halo in his last editing piece and Halo currently. Click here for more information and movie download links.
Nicata awoke to a grinding noise and sun light flashing in her eyes. She groan and slowly
sat up rubbing her eyes with one hand, one at a time. She looked over to where Sypder
had laid the night before. He was already on his feet, lighting his pipe as two men came
walking in though the door.
Slowly the men came away from the blinding sun light and walked to the old man that
had given Nicata and Sypder food the night before. The three men began to talk in a low
whisper and Nicata strained to over hear it.
ConfigSys.boy! sends word that TribesRolePlayers has created a timeline of the Tribes Universe spanning 1500 years.
TribesRoleplayers\\StarsiegeUniverse is proud to present what will likely become one of our most valuable additions, The Complete Universe Timeline. Covering 1500 years of history from the Devastation to the BioDerm Invasion of the Wilderzone this timeline is the most comprehensive overview of the universe ever offered and the only Starsiege and Tribes Universe resource of its kind anywhere. With over five hundred individual entries spanning a cenutry and a half this timeline details every major recorded event in the history of the Tribes universe, and many minor occurances as well.
The carefully contstructed brain-child of our very own Kore this invaluable document is constructed using collapsing tables, offering the reader a sort of menu format to make easier the navigation of it’s many entries. It is cross-platform compatible and links to pertinent overviews and documents contained here at TribesRoleplayers\\StarsiegeUniverse. Moreover this timeline is not a static one-time production, but a continually updated resource you can rely on now and in the future. As new official information is released regarding the Starsiege and Tribes Universe it will be integrated into the timeline to ensure that the most exhaustive universe timeline anywhere stays that way.
Amid rumors of the final version of Halo PC becoming available in stores (check the Official Gearbox Software forums for some speculation, on behalf of the Halo community), IGN.com has posted a few new Halo PC videos. If you'd like specific video links that you can "Save Target As", they're provided in this article's Comments thread. Otherwise, for a complete listing, visit IGN.com's Media Viewer.
Thanks to HBO for keeping everybody in the loop. I personally like Dan Chosich'sHalo PC Beta film for its great editing style, but for those of us clamouring for more great Halo PC footage and action, these IGN videos should wet your whistle.
You said you wanted more Spotlights? Well you got 'em! Zigma, creator of Tribes3.org is in the spotlight this week at the 'Yard. For those of you following Tribes: Vengeance, you probably know who I'm talking about, and for those of you who aren't, you will soon find out. Head on over to the Spotlights to check it out.
I'm beginning to think that Phil has nothing better to do...
HBO has interviewed the president of Westlake Interactive, and they've posted the entire thing. It's a big read, but as Louis Wu states, it deals more with what hasn't already been covered in the MacGamers, MacTeens, and Peter Tamte interviews. It's a lot of info (too much to summarize), so go check it out!
Over the last two days, we've had two birthday amongst our Staff. Today our Halo guru and creator of some of our kickass articles (I'm sure you've read at least one of his), Evergreen98 celebrates his birthday. Yesterday, our Tribes lead, Diotoir celebrated his birthday - tJY wouldn't be where it is today without his hard work on our Tribes: Vengeance section. Be sure to head to our forums to wish both Diotoir and Evergreen a happy birthday.
SS: 2845 Update
Sun Sep 21st, 2003
Posted by: at 00:17 AM
Trajan of Starsiege:2845 has posted another large Update. Two new songs were released and many new pictures along with some information reguarding their progress. Head on over to the update post to check it out.
Homelan got the chance to talk to Trajan of the Starsiege: 2845 project about the total conversion mod. This interview is very informative and interesting and shows how SS: 2845 is not merely a mod but a game in its own. Here's a snippet from the interview:
HomeLAN - Will the mod have a single player aspect to it?
Jake Massie - Yes, we have a rather elaborate campaign game being written and planned out by our talented writing team, which incidentally is led by Blake Hutchins, the original "story guy" who worked on SS and Tribes whilst at Dynamix. Unfortunately I cannot release any details on the story at this time as part of our agreement with Sierra is they get final approval on the storyline to make sure it joshes with their future plans for the SS timeline. I will say from what I have read so far though it promises to be incredible.
Mr. Smiley sends word that there is a new comic strip up at Halobabies.net. Check that out right here. In addition, Bebert1 has created a slick wallpaper, but, you've got to be a member of the HBN to view it. Head on over to the site for more details.
Computer and Video Games.com has posted an interview with Bungie's Studio Editor, Pete Parsons. It's a good read, but Pete doesn't reveal much (very Bungie-ish). It's too long to summarize, so you'll just have to check it out! Thanks to HBO for the heads up.
Marweas posts on the Tribalwar Forums information about their various PR events in Asia. He explains basicly what they were doing there, what it means for Tribes, and what we can expect to see in the future.
On Tuesday we hosted approximately 70 press from nearly every region in Asia - South Korean, Australia, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, China, and even some folks from South Africa and the Middle-East.
Menzo said to expect some updates in the nearby future and some features in magazines.
Click the Comments Link to view the whole article.
After much debate on how on determine our second and third place winners, we came to the conclusion that we would finalize our decision based on when the officialpress release was sent out to the major news sites. Thanks to our good friend, Louis from HBO, it was determined that the PR was sent out at 09:03:17 AM PST (Microsoft time) on the Monday.
Therefore, it is my great pleasure to announce that TankRamp who guessed September 14th takes home a Sound Blaster Audigy 2, a copy of Halo and lands in second place. And finally, LegacyX4 who guessed September 16th lands a copy of Halo and is in third place. As mentioned previously, CheeseChick takes home the grand prize of a GeForce FX 5200 video card and a copy of Halo.
Congratulations once again to all who participated in tJY's Halo: Guess the Release Date contest!
Finally, there is a new Map of the Week over at Tribes2Maps.com! This week it is Palestra by jacen. This Team Rabbit 2 mission type map must be accompanied by a snippet:
Palestra is the first in my concept of stadium style Team Rabbit 2 game play.
It is a very action oriented map but it plays out a little differently then other TR2 maps. The map it self is very small in comparison to the standard TR2 maps that came with the patch. The main difference besides the scale of the level is that it does not focus on traditional methods of speed increase such as skiing. Instead Palestra offers several other ways to build up your momentum and speed.
Head on over here for more information or visit the link below.
Emil from CobaltNova writes in again with more Cyberathlete Professional League news. In less than one week, registration for the newly-announced Halo Assault tournament will begin. Here's an excerpt from the newspost:
Due to the timing of the release of Halo and the start of the Winter Event the CPL felt that the only solution for team registrations was to make them available on a first-come, first-served basis. If that stark fact created a sense of unease about being able to register in time then news that only 32-teams will be allowed to register should send you into a blind panic.
Let's hope the CPL will be able to cope with the eager PC gamers -- and Xbox converts -- that will want a chance to show off their skills. Teams are 5v5, so if you have four other people you'd like to team up with, you'd better figure it out before you miss out.
Check out the newspost at CobaltNova for an interesting comment on Halo PC's release date. (It might be sooner than was announced...? )
I would like to take this time to thank all those who participated in our first ever contest here at the 'Yard.
I would also like to remind those who entered and are prospective winners that we will be contacting you via your registered email address by Friday; so it is imperitive that your email address is current and that you check it on a regular basis.
Anyone who has taken a recent look at the contest or the rules will have noticed that we are between a rock and a hard place. Since the entire month of September was booked, and dates preceeding and following the gold master release date were chosen... we are determining a fair and unbiased method in determining who takes home what prize.
So, without further ado, the winners (so far)! *drum roll* The first place winner, and new owner of a brand new GeForce FX 5200 is CheeseChick! And the second and third place winners (in no particular order) are TankRamp and LegacyX4! One of them will take home a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 but all will receive a fresh copy of Halo PC once we can get our hands on it.
Congratulations to all who entered and stay tuned for more contest announcements. Please note that the winners listed above are not final and are subject to change pending contact status.
CPL Planning "Assault" Mode for Halo PC Tournament
In a day of interesting and exciting news regarding PC Halo the CPL has announced that the game mode for the Winter Event will be "Assault". Interestingly enough the mode will not be included in the initial release. [of Halo PC.]
Recently, though, Angel Munoz (founder of the CPL) indicated that "Assault is part of the retail version of Halo. But there are CPL specific configurations that will be added to the new variation, which should be released in early November."
This indicates that Gearbox, Microsoft and Bungie seem to be dedicated to fully supporting this game after release with any necessary patches, plus some additional gametype settings.
Thanks to Emil from CobaltNova for the interesting news. It's been a busy day for Halo PC and Mac, and for any gamer interested in playing in a tournament, the CPL might be an organization to check out.
Wow, MacGamer.com scored big. They got a long VIDEO interview with Phil Sulak, Ken Cobb, and Duane Johnson about Halo for Mac. They talk about the status of Mac Halo, and even show some gameplay videos - yes, gameplay videos. It's looking nice, and just as smooth as the Xbox version. And this is the alpha on a 867 Mhz Single Processor G4. There are two videos, a huge 70 MB version, and a very small, and very crappy 3 MB version. Check it out! Thanks to HBO for the heads up.
SS2845 is planning a Starsiege reunion for Sunday the 21st:
For a lark, we are planning on having a little get together in the Starsiege servers (yes, people still actually play the original SS) this coming Sunday the 21st, from 7-11 PM EST. In short, everyone that has or can get the game is invited to come and participate in some classic 'Siege action. All you have to do is show up. So if you still have that old SS disc hanging around, toss that puppy up in the CD drive and hit install and come partake of the fun. I've given the 2845 staff the night off, so you'll probably be seeing a lot of us there as well.
For more information on the reunion, head on over to the SS2845 Forums
Halo PC has officially gone Gold, and with its completion, our Halo Contest is officially over. Winners will be announced soon, and prizes will be shipped as soon as humanly possible.
Gearbox put up a POTD today, showing off the first release candidate of the gold master disk, check it out right here. This is great news! On behalf of the Junkyard,I'd like to congratulate Gearbox on a job well done. Expect to see Halo in most of the major PC stores September 30th. We'll see you in the servers!
SS: 2845 had a contest to see who could design the best Colonial Heavy HERC. Three HERCs have been chosen from the submissions and are now ready to be voted on. Voting will last for two weeks from today. So get on over to the polls and choose the winner!
Want to help us out? In order to continue to bring you the latest news, and to serve you the quickest file downloads -- we need your help. If you're in the market for a web host, check out our gracious host and sponsor, Futurepoint. As a hostee, you can expect the same lightning fast download speeds, rock-solid support and virtually no downtime that Futurepoint has provided us.
They have a wide range of plans available to you, some from as low as $6.99 USD / month. If you're interested, simply head on over to their site, sign up for an account but be sure to tell them that the Junkyard sent you .
Mr. Smiley sends word that there's a new comic strip up at Halobabies.net. This one is entitled "Daredevil" and is pretty witty.
To boot, scanning the headlines of the HBN news, I saw that Che Chou (Editor in Chief) of Xbox Nation Magazine has requested to use the Halobabies title image in their upcoming magazine. Check out in the upcoming copy.
We have managed to gain access to some of the plans that iGames has been putting together for PC Halo and the most important news is that they are working with Microsoft to develop an international championship.
Too lazy to read those Mac Halo interviews? Well rampancy.net has your back. Narcogen has combined all the information currently known about Mac Halo into an easy to read FAQ.
In other news, it appears that Halo: First Strike, the next novel in the Halo series, has been turned in for copyediting (i.e. It's getting closer to be released ).
Just in case you missed some of the updates on Tribes: Vengeance over the last month or so, the Sierra Insider Report was delivered today and came with a recap of recent media releases. These included: a developer's diary on pc.ign.com with Programmer David Beswick; the first public unveiling of T:V was made at UVALAN5 and highlights can be found on pc.ign.com here and from Gamespot here; and finally some nice gameplay footage right here.
Wow, seems like the Halo fans have managed to pin down all the major guys involved with Halo for Mac. Halo.Bungie.Org has posted an interview with Peter Tamte, the president of Destineer Studios (the company publishing Halo for Mac). This interview covers some of the same information as the Phil Sulak interview, however it also goes more into Bungie's involvement with Mac Halo and gives a few more technical information. Check it out, and thanks to HBO for doing the interview!
Alex 'Marweas' Rodberg has posted up a poll in the TribalWar forums, asking the community if they would rather see Tribes: Vengeance ship on 5 CDs (yeouch!) or one DVD that has some extras on it too. At the moment, the poll is staggeringly in favour of the one DVD, but head on over and cast your vote!
More information about the Mac version of Halo: Combat Evolved has just become available through an interview with Phil Sulak of Westlake over at macteens. Most importantly, information about the requirements and the modding scene on the Mac. At release time, Halo for Mac will not include editors like it's PC brother. However, PC mods will be compatible with the Mac version. Other than that, the Mac version should be nearly identical to the PC version, even in future updates. Both will use Gamespy for multiplayer games, and you WILL be able to play cross-platform . Check out the interview for the full story.
UPDATE: This is isn't closely related to this news post, but Gearbox has released another Halo PC screenshot, this time of the Flamethrower. Check it out in our gallery.
The good: Westlake Interactive has updated their Project Status Page, noting that Halo for Mac has gone Alpha. Previously, it was pre-alpha. For those of you that don't want to look this up, Alpha means (by Westlake's description) that more of the game is working than first playable, sound usually works, there is some early networking code, some 3D hardware support, and the ability to save games. However, it's still pretty buggy, and a few features are not yet working fully.
The bad: Many of you may have heard rumors of the leaked Halo PC build. It is regrettable that we must make this post, but the Junkyard will neither endorse, nor allow discussions about this leaked build. When a gaming company gives out pre-release build to developers and news sites, it is their responsibility to keep what they have under wraps, unless the gaming company gives permission to release this information. When a leak such as this happens, gaming companies such as Gearbox (and especially Bungie, who are nowhere near kind to people who leak information) lose trust and will no longer provide us with the information we love to see about upcoming games. But enough preaching, the long and short of it is don't discuss it here, and just wait for the full (and stable) version to play the game!
Trajan of the SS:2845 team is looking for an experienced PHP / MySQL guru to aid in the development of their site. Here's what he had to say:
We are currently looking for someone that is thoroughly experienced with php/MySql and the various "Nukes" to join our staff and assist us in the creation of several online databases that will be related to our community development initiative for this project. This would include an automated league/ladder, a squad bio sheet database, and a few other things. I'd like to again stress the phrase "thoroughly experienced".
He also mentions that you must supply some sort of resume and have examples of previous work. If you're interested, send Trajan an email, or head here.
This is interesting. It's a color handheld that has 3D graphics acceleration, runs Palm OS 5.2, and it will launch with an optimized native copy of NeverWinter Nights, among other games.
Thanks to TheRoDent has created a Tribes 2 mod called Defense Turret. This mod has been in developement for quite some time, but a stable version has been released to the public. When the mod is run on a server, it compares your files to all of the other files of other clients, as opposed to the normal system of comparing it to the server. If a person's files do not match with the other clients, it will be noted by the server and the person will be kicked. This makes Defense Turret compatable with any mod. This mod gets rid of players using the infamous Happy Mod 2, texture replacements, auto waypoints, and auto missile launcher. For more information and to download the mod, head on over to the Defense Turret Website.
Were you lucky enough to snag your desired date in our recently closed Halo: Guess the Release Date Contest? Well if you were, and you think you're going to win, check out the prizes that we have chosen for you right here.
Happened to pass by any of The Junkyard's image galleries recently? I'd like to point out several new things that have been added to our Halo Image Gallery:
Firstly, we've added a new category to the gallery - Halo PC Images. With the release of the game approaching soon, it's time Halo PC deserved its own gallery section, as there will be many images available within a short time.
The next incarnation of CyanWorlds'Myst series has been revealed in more detail. This time, Cyan has released an ingame trailer showing off the new game, URU: Ages Beyond Myst. You can grab the file from here when they put it back up, or you can use the BitTorrent link below. There are a lot of people on this particular BitTorrent link, so I guarantee fast downloads. Click here if you don't have BitTorrent.
Update: There's an alternate Quicktime movie for those who (foolishly) don't want to download BitTorrent.
For those uninformed, it's the editor used by Bungie themselves to add and edit items in the Halo maps. It's been revised to allow prospective content creators for Halo PC to put their "1337 skills" into practice.
Next in the "new content" pile is the fact that only 48 work items still remain for Halo PC. The general consensus is that once this number reaches zero items, a Gold copy can be made. For those of you who are currently registered in The Junkyard's "Guess the Halo Release Date" contest, this might be a good indicator of when Gearbox, Bungie, or Microsoft will announce the official day of reckoning.
It also might be worth your while to visit Bungie's latest Halo PC Weekly Update for some juicy tidbits about the state of Halo PC development.
Microsoft has released some new Halo PC shots. These include come new shots of Ice Fields - I like it! Look at the scale in one of those pictures. The MC is tiny compared to the level. I can't wait!
Also, Gearbox has released a Halo PC Editing FAQ. It details what's possible in editing Halo PC. Thanks to HBO for the heads up on this one!
As an update to our poll, I was talking to Loki on ICQ and he sends along an SS:2845 update. This update includes the addition of a new coder by the name of Bambi to add to their current list of Roy and DefConFunk.
They've got two new tunes up, an end credits track and a multiplayer track - both of which, IMHO, are quite good. Twelve new images are also released, these include concept art and 3D renders.
The new Adjudicator (below) is just badass. Head on over to the forum thread for more information.
The people developing StarSiege: 2845 have posted a massive update with some very exciting content. Here's just a sample of the good news:
Some of you that have been digging for storyline will be pleased to note that we will finally be sending a summary of the basic story and plot points up to the powers that be at Sierra this weekend for their review and hopefully their blessing. Our writing team has labored long and hard over this, including many unique twists and turns not seen before in any Siege game. Everyone cross your fingers.
Head on over to the Update to get the whole scoop. The Update includes news, two new musical pieces, and many great pictures. So get up and go check it out!
I know I'm way behind in getting a new poll up, but things have been very busy around here. Nonetheless, the old poll has finished and the results are rather interesting. Take a look right here.
As it turns out, you guys really like our Spotlights sections and you want to see more. Game Info and Content came in a close second with News following that. Thanks for the heads-up, we'll do our best to build up in those areas!
Our new poll asks, "Should we cover SS:2845?", a total conversion MOD officially supported by Sierra for the T:V engine that brings Starsiege back to life. For more information about this MOD, check out SS:2845 right here: http://www.ss2845.com.
Thrax must be in a very good mood because he has posted yet another Vengeance pic on the Tribalwar Forums. This is a nice picture showing off the Vengeance scenery and also the disc projectile.
The people over at Action Trip got the chance to talk to Tony Oakden of Irrational Games and sqeeze him of some new information. Here is a sample of what this interview covers:
Have you improved or modified some of the familiar firearms?
The spinfusor we haven’t changed at all as how can you improve on perfection? But the blaster has changed a fair bit as we felt it was very ineffective compared to other weapons. It’s now more like an energy powered shotgun and is extremely effective at short range but becomes less useful at range.
Sorry, about the delay spending a bit too much time playing Knights of the Old Republic, but on August 31st, IGN released three new panaramic pictures. One of them was released a few days back in the Tribalwar Forums. Also, if you will direct your attention to the bottom left corner, as of August 8th, Vengeance is 43% done. The pictures can be seen here or in our galleries.
Chris "Thrax" Mahnken has released a new screenshot in the Tribalwar Tribes Talk forums. It is a nice picture of the wastelands showing the massive size of the Vengeance maps. The scale of this game is amazingly beautiful. I, as many, just hope that my field of view won't have to be set small to be able to run the game.
Gearbox Software is full of surprises. There are a few things to note that they've done recently.
First of all, their Halo Projects page now contains a listing of "remaining work items" for Halo PC. The current counter stands at 146; that's actually not that many, which seems to indicate Halo PC will be released to manufacturing within a short while.
Next, the newest screenshot (1024x768), entitled "The Fuel Rod Gun", demonstrates what can happen to a base when many players shell it with blasts from the Fuel Rod Gun declared to be available in Halo PC this fall:
Mr. Smiley writes in to tell us that Halobabies will be getting a facelift in the next month or so. To boot, the newest comic will be available soon and there are now 10 new sketches that are available only to members of Halobabies. Head on over there now!
For those who recieved the July issue of Computer Games Magazine, you will find these pictures very familiar. Four enhanced, uncropped pictures have been released originally seen from Computer Games Magazine. These are the most graphically intense pictures seen yet. These pictures are large resolution(1600x1200), insane quality, and show a few things we have not seen before, such as several base interiors. Head on over to LoadedInc.com to check them out or see them in our galleries.
Members of tJY should know by now that we host Rockets on Prisoner winner Dan Chosich's site, 2070 Wired Films. What you might not know is that Dan is a member of the Halo PC beta test program. He's applied his moviemaking skills towards showing us what some of the cool new features in Halo PC will be, and has a better player behind the keyboard than most other public Halo PC videos have shown.
In order to alleviate our bandwidth usage at The Junkyard, we've asked halo.bungie.org to mirror these videos as well. If you're planning on downloading more than one copy of these videos, use alternating mirrors. Two versions of the movie are available - one QuickTime and one Windows Media Video 7. The WMV is a bit smaller in size.
So, here's where you should go to download the movie:
tJY's Halo Movies Page
You'll find files.bungie.org mirrors on the individual download pages.
As well, give Dan's hard work and willingness to share some credit. Drop by with your comments in the 2070 Wired forum at The Junkyard.
And rest assured that I will indeed be trying something like this from the comfort of my own home when Halo PC is released.
UPDATE: Tru7h, a fellow Staff member, noticed that there was an odd looking artifact in this latest image. Here's a close-up, linked to the full picture:
This artifact has recently been confirmed by botman at Gearbox to be a "shrubbery" (for those who've seen Monty Python's Holy Grail), or for those less enlightened, HellFace states:
HAHA!
It's a Jaguar.
No, really, it is a bush; but the fogging is still getting tweaked in the build we took the shot with, so it looks a bit funny.
WARNING: Bushes at a distance with non-final fog settings may look blockier than in the final game.
Nice to know they're still making improvements...
You can view the discussion over at the Gearbox Software Forums.
This isn't the normal type of news we post, but I just thought that this was an amazing video. It shows the possiblities opened up by hacking Halo, rather than just bumping other models and shooting funny things from other funny things. I am amazed at all the texture changes that are being made, and with enough editing, you can make a level look like a completely new one. All it will take to make Halo even more interesting is the creativity of the hackers. So what are you waiting for? Get creative!
Are you looking forward to the new StarSiege game coming out soon after Tribes: Vengeance? Do you want to learn about it, but can never remember the URL? Well, your life just got a lot simpler, the team over at SS:2845 has created SS2845.com to make their website easier to find. Their old address MechNex.net is still existant for people who are used to it, so now both URLs work.
So, what happened to all of the Battlefield: 1942 stuff on the Junkyard? In a word, it's gone. Based on community input (or lack thereof) and a consensus from the Staff and Interns, it was decided it was within our best interests to drop Battlefield: 1942 from our site.
Instead of being a file mirror for others to leech off of or a secondary news site, we thought it'd be best to direct our resources elsewhere... to a new game.
We have yet to finalize our decision on the new game, but we will keep you updated and would love your input in this news thread our IRC channel (irc.dynamix.com #junkyard) or through PMs and emails. More information forthcoming soon. A reminder to all currently hosted BF1942 sites... your site will not be dropped as a result of this.
Shannon Case from LAN Festivus sends word that he's looking to revive Festivus and open up another LAN party... though, he has yet to decide on whether it'll be Festivus 15 or 16. The tentative date for this Rodchester, NY LAN is October 11th, but before things are set in stone, Shannon is asking everyone to let him know here if that date works for people.
Thanks to Emil from CobaltNova for this interesting news tidbit. The "Cyberathlete Professional League", known as the CPL to many gamers, has announced the primary sponsor, prize distribution, and a few other pieces of information about the upcoming Winter 2003 tournament. Specifically, Halo PC will be played as one of the star games in this tournament.
from CobaltNova:
The tournament will be sponsored by nVidia, which just happens to be a sponsor of our XBox tournaments, and the graphics chip that powers the XBox. Here is a little blurb about their top-of-the-line product:
Your most important equipment for playing today's hottest games is not armor or weapons, but nVIDIA graphics hardware. Equip yourself with the power of nVIDIA processors so you can play games the way they're meant to be played.
And finally the most important piece of news is the number of teams allowed to participate in the tournament. This is the bad news. Only 32 teams will be allowed through the door.
To find out more, you can visit any one of the following sites:
IGN got the chance to get some info from David Beswick, Vengeance programmer, the other day. Along with a nice lengthy article, Beswick released 4 new pictures that are unbelievable. Here's a snippet of what the article is about:
[Tools and editors are] especially important on a game like Tribes, where game balance is key. A small change such as the amount of energy a gun uses could have a drastic effect on the way the game plays, and therefore how much fun it is. It's vital that these sorts of changes can be easily made and quickly tested, so they can be reversed if their introduction upsets the balance of the game. On Tribes, we've designed our system with this in mind, and while programmers write the meat of the gameplay code, designers can take the parameters that we expose and fiddle with them to their heart's content. The design team can jump on a multiplayer server and modify the physics parameters in-game, or even point at an object and change its values, giving immediate feedback on how well the modification works for the game. This extra effort spent in the early stages of development will be invaluable as we near the release of the game, so we can be confident that everything plays just right.
Mr. Smiley from Halobabies.net writes in to tell us that the newest comic (#6) is now up at comics.halobabies.net. Gruntsbane has created a tribute to Randall Glass, producer of the infamous Halo Warthog jump movies from www.warthog-jump.com/.
To boot, as I mentioned earlier, Mr. Smiley's partner in crime, Joel 'Gruntsbane' Casebeer now has his spotlight up right here. Enjoy!
My post earlier today highlighted a new Halo PC screen from Gearbox entitled "Dog Fight".
However, at this point, the original picture has been removed; in its place is a dogfight with a better-looking HUD as well as more of an action sequence.
As well, we'll point you to the newly available image (1280x960, mirrored locally in case Gearbox modifies the picture again):
Oh, and for comparison purposes of the previous two HUD screenshots I mentioned, here's a close-up of the latest health meter and team indicator (seems like this one's for a King of the Hill game):
Once again, thanks to MrFluffyPants26 from The Junkyard's IRC channel for bringing this to my attention.
Well, the people at Gearbox Software have done it again. The pleasure of viewing an exclusive screenshot of a Banshee dogfight (1280x960) can be yours if you'll step forward and give the thumbnail below a little click:
Note: This link has been modified to point to The Junkyard's local copy, as Gearbox has modified the original screenshot.
It should be noted that the Heads-Up Display in this Dogfight screenshot is a bit different from the Fanstock images released by HBO. You can see the difference by viewing the following pictures:
This image is from the screenshot provided by Gearbox. Notice that the team indicator with the miniature Master Chief looks -- well, not the greatest.
I wonder if the screenshots they're taking are from a different build than the one displayed to the Fanstock attendees. It'll be interesting -- maybe someone should ask on the official Gearbox Software Halo PC forums?
Update:My comments haven't gone unnoticed by Gearbox. DuvalMagic at the Halo PC Forums writes:
This is an old shot and that HUD is prototype.
The newer HUD is seen in some of the shots that have been released by the guys who came to visit us last weekend (check the links on the Halo project page).
Alpha-Male and Hellface are taking a bunch of new shots as we speak... Next week should bring new goodness.
Thanks for the quick response, and let's look forward to next week!
Update: Joel 'Gruntsbane' Casebeer's spotlight is now up right here!
Forgive me for not posting this up earlier, but two days ago, we shone the spotlight on the guys over at Halobabies.net, responsible for a kickass online Halo comic strip. First, we put the spotlight on mrsmiley and later on today, we will put it on his partner in crime, Joel 'Gruntsbane' Casebeer. I'll edit this news post once it's up, but in the mean time, check out what Matt 'mrsmiley' Dunn has to say.
Kudos to Feret for pointing this out in our forums, he brings to our attention that several of the modeling / animation Staff on the SS:2845 team will be hanging out in their public IRC server on August the 27th from 8-10 PM EST. It'll be a general Q&A with the team and Trajan mentions that several more of these chats will be held over the next few months with other members / groups of the team. Head on over to irc.dynamix.com #ss2845pub to join in on the fun.
Some new images from the Fanstock - nice gameplay shots, and as Evergreen98 pointed out, the HUD is redone to be....well.....GOOD looking . Check 'em out!
Brimstone sends us word that the beta version of Hordes: On Deadly Ground, a new MOD for Tribes 2 has been released and is seeking gameplay testers to offer much needed feedback. The MOD is siteless at the moment,but more information can be found here. Here's what he had to say:
The base concept follows the war between Humans and Derms, with teams divided by race. The mod is expanded from code written for the Insomniax:T2 mod, and old IX players will adapt quickly. There are many new models, from player to vehicle, and features include:
Development continues on the mod, and feedback is encouraged, please post to the {FRG} forum listed above. Fraggers Hall is hosting a test server, -=FRG=- T2, look for Rules Set "DeadlyGround".
We've been hit hard by a couple hundred virus emails today, mostly from two users: from PHIL (66-17-49-55.snlo.arrival.net [66.17.49.55]) AND from WALTER-MAG9SNPL ([68.153.59.53]). i don't have a problem with posting your IP addresses here, because you both MUST get this resolved IMMEDIATELY. Please look at the comments thread for traceroutes. I'm fed up with this.
Addition by Evergreen98: Today I got another 160 e-mail messages, but one in particular struck me as odd. Apparently W32/SoBig.F spoofs e-mail addresses as well. The offending IP is:
DELL_DIMENSION_ (c-24-125-109-107.va.client2.attbi.com [24.125.109.107])
Traceroute is in the comments thread.
The first beta to Legends was very buggy, and due to this, the game got an overhall. This is not an upgrade to Legends 0.1.0 but a total replacement. You can find all the information in the release information, and you can download the new version here (59.8MB).
Ever want to be part of the game making process? Have you ever dreamt of being a graphic designer or modeller. Well here's your chance to get your name out there. The dev team of StarSiege: 2845 need your help. They have started a contest to have the public make a Heavy Colonial Herc. The winners vehicle will be put into the game (with slight modifications by the dev team if needed) and their name will be included in the credits of the released product. The deadline is September 6th so you better get started!
And another reason you should check Rampancy.net more often (but of course, I got the info that these images were on Rampancy.net from HBO) - lots of images have been posted of the infamous BOLL's hacking hijinks. And I do mean LOTS. There are good pictures of the flamethrower, gravity gun, and the engineer. I'd definitely check it out, he's done some interesting "skinning."
Wow. Even more news. Let's start with the unofficial facts from Gamestock (subject to change at any time: )
...from Rampancy.net:
(This information was, in part, from Forerunners.org) --
# PC and Mac versions of Halo will not be released simultaneously. The Macintosh version is not yet as far along as the PC version. (Westlake Interactive still lists the Mac version as "pre-Alpha" as of this writing.)
# The unofficial ship date for Halo on the PC is September 21, 2003, simultaneous in North America and Europe. Note to entrants of tJY's Halo Release Date Contest: this is UNOFFICIAL and prizes won't be handed out until an official date is announced and confirmed by Gearbox, Microsoft or Bungie.
# Level editors will not ship with the game, but be downloadable from Gearbox, along with (hopefully) some tutorials.
# It is unknown at this time whether there will be a Mac version of the editors.
# The Halo editor is comprised of three programs.
# The Halo level editor is called "Sapien".
# The shapes and physics editor is called "Guerilla".
# PC Halo has six new multiplayer maps. Many draw on the original game's solo maps for inspiration. They are:
* Death Island
* Timberland
* Ice Fields
* Danger Canyon
* Gephyrophobia
* Infinity
# PC Halo is one of the quickest loading PC games ever. It is reported to load in approximately three seconds.
# PC Halo has two weapons not in the original (unhacked) Xbox release: the flamethrower and the fuel rod gun.
# User-created netlevels will be about 18Mb in size.
# User-created solo levels can be up to about 100 Mb.
# System requirements under Windows will be around a 700 Mhz processor (assuming P3 or P4, not sure)(My comment: Pentium III or comparable Athlon - there's no P4 700MHz ), a "good" video card, and 128Mb of free RAM.
# There is a new version of the Warthog with three cannons on top. (My comment: The Rocket Launcher warthog can fire up to three rockets before reloading, or can reload after one or two shots are fired.)
# After playing a bit of Halo on the PC, the guys got to watch the same realtime demo of Halo 2 given at E3, and got to play a little Halo 2 themselves on Xbox dev kits. Observers report that Halo 2 is graphically much improved over the original. (My comment: I'd at least hope so.)
# PC Halo will ship on 1 CD, not on a DVD as the Xbox original did.
Leave your comments in our comments thread or tJY's Halo Forum. These developments are nothing less than monumental, and I think that Mac users will have a legitimate reason to complain.
Another Update: You will certainly want to check out Rampancy.net as religiously as some of us check HBO. Apparently...
Along with the news that Gearbox intends to make Halo's editing tools available for download on their site after the release of Halo for the PC, we also received some screenshots of those very same tools, including the Halo level editor, Sapien. However, we aren't allowed to release those screenshots until... sometime later.
This quote from Gearbox Software's forums should provoke some thoughts:
At the moment, we plan on shipping Halo on one (1) CD. Yes you read that correctly.
-=marc
Producer
HaloPC
Wow. Unreal Tournament 2003 was three CD's (two of them data, one of them extras and the Linux version.) Even with audio and data compression, this means:
* The CD will likely not be over 650MB. Factory pressed CD's usually come in at under 650MB in order to comply with ISO standards, and ensure that all CD-ROM drives can read them.
* That Gearbox has some nice compression scheme going on (as the Xbox version of Halo is approx. 2GB without the demos);
* or something will be missing. Yes, we know co-operative play will not be in the first edition, but that's not enough space to do anything significant.
Leave your comments in the Gearbox Software forums or in our comments thread here. This decision could provide a few valuable clues, especially considering Gearbox is adding content to the game, and that extra content will require -- you guessed it -- extra space.
This weekend's been an interesting time for people excited about Halo PC. After Gearbox started the ball rolling with a new screenshot, Microsoft raised the stakes by releasing their own collection of images. (Thanks to MrFluffyPants26 on The Junkyard's IRC channel, who shamelessly read the news on HBO, provided by none other than Dan Chosich.) Their focus is on the new multiplayer map, Death Island:
You can find all of the images at Microsoft's Halo: Combat Evolved site, on the Multiplayer page. Here are the direct links to the screenshots, as well:
GameSpot has released two more trailers for Tribes: Vengeance. The first video is one minute and 2 seconds of team battle and the second is 35 seconds of jetpack action. If you wish to take a look, the videos can be found here:
The Penny Arcade guys will be hosting a Halo and Halo 2 fest at Lanwerx in Washington state. Apparently they'll play the E3 demo (as in, play it live), and perhaps something else. We'll be sure to fill you in on what that "surprise" is. Thanks to HBO for the heads up.
In completely unrelated news, the North East of the US and some of Canada is without power. So, if you live there, you aren't reading this .
I can't compete with the development kit-like screenshots on the halo.bungie.org forum, posted by Nick, but I can offer tJY visitors a taste of our own multiplayer vehicle madness.
Remember that series of articles I wrote about what might be upcoming in Halo PC? (Part one, two and three are available, if you missed them.) I distinctly recall saying:
While I think most people would agree that sixteen Scorpion tanks in Battle Creek -- per team -- is a setting that would qualify in the books as "atrocious"...
Well, my late night of hex editing has brough forth a pleasant surprise:
Sorry for being late on this post, but as promised, another Tribes: Vengeance video was released at GameSpot on Monday. The movie is only 37 seconds long but is definitely worth a look.. or two. One odd thing i noticed is at one point a body falls out of the sky infront of the camera man and keeps going, straight through the ground. Also the discs appear to move slower than the previous Tribes games. The gameplay is looking very nice, and the ragdoll effects seem to be better when dueling instead of just staring at them. The movie can be downloaded here but you will have to register (for free).
For all you people interested in Halo PC and how the UI will look, a gander at some of the new Halo PC videos should wet your whistle. But what if you wanted to be really cool and get the non-shakeycam version of a screen?
Well, now you too can be nearly as cool as Gearbox by grabbing your copy of the latest official Halo PC screenshot (1024x768). It's a look at the load screen for the campaign levels. Seems like you'll be able to restore from multiple save points, and you don't necessarily have to lose your progress on a level if you restart it. Just one of the improvements that Gearbox has made.
I don't know if it's just the method of screen capture, but it seems to me that this one's a little bit blocky (check out the pixellation around the "Load Game" title, for example.) Of course, the game's not finished, so this is a minor point at the current moment in time.
Well, the good people at halo.bungie.org were so eager to show the Halo gaming community the new footage of multiplayer Halo PC, they neglected to mention the correct file download mirror! Nevertheless, we at The Junkyard have stepped up to the plate and have chosen to host the new Halo PC videos.
Another video shown at UVALAN has been released today at IGN titles "The Chase". You can view it here. You can also download the video from a mirror here
Mentioned earlier, we have put up a spotlight on Bluestone who is the webmaster of a new site called 343 Guilty Spark.
It is now my pleasure to announce that Bluestone and 343 Guilty Spark are now part of the Junkyard Network! Head on over to their site and check it out, they have a new html version of the site up as flash just wasn't cutting it (I still think it was pretty classy though).
If you've been reading the Gearbox Software Halo PC Forums, you might be aware that a new screenshot of the elusive Flamethrower is available. And if you haven't been reading the forums, then now you know that Gearbox has delivered on their promise of an exclusive screenshot. It's taken at a crisp 1024x768, and it appears to be on either the new multiplayer level of Death Island or the campaign mode's Silent Cartographer.
Spotted over at Tribes Universe: Gaffer, the physics programmer working on Tribes: Vengeance announced in Dynamix IRC that the skiing physics are now complete. According to Gaffer, they took the physics from Tribes 1, ripped them apart and rebuilt them to make them better, stronger, and faster. They were sent to Sierra, August 7th and should be shown in the next round of videos Sierra sends out, so keep your eyes peeled for those. Keep in mind that simply because skiing physics are complete, does not mean all physics are complete; work is still being done on midairs and body blocks. Added on to that are skiing animations, and subtle skiing options left to be tinkered with such as being able to jump uphill as possible in Tribes 1. This is a very good day for all Tribes fans.
Update: We now have this skinpack hosted locally. Oh, and it's skinpack 9 and not 10 .
The 9th Starsiege skinpack has been released by the good folks over at SunandShadows.com. This skinpack is full with over 1000 skins compiled into two zip files for easier downloading. Unfortunately, you do have to register (free) at the site to download the pack, which can be done here.
We've put up another spotlight today, this time covering the founder of the newly opened 343gs.com website, Bluestone. This 100% flash-driven Halo 2 news site is very well-done; to get a glimpse into Bluestone's life, be sure to check out his spotlight.
Update: An html version of the site has now been uploaded.
Spotted over at TribalWar, Games Domain has thrown up their Tribes: Vengeance thoughts in an article based on what they saw at UVALAN 5. The preview even includes shots from the LAN and goes quite indepth in regards to Alex Marweas' commentary. Here's a snip describing a scenario in the single player campaign:
When Julia fought through an enemy base's defenses and came face-to-face with her intended target, the game transitioned to a flashback sequence of Julia when she was a young child - not a cutscene, but the next playable level! As kid-Julia, your viewpoint is altered to being low to the ground. This dramatic level opens with Julia awakened from her slumber by weapons fire outside her room. It then plays out much like the initial starship attack in Halo, except that you're a fragile girl lacking a super-powered green armor suit. Small firefights between the invaders and your defenders play out in front of your eyes without control ever being snatched, all the while racing to evade a hulking pursuer bent on Julia's death.
