Announcing Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds Heaven
10:46 AM EST
Check it out!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
HEAVENGAMES LAUNCHES STAR WARS: GALACTIC BATTLEGROUNDS HEAVEN September 30, 2001 - HeavenGames LLC announced today that it has launched Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds Heaven ( http://swgb.heavengames.com ), the latest in its series of special-interest sites for real time strategy games.
Slated for release in November of 2001, Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds is a Real Time Strategy (RTS) game developed by LucasArts, based on the engine developed for the award-winning Age of Kings series by Ensemble Studios/Microsoft. The game covers the Star Wars expanded universe, witnessing the birth and demise of the Imperial Empire, and the legends of the Jedi & Sith.
Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds Heaven will be dedicated to featuring extensive coverage of Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds before and after its release, and will bring you the latest news on the game.
Overseeing the operation as Site Director for SWGB Heaven will be Michael "AoErat" Zander. Zander previously operated a fan site dedicated to the game, and was a perfect fit for the new Heaven site. Working alongside Zander will be HoYin "Zen" Au, Technical Director; and Tom "Spineman" Mescher, Downloads Director. The three have been actively involved in the gaming community for more than 4 years.
ABOUT HEAVENGAMES, LLC HeavenGames LLC, based in Villa Park, Illinois, is a privately-owned web-content publisher geared towards the creation of special-interest sites for Real-Time Strategy and City-Builder games. Its sites, contents, vast amounts of resources, as well as a dedicated staff & management team make HeavenGame's sites the premier destination for gamers worldwide.
Head on over to GameSpot to read the exciting new preview on this intense-looking game! Along with improved AI and interface adjustments, the article also features a short series of questions with Gustaf Magnuson, the Paradox Entertainment producer. In my opinion, one of the coolest additions to the game is the ability to completely customize your state. More options in terms of land and sea units sounds good too! Anyway, enough about what I thought, go read it for yourself! ; )
In addition to the sheer charisma provided by the inclusion of Joan of Arc and Napoleon, the gameplay mechanics will be significantly altered. New battlefield technology--perhaps most importantly the first effective use of gunpowder during the closing engagements in the Hundred Years' War--should remind veteran players that this isn't the same old Europa Universalis. The first game's historical core is also being enhanced with new units that bring the Renaissance and Baroque periods to life. These include a number of additions that will provide more options on the battlefield, by land and by sea.
How positively exciting! One of the most promising games on the horizon, Stronghold, now has a playable demo!!! In Stronghold, you build a castle and fend off invaders and just in general have a ye olde good time. I'll see you in a few days when I'm done trying this out.
Edit by Reckless Rodent - this is a game you do not want to miss!
According to Maxis, they have decided to cancel their upcoming crossbreed of the Sims and SimCity, SimsVille. You can find Gamespot's interview with Patrick Buechner of Maxis here. According to Mr. Buechner (in reference to 'what went wrong'), "...while SimsVille had certain fun elements to it, the game had other parts that simply weren't as fun. For me, specifically, the first 10 minutes of building up my town was always enjoyable, but once I got past that part, the game became less compelling. Similar issues also influenced our decision."
Maybe Maxis will finally lose their fixation on the Sims and go back to more substantial games...
IGNPC has written up a preview of the upcoming RPG Throne of Darkness. While you're reading up on the game, check out the Throne of Darkness Elements Of The Week as well! Here's the link to IGNPC's detailed preview of the game.
A quick excerpt that briefly describes the premise and the goals of the game:
The Throne of Darkness gameworld consists of five castles. Four of these belong to Daimyo, the warlords who were the Shogun's protectors. They encircle the fifth, a mountaintop citadel that has become the stronghold of the Dark Warlord. The demo version that was released last month includes one of the four Daimyo castles to give players a taste of how the game begins. In the full version, the player can choose to begin in any one of the four, each of which has different quests and cinematics. Starting in a small temple at the very top, you must first recapture the castle level by level, then make your way through a number of wilderness areas to reach the caves and passages of the Dark Warlord Mountain. Click and publisher Sierra Studios have not released information about this final area, but have promised it will contain some surprises.
