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Erotic Webmaster Theatre
So I was outside, and I saw this girl with some very nice merchandise walking out of the apartment next door towards the parking lot. I asked her if she liked HTML. (My standard pickup line)

She immediately began squealing like a pig and making goofy faces at me requestion that I "upload" something to her.

I wasnt very sure about this since I didnt even know the girls domain name but I figured what the hell. If she wanted to give me IP access right there in the street I may as well have at it.

I gave it to her right in the CGI-BIN for a good 2 hours only stopping briefly for a PPP break. After it was all over she just cried in my arms, the girl had never known a webmaster like me.

Unreal2?
Check out this article posted on Next-Gen which asks some interesting questions:

GT Interactive has invested not a small sum of money in the marketing of Epic's Unreal but the big question is whether or not it will be able to leverage those expenditures for the sequel? Sources have indicated that Epic is in the process of being courted by multiple large publishers for the rights to additional Unreal

Half-Life Shots
Purified 3D has posted 2 "Exclusive Screenshots" of Half-Life over on their site.

New Tweakit
BGR software has released yet another update to their Tweakit software, beat 2.0.32 8a. If you already have tweakit, you can pick up the upgrade here. If you are not familiar with Tweakit, you can get more info about it on their page here.

Future of 3D
In case you were just curious, the folks over at EEtimes have put up an article about the Future of 3D, that takes a look at what we will see at Microsoft's upcoming Meltdown conference.

Valve Chat
All kinds of stuff for you guys to check out from last nights IRC chat hosted by 3dgaming.net. Here is the Half-Life IRC log from last written in interview form on AGN3D. Also here's a log of the IRC session on Contaminated.net, or this edited log on Sleepnever Central Half-Life, or this one on Half-Life Haven -Blues

Blood2
Monolith has put up the 12th weekly update for Blood 2 which features a number of new screenshots and other interesting bits.

The Views

• BattleZone II
  Gamesmania has posted part II of their interview with Joshua Resnick. The first part of course was chatting about the sequel to Dark Reign, now they talk about BattleZone II and what we can expect to see.
  
  
• Anachronox Chat
  Stormtroopers.com has posted a log of the Anachronox irc chat event from yesterday. You can check out the log here.
  
  
• SpearHead
  Avault has put up a preview of Spearhead which almost looks interesting.
  
  
• Revenant
  ANG3D has posted a first look at Revanant which is like, Diablo with a 3D accelerator or something.

Tech

• Hardware Central @ S3
  Hardware Central has posted an interview with Vice President of Architecture & Software John Brothers from S3.
  
  
• Cyrellis on S3 Savage II
  The second part of Cyrellis' S3 Savage3D review is now up, where they have some newer drivers that greatly improve Quake2 performance. They also got some more information on that "texture compression" that everybody expected to be total PR BS:
  
  
• Cyrellis on TNT
  Diamond has come to the Cyrellis labs, and they have placed up a preview of the hot new Viper TNT. Unlike many other reviews, they stress that the hardware and drivers really are alpha-level, and show a lot of room for improvement.
  
  

QBS2 Released
I'll just quote the email, cuz I'm freaking tired. "Everybodies favourite news and plan tracker program, which monitors your page for updates, has just been updated to v2.0. This upgrade brings such a huge list of new features that I couldn't possibly mention them all here - but needless to say, you're going to love it. So why not head along to the QBS site at http://qbs.stomped.com and take a look. You'll be glad you did."

werd
Um, it's Saturday.

re: ads, just using some Flycast ads for a couple of weeks until the larger deal for my page comes through. Already have ads on 3DNews.net with DC

Savage3D & MG200
A bunch of new benchmarks of both the Matrox G200 based Mystique as well as the Savage3D are popping up again. First check out the MatroxUsers Mystique review which shows some marks comparable to the Voodoo2.