A nice touch was when a friendly soldier puts an infamous Tribes jetpack on her back -- the pack itself being about the same size as her own body -- which the player then has a hard time controlling as its power is simulated based on the weight of the small girl.
Gamers.com releases six new Tribes: Vengeance pictures. Some are many of the same types of pictures we have seen before, such as Phoenix armors standing among wastelands or heavies defending a base, but a few are quite unique. Visit our Vengeance galleries to check them out. Here's a unique picture to give you a taste of what is to come:
Some interesting news that should concern all Xbox gamers interested in tinkering with Halo on the Xbox (with a modchip). You may recall a while back, when the original CZN Halo trainer was released, some screenshots arrived on the Internet of the flamethrower that was later taken out of the game.
Well, now can you not only get this piece of history in your own modified game, but the Gravity Rifle, another rumored weapon, can also be accessed.
Be warned: you can only access these weapons if you have an Xbox able to run unsigned code. And since asking "How do I mod my Xbox?" at HBO is likely to get you flamed (pun intended), you should already know what you're doing if you intend to apply this hack. Instructions are available at this location.
BOLL of halo.bungie.org fame has released two videos. You can find them on the official HBO Forum; as his mirror is likely being hammered by users and Mythica being out of commission, you'll have to look for the links yourself.
But we at The Junkyard are not ones to slouch. As you are reading this post, I am preparing my Xbox, copy of Halo and video capture utility to obtain some exclusive material for tJY. I'll keep everyone updated on this (I think) exciting development.
After much deliberation and discussion, the Staff at the Junkyard has come to the decision that it might be best to drop one of our hosted games... the game in question is Battlefield: 1942. While we still love playing the game and offering what files, news and game information that we can; we simply cannot compete with some of the larger sites in the community.
Now it is up to you to let us know if we are doing the right thing. If you have any opinions on the topic, please let us know in the comments thread below. If we receive little to no response, then unfortunately we will have to drop BF1942 from our site. Let us know what you think.
Please note we will NOT be dropping any BF1942 related hosted sites that we have, in fairness to the hostee.
Roland had sent me this news a couple of days ago, so I must apologize in the delay in getting it up. Nonetheless, he sends word that he has created a new Halo 2 forum for the community to bask in. He mentions that it has a more relaxed atmosphere than a lot of other forums out there and will (naturally) be under continual construction as it tries to find it's niche. Head on over and say hello.
A few things have been updated while I was away on vacation and I'm just trying to get caught up now. We've received a couple of emails letting us know that our Halo fonts were outdated. And sure enough, they were. The Mac version and PC version have been updated to reflect an updated '2' that now matches the 2 in Halo 2 (confused?).
To boot, the Starsiege skinpacks (available here) are now all hosted on our server. We couldn't rely on our previous mirror.
If you find any outdated files or ones that you think we could host, please let us know!
That's it, folks! Our first ever contest held at the 'Yard here has been officially closed, as of 11:59pm EST last night.
We received a ton of guess submissions from you guys so the response we received from the contest was very overwhelming.
We are now finalizing our prizes and they will be announced here shortly. We would like to thank everyone who submitted a date to the contest and now we must play the waiting game for the gold master date for Halo PC to be released. Winners will be announced respectively when a date has been finalized and prizes will be shipped shortly thereafter.
Two more Vengeance Videos
Mon Aug 4th, 2003
Posted by: at 19:39 PM
As promised, IGN and GameSpot have released gameplay videos. Both videos show some nice gameplay and dueling in Utopia, a ruined city. It seems to me as though the ragdolls are very nice looking in such a context as fighting.
Gamespy got a chance to talk to Chris Mahnken in the wake of the recently released Tribes: Vengeance movie.
GameSpy:Since the video is so heavy on the ragdoll physics, it's worth asking -- will these physics have a big effect on the core gameplay of Tribes Vengeance? Mahnken:The ragdoll death animations are really just eye candy, they don't affect gameplay at all. It's not possible to accurately replicate these full physics-based death animations across a multiplayer game, and so not everybody will see exactly the same death animation every time. On the other hand, we are making extensive use of our new physics system and the Karma physics engine to deliver some very cool stuff in both the single-player and multiplayer games.
Something I neglected to mention in my Differences articles has made its way to the Gearbox Halo PC Forums. ProfCard has asked some intriguing questions, namely about screenshots, sniping and the HUD remake seen in the latest builds of Halo PC.
For those not eager to search through posts, here are Cysco's responses to the questions asked, with emphasis added by myself:
#1 The motion tracker in that shot with the Banshee contained a bug that caused the "blip" to spread out in a cross pattern along with a circular one. This has since been fixed. The shipping motion tracker will behave just like the one found on the Xbox.
#2 We wondered how long it would take someone to notice this one. The US version of Halo had a sniper zoom that displayed 2x and 10x. In later localized versions of the game this was changed to 2x and 8x. The numbers changed, but the actual zooming amount was the same. HaloPC is being created from a source code base that was used for many of the localized versions of the game. No one really seems to know why the number was changed. 8x zoom is one of the quirky things we inherit in HaloPC.
#3 The HUD for HaloPC is still coming together. All the Xbox HUD art was designed specifically for 640x480 TVs. Needless to say, when cranked up to 1024x768 and above, that art didn't look acceptable. We've gone in and redone all the HUD art for HaloPC. This is an ongoing process of tweaking to get the HUD looking just right. The HUD in HaloPC will look nearly identical to the Xbox version.
So there you have it -- a reassurance that some of the good things in Halo will remain the same in the transition process to the PC.
It seemed as if this day would never come. Legends, a rebuild of Tribes on the Garage Games engine, has been in works for about a year now. It was designed by the people, for the people, and any person on the Legend's forums could submit works to possibly be in the game or comment on objects in it. It seemed that all that was taking place was evolution of models and gameplay, but no release was ever really discussed. Finally the day has come. Legends 0.1.0 beta has been released today and is officially online and in action.
The game can be downloaded here but make sure to read the updates as several minor bug fixes must be done before you can play the game correctly. As this is a beta, they wish as many people as possible can get online and test the game. They have set up a Bug Tracker for those bugs that the dev may have missed in creation. At this time the game is rather buggy, but is still fun to play and is definitely worth a try.
Ever since the announcement of Tribes: Vengeance, people have been itching to see some gameplay from the greatly anticipated addition to the Tribes series. Finally, that day has come. As of Friday, August 1st at 12:01 am Pacific Time, the first gameplay movie of Tribes: Vengeance is now available. Originally shown at UVALAN 5, Vivendi Universal Games has decided to release the first ever gameplay video on the internet. The video can be seen at FilePlanet. The movie is about 3 and a half minutes long and will be very pleasing to any first person shooter fans. It features the new ragdoll effects, as Thrax really gets a kick out of that feature, and also has nice Tribes gameplay and some fast skiing. Menzo guarantees a pants wetting expierence for major Tribes fans.
This video and five other are to be shown at UVALAN 5. Two of these videos will be shown at IGN and GameSpot on Monday and two more the next Monday. Although you will probably be able to catch a shakey, low-quality version online by saturday morning, it would definitely be worth it to wait a little for the high-resolution format just a few days later.
Check the Comments thread for an updated mirror list.
Exogen from the Tribalwar Forums was kind enough to take some screenshots of some of the more interesting parts of the Ragdoll video. Check it out here
From this day, July 31 2003, there are only 5 more days until the end of tJY's: Halo Guess the Release Date Contest! For those of you not in the loop, from over a year ago, we created a contest where you had to guess the date on which Halo went Gold for the PC. Well, now since the proposed Halo PC release date is drawing closer, we must put an end to our contest but we are giving everyone 5 more days to squeeze their guess in.
Just received word via email from OWNT.com that they have thrown up their E3 Halo 2 trailer impressions (finally). The nice thing about this review is that it's huge! Spanning two pages and who knows how many paragraphs, it certainly makes other "indepth reviews" look puny in comparison. Nonetheless, head on over there and check it out.
Down in Indy, there has been a LAN party. The specific attraction there is Halo PC, and Dinky from Halo Juggalo Productions has done something marvelous for all those eager to take a look at Gearbox's upcoming release. He's recorded Halo PC footage (both single player and multiplayer) and would like help providing these gems of video to the larger gaming community.
Another collection of Halo PC screenshots and information has been made public at WorthPlaying.com. If you're keeping up with information on the game, you'll like these new screenshots; most of them involving Banshee combat on the new "Death Island" level (similar to the Silent Cartographer level on Xbox, except for the fact that it is multiplayer.)
Another update sent to me by Trajan is the latest update on the Starsiege:2845 Project. For those of you out of the loop, this is the officially supported by Sierra total conversion MOD for Tribes:Vengeance to bring Starsiege back to life. Anyhow, they've got a new track for the campaign, several new animations (which you'll need the DivX codec to view) and a slew of pictures of both ingame action and rendered models. Head on over to the thread for more details.
Trajan sent me some Starsiege news over ICQ last night - but I was sleeping, so I'm posting it now . Anyhow, he has opened a new fanfiction site covering a myriad of games including Earthsiege 1 and 2, Starsiege, SS:2845 and Tribes 1, 2 and V. So head on over there and post up your stories.
Gamers Depot got the change to talk with Tony Oakden and Michael Johnston of Irrational Games about Tribes: Vengeance. It seems that they have squeezed more info out of the dev team than previous interviews, but again not all that much information was released. However, three new pictures were released and they are quite promising. Visit our galleries to see the new pictures.
Today we were lucky enough to snag an interview with Robin Smith, VP at Auran Games to talk about their upcoming railroad simulator, Trainz Railroad Simulator 2004. We were also lucky enough to get four exclusive high-quality shots from the game as well. You can view those here and read the interview here.
We'd also love to hear your comments on this interview, if you've got anything to say (positive or negative), please post 'em here.
It's happened again. Mythica.org, the main bandwidth provider for halo.bungie.org (HBO) has experienced another round of technical difficulties. When Mythica will be back up and running is hard to tell, but it seems as if it'll be another long wait.
In light of this downtime, we at The Junkyard have begun the task of mirroring some of the exceptional Halo videos created to date. Although we can't provide the same quantity that Mythica serves on a daily basis, it's nice to have a backup in case you want to learn how not to be seen, or simply want to view the masterpiece of editing that is the Halo50K Framework.
As Tru7h and I gather our archived videos, more should start to appear on The Junkyard's Halo Files Page. Keep an eye out for them!
I noticed, while going through the Links section, that Sector7 has a link to a Gamespot article about Halo PC, along with some new screenshots. If you're into pictures, the image viewer is one click away. I didn't find this first image linked to anywhere in the article, though, so enjoy the fruits of some Junkyard research.
Oh, and the article also mentions another new map besides Timberland and Death Island -- Ice Fields is what it's called, and it sounds quite similar to the one known as Sidewinder. Read the article and see!
After a few short days of rest, I've launched the third and final part of "Gearbox Giveth; and Gearbox Taketh Away". For those of you just visiting, the article series compares Halo Xbox to the upcoming version of Halo for the PC. The last part of the article also deals with Westlake's port of Halo to the Mac.
I just received word from BFJamZ that he has created several custom BF1942 mp3 tracks for your enjoyment. A total of 10 tracks are now available and he mentions that if you have any custom tracks that you'd like added, send him an email.
In record time, I've cranked out another part of the article, since I got "HBO'ed". I see that as an honour, so hopefully I don't get wasted.
If you are a visitor from halo.bungie.org, or even if you're not, please leave a comment letting me know how much you liked or disliked my writing. I can't improve unless I get some feedback, and I know there are things to be improved upon.
Part Three will likely not make the same rigorous schedule as the first two, as it was actually hand-written today and that means I'll have to spend time transcribing it into digital format.
Halo.Bungie.Net has posted the fourth installment of the 'Making the Halo 2 E3 Demo' series, which focuses on art. The article details the insane amount of work that went into the E3 demo (and goes on to mention how much more is to be done). Those Bungie guys truely love their work, and it really shows here. It's a great read, my favorite of the series so far.
Due to the recent events at Gearbox regarding the exclusion of cooperative play for Halo PC, I've decided to publish a few articles regarding the subject of "What's missing here? What's new?", effectively comparing the Xbox version to the port our friends at Gearbox plan to be shipping sometime this fall.
Part 1 of the series has been released today, and I plan to have the rest of them out sooner, rather than later. Maybe we should have a "Guess the Article Release Date" contest... on second thought, nah. I'd have to give prizes.
Any feedback should be given in the comments thread on the forums. I apologize in advance if this article sounds a bit negative; there's plenty of positive stuff out there already, and I'll be overviewing that in Part 2.
For those Mac-users feeling out of sorts due to the dearth of games at their disposal, hope is on the horizon; the Mac port of America's Army, announced some time ago, has been released. Check out the information and give it a download; you can pay for the privilege at the official site, or wait for mirrors to show up elsewhere. Beware, however, of the brutal system requirements.
Well, IGN.com has decided to share a little bit of low-resolution goodness for Halo PC with the commoners. These videos include voiceovers explaining the various new features, as well as a shot of the flamethrower in action against a Banshee. (It doesn't look too effective against vehicles at this point.)
For those of you who dread having to sort through the cluttered IGN links, since these videos are being provided to the public free of charge, I've taken the liberty of including links right to the videos:
So many promising games are scheduled to come out sooner, rather than later. With all the advances in computing technology, gaming is becoming more mainstream than ever. To this extent, MMORPG-style games are accepted and loved by many more people than just a few years ago.
Looking into the future, we'll see another game on the horizon, Dark and Light. The Junkyard was given a chance to conduct an interview with Laurent Parent, Co-Founder and VP Business Development and Programmer of NP Cube.
Among other dynamic features, Dark and Light has some impressive statistics when it comes to in-game space. Check out the interview, and get a peek at all of the cool stuff NP Cube has planned for this game.
Well, finally there's some content available to commoners without an IGN/Gamespot subscription. 11 new Halo PC screenshots are available at IGN, as well as this article. If you get a "Too many media accessed today" or similar error while checking out all the screenshots, just clear your cookies and you'll be set.
It's also noteworthy that the "little dude" icon in the HUD, near the health bar, is a team indicator. Here's a picture:
And this image is from an older screenshot, using the "Classic Halo Xbox"-style health/shield indicator:
Might be helpful for newcomers, but right now it still needs a little bit of work to fit in with the rest of the interface. Go check out the "'Red-Dude' Icon by Health/Shield Bars is?" post on the Gearbox Software Forums.
MrFluffy26 from our IRC channel points out a press release that was put up today on www.xbox.com. MS announced today that Halo has sold over 3 million copies worldwide! That's incredible! Here's a snip from the PR:
"Great to see that Halo continues to be a success on Xbox," said Bungie Studio Manager Pete Parsons, "and later this summer, we will unleash Halo for the PC, with online multiplayer capabilities featuring new maps, weapons, and vehicles, plus the ability for fans to create mods."
abstract from our forums posted up that he and his colleagues may have created the biggest map (or MOD?) for BF1942. While it's still in the alpha stage, abstract has decided to release it and is asking for help on the project. Unfortunately, the download link in the thread is defunct, but you can look at the 1024*1024 fullsize map and find more information on the project there. If you'd like to help, get in touch with abstract or see the thread for more details.
UPDATE - Download is now working. Check it out over on Fileplanet
Mike Miller is back at it with a new Halo tricks video called "Winning isn't Everything." All I can say about this one is "wow." Even if you don't play Halo, this is DEFINITELY worth watching. Everything you can't imagine pulling off with perfection - well, just look for yourself. Here is the original HBO news announcing the video. But instead of using their mirrors, try the BitTorrent mirror.
From TribalWar and VU Games comes the Tribes: Vengeance Music Contest. Irrational Games is working on a few movies to show of Tribes: Vengeance and its features. The team does not have any music for these videos and is going to the communities for it. If you are a musician and want to participate, they are looking for five to ten music clips ranging from 30-60 seconds long as background music for video clips being revealed at UVALAN and on the web. For more information and to submit your pieces go to the thread here.
EA has released another official map for everyone's favourite war-shooter, BF1942, entitled Battle of Britain! Demo mirrors for the client and server versions can be found here and you can also grab some locally in our map archive here. They have also released a new German bomber and a British radar tower with the map. The bomber holds a pilot or bomber and three gunners and the radar tower is capable of scanning the area above the radar tower. So you can cut in low with the bomber and go undetected. Sneaky.
Just a reminder: because of the influx of maps that BF1942 has experienced since the release of the 1.4 patch, we are no longer actively adding maps to our archive. There are simply too many and we don't have the bandwidth or space to host them. However, we will continue to host official maps released by EA, any maps we find are of particularly high caliber and of course - maps that are submitted by you guys.
It's amazing that Banshees and other vehicles will be available in multiplayer in Halo PC. With all the customization options that have been available, though, there have been some definite restrictions imposed on gameplay. Alpha_Male, a Gearbox insider, notes that "Timberland [one of the upcoming Halo PC maps] has all the vehicles available but the shade turret and banshee."
So although you might be able to give one team two tanks and a Warthog, and the other seven Ghosts, there'll be none of those Banshees in Timberland. It's also expected that maps with no vehicle support (Rat Race, for example) will remain that way. cartesian notes that "I've been looking to driving the warthog in ratrace, and the banshee in Hang em High. Among many other crazy things." At this point, it doesn't look like this will be possible in the in the official maps released; hopefully the Halo SDK/modding utilities will allow users to do as many crazy things as they wish.
Update: Microsoft has updated their Halo PC multiplayer website. An overhead view of the new map, Timberland, is available.
Halo.Bungie.Net has posted a slew of Halo 2 information. Part 3 of the Making of the E3 Demo has been posted. It's an interview with the Bungie sound guys, Marty O'Donnell and Jay Weinstien, in which the techniques (and difficulties) of creating award-winning sound for video games are described. Next up, the audio files. Several voice outtakes from Halo 2 have been posted, mostly from the recording sessions for the E3 demo video. If you liked the Halo: CE voice outtakes, I'd definitely recommend these (I find Pete Stacker hilarious).
In Halo:CE news, a Halo Voice Dialog Archive has been added. This includes some clips that aren't even active in the game, and you can't hear them anywhere but here.
A date has been chosen for the start of the tournament! TAC Tournament 2003 will begin two weeks from tomorrow, in order to allow teams to prepare and organize.
Round One of the Tourney is slated to begin on Monday July 21st and it will go until Sunday August 5th. Each team will be paired off against one other team during the first round and matches must be complete by or on the 5th of August.
All teams must be registered by Friday July 18th. All teams must also meet the 8-player requirement by this date. Additional players may be added to your roster during the tournament, but they cannot play until the next round.
A re-cap of the important dates: July 18th - Team Registration closes. A minimum of 8 players per team must be registered. July 20th - Team match-ups and maps for each round announced. July 21st - Tournament begins! Round one lasts two weeks. Each team must schedule their match with their opponent. August 5th - Round one ends. Prepare for Round Two to begin the next day!
The third book in the Halo series was announced long ago, but now it looks like we may have the final cover art. Of course, it may not be final, and could change between now and it's release, but it gives us a hint as to what the story will entail. Check it out! (And of course, thanks to HBO for the heads up.)
Spotted over at the Adrenaline Vault, Tyler Schaffner speaks with Jake Massie of the much anticipated total conversion MOD for T:V (sponsored by Sierra), SS:2845. Here's a snip:
Is your team concerned about reaching a certain deadline in light of Sierra's late-2004 release date for Tribes: Vengeance?
Our original gold date was late Quarter 2 or early Quarter 3 of next year. I think I can safely say we'll make that deadline given the current size of our staff (39) and the pace at which we're churning out assets - given that there are no huge changes by Sierra in the latter stages that require us to make commensurate changes. Our release date is tied into theirs since this project is now planned for Tribes: Vengeance.
Pretty informative interview, be sure to check it out.
On my usual rounds to the Gearbox Software Forums, one of the dev's, DuvalMagic mentions that they will be releasing some exclusive Halo PC shots on their site soon. So if you don't already, make Gearbox Software.com one of the sites on your daily rounds .
I've been working on the 50K movie, actually working on a specific scene. It's the beginning segment. I'm trying to setup a story of how Halo has progressed. I couldn't think of anyway to do this. Then one night I was on the IGN forums and someone had put up a picture of Next Gen Magazine and the night prior I had been watching Fight Club (for the umpteenth time) and from that I got the idea for how to do the beginning. I'm about 50% done with the scene, I've seen it previewed and I think it's quite different from anything done in Halo Video's or by myself before. I may put up a picture... but until then you'll just have to wait till August for a teaser trailer.
Head on over to the post for more details. Can't wait!
SketchFactor of Bungie's Truth and Reconciliation website has put up a short interview with Halo PC Producer Michel Bastien about the current status of Halo for PC. Not a whole lot of new information, but it certainly seems that Halo PC is coming along nicely! Go check it out!
Want to know when a game will be released this month? Just can't wait for Star Wars: Knights of the old Republic and want to make sure that you are free and at the store the day it hits the shelves? Well, then this is for you. ownt.com has published a list of July game release dates for all platforms including PC, Xbox, PS2 and GameCube. Not all dates are officially confirmed but gathered from gaming communities.
PC gamers playing with other PC gamers. Mac gamers playing with other Mac gamers. Xbox versus Xbox. Wouldn't it be cool to play a game on your PC and fight against your friend on a PDA at work? Or sit on your couch playing Gamecube while fighting an Xbox in the other room at the same time battling someone on a Mac or on a PC half-way around the world?
Gaming is evolving and multiplatform gaming is where it's headed. Here at the Junkyard, we were given the exclusive opportunity to sit down with Adam Mateljan, CEO of TerraForge -- a company founded by gamers who, "designed and developed Asgard as a way to bring multiplatform gamers together".
Telefragged had the chance to sit down with Gearbox's Randy Pitchford to talk about Halo PC. There isn't a ton of new information in this interview, but there are a few nice questions posed, such as copyright protection and ingame features. Check it out below.
In light of it being Canada Day, Cpt.Raynor of the Starsiege Holdover has given his site a facelift - and I must say it looks pretty sweet. Head on over and check it out.
Tasluk, an Intern of the 'Yard recently put together a preview on Brat's Breed. It has been called the "German Halo" - and for good reasons, one look at the screenshots or go of the demo will yield proof to that. Check out our preview here and tell us we're wrong.
All right, I won't sing it - but I wanted to wish all those Canadians out there a Happy Canada Day! From one Canuck to another, I hope everyone gets to a nice party and responsibly drinks some nice Canadian beer. Fly those flags high and be proud to be Canadian!
One of our newer hosted sites, 2070 Wired Films, makers of that ubersw33t Halo50k promotional video has received a site update. Dan Chosich posts up that his site has been revamped for a native 1024*768 resolution making it easier for others to view. Head on over and check it out!
AMP-DSR-1=VX9= from our forumsposts up that =VX9= is looking for players to join their BF1942 team, Alpha Company. You can visit their site here or see the forum thread for more information.
The results are in (results) and the people have spoken. When asked if you thought the 16 player limit on multiplayer PC Halo was enough, to my surprise, more than 50% of you said 16 players was just right. Another 31% of you said that there should be more players (no doubt our tribal community speaking up ) while another 17% just didn't care.
Our new poll asks, "Where do you think we need more focus?" Vote now!
The official Realm Wars game site has been updated with the latest (WWDC) Realm Wars builds for Windows and Mac. Their builds hosting is finally back online thanks to Max Gaming LLC. Here are some of the improvements in the build:
Improved hand to hand combat code
Improved hand to hand combat animations
New in game UI
Motion trails for hand to hand weapons
New Map: Port of Encalias (and Island map for fast and furious team CTF action!)
Other bug fixes, game play improvements and new items for maps.
PC Gamer calls Tribes: Vengeance one of the top 20 games at E3, even though they didn't even have a stand at the event. Thrax and Marweas were at the event and gave a few exclusive interviews to press members. PC Gamer was lucky enough to talk to a member of Irrational Games and has a small description of Tribes: Vengeance and two small pictures from the game in their article about the top 20 games at E3 in their August edition. Head on over to your closest magazine stand to check it out.
More progress on the SS:2845 project!
Thu Jun 26th, 2003
Posted by: at 16:02 PM
I must say, the project is coming along a lot faster then I personally ever expected! Sierra has finally given the StarSiege community their blessing to expand and things are going great! My props to the Mechnex group!
You can see a few of their recent works in the following links ::
PC Gameworld has thrown up an interview with VU Games' Chris Mahnken on Tribes: Vengeance. The interview covers a lot of ground and poses quite a few new questions including ingame community features like T-Mail and the web browser. Here's a snip:
Will we see the return of in-game community features like T-Mail and a clan browser?
[Chris Mahnken] Not at the same level as was seen in Tribes 2. Very early in development I made the decision that we would spend more time working on the game, and less time trying to replicate things like email and web browsers that already exist. There will be some in-game community features, but not at the same level as was seen in Tribes 2.
Hi everyone! I am ManiacMagic, I have joined the Junkyard team to help with news and such things! I will be posting news in the areas of StarSiege, Halo, and Halo 2! I'm a true gamer at heart and am very excited to join this awesome site's team! My e-mail is Maniacsimus@furygamers.com if you would like to contact me with any questions or comments. I will be popping in the forums often, and will be on IRC to chat with you also!
Underground Online's posted up a small bit of content about the upcoming game people might know as Halo PC. They also have three "exclusive" screenshots; the first two I've never seen before, while the last one looks familiar. While you're there, you also might want to check out their Halo 2 preview. Thanks to Mhaddy for the heads-up.
SketchFactor over at Truth and Reconciliation has posted Part 1 of "Making the Halo 2 E3 Demo." It's definitely worth the read, and it points out that you won't be disappointed when we see the game, because the game is going to be much better than what we saw in the demo .
We've got a brand new BF1942 map for you guys, submitted to us by cheeseontoast (yes that's his real name), called Singapore. Based off of the Japanese invasion of Singapore. More details can be found here.
To boot, ArcAngel has just submitted a music pack (similar to ours here) for Axis. It weighs in at a hefty 71MB and contains new tracks for all of the levels. Grab more information and music here.
Thrax has asked this question with a poll on the Tribalwar Forums, "How many of you rent/lease game servers?". This is what you have to pick from.
- I rent/lease on a monthly basis
- My tribe rents/leases on a monthly basis
- rent on a per event basis
- My tribe rents on a per event basis
- I don't rent now, but I'd be interested in renting in the future
- They'll never get my money
- My server is hosted at work/school
I'm not sure if this question will lead to some great server renting deals or not, but it doesnt hurt to give a little information to the devs.
MrFluffy on the IRC channel informs me that tonight at 8 and 11 PM Eastern/Pacific, Discovery Channel will be featuring a documentary about what it takes to make the next greatest video game and Microsoft's battle to control the gaming industry. Discovery Channel's series On the Inside is featuring 3 gaming teams, one of those being Bungie Studios. The trailer for the episode can be found here
At the Solid State Electronics Laboratory at Chalmers University of technology in Sweden has developed a playable pinball machine no more than a few nanometers in width. A video is available of the MEMS pinball machine.
{SAS}Death has just submitted a new BF1942 map, entitled AfricaSun. While this is his first map, it's anything from "n00bish". Here's what he had to say:
This is a very close quarters map based alittle around DC_LostVillage this is a very fast an high paced level the bases can be taken very fast and the B17 can blow lots of stuff up. This map is mainly for Infantry becuase it is very close together if you are a stat whore this level will help alot within 5 minutes of playing your score can be up to 50 points with lots of kills and deaths. There are MG42's all over the level and some of the roof tops are connected which makes great sniper points. There are 6 bases that can be taken including the main AXIS one but this takes longer to cap. one team must hold more than 5 of the bases for tickects to go down. The allied team have lots of jeeps to get from there base into the town.
As we reported almost two months ago, the next installment in the Battlefield: 1942 series has just been officially announced, entitled: Battlefield Vietnam. Don't worry, this isn't another expansion pack for BF1942, this is an entirely new game in the Battefield series. Here's a snip:
Offering an arsenal of weapons and vehicles authentic to the Vietnam conflict, players will battle in first-person perspective. The workhorse vehicle for the U.S. during the conflict was the helicopter and it will serve the same purpose in Battlefield Vietnam. The NVA will be outfitted with many Russian-made vehicles including the T-54 tank and Mig-21 jet. Taking a step forward from its franchise predecessors, Battlefield Vietnam will allow passengers to fire from moving vehicles and players will have the ability to airlift other vehicles via helicopter. The game will also deploy new rendering and sound engines that will help take players deeper into the 1960’s mindset.
Looks good! We'll have more info on the game as it appears and be sure to look out for a Battlefield Vietnam section on the 'Yard soon.
Brice Johnson from our forums posts up in this thread that he is looking for help (mainly in need of mappers) on his new Torque powered FPS, Project Raven. If you're interested in helping out or would like more information, please see the forum thread or send him an email
Computer and Video Games got a chance to do an interview with Ed Orman, lead designer of Tribes: Vengeance. Along with the interview comes 4 new pictures. The pictures are now available in our gallery, this brings our Vengeance picture count to 50! And now for the obligatory quote:
What are your key aims/designs for Tribes: Vengeance?
Orman: Vengeance will not just be a re-hash of previous Tribes games - while we're certainly preserving the majority of the gameplay, we're introducing many new concepts. With that said, while we intend to innovate, we also intend to deliver a highly polished, finished product.
Sony Online Entertainment, the media giant that is producing, developing, and publishing Star Wars Galaxies, has just made the oficial announcement. Galaxies is set to be released June 26, 2003. Monthly fees will range form $12.00USD to $14.99USD depending on the number of months purchased in a block.
The Collector's edition is being released for $79.99USD (which i've already reserved), and the standard edition is $49.99USD.
TribalWar sends news that Marweas has released some new Tribes: Vengeance pictures to be drooled at. Eighteen pictures to be exact, very large pictures. Head on over to our galleries to see them. These images are just a small sample of what will be shown at UVALAN 5
Sorry for not getting this one up earlier, but I've been out most of the weekend. Anyhow, on our IRC channel as well as this thread, it has come to my attention that pc.ign.com has stolen Ed Orman's diary and are now posting snippets of it on the internet. That's right, everything about his life including "...that girl in the fourth row of English class who smells like strawberries and has silky black hair..." and yeah - things about Tribes: Vengeance as well. We are treated to an inside look at how Ed and his team went about designing the single player campaign and the process involved. Here's a snip:
Analysis
Before we can start, we need to understand what kind of game we're making. I'd previously played a fair amount of Tribes 1, but only a little of Tribes 2. During the period where we were still pitching to do Tribes: Vengeance, I played more Tribes than I ever had. Primarily, we were playing Tribes 1, and then later on Sierra gave us a bunch of free licences to Tribes 2, and once a week many members of the studio would log on and battle it out.
The point of all of this game playing was not to have fun (although we did), but to gain a better understanding about the mechanics. During this time, we were also thinking about possible additions to the game and cruising the forums to see what the community felt was good/bad/missing. I began compiling a list of gameplay "tools" that we'd have at our disposal.
Quite an interesting read and Ed notes that, his "...next Dev Diary is going to focus on the story and the creation of the characters..." and hopefully, we'll get a chance to hear from other members of the Dev team too.
Oh... and did I mention, there are four new shots? All of which are available in our gallery.
The fans have asked and Bungie has delivered. With the release of the new, non-shakey-cam E3 2003 ingame footage, bandwidth from Halo fan sites has been massively drained, and it's quite the spectacle. The new trailer is crisp and shows Halo fans some of the cool stuff that Bungie has been planning for their next Xbox game.
I personally recommend that you use BitTorrent to download the movie files, and only high-quality versions will do. Apparently a post on HBO's forum notes that the file is being served at over 3000KB/s in total.
The actual BitTorrent application can be downloaded here. Once you have that, you'll be able to access the .TORRENT files.
BitTorrent links can be obtained from many sources. The definitive list of movie mirrors is located at Bungie's Tru7h and Reconciliation site -- http://halo.bungie.net. I found that the O1 Communications .TORRENT links seemed to work the best.
For new users of BitTorrent, the application might start off downloading slowly, but should steadily increase. I was able to obtain peak speeds of 68KB/s and obtained the movie in under an hour, on a standard broadband connection.
Make sure that after the movie is completed, you keep the dialog open as long as possible so that other people can complete their downloads and hopefully get a better transfer rate.
Enjoy the first real copy of this footage, and check out some of the text in the signage. Wow.
Tribalwar got the chance to talk with Trajan, the leader of the SS: 2845 mod. And now for the obligatory quote:
Do you plan to mix infantry with HERC combat? If so, how will that be balanced?
Yes, we are. However, I'm not really at liberty to discuss that at this time. I will say we have it planned out, and there a few twists that have never been seen before (to my knowledge) in any game.
Well... not really. But - our newest hosted site, 2070 Wired Films is! I'm sure you all remember the Halo50k promotional video that was created not too long ago, well, we are now the proud host of the creator of that movie, Dan Chosich. Head on over to his site and check out his other great movies.
If you're part of the Bungie community, then you definitely know this woman. Pallor is one of those female gamers that nerds everywhere dream about and one look at her spotlight, won't disappoint you. Heck, her favourite games include... "Anything that involves bleeding and kicking ass."
It was posted at TribalWar that Panty has found and fixed a Tricon2 exploit that has been causing problems in servers. Here's what he had to say:
I think it should be revealed to everyone, or at least those who maintain a Tricon 2 server for Tribes 2, that a potentially serious discrepancy in the coding has recently been exploited. The following code can be found in the TriconPrefs.cs file, at the very top.
$Tricon::AdminClanList = "TriCon|";
Basically what it says, is that everyone belonging to the clan TriCon| will be automatically admined when they join any server running the Tricon 2 mod. I assume for a some time, this clan did not exist. Until a certain person (I wont name him here) decided to test his theory out after he discovered this bit of code. On June 6, 2003, the clan TriCon| was established, and it was confirmed, that it does indeed work. To my knowledge, they haven't really abused these powers yet, but it's only a matter of time.
To fix the prob, simply delete the variable "TriCon|".
I will be contacting the Tricon 2 dev team, and maybe they can fix this minor problem, in the next version. For now, safe serving!
For all of you using Tricon2, you better get crackin.
Starsiege News Update
Wed Jun 11th, 2003
Posted by: at 21:22 PM
Mechnex has created a future for Starsiege. A Tribes: Vengeance MOD called "Starsiege 2845." This has been approved by Sierra and Sierra legal, and work has commenced.
"The SS:2845 staff is very excited to have this unique opportunity to not only work with a company as great as Sierra, but to see our dream of Herc's walking the servers again, and a continuation of the great Starsiege saga, both realized."
In case you didnt know it yet, the patch for Battlefield:1942 is ready to download. Go to www.battlefield1942.com to the download section for a list of the available locations to get it from. Also newly available is the Linux version of BF1942 and a new Map editor though still in beta.
News from TWL states that the 1.31 version of the game will be used for all matches until further notice. The admins of TWL want to have a look see to make sure the 1.4 isnt bugged out. They expect to use the 1.4 for matches next week if things turn out ok.
For an entire list of features changed in the 1.4, view this thread on our forums.
Streaming light moves across the sky, falling to the ground like teardrops from weeping
eyes. An orange halo like glow resided in the air as a fire could be heard crackling in the
distance.
Guilt stricken and his head on the floor is the way he is. The light merely represented the
way he felt. He had never really allowed him self to weep, and now he was weeping
openly in the damp night air. Sadness gripped his heart, the time was over. Years had
sped by, and they now seem like minutes to him.
The Starsiege Holdover has made it's move over to the Junkyard! We are now the happy home of this great Starsiege information hub that has just about everything on Starsiege that you could imagine. Definitely swing by and check 'em out!
SketchFactor of Truth and Reconciliation has announced that the much-coveted Halo 2 E3 video will be released in a nice, big, non-camcorder version. I can't wait to see everything in better quality!
CaptainBiggs of our forums lets us know that he's planning a massive LAN Party in Toronto this summer. Here's what he had to say:
That's right, For all of you who missed out on that special LAN, no worries, VigiLANce is here for you. Hosted in Toronto, VigiLANce is the first major
LAN to hit Canada since...ever. Games will include: Battlefield 1942,
Tribes 2,
Unreal Tournament 2003,
Warcraft 3,
and StarCraft (A favorite with the ladies).
It goes from 8am until 10:30pm. There will be prizes as well as an awards ceremony after the LAN is over.
If you need more information head on over to their website.
As most of you know, the July issue of Computer Games Magazine will have Tribes: Vengeance as its cover story. The magazine will be available at game stores and newsstands in a few days. I have had the magazine for about two weeks now and have been dying to show everybody I know just what is revealed in this Tribes: Vengeance article. Of course we cannot show the actual magazine itself or show the articles, but we can show the pictures revealed in the magazine. So without further ado, I give you the updated T:V galleries and the new character and vehicle sections!
The dedicated team at America's Army have taken a break to answer a few questions about the upcoming use of Punkbuster as an integrated part of the game to deter those bastard cheaters. Read all about it from the americasarmy.com forums.
As promised, we've got another spotlight from the Bungie community - coming all the way from the United Kingdom and Subnova, mad.max! Check it out (he's got a lot to say ).
It's been a while since we've received a new MOTW from our friends at Tribes2Maps.com, but this week's pick is Neve by Nycto. Here's a snip:
The mission takes place on a snow-covered planet. It was once used for mining, but was abandoned when the planet ran out of resources. When the workers were ordered to leave, it was decided that the equipment had depreciated so much that the cost to remove and transport it was too much. Mining machines, storage tanks, immense pipe networks and processing gear were all left.
Some of you might remember some of the optimization cheats nVidia put in their drivers last year to improperly influence their Quake III benchmarks. The Tech Report discovered that the nVidia drivers ran the optimizations only for the quake3.exe executable. When Quake was renamed, the optimizations disappeared.
Well, now nVidia is at it again. This time, it's with 3DMark 2003, and the situation is the same.
Futuremark and nVidia actually released a joint statement trying to play down the issue after Futuremark made the claim that nVidia was "cheating."
Our very own Intern, Tasluk, has thrown up a review of Sony's Planetside, the first massively multiplayer online first person shooter. Here's a snip from the review:
Anyway, each continent is filled with its own assortment of flora, hills, and lakes providing a breathtaking landscape to look at when your killing and dying. Unfortunately, there aren't any rats to shoot at which seems to be a trademark of most Massive Online games. I know what you're saying... "Damn!" The structures that serve as the towers and bases are large and nicely made but the repetiveness of having the same type of bases to fight in quickly gets old. "Wasn't I just here?" You'll ask yourself that more than once. From rumor, Sony is supposed to be enhancing the defenses available to the bases perhaps spicing it up a bit. Let's hope anyway.
Well, thinking of giving Planetside a try? Maybe our review will help you decide.
A colleague at work just tapped me on the shoulder to give me the heads up that the Bungie.Net Halo PC FAQ has been updated. The updates confirm that there will be a downloadable playable demo released "shortly after the game is released", the Mac version will have a near simultaneous release with the PC release and that there will be a beta test for the multiplayer portion of Halo; however they are still debating whether to have a private or public beta. All good news!
I'd like to take a minute here and tell you guys about our gracious sponsor, Future Point Web Solutions. Without these guys, the Junkyard wouldn't be around today so I'd like to personally thank Joseph for getting us set up here.
I'm sure you've all noticed our sponsor's ad that we have up to the right. In order to keep us up and running, we need you guys to give us some click-throughs. There are a ton of hosting packages available starting from as low as $6.99 a month. And with every account, you will have full access to a control panel to set up your own users, email addresses, adjust site configuration and more.