The new prequel to Kohan: The Immortal Sovereigns has sent Gamespot some screens. View them here. Though the graphics don't look that much better there are some interesting things in the menu and cool city graphics.
Well, today's the day! Red Faction is going to be in stores, and as if that's not enough, the official Red Faction web site has a toolkit that can be downloaded to allow players to customize game content.
Remember Wolfenstein? I do, I was a wee lad when it came out and I ran over to my best friend's house and we played for hours and an old 386. Then his mom found out we had it and got mad at his older brother but I digress. Return to Wolfenstein is still in the works but it is now open for multiplayer test. So get your little butts over to thier page while I boot up my 386 and wait for the memories.
Microsoft Recalls Twin Towers From Flight Simulator
1:37 AM EST
First off, I'd like to apologize from my infrequent posting for the past few days...I think we all were shaken up quite a bit by Tuesday's tragedy and I obviously had a lot on my mind preventing me from concentrating on my work. My thoughts and prayers go out to all affected by the terrorist attacks.
In recent news, Microsoft announced they would be removing the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center from their upcoming Flight Simulator 2002, out of respect for the awful events that led to the collapse of both towers on Tuesday. "Obviously everyone's hearts are in this here, too. We don't want to have any imagery in there that would upset anyone", remarked Matt Pilla, a Microsoft spokesperson.
The New York American Red Cross is in dire need of technology equipment and services. The field workers and sites have little, if any, means of communication and the central office is processing way too much on completely paper systems. Your help in acquiring these resources would be greatly appreciated.
If you can help, please contact:
Joe Leo, Assistant Director, Business Applications, IT American Red Cross in Greater New York phone: 212.875.2409 email:jleo@arcgny.org 150 Amsterdam Avenue New York, NY 10023
PLEASE NOTE: His email is slammed, so don't resend your messages over and over again.
Following is the list of equipment that the Red Cross needs for its field workers and expanded Emergency Operations Centers. It also needs certified Citrix engineers and Microsoft-certified consultants.
40 IBM computers and laptops (with NICs)
Monitors (with desktops)
Any storage solutions
25 10/100 hubs (8+ Ports)
100 Cat5 cables (All lengths)
50 power strips
Any IBM-compatible memory
Any 3Com wireless NIC cards and LAN products
30 desktop-size UPSs
15 LaserJet printers (HP 1100 or faster) and printer supplies
20 external Zip drives and disks
Any diskettes and R/W CDs
5 external CD burners
5 duplex document scanners
25 extension cords
any colored tie wraps
any Velcro cable wraps
50 Citrix client licenses
12 PCMCIA LAN cards for IBM P20 ThinkPads, preferably 3Com (in addition to those in the new PCs)
50 Microsoft Exchange CALs
35 Microsoft SQL CALs
50 Microsoft Office Professional licenses
15 PC Anywhere licenses
DSL lines
PDAs with wireless capacity and service
Nextel cellphones and service
Thanks in advance for your generous assistance. Any donation will help greatly.
Cornered Rat has just put out World WasII Online v1.25. It's most notable new feature is the ranking system similar to levels in traditional MMORPGs. The ranks give you the options to post missons for others to complete. Full details can be read here.
Although I had no friends or family in the World Trade Center Complex and no one I know at the Pentagon, even though I wasn't waiting for anyone flying American or United and I am not even an American citizen, I wept at what unfolded on my TV screen yesterday morning.
People just like me, my wife, my three young, beautiful daughters, my elderly, ailing parents, my American friends, my Canadian friends, my Dutch friends and my Colombian friends were coldy terminated. All because interpretations of well-meaning religious texts run counter to a way of life that people, for better or worse, have elected for themselves.