Then check out Part2 of Cyrellis's Savage3D preview. He even posted a cool chart comparing the Savage3D with Voodoo2 benchmarks on the same system. (Chart mooched from Blue)

Ward Six Shots
Ward Six Entertainment has just release an insane number of new screenshots from their Quake 2 total conversion RPG. Two shots depict the never publically seen conversation interface http://nightfall.vortexq.com/pics.html

Ritual Job
There is another job opening up at Ritual Entertainment, they need a Project Manager to work on the FAKK2 project.

"We need an avid gamer, who loves designing games, and is interested in working on our upcoming game: Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K. 2. Members of the tribe receive bonuses on top of salary, which are based off a percentage of the revenue generated by the games you help create, along with ALL related derivative products, including ports. We also offer a full benefits package. Everyone on the team having creative influence is a fundamental principle under which Ritual Entertainment was founded. This is more than a job; it's a lifestyle. "

TombRaider 3
Not totally related, but interesting enough. Eidos Interactive has finally released a good feature list on what we can expect to see in TombRaider 3. Here is the abridged version from Cyrellis

Reflections will be more predominant and impressive - but not 'true' - just effects. [Isn't all reflection an 'effect'???] New vehicles will be available - including rafts and cars. Extra lighting effects using color filters. Lighting will be more natural, across wider areas - not just confined to particular blocks. Triangular polygons are to be used for a more organic look. Lara will gain a sprint bar - to help her go faster. [Goodie...turbo button...how arcade] The engine too will be going faster, having had an overhaul. Locations include India, London, polar research stations, and the jungle. Lara can get down lower when she crawls. [I'm not even going to touch this one] A rocket launcher and an M-16 are amongst the new weapons on offer. [Laura with even bigger guns!] Improved particle effects - smoke and mist etc. The game will be in high resolution.

Half-Life Chat Tonight
3DGaming.net is hosting an IRC chat with some members of the Half-Life development team tonight. The party starts at 8:30 pm EST (5:30 pm PST), in 3DNet (irc.3dnet.net)

Also tonight is the Ion Storm chat, check out www.ionstorm.com for details.

Heretic 2 Images
Thanks to Frans of 3D Action Gamers' for the word that aCtivision has posted 3 new images on their website that will be running in magazines around the country showing off Heretic2 in all its glory.

My Lame Roomate on SinED
Charlie "It's 5am, lets go to IHOP!" Wiederhold of Ritual updated his .plan with a lengthy post explaining the video that was released yesterday. Along with that Don M. also mentions the release of SinED with Sin.

There aren't things blowing up in this example because, to be quite honest, blowing stuff up is really easy in Sin and doesn't really show what the scripting is capable of. Course, it might have been cool to watch "Danny" self destruct at the end of the demo, huh? Oh well, damn. :) We hope all you editing types are able to get excited about what you will be able to do with Sin, as we fully expect you to far outshine what we come up with in time, just like everyone did with Quake.

Any cool tools to play with when the demo is released though?

No GLHexen
Bruce Lewis updated saying there will be no GLHexen port :\ http://www.frag.com/doom/ Thanks to Redwood.

CPL Goin Nuts
Well now, if all those other sponsors offering thousands of dollars and hardware to people who are good at playing Quake isnt enough for you, Mad Catz has decided that if you win the CPL tournament, they wanna give you $10,000. You of course have to be using their controller though.

Got a few emails on this one, check out what Process has to say at Processed News.