So if you're looking for a high-speed, reliable, customizable host that won't leave you hanging, please be sure to click on the link to the right and sign up. Tell 'em Mhaddy sent you .
We have put up another spotlight today, this time covering Gary 'Dolbex' Williams, Project Lead and Webmaster of the largest Halo tournament around: Halo50k.
Be sure to check back over the next couple of days as we will have a spotlight or two on some of the guys at Gearbox Software and Bungie.
Today, in the TribalWar forums, KineticPoet announced the release of some tools which can export and convert Tribes 1 terrains to Tribes 2 or UnrealED form.
I'm not sure how useful these will be to anyone. I created them so we could compare and contrast T1 and T2 terrains within the Tribes: Vengeance engine. You could in theory use these tools to create exact replicas of T1 terrains in T2, or to experiment with using T1 terrains in UnrealEd, or eventually to recreate T1 maps in T:V.
It's an .exe and a .cs file. All source code is provided (the .exe is to convert the text dump to a binary dump). Instructions are provided. It's a very hacked solution, but it works...try it at your own risk. You need Photoshop or Leveller or some other program capable of interpreting raw data as images.
Shugotenshi from our forumsposts looking for members of his newly formed Axis clan, Akutenshi (or "Evil Angels" translated). He's also looking for help with a banner or logo for the clan - if you're interested in either joining or helping out, head on over to the forum thread and let him know.
So I was idling on our IRC channel the other day and one of our Interns, Evergreen98 was displaying his usual boredom when he mentioned that Halo50k had a movie out entitled Halo50k Framework Redux, weighing in at just shy of 80MB and in quicktime format. I'm usually too lazy to check out videos but for some reason, I was drawn to this one and am I ever glad I checked it out! It has some of the best editing that I have ever seen in a community (or even professionally) created movie. Dan Chosich has really outdone himself and you owe it to yourself to watch this Halo50k promotional video.
Thanks to SpongeBob for the heads up, Gamesradar.com has released a small Halo 2 teaser movie that contains highlights from this year's E3 Halo 2 trailer. This movie features non-shakey camera work - footage that came straight from the source; MS of course. Unlike the versions of the E3 Halo 2 trailer that are wondering on the 'net, this movie is official and legal to download. We've mirrored it on our server here.
Over at the Gearbox forums, dolbex asked the question if vehicles could be destroyed in multiplayer. A few good folk from Gearbox responded with... "no". The reasoning behind this is that it would be too annoying to shoot someone down in a Banshee and not be able to use it afterwards. Instead, vehicles will respawn or be "parked" in areas that are "naturally away from the action".
Although it would be rewarding to shoot down a Banshee and use it afterwards for example, there's just a certain justification in actually destroying a vehicle, heh.
In addition, SketchFactor from Bungie mentions that the Rocket Warthog will be a three-shot wonder. w00t!
Thanks to Blue's for the heads up on this; there has been an unofficial release of the BF1942 1.4 patch floating around the web. Rest assured that it is not the final version and you would be ill-advised to install it. This message on the official BF1942 site states the following:
Please note that this is NOT the final version of 1.4, and it WILL NOT be compatible with the final version of 1.4. We strongly recommend that you do not install it. If you have installed it, our suggestion is that you reinstall BF 1942.
Part II of Action Vault's two-part interview with Ed Orman has been posted (part I). This time, Ed returns with colleague Michael Johnston who is Multiplayer Designer for the game. His name might sound familiar as he led the development of everyone's favourite MOD's, Team Rabbit 1 and 2. Part I focused a lot on the singleplayer aspects of the game, so I'm going to quote a bit about the multiplayer aspect that is mentioned:
Action Vault: What are your plans with respect to multiplayer? How many modes are you planning, what will they be, and which if any will be new or unusual? Will there be a cooperative option?
Michael Johnston: We're not currently releasing details about our plans for multiplayer modes, except that you can expect Capture The Flag to make a big return. It's highly enjoyable in a game like Tribes where gameplay is very much focused on players' freedom of movement. Having said that, Tribes: Vengeance supports many other ways of playing the game, too. The community will have powerful tools at their disposal for experimenting with this.
Michael also goes on to say that they are aiming for a max of 32 players in a server at one time. *sigh* I loved those 64 player battles in Tribes 2 .
Marweas says that he will be at the WSBNUVALAN ticket give-away to explain the Tribes: Vengeance sneak-peek being displayed at UVALAN5. There will be a mainly graphical presentation which will show what they have done to adapt to the Unreal engine specifically for Tribes and a possible showing of some of the single player environments.
Halo 2 Section Up
Sun Jun 1st, 2003
Posted by: at 23:23 PM
The moment you've all be waiting for...the Halo 2 section is up! So far we've got some basic content, but only the information that has been confirmed, or seen at E3. Enjoy!
Results from our last poll at now in! We've always known that the Junkyard's layout is very graphic intensive but according to the poll, it's not that bad. 67% of you said it loaded like an averge site, another 19% said it loaded quickly and only 13% of you said it loaded slowly. Planned for the 'Yard are optimizations to improve the load time, as well as more schemes to choose from. Stay tuned!
This week's poll asks, "Do you like the 16 player limit on multiplayer PC Halo?" Vote now!
The official BF1942 site has been updated with another community update. This update is post E3 and brings a lot of news on the upcoming 1.4 patch. A few things to look forward to:
Tank Repair exploit - tanks will no longer be able to make repairs in the airplane hanger.
Improved voting UI - the voting interface has been improved.
Cheats - we will be implementing features to address many of the cheats currently being seen in BF1942 games.
Linux Server
Two new guns -- The DP 1928 - Japanese Assault rifle and the Type 99 - Russian Assault rifle
New and improved sounds in 1st person view, such as increased volume of impacts, louder grenade explosions and a new sound for the Axis Assault rifle STG44.
Scoreboard now shows current server's name, IP address and map name. Scoreboard also shows each player's ID number, which is used for creating your buddy list/voting to kick a player.
Rear gunner for Stuka/SBD/Ai-chi-val now has crosshair.
Incremental patching will be available for clients (smaller 1.31-1.4 download)
Added a new blood effect for additional feedback when you are hitting another soldier.
The update also goes on to talk about the "Content Check" feature that will be implemented, where if the server admin toggles it, only players with a clean BF1942 install will be able to play on their server. This means if you have any custom maps, mods, texture packs, anything - you won't be able to join. This, of course, is to weed out some of the cheats and hacks that have been floating around and just making sure that everyone is playing with the same game install. Naturally, if the server admin disables it - you won't take notice of this feature.
Personally, I think this will lead to more of a headache than it's worth, but... we'll have to wait. Next friday will feature another BF1942: SWoWWII weapon feature.
It's now a fact that Halo Mac will be for OS X only -- OS9 users will be out of the picture. Guess this is a way of enticing people to upgrade to something else -- but then again, people with Macs capable of running Halo will probably already have OS X installed.
Eidolon posted posted in the Starsiege community War stories forum that she's playing around with the idea of throwing up a community writers chatroom on irc.dynamix.com. Here's what she's thinking:
so what i was thinking would be to start a room called "community_writers" on the dynamix server. we could start it at once every two weeks, say like a thursday evening or something, and whoever shows up, we'll start out with a writing excerise and then everyone has to bring one new piece to the table, based off of the last gathering's 'assignment', for all to read and comment on. and we'll toss all 'assignments' here in this folder as either posts or attachments in the discussion that i'll start, named by that week's date.
Head on over to the thread and post up your thoughts if you're interested. Thanks to Feret in our IRC channel for the heads up.
Kudos to PBF for the heads up, one of the more popular training maps recently released, Densloe's Practice Map has been given an update! Version 2 includes:
I have removed some objects in version No 2 to minimize the lag problem. The first version was overloaded with fun stuff and got laggy. Remember this is basically a clan practice map meant for approx 8 vs 8 players rather than 64 vs 64. The BF map engine do not support too many objects without a enormous server and really huge clients
UVALAN, the largest gathering of Tribes players at a single LAN party, will be held at the traditional meeting place at the Marriott Westfields in Chantilly, VA from July 31 - August 3, 2003. This LAN party usually fills up with people within the first 2 days of registration. UVALAN and WSBN have collaborated to give you a free pass to UVALAN5. Here's the info:
What can be better than going to UVALAN 5?
How about getting in free!
WSBN proudly presents the UVALAN signup show, WSBN's own Bodyshot will be hosting an interview with none other than Tom "Cheater" Szabo and Mark "old_skul" Szabo, who will be bringing you all the information and news about UVALAN5! Questions will be taken from irc and best of all tickets to UVALAN 5 will be given away!!
So do you wanna know how you can win??
Well it's easy - just go to http://www.uvalan.com and click on the contest link and fill out the registration form. When you click submit you will be given a number. Write this number down!!! During the show names will be drawn and called out over the air. If you are selected you will have a certain amount of time to private message the staff. You will then be asked for your number. If you have the right number you win the tickets! It's that simple!!
SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!!!!?????!!!!!
Head over to http://www.uvalan.com and sign up!!! and remember, you have to listen to the WSBN on Sunday, June 1 at 8PM EST to win! Log into #wsbn on IRC on Sunday night starting at 8PM.
One more reminder, those that don't have their number will not be eligible to win so keep up with that sucker!!!
Sounds like fun. If you are anywhere close to Chantilly I would strongly recommend going. If you are not able to go, WSBN will most likely be shoutcasting the event and will bring their webcam much like they did for the past two meetings of this LAN party.
You'd think this would have happened sooner...
Fri May 30th, 2003
Posted by: at 01:45 AM
When Microsoft aquired Bungie, Take 2 aquired the rights to several games (Myth, Oni) and it also gained the rights to the Halo engine. A recent news post from Gamespot states that Take 2 has several games in the works under the Gathering of Developers label, and that "one or more of the games...will utilize the Halo engine." It will be interesting to see how the engine is used in another game.
A new FAQ for Halo PC has been released on the Truth and Reconciliation website. It covers some of the smaller stuff that we already speculated, but now we know the facts (like the names of the new level's seen in the screenshots - Gephyrophobia. I like it). Check it out, and more information will be added to this FAQ as the release date for Halo PC comes closer.
Firing Squad has thrown up their post E3 2003 wrap-up with an article on Halo 2. I'm not sure if this is old news as the date on the article does say May 20th, but thanks to Rastifarian via email, it's news to us. Anyhow, here's the obligatory snippet:
On the gameplay side, fans of the first are going to have a lot to look forward to. The original Halo had the subtitle of “Combat Evolved,” and Halo 2 looks to have gone through another evolutionary cycle. Part of the new game takes place on Earth, and the setting for the demo we were shown was in Mombassa, Africa. The city was under siege by Covenant forces, and MasterChief has been sent to take out the trash. You’re dropped in a war zone, and immediately we noticed that combat has definitely evolved. There’s a sense of urgency in the setting as you fight from area to area – paced with the excitement that you expect from a war movie.
If you've read a lot of other E3 impressions on Halo 2, there's probably nothing new here for you but if you haven't - definitely check it out.
I've done some work over the past few weeks on a certain article detailing where the future of online gaming might go. Please check this article out and leave comments there, so I can improve in the future.
Also note the two masterfully edited videos included in it. You probably will need Windows Media Player 9 to view it, but that's the price you pay.
IGN's Action Vault has thrown up part I of their two part interview series with Ed Orman, Lead Designer on the T:V team. The interview is two pages long and focuses a lot on the single player aspects of the game and quizzes Ed on just how he plans on making T:V special. Quite a nice read, here's the obligatory snippet:
Action Vault: What kinds of characters are available to the player? To what degree will they differ in terms of their roles and the types of gameplay in which they will be involved?
Ed Orman: In single-player, you get to experience the game from the perspective of several different characters. Each of those characters has a different role to play, access to different equipment and different types of gameplay, and their missions are geared to support them. We've gone for as much variety in the missions as we can while still maintaining a coherent story and identification with the characters you play. All that means is that we kept the playable character count to a minimum, and each mission a character appears in is different to the last time you played them.
And the linkage below. Unfortuantely, no new shots have been released, but our gallery has been updated with some screen captures from the upcoming CGM magazine.
Little by little, our hosted sites are beginning to come back online from our move. The first, Silent Thunder is an old Starsiege squad and one of our first hosted sites from way back when. Beaver Division is a new hosted site and adds a little variety to the 'Yard: a French Battlefield: 1942 squad! Please welcome these guys to the Junkyard Network.
New Halo PC Video
Sat May 24th, 2003
Posted by: at 15:04 PM
A new video of some Halo PC gameplay has been posted over at iFilm. It's worth checking out, and it comes with some new screenshots too.
Spotted over at Blue's, Loadedinc.com has thrown up their E3 Halo 2 Impressions. They basically give an overview of what happens in the E3 trailer and then some of their comments at the end, here's a snip:
Halo 2 turns up the action meter by adding more vehicles (especially flying), better weapons, improved graphics, and much more intense action. Throw in online multiplayer capabilities through Xbox Live and what you have is far more than new and improved. Maybe Microsoft should rename the game Halo2X, since it looks like Bungie has once again raised the bar for first-person shooters by doubling the experience of their original classic.
Computer Games Magazine is going to feature Tribes: Vengeance as the cover story of their July issue. They have released two images in advance to the issue to be on store shelves June 10th.
A previously unavailable IGN Insider article has now been released to the public (yeah, you guys). It covers some already-known information, but there are a few new things. Check it out!
We've just updated our map archive with another 9 great fan submitted maps! This brings our total up to 63 BF1942 maps and 85 maps total! Remember, if you've got a map that you want us to host you can send us an email or upload it yourself.
Bungie.net is holding a contest: Submit a favourite phrase or saying to their database, and the top three will make it into Halo 2 as easter eggs. The database is limited to 1000 submissions, and with the possible random sentences, phrases, and quotes of rabid Halo fans out there, I'm sure it will fill up much more quickly than expected. Note that you must be a Bungie.net member to participate, and only one entry per person.
A little late, but amongst all of the movies being released from this year's E3 expo comes a trailer for BF1942: Secret Weapons of World War II. It's 8MB in size and runs just over a minute in length and showcases a lot of the new weapons and vehicles and classes. Definitely worth a look!
Neel Raiyani sends word of a massive LAN party being set up in none other than [near] my home town, Toronto, Canada! Here're the details:
What? A massive LAN party Where? Toronto, Ontario, Canada When? June 7th. 8am-11pm
Details: VigiLANce is a small organization looking to make its mark on the Toronto area gaming community. We will be hosting regularly scheduled LAN parties in the interest of supplying our fellow gamers with what they truly desire.. comraderie, socialization, and above all a chance to truly PWN the competition.
Our first LAN party will have an ideal capacity of 100 people, supplied on a first come first served basis. Besides all day freeplay, we will also be supporting competitions between players and teams that are split down the lines of good and evil for added fun, and prizes to boot.
Our primary competition games so far will be Tribes 2, Battlefield 1942, and UT2K3. We are of course open to suggestions for further games, and are also looking into getting Americas Army and Wolfenstein.
We've always prided ourselves on having some of the nicest forums around. Not by being the biggest, or the busiest or having the most important people posting on them, but rather, because of our community. A sign of good things to come, our forums have just hit 1,000 members! If you haven't already registered, head on over there now and sign up to join in on the action.
'Dem lucky bastids at pc.ign.com have posted up a hands-on preview of Halo PC and have compared it to Halo XBox. The 3 page article covers the differences and similiarities of XBox and PC Halo, possible PC problems and they go on to reveal new weapons including the fuel rod gun (which we've all heard a lot about), a flame thrower () and a "surprise".
Unfortunately, they do go on to say that there will be no new multiplayer modes and that it'll be limited to 16 players! BUT, Gearbox is looking for ways to expand on the XBox code and Randy Pitchford mentions that the, "future [is] wide open."
The guys at Bungie are just pumping out screenshots by the ton - here's a new Halo 2 screenshot, which shows the MC's fancy new armor and SMGs, and a noticable Covenant cruiser (complete with Gravity Lift) in the background.
Bungie.org has launched their site that covers E3 information related to...well, Bungie and the Bungie FanFest. The site (will) have a lot pictures from the convention, plus an online version of the Bungie Trivia Contest! Test your Bungie knowledge, and if you're good enough, win a prize!
GameSpy got a chance to sit down with the crew making Tribes: Vengeance. Most of the same information was released, but a few new sparks of information caught my eye. "The single-player missions will follow a member of royalty named Julia, her mother and 3 other characters in a non-linear campaign which will vary greatly depending on the viewpoint of the character currently controlled by the player," says Ken Levine. The whole interview can be found here:
TribesCon 5 announced to take place in Portland, Oregon this July. Even if you can't make it, this is a great event to remember and watch as many shoutcasters are guaranteed to be there and will cover the event
PORTLAND, OREGON -- TribesCon returns to Portland this
summer. From July 10-13, the largest west coast LAN
event for Tribes players takes places at the Sheraton
hotel at Portland International Airport.
Now in its fifth reincarnation, TribesCon attracts the
community's best talent for high quality LAN play in
the popular Tribes series from Sierra Online. Tribes
and Tribes 2 are fast-paced, action-packed games
requiring individual player skills as well as team
coordination. This year's schedule features four days
of Capture the Flag and Team Rabbit 2 tournaments on a
super-fast Cisco powered network. Also expect cool
prizes and exciting special guests.
"Alex 'Marweas' Rodberg and the Tribes 2 Dev Team
showed up at TribesCon 3, and last year Paul 'z0dd'
Paella came to give everyone a pre-release chance to
test out the new classic mod and maps, which everyone
really enjoyed playing. The staff can't wait to show
you what we've got in store for this year," says Bill
"RoadKill" Lewis, LAN organizer.
Over the past two years TribesCon has welcomed nearly
500 participants. Another great turnout is expected
this year, so registering early will ensure your place
at the west coast's only Tribes LAN event. Come join
a few hundred of your closest friends for the most fun
weekend of the year at TribesCon 5!
Registration for TribesCon 5 opens 9AM PDT Monday, May
19, 2003.
[email=espklan@attbi.com][EsP]187[/email] of the EsPionage Klan sends word that he has finished v.1.0 of the Baghdad Intl Airport map for Desert Combat. You can grab the 24MB download right here.
TseTse & TsN|Byte have compiled a Mapping FAQ for Tribes: Vengeance based on the Unreal Map Editor and Engine. It explains how the mapping editor works, how simple it can be, and how many wonderful features it has. It also shows screenshots from games using the Unreal engine such as Unreal 2, Lineage, and Raven-Shield. The engine is a rather remarkable piece of work, and the FAQ is definitely worth the read.
The official Halo PC website has been launched! Check out Microsoft's handywork right here. There doesn't appear to be much (if any) new content that hasn't already been release somewhere else, but please let me know if I'm wrong.
Then how much are movies worth? Movies are simply flooding in from E3 and it's only the first day!
To start, IGN has released 8 ~5MB Halo PC movies which you can snag here (thanks Draken). To add to that, 9 screenshots also available here.
IGN also has 5 2MB-5MB movies of Halo 2 available here.
They've also got a Halo 2 teaser movie up here and spotted on the HBO forum, a mirror list for the E3 2003 Halo 2 demo movie. More mirrors, movies and pictures soon!
After the popular Tribes: The Next Q&A, people have been wanting more. Threads would be started at various sites in an attempt to get the dev team to release information; however, rarely would they comply. Finally, the dev team decided to do another Q&A session at Bittah.com saying that they could now answer more questions that previously possible. After a somewhat slow start, the masses started flooding in and myriads of wonderful questions starting coming. Without further ado, I bring you the Tribes: Vengeance Q&A 2! This Q&A consists of 197 questions, but is definitely better than scrounging through the forums, and is undoubtedly worth the time.
Adding on to Mhaddy's post, there are three brand new Halo PC screens on the Truth and Reconciliation site here. Looks like 2 shots of a new level (the one in the GameSpy shots), and something new on Blood Gulch....
Our Map Archive has been given a slight overall to make navigation a little easier. What's more, we're added several of the newest BF1942 maps to hit the community, largely thanks to micr0n who sent in wave after wave of emails letting us know of the maps that we were missing. If we're still missing some maps from any of the games that we cover here, please let us know or upload it yourself!
Just a notice to all hosted sites, Interns and Staff: we have changed our login information to several areas (including Sitekore, FTP, mail, etc.) as well as some administration URLs, so please contact me ASAP for the updated information if you have not done so already or have been contacted by me.
Tribes: Vengeance IRC Article
Tue May 13th, 2003
Posted by: at 00:03 AM
On Sunday 11th, Tribalwar held an IRC interview with Irrational Games, the dev team for Tribes: Vengeance. It was an hour long and consisted of many great questions but more importantly many great answers that could not be said prior to this event. More information about the engine, editing maps and skins, and demos was released. There were many exciting topics covered and numerous questions answered. If you could not make it, missed part of it, or would just like to read the information again, I have cleaned it up drastically and it is now available here.
A big kudos goes out to DuckieofDoom for pointing out on our forums that Gamespy has got their grubby little hands on a copy of Halo for PC to preview, heh. They have two previews up, one which gives a basic overview (which is far from basic) of the game and another one solely for multiplayer. And to boot, they mention that tomorrow they are going to be putting up a developer diary from Gearbox which will cover how they plan to bring Halo to the PC.
Both previews are full of juicy bits of information and come with 16 screenshots, however, the one thing that I didn't enjoy reading about was the possibility of coop play not making it into the PC version. There's still hope, but Gearbox has to find a way to implement it easier.
Another nice snippet:
With a robust engine, there's arguably an entire community of fans waiting to build new levels and modifications for Halo, and Gearbox wants to do everything in their power to encourage it.
It hasn't been finalized yet, but Gearbox plans to release editing tools for Halo, and they also want to support and teach people how to use them. "The new tech will open so many doors," says Pitchford, and we're looking forward to seeing what the community does with the game after its release.
That's awesome news. The Bungie / Halo community are amongst the most dedicated / driven communities I have had the privilege of being part of so I can only hope the tools will be released with the game.
We've got a new poll up at the Junkyard. This time we want to know how fast the Junkyard loads [on average] for you. Vote now!
Results from last week's poll are in too: 50% of you said you'd consider donating to us, 28% of you said you would and another 21% of you said you wouldn't. Well I'd like to ask those 28% of you to please click on the paypal donation button on the upper right-hand corner of the screen, those 50% of you to rethink your decision and donate and those final 21% of you to rethink your decision as well and donate. We can't do this without your help.
A few new things to make your stay at the 'Yard much easier: search functions have been to the map archive, the demo archive and the file archives for all of the games! Now you can search for that specific file and it'll appear right before your eyes without the need to seek through game pages and categories. Enjoy!
And thanks to HBO for pointing out that B.Net has a sneak peak at what's to come at this year's E3 for Halo 2 and Halo PC. Head on over here to check it out (lots and lots of information).
Courtesy of Gamespot, our BF1942: Secret Weapons of WWII gallery has been updated once more with 6 new screen shots. A few of them are pretty fuzzy but show off some of the new vehicles and weapons (and classes!) that are forthcoming. Thanks to Ukyo for giving us the heads up!
Apparently there was a misunderstanding between the dev team and Bittah. When the dev team said the questions will begin on May 7th, they meant May 7th Australian time. Which means the questions start today!
Good luck, and I hope they actually answer some good questions this time!
Tribes: Vengeance Questions
Tue May 6th, 2003
Posted by: at 18:42 PM
As most of you know, the question and answer session starts tomorrow at Bittah. The dev team will show up around 9 EST, and will make the thread themselves. The Bittah team emphasized that you not make your own Q&A thread, it will be put there by a moderator. They also ask that you make sure your question has not previously been answered, that you only post one question per time, and do not discuss anything; questions only.
For those of you who have not registered or do not plan on reading the forums but still have questions, you can list them here. I am creating a list of questions to ask, so that I can remember them, and check to make sure they weren't answered before hand. If you have any questions you want answered, just post them on the Questions Thread, and I will ask them, if they haven't already been answered. Thank you.
The Elite Spartan drops us another line from this month's Computer Gaming World mag, this time on BF1942: Secret Weapons of WWII. His forum thread is full of information on the upcoming expansion pack, covering everything from background on the game, to new levels, weapons and vehicles. Check it out!
Great news for you server admins out there! Kevin "Kevlar" Lockitt has just released his 2.0 version of BFSM or "Battlefield Server Manager" for Battlefield: 1942. For those of you familiar with the ingame admin functions that came with BF:1942 should know just how "user unfriendly" they can be. Kevlar's BFSM 2.0 makes it much easier to use for thumping those server irritants (ie. tks, hangar campers, and spammers)
A big kudos to The Elite Spartan who sent word via email and on our forums of some updates for Halo for the PC / Mac that were in the new issue of Computer Gaming World. He mentions that there will be a number of new levels included (that's awesome, I hate straight ports ), you'll be able to fly the banshee in multiplayer and the best of all -- you'll be able to use the fuel rod gun!
Arthur Aspromatis sends word of a new video he has created entitled: "Shifter II: Attack Of The Tribes2-mod". Here's what he had to say:
Over at ShifterMod.com's news section, TerroX has posted and co-hosted (along with www.fileplanet.com) my new video for the Tribes2 mod Shifter.
In the grand tradition of (and with apologies to) George Lucas and Star Wars, here's a 30-second spot entitled "Shifter II: Attack Of The Tribes2-mod" to make sure Tribes2 players everywhere know the joys of the Shifter mod (http://www.shiftermod.com/)! Thanks to original-creator "Emo1313" and picked-up-the-torch "TerroX" for this great Tribes2 mod!
There are 2 versions of the video -- 640x480 full-quality & 320x240 compact-sized -- which should cover everyone's Internet connection speed / computer display power.
Both these files are presently sitting pretty and ready for download.
On May 2nd, DICE released another community update to the BF junkies among us. Unfortunately, the update didn't give us any news on the 1.4 patch, but it did give us some pretty damn cool information on the new Sturmtiger tank in the upcoming Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons. Check it out...
Featured Vehicle: German Sturmmorser Tiger (Sturmtiger)
When the Germans needed a powerful field vehicle to destroy fortified positions, the idea to merge a heavy 38cm naval mortar (used to bust submarines) with a Tiger I tank chassis gave birth to the Sturmtiger.
The short-barreled mortar projector fired a huge 761 lb shell that traveled up to 18,000 feet. Even more unique, the shell was a gas-propelled rocket that had to be inserted into the barrel by a crane that was attached to the vehicle. In October of 1943, the first prototype was shown and demonstrated while Adolph Hitler and staff looked on.
Using damaged Tiger I tanks to create the vehicle since German forces couldn't spare new tanks, the Sturmtiger's were manufactured and put to use in the war, if only for a brief period.
Watch out for this rolling bunker buster.
I wish EA and DICE would finish 1.4 before they pushed for another expansion, but I guess that we may recieve some pretty cool additions in our next $20 investment.
SilverFish of the Eternal Silence MOD sends word that they've updated their site once again with some new in-game screenshots. He also sends word that they are looking for a "talented skinner with previous experience in skinning space and military craft". So if you've got a portfolio that meets their requirements, be sure to drop by their site and lend a hand!
Some of you may have noticed a LARGE influx of email that appears to be from Microsoft, all about 214kb in size with attached files. DO NOT run the executable. It's a known virus. It has also begun proliferating greatly. If you find out anyone actually believes this virus email, warn them before they run the executable.
I know most of you aren't that stupid, but I wanted to make sure the warning got out.
Vengeance IRC
Sat May 3rd, 2003
Posted by: at 10:38 AM
TribalWar sends news of the first IRC Interview with the Vengeance team. On May 11th, TribalWar will be having Ed "Tesla" Orman (Lead Designer), Mike "KineticPoet" Johnston (Multiplayer Designer), Tony "Tonyo" Oakden (Producer, Irrational Games) and Chris "Thrax" Mahnken (Producer, VU Games) on their #Tribalwar channel on irc.dynamix.com.
Another BF1942: Secret Weapons of WWII interview has surfaced, this time happening over at Computer and Video Games. They sit down with Armando Marini, creative lead at Digital Illusions to get the lowdown on what's happening for SW, much like the interview with HomeLAN yesterday. Nonetheless, here's the obligatory snipppet:
An obvious one really - can you tell us about some of the new secret weapons and about how powerful they are?
Marini: If you compare the new weapons to those in the original game, they are powerful enough to turn the tide of battle if they were placed in an original map. For instance, early on in the project we used El Alamein as a test bed. When we completed the Hortens, it really felt like the Germans had this invincible war machine. That said though, the new weapons are not placed in old maps. They are pitted against likewise devastating secret weapons.
For instance, the AW-52 can lay down fire on a location like nothing else before it. However if there is a Flakpanzer along the route, that AW-52 becomes a very interesting wreck. The game is still based on rock/paper/scissors gameplay.
Sorry for not getting this one up sooner, but I've just been informed via our IRC channel that HomeLANFed has an interview up with Mikael Rudberg of Digital Illusions on the latest happenings of BF1942: Secret Weapons of WWII. Here's a snip:
HomeLAN - What can you tell us at this time about the new vehicles that will be featured in Secret Weapons?
Mikael Rudberg - We looked at the experimental programs and focused on vehicles that didn’t see much battle. Our thinking was that if the weapon were featured heavily in battle then it wouldn’t be some much of a “secret weapon”. Of course, we found a lot and from there we looked at what each vehicle could add to the Battlefield experience. Every vehicle had to add a new dimension to Battlefield and not just be different.
Along with the interview comes a couple new screens which have been added to our gallery.
Our newest Intern, Diotoir posts up on our forums that next Q&A session for Tribes: Vengeance will be held from May 7th to the 13th on the Bittah.com forums and will be answered by the Irrational Games staff.
He notes that if you haven't yet registered at Bittah.com, you'd better do so now as they're thinking about disabling registration soon before the news gets out. You heard it here first.
The June 2003 issue of Offical Xbox Magazine is out! This issue releases a lot more information about Halo 2 to the public. I can't wait
I could go about describing the Halo 2 information in the June issue, but what's the point? MrMike8824 from our very own forums has done a great job of that in this post!
The friendly Dev team has just released the new 1.7 patch for America's Army. One of the major changes to the patch is the inclusion of the new map "Bridge SE." Go catch the download at www.militarysim.com or www.fileshack.com. A big "Hooah" to the dev team for this surprise!
There's a new gaming metanews site that indexes the news from 53 game news sites, including the Junkyard. (As of right now.) But what is G-Spy?
Excellent question, Smithers. G-Spy is a techdemo; a gaming meta news site; the try to port the idea behind Google News into the gaming world. Instead of political, entertainment and world news sites, it's scanning gaming news sites. Using the links it finds there, G-Spy builds an index -- a ranking table of what's hot in the gaming world at the very moment.
We're basically talking about the old "all the cool kids are talking about it right now" routine here. It's not just a "highest number of incoming hits wins" mechanism, tho, mind you.
The official Tribes: Vengeance page has been put up at http://tribesvengeance.sierra.com/, but with good ol' Sierra, it doesn't resolve to anything yet. But, keep yer eye op'n and let us know if and when it resolves for you!
The Tribes Community, as many other communities, is a very close knit group who lookout and care for each other. On April 24th, that community became one person smaller, and a lot sadder. I regret to announce that on the 24th, KittyKat had complications surrounding the birth of her son, Darious, and passed away.
KittyKat was a wonderful skinner and overall great person. Everyone who met her loved her. The main thing she loved about Tribes was the community and skinning. Often times she would spend late nights making or coloring a skin, helping someone out on their skin, or just talking to people. KittyKat will never be forgotten by the people who ever met and loved her.
Prayers go out to her husband, new-born son, and those who knew her. Rest in Peace, KittyKat
Hello all, Diotoir here. If you have looked at the Tribes Forums, or read any of the latest Tribes News, you would notice my name very often. That's right, I am the newest addition to the tJY Internship and will be focusing on Tribes along with the recently announced Tribes: Vengeance. About me: I am a 16 year old sophomore, living in Austin, Texas. I love FPS, expecially the Tribes games.
I would like to thank Mhaddy for giving me the opportunity to be a tJY Intern, he has been especially nice during this whole process, and I can garuantee that he did not make a mistake in choosing me.
HELLDRAGON points out in this thread that the 1.04 patch is on the Korean Axisarena site. While it does mention what the patch fixes, it's in Korean and I don't know many who can read it . Fear not, we have posted up an article with the translated 1.04 patch details. Enjoy!
I'd like to thank all those who have sent in donations to us either via PayPal or snail mail. It is greatly appreciated but we must ask all of you who have "Maybe" or "Yes" on our current poll to please donate now. The server bills are coming in and we can't afford to pay them on our own.
Head on over here or click on the donation button on the upper right-hand corner of the site to support us.
It's been down for far too long. But now, revived and better than ever - we bring back to you: tJY hosting! Got a BF1942, Halo 1 / 2, Tribes 1 / 2 / V Axis, NetSphere, Starsiege or Realm Wars related website, but no where to put it? Or are you on a slow, ad-filled annoying popup host that is really bogging your site down?
Look no further, as if you're approved for hosting with us, here's a few things that you'll benefit from: unlimited space, free email, SSI / CGI / PHP / MySQL, forums and lots of exposure and publicity from us. So what are you waiting for? Head on over here and get your site hosted today!
The much sought-after Megg easter egg in Halo has been found! For those of you that don't know what this is, it's an easter egg implanted in the game that was not intended to ever be found. It was put in the game by Jamie Griesemer, a Halo level designer, to be found by his girlfriend, known as Pallor on the Halo.bungie.org forums. But of course, the ever-searching Halo community found out about it, and there has been a massive search to find it. And now it has been found! For more info, head over to Subnova or this post.
Diotoir posts up in our forums that IGN posted up a preview of Tribes: Vengeance and you can get that here.
Also noted, IGN snagged an interview with Irrational Games Producer, Tony Oakden, Vivendi Producer Chris "Thrax" Mahnken and former Tribes Brand Manager Alex "Marweas" Rodberg. You can snag an IGN Insider only video interview here as well. Obligatory snippet for the preview:
This isn't going to be your mother's Tribes. First and foremost, Vengeance is going to include a full blown singleplayer campaign with an emphasis on individuals and the way they develop. A departure from typical sci-fi cliche, the campaign itself should prove to be fairly linear, but through its progression players will be dropped into the roles of various characters and character types who all have their own purpose, their own motivation, and their own agenda. Throughout play, we'll catch glimpses of interrelated stories and have the opportunity to "experience the full scope of the singleplayer story through multiple viewpoints and characters."
And for the Interview:
IGNPC: When exactly is the game set? About 300 years before the original Tribes, is that correct?
Tony Oakden: About 340, but with the varying timeline, we like to say between 300 and 500 years before Tribes.
So that's interesting, T:V is actually a prequel to Tribes...
Kudos to Biohazard who gave us heads up letting us know that the 1.04 patch for Axis has been released! At the moment, there is no documentation, nor is there any mention of it on the Axis website, but we have it mirrored in our Axis file archive, weighing in at just 2.2MB. Be sure to head on over there and download it - just extract it to your Axis directory, overwriting previous files and you should be okay. Be sure to let us know what you think.
Spotted over at TribalWar, Thrax, head producer of Tribes: Vengeance comments on some of the most asked questions regarding the press release, primarily the "locking down" of the Unreal engine:
"First, we have locked down the unreal code, but that doesn't mean the team isn't making changes They have already added volumetric shadows and normal mapping, as well as a host of other improvements and optomizations. They've also totally re-built the physics engine. What we don't want to do is wait for a 3rd party (epic) to deliver something on their schedule that could effect our schedule. So we took the unreal engine as a starting point and are moving forward with that (much like Half-life is based on the Quake engine, but isn't like quake at all)."
"It's just the angle. It's very ski friendly as long as you don't hit a tree or a big rock. You can't ski everywhere, but skiing is in there, and it's awesome on this map."
Update 04/24: Check out the screenshots in our Tribes: Vengeance gallery! Diotoir also offers an indepth dissection of the in-game shot on our forums here.
Okay, now that you've all gotten over your heartattacks I thought I'd bring you some more juicy info. Our current serving consists of the official press release (dated for tomorrow, actually) and a few screen shots. I pruned this stuff off the TWL forums:
BELLEVUE, WA (April 25, 2003) - Vivendi Universal Games today announced development of Tribes: Vengeance, the next installment in the world-renowned and award-winning Tribes videogame series. Due in late 2004 only for PCs, the game is being developed by Irrational Games, known for some of the game industry’s most respected and revered titles, including System Shock 2 and Freedom Force.
“One of the goals for Tribes: Vengeance is to take single-player story telling to the next level,” said Philip O’Neil, VU Games’ SVP of Sales & Marketing. “We want to immerse the gamer in the story similar to the way a blockbuster film pulls you in. Our challenge to Irrational Games was to create a game that grabs hold of the player and never lets go, and they have risen to the task.”
In Tribes: Vengeance’s single-player campaign, gamers become immersed in a roiling galactic thriller. Throughout the game, the player catches glimpses of other, interrelated stories that are unfolding behind-the-scenes. In addition, gamers are given the opportunity to experience the full scope of the single-player story through multiple viewpoints and characters. Powered by an enhanced version of the Unreal Engine, the world is brought to life with characters that have facial expressions and fully-realized personalities, vehicles that kick up dust as they pass by, and weapons that display spectacular effects.
“Our plan is to not only enhance the multiplayer component of Tribes, but to also blow people away with a single-player story unlike anyone has ever seen in a videogame,” said Ken Levine, general manager of Irrational Games.
Tribes: Vengeance will also build upon the series’ legendary online multiplayer action. Irrational Games has hired one of the Tribes community’s leading developers, Michael “KineticPoet” Johnston, to head up the design and creation of the game’s multiplayer component. Johnston previously created Team Rabbit 2, a major Sierra-commissioned game modification for Tribes 2 that was included in the game’s commercial re-release in late 2002. “Being involved in the design and execution of Tribes: Vengeance is a dream come true,” said Johnston. “In the coming months we will be actively working with the Tribes online community to make sure they get the multiplayer game they’ve always wanted.”
More information about Tribes: Vengeance can be found at http://tribes.sierra.com/. In addition, the game is the subject of a cover story in Computer Games Magazine’s July issue, available on newsstands nationwide in late May.
About Irrational Games
Irrational Games is a leading developer of high quality video games with offices in Boston, Massachusetts and Canberra, Australia. The company’s goal is to produce games using innovative approaches to game design, art and technology. Irrational’s games focus on incorporating unique story and characters into user-driven open-ended gameplay. For more information, please go to http://www.irrationalgames.com.
About Vivendi Universal Games
Headquartered in New York, Vivendi Universal Games (http://www.vugames.com) is a global leader in multi-platform interactive entertainment. A leading publisher of PC, console and online-based interactive content, Vivendi Universal Games’ portfolio of development studios includes Black Label Games, Blizzard Entertainment, Coktel, Fox Interactive, Knowledge Adventure, NDA Productions, Sierra Entertainment and Universal Interactive. Through its Partner Publishing Group, Vivendi Universal Games also co-publishes and/or distributes interactive products for a number of strategic partners, including Crave Entertainment, Interplay, Majesco, Mythic Entertainment and Simon & Schuster, among others.
That's the official press release. I thought you'd like some images to go with that. They can be found at the link below. Again, much thanks to TWL for all this info. More updates as they happen.
Vivendi Universal announced today that they will not be producing another Tribes game. Sorry folks. Oh wait...wrong page. That was from the The Onion.
Err...There will be a new Tribes game. It's called Tribes: Vengance. It is being developed by Irrational Games, the makers of Freedom Force (2002, PC), The Lost (TBA, PS2), and System Shock II (1999, PC). The release date is set for late 2004. We expect more info tomorrow.