It was determined by inhumane persons, who do not understand even the most basic religious principles embedded in what they read and purport to defend, that all of these people had to die for what I and probably everyone really believes in: the right to be intellectually and physically free, the right to choose one's beliefs and pursue them without harm to others, the right to peace and the right to be happy. Evil is indeed a clever, well-disguised perverter.
On behalf of myself and our staff, I mourn and salute each and every one of the persons, these citizens of all reasoning humanity, who lost their lives and those who are injured and their families and friends. The best way to honor them, to avoid that their forced sacrifices be in vain, is to continue to live as they did.
Voodoo Extreme posted a link to the new RTS called S.W.I.N.E., produced by Fishtank Interactive. Check out all the details at Adrenaline Vault on this page.
Features for S.W.I.N.E. include:
Detailed physical modeling system
15 single-player missions for each race
Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and Destroy the Base multiplayer modes
10 multiplayer levels that can be played in a special war mode.
Humorous character and unit reporting using pre-rendered animation
Full range of terrain creation options with special buildings for each level
The official Civilization 3 website has posted for us a developer's update concerning Wonders. I personally think the game itself will be the Eighth Wonder of the World, but check this out anyway...
Here's one I haven't heard of until now, but which looks like it might end up being pretty cool. GameSpot has posted a preview of a game called Warrior Kings, currently under development here in the UK by a company called Black Cactus. Here's a little snippet of the article:
England-based developer Black Cactus experienced one of the most turbulent development cycles in recent memory. Its current project, Warrior Kings, was originally signed by Sierra, but that company's own problems resulted in cutbacks on funding for Warrior Kings. Sierra eventually dropped the game altogether. Fortunately for Black Cactus, Microids picked up the rights to publish Warrior Kings, and since that time, development on the project has steadily progressed. However, it still remains to be seen if Black Cactus can successfully incorporate some of its rather ambitious plans into the final product.
It's that day again and this time Firaxis has featured the Persians. I gives a little historical blurb about them. It also says their leader will be Xerxes (though IMHO Cyrus is the right choice ). The Persians are scientific and commercial which gives them alphabet and bronze working at starting techs as well as better commerce in the city center, a free random tech at the beginning of every era, lower corruption, and lower scientific improvement costs. For their unique unit they get the Immortal which they has this to say about it.
The Immortals were the elite corps of the Persian army, as well as the king's personal bodyguards, and only those of Persian or Medic descent were allowed to serve. Equipped with bows, spears, a short sword, and little else, the Immortals relied on superior numbers and high morale to defeat their foes. Immortals also carried lightweight wicker "shields" that could deflect arrows, but they were of little use in melee combat against more heavily armored and better equipped forces. Ironically, they were called Immortals because they would often perish quickly in combat, only to be immediately replaced by fresh troops, giving the illusion that their forces never dropped in strength. Apparently, "Expendables" didn't have quite the same ring to it.
It has 4 attack 2 defence and 1 move as opposed to a swordsman which only has 3 attack.
The New York Times has put out an article on historical accuracy in RTS and Civ series games. If that wasn't news enough our own Angel Graham "Thunder" Somers was mentioned (As well as HG) too. You can see it here though you need to register which is free and takes only a few seconds.
The Sims Resource has recently put up their preview of the upcoming third expansion for the Sims, Hot Date. This expansion puts more into the game romance-wise, and your Sim can now do everything from going downtown and checking out the people scene to finding a potential mate over the Internet. You can read up on that here. What I want to know is when Maxis is going to start thinking about games other than the Sims...
That's right, the Armada II Producer known on the forums as PingEnvy had this to say:
The Beta when it's announced will be open. No need to signup. You'll just have to go to a site (as yet undetermined) and download the multiplayer online open beta. That's it. If you find a bug and are willing to fill out a bug submission form then those will also be on the same site you download the MP online beta from. As listed above it will only be a MP beta and not include elements from the Single Player Campaign. You should hear more about it in the next 2 weeks or so as we lock this stuff down.
