Saturday, February 26, 2000

New Webdog and Webpuppy -- 9:14 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

New versions of the Webdog and Webpuppy news and .plan file programs have been released. You can snag them on Webdog's download page.

Domination Winners -- 3:16 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

The top three Domination maps in the Make Something Unreal contest have been chosen. They are:

1. DOM-Reliquary by ruineR
2. DOM-Hysteria by Entropy
3. DOM-Syncronicity ][ by No ReMoRsE

Congratulations to one and all! Next up is the category I'm really looking forward to: Assault maps.

Further Reason to Boycott Amazon.com -- 9:58 am CST, Update by A.T. Hun

Amazon.com managed to paint a great big DoS target on itself. According to this article on CNet, the trained monkeys at the U.S. Patent Office have issued Amazon a patent for affiliate programs. Affiliate programs are where a website will display a portion of an online retailers catalog and gets a cut of the sales from referrals. Expect another round of lawsuits, just like with their "one-click" patent fiasco.

I urge everyone to Barnes and Noble, Buy.Com's Book section, or any other online bookseller, but NOT Amazon. The only way these people will learn is to hit them where it hurts--the pocketbook. It'd also be nice if someone would buy the Patent Office a clue. Thanks Slashdot.

Now that I think about it, this is a great time to visit noamazon.com.

Zoid Leaves id -- 9:45 am CST, Update by A.T. Hun

id's David "Zoid" Kirsch, the father of Capture-the-Flag, updated his .plan with the news that he will soon be leaving id. Here's a snip:

I feel that I have learned a lot in my time with id, but I find myself looking for new challenges. I have decided that in order to pursue them, I must leave my association with id Software. Having done so, I plan on exploring new opportunities.
. . .
In March, I will begin a new position at Retro Studios, http://www.retrostudios.com/. I look forward to joining the team there and working on some exciting new projects.

Friday, February 25, 2000

Linux .umod Installer -- 10:29 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

If you are running Linux and want to play the new levels in the Unreal Tournament bonus pack, download this little Perl script that will install the .umod files for you. I can't personally verify that this works yet, but I will be trying it soon. Special thanks to none other than Epic's own Brandon "GreenMarine" Reinhart for the heads-up on that one.

Alan Willard on the Bonus Pack -- 7:06 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

Epic's Alan Willard updated his .plan with an easy way to get an extra Domination map with the recently released Bonus Pack for Unreal Tournament. Check it:

FINALLY! Its out, after a long testing process :) The Bonus Pack is out, and can be found at your favorite news site by now I hope. Just a bit of a secret got shipped with this... If you rename DM-Cybrosis][ to DOM-Cybrosis][, the map will play as a Domination map, with named control points and the works! I figured if I slipped the Control Points in like this, it would save a little bit on the download size, so go forth and enjoy.

Extra Domination maps are A Good Thing (tMS).

Bonus Pack First Impressions -- 3:54 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

I just downloaded and installed the Unreal Tournament bonus pack. It is a riot, to say the least. I am now going to play as a Skaarj Hybrid, although the Nali WarCow is very tempting (and hilarious). I fired up one of the new maps with all the runes. They really do add something to gameplay. Heaven help you if you kill someone in close quarters, only to find out they have the Rune of Vengeance. Kaboom! Highly recommended for all UT fans. Special thanks to the good folks at Epic for adding all this cool new stuff!

Not to sound ungrateful, but I hope they can get a Linux version out too. It would be a great addition for the Haus UT Server when we get our new machine.

Update! I've seen some people on various sites wondering what to do with the UTBonusPack.umod file. Simple--double-click on it. The UT installer will automagically run and install the bonus pack in its proper places. The whole .umod thing is my second favorite part of UT, behind mutators. It makes mod, map, mutator, etc. installations so much easier.

UT Bonus Pack Released! -- 2:39 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

As promised, Epic has released their much-anticipated bonus pack for Unreal Tournament on Gamecenter. There are versions available for the PC and the Mac, both weighing in at 13.8M. Here's the goods:

The Unreal Tournament Bonus Pack is a big thank-you from the creators of the game to all who purchased the full version. It includes new character skins: the Skaarj Hybrid, Nali, and the Nali WarCow. It also adds new levels: DM-Agony, DM-Cybrosis][, DM-ArcaneTemple, DM-Malevolence, DM-Shrapnel][, DM-HealPod][, DM-Mojo][, CTF-Cybrosis][, CTF-Hydro16, CTF-Noxion16, and CTF-Darji16. Finally, it adds relics to your game. You add relics into an Unreal Tournament game the same way you add mutators. You can add as many or as few as your heart desires. They each spawn over a random path node and move around the map if nobody picks them up after a short interval. They can be used with any game type that Unreal Tournament supports. There are six relics: The Relic of Strength, the Relic of Regeneration, the Relic of Defense, the Relic of Speed, the Relic of Redemption, and the dreaded Relic of Vengeance. You may carry only one relic at a time.

What are you waiting for? Get those modems going!

Star Wars Quake Update -- 12:32 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

A few days ago, there was a news update on the official site of the Quake II total conversion called Star Wars Quake. In this update, Red Knight announces that they are scaling back the single-player part of game so they can actually get this thing done. They plan on releasing a deathmatch test soon.

This TC has been in the works since Q1--almost three years now (sounds like a game I know *cough*Daikatana*cough*). It is the main reason I bought Quake 2 about six months ago. Here's to hoping it gets done soon! Thanks JediKnight.net for the heads-up.

The incredible, edible 404 -- 10:54 am CST, Update by The Master

When you have some free time to burn, check out The 404 Research Lab, where all the coolest 404 Page Not Found errors hang out and play. Cool site :-)

Hook and Sweeney on Languages -- 8:07 am CST, Update by A.T. Hun

VE's new "Ask Hook" column is a series of emails between Verant's Brian Hook and Epic's Tim Sweeney on the subject of programming languages. Is C/C++ still a viable programming language for game designers, or should they start from scratch and write a whole new language to better serve their needs? It's an interesting read, especially if you are interested in the "behind-the-scenes" creation of a game.

UT 406 Patch Fixes -- 8:02 am CST, Update by A.T. Hun

Unreal Universe got a complete list of all the changes and fixes in Epic's forthcoming 406 patch for Unreal Tournament. It's a pretty long list, so I'm not even going to try to quote it all. As always, the patch is due "real soon".

Past Two Days' News

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