Hey all..I was told to buy some kneepads and report for duty so here I am. Where's Bill? .. An introduction to myself:
I'm 30 or will be April 28th. I'm married with 1.5 kids. I love to play "shooter" games and I work for the U.S. Postal Service. I also hear voices in my head but nevermind that.
Thanks to Mhaddy and the rest of the tJY staff, I will have the opportunity to spam the forums and news area's to your enjoyment or pain. I can guarantee you that at least one of us will be having fun. My specialty here will mainly be the Battlefield:1942, and Tribes games. You may see my name pop up from time to time on the www.tribes2maps.com site where I post a review when given the chance.
I hope to get to know everyone and provide some entertaining sport for VC in the future. I'll see you all in the forums. Thanks!
Hidyho! I'm a new "intern" (a slave, called by any other name, would be as bad ;-þ) here at tJY. I'm Robert "Dastal" Dellsy. I'll be doing a bunch of stuff around here, but mainly I'll be working in Tribes. Mainly that involves writing articles for your reading pleasure (or displeasure, as the case may be). I'll try to make it a weekly deal, but if I skip a few, don't be too suprised. After all, it's almost Midterms time at school, to be shortly followed by Finals, etc. Regardless, I'll try and put some stuff out.
If you have any ideas, there's lots of ways to contact me. I'll be starting out with some snipeing guides, since I have always been a sniper. Well, you'll be hearing from me.
James Margaris from the Realm Wars Community Project announced a few updates for the next release (slated to come out within a month). Here's what he had to say:
Some of the things we are working on:
A second rev of melee combat which includes getting stunned when hit, among other things.
A first rev of the magic system that allows you to charge up spells then release them at different power levels. This is already working in basic form and IMO is quite a bit more fun that passive mana regeneration.
The new HUD.
New skins for all the various other screens and dialogs, including the main screen, character select, map select, etc.
A new chat that appeared as an image of the day earlier, replacing the horrid chat window.
Kudos to Diotoir who posted in our forums letting us know that there won't be any more TNTG concept art until after the 24th when TNTG is officially announced. He also goes on to say, thanks to Thrax, that the TNTG's announcement will only be a minute in length. Yipe! Head here for more details.
Intro to Intern -- Tru7h
Tue Apr 22nd, 2003
Posted by: at 23:20 PM
Hey all - I'm Charles 'Tru7h' Powell, and I'm a new intern here at the 'Yard. Some of you might know me (or of me), but I've mostly been hanging around in the Halo area of the forums. Evergreen and I will be working with the Halo files/content. Where he leaves off with the soon-to-be-released PC version of Halo, I'll pick up with the Mac version. But don't worry, we'll both still be keeping up with news on the good 'ole Xbox version too.
If you need to, you can reach me at my email, cpowell04@comcast.net, or via AOL Instant Messanger, at seventhcolumn.
I'm quite honored to be working here at the 'Yard, and I look forward to helping out and adding new and great things to the 'Yard!
According to this post courtesy of Gamespy Daily, we might be battling in the jungle sometime in the future. This unconfirmed rumour was brought out with a search of the US Patent and Trademark Office's Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) where this February Digital Illusions applied for a patent for a PC game project entitled, "Battlefield Vietnam". Rumours, rumours, rumours.
Allow myself to introduce... myself. My name's Jake (Evergreen98), and through Mhaddy's infinite wisdom and kindness and, y'know, all the stuff that you feel like you should say, I've been granted an Internship here at tJY.
So now all you nice, kind visitors get to deal with a n00b. Essentially what I've been interested in is the position of File/Content Manager for Halo. I play the Xbox game quite frequently, attend LAN parties occasionally, and when PC Halo comes out, I'll be the contact here for mods, maps and other good stuff. Because I don't own a Mac, any Mac gamers out there can feel free to let me know of developments in that area.
If you'd like to contact me about what I should really be doing, just post on the forums here, or e-mail/MSN Messenger me at evrgrn98@msn.com. Depending on how things work out, I may add an ICQ number in my profile.
So don't draw and quarter Evergreen98 just yet. Thanks for giving me the chance to be here -- I look forward to doing what I can with tJY.
If you're reading this, that means your DNS has been properly delegated to the new server! I'd like to send out a big thanks to Summit at BFCentral.com for helping us out with the server and especially to all those who have generously donated, but we still need your help with donations! If you've got some spare cash, please click here or on the button in the upper right hand corner of the screen to support us.
Please bare with us through this server move as we know there are several things not working yet, one being our subdomains. Please visit our forums through: http://legacy.the-junkyard.net/forums. We know our map archive downloads are not up yet, we're in the midst of uploading, so be patient! If you have any questions or comments, please drop me a line.
Our good friends over at Tribes2Maps.com have once again chosen a Map of the Week and this week it's Belial by Anakha. Here's a snip:
Here are some features: - Flag to flag distance: ~840 meters. - No vehicle stations. - Teams get an mobile Point Base each. It doesn´t respawn so you have to deploy it carefully. - 4 inventory stations per side. - Sensor, Generator, Base Turret (missile barrel) and a sentry turret.
Head on over to Tribes2Maps for more information and map download.
Spotted over on our forums, Setsuna086 posts up that the Axis master servers are finally back online! That means no more tedious IP's to fumble with and our recently started up Friday Night Axis (FNA) will be a lot easier to join!
DICE took some time out of their busy schedules to update the community on an upcoming patch for Battlefield 1942. The patch provides some much needed additions, such as a linux server and "improved voting GUI." Here's the word;
We wanted to take a moment and bring everyone up to speed on the next Battlefield 1942 patch, 1.4. With this patch, we're working on features and fixes that will address gameplay and performance issues. We're working hard on the patch, and as usual, we will not report a release date until we are 100% certain we can hit it.
Fixes and Features in 1.4 include: Tank Repair exploit - tanks will no longer be able to repair in the airplane hanger. Improved voting GUI - the voting interface has been improved. Cheats - we will be implementing features which address many of the cheats currently being seen in BF1942 games. Linux Server. Two new guns being added: The DP 1928 - Japanese Assault rifle and the Type 99 - Russian Assault rifle.
They also provided some information on their stance on cheating...
A note on cheating and exploits -- we've all seen how cheating can destroy the gameplay experience for everyone. EA and DICE take cheating seriously and we are taking an aggressive stance in preventing exploits which allow people to cheat. The biggest source of all BF cheats and exploits are client-side modifications. With the release of patch 1.4, we are disabling all client-side mods. Unfortunately, this means that the client side mods that aren't used for cheating will also be affected. DICE and EA have spent the past few months trying to engineer a solution which allows client-side mods to work while stopping the cheats. Ultimately it proved impossible to do so in such a way that prevented future client side mods from opening up new methods of cheating and exploitation. However, this doesn't mean that all mods are unusable. By making the mods into full server-side mods (Desert Combat for example), everyone can experience the cool factor that these mods offer.
Finally, DICE provides us with a sneak peak of one of the new weapons that will be available to us after the release of the upcoming expansion "Secret Weapons." The "Horten Ho 229" is equipped with both Missiles and a machine gun. Take a look:
SilverFish writes in to tell us that MadMechWarrior of the ES MOD has been interviewed by Phantay Gaming. They chat about how the MOD came about, where it's headed and some of it's unique attributes. Here's a snip:
PGN: When people play this mod, do you want them to be finding its technical depth, its fun factor, or its visual effects as the biggest components which will attract people?
MMW: We hope its for the fun factor, because that's what counts but we are making some very nice visual effects for the extra wow factor. The technical depth just helps make you feel more immersed. I think in the end it will be a combination of all. Graphics attract people but the game play keeps them there.
TimberWolf is at it again, posting up another story in our SS War Stories Writers forum. Last Coin is an older story of his, but a good one nonetheless but it's also the biggest one he has posted up here at the 'Yard, so you're in for a good read! Here's a snip:
“--It appears so, but suppose you flip a coin enough times..suppose that one
day....it lands on its edge.” - Kain, SoulReaver2
A coin. Shined to a gleam, and clean as the day it was first minted, tumbles to the
ground, seemingly slow. Two sides rotate back and forth, not showing which will land,
one side heads the other tails. One destiny the other destruction. Its all a chance, which
will come, and which will follow.
Our ever up-to-date TNTG Section has once again been updated with the latest TNTG news.
Diotoir has started a thread on our forums to keep us up-to-date on the release of TNTG concept art. Thrax from the Tribes3.org forums has started to release concept art, but in a puzzle format. Here are the rules:
- There are 47 total pieces.
- Each non-white piece is 75x75 pixels.
- Dimensions for the white pieces are multiples of 75.
- The puzzle is 7 pictures wide by 8 pictures high.
- There are a number of pieces that would be solid white. I'm not posting those, nor am I telling you how many of them there are.
- None of the pieces is rotated or otherwise altered.
- Every piece is from the same image.
- I'm posting one per day, but I'll have to skip some days while I'm on the road, so I'll post two today and on some future occasions (looking at my schedule, perhaps two every day would be good).
- You need not worry about it being a HERC.
- Concept art is just that, concept. Nothing shown in a concept drawing is guaranteed to be in the game.
Visit this thread for all of the released pictures and a grid to place them on.
This goes out to all of our hosted sites. Please make backups of your site (including a MySQL database dump) as we will be moving to our new home soon. Though I have backed up all http files (as of 04/09), I have not backed up the databases and cannot be held responsible for any lost data.
SilverFish from the Eternal Silence mod for Battlefield: 1942 let us know that they've got some new renders of the inside of their mod's space station. In addition to that, says they'll be constantly updating the image of the day as well, to display new screenshots seven times a week.
We've got a new poll up at the 'Yard, asking "Are you willing to donate to the 'Yard to offset the costs of a webserver?" Please vote now as it may determine our future home!
Results from our previous poll return saying that there are an equal number of you going to E3 as there are ones who aren't going. Check it out:
From the guys who brought you Telemark comes the 1.1 Telemark patch. Please note that you must install version 1.0 before you install the patch. Thanks BFCentral.
A couple of months ago, we interviewed MadMechWarrior and SilverFish of the Eternal Silence MOD for BF1942, well now, we've been given the heads-up that they've moved up in the world to a new domain! Their site is now reachable here: http://www.eternal-silence.net.
Also, their jeep model has been skinned and railgun model has now been coded into the game by one of their newer coders, "Why?!"! Take a look:
The sequel to the highly acclaimed Halo: The Fall of Reach novel written by Eric Nylund has been reviewed by tJY community nut, Michael Lloyd. Entitled, Halo: The Flood and written by William C. Dietz, Michael gives us a synopsis of the story along with some of the book's finer points. Be forewarned, it does contain spoilers but is a great read for those of you not planning on purchasing the book.
This week's commuity update is merely a heads-up for what's coming next week:
Now that Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII is no longer a secret, we'd like to give you a heads up on an update we're planning for next week. On Friday April 11, 2003, we will be posting an article talking about how the vehicles and weapons in Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII compare to their real life counterparts. It should be a very interesting read, so hang tight while we put this together.
So stay tuned to the 'Yard on the 11th for more information on BF1942: Secret Weapons of WWII.
Released today, the official press release has confirmed the development for the second add-on to Battlefield: 1942 entitled, Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII! There is a ton of information in the press release, but here's a particularly informative snippet:
In Secret Weapons of WWII, players will engage in war with a choice of up to 46 vehicles to control. In addition to the 30 vehicles introduced in the original game such as fighter planes, tanks, and aircraft carriers, players can operate 16 new vehicles including the Horton HO 229 "Flying Wing" that is equipped with 30 mm machine guns and missiles. Other vehicles consist of a U.S. Sherman tank with a T-34 Calliope rocket launcher, U.S. T95/T28 Super Heavy Tank, the Sturmtiger (naval gun mounted on Tiger tank), U.S. Goblin jetfighter, C-47 cargo plane that will serve as a mobile spawn point, the American Armstrong Whitworth AW-52 advanced fighter, the German Wasserfall guided anti-air missile and the German Natter rocket plane. Also, for the first time, Secret Weapons of WWII will give players the chance to fly and fight at the same time with a top secret German prototype Rocket Pack.
There will be seven new weapons including one-shot kill knives. Other weapons include the Bren light machine gun, Remington Auto 5 shotgun and the Mauser K98 grenade rifle. Players can put these weapons to use in eight fresh World War II combat campaigns including Peenemuende, a V2 research facility, and The Eagle's Nest, Hitler's hideaway. All new battlefields offer unique settings ranging from nightfall during the summer in Prague to a winter battle in Norway.
Click here and here for development shots and be sure to head on over to our BF1942 gallery for more shots and EA's PR for more information.
Setsuna086 from our forums posted to us know that Jamie (the developers of Netsphere and Axis) might be adding a few things to the beta version of Netsphere. Here's what he found out (edited for clarity):
- There is a fogging effect now, so everything is not shown at once - it will run a more smoothly on the less powerful systems.
- You can finally set the mouse sensitivity.
- They're adding new stages/maps.
- Boosting has gone to a whole new level!
- When you grabbed the overred boost thing, you can keep tapping the boost button, and ghost boost across huge stages in a few seconds!
- A new power-up gives you infinite ammo for a period of time.
- The Gravity armor doesn't make you invincible anymore, it just cuts damage by half.
- The ranking is correct now, no more weird kill numbers like 65,536, or 4,294,967,296.
I'd like to congratulate Rick Overman (ex-Dynamix, Starsiege head, big cheese at GarageGames, etc. ) on the newest member of GarageGames, weighing in at just 6 pounds and 11 days old, Zachary Vaughn Overman!
Born: March 20th, 2003 at 6:53pm
Sacred Heart Medical Center, Eugene Oregon
Weight: 6 lbs, 12 oz
Length: 19 3/4 inches
Blue eyes and lots of blond hair.
Kudos to Doitoir who posted on our forums to let us know that the next Tribes game will be announced at a press conference for all Vivendi Universal games on April 24th.
That's about a month away, hopefully we won't have to wait that long for some updates .
"The Next Tribes Game" section opens up here at the 'Yard. Though we know the game probably isn't going to be called TNTG, we know that it probably won't be called Tribes 3 so we will refer to it as TNTG until we know more.
Anyhow, head on over here to see the latest updates on the game as they become available. If you've got anything to contribute, be sure to let us know!
Tribes2Maps.com has selected their new Map of the Week, its called Os-Iris. Here's what its maker, Salieri, had to say about it:
This map is fully client side, with custom bases, flagstand, particles,textures and sounds.
It is entirely intended to be played in Classic, due to the fact that flags are 800 metres apart and there is no Vehicle Station. It is playable in Base, but is not designed with it in mind.
From the mixeds and beta tests that it has gone through it is pretty fast-paced, so its a tough job for the LD. The flag stand is also almost entire un-HoFable, and only skilled LD's will be able to MineDisc the stand.
Spotted over at BFCentral.com, it appears as though EA has planned to release a new expansion pack for Battlefield 1942 entitled Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons. There is virtually no information available except for the fact that it'll have an R.R.P of $49.95 and will be available this September.
He has been continually adding to his story, :: Priority 1 Distress Signal ::, but be forewarned, there are a lot of 900kb+ images throughout the story.
F.M.C.S - Air Borne E7190 is an older 8 page story of his that he posted up for our enjoyment (and features no images ).
Lastly, he has added part 2 of hikage's old story (also featuring no images ).
Be sure to head on over the WSW forum for more stories like these.
tJY Forum goer Z77 wants to start a Halo League and is directed towards all Halo players on XBC and Gamespy. He started this thread looking for interest and some opinions on it. Head on over there and give him your two cents.
We've just added two new maps to our BF1942 Map Archive. The first being Operation Aberdeen, another free map from EA! Here's a description of the map:
Operation Aberdeen is an epic tank battle set deep in the deserts of North Africa. Soldiers will need to control both outpost points, and the points surrounding the central town to claim victory. Similar to Coral Sea in design, Operation Aberdeen combat focuses on one particular vehicle type -- tanks. That isn't to say you won't find an artillery piece or two of course.
You can grab the client download here and the server download here. Along with the release of Aberdeen, EA released the 17th community update which reminds you to continue to email them to give them feedback and to help them decide "what's next?". And be sure to head on over to their server info page if you're curious as to what settings the EA BF1942 servers are running on.
Next, thanks to blackermoon (email omitted) we have updated our archive with Solomon Islands by RogueHunter.
Know of a map that we don't have? Let us know! Be sure to include your email so we can give you credit.
I'm sure you've all see the thread over at Tribes3.org where the community posted question after question and Thrax, a Sierra representative from the Tribes Franchise, answered most of them. Well, if you don't feel like sifting through the 32 page forum and all of the other jibber-jabber, you can snag the formatted 52 questions and answers right here! Thanks to Diotoir from the 'Yard forums.
There will be a chat with the Realm Wars dev team tomorrow (the 20th) at 5PM EST on their IRC server. Topics include the new interface, 1101 impressions and some new gametypes. Go here for more details.
In addition to this, there has been a patch released for the 1101 release of Realm Wars. To install, simply extract the zip file to your 1101 directory. This patch includes the preliminary interface design.
The AGP, a professional video gaming league using Xbox and Halo as platform are holding their second event, the “AGP Spring 2003 Halo Championship”, being held in Nashville TN at the Downtown Hilton on April 12-13, 2003. The AGP strives to elevate console gaming to the next level. They mainly hold big prize tournaments, using hotel ballrooms as venues. At the time, the AGP’s first event was the largest Halo event with the largest cash prize ever. If you missed the first event, you missed out on a great tournament. Walking in the venue, gamers were impressed with the set, complete with a stage, lights and big screens for viewers to watch the games. It is a big production. Many of the top Halo players were there, including Darkman who won the singles event, and his team, The Dream Team, who also won the team event. If you consider yourself a great Halo player, this is the place to be on April 12-13, 2003. If you are a novice, this is a good place to learn from the best. For more information, visit the AGP at www.theagp.com. $7,000 cash + products are guaranteed no matter how many teams show up. Everyone is guaranteed at least 8 games and great fun. Go see what the AGP is trying to accomplish for console gaming.
Shannon 'Stickboy' Case sent us word that registration for Lan Festivus 15, slated for May 10th 2003 is now open! Be sure to grab details on this Greece, NY LAN here.
UPDATE Thursday March 20th at 7:40 PM EST: Because of the simply overwhelming response that we've received to this help wanted ad, we are unfortunately going to have to take it down until we get caught up with our current applications. Everyone who has already submitted their application will be considered but all forthcoming applications will be turned down.
Thanks once again to all who have applied, your applications have been awesome.
We're throwing up the ol' Help Wanted ad here at the 'Yard. We're looking for anyone who has a passion for any of the games that we cover and has a basic understanding on HTML. All positions are open; from newshounds, interview / review / preview / article writers, site maintenance, file keepers or just a general helper.
If you're interested in helping us out and have the time to dedicate to the 'Yard, drop me a line. Skills can be taught. Benefits available.
Our last poll asked "What are your thoughts on Road to Rome?", and the results were all over the place! The majority of you thought RtR was just "S'Okay..." while another large majority of you didn't even know what Road to Rome was! This just goes to show you the diversity in the community and the games that we cover . And the rest of you either loved it or hated it. Anyhow, Road to Rome (for those of you who are wondering) is the first official expansion pack to Battlefield: 1942.
Our new poll asks if you're planning on attending this year's Electonic Entertainment Exposition, or E3. Vote now!
Just a heads up - the Battlefield 1.31 patch has been uploaded to our servers and mirrored locally. So if you're in a bind and are looking for a fast server for the latest patch - head to our Battlefield: 1942 files.
tJY forum nut, deadmeat6000 has created an Axis Clan Tag Page on our forums for users to post up their clan tags for others to download. Check out the thread here and be sure to upload your own!
One of the newer maps to be added to our map archive, Longest Day: Omaha Beach, was recently updated to fix a number of bugs and work with the Road to Rome modification. Now however as a result, you must have the Road to Rome in order to play this map.
Bug Fixes:
Fixed clipping issue around bunkers.
Fixed spawning at grayed out flags problem in TDM/CTF.
Fixed ship sinking sound when scout cars pass over large bumps.
Changes:
Added two new spawn points at either end of central cliff.
Removed east cliff spawn point and paraspawn.
Main beach spawn moved to water's edge.
Central storage facility spawn starts the game grayed out.
Terrain between cliff and central storage facility spawn now hilly to provide more cover.
Panzer IV at central storage facility spawn changed to sturmgeshutz.
Allies now have M3GMC as well as M3A1 troop carrier.
Additional vehicle spawns added.
Some new static objects added.
Added some more ammo and health boxes.
Thanks to CaptainBiggs on the forums for pointing this out: Shade, of Team 5150, has set up a site to link gamers across the country with others near them to assist in LAN Party planning. Here's what he had to say.
Well, it's time for me to make another site of mine for the community public. I haven't been working on this site too long, but the basic functionality is done.
The site allows gamers to easily find other gamers in their area. Everyone who registers will provide their location details (country, state, city, area code) as well as choosing the games they play from a list. Users of the site can then search the database, locating other people in their area.
Hopefully this site will allow you guys, and other gamers away from TW, to be able to form private LANs easier, or just hang out with some guys you've known online who you never knew lived near you.
I'm a little late in getting this one up as it was sent to us last night by GX_Silver, but according to this newspost on Bungie.net by Matt Soell - it appears as though we will not see Halo 2 in 2003. There is no official word on an upcoming release date but, at this May's E3, visitors will be treated to a small taste of Halo 2. Some good news though: Halo for the Mac and PC is still on track for 2003.
Speaking of which, head on over to our Halo: Guess the Release Date Contest to guess the release date for Halo on the Mac and PC - and win some l33t swag.
"Nobody could imagine then that the abandoned red planet would ever attract the attention of mankind again. Suddenly the Martian satellite control system starts reporting strange data to Earth. Soon after that, communication with the satellites breaks down. The Government decides to send an investigation team to the red planet – but the investigation turns out to be a battle to stay alive."
That's the basis behind HBM's upcoming LithTech powered FPS, MARCH! Offworld Recon published by Buka Entertainment. Buka was nice enough to send along a beta copy of the game for us to test drive. Here's a snip from the preview:
MARCH! Offworld Recon is a First Person Shooter from HBM with a rather one-dimensional plot. The game puts you in the boots of a mechanized commando that was sent to the red planet, along with your squad mates, to investigate the strange readings from an orbiting satellite. Humans once inhabited the planet but over time, humanity lost interest in Mars and left. All that remains are the numerous buildings and research facilities inhabited by robot workers.
Click below for the preview along with some exclusive screenshots.
The BF1942 1.31 patch has finally been released! Here's a list of the bug fixes:
Network/Server Fixes
- We fixed a crash in co-op mode when restarting the map – this crash was known to occur right after a map switch
- We removed the default Remote Admin Password for servers – there was a default password in place that could be used as an exploit
- We changed the object collision system to prevent exploits involving players hiding inside of objects – more widely known as the “Coral Sea” bug
Client Fixes
- We locked out an exploit to prevent users from seeing through walls.
Sound Fixes
- We modified several attributes of the sound system to provide better sound performance. If you still experience problems, be sure to consult our guide below.
For a list of download mirrors, please see here. More to come including a local mirror.
Edit: Download the 1.31 patch from our servers here.
From Battlefield: 1942 News comes this Desert Combat interview. BF1942news.com interviews the team through IRC and posts up the unedited version (which is a little hard to read) on the 'net for us. Here's a snip:
[PcGN|Brew] Will there be indoor maps for your mod? like huge bunkers and things maybe
[[DCDev]delisef] Bahgdad will have some indoor scenerios
[[DC_Dev]ctsketch] We will have infantry and Urabn maps , with concentrations on large buildings such as palaces
[[DC_Dev]chippie] yes, maybe more indoor action then that in BF
[[DC_Dev]ctsketch] definetly
[[DC_Dev]barake] i think we'll have to see how the engine handles them before we do really large buildings
[[DCDev]delisef] we are working hard at introducing a new play type as well in .3
The interview covers a lot of ground on the DC MOD from it's introduction to what's coming up in future builds.
http://www.starsiegesurvivors.com is a new site dedicated to the world of Starsiege. All that I have to say is 'wow,' the guys at Clan Core Design Partners have done an excellent job so far. Although it is still under construction, it has wonderful graphics and a stylish theme. I would highly recommend visiting the site, where you can see a preview of what it will look like when it is done.
Different people have different tastes. For that reason, when I was developing this site I wanted to make sure you guys could make it look how you wanted it to look. This is why I created schemes, if you look to the upper left hand corner of the site, you'll see a little dropdown list. If you've never touched it, it's probably set at "Arctic", the default scheme.
Up until now, there has only been two schemes available, Ice Blue and Arctic - both relatively light schemes. Now to please others who like something a little more dark, I've created a "Rustic" scheme. Head on over to the dropdown list and see for yourself.
Just a quick note here to let everyone know that our Map Archive has gotten a small, but important tweaking. You can now send us an email through a form letting us know of maps that we don't have even if you're not logged in. If you'd like to upload your map for us to host however, you must be logged in (so we can grab your user information).
Next, I've just finished adding a slew of new Battlefield: 1942 maps to our archive, making almost 30 maps total. Our archive is only going to grow with your help, so be sure to submit your maps for hosting!
The Adrenaline Vault has posted up an interview with David Kim, Marketing Manager at JC Entertainment on NetSphere. This two page interview covers a few new questions but is quite an interesting read, here's a snip:
Did any external source material, such as film or fiction, influence NetSphere?
The title "NetSphere" comes from a Japanese comic called Blame. This comic affected a lot of concepts and names in our game. Other mech offerings such as Murakumo and MechWarrior were used as references.
Our good friends over at BFCentral.com have opened up a nice 50 player Battlefield server at 38.113.32.60:14567 or www.bfcentral.com in the server listing. Be sure to head on over to their server support forum to post comments or issues that you notice. I'm hoping to head there tonight for a game .
Echelon: Wind Warriors is an upcoming combat flight sim from Buka Entertainment and takes place where Echelon left off. Not too long ago, Buka was nice enough to send me a beta copy of Echelon: WW to preview. Here's a snip:
You advance through the ranks of Lieutenant to Commander to achieve your mission objectives. Branching out over 40 campaign missions and over 30 pilotable vehicles, Echelon: Wind Warriors is full of action and variety. What you do and accomplish in your current mission will affect the next mission you play and it's objectives.
They also go on to officially mention that EA Games along with the BF1942 team have joined ranks with iGames for the first ever Battlefield: 1942 National Tournament. Read more about this here.
Sorry I missed this one, but TimberWolf has posted up part 2 of Going to Hell in a Hand-Basket entitled "Harsh Winds Blow". Here's a snip:
“The person you see today isn’t the person you’ll see tomorrow. His or her life
well change greatly from the time you met till the time you meet again.” -Anonymous
Date: December 18
Year: 2829
Location: Mars
Eden flew from his bed, while a harsh yell rolled across his lips, echoing in the small cement block room. His breathing was ridged as he sat there on his bed. Wiping his forehead he was surprised to feel the coldness of water dripping onto his hand. His mind raced to remember the entire dream, but much of it was lost. Only one word stayed with him.
Head on over to the Starsiege War Stories Writers forum for more and if you've got some fan fics of your own, don't be afraid to submit 'em!
There's a new map of the week over at Tribes2Maps.com, this week it's Axis of Power by Red Five. Here's a snip:
Like some other Siege maps, the offense is fragmented and spawns at multiple bases. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage, for while the attackers will have a harder time coodinating rushes, the defense will have to contend with being attacked from all directions simultaneously. The generators, hidden underground in their bunkers, can only be taken down by carefully lobbing grenades, mortars, or satchels through the windows. As hard as they are to destroy, though, they are even harder to defend, as the generator rooms are cramped and any defenders inside will be quickly overwhelmed. Once the North and South or East and West generators are destroyed, the switch will be exposed.
Eidolon of the Sierra Starsiege forum has just announced that http://mechsiege.com is back online. The site is currently being updated, visitors are always welcome.
If you have any suggestions as to what you would want to see on the Mechsiege site, or just encouragement, or to offer help, you can email Eidolon or you can visit the Sierra board.
Trench Rats: The Great War Interview
Sun Feb 23rd, 2003
Posted by: at 20:26 PM
Battlefield: 1942 covers World War II pretty damn well. But what about World War I? Wasn't it a monumental war? Well, Sgt Gimp and the rest of the Trench Rats team think so and thus you have the grounds for Trench Rats: The Great War.
This Battlefield: 1942 MOD covers the great trench battles of the first world war and we were lucky enough to chat with Sgt Gimp to inform us more.
"Better late than never", as the old saying goes. That's the quote we're sticking to while I post this interview. Though it was created at the beginning half of the month, difficulties arose that delayed it's debut until now. Nonetheless, check it out here (you're in for quite a read ).
Lexor dropped us a line on our forums letting us know of a server test that will be happening today for the RevMOD2. Head on over to the forum thread for more details.
A little birdy told me that Kinetic Poet of Team Rabbit 2 fame is involved with development team who are based in Canberra, Australia with an unknown studio.
The folks over at Tribes2maps.com have put up a new Map of the Week. This week it's Temples of War by [email=mrmoo333@hotmail.com]Hacker[SOW][/email]. Here's a snip:
This a battle on a peaceful island of absolute beauty. The island is home to two long-since forgotten temples of a civilisation driven away or killed by the sulfuric clouds that emmanated from the volcano. Now that the volcano has settled down, this little haven is occupied by rival tribal forces. These forces seek to destroy one another over this peaceful retreat which is the only land mass for miles.
GarageGames has released a new build of Realm Wars - good news for you Mac users out there, as there's finally a Mac build included! You can grab them here. The Mac build desperately needs testing so please make sure if you're on a Mac, download this build, give it a try and let them know what you think.
Spotted this over at pc.ign.com's Mailbag, nothing really new just reassurance that Tribes 3 is indeed being developed.
Ivan,
I know Tribes 2 got an update not too long ago; but any word on a Tribes 3 by chance? Or would Planetside cover my Tribes yearning? If so, will PS have a monthly fee? Will it prob require broadband (like Battlefield)? Is it likely to ship in March? And finally, do you think it will tear you away from BF any?
-- J
1) Tribes 3 is indeed being developed. The real surprise will be when you find out by whom. Let's just say that if all is still going according to plan, which it seems to be, the boys and girls that are supposed to be behind this one make up what is easily one of my favorite development studios of all time. And it will blow your mind when you hear who it is. Trust me, it's totally unexpected. I've said too much already.
Just a little bit of a teaser, eh? Well, keep your eyes peeled for this upcoming teaser revealed.
The news just keep flowing! EA's 14th Community Update made its way onto the net on no other than February 14th. Of note in this update is the upcoming 1.31 patch which addresses the following issues:
- Wall Hacking
- Parachuting Into Objects
- Single Player and Co-Op Crashes
- Stand Alone Server Error
- Text display on-screen time
There is no set release date for the patch yet, unfortunately. They also note that if you have any sound problems in the game to email them at BFHQ@ea.com with your EAsy Info.
Kudos to Lemming who sent word that there is now a Halo 2 FAQ posted up on the Bungie.net site. The FAQ is pretty extensive, so I'll just grab the obligatory snippet and you can read the rest yourselves:
Q What's new in Halo 2?
A So far a ton of new features have been announced. For example, Halo 2 will offer new vehicles, destructible environments, new weapons, low gravity levels, online play, Human vs. Covenant multiplayer battles, improved AI, and more.
There are a lot of surprises you'll have to discover for yourself by playing the game, but you can read the rest of this FAQ for more details about what we've already announced. Keep in mind that Halo 2 is still a game in development and all of the information included herein is subject to change before the final release.
I must apologize in my tardiness in getting this news post up as this was sent to us on Friday:
Hi!
Users are welcome to visit BF Tracks Live - Europe, a new Battlefield 1942 stats service. We currently keep track of more than 100 000 European soldiers. Our goal is to monitor all the European Battlefield 1942 servers and to produce statistics in real time. This is why we call it Live!
The BETA test is for the first release of BF Tracks Live. This release has a minimal set of functions (Home view, Player Rankings with Search and a
Player view).
Please let us know what you think! On the immediate todo list is clan support and track history.
BF Tracks is developed and maintained by members of the Swedish Battlefield 1942 clan Mayhem [M].
Well the results from our current poll are in! In response to, "What BF1942 MOD are you looking forward to the most?", you responded with with 21% for Battlefield: 1914 (which is now called Trench Rats: The Great War) and 21% for Conflict in Samolia.
Our good friends over at Tribes2Maps.com have put up a new Map of the Week! This week it's Cold War by ???Unknown???. Here's a snip:
The bunker FF gens power the entrance FFs for the 3 bunkers.They are unrepairable.
The Bunker Generators, which are also unrepairable, power the FFs guarding the 2 Main base generators. As each bunker goes offline, so does it's respective spawsphere.
The Offense has a Remote Offensive Tower with it's own spawnsphere that can be brought online. It will also come online automatically when all 3 Defense bunkers go offline.
Head on over to Tribes2Maps.com for more information and map download.
Well I'm sure all of you have seen the figures pop up on the Bungie Webcam every once and a while but now Joyride Studios is putting them into full production! HomeLAN has put up a Q&A with Joyride's Project Manager, Chris Huisman, to talk about the upcoming Halo action figures. Here's a snip:
HomeLAN - Your first series of collectables in the Microsoft line is the Halo toys. What can you tell us about these vehicles and figures at this point?
Chris Huisman - The Halo figures are absolutely stunning. A very great combination of articulation and detail. Each figure will come with an arsenal of weaponry. The vehicles are highly detailed as well, and come with figures to complete them.
We've just received some great news regarding this years' ShazbotLAN from Brian Gordon. Dates are confirmed and the LAN is ready to rock! Here's what he had to say:
Well as most of you have heard ShazbotLAN is breaking new ground by centralizing its competitive edge. We are hosting our first national tournament in the Mid-West.
UL LAN is one of our new found friends and 1337 affiliates that hosts tournaments for various groups. Their facility is renowned for its accommodating environment. With clean power and 120 seats hard wired at 100MB for the best t2 experience ever. Monitors for rent and systems too, this is sure to be an event you won't want to miss! The confirmed dates are April 18th-20th 2003. Go to the site and check it out for further details! We hope to see you there!
A new version of the Linux Dedicated Server for Battlefield was released recently. It is based on the new v1.3 patch, and includes the following improvements:
* Can take input on stdin, so you can control server without RemoteConsole.
* Checks envr var BF1942_GAMESPY_QPORT_BASE for GameSpy query port base.
* Sets GameSpy query socket reusable if BF1942_GAMESPY_QPORT_REUSE exists.
* Optimizations. Lots of various ones. Binary should be smaller and faster.
* Squashed another four memory corruptions.
* Fixed more uninitialized memory accesses.
* LAN games no longer have a 30-ping minimum.
* Merged 1.3 codebase from DICE, so we're probably back at square one.
According to BFCentral and BF1942 Online.de, an IRC bot is in the works which will keep track of scores, player information, the current map, etc. While currently only offered in German, there is news that it will be translated to English fairly soon.
We apologize for the frequent downtime and slowness of the site these past few days. Our server was having some router issues, which appear to be fixed and back to normal now.
For those who are curious: Very quickly, I'll quote an article in eWeek.
[AMD] will release the Opteron processor ... April 22. The Athlon 64 ... will roll out in September, officials said. Codenamed Clawhammer, the Athlon 64 was originally due late last year.... The Opteron's launch will follow the Feb. 10 rollout of AMD's Athlon XP 3000+. The Athlon 3200+ will debut at midyear.
ZOD from the Mechina MOD development team sends word that the MOD has just went GOLD! That's awesome, we here at the Junkyard have been following Mechina for quite some time - following beta releases and news and carrying out interviews and we're extatic to hear this. Here's what ZOD had to say:
That's right, the Tribes 2 modification Mechina has gone GOLD. We at Mechina are very proud to have reached this final stage of development and hope everyone enjoys the fruits of ours and contributors labors.
There still might be hope for the futures of Sierra, Blizzard, and the other Vivendi-owned game development/publishing houses. Many thanks to Feret for pointing out in the forums that Microsoft's alleged desire to purchase Vivendi's game section was actually a hoax. Here's a bit of the scoop:
The hoax Web site, which Purdue University in Indiana confirmed came from its Internet address, was designed to look like a CNN report and circulated on the Web among video game industry watchers on Monday.
It was not immediately clear what the student's motivation was.
"Any purported press release or news story appearing on a Web site is a hoax," Microsoft said.
The site was taken down just before 4 p.m. EST, a Purdue university spokeswoman said.
If you missed out on the Gamespy chat with DICE yesterday, no problem - PlanetBattlefield has got you covered! Head on over to this article and read all about it, it's quite lengthy but a great read. Here's a snip:
*Jordan* Are you planning on implementing motorcycles into Road to Rome?
The Battlefield universe has plenty of space for additions ... however, we had to choose vehicles for RtR and unfortunately the motorcycle had to stay in the garage this time.
DICE has recently updated their website with a new update on the status of BF1942. This new update really has no new information, but seems to be sort of a reassurance on behalf of DICE that they are actually listening to the community. Check it out.
Since releasing the v1.3 patch two days ago we've kept our ears open, our browsers pointed to several key community sites, and clipboards at our side taking notes. We understand there are a few issues with the current patch and we're working hard to resolve them. Naturally this process takes time so we ask that you bear with us while we work on the next update. We are committed to releasing this update in short order. Details to follow soon.
EAComMike and the rest of the Battlefield 1942 team!
Kudos to Feret who pointed out in our forums that yes, there is indeed at least one more boxed copy of Starsiege out there! A search on eBay is all it took to find this gem - so for all of you people out there that want to give this great game a shot, cast your bid now! Hey, it's only $5 USD!
The first of four Animatrix episodes has been released on the web. Information was originally posted on The Matrix website. You can watch the episode in QuickTime format, or wait for the release of the DVD, which will contain nine episodes in all.
Gamespy has put up their Road to Rome review (which is in stores today) today and they really like it! Here's a snip:
There's an argument to be made that The Road to Rome is just more-of-the-same; that it's just a few new maps and vehicles tossed in a box. In this case, I'd disagree: the maps manage to retain the same level of balance and excitement as the original game, while including some new twists to keep things interesting. For a game that won our award for Best Multiplayer Game of 2002, that's a job well done.
Also, just a heads up, Gamespy has a chat scheduled with the developers at DICE at noon PST tomorrow (Feb 6th). Head to Road to Rome's "lobby" for the chat.
Well, it finally happened. They found a way to cheat Halo.
It involves a long and complex process that most people won't be interested in -- among other things, you need a modded Xbox, which won't work with Xbox Live, and you need to do a whole bunch of other tweaking. However, the results... are marvelous (.mov; .avi version available here. Thanks to R.net for the mirror.)
The official website for the Enter the Matrix game has just been launched. Enter the Matrix is a game set in the same world as the Matrix movie and its sequels. The game is going to ship May 15, the same day as the Matrix sequel, Matric: Reloaded, hits theaters. It will be available for XBox, PlayStation 2, GameCube, and PC. Check the website for details.
Kudos to Hastings IV who found a hidden player model in the most recent build of Realm Wars! It's an assassin and he talks about it more in this thread. Check it out above or at the link below. Hmmm... I wonder what GarageGames has planned for it...
Well if the release of the 1.3 patch and the release of Road to Rome in stores today wasn't enough for you, there is now a hack available for the 1.3 patch! Click here for a screen courtesy of BF1942.nu. This hack enables players to see other players through walls, heh.
I've been informed that DICE / EA know about this and are quickly working on a fix for it, expect to see it out soon. Until then, enjoy the powers of superman .
Just in time for the release of Battlefield's new expansion pack, the Road to Rome comes with Junkyard's Road to Rome section! Integrated with our Battlefield: 1942 section, you'll be able to learn everything you need to know on the Road to Rome. So sit back and read up on the Italian and French forces before you head to the store and pick up the expansion pack .