Seems like a great chance to preview this cool-looking RTS! Sounds like more info will be coming soon. : )
In some ways, the Internet has done a world of good for chraitable causes. From having their own websites to display to the world to being able to send out newsletters to alert supporters of news, worthy causes seem to be possibly entering a new age of heightened accesibility. Now you can do your part to try and help save millions of lives just by running a simple screensaver. You can download it here; it's sponsored by the National Foundation for Cancer Research. It works similarly to SETI, the program that you can download to let your computer help decipher signals recieved from outer space; but this is for a far more deserving cause. The program costs nothing, and each computer that downloads it screens a few molecules that may help discover a cure for leukemia, an unfortunate child-killing cancer in our world today. So please, do just a simple little task for those that need our help and download this program. It costs you nothing, and means the world to the victims of leukemia.
ECTS, the premier European gaming industry event, recently revealed the winners of their "Star awards". Here are some of the more relevant ones, courtesy of IGN PC:
PC Game of the Year (by website visitors) - Max Payne
PC Game of the Show (by Euro journalists) - Project Nomad
Multiplayer Game of the Show (by Euro journalists) - Anarchy Online
PC Format Best New Kit Award - nVidia's GeForce 3
PC Gamer PC Game Developer Award - Bohemia
PC Game of the Year Benelux - Black & White
PC Game of the Year Eastern Europe - Black & White
Project Entropia, the upcoming futuristic MMORPG that will be supposedly free of cost to all players (we'll see about that come release day...hey, what can I say, I can be a real cynic sometimes ), has entered Phase II of beta testing. 500 players were selected to test this pre-release version of the game. Wish them luck in their bugslaying!
You can find these in a lot of places but Gamespot is where we'll point you. Sony Online has released some pictures of the upcoming Everquest: The Shadows of Lucin specifically the horsies! Anyway go check 'em out.
There's a new Diablo II patch out today, so head to Battle.net to download it if you're interested. Here's what the patch does:
FIXES: - Fixed a bug where a connection problem ("Unable to connect to Battle.net")would instead result in a downloading patch dialog that stayed at 0% indefinitely.
Simply connect to Battle.net to download the patch. We will post the standalone version of this patch on our FTP site as soon as it's available.
Find out here! This very informative article posted by Gamasutra tells all about the perks and downsides of working as a game developer. It breaks the industry down into the major fields and analyzes the income and makeup of each. Very thorough, interesting read. Here's my favorite part:
"Programmers have it the best, salarywise. Good games programmers are extremely rare, and even mediocre ones are pretty rare. But a really good programmer, with a history in the industry, can command a huge salary." -- programmer, California
No offense to all you non-programmer types out there ; )
EverQuest, the immensely popular online roleplaying game first set up in 1999, will be expanding into European servers later this year, says Ubi Soft Entertainment and Sony Online Entertainment. Bon voyage, EverQuest!
Adding onto what Crowsong told us all earlier, it is now common knowledge that Black and White will have a sequel. IGNPC has the full scoop, but here's a snippet:
The idea behind the sequel is that the world has moved on. The villagers have a little bit more technology now, and they're more warlike. Fighting has broken out between the tribes. As a god, you're stuck in the middle of the ensuing war, and you have to choose which side you want to support. "I really like the idea of these huge, quite vicious wars going on, and you as a god returning to this land that you left in peace at the end of Black & White having to choose a side," explains Peter.
You'll be able to help your side through the use of miracles, sending your creature into battle, and constructing useful buildings or walls to protect your chosen tribe. Although not a traditional RTS in the sense that you will be able to control every unit in the battle, Peter did say that Black & White 2 will include several traditional RTS elements, although he wasn't ready to go into specifics at the time of the announcement. While nothing is set in stone at this point, Peter did mention that he would like to have a system where you set up chosen villagers as leaders who will take your tribe into battle and, in his words, he sees Black & White 2 being "much more bloody and vicious" than the original.