Q2 Comics
BAV Design has entered the Quake2 comic arena with their own little entry hosted over there at Telefragged. It's pretty good. I mean, for a comic.. based on a 3D game.. ok I admit it, I'm not a fan of comics. I don't rush out for the Sunday paper.. It's only because I never learned to read though. :(

The Views

• Alien vs Predator #1
  Next-Gen has put together a preview of the Alien vs Predator title from Fox that everyone is talking about. (Check out the screenshots linked in yesterday's news. totally cool looking)
  
  
• Alien vs Predator #2
  GameFan has put together a preview collecting as much information that is known about the Alien vs Predator title from Fox Interactive

The game, as you can tell from these shots, is looking unbelievably good, using it's own proprietary engine and a good dose of atmosphere. full 3-D modeling and a whole mess of eye-popping lighting effects are helping this one shape up to be one of the best looking shooters this side of Unreal. The game play is very similar to competing first person shooters, however, the level design allows the game to be completely non-linear

• Dear Mynx
  The always enlightening Dear Mynx article for the week has been posted.

Tech

• Riva TNT #1
  GameCenter has put together an article discussing a recent look at the new card from Diamond based on the Riva TNT.
  
  
• Riva TNT #2
  Anand has posted a preview of Diamond's RivaTNT
  
  
• Savage3D @ Cyrellis
  Cyrellis has posted a hot review of S3's new Savage3D. It looks like they may have a sleeper hit on their hands, based on our poll results! The S3D's Direct3D scores are smokin' and their 2D scores aren't too shabby either, a smidgen slower than the current champion Matrox Millenium 2. -3DNews
  
  

Unreal

• Unreal Game Guide
  A new Unreal Game Guide on GameSpot offers the path of least resistance through the single player game. -Blues
  
  
• Unreal FAQ v0.3
  Version 0.3 of Unreal Kingdom's unofficial Unreal FAQ has been posted. Not really sure what is new in there, but I bet it has to do with Unreal.
  
  

werd
"OOOhhh. I know what you did last summer.. I'm so scared..."

Ok, someone send me a Savage3D, thanks.

Sin Scripting Demo
Ritual has released a SiN scripting demo so you editing types can get a head start on things. Check out the Sin Scripting Video page for full details and file downloads

WARNING: This demo is NOT about action or gameplay. This demo is not targeted at your average gamer, but instead at the people who are into hardcore editing. It's a very simple video used to show how easy it is to create the interactive, immersive environment that is Sin. If you're looking for action, there are other Sin videos that are chock-full of it. If you are a webmaster interested in mirroring these demo files, you MUST include that warning along with it. The last thing I want is pissed off people who spend hours downloading the thing expecting an action-packed video. Be sure to read the README.TXT that's included in the ZIP files, it explains what you're seeing and what it all means.

Hell, why not check out this preview of Sin posted on Computainment.net

Kinda busy with guests here tonight, I'll have a nice fat update late tonight/early morning tomorrow for ya.

Sin: The Movie
Dig this blurb snagged from Ritualistic:

Though the details aren't all in yet, the SiN has been committed and the Original Video Animation deal is official! SiN gets animated via ADV FILMS, North America's leading provider of Japanese Animation: http://www.advfilms.com/advhome/catalog/news.html When? Where? How? Well, like I said, those details aren't in yet. ADV will be posting a web update soon to reflect the news of the SiN Animation project and will keep people up to date on its progress.

Alien vs Predator
I saw these shots over at OGR, and thought they looked pretty damn cool. Fox Interactive has released 12 new screenshots of Alien vs. Predator over at OGR.

Q2Java
From Red's page: "Q2Java version 0.6.0 is now available. This program allows you to write Quake 2 games in Java instead of C. The latest versions include java's internationalization features to allow each player to select for themselves which language they wish to see various game messages displayed. It runs on Win32/Intel and Solaris/SPARC platforms."

Shiny's Sacrifice
GameCenter has scooped up a little bit of info on the "other project" being worked on at Shiny based on the Messiah technology.

Although details are still in short supply, we did manage to finagle a few choice bits of information. For starters, Sacrifice will be a hybrid of sorts, mixing action, strategy, and role-playing within the context of a fast-paced 3D multiplayer game. The game will also be fantasy based--a first for Shiny, whose games have always had a sci-fi theme.