To add to that, our BF links page has been updated with several new sites that may aid your BF needs. Your site not listed? Submit it!
And as always, our BF Map Archive is growing every day. If you've gotten bored of the stock maps, chances are the 'Yard Map Archive has something new for you to try. If you've got a map that needs hosting, submit it!
Tribes2Maps.com has put out a new Map of the Week. This week it's FortZenith by vXKitiaraXv. Here's a snip:
Fort Zenith is a map that emphisizes team work. i have put 2 generators in the map. one generator is for the Force Fields and the Teleporter, and this stuff only. the FFs protect the main generator which powers your WHOLE entire base! only the team of the main generator can get to it. the defence on the FF generator is small. so youll need to put up some more D inorder to keep a safe and productive base. the vehicle station is removed from the vehicle pad. i replaced it in a more "safe" area in the bunker directly bejind the pad protected by a team only FF. the reason i did this was becaus on many maps, the VStation is unprotected. thus the problem of "Pussy" VPad snipers comes in. so to eliminate this totaly, i moved the station. the telporters are from the main base to the vehicle pad. i felt that the pad was to far away from th base and that it needed another mean of transportation. the teleporter script was done my Sparky and i give him Full credit for it.
For more details and map download, here on over here.
Our good friends over at Battlefield Central have put up map overviews of the six new maps that we'll be treated to in just two days. Anzio, Baytown, Cassino, Husky, Salerno and Santo Croce. Check them out here.
Community update 11 is here! A few nice little tidbits of information in this one, so here we go... It's confirmed that Road to Rome will ship on February 4th, just three days from now . Also, just to tide us over, EA has released the first Road to Rome trailer. Enjoy!
Starsiege, Microsoft, and a room full of hopeful 'Siegers. Get the vodka.
Fri Jan 31st, 2003
Posted by: at 17:16 PM
Microsoft, as everyone knows (or at least should) is trying buy out Vivendi Universal. This means Blizzard, Sierra, the whole kit-and-a-merger kabootle.
So where does this leave the 14k riddled 'Siegers? Does Microsoft want competition for MechWarrior? Do they want Vivendi for Tribes, lacking an effective PC FPS? Will they shut down the servers leaving SS players to host their own games? These questions abound in the Starsiege forums where news and rumors can be depicted as a glimmer of hope or the proverbial Death Star on approach.
Eviscrator, the founder of Prometheus Cyberdyne and sole reason Starsiege may last the next five years has one simple qoute. "If nothing happens by April, there is no future." (see "Havas Troubles" Sierra forums and Cyberdyne website) Thoughts from "they'd probably just send SS to the graveyard." to ideas of a MechAssault styled Starsiege X-box release abound.
As SteelFire said, "The possiblities are endless."
A chill wind blew over the now brightly colored treetops. Autumn had arrived to the northern part of the world. The ground was a tapestry of golden and brown colors that spanned across the forest floor, reflecting the light from the now setting sun.
A very well written and interesting story, check the rest of it out in the thread below.
Yep, the FX is finally coming out and a few sites have gotten to review it. ExtremeTech, Tom's Hardware, [url=http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NDIx][H]ard|OCP[/url], and AnandTech have reviewed it. AnandTech goes the extra mile and discusses the antialiasing. Check it out!
Out with the old, and in with the new. Well, you guys spoke up and it was a tight match all the way through and it ends in a tie. We asked you "what game you played most often" and you voted Battlefield: 1942 and Axis in a tie with 20% each. Here are the final results:
Kudos to LongBringer for sending us this news, on the EA's Taiwanese FTP site an unofficial 1.3 patch has been uploaded. However, BF1942Match reports that this is an "...old, work-in-progress version of the patch..." and is not to be installed.
Just a heads up for all those avid BF1942 gamers out there that can't wait to get their hands on new material . Just wait for the official release!
If you've been experiencing a slowdown or connectivity problems since about midnight EST, it's because of this SQL worm. In fact, this worm was mean enough to bring down 5 of the 13 root name servers, effectively crippling about 1/3 of the internet. Your firewall software should be picking up port accesses on UDP port 1434. This is because of a MS SQL vulnerability. Expect this to get worse over the next couple days until Micro$hit releases their long overdue patch.
Don't have the coin to pick up BF1942's expansion pack, Road to Rome due out February 4th? Well our good friends over at Battlefield Central have the answer! They're holding a contest where you can pick up 3 brand-spanking new copies of Road to Rome simply by idling in their IRC channel!
Spotted over at HBO, it seems as though the Mac port of Halo will soon be playable! This is great news for all of your Mac'ers out there, heh. Here's a snip from the Westlake Interactive project status update:
Another Bold game Westlake is working on is a Mac conversion of Halo: Combat Evolved, the hit Xbox action game that was, in a previous incarnation, originally meant for the Mac and Windows. Westlake said that's in "Prototype" stage, an important development milestone that precedes the game's playable status. Bold hopes to ship the game almost concurrently with its PC counterpart's release, expected later in 2003.
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Got an idea as to when Halo will be arriving on Mac and PC? Why not put it to the test in the Junkyard's Halo: Guess the Release Date Contest and walk away with some l33t swag?
EA has posted up another community update for the Battlefield: 1942 community to chow down on. And what an update it is! Not only do they go indepth on the new maps, vehicles and weapons coming in the Road to Rome expansion pack, but they also give notice to the newly opened PlanetBattlefield and the 1.3 patch!
Here's what they are working on in the 1.3 patch:
Implemented TK solution: On the server-side you can implement various TK-solutions such as a Spawn Delay penalty (puts them into spawn limbo) or the simple Kick/Ban. On the client-side you'll be able to Forgive or Punish TK depending on how the server is set up.
Client performance optimization
Map-loading optimized
Improved interface for in-game voting
I'm really glad to see they're doing something about the TK problem in BF, that's something that has been hurting the community for a while now.
It is official!! The Battlefield 1942 expansion, the Road to Rome, has now gone gold! Don't know what the Road to Rome is? Check out the official press release
The Road to Rome will focus exclusively on the key, yet largely underpublicized Italian and Sicilian campaigns of WWII. Players can choose to fight on six new maps including Operation Husky (Sicily), Operation Baytown and the battles for Anzio, Salerno, Santo Croce and Monte Cassino. Each map comes with highly detailed environments such as Italian houses, Mediterranean trees and even the ruined Monte Cassino Monastery.
Controllable vehicles are the heart of the Battlefield 1942 experience and The Road to Rome will feature eight new vehicles in addition to the more than 30 in the original title. These include the German BF-110 and British Mosquito twin-engined fighter-bombers. Also debuting are Italian and new British and German tanks and anti-tank guns. The original Battlefield 1942 PC game will be required to play The Road to Rome.
The press release also states that the expansion will be shipped to stores starting on February 4th.
The guys over at GarageGames have released a new build of Realm Wars, though not yet a stable build, it's in its testing phase.
There have been a ton of bug fixes and additions to the game including new weapons for the Elf and (finally) the Orc. CTF is now working properly and music has now become a more integral part of the game.
After much deliberation, our subdomains are finally back online here at the 'Yard. All hosted sites who were originally set up with subdomains - they're all active now. What's more, for those of you who preferred visiting the forums through http://forums.the-junkyard.net, you are now able to once more. Enjoy!
From the Starsiege universe comes... Mecha! You got it folks, ever wanted to own your own Mecha? Tired of cars and the usual and want to go with something exotic? Well (**Xen**) of the Sierra Starsiege boards has your cure! Just check out this place and this other place for mecha apparel, mousepads, posters and more!
The new Realm Wars Players Site is now up! At the moment there isn't a lot of information present, as GG guys are looking for our input to let them know what they want to see on it. Be sure to check it out.
GG also released details pertaining to today's Realm Wars chat, which is available here.
What's more, they give us a preview of what to expect in the next build which may be out as early as sometime today!
1: The Elf spells will now be tied to the energy bar using a simple mana regenerates over time system. (The alternate charging system will not be included in the next build but is in the prototyping phase)
2: The Elf has a number of new spells, including an area effect continuous damage fire spell, an area effect heal spell, a freeze spell that slows movement, and maybe one or two others.
3: The Orc *may* have some form of hand-to-hand combat working.
4: The Orc *may* have at least one more long-range weapon.
5: Various issues and bugs from the last version have been cleaned up, most notably some CTF bugs.
6: The Orc and Elf have been tweaked for things like movement speed, health, damage, etc. The Elf should now be viable.
7: A mini-map in partially working form.
8: I forgot what number 8 was
Hopefully we are approaching the point where Realm Wars will be genuinely fun to play. (Or at least mess with for a bit)
Lastly, they say that Realm Wars is now at a point where they can produce bi-weekly builds and that this build will be the first of those. All right!
Spotted over at the Desert Combat site, the team has released version 0.2 for testing. They note that now all maps in BF1942 have been converted to Desert Combat in the single player mode - nice! Head on over to the downloads page for more information and MOD download.
Please join us all in congratulating Feret and Sapphire on their new baby! The young gamer "weighs in at 7lbs 5 oz and is 20 3/4 inches long" and has been doing fine since the birth, reports Feret. Head on over to the forums and wish this new family luck.
TribalWar's own BigPappa is the focus in this week's spotlight. He gives us a brief insight into his life and we find out that he's not just a Tribes junky . Check it out below.
foker of ShazbotLAN 2003 sends in the latest news and asks for your help on the design and implemenation of the site. Read on...
ShazbotLAN 2003, coming to Grand Rapids, Michigan. We're planing the dates right now, wer're actually thinking of May 2nd-4th but we have a bit of a delay. As you can see our webpage is still in it's coming soon stages. We're looking for a qualified webdesigner with knowledge of flash, html, php, and mysql. If you think you've got what it takes please email me or stop by our chat in mIRC *irc.dynamix.com* channel *#ShazbotLAN*
The Mechina beta 5 update has been released. This is a full blown stand alone update. If you already have the Mechina mod installed you will have to remove it before installing this update, instructions for doing that are linked to on our downloads page.
This update weighs in at around 30 meg. It has numerous bug fixes over previous beta's as well as updated missions and new missions. By far the best release yet, so head on over to the Mechina site and download Mechina today!
The official BF1942 website has been updated with another community update, this time taking a closer look at the upcoming expansion pack, The Road to Rome. They go indepth on the 6 new maps, 8 new vehicles and 3 new hand weapons. The also mention that it'll retail for $19.99 USD (a nice $30.00 CDN ). Stay tuned for more map / vehicle and weapon descriptions coming this week.
We've gotten in touch with the guys in charge of the Eternal Silence Mod and have found out just what it is. We've even gotten a few exclusive screenshots! Here's a quick smippet:
tJY: How will the vehicles be used to promote team-based battle?
MadMechWarrior: All of the vehicles will be pilotable alone or solo. However we are arranging it so that each vehicle will gain a semi-important bonus from having a co-pilot in it. This is the same concept that many other mods and BF are using. You can still drive the jeep if you are alone... but hey if your buddy is with you he can hop on the back and shoot everybody with the mini gun...
We recently had the chance to interview Founder, of the Tribes 2 Total Conversion: Mechina Mod. The mod is the first successful attempt at bringing Mechs/Hercs into a Tribes atmosphere, and it looks to be a real winner. Here's a clip of the conversation:
tJY: Briefly describe the concept of the Mechina mod.
Founder: I think our slogan describes the concept best; to bring a little of the Mecha genre to Tribes2. The mod is fairly simple and stright forward, basically adding Mecha to the arsenal of tools for playing the game types (currently limited) of Tribes 2.
tJY: There have been many attempts at bringing the world of Mecha into Tribes 2, but they have all failed. What do you think makes Mechina unique?
Founder: We set goals for Mechina that were practical and obtainable. We had no intent to take any pre-existing game and make it into a Mod for T2. Instead of adhering to any particular convention, we designed it to work with T2.
This week's Tribes 2 Map of the Week is called Retaliation. Beware, even though it is a relatively small map, flag caps will not be easy to come by:
Both flags are protected by forcefields, and the generators are in a tower base, a mere 400 from the center. Once a flag generator is destroyed, Forcefield "shields" come up, protecting the Flag tower, and invariably trapping the attacker!
Kudos to Kr0wn for sending this in - Computerandvideogames.com has thrown up an article on the maps in the Road to Rome expansion pack. Listed: Baytown, Husky, Monte Cassino (x2), Monte Santo Croce and Salerno.
Here's a snip:
Focussing on the Italian and Sicilian campaigns of World War II, the expansion will include six new maps, new vehicles, new weapons and more.
Check out the article and the full screens here. Please note that in order to view the full screens you must first register with Computerandvideogames.com.
Spotted over at the BF42.com forums, Zerk has posted another update to his map editor for Battlefield, Battlecraft '42. He mentions that the interface has been revamped to something more intuitive.
The guys over at Tribes2Maps.com have just selected this week's Map of the Week. Entitled "TRON CTF", the map aims to give Tribes 2 a Tron-feel. The walls and floors have been skinned to resemble the 1980's sci-fi film's set, while the players glow like Kevin Flynn himself.
There's a new version of Asteroid Assault out, coming in at version 1.6. Changes over 1.5 include AI tweaking, and easter egg additions. Not too sure about Asteroid Assault? Here's the details:
Taking place on a low gravity asteroid, hence the name, Asteroid Assault, moving around the map proves to be quite the challenge. Throw in some AI, easter eggs and a way cool terrain this map is a thrill! However, you will need to download the terrain in order to play on this map on a server.
Seems more and more people are finding those hard to get disks. In the last two weeks, 5+ newcomers have found those disks in bargain bins and come seeking the Most Holy Discipleship of Starsiege. Will this revive Starsiege? Probably not. Will it mean there will actually be someone on those empty servers? Well shure it does! So grab your own disks and show them why 'Siegers are considered the hardcases of the gaming community.
A post by Phil Carlisle informs us of some sad news: the Mac build of Realm Wars has been delayed until sometime in the new year. David Chait ran into some code issues and as a result, it will take time to make the Mac build compatible with other builds. But don't worry, it is coming .
I've been late in getting these up, Hastings IV has created quite a stir in Realm Wars forums, getting feedback on his latest creations: 3 Elf skins! Check them out in our RW skins section.
Heh, the holiday spirit just keeps on giving! Not to be outdone by A Tribes Christmas or A Halo Christmas, Feret posts on our forums a "Starsiege Christmas Carol", entitled God Rest Ye Merry Basilisks. Here's a bit:
Another SS Xmas Carol: God Rest Ye Merry Basilisks
God rest ye merry, Basilisks (to the tune of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen)
c God rest ye merry, Basilisks, let nothing you dismay,
c Remember Noble Harabaec was born on Christmas Day;
c To save us all from Prometheus's power when we were gone astray.
c O tidings of MFACs, Blast Cannons, and Lasers, Blasters and Mines,
c O tidings of MFACs and Blast Cannons.
c In Nova Alexandria, this blessed Babe was born,
c And laid within a Herculan upon this blessed morn;
c His squadmates which did not take anything in scorn.
c O tidings of MFACs, Blast Cannons, and Lasers, Blasters and Mines,
c O tidings of MFACs and Blast Cannons.
c From God our heavenly Father a blessed angel came;
c And unto certain minotaurs brought tidings of the same;
c How that in Turkazikstan was born to us Harabec by name.
Hit the link below to read the whole thing. Nicely done, Feret!
Not to be outdone, here's the Halo version of The Night Before Christmas, originally posted by Red Loser at the HBO Forum.
The Night Before Christmas
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all o'er the front
Not a creature was stirring, not even a Grunt;
The ammo was laid by the shotguns with care,
In hopes that the Master Chief soon would be there;
The soldiers were huddled all cold in their nests,
Protected by nothing but bulletproof vests;
And Sarge with his rifle and oddly-marked cap,
Had just settled down for a quick power nap,
When out on the field there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my post to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash
Saw fires and explosions and heard a great crash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my eyes should appear on the scene,
But a Scorpion tank, and four well-armed Marines,
With a powerful driver, so lively, you see;
I knew in a moment it must be MC.
More rapid than eagles his soldiers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
Now, Jenkins! Bisenti! Mendoza and Dubbo!
Let's show these Marines how to give Covies trouble!
To the top of the ramp! to the top of the wall!
Now fire away! fire away! fire away all!
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the soldiers they flew,
With the Scorpion tank, and the Master Chief too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The panicked retreating of Covenant hoof.
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
from a hole in the roof MC came with a bound.
He was dressed all in green, from his head to his foot,
And his armor was tarnished with ashes and soot;
A shotgun and ammo he flung on his back,
And he looked like a wrestler just layin' da smack.
The Grunts--how they cowered! The Jackals did tremble!
Elites were mowed over, but Hunters assembled!
The Chief aimed his pistol like Willy Tell's bow,
And the blood of the Hunters stained new-fallen snow;
A frag grenade thrown hit a Grunt in the teeth,
And the smoke it encircled the Chief like a wreath;
Though struck in the face and three times in the belly,
He shook, laughed it off, then turned Covies to jelly.
The Chief beat the Elites, he made Covenant yield,
But I yelled when I saw more charge in from the field;
A click of his gun and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And riddled the Covies; then turned with a jerk,
And having defeated his alien foes,
And leaping up high, to the rooftop he rose;
He sprang to his tank, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"
Some of you may remember this from last year, and yes, I'm a wee-bit late in posting this, but if you're reading this at this hour, it still is the Night Before Christmas. Here is my rendition of the classic poem, entitled, A Tribes Christmas:
'Twas the Night Before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a tribesman was stirring, not even a mouse;
The spinfusors were loaded by the vehicle pad with care,
In hopes that a Juggernaut soon would be there;
The snipers were nestled all snug at their perks,
While visions of MA's danced around their HERCs;
And TW in her 'kerchief, and tJY in our cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,
When out on the o'erhead map there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the inventory station to see what was the matter.
Away to scout I flew like a flash,
Turned on the engines and I was off in a dash.
The MPB on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Blocked the view to the nestled flag below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a thundering rocket, and oh! a little flare,
With only a light, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment that I could snipe the little prick.
Faster than wildcats he jetted much the same,
And I whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
"Now, Tanqueray! now, Poseidon! now, InViZ and Lark!
On, Mhaddy! on Vector! Com'on outta th'dark!
Get to your positions! Breach that hill!
Now jet away! jet away! jet away all!"
We flew like the wind, trying to get high,
We reached a slope and skiied through the sky,
So up to the clouds the coursers we flew,
With a HAVOC full of heavies, and a painter too.
And then, in an instant, I heard that awful beeping
The screeching and whaling of each missile'r a creeping.
As I steadied the HAVOC and swung the ship low,
On came the missiles that were ready to blow.
We survived the missiles but were badly hurt,
So we decided to continue our quest on foot;
Over the hills we soared with pride,
Cautious we crept... we were in for a helluva ride.
We spotted the first guard, how smug he stared!
On with the assault, in buddies we paired!
His crosshairs on our heads he aimed with care,
We geared forth and took up his dare;
A barrage of mortars from our guns we did shoot,
Obliterating him, we all shouted w00t;
More enemies came, but we did not stray,
Oh the wonderous smack-down we did lay.
Taking down turrets and sensors, all the same,
The enemies knew that we were game;
A sniper came forth, his red light shone bright,
I launched a mortar to his face and said "Good Night!";
We marched forth to the flag, we wanted it very bad,
Taking down red triangles, no troubles we had,
We were almost there when a Shrike was inbound,
Missiles were launched, only debris was to be found;
We sprang to the flag, but was given no crap,
And away we all flew back to our base to cap.
We touched down from a triumphant flight,
"HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!"
Happy Holidays from all of us here, at the Junkyard!
As a special holiday treat this year, the 'Yard has put up two spotlights at once! First off, we have Tribes Universe's Site Manager, DMAUL on hand to give us a brief insight on what goes on in his life.
Secondly, we are treated to a spotlight coming all the way from Denmark, Battlefield: 1942 Match's own newsie, pong2cs is here to enlighten us. So take a break from your day and check out what these folks have to say before the holiday cheers goes away, heh .
With over 3500 registered forum members and a boat load of skins to boot, Skinners Guild is your number one stop for Tribes 2 skins. Sporting such great skins as The Master Chief of HALO , Taur, Malorian, Brutal Deluxe UK Female Nr.2, Vastatio, Nemesis and many other great skins.
All of these skins can be located on the new Tribes 2 Skins page at Skinners Guild. Lets not forget about the great Trinity Base skins that gave Tribes 2 a fresh new look. Head over to Skinners Guild for all your skinning needs. Whether its info you need or downloading / uploading skins, we are there for you.
Yes, a ball PC. A complete PC wrapped up in a tidy little green sphere. It's very cool, if only for the design. Apparently it went on display for the first time this weekend (20th-22nd) and features a VIA Mini-ITX motherboard mounted between a CD drive and a 40GB hard drive with an external 200W power supply. It's a do-it-yourself kit that should ship toward the end of January. The final price is as yet undecided, but it should cost around 10,000 yen. They plan to increase the power supply's output to 400W by then as well. I'll post more abot it if I can find out anything.
Kudos to our good friends over at Battlefield Central for snagging these tidbits:
Three new map overview shots from Road to Rome have been released over at WorthPlaying.com, check them out here.
Producer for Battlefield, Lars Gustavsson, has been interviewed over at InGaming.com on a myriad of topics and goes quite indepth on a number of them. Topics include DICE company information, the BF linux server, patching and support and an overall Q&A on Battlefield. Definitely worth a read, check that out here.
Our Battlefield section is coming along nicely. We have just finished our classes section where you can learn all about the various player types you can play as; their strengths and weaknesses as well as their loadouts.
Also, our Battlefield Map Archive is now online and full of maps! Head on over there now and grab any new maps you want. Also, feel free to submit your own and have them hosted on the 'Yard for the community to download.
Be sure to check back often for more updates and opening soon... our Road to Rome section!
Kudos to LordSpawn who sent us a heads up of the new NetSphere eye candy that the Korean NetSphere site put up - just in time for the holidays. You can grab the 7 new shots in our NetSphere gallery (which is getting rather large).
These new shots show off the engine and it's newest attributes: bump mapping, per pixel lighting and shadow volume.
Thanks to the Gamers.com newsletter, I received word that there's a new Halo 2 preview over at none other than Gamers.com! Full of several new screenshots, a two page preview and still a release date still slated for the 4th quarter of 2003.
Halo 2 is a heady project, especially with Bungie taking the game online via Xbox Live. Players will be able to fight in all-out wars as either humans or Covenant warriors, engaging in massive vehicle and infantry engagements with squad-oriented team-play and real-time voice chat. Bungie's goals seem to reach higher than most critics' expectations and, should it succeed, Halo 2 may be the best game ever. But the question remains: How will we be able to wait a year for its release?
It's a relatively small but informative read, check it out.
Just in time for the holiday season, EA has released a new map for Battlefield: 1942 entitled Coral Sea! Here's the description:
Coral Sea is an exciting new map set in the Pacific theater. The action is fast and furious as players test their piloting skills with a total of 24 planes available on the map. The action isn’t limited to dogfighting however as each side has a carrier that they need to defend at all costs. To win, you’ll need to sink the enemy carrier, and then fly through a buoy that appears amidst the wreckage of the ship. Throw in some land-based AA guns and a defensive gun or two in the mix, and you’ve got our latest recipe for a great Battlefield 1942 holiday treat!
They recommended playing the map with no more than 24 players, as this is what it was designed for. Grab the map from EA here.
Just a quick heads-up: we've recently added two new forums here at the 'Yard: Realm Wars General Discussion and Battlefield: 1942 General Discussion. And just an update on the forums.the-junkyard.net subdomain - yes, I know it's been a while but our sysadmin is still working on getting around to adding our forums and hosted sites subdomains, we'll let you know when things are set up. In the mean time however, access the forums here: http://legacy.the-junkyard.net/forums.
While surfing Voodoo Extreme, I spotted a link to InGaming who were lucky enough to snag six exclusive shots of the upcoming Battlefield: 1942 expansion pack. Click here for a sample.
Kudos to Kr0wn =tK= who sent word that the first public alpha release of the Desert Combat mod for Battlefield: 1942 has been released. For those of you who don't know, the Desert Combat mod is BF1942, but with modernized warfare that focuses on conflicts in the middle east. Head on over to the site for more information.
There's a new Road to Rome movie released on the official Battlefield: 1942 website! The movie shows off some gameplay and is very promising in things to come - check it out!
ZOD, head of the Mechina Modifcation for Tribes 2 sends in a seasons greetings and notice that the Mechina Mod has released and open public beta! You can find it on their downloads page on their site. They ask if you find any bugs to please report them on their forum.
After much deliberation, our tJY link buttons page is finally online! Everyone who is linking back to us with the old banner, please head on over to our buttons page and pick out a fancy new button for your site.
Errr... well, not quite. We want your Starsiege skins for the next [un]official Skinpack, Skinpack 8. Feret posted on our forums letting us know that Velax of the Siegedom Forums is looking for any skins that were not in Skinpacks 1-7 (Starsiege downloads), do not contain pr0n or "puke looking ones". So if you've got a SS skin or two that you want the community to see you wearing, be sure to drop a line over at the Siegedom Forums.
Kudos to Jeff Tunnell for sending us a note on this (I've been to GG.com several times over the last couple of days but the notion of it never got to me ). Anyhow, launched a couple of day ago, the new GarageGames Players Site was launched! This new and improved GG.com features a crisp new design, the usual ecommerce features, forums, ratings and for the developer: the ability to create and manage your own content. Head on over to GarageGames.com for the full scoop!
We recently had a chance to sit down with Realm Wars' Lead Designer, James Margaris and ask him a few questions on the latest Realm Wars build. Here's a snip:
tJY: What's the magic system like? How do you use it and why would someone use it over conventional weaponry?
James: We plan on testing out two alternate methods for spell use. One is a straightforward mana-based system, and the other is a system with time-based charging of spells, where charging longer allows for more powerful versions of the spell. We want to avoid spells that are basically magical versions of missile weapons or spells that are simply numerical buffs. For example a spell like Flame Wall is a lot more interesting than a fireball spell that just shoots a flaming projectile that might as well be an arrow. Conventional weaponry will be simpler and serve a more "bread and butter" role in combat, whereas spell use will be more deliberate and tactical. Another example of what we are thinking of: casting a strength buff on a player might increase the size of that player by 50%. So it might be great in certain situations, but in other situations you might be making your teammate a better target for ranged attacks.
Check out the link below to read the full interview.
Missed this one, yesterday, HomeLan Fed put up an interview with Anders Hoh of Digital Illusions on the upcoming (re: February 2003) expansion pack to Battlefield: 1942 - the Road to Rome. Here's a snip:
HomeLAN - When did the idea come about to create an expansion pack and to have it focus on the WWII Italian campaigns?
Anders Hoh - The idea of an expansion pack has always been there in the back of our minds. Ideas for vehicles and weapons that came up during production of Battlefield 1942 mixed with new ideas during the Road to Rome development makes the foundation of the Expansion pack.
Why Italy? It is a relatively "closed" area where a lot of intense fighting took place but is still not that well known by the majority. This, together with the interesting geographic look and feel, made it an interesting place to go. It also encouraged us to bring two new countries to the war.
Head on over to HomeLan Fed for the full interview or hit the link below.
While browsing Sierra's Starisege community forum, I saw a post by s0m3guy who pointed out that Penny Arcade threw up a comic covering Tribes 3 and onward. The news post goes on to say how much Vivendi sucks and that Tribes 3 will just be "beating a dead horse". Although I do not have much (if any) faith left in Sierra / Vivendi, my eyes are still open to the concept of recreating a good Tribes. S'meh. Take it with a grain of salt.
Well another Egyptian map for you to enjoy. I made Egyptia a day map and a night map. I enjoy night but my testers enjoyed day better. Anyways what can you do. I have been toying with the egyptian textures and I think I almost have them down. If you have the egyptia.vl2 you will probably need to delete it. there have been some minor changes to the buildings since then and it could affect your egyptiapack file.. Anyways enjoy the maps : )
Head on over to Tribes2Maps.com for map details and download.
Wow... where do the years go? I've known this guy for over three years on the 'net and he's been one of my closest online friends since. This is why it's my pleasure to wish grey wolf, a happy 21st birthday bud! Hope everything swings your way today .
Zod brings us news of a Tribes 2 mod in the works:
Christmas is a little early this year, Mechina, a client/server modification that attempts to bring a little of the Mecha universe to Tribes 2 has reached the open beta stage of development.
On December 21st we will be releasing the Mechina modification to the public, it will be in the downloads section of our website. Server operators and players will have an opportunity to help us put Mechina through the wringer so we can get on our way to Gold status.
We ask that if you find any bugs, you should submit bug reports to us through our forums.
- ZOD
No one really knows when Halo is going to be released for the PC or the Mac, but it's fun to try and guess, right? Well that's that idea behind our "Halo: Guess the Release Date Contest". All you have to do is register for an account on our forums, head on over to the contest page and pick the date which you think MS will release Halo for the PC / Mac. If you pick the date, you'll walk away with some uber-l33t swag! So why not try your luck and head on over to the contest page and pick your favourite date?
Out with the old and on with the new, as the saying goes. Well, our poll has finished and turned up the following results, as voted by you:
So our new game here at the 'Yard will be Battlefield: 1942! Look for it's sections to become online over the next little while. And our new poll asks, "Which game do you play most often?" Head to the right and vote now!
Tribes 3?
Thu Dec 12th, 2002
Posted by: at 11:48 AM
It is poetic justice that the sequel to the worst flop of a game I have ever experienced be introduced via poetry, is it now? Very early this morning, Sierra's Alex "Marweas" Rodberg posted the following poem on the Tribalwar Forums;
When we make another Tribes game
(I'm still thinking of a good name)
Skiing will require skill -
No speed cap, and skiing uphill.
The graphics rock - worlds come alive -
But won't require a GeForce 5.
Lance, bomber, tank, I doubt they'll go
But they'll be better this time though.
We learned our lesson about forums -
They're the domain of those who whore 'em.
An open beta early on
Will help make sure the bugs are gone
So it's a given that we'll have one
And only launch when it is done.
Can't trust a weasel not to lie
But cross my fingers, hope to die
No more a question - may or might
The next Tribes game got a green light.
A little later today, when asked to provide explanation to his previous post, he provided this reply;
I don't think any game can ever be T1 again. Even if we were to recreate T1 in painstaking detail, it wouldn't be as popular as before. Most of you are already past the learning curve, and what made it addictive was moving up that curve.
Looking forward, we must rely on our (and your) ability to discern what was fun and what wasn't about all the Tribes games (and even other games) and end up with a finished product that is both new and familiar at the same time.
I'm confident in the team we have assembled for this daunting task. I can't wait to introduce you to them so we can get fans involved in the process as early as possible. When? When we make the official announcement, sometime next year.
There you have it, folks. I, personally, can't wait for vindication.
Big daddy HomeLAN has put together an interview with GarageGames' Mark Frohnmayer on a myriad of GG topics including: the general public response to the current build of Realm Wars, the future of RW, updates on the Torque engine and what the future holds for GarageGames. Head on over to HomeLAN for more details.
Just like the headline says, GarageGames.com has gotten a nice facelift. A simple, easy to read and to the point layout coupled with a myriad of new features. Definitely spare a few moments and check it out!
I just received word from Doug Mealy, community PR rep for Jamie Systems, that NetSphere is being reworked to maintain its broadest appeal. As some of you may know, the Korean government recently passed a law which bans participation from people younger than 18 years of age from certain games.
As a result of this set back, the demo that was supposed to be released this October. However, they are planning to release an english beta 2nd quarter of 2003.
I'd like to take a moment and wish Sierra's Dave Naney and happy 24th birthday! This guy has helped the 'Siege community through thick and thin and stuck by us all the way. It is in large part due to his input to Sierra that the Community Starsiege forums have remained open. So everyone, please take a moment and wish Dave a happy birthday!
Got a recording of your MA disc shot in Tribes? Or how about that time you look on a hoard of Apocs in your ELF'ed Seeker? Or perhaps the game that lasted 3 hours against some tough Koreans in Axis? Well, regardless of what it is, we want your demo recordings! Our demo archive is in dire need of some updated demos and it's up to you to fill it up! So, head on over to the demo archive and submit, submit, submit!
The Adrenaline Vault has posted up a Q&A with Mark Frohnmayer of GarageGames. They chat about the Torque engine's progress, upcoming and current projects as well as the general insight on the GG team. Snip:
What does the gang at GarageGames find creatively invigorating about independent PC game development?
We can do what we want! We love to play games, we love to make games, and when we have a good product idea, we don't have anyone else tell us that it needs more T&A or blood on the box to sell. We have a lot of ideas for fun, original games, and being independent means we can pursue them.
Check out AVault for the full interview. Thanks Blues.
Yes thats right, after years of being neglected and lonely, the Starsiege IRC chatrooms have life in them again. But, due to the mass amounts of IRC channels originally developed by Sierra and the few number of 'Siegers, they were all quickly abandoned except for #sscommunity.
So grab your IRC chatter, sign onto irc.dynamix.com:6667 then channel #sscommunity and chat with the best of them.
Music4Games.net has just put up an interview with Marty O'Donnel (audio director for Bungie) and Aaron Marks (author of "The Complete Guide to Game Audio"). They chat about the use of audio and it's effectiveness in Halo and more importantly, Halo 2 :). Here's the required snippage:
Aaron: Is it all new music and sound effects or will some of the familiar elements be back? Marty: The plan is for everything to be new. However, that doesn't preclude reusing something that just works great or has sentimental value. Also, certain Halo musical themes will probably get a bit of the old variation treatment. On the graphics side of things, familiar objects will look similar but way better, the same will apply to the audio side.
While browsing HBO, I noticed Johnny Rotten posted on the HBO forum that Gearbox will be showing the first demonstration of Halo for the PC at this winter's CPL which takes place Saturday December 21st. Louis Wu goes onto mention that there will be a one hour workshop focusing on the development of Halo. Ohhh... makes me tingle .
There has been a lot of questions asking about a possible Realm Wars Mac release over the last little while. Well, yesterday Michael Collins posted on the GarageGames forums asking what the deal was with a Mac build and soon thereafter, James Margaris, Lead Designer for Realm Wars replies with "We are working on it, should be out soon." Good news indeed .
Though not publically announced, Jay Moore of CyPR Media has finally posted up the latest Realm Wars community chat log. The dev team talks about what the community likes, dislikes, overall impressions and what some of their short term plans are for the next RW build.
You know that little button that other sites use to link back to the Junkyard? Here's our old one:
http://legacy.the-junkyard.net/images/tjy-littlebaner.jpg
It's a little outdated with our new site design, so we're in need of a new one.
Size requirements are one of 88*31 and the other of 140*51. If it suits your design, you should use "Lucida Fax" (if you need it, click here) as your font for "the Junkyard". Basically, just make it something that relates to the 'Yard, something that catches the eye but not too busy. Please post your submissions in the forum thread below. The winner gets a special prize .
I didn't have a chance to post this up earlier as our FTP for Tribes2Maps was down, but the new Map of the Week from T2M is Death to Death by Sparky. Here's a snip:
This time I thought I would do a faster competiton style map these bases are CLOSE together and the flags are in the open. Lotsa cap/ski routes custom base, custom sky. Have fun.
Properly named "The Old Man of Siege", veteran Starsiege player Katana has been put into the spotlight where we take a brief look into his life.
Grey wolf also recently had the priviledge of taking a look at Nintendo's latest game in the Metroid series, Metoid Prime on Gamecube. Take a look at his indepth review here.
Kudos to Antec =Ki= who dropped me a forum PM letting me know that Gamer's Hell has put up an interview with Stefan Vukanovic of Dice on the coming Battlefield: 1942 expansion pack, The Road to Rome. Check it out.
Feret is at it again. In his latest Starsiege fanfic, he writes "The Beginning of Sorrow", continuing his tradition of outrageously long stories. Here's a snip:
November 19,2830
1800 Hours Imperial Standard Reckoning
The subtle darkness of twilight falls on the Jovian satellite Callisto. With its dusty, cratered surface Callisto is quite possibly, the most heavily cratered planetary body in the Sol. The largest of the craters have long since faded from the surface, likely erased by the flow of its icy crust over several millennia. Despite the erosion of the largest craters in the thin carbon dioxide atmosphere of Callisto, the concentric impact rings from the craters are a clear reminder of days when the Sol had many such celestial bodies floating chaotically around.
Just a reminder that throughout the entire weekend, the 2nd annual Starsiege Reunion is taking place. A weekend full of nothing but blowing up HERCs and trashin' tanks. A time to meet up with old friends and make some new ones. Also, there are rumours that RickO from GarageGames (former SS Head Programmer) will be making an appearance this weekend too. So you'd better head to those servers and start blowing stuff up .
Spotted over at BF1942 Match, EA has come through and released the European 1.2 patch for BF1942. However, as Fordaz notes - the European and the US 1.2 patches are identical, so it doesn't matter which patch you use to update your game - both will work.
Also, something that I had been having troubles with when I patched was a the error "Data differs from server!" when I tried to join a 1.2 server. This is due to the corrupted 1.2 patch that was accidentally released. If you're experiencing this, hit the link below (but since it seems to be nicely hammered), check out some of the other mirrors below.
It says that the expansion will release for $19.99 near the end of January.
BF1942 1.2 Patch Released
Wed Nov 27th, 2002
Posted by: at 14:37 PM
EA/DICE released the second patch for Battlefield 1942 today. They have said that this focuses mostly on improving performance and gameplay, and so far things seem to be coming along.
Battlefield 1942(tm) v1.2
Read Me File
November 7, 2002
======================================
Patch 1.2
======================================
NETWORK/SERVER FIXES
-Low close combat hit accuracy due to network lag is much improved.
-Some Server CPU usage optimizations: Multiple server instances should perform better.
-Fixed currently connected players being dropped at map switch in favor of new connections.
-Remote Console application is now fixed.
-Release of bound sockets works correctly.
-Bug causing missing spawn points and Gray flags that do not change is fixed.
-Bug causing soldier animation states to be dropped is fixed.
-Reconnection problems fixed.
-The ASEHost.dll "Failed to execute ASEQuery_init()" error is fixed.
-No longer need to reissue the admin.enableRemoteConsole and enableRemoteAdmin commands every time the server restarts.
-Bug in Standalone Server causing "Corrupted Data" error when hosting CTF on Bocage is fixed.
-Added hit detection feedback: Client crosshairs blink with a small dot in the crosshair and additional cross-lines when the server registers a successful hit.
-Dedicated server settings are saved properly. (Note: if Friendly Fire checkbox is turned off, the next time the dedicated server is started the check box will be checked, but the percentages will all be at 0%)
-Remote Admin (admin connected to server as a player) does not have to authorize every time a new map starts anymore.
CLIENT FIXES
#Totally new file structure
-Ensures easy implementation of mods and expansion packs.
-There is a bf1942.pid file that includes the process id for the battlefield game running.
#Gameplay tweaks
-Jeeps more sensitive to shells (one shot equals one kill).
-Increased B17 rate of fire for better carpet bombing.
-Grenade damage versus tanks is 40% less powerful.
-AA Gun Damage vs Infantry is increased (1 shot equals 1 kill in torso/head). Also removed splash damage versus infantry.
-Slightly increased knife damage distance.
-Slightly decreased deviation when walking and shooting with side arms.
-Increased damage for Machine Gun 42 and browning versus infantry.
-Increased damage for Plane Machine Guns versus other planes.
-Tiger tank health increased by 25%.
-Fixed M10 being treated as a jeep for splash damage.
-Slightly increased damage for MP40, MP18 and Thompson versus infantry.
#Cheats removed
-"Long View Distance" cheat fixed.
-"Wireframe" cheat fixed.
-"Turning Off Fog" cheat fixed.