PC IGN has a mini review of the new Black and White expansion pack known as "Creature Isles" up. See it in all it's glory: here
As the name suggests, the emphasis of Creature Isle is definitely more on your creature. Rather than splitting your time between teaching your pet and managing your villagers, you will explore the island and take your creature through a number of trials and tasks as you progress through the game.
Trilobyte Graphics just recently announced a new RPG called Duality. Head to Gamespot UK to check out the article. Be sure to have a look at the very first screenshots while you're checking it out! : )
Looks like To The Game has gotten some new Europa Universalis II screenshots. Not much new in the way of content but interesting nonetheless. See them here.
Did we call it or what? Today Blizzard announced World of WarCraft. An MMORPG based of WarCraft 2. You can read the press release Here. Three races are currently available, the Orcs, Humans, and Tauren, a minotaur like race. Some cool screenshots are up too so you can see the main page here. The screens look great.
Apparently Blizzard "accidentally" sent out a press release announcing World of WarCraft, an MMORPG set in the War2 universe. Blizzard Insider has this to say on it
During a press conference today at the European Computer Trade Show, Blizzard Entertainment unveiled World of Warcraft, a massively multiplayer, online role-playing game set in the rich fiction of Blizzard's Warcraft universe. Featuring bold 3D graphics and deep, immersive gameplay, World of Warcraft will allow thousands of players to adventure together in this epic setting and will provide them with a new, in-depth perspective on familiar lands, former battlefields, and heroes from the legendary universe. In addition, World of Warcraft will introduce new, uncharted territories and foes never before seen by followers of the series
The good folks at Wolfpack Studios has peeked out from crunch time to give us another update. Included in it is the Lore of the Aelfborn and an update to the world history section complete with timelines.
For your viewing pleasure I give you a bit of the Lore of the Aelfborn
I fear he speaks the truth. We are all Aelfborn, hybrids of fair Elf and stubborn Human, doomed to be outcasts wherever we go. Our race is no race at all, for never shall any Aelfborn sire or bear a child. Our parents, be they Fey or Man, they remember their long histories with pride, writing chronicles and telling legends of better days and mighty deeds. Not so with us. We have no history. The heritage of both our parents is denied us.
More contest news for you today, as Angel Draco announces the Age of Wonders Heaven Play By E-Mail World Cup Tournament. The best thing I can do here is bring you the info straight from the horse's mouth:
The AOW PBEM 2001 World Cup will feature both a Singles (1-vs-1) Event and a Doubles (2-vs-2) Event. Both events are open to all, and are now accepting entries. The closing date for entries is Sunday, September 9th, 2001 at 23:59 EDT (US Eastern Daylight Time).
The first round will be Monday, September 10th, and first round games will be distributed on Tuesday, September 11th.
All contestants may enter either or both events, but may enter each event only once. Contestants are requested to submit separate entries for each event. After your entry has been accepted and added to the list of entries (below), please check to ensure that all details are correct.
Doubles Event Contestants who wish to enter the Doubles Event are required to find their own partner. Both partners on a Doubles Team must represent the same country. Only one partner from the Doubles Team should send an email entry for the team. If you wish to enter the Doubles Event, but do not have a partner, then check the list of Singles Event Entries for individuals from your country.
Head on over to GameSpot to read the exciting new preview on this intense-looking game! Along with improved AI and interface adjustments, the article also features a short series of questions with Gustaf Magnuson, the Paradox Entertainment producer. In my opinion, one of the coolest additions to the game is the ability to completely customize your state. More options in terms of land and sea units sounds good too! Anyway, enough about what I thought, go read it for yourself! ; )
One of the most promising games on the horizon, Stronghold, now has a 