#Sound improvements and optimizations
-Irregular looping sounds and/or loss of sounds bug has been fixed.
-Redundant sound state changes removed.
#Memory usage optimizations.
#Physics engine improvements
-Mine placed on jeep causing jeep to sink through ground no longer possible.
#AI optimization
-Bots do not jump in and out of vehicles anymore.
-Bots have improved mobility and behavior while sitting in tanks: close range enemies now make the AI drive further away and fire from distance instead of just hopelessly circling around the enemy.
-Several small tweaks and improvements for bot control
*Major improvements to artillery.
*Improved path selection (less prone to go on rough terrain).
*Major improvement of the fire behavior.
*Fixed bug in SAI's bot ordering update.
*Fixed AI handgun sound effect.
*AI will not favor planes on a runway which is blocked by other vehicles.
*Decreased AI view distance.
*Several tweaks of .con-files for more accurate description of the game elements.
#Menu
-New Button "Custom Game" lets the player play a custom made mod game or Expansion Pack games.
-Server browser "Backfire" setting displays properly in server details window.
-The in-game console stays in front of game text and is less transparent for improved visibility.
-Improved In-game server browser filters.
-TAB button works so players can see their own score even if they didn't make the top-3.
-The Minimap arrow yellow flash lasts longer when a teammate uses a voice or radio command.
-Dedicated Server menu has an added function called "Automatic Restart". When checked the server will automatically restart if it crashes or is turned off any other way than pressing the stop server button.
#Rendering optimization
-Billboard trees for GeForce 3-4.
-Hardware shadows on all cards (GeForce 1-4).
-Hardware skinning on animated meshes (wheels, flags, soldiers)
(GeForce 3+ and hw vertexshaders cards).
*New option to put into videoDefault.con (if wanted)
renderer.forceSwSkinning 1
(default is 0 = use hardware if available.)
-Tri-stripping (optimizing meshes to improve FPS).
-GeForce4 MX support fix that eliminates desktop crashes occurring on some computers.
Please note that a lot of people have been having trouble installing this patch because of "corrupt files." Because of this, I am not going to post links to mirrors here, instead I will update this when working mirrors are released, as well as the links to the official mirrors. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Update - Here are some working mirrors of the client. Fileplanet(requires registration), FileShack(requires registration), WorthPlaying, and the dedicated server files as well as the client can be found at 3DGamers
Forgot to post these up as they came up, but yesterday we posted up a spotlight with Starsiege community head, Eidolon. Be sure to check it out as it's a damn good read.
Also, Lark has been busting his hump on finishing our Battlefield: 1942 Review. Three pages in length with lots of screen and a final rating of 8.9 out of a possible 10 make this game tJY worthy .
I never thought console FPS's were any good because of the awkward paddle controls. And, I never thought Nintendo would ever release a good FPS to begin with.
I was wrong on both counts. Check out my quick review of the game and visit the official site for screens (I'm working on getting some of our own). Metroid Prime has completely changed the way I look at FPS games.
James Margaris, the lead designer for Realm Wars, lets us know what to expect in the next RW IRC discussion.
Topics Include:
Overall impressions
What people liked and didn't like
What improvements are most needed at this time to make the game more enjoyable
Our plans for short-term development
James also says that they will avoid listing bugs found in the new release, but the team would appreciate any e-mail or reports posted in the task manager.
I spotted an article over at BF1942.com that covered sniping tactics and a complete strategy guide on how to become a successful sniper in Battlefield 1942. The article is very thorough and complete for snipers, sniper wannabes, and even for those non-snipers who want to get the scoop on how the mind of a sniper works. If you have the time, it's an excellent read.
The reason I'm writing this guide is because after a long search on the Internet, there doesn't appear to be any. Most people are put off sniping in battlefield1942 because it's so difficult, but this is a common misconception, sniping itself can be quite easy and as a general rule, on large maps you can rack up enough points by sniping alone to be worthy of a medal (top 3 scorers)
Although personal scores are good, snipers can do a lot to aid the team as a whole, much in the same way as taking out an enemy battleship or aircraft carrier, you don't acquire any points for it but you do help the team in probably the best way possible, and after all it's a team game and ultimately, if your team looses you lose.
With this in mind, a sniper with a mission can be a dangerous foe and can cause a lot of damage to the enemy team, in fact you only need kill a handful of people during an entire round before you make a large difference to the overall progress of your team. Good examples are mounted machinegun emplacements, Anti Aircraft guns (AA guns) and of course other snipers.
By far the best piece of advice is to be patient, try not to think of personal scores instead try and keep focused on what's good for the team. If you see someone moving about in a relatively large area, and you will have him in your sights for a while, wait for a few seconds, keep your eye on his movement, check to see if he's spotted something there maybe a chance he may stand still to fire (bazooka troops are the worst for this, they often stop and duck before they fire their bazooka). This is a much easier kill than having to hit the enemy on the move. It's often best to assess the situation first and then make your move, but only wait if you're fairly certain you're safe from enemy sniper or other enemy troops.
But to take a look at sniping as a whole we need to break it down into different sections, first of all lets take a look at positioning.
After much deliberation, finally, finally a new build of Realm Wars has been released! Although not a beta release, James Margaris notes that there have been a number of additions and improvements. Here's what he had to say:
Please note this is not a beta release. It is simply a build of the current CVS source with a few tweaks. (Some things that were not working well have been disabled in the build, for example) We hope you find it interesting and enjoyable but please keep in mind it is a work in progress. This should give everyone an idea of where Realm Wars is and give people a more recent build that they can play around and experiment with.
Downloads weigh in at 26MB, 20MB and 18MB for the Windows, Linux and FreeBSD versions respectively. Head on over to the project page or our Realm Wars files page for downloads.
Look for a review of the build here sometime this week.
After saying they were releasing it Wednesday, Sierra went ahead and sent Tribalwar the new patch anyway. Here is some info on it
The patch includes fixes such as...
-Fixed AMD Win32 Dual CPU timing bug
-Added $pref::useHighPerformanceCounter to enable usage of the -QueryPerformanceCounter code
-Added gravity to demo recordings
-Fixed CPU control state in a couple more places for deterministic simulation
-Merged many script fixes
Just noted that Sierra's Tribes Product Manager, Alex "Marweas" Rodberg, posted a new update over on Tribalwar. Check it out
On Wednesday, Nov 20, Sierra will release the latest version of the update for Tribes 2. This version will be required, so everyone playing Tribes 2 will finally be on the same version. A number of issues are addressed in the update, including the server lag for some machines. A full description of what's addressed can be found in the readme. For those who plan on mirroring the patch, it is being uploaded to the TW RDB.
Tribes things to look for before the end of the year:
- Full blown competition for Classic and TR2
- Tribes 2 re-review in next issue of CGW.
- Tribes Aerial Assault (PS2) TV ads will be running on Sci-Fi and MTV Dec 2 - Dec 29. Some of Colosus' work for the music video wound up making it into the ad, so he'll (sorta) be on TV.
- Future plans for Tribes are moving along. We don't have any announcements planned until next year, but work continues, and I've seen some really cool concepts on my desk.
- Tribes 2 retail re-release should be in stores by Thanksgiving. At $10, mabe a good gift for those you'd like to bring back to Tribes 2.
- More prizes to winners of various events. There's a backlog of people who still haven't received prizes, and we'd like to work through it and make sure nobody who won something leaves empty-handed.
Thanks for all the good wishes for my family, and sorry I haven't been around as much lately. If anyone needs to reach me, I'm still marweas@sierra.com
I *might* reinstall T2 if this actually runs a little faster then molasses. However, in all probability, they will fail to make this game fast enough for my taste. See ya'll on Wednesday the 20th.
Yes, nVidia's GeforceFX is now finally released. Tom's Hardware, The Register UK, and Anandtech have the scoops. The new card uses a 500MHz GPU and 500MHz DDR-II (1GHz effective), which gives the card a 25-50% advantage over the Radeon 9700 Pro.
The most interesting aspect of this card is its cooler. If you want this card, you'll need to free up the card bay below the AGP slot. You'll need the room. ^_^
MMAC_NINman posts on our forums of the upcoming MMAC Lan Festivus on November 30th in Fultonville, NY. Many games will be played here and there are tons of prizes to be won. Head on over to the site for more information.
Gotta catch up with the news . Spotted over at GarageGames, Jeff Tunnell posts up a wanted ad for a build guru - someone to take care of the weekly build process. Almost to hint of the future to come, the first comment was to replace the individual with an automated script (re: the computer). More and more human jobs are being replaced by computers .
Anyhow, Jeff remarks "Look for the next release of RW in the very near future." This is good news indeed! It's been much too long without a Realm Wars update.
Kudos to LordSpawn who pointed out in our forums that the Korean NetSphere site has put up two new shots. We've added them to our gallery. They're 1280*1024 in size and great quality.
This came up while we were down, but it's definitely worth mentioning. EA has delayed the 1.2 patch once again, stating that they were just about ready to release the patch but some last minute problems prevented it. "Expect the patch very soon."
Heh, the 1.2 patch isn't even out yet but they're all ready working on an expansion pack, Battlefield 1942: The Road to Rome. I've got to admit, it looks pretty damn cool. There are 20 screens and tons of info at EBGames.com and the community message.
Naturally, as a result of our recent server relocation and modification there are a lot of things that have been changed, including, but not limited to: mysql server, root paths, FTP usernames, FTP passwords, directories and paths.
For security reasons and 'cleanup' purposes, if you want to get your site back up and running you must message me via ICQ, email or forum PM. The sooner you do this the better as after x week(s) (I haven't decided yet), I'll be doing a fall cleanup and removing all hosted sites who have not gotten in touch with me. I will post up another due date as time goes on.
That was quite a trip, now wasn't it! So now I suppose all of you are probably wondering just what the hell happened over here during our 2 week outage, so here goes. Our box was being relocated to a new facility to take care of a number of issues, connection, security, redundancy, server space, mail and SQL quirks. Unfortunately, I did not know about this beforehand so I woke up some 2 weeks ago to a "connecting to..." notice only to have it finally time out.
After numerous attempts, I was finally able to get in touch with our new sysadmin to ask him what was up. He explained that our box was being moved to a new facility and will be up within the next few days. So, no biggie I thought... What was supposed to be only a few days turned into a little over 2 weeks, ugh .
Nonetheless, we're back up now - not at full force mind you, there are still a few things that need to be set up and configured but for the most part we're back and better than ever. Over the next week or so, there will be an introduction of a new game to the 'Yard as well as a few surprises along the way . So, stick around and see what pops up.
So I bring home a copy of MaximumPC, and while shredding the plastic I drop the extras disk on my foot. In the list of demo products the name "Project: Nomads" is inscribed on the side of the disk. Insert disk and run installer.
Decent graphics, some bad voice acting in the part of one of the characters. Then, the game takes on the aspect of something truly awesome.
Kudos to Ukyo to letting us know that Gamer's Hell has put up a Netsphere Q&A with Jamie System's HyunGoo Lee, Project Manager. Although they mention some 'exclusive shots' that they've received, there is nothing new - everything currently available can be seen in our gallery here. Not a lot of new information here, but they do stand by their first quarter 2003 release and December 2002 release of a demo. Obligatory snippet:
What characters will be available to use? Will there be "continuous" personalities (those we can improve by getting more experience)?
The Mechs will be each user’s avatar. Based on their status from a leveling and class system the users will have more choices of available Mechs to use. Also, the system will continuously calculate each player’s record from multi-player matches and show how skillful the users are and/or how long they survived.
Stickboy sends word in that pictures from the latest Lan Festivus have finally made their way onto the 'net. Poseidon and I really wanted to make it to Festivus 13 but unfortunately, due to prior engagements were unable to. We're hoping to make it to Festivus 14 which is coming up soon, we'll keep you posted. Anyhow, enjoy the carnage!
The Official Starsiege reunion is being postponed for another couple of weeks. It is now the weekend of the 29th-13st. This is due to the enourmous amount of people trying to be contacted and the response time needed. Also, being moved to Thanksgiving weekend, gives more of our working members holiday time needed to play. For more details, check it all out here.
Battlefield 1942 1.2 Update
Fri Oct 25th, 2002
Posted by: at 11:40 AM
EA's Battlefield 1942 page has been updated with the latest information about their upcoming patch.
1.2 PATCH UPDATE
Well folks, we're getting down to the wire with our 1.2 patch. We'll be testing the fixes below and if all goes well you should see it soon. The patch will fix the following items:
NETWORK/SERVER FIXES
Server CPU usage improvements
Remote console application is now fixed
Neutral flag/Spawn location bug fixed
Bug causing soldier animation states to be dropped fixed
Reconnection problems fixed
The ASE.dll "Failed to execute ASEQuery_init()" error is fixed
Bound sockets are released correctly
No longer need to reissue the "min.enableRemoteConsole/enableRemoteAdmin" commands when the server restarts
Bocage CTF corrupted data fixed
People playing on a server should no longer be dropped during map-switches
Added feedback when the server registers a weapon hit. Shows with the crosshair flashes
CLIENT FIXES
GAMEPLAY TWEAKS:
Increased jeep's sensitivity to shells (one shot/one kill)
Increased B-17 rate of fire for better carpet bombing
Increased damage for MG42 and Browning vs. infantry
Increased damage caused by airplane machineguns vs. other planes
Increased AA gun damage vs. infantry (1 shot/1 kill in torso/head)
Increased knife damage distance
Increased Tiger tank health by 25%
Slightly increased damage for MP40, MP18 and Thompson vs. infantry
Decreased grenades damage vs. tanks by 33%
Decreased deviation for pistol when running
Fixed M10 being considered as a jeep for splash damage
CHEATS REMOVED:
Cheat: Long View Distance is no longer working
Cheat: Wireframe is no longer working
Cheat: Turning Off Fog is no longer working
SOUND IMPROVEMENTS & OPTIMIZATIONS:
Irregular looping sounds and/or loss of sounds, bug has been fixed
Redundant sound state changes removed
Memory usage optimizations
Physics engine improved, (example: the mine on the sinking jeep issue is fixed)
Improved Security, copy protection, and connection performance
Totally new file structure
AI OPTIMIZATION:
Bots do not jump in and out of vehicles anymore
Bots have improved mobility and behavior while sitting in tank turrets
LINUX SERVER
This is still being debugged. We've got a nasty bug with client connections being detected. Once that's out of the way we'll go into full beta testing with the Linux server.
Well, it's always good to know that the developer is actually working on a great game to make it even better!
I just recieved a notice from Monger that TribesCenter.com is closing it's doors. Here is what he had to say.
It is with a heavy heart that I have to announce the closing of Tribescenter.com on or about the end of this month. Over the past few years we have provided useful information and resources to the community and we really appreciate all of the support the community has provided to us.
We feel that the Tribes community is one of the best collections of people in the gaming community and hope that everyone will work hard to keep it strong. Again, thank all of you for your support and dedication and I hope to see you on a server in the near future. It's been a fun ride.
Tribes truly has one of the most amazing communities I have ever been apart of. Thanks for all you guys have done, Tribescenter! You will be missed.
A few days ago, iGames, the national network of gaming centers - who, previously, cooperated with Microsoft and Bungie to host the Halo National Tournament - announced the kickoff of the Halo Winter Season, a new tournament coming up soon.
Notable is that all of the tournament rules, settings, gametypes, organization, and so forth was thought up by a team of Halo fans, in the hope of preventing another debacle like the Nationals.
First prize is free trips for your team to E3 2003, all expenses paid.
What is, in my opinion, the best turn-based strategy of all time went gold today! Firaxis' Civilization III: Play the World is an add-on that not only adds multiplayer to the highly acclaimed game, but also adds new races, units, maps, and single player gameplay modes. Word is that we can all stand in line as soon as November 1st.
Personally, I can't wait for this game! Thanks to HomeLAN for the scoop.
Our good friends over at Tribes2Maps.com have chosen a new Map of the Week. This week's winner is Mirage by Alundra. Here's a snip:
As far as base layout goes, there is 2 diferent bases for the defenders. One is the Wall base and the other is the Main Base. The wall base two platues with a wall/bridge type to connect two towers together. In the towers are inventory stations for the attackers and defenders. Once the wall gens are destroyed then the inventorys for the attackers become availible. As for the main base, there are 4 generators, 1 main hall, 1 reserve, and 2 dual which are placed right next to each other. Though the base may seem confusing at first it is actully pretty simple.
Last Thursday, the weekly Realm Wars chat was held over at the GarageGames IRC channel and today the chat log has been posted. It's a rather long but very informative read touching base on the CVS to gameplay thoughts.
Starsiege fans! Did you ever want to make your own character? Ever want to put your name and story behind that nameless character? Have you never played Starsiege but you want your name on something? Heres your chance! Eidolon of the official Starsiege forums has come up with the idea of creating characters for 'Siegers and compiling the entire thing into a database! Click here to find out more!
BF1942 1.2 Patch
Sat Oct 19th, 2002
Posted by: at 15:05 PM
Electronic Arts has released some info about the new 1.2 patch that will soon be put into effect once everything has been finished and tested. The majority of the changes in 1.2 were focused towards the mod community.
According to EA, the games file structure has been changed to better support mods and expansion packs.
The Linux server was a no-go in this patch, as it is still in debug mode, and being worked on as present.
The EA team is also attempting to take drastic steps toward minimizing the amount of TKers on that are abundant on the servers, and to limit thier freedom. For example a new remote console system will be introduced to allow server administrators to effectively kick and ban TKers.
Also with patch 1.2, the recently some of the recently discovered cheats and exploits will be either eleminated, or have the effect reduced to the point of uselessness.
Yes, an atomic battery. Researchers at Cornell University in New york have developed a prototype battery that uses radioactive nickel-63 and a small strip of copper in a mehcanical mechanism that can possibly generate electricity for up to 50 years. Called a "reciprocating cantilever atomic battery", the device can be used to drive microscopic motors, generate radio signals, power an LED for light signals, and more.
An entire device, including a vacuum enclosure, could be made to fit in less than one cubic millimeter.
If you're worried about the radioactivity, rest at ease: nickel-63's decay produces beta particles (electrons), which can be collected or blocked quite easily.
Resembling the Halo Jump video that started the Halo movie craze, Northern Brigade's second BF stunt video contains a whole lotta' crazy. A *new* tactic I've not heard about yet, TNT Jumping, is displayed very vividly in this video along with some other goodies such as wingwalking and fast gunner switches. Its definitely worth a looksie!
Spotted over at MechNex: Eviscerator has finally put up an official website with forums for the Starsiege 1.005 patch. Here's his release:
Prometheus Cyberdyne, an independant not-for-profit game developer based in Eugene, has had it's legal hands tied in completing SS Redux, an extensive reworking of SS designed with two goals in mind: finishing the game, and finishing it the way it was intended to be. In other words, bye-bye SS, hello Earthsiege 3.
Despite legal wrangling, thousands of dollars spent, a great deal of work already done, and the backing of Sierra Legal, Havas has ordered us to cease production pending legal review and the possibility of a questionable future for Sierra itself. However, this does not stop us from doing an offical patch, so I have been informed today. Therefore, I have decided to thus proceed, however, I want it to come from the talents of the community, as my team is hip-deep in other concerns. This will be a "from-scratch" development as we are not allowed to share any of our work at his time, and since it's based on the T2 graphics engine anyway. The patch will be made using the current engine and game and its goal will be to fix errors, replace some of the things left out, fix overbalancing issues, and possibly provide some additional features for both server admins and players alike.
The project will require programmers, modelers, skinners, and folks with vision. The project will follow all of the original plans Dynamix had for SS and ES3 and will not contain out-of-plan fan concepts. To do so will lose us our backing, sorry.
If you can help, you know how to get ahold of me.
Legal disclaimer: These projects are not connected, in any way, to Garage Games, Pipe Works, Stardust, or any other Dynamix spin-off teams. Inquiries to those companies will get you no information.
Got a question about Realm Wars? Interested in how you can get involved in the development of this great game? Well, this Thursday October 17th at 2pm PDT in the GarageGames IRC #garagegames you'll have your chance to chat with the Realm Wars team live.
Taking a quick look at Gamespy's live game stats you can see that both Tribes 1 and Tribes 2 have been kicked from the standings. We don't even have enough players in either game to warrant a spot in the top 10. Com'on guys, load up those games, hop in the servers and get playin' again!
Anyone who visits HomeLan often will know how this guy is. John 'JCal' Callaham is the guy who keeps us up to date on the latest and greatest in the gaming scene c/o HomeLan.com. Check out his spotlight to see what makes him tick.
As any of you may or may not know Sierra has released a new patch for Tribes2. This patch has rendered Renegades unplayable for the time being. Priml1 and Doc are currently working hard to get it up and running under the new patch. Our current issue is the patch that Sierra released is full of bugs and it is slowing down our progress. Sierra is planning another patch release around 11/27/02 to fix the new issues brought up with the latest patch. In the meantime Priml1 and Doc are currently working on old bug/cheats that have come up since the official Renegades release of 1.0. List of bugs squashed are below.
There are several other bug/cheats that will be addressed in the weeks to come. Currently CinciRR and the p9 server is running the beta version of Renegades and should be used for testing. We are asking for any feedback you may have in regards to bugs/cheats with the new patch. Doc has setup a Ren bug tracker site that we ask anyone with an issue to use to report it. The site is designed so that Priml1 and Doc can get all bug/cheat reports in one easy to read page. It also allows each report to be more specific in detail and make it easier to find the problem.
Shot of the weeks are being updated now, send them in to CPL. of Tribes. And finally, Renegades competition is still alive and strong on TeamWarfare. They have about 18 teams that are very active and more are joining on a consistent basis. Head on over to the PlanetRenegades site or the TeamWarfare for more information.
Halo picked up two prizes at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) Interactive Entertainment Awards, a very well-respected UK group. Halo won the awards for Best Multiplayer Game and Best Console Game, and was nominated (but lost out to Luigi's Mansion) for the Best Audio award. Check out the BBC news story for more details on the Bafta Awards, which recognized a number of quality games, websites, and TV shows.
Intel, the famous chipmaker, has fallen victim (I use the phrase lightly) to a patent infringement filing at the hands of Intergraph Corp. The patent violation involves Intel's Itanium 64-bit processor and its "Parallel Instruction Computing" technology. As it turns out, this case goes back to 1997, where Itergraph charged Intel with infringing on several patents used in its "Clipper" chip, which Intel had persuaded Intergraph to stop using in favor of Itanium. The article doesn't mention how this case might affect AMD, if at all.
It's been a while since our last spotlight, but they've returned and to kickstart things we've got Bungie community nut, 3of9 of Subnova on the grill. It's an interesting read, check it out below!
Bountyhunter sent us an email and posted a thread giving a shout to all of the Starsiege ATR1 junkies that we know are still out there. He mentions that you can find the download on their website (but it's also available on our Starsiege downloads page). They've got two servers up: bountyhunter.no-ip.com, port 28001 and KMA Wing's server at: wingracer.no-ip.com, port 28001. Hit the forum thread for more details, otherwise, get your butt in the server and play!
SpartanII posted a note on our forums letting us know of a new MOD he's working on for T2: Zero: Stolen Property; a Halo MOD. Originally conceived as a MOD for C&C Renegade and then scrapped due to no community involvement, SpartanII has restarted the project in the T2 community but he needs your help! He all ready has a couple of pretty impressive models, Master Chief, an Elite, amongst others. Hit the forum thread for more details or visit his site here.
Spotted over at Command Central, Sam Evans has created an online server stats proggy for Battlefield 1942. With this handy little PHP script, you can get live updates from any server on the 'net. Check out an example here, covering the Lords of Steel server, -LoS-Sk8 Park. If you have a BF1942 server and have PHP 4.2.0 or greater installed on our box, head on over to the link below and snag the latest copy of BattleStats.
The XBox Linux project has yielded its latest result: running a complete linux distribution on the XBox. Unfortunately, it still requires a "modded" XBox to install. This is entirely due to Micro$oft's "security" feature a la Paladium. If you've got a modded XBox, this is worth checking out!
Snagged from HBO, community nut Dan Chosich has created the official promo video from the Halo50K tournament. I just finished watching it myself and wow, this is one movie you've definitely got to check out. Hit the link below for a list of mirrors.
Wow. Feret posted in our forums informing us of a possible 1.005 patch. Now before you shrug this off as another hoax, please take note that this thread was created by former SS Dev member, Eviscerator and discusses some real world plans. Obviously, he can't do this alone so he's reaching out to the community to get it done.
After much tribulation with Sierra legal on getting some official developers (ie. Garage Games) to help with the patch, he was turned down and all previous work that he and his team had cannot be used. Thus, this patch will have to be created from scratch! Everyone from programmers, modelers, skinners and just about anyone else who can lend a hand is needed. So head on over to the thread below and help.
Just spotted this over at BF1942 Match, it appears that the Dice is working on a new patch for Battlefield 1942:
Thank you for making Battlefield 1942's launch a huge success. It's been three weeks since BF1942 hit the shelves and people all over the world are playing.
First, we'd like to send out a BIG THANK YOU to those of you who are actively helping others on the BF1942 servers, patiently explaining how to fly certain planes, healing others, repairing vehicles as engineers, and all the other little things that have helped to create such a strong community.
To Do List Update
For those of you who have shared your thoughts on where we need to go next with BF1942... keep 'em coming. While we can't answer everyone's feedback personally, we are taking notes. As it stands our "To Do" list is pretty big.
At the top of the list:
- Linux Server
- 1.2 Patch
- Map Editor
- Mod Tools
We also have some updated information about the top list items. The Linux Server is currently going through the debug process and we're working hard to get it out as soon as possible. The 1.2 patch will address many of the issues which have been brought up on the forums and boards concerning bandwidth optimization, client prediction tweaking and general stability (sorry, Digger, we're not going to add a grappling hook!) The patch will also deliver the highly anticipated Map Editor. As for other mod tools, we're looking at what it would take to modify the existing dev tools for the mod-community. Stay tuned for more updates.
Looking to start up a Halo tournament in the Massachusetts / New England area? Well, BudWhite wants to. He posted in our forums that he and his buddies were looking to set up a tournament the old fashioned way, hooking up two boxes and going at it. Here're the details:
We're looking to do 2 on 2 and 4 on 4 tournaments. Team Slayer, No radar, regular weapon settings (no slayer pro).
If you're interested and are in the area, give BudWhite an buzz: BudWhite267@aol.com.
Update: The chat has been postponed to Thursday Oct 10th at 2pm PDT.
Got a question on the Torque engine? Well nows your chance to stump the experts. Tomorrow (Oct 3rd) at 2pm PDT, join the GarageGames IRC Server, channel #garagegames and ask away. There is but one caveat:
"We don't just want the same questions that have been answered in the forums, we want something really challenging. Send any questions you have in advance of the chat to jaym@garagegames.com or bring them with you and ask them on Thursday at 2pm PDT. The best questions may be used as part of group discussions at IndieGamesCon '02 (registration going on now)."
Codenamed "BattleCraft '42", Zerk has been making some great progress on the Battlefield 1942 Mission Editor. "I have the level loading. All you have to do is point it to were your level is extracted and it will load the heightfield and the tx*.dds files, decompress them automatically, skin the terrain according to the materialmap, size/scale the world according to script and render the landscape appropriatly."
See the forum thread below for a screen and more information.
While browsing the BF42.com forums I came across a very interesting thread - community enthusiast "Zerk" is in the midst of creating a mission editor. ATM there isn't much information except a screen of what looks like rendered grass but be sure to head on over to the thread and lend your support. Heck, we may see some nice community maps sooner than we think .
Looking to pick up the game from Real.com? Well there won't be a better time to do so, with the game now priced at $14.99 USD coming down $5.00 from $19.99. Thanks LordSpawn.
Spotted over at Blue's, Loki has released the Linux version of the 25026 T2 patch mentioned yesterday. Weighing in at around 90MB as well, you can grab the update here and the full patch here.
Wow. Weighing in at nearly 90MB this new patch contains a slew of additions and fixes to the game including the addition of Team Rabbit 2 and Tribes 2 Classic. See the forum thread for a complete list of changes since the last beta patch (thanks PTT). Every mirror available is getting heavily hammered as the patch won't be on the auto update until sometime tomorrow, but you can try your luck at Sierra's FTP, Fileshack and 3D Gamers. Kudos to GarageGames for creating this
As most of you may know, the 'Yard was down from around 1pm EST Sunday till around 6pm EST on Monday. And to be quite honest with you - I am still not 100% of the cause, though, thankfully no data was lost in the downtime. However, the conclusion that I have come to is that PHP was either upgraded or was being fixed and while doing so was not compiled with mySQL support (as it didn't even recognize the connect function).
Nevertheless, thanks to several very attentive sysadmins and otherwise helpful HomeLan individuals they've fixed the problem promptly. However, there are still a few bugs that I've got to iron out (and please email me any bugs that you may find!). Any hosted sites running PHP may notice that your code is being displayed rather than parsed. This is because you are using the PHP calls versus . I am not exactly sure why all of a sudden apache doesn't recognize the former as PHP pages but for now you'll have to change your scripts around in order for the server to parse them. You may also run into a few parse errors in echo'ing out variables (depending on how strict your code is).
Long story short - we had some problems which seems to be have been fixed but there are still a few things that need to be taken care of. I haven't had time to go over things with a fine toothed comb so please let me know if you run into anything out of the ordinary. And, it's great to be back .
Although the BEML was founded on a NO-HO principle, due to necessity we have change the rules and HO is now allowed. We have also changed the minimum team size from 10 players to 8.
The BEML still follows the season format however. In other words, all teams must be signed up by the beginning of the season. The advantages to this are that each team is guaranteed a match each and every week of the season. It also lets each team know who each of their opponents are weeks in advance, so planning may be done in advance.
Several other notable differences in the BEML is the ranking system. A point is given for each map that a team wins. That means that all 3 maps are played in every match, win or lose. At the end of the season, the team with the greatest amount of map wins, gets first place and the BEML Championship title.
The BEML is great for old and new teams alike. Providing an enjoyable yet competitive atmosphere without all the rule-screwing arses. So if you feel up to the challenge, try out the BEML, it is a great league and a great community.
Kudos to NoMaD who pointed out in our forums that Jamie has released a movie showcasing some NetSphere gameplay footage. Shot using what looks to be a web cam facing a monitor, there's no audio, rough quality, and runs for approx. 2:10. Grab it at the link below.
TimberWolf, one of our active Starsiege writers, has come up with a new story for us. The story "Not Enough"; ties in with his "Epoch of Life" story, but instead of picking up where it left off, the story puts Timber in the situation that lead him to the events that are part of his previous story. Thanks TimberWolf.
The recent release of an article titled "Bit by bit, digital freedom disappears" at the Aussie website The Age has sent shockwaves throughout the tech community, scaring a lot of people and agering many more, reporting that AMD is going to include Palladium technology in their forthcoming K8 processors (code-named Hammer).
AMD's chips will increase the security of those accessing programs and the Internet, says company marketer Patrick Moorhead. But it will also refuse to play certain content if it is not digitally signed by Microsoft or an authorised party.
I find myself thanking God for another article reporting on the same subject:
In fact, according to an AMD UK representative, AMD's Opteron products will run any kind of content in the future -- contrary to the report in The Age...
So, the Hammer line will include Palladium, but AMD may allow users to opt-in to the secuity feature.
"There is nothing [in Hammer] that could actually prevent a user running unlicensed content," the representative from AMD said.
To go with our recent "Starsiege Gets a Boost" news item, and Feret's highly successful forum thread I've sat down for a bit and written an article, entitled "A Rebirth". Take a moment out of your day, read it and think about it.
Thanks to VE for posting this - the game is still a long ways away and all ready it's getting reviews. Computer and Video Games has put up a preview of the sequel to the game we all know and love, Halo. Here's a snip:
Bungie's focus is very simple: to build on what made Halo such a great game, with particular attention paid to AI and environments. One of the few, though oft heard criticisms levelled at Halo was the frequent repetition of environments in sections of the game. For the sequel, a far wider range of environments will feature, a structural detail and design will be expanded and improved to avoid the problems of the original.
Unfortunately (but not surprisingly), there is no new media released.
Proving Grounds has setup three new ladders for Battlefield 1942: Conquest, Capture the Flag and Team Deathmatch. They've also opened a new forum section to discuss these ladders. Their forums are a great place to discuss rules, maps and anything related to the ladders. Input from the community is an important part of PG's success.
Keltic mentions, ..."Proving Grounds offers over 80 competitive ladders for FPS and RTS games. PG features detail match coverage in our Aftermath articles and clan interviews in our Spotlight On: feature. Our Match Details feature allows you to upload and store demos, screenshots and comments about all of your matches. PG Radio features WAR, our Weekly Audio Request program as well as match coverage. PG ladder rules are well organized and consistent across all of our ladders. Sign up today!"
Word has gotten out the Pepsi is considering opening a new contest that would send the winner on a trip in a Russian Soyuz space taxi. Pepsi's plans include a reality TV show showing contestants competing for a space flight. Negotiations are already being made with the Russian space program and at least one television network.
The official Unreal Tournament 2003 demo has been released. Note: There are minor issues with current nVidia beta drivers. These issues will be fixed in the next driver release. Benchmarking is also possible - hit tab and type " stat fps " or run the benchmark.exe file included in the package.
Kudos to ShatteredStar for pointing this out on the forums. Due to failed applications for the Elementals, there are a couple individuals impostering as :e:'s in the game crashing servers. ShatteredStar urges that if you witness anything like this to give him a holler at admin@sunandshadows.com or ICQ at 15849869 with details and screenshots if possible.
Our good friends over at Tribes2Maps.com have chosen another map to be placed into the Map of the Week podium. This week it's Adumula Iceplains by LoneWolf Team. Here's a quote from the description:
This mission has to be played to experienced, quite frankly. The bots are awesome (Capto), the WC shapes are new (CleverClothe/Berk) the skies were made special for this (Dr. Pimento) and there are even voices (Death Lobster), since Lt. Kienze didn't have the foresight to record anything for our mission.
Head on over to Tribes2Maps.com for more information and map download.
That's right, Feret, from the forums has just posted a new Starsiege fan fiction. This one is called Reflections, here's a snippet:
Inside Feret felt warm and renewed at the memories, and he moved on to the next mirror. Its red frame was darker in shade then the gold of the frame to its left. Again, he touched his hand against its pane, and he was greeted with a picture that he himself had not seen before. The picture was of a TDF Cruiser traveling through the sol to a destination unknown to him. In the next image, he saw a group of Imperial Knights wearing combat dress without the frills, sashes, and medals that were common on their dress uniforms. A few faces seemed familiar to Feret, but he could not recall their names. Next, he saw what appeared to be a group of medtechs dressed in green and white gowns. They were working feverishly on some patient, but he did not recognize the face of the patient. The image changed and from a different angle he could make out the dark parted hair of the man laying on the infirmary bed. Then the patient's face rolls to the side revealing the blue eyes and demeanor of his personality. It was then that Feret realized whom it was sitting on that operating table. It was himself. He shuddered inside as he saw the blood and cuts along his cheek line and he wondered what he was seeing.
GarageGames has recently posted a link to their latest Community Interview. This time around, the chat covered the development and upcoming release of Chain Reaction by Monster Studios. Panelists included Jeff Tunnell, Brian Hann, Chris Cole, and Kevin Ryan, while GG's Jay Moore moderated.
Spotted over at GarageGames, The Gamers' Press quizzes GarageGames' Jay Moore on Realm Wars along with Chain Reaction and Marble Blast. Here's a snip:
Tell us a little bit about developing with the Torque engine - we know it's a modified Tribes 2 engine, but how can programmer use this to make games (source code, any plug ins for graphics programs like Studio Max, etc)?
Torque delivers 300,000 lines of C++ source code and is best approached as a team although a single programmer could do great things with this engine. Tribes2 is an FPS, but we're doing some great puzzle games in it as well , so it can be as complex or as simple as your game requirements make it. We now have over 70 online tutorials and a wealth of code being shared by the community, literally new features every week. We support exporters for Milkshape and 3DS Max, the use of Worldcraft and Quark and integrated into the engine is a GUI builder, a mission builder, a terrain editor and a terrain generator. The award winning client/server architecture of the network play is well worth the price of admission all on its own.
Spotted this on the forums: the guys over at XTournaments are going to be hosting a massive Halo tourney in New York on the 28th. If you're interested in attending it you can register online at their website.
Monger posted on our T2 forums that the Blood Eagle Elders are currently accepting applications for mature, dedicated players that want to compete in an organized and structured environment. The BEE are a long time honored team (since the early days of Tribes 1) that have enjoyed the reputation of being an honorable and well respected tribe.
Spotted over at TribalWar, Yogi has taken an insiders look at Tribes 2's newest gametype, Team Rabbit 2. There's even an video to go along with it, however, you'll need the new WM Player codec to view it. Here's the recommended quotage:
Team Rabbit is back in a new way for Tribes 2. Those familiar with Team Rabbit will feel right at home. Those who are not are in for a quite a ride. Let's take a look at the classic elements of Team Rabbit and the brand new elements that make this incarnation a winner.
Worthy of note if you're trying to play SS, T1 or T2 - Sierra has scheduled maintence for today and tomorrow on some of their games. Word from the SS community forums is that the Starsiege master servers are down. However, if you've got a hankering to play, visit this thread for server IP's.
Just when we thought we would not hear from Feret for another week, he turns out the second and final chapter in his Earth Strike series. With an array of Cybrids standing between his squads path and their evacuation point, Feret quickly formulates a plan and executing it. The squad manages is to break through the Cybrid line, but an unexpected missile attack forces Feret to make the toughest decision of his life. To find out more head over and read the climactic and suspenseful ending of Feret's Point of Decision: Part 2.
Western Digital released Friday their first 200GB 7200-RPM hard drive. This is the largest hard drive released to date, leading the EIDE market. Their hard drives also offer optional fluid-dynamic bearing motors in all their drives, making these the quietest, as well as largest in the industry.
Dropped by Amazon.co.uk recently? Then maybe you noticed that they're listing Halo 2 for purchase. Okay. But check out the sales rank - it's ranked 134, which is absolutely ridiculous, considering the game is not even out yet, and will not be for another year.
Amazing. The game is head and shoulders above many, many RELEASED games - like a fan said, at this rate the game's going to go Gold before it goes Gold Master...
grey wolf pointed out in our forums that Penny Arcade has put up a Halo 2 strip. Check it out, it's pretty cool, heh. They also comment on the trailer... "It's cool enough I guess, it doesn't show so much as a frame of gameplay, but like candles or Clarence Carter it gets you in the mood. It got me thinking about Halo."
Feret has turned out another story in his Earth Strike series. With the Hydra facility north of Nova Pittsburgh now in ruins, Feret and his strike force hurry south toward their evacuation point, but the and his array of Cybrids stand between them and a quick escape. Feret is faced with the first decision of many that will change his life and perhaps the lives of his comrades.
The Character page within the Realm Wars section has been updated a bit to reflect two new "classes": Tame and Wild Creatures. As usual, the data collected has come directly from the design document that the RW team's lead designer, James Margaris, has been working on.
The Halo 2 trailer was released, now. Download from xbox.com if you want - I recommend picking a mirror from the HBO Mirrors list. New .wmv codec, or .mov.
Ever been in the middle of the most critical part of a game when the phone rings, or someone comes and whisks you away from your game just when you're going to rape that guy's base? Well, Israeli game developer Majorem may have a solution to this. They'll be including an AI component in their upcoming online multiplayer game Ballerium that will learn your gameplay style and take over for you when you just can't play right then. Interesting to say the least.
Well, we're trying to. The Junkyard has been a prominent figure in the Starsiege community ever since it was named "Mad Dog's Starsiege Junkyard" back in the ATR1 days. Seeing the community as stagnant as it has been lately really saddens me and we'd really like to give the 'Siege a boost.
Feret has posted a thread asking for input on ways that we could give the 'Yard SS community a kick in the pants, so to speak. I know you guys have thoughts and opinions, so head on over to the thread and lend your 0.02.
Nautica of Tribes Universe sends word that Steve "BigKid Icarus" Young has written up a preview of Tribes 2: Aerial Assault. Here's the obligatory snippet:
Tribes 2 on a console MUST suck right? I mean there is absolutely no freaking way you can put even a portion of that sweet aerial fps onto an incredibly inferior console such as the Playstation 2 right? Well if you answered yes to both of those you are most certainly not alone. I’m a VERY hardcore Tribes 2 player under the handle BigKid Icarus and I play the game on my PC for a few hours daily without missing a beat. I was both excited and skeptical of my beloved Tribes franchise being ported over to my PS2. On one hand I thought it would be awesome to have its popularity spread to some of my more console-oriented friends who would finally be able to experience the fast paced, high flying, team based combat perfection that is Tribes 2. On the other hand I was seriously worried about a number of issues, mainly of which was the controls. How on earth could they scale down the complex controls onto the PS2 controller? The graphics of course were another major concern of mine. We all know it takes (or at least used to take…) an absolute powerhouse of a computer to run Tribes 2, one much more powerful than the Playstaion 2 anyway. Well I was in for quite a shock…
Another great reminder of the talent in this community. TimberWolf just finished another story in our forums, Live a Lie. Here's a snip:
Things are seldom what they seem, never take the first image you see of someone
as who they are. -unknown
A golden lake of light crossed over the sky, rippling and shimmering like that of a
wave filled ocean. The sun was just setting over the crest of a hill, and what was most
visible were the clouds sending back the streams of pink, orange and golden yellow to
whose’ ever eyes stared longingly to the sky.
“Shield this is Taccom. Allegmon has engaged the nexi you are go for Earth Strike. Godspeed.”
“Roj that taccom, and thank you.” Feret replied over the com channel. “Well that’s it guys. You all know what we have to do. We have to engage and destroy the main functionality of this compound. I don’t want a single brick standing. Watch for cybrids and good luck stay in teams of two or more.”
Hit the link below to visit the War Stories Writers forum and get into some great Starsiege fan fics.
Wor dis out there's a binary converter that takes XBox executables (.XBE files) and converts them to Windows .EXE format (PE, or Portable Executable format). Since XBox games run on a customized Windows 2000 system, there are some kernel calls that may not be available. But this converter is well under way, even at version 0.30. If you're interested in running Halo on your PC NOW, i'd recommend grabbing this converter.
As for the company’s NV30 chip, industry sources revealed that the postponed launch is due to a design change, not a yield rate problem in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s (TSMC) 0.13-micron process as market rumors suggested. Hoping to enhance the product’s overall performance to compete with ATI’s top-end Radeon 9700 PRO, the sources suggested that Nvidia may alter its original six-pipeline architecture to an eight-pipeline one.
The first Independant Game Developer Roundtable chat log from tonight's event was just recently posted online. The chat consists of a discussion about how to get you and your game into the gaming industry by such giants in the field as Jeff Tunnell (GarageGames), David Michael (Samu Games), and Andrew Kepper and Josh Yelon of eGenesis.
A joint project between GarageGames and Monster Studios, known as Marble Blast was announced today in GarageGames' image of the day. The game uses GG's Torque game engine (big surprise ) and was entered in the upcoming IGF, Independant Games Festival. The idea behind Marble Blast is to get your marble across a map full of gaps, twists, turns, and obstacles while picking up an array of power-ups. It seems like an awesome idea, and I hope it does well at the IGF!
Jason Kim, General Manager of JC Entertainment's US Operation gets grilled again. This time it's by Gamers Pulse, where he gets asked a myriad of Q's but offers somewhat limited responses. There isn't a lot of new information offered but it's a good read none the less. Here's a snip:
GP: Can you give us some information on your "sword battling system"?
NetSphere’s latest addition is a close hand-to-hand combat with swords. The developers intention was to introduce new combat styles, not rely purely on a shooting style.
Swordplay is a relatively new concept to FPS games, as such we are still considering several different ways in which to incorporate it into NetSphere. Although we have no available details at this time, you will be able to see soon one possible avenue of swordplay in a demo version.
Click the link below for the full interview. Thanks Homelan.
Matt McCarthy, webmaster of CSports.net sends word that they have just launched a new service called MyLadders. Here's what he had to say:
CSports.net, the online computer gamers ranking and statistics site, has just launched a new service called MyLadders. MyLadders is a personalised ladder service that allows you to easily run automated rankings and statistics for up to 25 online computer gamers. The
rankings work on a chess style system and can be applied to any of the 56 games and over 1500 modifications that CSports covers.
To have a look at or try out the service just go to www.csports.net/myladder/ and within minutes you will be running your own ladder for you and your mates.
VenusXL sends word that Gameplay Mag has put up a review of the Battlefield 1942 Beta 8 playtest. Here's a snip:
There is so much to do in BF42 that for the first few days you just run around like an excited child trying out the different toys. The novelty of flying your plane deep into Nazi territory, bailing out, pulling the parachute cord and gently floating down into the middle of a base, whilst shooting Chuck Norris style, just never wears off. When comparing this game to others it reminds me most not of Counter Strike, but more like an online GTA3. It’s a big digital toy box of a game.
It appears that the government is finally starting to pull their heads out of their asses and realize that Games (and Movies, and Porn sites ?!?) don't kill people. On Tuesday August 13th a federal appeals court rejected a $33 million lawsuit which blamed several entertainment companies for a Kentucky school shooting.
The suit claimed the makers of video games, a pornographic Internet site and a movie studio were responsible for the slayings because they exposed the gunman, Michael Carneal, to violent and sexual images.
Among the defendants wasd Id Software, who defended their stance with the 1st Ammendment. Even though the shooting was a very tragic event, I'm exctatic that they're not laying the blame on an industry that is as much art as science; and Art is a form of self-expression (a right which the 1st Ammendment protects).
The news seems to be going gold today... Anyhow, thanks to The Professor for sending us word that Battlefield: 1942 has finally gone gold. Shipping date for the PC is September 10th. Can't wait to get my hands on this one
Found at ps2.ign.com, they report that Tribes: Aerial Assault has gone gold for the Play Station 2. The game will be on shelves a month from tomorrow - if you've got a PS2, but sure to save your pennies to snag this rendition.
We've got a new poll here at the 'Yard. Our previous poll (seen here) asked if we should add a new game to the games that we cover. 68% of you said yes, while 16% said no and another 16% said you didn't care. So, our new poll throws up a few new games that we were looking into covering and it is now up to you to decide which one we cover. However, if there's another game that you'd really like to see here please post in the comments thread below and let us know!
My, my, my. Old-school Bungie fan Steve Campbell and his posse have gone and fired up a whole new site - nay, not a site, an entire NETWORK, devoted to Bungie. They're starting a community effort, freely (emphasis on free) hosting Bungie fan sites, that sort of thing. Interesting stuff.
The Electric Playground has slapped up a preview of Halo 2 after seeing the delightful upcoming trailer in Toronto, Canada. Feedback is very positive... here's a snip:
It's hard to imagine Halo with better graphics, but here it is. Textures are more detailed and intricate. And the lighting is astonishingly good looking. Much of the trailer shows the Master Chief passing through doors, with light streaming behind him. Pure white light actually, like he's exiting a near death experience (probably not far from the truth, given the nature of the game). The way he is silhouetted in it, the way it streams and plays off his armor and weapons...[drools]. Unless my imagination is deceiving me, the models look like they have more points of animation too.
The preview goes on with a lot of interesting information (not necessarily "facts" mind you), but although nothing was set in stone yet, a tentative release date was mentioned as holiday 2003. IMHO, there is no way they are making that. Nevertheless, check out the preview .
Interestink. Old-school Halo fansite Battleground: Halo (in recent times mostly defunct) has been redone, and started receiving updates again. Drop by.
Jaime Griesemer, a Level Designer for Halo (and Halo 2, mind you) has written up a brief how-to-break-into-the-game-development-industry article at Bungie.net. The focus? Level Design, the (arguably) easiest position to grab if you're inexperienced. Check it out.
Bryan Buschmann, a concept artist and contributor to the Realm Wars project has recently posted a concept-design for a map of the Realm. The piece is fairly interesting, check it out!
Kudos to Ukyo for pointing this out, Gamespot has updated their preview of Tribes: Aerial Assault with some hands-on reports. I believe this snippet sums it up nicely:
Tribes: Aerial Assault is shaping up to be an incredibly fun game and a worthy conversion of its PC counterpart. We had a chance to try out the online play, and there didn't seem to be any latency issues at all. Tribes: Aerial Assault is scheduled for release in October.
The folks over at GarageGames have just launched their "Indie Developer Roundtable" where members of the indie community are given the chance to participate in a moderated chat with lead developers and the GG Staff themselves. The next chat, scheduled for August 29th will feature Andrew Tepper of eGenesis, David Michael of Samu Games and Jeff Tunnell founder of GarageGames and MonsterStudios. For more information, please visit the link below.
As some may know, I was in Neocron Beta 3, which i quite enjoyed the few times I could play. If you're interested in a new MMORPG, then I'd suggest trying out Neocron while you wait for World of Warcraft, Asheron's Call 2, and EverQuest 2. It's an interesting RPG set in the future in the region surrounding Neocron City. You can play a Psi Monk (my favorite), Spy, or Tank (Bodyguard), and customize your character as you see fit. Try out the download and preorder for the October release! ^_^
Anyone in the Halo community will know this fellow, Louis Wu, the big cheese behind many Bungie sites and in particular - halo.bungie.org. He's been put into the community spotlight and offers a great read. Did you know he studies Tangsoology?
If this is legit, it's exciting. I can't read Chinese very well (my only obstacle to mastering Japanese), but it appears a Chinese group got their hands on a pre-production testing NV30 and have BENCHMARKED it. If these numbers are legit, then this means the NV30 is going to make the recently-released Radeon 9700 look like a peice of green shit. Check out the benchmarks - there are pretty pictures.
Kudos to Homelan Fed for pointing this out - Gamespy Daily has posted up a rather large Q&A with Garage Games's Jeff Tunnell about the Torque's one year anniversary. Here's a snip:
GameSpy: Garage Games recently celebrated the Torque Engine's one year anniversary. In that time you've made a lot of changes and improvements to the engine, documentation, tools, etc? Give us some of the more memorable highlights & milestones from the last year.
Jeff Tunnell: It has been an absolute whirlwind, and it's hard to believe that a year has gone by. Getting the Torque out, evangelizing game developers and creating the community, improving the GarageGames site, attending CDGC in the Intel booth, improving the Torque, conceptualizing and releasing Realm Wars as a community project, and moving into offices are all flashbacks that come to mind.
Some updates here on the 'Yard - a couple of new wallpapers have been added to our NetSphere files, bringing the 'paper count up to three now.
Most of the folks in the 'Siege community probably all ready know this fellow, but now you have a chance to have a take a more indepth look into his life. ShatteredStar has made his way into our community spotlight.
Future years will never know the seething hell and the black infernal background,
the countless minor scenes and interiors of the secession war; and it is best they should
not. The real war will never get in the books. --Walt Whitman
The darken sky let lose a rolling thunder across the long and sparse landscape. It crackled its’ way along the clouds waiting for the lightning to answer. And so it did with a large and quick flash of light, running it’s long vine like fingers to the ground and then disappearing.
Another rumbling echoed long after the crack of thunder, what this was could not easily be seen through the rain that was just beginning to splatter across the land, giving drink to the thirsty plants of the wild.
Check out the rest of this story along with a myriad of others in the SS WSW forum.
Intel, Gateway, and HP are being sued by consumers for "knowingly misrepresenting" the performance of the P4 Processor.
The plaintiffs claim the companies deceived the public when marketing Intel's flagship processor and allege that it is "the material fact that there is no benefit to consumers in choosing the Pentium 4 over the Pentium III." The complaint alleges that "the Pentium 4 is less powerful and slower than the Pentium III and/or the AMD Athlon."
And later,
[The complaint] does, however, cite what it says is law in California-- where the companies are headquartered--that each plaintiff is entitled to actual damages, restitution of property, and punitive damages. The complaint notes that the cumulative total would be less than $75,000 each.
The first Community Chat for the Realm Wars project has recently been published on the web. GarageGames' new Marketing representative facilitated the event with the help of RW's Lead designer: James Margaris. Community members were allowed to ask questions about Realm Wars to Phil Carlsile (Lead Programmer) and Pascal Bos (Lead Artist). Here's a clip of what was said:
Right now we are working towards milestone 2 from there we will review what’s gone in and make a new set of milestones. Also, there will be access to the CVS for every torque licensee. So that should help a few others out. Pascal?
PascalB> Currently we have all kinds of small models in productions. These are mainly all small items and landscape decoration like trees, rocks land markers and light sources. The main goal for now is make the landscape a little more interesting so that we will have a nice surrounding to build our future maps in.. Besides this we are experimenting with magic effects and trying to figure out a nice player interface (like Phill said).
Our good friends over at Tribes2Maps.com have chosen another Map of the Week. This week's winner is ???Unknown??? who created the map entitled: Containment. Here's a snip:
Both the Offense and Defense spawn in the Ultima Thule base, seperated from each other by force fields.
The goal of the Offense is to destroy the Generators in order to take down the force fields blocking their path (keeping them "contained" in order to reach the Switch FF Generator, and in turn, the switch.
And as always, head on over to Tribes2Maps for more information.
As of 12:00PM EST today the official Battlefield 1942 Multiplayer Demo is available for download from the official website.
After a disheartening bug in the single player demo that caused a crash to the desktop many people suffered from, the single player demo was unplayable to a wide range of users. However Dice worked quickly to find this bug and to efficiently fix it, ready in time for the multiplayer demo. Everyone who was unable to make good use of the SP demo had to patiently wait (including myself), and now, the MP demo is officialy here.
I suggest heading over to the official site and snag yourself a copy.
Very quickly: A man walked up to the AMD booth at LinuxWorld and noticed a Clawhammer machine that was unattended. So, he ran OpenSSL benchmarks on it. The Inquirer has the results and a comparison with a Celeron. I've heard there's a comparision with Itanium somewhere....
Over half a year has passed since Halo was released for the Xbox and there are still reviews popping up on the 'net. The latest one comes from Gamtopia where they strike a different cord with the game:
Halo has been widely hailed as THE Xbox game to own, and much of this praise is deserved. So why is it fraught with so many design problems?
Confirmation has come to light that nVidia's NV30 will in fact be released in time for Christmas. It taped out last week (the design was finalized), and TMSC's yields for the silicon are only 10-20% (1 or 2 out of 10 chips work). But, the GPU should hit retailers in November. At higher clock speeds, expect the NV30 to be a hell of a lot more powerful than ATi's R300
I just got news from XLAN Games that they're hosting a Halo tournament in Jacksonville, FL on September 14 and 15. Supposedly they're going to try and cram up to 256 players into this tournament (Sounds like fun! and all of the equipment will be provided (except for controllers, bring your own!). Here's the skinny:
Location: Comfort Suites, Jacksonville Fl.
Price: $25
Duration: 12:00 PM-9:00 PM
Prizes: Vary from EB gift certificates, Blockbuster gift certificates, Xbox goodies.
Oh, and they'll be unveiling what are known as the "XLAN GIRLS", a sort of gaming-cheerleader squad.
There's a counter on the Battlefield 1942 website counting down until the release of the official multiplayer demo. The demo will contain one full level from the final game and will be released at 12 noon Pacific time this friday. (Email, IM, or PM me if you're interested in the demo released LAST month.)
Yeah yeah, I know - I just got back from my first and second vacations but I'm taking another one starting tomorrow. On Tuesday the 13th, there will be a nice meteor shower so I thought it'd be nice to head up north once again to get a better view of it. I'll be back Wednesday sometime, later
Munchy sends word of his new website, T access that has just recently opened it's doors; a Tribes 1 and 2 enthusiast site. Here's what he had to say:
T access has finally opened for business, We cover Tribes 1 and Tribes 2 and hope to bring all the latest news straight to you as it happens. You will find interviews, scripts, maps, mods, links, you name it. we've probably got it. If we haven't, contact us and we will get it.
We are looking for Staff (news posters), if your interested and want to join taccess send an email to info@taccess.co.uk, becoming a part of the news team you will get a @taccess.co.uk email address.
This news is a bit late, but a little more than a week ago the Realm Wars Lead Designer, James Margaris expanded on a few topics of the game's design. He wrote up a few different ways to work magic into the game, to be decided upon later along with a list of the races to be included in Realm Wars. I have taken the liberty of mirroring James's magic document here on The Junkyard, as well as updating our Characters page in the Realm Wars section.
So now that Tribes: FA has been cancelled, a lot of people have been wondering why. Well, this short interview shows what it turned out to be. Several months ago, the team played the single-player campaign through and decided it wasn't much better than Tribes 2. So, with no compelling content to offer, they simply scrapped it. Read the interview for details.
Bungie has just announced their intention to release a sequel to Halo for the XBox. The Bungie announcement has screenshots and wallpapers to share. But don't think this is a rehashed Halo 1.5 with little different - they're craking everything up several notches:
The game itself is everything you loved about the original Halo, but with all the knobs turned up to 11 this time round. This is not a quickie "Halo 1.5" follow-up using the same engine. We are using a completely rewritten graphics engine which allows our artists to work in previously unimaginable complexity and detail. Anyone who thinks the original Halo stretched the Xbox's graphical abilities to the limit is mistaken. There are gorgeous new realms to be explored, and Halo 2 will take you there.
Spottted over at the Mechnex, it seems as though the Starsiege community has another Homecoming planned. A while back this was a great success, bringing in a lot of old and new faces back into the servers to have some fun.
They're still in the midst of planning the occasion, so head on over to the thread and lend your 2 cents worth. Let's make this Homecoming bigger and better than the last!
TimberWolf has been very busy lately and had some time, oddly enough, at 1:30 in the morning last night and decided to write some good ol' Starsiege fiction. Here's a snip of his latest story, entitled "Epoch of Life" caught from our War Stories Writers forum:
Many of life's circumstances are created by three basic choices: the disciplines you
choose to keep, the people you choose to be with; and, the laws you choose to obey.
--Charles Millhuff
A dream-like landscape unfolded out in front a figure. Long fingers of grass and
weeds dance with the wind, releasing their next generation into the air to be tossed around
the winds of time.
The lone figure looks on, out to the edge of what he can see, to the large and
engrossing mountain silhouettes. All this backed by a golden orange glow of a unknown
sun setting--sending the planet into a semi-darkness. The light from the many moons, and
stars are the backdrop of tonight’s untold story.
Clouds flash and the figure shifts uneasily as a chill wind blows up over the
mountains. “Storm..” he breathed lightly, slowly moving his head to the sky above him.
Quick as if taken a hold by tornado force winds the sky is filled with black clouds; large,
thin storm clouds.
"Home of the greatest tournament in Halo History" is the motto from the guys over at Halo50K, a Halo tournament that plans to award the winners some cool cash. Registration opens today and on November 9th 2002 in Atlanta, GA, the contest will be underway. The only catch is that you're got to be a US citizen - thus for us Canadians, we're SOL . Nevertheless, this looks like it's going to be one helluva tournament, so if you're in the area (even if you're not - plan to be! ) be sure to sign up... though at $100 / person, you'll need to save your pennies .
There's a new Map of the Week over at Tribes2Maps. This time it's Compromise Line by EEPROM. Here's a snip:
Well, after being laid off my job a few weeks ago I have found some free time to start mapping and prefabing again. So, here is my first T2 map with my own custom interiors. Don’t let the pics on this page fool you, the main base itself just might be the largest interior built for Tribes 2 yet, maybe. Let me start out be telling you all a little about each interior. The main base consist of a castle, two huge bunkers on the front beach, a hanger for flying vehicles only in the sea cliff, a motor pool for land vehicles only under the castle and all these are connected underground by a network of tunnels and rooms. At the fare North and South of this map are two different types of suspension bridges that connect the two landmasses. At the ends of both bridges is a team bunker that has a secret back door entrance where you will find the bunker generator. Each teams main base interior faces the enemy separated by a body of water. Be careful, the front of these main bases is heavily defended so a simple jump-fly across the body of water may not be the safes way to go. Also, you’ll find it hard getting a tank up the steep sea cliff walls so I recommend using the passes and bridges. Remember, I have been away from mapping for some time now and this map may be a bit rusty. However, it’s been play tested time and time again and I think most of the bugs have been worked out (keeping fingers crossed).
Word has leaked out of nVidia's labs that NV30 is well under way in development, but as of yet still has not taped out, meaning that the final design still has not been approved. TMSC's 0.13 micron fab plant wil be used to produce the NV30, but questions are raised as to whether Samsung will be able to provide the 1GHz DDR-II RAM for the cards. The good thing is that we know now about how well the card will perform based on the performance estimates that have leaked.
The NV30 is expected to be shipped by Christmas, but don't hold your breath.
According to this article, Sierra has decided to scrap Tribes: Fast Attack, and instead is relaunching Tribes 2. It will be relaunched for $10, with GrageGames' new patch and two mods (CompMod and TeamRabbit 2) each of which will contain new maps as well as 10 classic Tribes 1 maps remade for Tribes 2.
Yeah, yeah, I know I just went for some rest and relaxation but I'm heading out again! This time however, I'm heading up to my girlfriend's boat for a few days. I'll be leaving tomorrow evening sometime and I'm not quite sure when I'll be back. Monday or Tuesday would be my best guess. Anyhow, until then, later guys
Shannon 'Stickboy' Case has just let us know via email that Festivus 13 has been scheduled for September 28th. Festivus is a small LAN in Rodchester, NY with a great bunch of guys. Although they feature mostly Q3 / UT games, the last couple of times that Poseidon and I have ventured down there we've had some pretty damn fun Tribes 2 matches going on. Go here and here for more details.
Spotted in our forum, Ice posts up a recruiting notice for Team |KoA| Knights of Antiquity. Here's a snip:
About Us…
This gaming organization, called Knights of Antiquity, exists for the purpose of Entertainment, Sportsmanship and Friendship. Regardless of the team or game being played, we strive to present a professional attitude towards our playing. We play for the pure enjoyment of it (as opposed to the mind set that we must always win). However, along the way, if we should earn a league title, we will be happy to let everyone know that these “Ancient Warriors have kicked some butts!”
|KoA| is looking for…
Team oriented players who are mature, within our age group (25 or older, but we do consider applicants between 21-24), have a good attitude, can commit to two or more nights a week at 9 pm EST for about 2 hours, what to play competitively, make new friends, have a lot of fun and enjoy playing Tribes 2.
For more information, please see the forum thread.
Word is out all over the tech world that AMD is doing what they said they'd never do - upping from 133MHz to 166MHz FSB, making 333MHz the memory standard instead of 266MHz. Using the same multiplier settings, we'll be seeing AMD put out 2400+ and 2600+ CPUs on the Thoroughbred "Rev2" CPU.
Treat this as a rumor and don't get your hopes up. But we may yet see these chips soon.
I've posted some reports on the NV30 over the last couple weeks, and some screenshots from the NV30 have recently leaked. Spectacular real-time effects like shading, texturing, reflection are possible.
nVidia's offering will support the new AGP 8x standard and DDR-II (possibly a 128-bit system, but no one is sure) on a 0.13 micron core. Presumably, it is a multi-chip card with "less than 8 chips" (as noted over a week ago).
Take a look at the screenshots and imagine to yourself what kind of games we may see in the next 2 years.
I should've mentioned this earlier, but for whatever reason it had slipped my mind. Anyhow, I'm heading out to a friend's cottage for the next three days to grab a little R&R and enjoy the peace and quiet. I'll be back sometime Thursday evening, so if you need to get in touch with me, you won't be able to do so until around then sometime. See ya!
While browsing Sierra's Starsiege forums, I noticed a new site that had been released, Sigma Faction. It's a general Starsiege archive site that will look after map reviews, downloads, forums and more.
KaneRO, the mastermind behind this operation had this to say:
After months of working on it, I have completed 95% of the site. Only 2 pages are not completed and they're really not that important at this time.It's just the pages for map reviews and general downloads.
You can now upload skins and maps to the site and download others. If you want, you can even download you own after it's uploaded. The site addy is http://www.sigmafaction.com.
Welcome, welcome, welcome, to the latest Junkyard contest - "Halo: Guess the Release Date"!
Perhaps you can "guess" what this is about. When's Halo coming out for the Mac and PC? Who knows? We sure don't. And neither do you; but you think you do, don't you?
So take those suspicions and put them to use - and maybe make off with some l33t swag while you're at it, if you guess right. Just fill in the date when you think the game goes gold, and if you get it right, then you're both rich and famous. Or something.
On July 1st 2002 Microsoft announced it will no longer accept WHQL submissions for Windows versions 98SE and NT.
This means that there will no longer be "officially tested" or "supported" drivers for Windows 98 and NT 4. Ever. Period. Windows 95/98/NT are officially dead.
Scott 'INtense!' Reismanis sends in a flurry of information about his newly opened site, the Mod Database, a place for every MOD under the sun - including T2 MODs. Here's what he had to say:
The mod database (http://www.moddb.com/) has just launched. This site is the first fully dynamic mod directory covering all games which allows mod authors to add their mod, share news, request help wanted and much more. The aim is that one day the mod database will list every game and every modification in a detailed manner. Visitors are then able to share their invaluable comments, opinions, rate mods, scope out mods recommended by fellow members and even utilize an extremely precise mod search engine to find the exact mod they are after, hopefully taking the heartache and annoyance out of finding a mod which suits, due to the abundant amount of mods of all games and genre scattered across the web! If you were able to share some news of this new website dedicated to the growing modification community your site plays host to, one day the modDB might just achieve its mission statement.
If you're looking for that special MOD for your favourite game, chances are you'll find it here. Check it out!
[email=acrisp02@nbnet.nb.ca]Andrew[oAo][/email] sent us word of a new CTF Mappack that he has just released for Starsiege. Containing four maps, all with new terrains:CTF_Fyodor_Station, CTF_Rangrid_Base, CTF_Nexus_Shiva and CTF_Simeiz_Vallis. Click on the names for more information or see below.
1. CTF_Rangrid_Base: Set on Venus, this is a close-quarters fight between two neighboring mining stations. The area recently had some heightened volcanic activity however, and much of the ground in the valley where both bases are located is still too hot for vehicles to traverse safely. Any vehicle not on base grounds, the hilltops or the winding road between both bases can expect to experience a gradual loss of structural integrity, making forays on anything but the fastest vehicles a risky proposition - especially with hostile forces shooting at you.
2. CTF_Fyodor_Station: (This map was originally intended to be an Imp vs Rebel CTF game, and I may incorporate alternate script elements - see the stdlibs that came with my Defend and Destroy mappack - to make that a reality) Two Martian bases seperated by a landscape of eroded mesas are currently shrouded in a duststorm. Visibility is very poor: pilots will have to rely on their sensors more than their eyes to see the enemy. A good map for cloaked vehicles and surprise attacks.
He also posted in our forums to let us know that he will be hosting a server with these maps on Friday and Saturday July 26 and 27. See the forum thread for more information.
Here's some good news and it's pretty self-explanatory. The new Battlefield 1942 singleplayer demo has been released based on Electronic Art's permission.
Please note that this demo is not to be used for review purpose since it is still currently under development.
SO far, the info is quite limited and a little sketchy in areas, but it appears the NV30 will support much, much more than DirectX 9 will require from all video cards. Previous limitations on vertex and pixel programs have been lifted, and complete programs with a length of 65,535 instructions are supported. nFiniteFX has been left in the dust to make room for its successor CineFX, which makes advanced cinematics quite easy to implement.
If you're at all interested in the NV30's coming capabilities, this article is worth a look. But if you want to know the specs on it, you'll have to wait. We only know there will be an odd number of chips numberling less than 8.
Immidiately following the announcement of it's UT2003 Demo Tournament, The Extreme Gaming Association (theEGA) has opened up Pre-Registration for it's Tribes 2 12-Man Base++ event.
[QUOTE]This tournament will take place on August 16, 17,and 18 during the late afternoon & evening (Friday will be evening-only). The event will take the format of a double-elimination tournament. Friday will be a warm-up round for the teams, to ensure everyone gets sufficient practice time (note: this warmup round will be mandatory for teams and will help determine seeding).
Servers will be provided by XGamerNet. TheEGA will be using a tournament script that has been in development over the past few months. This will help minimize human error, and ensure the accuracy of all results. Prizes, Sponsors, Shoutcasters and exact rules are still being confirmed, but we are asking all teams who plan to participate to sign up on our webpage at http://www.theEGA.com. Simply follow the signup link on the right side of the page. Team leaders can create their team, and invite other players. Note that this is a temporary version of our control panel, so we can begin registration as soon as possible.
[/QUOTE]
If you have any questions about registering, stop by #EGA on irc.dynamix.com and speak with any of the staff members. They will continue to update you via e-mail and forums about any further developments in relation to this tournament. Count on this being a very enjoyable, well-run event.
Feret is at it again. In our Starsiege War Stories Writers forum, he has just finished part 3 of "Earth Strike: Mountain Perimeter". Here's a snip:
“There are the glitches.” Captain Tainnen spoke over the radio as he and Herb watched from the crest of one of the peaks along the long mountain ridge.
“It doesn’t look like they’ve spotted us yet, Cap’”
“Yeah, it looks that way. On my signal we move and we jump their rear echelon. If we are quick we can disable a few of their shepherds before they will realize what we’ve done.”
“I got a target all ready and primed, just give the go.”
A joint collaboration between Bungie Studios, Microsoft, iGames, and Electronics Boutique, the first official National Halo Tournament will kick off soon in a gaming center near you.
On August 10 and 11, you too can throw your chips in the pot to win such swag as an RCA 50-inch plasma flat screen TV, a Bose Lifestyle 35 speaker system, Xboxes, games, etc., oh my. If you make the playoffs, you'll be shipped free of charge to Redmond, WA, to play against a handful of other gamers who think they're as good as you are.
There's a 18-and-up age limit on the tournament, but I can't say if that's enforced or not. Details below.
Today, it was announced that Alex Seropian, CEO of Bungie, will be leaving the company at the end of August to pursue other things (his family, for one).
Alex was one of the founders of the company, and has been punting around those slackers since the beginning; he's worked on every game they've released, and has been a driving force behind the company for years.
Now the chump's taking off. We're all a bit saddened by the prospect.
Good friend of mine, and ex-Axis developer, "JUN" is in this week's community spotlight. JUN has long since been a member of the Junkyard community, keeping us up to date with the latest Axis information before the media as a whole got their grubby little hands on it. It's a good read and gives you a little insight into the life of a Korean game developer.
And on an unrelated note, if you happen to live in California, you can play Halo (or other assorted Xbox and Gamecube games) on a full-sized IMAX dome. Interested? Enlist in this here tournament, and if you make the final round, you'll be there.
Another NetSphere interview has popped up on the gaming scene. This time, Action Vault had the pleasure of sitting down with Jason Kim of JC Entertainment's US Operation to ask a few questions. Here's a snip:
Action Vault: What type of gameworld are you building for NetSphere? Will it incorporate a variety of different locations, and influenced you to choose the particular sorts of game environments that you did?
Jason Kim: We plan to design maps that contain our story of the reconstruction of cities destroyed by the comet. Also, by using the setting of mercenary fighters, we wanted to allow the players to experience combat in secretive and secluded areas where regular people would not have access. Therefore, the players will be able to enjoy thrilling battles in several different rebuilding cities as well as places where secret bases might exist such as sewers, mountain caverns or even a deep subterranean mining complex.
There isn't a lot of new information to read, but it's still worth a look. There even appears to be two new screens released, both of which have been added to our NetSphere gallery.
A lot of attention has been paid to Massively Multiplayer Online Community Games (MMOCGs) in the last few years. Developers are constantly trying to come out with something new and innovative, something that their contemporary hasn't thought of yet. The guys over at PersistentWorldZ are onto something with Z-Opolis. We had a chance to sit down with Kevin Hannah, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer over at PersistentWorldZ to talk about just that.
ATi has finally lifted the NDA on their new Radeon cards, the 9000 and 9700. Anandtech has a 9700 review and a 9000 pro review where they call the 9000 a GeForce4 MX killer. [H]ard|OCP also has a 9700 review and 9000 review. And, to round it off, Tom's Hardware has a 9700 review and 9000 review. The 9700 is priced at a hefty $399USD, while its cousins, the 9000 and 9000 pro are $109USD and $129USD respectively. Canucks will clearly pay much more.
SiS is returning to the 3D market with a new offering: the Xabre. This budget card is meant to compete with the GeForce 4 MX line and the ATi Radeon 7500. And comete it does! It outperforms most budget cards by a considerable margin in many tests, and even outshines itself at resultions of 1600x1200! Equipped with a pixel shader, it is the only budget card on the market that has pixel shader support and can run 3DMarks 2001's Nature test. Read the preview, it's a nice card.
Kudos to DuckieofDoom who pointed out in our forums that HomeLAN has posted up their very own NetSphere interview with JC Entertainment's Jason Kim. Quite a good read and it builds upon tJY's own Netsphere interview. Required quottage:
HomeLAN - About how many types of mecha will Netsphere have?
Jason Kim - There will be a total of 20 Mecha available to players. Aside from the initial novice type, there will be three heavy fire support types, three close combat types, three long range types, and three standard (average) types. In addition, there will be seven secret Mecha types that players will have to find to gain access to.
HomeLAN - What kind of new weapons and powerups will be available for the mechas in Netsphere?
Jason Kim - New weapons, such as swords and shields, will be added to the existing artillery, which will be reorganized and redesigned. The original items will be kept in the game, and added upon.
Turns out that some DX8.1 software will crash on AMD processors, and Micro$oft has released a fix for it. It replaces the d3d8.dll file in your windows\system (for win9x/ME, system32 for XP) or winnt\system32 (for Win2k) directory. So, if you have an AMD processor and you have problems with games crashing without errors, try this patch.
Yep, pop-up TV ads. And you thought pop-ups at warez sites were bad. Apparently, TNT is going to start experimenting with pop-up ads on their cable network, where ads will pop up in the middle of a movie, during relevant parts of the film. (The article below has a nice example.) I'd suggest spamming TNT's email boxes with complaints and such. I sure am not going to watch that network again. For any reason.
Our NetSphere section is finally open to the public! For those of you not in the loop, NetSphere is Axis' successor, or Axis 2. There isn't a heckuva lot of information readily available for the game yet, but as we receive information we'll update the site accordingly. Be sure to stay tuned in the near future for some juicy updates
An interesting tidbit of information spotted in our forums. LordSpawn popped the question of 'useless buttons' in Axis, namely the alt fire and use item keys. After a little debate, he decided to email Sung of Jamie Systems and here's what he replied with:
I know 'Alt Fire' and some other features are not used in the game. Those were initially planned to add in the game. But not added yet... We may add them in the future. or maybe not...
So... you can take that for what it's worth. I doubt that they would be planning any additions for Axis with NetSphere on the way but, who knows.
Edit: On that note, LordSpawn has also supplied us with some missing weapon shots from the game and the Axis Weapons page has been updated accordingly.
Apparently, this tuesday a Swiss computer shop (site in German only) will be officially offering Athlon XP 2500+ CPUs, sporting a clock of 2GHz! I don't have word yet on whether this is official from AMD yet or not, but 2200+, 2300+, 2400+, and 2500+ XPs are very hard to ignore.
The prices for these processors are as follows:
AMD Atlon XP 2200+ (1.8 GHz) "Thoroughbred" - 347 Euro ($327);
AMD Atlon XP 2300+ (1.867 GHz) "Thoroughbred" - 382 Euro ($360);
AMD Atlon XP 2400+ (1.933 GHz) "Thoroughbred" - 406 Euro ($383);
AMD Atlon XP 2500+ (2.0 GHz) "Thoroughbred" - 437 Euro ($412);
After many complaints of the official release of America's Army, they were quick to try and please everyone. And after many sweat-dripping hours of wait, finally a new patch is out.
The all new patch:
1.Allows gamers to setup their own dedicated servers.
2.Corrects client and server-side flooding issues
3.Removes Sniper Rifle bug from random weapon selection.
4.Removes Rifle Range exploit of multiple rifles
5.Obstacle course bug fixed.
6.Admin Spectator Mode added: Allows.
7.Registered published servers can now authenticate.
8.Dedicated Server executable added.
9.Official server classification added.
After seeing Apple's top 10 reasons to switch to Mac, I decided to write up just why those ten reasons aren't very good reasons at all. Mr. Jobs really ought to try to get a better marketing department.
Keep in mind that these are only my opinions and the facts I've been able to glean. In no way use this as a cement slab to beat over your friend's heads. But as far as Vector goes, it's open season. I'd expect his rebuttal soon.
CSports.net have just updated their “Top Maps Project” an examination of what makes a good online fps map. The project is based around lists of what were the most played maps in the last 31 days. The most played map lists cover 19 fps games and 7 major mods as well as the 100 Most Played fps Maps. They have all been updated and show the movements since last month. A collection of wise words on the subject from the various communities has been incorporated as well as a new list ranking the 100 Most Played maps relative to the available pool of players of the relevant games, which makes interesting reading. Go here to look at the project and to find out what the most popular maps in the world are.
You will be able to find the top 20 most popular Tribes 1 and 2 maps on the list, it's pretty interesting (though I'm wondering why Broadside is so popular - n00b map ).
Tipped off by Marweas yesterday in a follow-up to my Wishful Thinking article, Sierra has announced a Tribes Council; a well-breed group of individuals who will be sent to Sierra's offices in Bellevue WA to discuss the future of Tribes. Here's the details, courtesy of TribalWar:
On August 2nd and 3rd, 2002, at their offices in Bellevue, WA Sierra will convene the first ever Tribes Council for the purpose of establishing a lasting dialogue with important contributors to the community, and to help keep Tribes fans informed and involved in the future of the game. Sierra will provide accommodations to Bellevue and cover expenses.
This first meeting will cover an array of topics, including a discussion about Sierra's "vision" for Tribes, roundtables and panels with Chris "Thrax" Mahnken and Alex "Marweas" Rodberg about issues that involve the community, and a sneak peek at our current Tribes efforts on PC, PlayStation 2, and more.
All invitees will have many opportunities to share their thoughts and opinions about Tribes and offer suggestions.
The first Tribes Council will be comprised of 16 invitees in addition to panelists and press. The following have been invited and have accepted. Those who have not yet replied are not listed. Others will be invited as spaces open up. Please understand that there were many, many other people we wanted to invite. We hope to see them in future Tribes Councils.
ZOD, Cheater, and Vlasic respectfully declined, and their invitations will be given to others who can represent their particular skill sets. If you don't feel like one of the people listed can represent your views or ideas, please post them in this thread. - Alex
The first "completed" game (besides Realm Wars of course) created using the Torque Game Engine from GarageGames: Dog of Prey (by the Darkhand Team) just started public beta today! Dog of Prey is an arcade-style flight combat game with cell-shaded graphics. After downloading it and playing online for a bit I can tell you that DoP is pretty amazing so far, but don't listen to me - see it for yourself!
Just got word of an article over at Shacknews, which points to a press release regarding the coming release of Halo on the PC and Mac. Expected ship date is Summer 2003.
Start savin' your pennies, kids.
[edit by Vector]: Well, folks, looks like the day has come. For a more extensive copy of the press release, see here. And as grey said, word is summer of 2003, hopefully for a (more or less) simultaneous release. One last thing - "game content, features and enhancements will be announced at a later date". So we don't know everything yet.
Well it appears as though my Wishful Thinking article sparked quite an interest in the community. Amongst the emails I've received (most good, some a bit negative) was one from Alex "Marweas" Rodberg. Here's a snip of what he had to say:
... we all owned a working jetpack with a nifty stormhammer to destroy those pesky squirrels?
Now who could argue with that?!?
... Tribers would realize that they wouldn't stand a chance against a HERC? I mean, com'on.
Keep working. We’ve tried to figure it out, and it would take a coordinated assault of at least 12-20 specialized Tribers to take down one contemporary HERC.
Head on over to the article to see his full reply, heh, kudos to Alex
Happy birthday y'old Geezer! Being the oldest member of the Staff and myself being one of the youngest, it is my duty, no - honour to wish one of my oldest and most trusted online buddies a happy birthday. If everyone could take a minute out of their day to either email Tanq (tanq@the-junkyard.net) or post a quick message in the thread below, I'm sure it'd make his day.
*MD raises his glass to Tanq's...* Here's to you bro, hope you have a great one! http://forums.the-junkyard.net/images/smilies/beer.gif
I might as well start out by saying 'Hello' to everyone and introducing myself. The name is Phil 'Eclipsen' Harm, and unless anyone here is really into graphic designing (or remember one of the few posts I've had here) , you probably have never heard of me.
I'm here to help out as much as I can, whether it be updating you with the latest news, or any graphical task needing to be dealt with. Anything to make this place more impressive than it already is.
As of now, my position on the site is not permanent, but I intend to live up to the staff's, member's, and the 'Yard's standards. You can contact me at Eclipsen11@yahoo.com or through AIM at 'Eclipsen Ex' for the quickest response.
Spotted over at TribalWar, it seems as though Sierra has released a new Tribes Aerial Assault movie! Of the two flavours offered, quicktime and windows media, I'd recommend windows media as it's a little better quality. Anyhow, enjoy!
It's been a slow day here for me, and I was just about to head to bed when I decided to check the mail and guess what I found in my inbox? Two hot exclusive shots of NetSphere from Doug Mealy, President of Online Marketing and Public Relations. Hope you guys enjoy 'em!
Here's a snip from 3DChipset.com that was taken down because the informer reportedly is concerned the information could be tracked to him. It looks like this guy works somewhere in the design section. Because 3DChipset has taken the information down, i've ripped it from another source.
I've received some information regarding the NV30, NV31 and some insight of the NV40 Nvidia is working on. First off though, the NV30 is AGP 8X and it's still a go with 900MHz DDR memory. Also what is now known is that the NV30 is multi chip capable. The number of chips is an odd number. That's all I can say without giving out the exact number. I'll say this though. It's under 8. With regards to FSAA performance the NV30 has a zero (0) performance cost using 4X FSAA. Specifications have been discussed and the NV30 is able to churn out 16 textures/pixel per pass. The NV30 also uses a 4-1 colour compression technique. Nvidia has explained to us/me that the performance we all will see with the NV30 is about double the performance of the Xbox/GF Ti4600. Another feature that is not known to the public is the use of IEE 1394 or known as Firewire will be on NV30 video cards. What this feature is for wasn't discussed thoroughly and all we know is that it has to do with the hardware mpeg2 acceleration built into the chip.
The NV31 has also been discussed with us/me. The NV31 comes out one month after the NV30 and will not suffer the fate of the MX by branding it GeForce 4. You remember that debate about the GF4 MX shouldn't of been called GeForce 4. Well Nvidia has listen and the NV31 line will feature everything the NV30 has but just be lower clocked cards.
Now on to the NV40. Very few details where presented to us on the future chip, but we know that Nvidia is shooting for 600 million polys per second with a 4 Gigapixel fillrate.
So let's recap all of this shall we. What is now known is this:
- Zero (0) performance cost using 4X FSAA
- 4-1 Colour Compression Technique
- 16 Textures/Pixel Per Pass
- 900MHz DDR is still a go
- Multi Chip capable
- Firewire Port
It sounds like the rumors are true after all. The NV30 WILL most likely incorporate the technology developed by 3DFX for the Rampage video card.
I don't know about you guys, but 4x FSAA with zero performance cost sounds pretty damn sweet.
The Inquirer has received some more "insider" info on the Radeon 9700 videocard that ATI will be introducing soon. As you might remember this is the card that ran DOOM 3 at E3. According to The Inquirer, the card will be clocked at 315Mhz and should be able to get a 15,000 score in 3D Marks. The ATI Radeon 9700 should hopefully be out by September. Also, for those of you in the comments speculating about the Radeon 8500 MAXX with dual GPUs, HardOCP has word from ATI on this card, denying it's being made.
UPDATE (grey wolf): 3D Chipset claims to have info from an ATI insider who says that the card is in fact real, and notes further up that ATI PR guys will deny this, even though the techs may leak the info. Yet Another UPDATE (gw): Here's more leaked info on the 8500 MAXX.
This world just seems to get stranger and stranger every day. Normally I wouldn't post something like this, but it really caught my eye. It appears that people have taken eBay to a new level: A couple in Tampa, Florida decided to auction off the right to name their unborn child. You're probably thinking to yourself that this is nuts, but the reason they decided to name their baby this way was due to the fact that neither of them could agree with what the other had come up with. You can find the full article on the Tampa Tribune's Website, it's quite an interesting read.
This is great news! Kudos to Ukyo who let us know that the core team for Realm Wars has finally been filled out. Phil Carlise takes the position of lead programmer, Pascal Bos is the lead artist and finally Joel Steudler gets to take care of the audio for RW. Speaking of audio, for those of you looking for some nice underscores to listen to while playing RW, Nick Palmer has created two great pieces that really set the mood. Both are available in our Realm Wars audio files section.
Spotted over at Sierra's Tribes 2 Beta Forums, Guy Welch lets us know of a new beta patch, bringing the current version up to 25026. See the thread for more details.
I'm sure some of you have gotten random spam occasionally, sometimes with the subject "Klez worm immunity" or somesuch thing, or even sometimes an innocent-looking email with a large attatchment.
These are actually the Klez worm, or its latest variant Klez.E. This virus disguises itself in various ways and hides itself in the windowssystem (or WINNTsystem32) directory, and sets itself up to run at boot. It also packages a second nasty virus compressed in its executable.
Interesting note, though: it will not run on Windows 95 or Windows NT installations properly, because of unresolved function calls.
If you receive emails like those described in this article, delete them immediately. Klez is known well for its behavior: it will shut down and begin to systematically delete your antivirus software.
In light of the recent accomplishments over at GarageGames on the Realm Wars project, I've updated our Realm Wars section a bit. There is now a character section with links to information about the Orc and Elf models, and I added the conceptual paintings by Shawn Sharp to the gallery.
Edit: The requirements page has also been updated for the Linux build.
As a follow-up on our Codename: Eagle review and a small insight into the preview of Battlefield: 1942 that we'll be releasing in the next few weeks, the guys over at EA and DICE were kind enough to answer a few of our questions about their new game. One of the questions is answered below:
tJY: How many players will it take to operate the vehicles? Planes, Ships, Tanks, etc.
BF1942 Team: Any vehicle can be operated by 1 person. Some vehicles allow a second or even 3rd gunner position and the APC carries a driver, gunner and 4 positions inside. There are a number of two-man bombers with rear gunners, the B17 with a pilot, belly gunner and tail gunner as well as huge ships that one person can command or have multiple people manning the different gunner positions.
There's a new Map of the Week over at Tribes2Maps.com. Despite what it shows in our MOTW section to the right, the current MOTW is ShorlineAttack by Vimp. Here's a snip:
Based on a WW2 setting, this map puts the offence starting off in landingcraft that are out in the water but can't get to shore due to the rocks, warthogs, and turrets that are along the beach. The attackers have to get across the beach and scale the cliff that acts as a wall surrounding the Island. The best way for the offence to gain ground is by destroying the spawning generators which will cause the defence to spawn further back and allow the offence to spawn further along. The Cliff is the only spawning gen that isn't recapturable by the defence once it has been taken over by the attackers.
Head on over to Tribes2Maps for more information and map download.
For those of you who still love Starsiege: Tribes, and who also like StarWars, then this is for you.
This is an ongoing project that has been in the works for years now. Originally this Total Conversion mod for Starsiege: Tribes was slated to come out since before the release of Tribes 2. Due to that release, however, the project was bumped down on the to-do list of the original designer.
The entire project was initially scrapped, and nearly forgotten about by the original designer after the release of Tribes 2. However, after everyone had thought the nearly completed project was done for, a member of the previous project staff, including some new talent, restarted the project and finished a playable version.
This version was thought to be the final build with few, or no updates. It wasn't even available for public download. To snag a copy of the early version I had to contact one of the developers and request a copy personally. Months after the project was thought to be dead, "Machine", one of the original main coders rejoined the active staff and breathed new life into the mod. And now, finally, the staff has readied an update to this Total Conversion mod that will be available for the public to download from the beta test site. This update is stated to have all new maps, some new character models, bug fixes, and even a self installer that will install the mod files, create a desktop shortcut, and has an uninstall function.
On the site, you can also find an Administration program that will properly function with the Total Conversion mod, in addition to more information, screenshots of the current build, and the promise of future updates to come.
The XBox-Linux project (which promises a total of $200,000 in rewards for the developers) has produced its first legal application for the XBox. It does not use the XBox SDK (known as XDK), and as such does not contain any Micro$oft code. You can see a screenshot of Tux and the XBox logo on the same screen. Expect more applications to follow.
Continuing his story from before, Feret continues to pound out interesting fanfics. Earth Strike: Mountain Perimeter Pt 2 begins...
The Avalanche division minus Sapphire, Tainnen, and Herb swung across the peak of the mountain ridge. The trees with their branches pointing away from the strong winds that rush up the face of the mountain swung back and forth, as the team trounced through the deep snow of the mountain. The icicles and snow shake from the trees from the wind more than from the force of the Hercs hurrying along. The gusting wind throws specs of snow and ice sticking to the cockpit and windshield of Mosfet’s Apoc.
“Auto defrost, enable.” He spoke to his command consol. A red light on the left side of his display lit up indicating that the anti frost part of the life support system had been activated.
“It’s a good thing these hercs are heated,” stated Hill.
“Yeah too bad it isn’t colder though, I was in a mood for a pair of goadsicles.” Paws interjected sarcastically.
“Keep down the chatter.” Mosfet ordered, “This isn’t show and tell.”
As you all know, the U.S. ARMY has been working on a free game title called "Americas Army". With this recent release, an option to run your own dedicated server was not possible. However, a poster on the TribalWar Forums proposes a workaround to allow you to host your own dedicated server, by editing a .ini file in the games directory.
I personally havent tested this yet, but according to the author, it is a viable substitute until an official dedicated server option is released.
A couple of days ago, Jeff Tunnel of GarageGames released a shot of what will become the Elf Sorceress model for Realm Wars. The concept art was done by Shawn Sharp, Joe Maruschack did the modeling, and Weston Tracy skinned the model. It looks absolutely amazing. I can't wait for the next major release of Realm Wars!
Well we've snagged another two for our community spotlight. Starsiege community head, Annie Oakley and Starsiege gaming nut, [url=http://legacy.the-junkyard.net/spotlight.php?action=viewspotlight&id=8][RA] Nighthawk[/url]. Both are great reads and give you an insiders view on what goes on in their lives. If you'd like to be put into the spotlight, all you have to do is give us a shout and we'll set you up!
Vivendi Breaking Up?
Wed Jul 3rd, 2002
Posted by: at 22:52 PM
I recieved this in my e-mail from Gamasutra's weekly Game Development Industry report. It looks that Vivendi may split up soon. Could this be the push in the right direction that the gaming industry needs? Will this help put a stop to some of the mass-layoffs that frequently occur in large development firms like Sierra? Only time will tell.
Vivendi Universal Faces Possible Breakup
Vivendi Universal, the parent corporation of Knowledge Adventure, Blizzard Entertainment, Sierra Entertainment, and Universal Interactive, is facing a possible breakup as the company struggles with a crushing debt load. Shares in the company fell over 26 percent today, and CEO Jean-Marie Messier announced his resignation.
Like the wave of accounting scandals that has hit American corporations, Vivendi has been accused of fudging its 2001 fiscal results by 1.5 billion euros.
The company's mounting finanical problems came to a head over the weekend when French newspaper Le Monde revealed leaked memos from French regulators that indicated the extent of VU's accounting woes.
One of the immediate tasks for the company is to pay down its 30 billion euro debt. The leading candidates for selloff are Vivendi's telecom unit, Cegetel, and assets of its French television unit, Canal Plus.
Some of you might remember me from before, or around on the forums as Obsidian. Some of you might not. That's what this is for.
Mhaddy and the rest of the staff have agreed to let me take on an Intern position as a newsie. As with any job, one must always start at the bottom and work his way up. You'll see me posting news topics from time to time doing my best to keep you all updated on the ever changing game world around you.
I just hope that my job is done well enough to work my way up to full fledged tJY Staff in time.
Wanna win some cool gear just by playing your favourite game? Well, this July 4th, Independance Day, HomeLAN will be doing just that. In their 2nd Annual Independance Day Celebration you will be able to win prizes such as a GeForce4 Ti4600 video card, games, RAM, t-shirts, headsets and more - just by playing on any one of HomeLAN's hundreds of servers. Here's a brief snip:
HomeLAN's 2nd Annual Independence Day Celebration this year is going to be HUGE, combining thousands of dollars in prizes along with the launch of Army Operations: RECON.
HomeLAN has come a long way, and we owe it to our devoted members and the hundreds of thousands of players that make our public servers the most popular anywhere on the net. This is our way of saying how much we love you for loving us. What better way to celebrate Independence Day for the Land of the Free than by getting free stuff for fighting against terrorists? And by celebrating with us, you don't have to worry about mosquitos, rain, or blowing off your hand with some shoddily-made bangbang. U-S-A! U-S-A!
Usually we dont post news about general GarageGames stuff, but I thought this was too awesome to pass up. Melv May has just come up with a really cool feature that makes the water look infinitely more realistic in the Torque Game Engine. Melv has created a system where the water's density changes with it's depth, so when you're on the shore, you can hardly see the water, but when you look out towards the deeper water - it begins to get more murky. The screenshots that Melv links to are absolutely amazing. Check it out!
I was reading this month's Sports Illustrated magazine the other day while I was sitting in the lobby of the dentist office, waiting to get my teeth drilled, and this one article really caught my eye. I thought it'd be kind of cool to do a tJY rendition similar to it and here's what I came up with. It's a good read and I'm hoping for a few chuckles, but please keep in mind that I wrote everything in that context - just to get a few chuckles and it is not meant to insult anyone. Anyhow, enjoy!
It appears someone, who wishes to remain unknown (most likely for legal reasons), is going to be paying the Linux community if they can get Linux running on an X-Box. The total take is $200,000, but it's broken down into 5 projects, so it's likely that just one person won't be getting the full pot.
Note that the reward isn't all-or-nothing - it's partitioned into five distinct tasks, in two separate porjects. That also means that different people can claim the prize money for each task. If two groups solve the same problem, the "better" solution gets all the money.
Project B:
Run unsigned code on an Xbox without any hardware modification - $100,000
The legal ramifications are interesting, as once the project is completed, Microsoft will probably chase it down the same way they attacked the "Mame-X project", an effort to port the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator to the X-Box. If you have programming talent, I'd suggest looking into this.
Yep, yep.. that's right. Half of a thousand people have decided The Junkyard is worth the time it takes to fill out our vB registration form I think I speak for the staff when I say I'm proud of our community, and I'm glad to see it growing stronger every day! Please welcome our lucky 500th member [57th]Zahadoom and all of the other new forum members to the boards!
In the mood for some great Starsiege fiction? Well, over the last couple of days a bunch of terrific stories have been created by our forumulites; to name a few, ACrisp, Falcon and Feret. Titled, "Knight's Oath Part 1 / 2" by ACrisp, "Swords of Justice Intro" by Falcon and "Earth Strike: Mountain Perimeter" by Feret, these are all very interesting reads and fit well into the Starsiege Universe. Head on over to the forum and have a read, post your thoughts or perhaps have a try at your own fanfic!
M$ just released their DirectX 8.1b update, and you can get it at the link below. As usual, no readily-available changelog is apparent, and as a result, I have no idea what this fixes. But, coming from M$, it's probably a major security fix.
Try the new update if you're having DirectX problems or just download for the hell of it. Download at your own risk, your milage may vary.
Spotted over at the beta testing forum at the official T2 forums, it appears as though GarageGames has released yet another beta patch for Tribes 2; this one clocking in at patch numero 3. Here're the details:
We have a new beta patch, and think that this may be the one. Please help us test it by playing on the Garage Games test server “Join Me! - GG VTest”. This server has some “special features” that will help us pin down any remaining issues.
Games Domain put up their own preview of the new WW2 First Person Shooter: Battlefield 1942. The preview covers game types, graphics, vehicles, infantry classees, and more. Here's a clip:
Where the graphics and overall feel of the in-game physics are concerned, Battlefield shares much with EA's other WWII shooter, Medal of Honor, which was praised tremendously for its authenticity. Digital Illusions has opted for realism in terms of vulnerability (you can be killed from very few hits) and weapon handling, a welcome choice and much more challenging for any developer to embark on without making things too difficult or frustrating.
Gamespot got their grubby little hands on Tribes Aerial Assault recently and had a chance to write up a quick preview of it. Their overall opinions are quite positive, "Sierra has already done an excellent job in bringing an extremely complex PC game to the PlayStation 2 with minimal sacrifices." Along with the preview, they managed to obtain 17 new screens of the game too, though not all are new (some are snagged from the official site). Here's the required quotage:
Playing Tribes Aerial Assault is remarkably intuitive. Instead of having to jump before engaging your jetpack to get maximum height like in the PC version, you simply press the R1 button to fire up your pack and get the same results. Firing weapons is accomplished with the L2 button, while switching weapons is accomplished with the X button. Running, aiming, and shooting is very similar to the system found in Halo for the Xbox in that the left analog stick causes your character to strafe as well as move forward and backward, while the right analog stick controls where you're looking. The game also includes aiming assistance, which makes it much easier to target enemies. The aiming reticle even shows you where to place your shot to lead moving targets. The auto-aim makes it much easier to hit airborne targets and get into the game than the PC version does, but it also has problems deciding which enemy to target when two are near each other. Hopefully, this is something that will be adjusted before the game's release. Zooming in with weapons is accomplished with the R2 button, and you can zoom in even further with the directional pad.
Thanks to Prodrum who let us know that the TeamWarfare Ladder is back online! They were experiencing some server issues but now are finally back up and running though, as one might expect, there are still a few things astray. Nevertheless, they mention that things will be back to normal in the next few days. So sit tight and enjoy the ride - it's good to have you guys back!
MD will probably yell at me for this, but it must be told: Star Trek: Nemesis hits theaters two days before my birthday, and I want to see it.
Ok, enough about my wants and needs. Fulfill your wants and needs. The trailer for the new movie is up (and was up last night - sorry)! Check it out. The large version is well worth the wait on a 56k.
Kudos to Lazor for pointing it out that there are a bunch of screenshots of the PS2 version of Tribes 2 (Tribes: Aerial Assault) on Sierra's official site. The screenshots look pretty good considering it's a console game
Just a thought, but I wonder why in most of the pics - they're using the blaster.
Seeing as Realm Wars has a lead designer now, I thought it would be a good idea to post up the current design documents written by the GarageGames staff and James Margaris. The originals can be found here and here (for 1 and 2 respectively). If you're in to the behind-the-scenes information about game development, I'd suggest reading these design documents. They are very interesting, and they give you a preview of what is to come out of the GarageGames community.
In light of the completion of the GarageGames Project Manager, GarageGames has selected a Lead Designer for the Realm Wars community project. James Margaris has accepted the position, and has already finished the stage 2 design document for Realm Wars. Here's a clip of what Jeff Tunnell had to say about James:
James volunteered for the task of leading the design process by sending us an email that we followed up with more emails and phone conversations. He has been a great contributor on the GG forums, where he has shown his insight into good game design, his industry knowledge and professional manner. James is a great writer, with provocative ideas, and the ability to get things done. We are extremely proud and happy he has chosen to work with us on the Realm Wars project.
CENOBITE just sent us word of some very cool (and detailed!) Halo skins created for Tribes 2. The Master Chief has been skinned and placed nicely over the T2 armours. Not convinced? See for yourself:
Kudos to Ukyo who let us know via email that Sierra has put up a site for Tribes: Aerial Assault; the new T2 rendition on the PS2. At the moment, there isn't much there, some screenshots and a tidbit of information. However, Guy Welch, web producer for Sierra noted that"more information is coming soon". So keep your eyes peeled and let us know if you find anything before we do!
It looks like you guys are, for the most part, happy with the new look around here. Infact, the last poll shows that 70% were enthusiastic about the new design.
As requested by Feret, I've replaced the old one with a new poll. This time around, we want to know if you guys would like to see another game added to our list of "covered" games: Tribes 1&2, Starsiege, Halo, Axis, and Realm Wars. Depending on the responses from this poll, next time we'll ask what game it is that you want.
I feel like I'm flooding the news today, but this is something I couldn't not post. Apparently, 3D Labs is refuting several of nVidia's claims, especially those regarding OpenGL 2.0 and the standards acceptance of Cg. Of special interest is this paragraph:
Contrary to their implied positioning, Nvidia's is not planning to offer Cg to the OpenGL Architecture Review Board for consideration as a standard of any type. Rather, they have stated that they fully intend to control the specification and implementation. Other graphics hardware vendors would be offered the ability to implement this Nvidia-specified language, under Nvidia licensing terms, for their own hardware.
Kudos to Supreme Spike who pointed out in our forums that our Tribes2Maps Map of the Week section is out of date. It's a bit misleading, but this week's MOTW is Dragon Bane by vXKitiaraXv*.
Snagged from PlanetTribes, the T2 Dev team needs your help! From 1pm EST June 25th to 1am EST June 26th, they will be testing base v25005 on the server "Duelrock II". They need your help in testing the net code for really, really big games. If you can, hop in the game and lend a hand.
The Adrenaline Vault has just recently put up a preview of Battlefield: 1942. BF 1942 looks to be quite an awesome game, and is slated for release sometime in September. If you read our Codename: Eagle review, then you'll know we're planning on putting our own preview of Battlefield 1942 up as well. Anyhow, here's a clip from AVault's preview:
From my experience with the beta, Conquest will undoubtedly be the most popular mode when the full game is released. It functions much like Unreal Tournament's Domination, where each map has certain control points that your team must occupy. These control points are represented by flagpoles in Battlefield 1942, and capturing them results in your country's flag being run up the pole. The opposing team is alerted to your success by an automatic announcement, and by a graphical representation of your flag at the control point on your map. Success in Conquest mode requires a lot of teamwork in coordinating assaults on control points, as well as defending the ones you capture.
DICE mixes things up in Conquest mode with the introduction of what they refer to as "tickets." The idea is that instead of gaining points by holding control points like in Unreal Tournament, you are allocated a certain number of tickets at the beginning of each match. The more control points you hold, the faster your opponent's tickets are depleted. A ticket is also used each time someone on your team respawns, so getting slaughtered will harm your team even if you have many control points. Finally, control points are also important because they double as spawn points. If the enemy grabs all the control points, and eliminates all of your team, they instantly win the match.
Just to put down a few rumours, yes, the Realm Wars master server is currently down. I've emailed RickO and will let you know as soon as he gets back to me as to what happened. Until then, hop into the mission editor or single player and brush up
Ever watched a new movie you just grabbed off the P2P networks, only to find out it's a DivX video that is too high-quality for your meager processor? If you're like me, you're sometimes left with poor framerates, or worse, low-quality video that barely plays. Well, now, a company called Sigma Designs has released a DivX-compatible MPEG-4 decoder. This decoder plays high-quality video realtime with almost no CPU load! If you're really into video, this might be a card worth looking at.
[email=acrisp02@nbnet.nb.ca]Andrew [oAo][/email] (aka ACrisp in the Junkyard forums) has done it again, creating, what he believes to be the first CTF map for Mercury with its own specially designed terrain. He plans to do one map for every Starsiege terrain type out there (including Europa and Luna, the two "trouble terrains").
If you have either of the 1.002 sim.vols for the aforementioned worlds, please give [email=acrisp02@nbnet.nb.ca]Andrew [oAo][/email] a holler! He goes on to mention:
... there really is a Simeiz Vallis on Mercury, located in that planet's southern hemisphere if I remember correctly.
I thought I'd get a jump on my plans to phase out grey's existence by one-upping him with some tech news.
Something like 95% of the known universe uses Microsoft Office to word process, spreadsheet, make presentations, or whatever. This, of course, is mostly because there aren't any alternative with advantages that outweigh the disadvantages.
So if you're a Wordophobe, then this should be music to your ears (and pocketbook). A cool new open-sourced (yes, you heard that right) project called OpenOffice has popped up - and there's a lot of details you should know about, but the long and short of it is that it's almost a carbon-copy clone of MS Office, but it's... free.
Check out the website here, or drop by Sun Microsystems for an alternative version - not free, but cheap, and with a box, manual, customer support, etc.
Two patches for Tribes 2 were just released. First up, the second beta patch for the Windows version was released yesterday after Chris Mahnken (producer for T2 at Sierra) approved it. The changes from the first beta release are listed below:
-Team repair message spam fix
-Fixed static shape crediting bug in CTF
-Added script hooks for death types
-Added crew name position for other players on vehicle
-Fixed adminlist bugs
-Fixed periodic camera jerks
-Added export/import named selections to Mission Editor
-Fixed bug where vehicle station was saving in mission improperly
-Added MissionCleanup to the mission group in the mission editor for viewing dynamic objects
-Fixed underwater color bug
-Object builder now drops objects correctly in the world
-Flags no longer stick to mission area boundaries
-Deploy object check better for organics
-Hard editor bind to F11 removed
-Players no longer damaged by destroyed vehicles (thanks script folks!)
-NetConnection now reports netgraph properly when simulated ping and packet loss are set
-Terraformer bitmap export working properly
-Options dialog no longer has News or Forums load screen selections
-Fixed bug where players would stop receiving updates from server
-Triggers now export properly
-Fixed up selection sync'ing between object list and world editor view
-Added delete group ability
-Changed netConnection's update to reflect old method of packet send timing
-Tweaked the ELF back up a bit per request from ChrisM
-Fix for telnetConsole crash
-Fix to get time console function
-Fixed state for math copro during update loops for proper object synch
As for the other patch of the day, the 25005 Linux patch was released today. Here is the long list of changes for this version.
A rumour has been spreading around our Axis forums... it appears as though there might be a Netsphere demo coming out this October. DuckieofDoom points out that over at game2k.com there is a link to download a Netsphere demo that links to NetsphereArena.com. After emailing the webmaster about this, he says that they emailed Jamie Systems and they said they were working to get out a beta of a demo in October.
GokouZWAR, head of the Great Tribal War project sends us some updates on the MOD and a reminder that GTW Pickups are every Saturday and Tuesday at 8PM EST on West 2 and prizes will be awarded to the top killer. There have been major updates to the code, for all of the details, please see the forum thread.
The all mecha gaming site, Mechnex has just received a facelift along with some changes in their code. Their forums have also changed, so you'll need to reregister to start posting again. Head on over there and let 'em know what you think.
[email=acrisp02@nbnet.nb.ca]Andrew [oAo][/email] sends word that he has just completed a new map for Starsiege, entitled CTF_Nexus_Shiva. Here're the details:
On a field of ammonia ice, two Cybrid bases engage in an almost ritual battle to gain more resources for their Sects. Set on Pluto, this long-range CTF map offers little terrain or obstacles to hide behind, though tanks may find the gentle rises to their advantage. All structures in both bases are destroyable, but tougher than most maps.
For more information as well as five preview shots, click the link below.
NVIDIA hopes to incite (another) graphics revolution
Tue Jun 18th, 2002
Posted by: at 18:09 PM
It appears that NVIDIA is planning a new advancement in Computer Graphics / Game programming. And this time around, it's not by making a new graphics card or motherboard. NVIDIA is developing their own programming language for computer graphics. It is called "Cg", or "C for graphics", and it will evolve to be an industry standard language - being both OS independant, and graphics card independant. Here's a little clip from Gamespy's interview with NVIDIA's Chief Scientist: David Kirk
GS: Why does NVIDIA think Cg is necessary?
DK: Cg is an opportunity for developers to move to programming GPUs at a higher level. Abstraction to a higher level allows programmers and artists to work more directly on the effects that they want to create, rather than focusing on a specific generation of GPU technology. Cg is a C-like programming language: C for graphics. Developers can write vertex and pixel programs to control geometry and shading at a more abstract level, rather than writing low-level hardware interface code in assembly language. Cg programs are compiled to run on top of graphics APIs, DirectX and OpenGL, so unlike games that are targeted at a specific generation of hardware, Cg programs have a lifetime beyond a particular set of hardware interfaces. Cg programs are dynamically compiled at runtime to match the capabilities of the hardware that they're running on.
On our forums, Jasio mentions the existence of a neat massively-multiplayer browser-based galactic conquest game, in the same vein as Planetarion and others, but without the morons or required payments.
We recently had a chance to sit down with Jason Kim, General Manager of JC Entertainment’s U.S. operation and talk about the sequel to Axis, Netsphere. We brush up on the game's features, how it improves upon Axis, demos and much more. Here's the obligatory snippet:
tJY: How is online gameplay handled in NetSphere and what improvements have been made to decrease game latency and increase game stability?
Jason: In Axis, players would use Peer to Peer connections using TCP/IP. With NetSphere, we will support a Server to Client and optimize the TCP/IP and UDP, a control that depends on network situation. We believe these methods will be very fast and stable.
Our good friends over at Tribes2Maps.com have chosen another map to be the highlight of the week. This week we have Dragon Bane by *vXKitiaraXv*. Here's a snip:
a DM map that my friends and i have lotsa fun on. cool whether, red fogg. there are some things that you can hide behind also. HAPPY KILLING!!
Head on over to Tribes2Maps.com for more information and map download.
Mhaddy recently had a chance to get to know Rick Overman, from GarageGames, a little better in today's Spotlight. Rick talks about his involvement with the Torque SDK, shares his rig specs with us, and even tells of a dangerous situation in the mountains of Oregon! Check it out, it's a great read!
There hasn't been much in the way of udpates on Realm Wars recently, so I decided to have a chat RickO of Garage Games and managed to snag an update:
Work on Realm wars is continuing although not as visible as it could be. Check out the Realm Wars gallery for some great conceptual artwork being done by the community (http://www.garagegames.com/mg/projects/realmwars/gallery.php) . We also just announced that the Project Builder went beta for GG associates and will go live soon (http://www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=view&qid=2822). Realm Wars will be the first GG project to use the Project Builder – which is a community oriented, task and bug tracking system. Once the project Builder goes live, the progress on Realm Wars will be much more visible and better focused.
This is all great news, look for our Spotlight on RickO later on this evening.
Well, well, well. Though when last month the Bungie Store (finally) opened, it was rife with cool stuff, there was one piece of merchandise notably lacking: the Halo Soundtrack, a charming composition of the music from Halo.
I picked up the disk early at the Fanfest; I can promise you, it's pretty cool.
Anyway, so, legal and logistical issues have been sorted out, and today the Soundtrack has broken free into the public grasp. It should be purchasable at most of your local record stores, as well as Amazon, Tower, and the like; but if you want to make certain, it is of course available at the Bungie Store. I advise finding yourself one.
Well, not exactly, but I did spot this interesting thread on the Garage Games forums today. Started by Marlboro, a long time veteran Starsiege player, he poses the question to the GG Staff, "AnyThing on the best Herc game ?!!! Patch it plz Guys ! last one was 1.004 it needs help!!!!!!!!!"
Rick Overman, former lead SS programmer responds with, "You'd have to talk to Sierra about that one. Personally I am just waiting for someone to recreate the Alpha Tech release using the Torque!"
Now that would be cool, recreating ATR1 on the Torque IMHO, ATR1 was the game -- my first online game infact. Getting back to the point, be sure to show your support as it isn't totally whack that Garage Games could create the much needed 1.005 patch for Starsiege.
Spotted this over on our forums -- Kusanagi, head of the Orbital Guard MOD for Starsiege has created a Cybrid Bomber and damn, it looks sweet. Here's a shot, for more information about the MOD and the bomber, see the thread.
Kudos to The Professor who let us know that a new version of Barrys World admin has been released, version 1.06 makes BWadmin++ compatible with base++ version 1.41 and base Tribes 2 v24834 - v24947. Click here for a direct download or head to the site for more information.
Tonight we've added another two community members in the spotlight. LordSpawn is an avid Axis gamer and Feret thrives on the Starsiege community. Both are great reads and once again if you'd like to be in the spotlight, all you have to do is email us and we'll set you up!
So last month when Bungie hosted their annual Fanfest in Santa Monica, we were treated to a very cool, homemade (well, Bungie-made) video. It consisted of lots of clips from old, old Halo... and by this, I mean the stuff from Macworld 1999, E3 2000, etc.
It was all straight in-engine stuff, just fooling around with the old builds. It was voiced-over by several Bungie employees, and showed the progression of the various obsolete Halos.
Though Bungie pledged that it wouldn't release the video to the public (it being a treat for those who attended the Fanfest), several of the attendees were wielding video cameras, and one of them (Deanero) has gone ahead and posted the video online.
This is obviously something you want to see. Download it - but only once. Hosting is courtesy of mythica.org, who's been serving up a steady 20 GB a day, so try and be gentle to their pipe.
I just posted a new review of an old game... This will be part of an ongoing campaign to ween you guys (our visitors) into making a decision wether or not BattleField: 1942 will be added to the list of games that The Junkyard will cover. The reviewed game is called Codename: Eagle. Here's a snippet of the review:
Gameplay: Multiplayer
Definitely where the game shines, the multiplayer gameplay is unbeatable. Nothing is better than getting into a Zepplin with 7 of your buddies to raid an enemy base, or duking it out in battleships in the middle of a rainstorm while planes dogfight above you. The possibilities are endless when you get creative with the vehicles: mid-air bombings during dogfights, switching planes, parachuting (yes.. I said Parachuting ), and jumping into an enemy's sidecar as he tries to get away - see the gallery. While a 16 player maximum isn't huge, it's still creates plenty of mayhem to keep your senses sharpened.
I just got back from a (long) hiking trip in the Sawtooth Wilderness area, and just got wind of the first benchmarks of the AMD ClawHammer CPU, the first model of which is running at 800MHz. Modest, I know, but the ClawHammer beat the Pentium 4 1.6GHz CPU by 1 FPS in Quake 3! Being that this is a 64-bit CPU up against 32-bit CPUs running identical software, this should come as no surprise.
Snagged this update from Alex Rodberg from TribalWar. The folks over at Garage Games have been very busy! Please keep in mind that this is only a beta patch, use at your own risk, and be sure to backup before installation
Word from Garage Games is that not only are they ready to give their Tribes 2 update a try in wide distribution, but they have incorporated a number of additional fixes from community coders as well. The update and complete list of improvements will be made available via Sierra's Tribes 2 website by end of day today.
As with all betas, we encourage only experienced users to test, as there is no support for beta releases. Back up your Tribes 2 folder and customizations before installing. Those familiar with pre-release software should have no problems. Please test the newest version of T2 in situations that would have typically caused UE's, FPS loss, or NULL bug. Eliminating those was our primary goals. Check out vehicles, weapons, packs, to make sure nothing has gone out of whack. Be sure to check out the readme file for all the details.
Thanks to everyone for their patience and support. If not for our fans this would not have been worth doing. Extra special thanks to the people who contributed fixes and suggestions and of course to Garage Games.
You can find the complete readme, download the open beta files, and get more info in the new Beta Test forum at [this address].
- Alex
P.S. The issue of Linux support is still looming and is currently still unresolved. Sierra cannot support Linux code, but we are open to a reputable Linux development company picking up where Loki left off. None have offered to date.
The U.S., Europe, Japan... they've all gotten their Halo advertising goodness. But Canada? Nope.
Until now. A new Halo television commercial has been spotted, and in the tradition of rabid Bungie fans, duly snapped up and captured for your viewing pleasure.
And, as I said, it really is disturbingly funny. Check it out.
The guys over at GarageGames have released their June newsletter. This one proves to be a great read (if you're interested in the behind-the-scenes world of gaming). They interview Jeff Tunnell, a GG employee and former Dynamix dev team member, about his side project: Chain Reaction. In addition to that, you'll get some info on how to better utilize the Torque's map editor, and their insight on to the style trends that have shown up at E3 this year.
Jasio has submitted a new T2 strategy (which also applies to T1, and many other games ). It talks about the need to practice often, and practice hard. 'tis a good read, check it out!
Strategies. Everyone has them, little tips and tricks that they've learned from others or picked up from experience in the game and we want to hear 'em! Our strategy archive is looking rather bare and we need you guys to fill them up. So, if you've got a tactic or neat little trick that you've picked up along the way and want to share it with the community, head on over to the respective game page and submit it!
Every so often there is need for change. Welcome to the totally redesigned 'Yard!
Along with the obvious visual change, thanks to cookie enhanced changeable themes, the entire backend and frontend of the site has been redone to be completely dynamic. There are several new features that have been added, to name a few: a community demo archive where individuals can upload their best / funniest demos or recordings for the public to view. A community spotlight where members of the community are interviewed, so to speak, to give the public an insight into their [gaming] lives. What's more, there are galleries, links, files and articles that all can be submitted by the public to have a more community-driven site.
Don't like the colour scheme of the site? You can now change that, look for a dropdown list in the upper left hand corner of your screen, currently there are two schemes available: Arctic and Ice Blue. As time goes on, more schemes will be created as we receive input from the community. If there's a particular colour scheme that you'd like to see here, let us know and we'll see what we can do.
In order to submit demos, pictures, links, articles and such you first need to be registered on our forums. Our entire site uses a central user database so you don't need to register at the site and then once more on the forums. Once you've registered on the forums and logged in at the site you are free to access all of the new and innovative features that we have to offer.
While this redesign has been through extensive testing and updates in order to reach a stable milestone, we acknowledge that there are bound to be other quirks that we haven't found yet. So, if you run into anything that is out of the ordinary or simply something that you think would be a nice addition, please let us know ASAP .
Once again, welcome to the new and improved Junkyard, I hope you enjoy your stay and hope to hear from you on the forums.
Edit: Worthy of note, I've received a lot of emails from people complaining about downloads missing. Please rest assured that nothing has been lost and everything has been ported over to the redesign. Naturally, all links to the old documents will be defunct, but all you have to do is find them on the new design.
New SSP Discord
How to install and run Starsiege in 2020
Welcome back
New Starsiege Master Servers
More maintenance.
Tribes 1 Master Server Goes the Way of Starsiege's
The Last of SS:2845 Media
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Halo 3 Beta to be Tens of Thousands of Users Strong
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An Inside Look at Bungie
) displays which weapon or vehicle that is currently selected. This is all done at a vehicle station.
) as we know it, Blake Hutchins has been granted the prestigious honor of having his story Sword from the Sea published in L. Ron Hubbard's 22nd edition of Writers of the Future. 
From all of the staff here at the Junkyard, we wish you all a safe and happy holidays! For 
Halo3.com Online
The Problem with Software
A Glimpse at Radar
Torque Shader Engine Milestone 4 soon-to-be Released
Eurotribes Interviews Tim Aste
Ascension
1.5 gigs of T2 skins
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Tribes IV?
Shadow Legion Chronicles
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. The real deal has been posted up on the forums and is available 
. However, many of the same issues of the 1.03 patch are probably present, due to the fact that Westlake uses the code given to them by Gearbox to create the Mac patches. Click below to be taken to MacSoft's support page, where there are several download links.
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There Comes a Day...
Making the Halo 2 E3 Demo - Part 1
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