Unreal Net Code Specs
The Unreal Tech Page has been updated with the networking docs:

New Documentation: Complete overview of Unreal's networking architecture. This is of interest to UnrealScript programmers who are putting together fairly advanced mods which introduce new kinds of data that need to be communicated in network games, want to add server administration capabilities, or create new kinds of user interfaces for chatting, server-side menus, or other cool things I can't yet envision. It's also aimed at our licensee programmers, many of whom are doing innovative new things with network play. I'm trying to be as open as possible about releasing licensee documentation to the Unreal community whenever possible.

Work at 3dfx
Always gotta post these, want a job at 3dfx? Check out Jack Mathew's .plan update

A couple cool things going on. First, anyone want a job at 3Dfx? No, I'm not leaving, but there's an opening that I want to check out here for. Basically, we need someone that has lots (5 years) Windows programming experience, MFC experience, and stuff to actually SHOW for it. If you fit this description, and don't mind moving to San Jose, CA, send me a resume at jack@gamespy.com and PLEASE include the subject "job" in the subject line.

Unreal OpenGL Port
Voodoo Extreme has posted a letter from one of the guys working at the company which is porting Unreal to OpenGL for all of us. Here's a clip

Hi, my name is Keith Leonard, and I work at DreamForge Intertainment. We are the guys doing the OpenGL for Unreal. I would like to give you guys my responses to the latest posting to Alex St John and Brian Hook regarding Unreal and OpenGL. Regarding Alex's statement about Unreal encountering exactly the kind of driver problems that he predicted. 1. What predictions, I don't remember him talking to us about them. 2. He isn't involved in any way, therefore he knows only what he found on the internet, or something from the Epic Guys, but not from us. 3. There is a direct 3D port coming too isn't there? I wonder what might be holding that one up? Just because the OpenGL port has been discussed online, we are catching heat? Keep in mind that I've seen numerous posts about the state of the Direct 3D port, and they haven't been doing any better than the OpenGL people.

Weekly Sections
I got a hold of the demo I wanted for yesterday,(now posted) and have also updated todays wacked the fuck out links.

The Views

• Thief: Dark Project
  Nextgen has posted a new interview with the project director of Thief: The Dark Project. Here's a clip

Greg LoPiccolo is the project director on Thief and he responds with reasons, facts and details of an intriguing game.. So - how did the game come about? "Thief is a logical extension of the things we liked the most about System Shock; specifically, sneaking around and ambushing the enemy. We discovered that we got more of an adrenaline rush from tense, stealthy gameplay than from straight-up butchery, and we realized that we could design an entire game around that core concept."

• MotoRacer 2
  Next-Gen has also put up a preview of Motoracer 2 with plenty of screenshots
  
  
• I82 Shot
  Blue's page has posted a new screenshot of I82 this morning that looks pretty nifty.
  
  

Tech

• 3DNow! & Permidia2
  If you are having some problems with the Permidia2 cards and getting them to get along with the new 3DNow! drivers that you snagged. This is assuming you have an AMD and Permidia2, I guess you may wanna check out this blurb on Billy's page.
  
  

werd
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a hottie too.

Sin... 17days... yummy. The first game based on Q2 technology to be released.

More Views

• Boatrocker Interview
  Kerry Wilkinson, RBR's Director of Development, is interviewed over at www.boatrocker.com
  
  
• Twin Dragon Review
  The review of the brand new Twin Dragon TC for Shadow Warrior is now online for viewing over at Map FAQ Central.
  
  

Messiah Screenshots
Shiny has sent four brand new screenshots from Messiah to Processed News. These show everything, graphic effects, characters in the game, and some new architecture.

Loki's Q2 CTF
Check out the Loki's page for a HUGE run down of the features to be included in the next version of this CTF mod. The release is scheduled for July 15th

More Sin Demo Funs
As July 26th gets closer, so does the release of Ritual Entertainment's Sin demo. A couple more press releases have been sent out for the kids to munch on:

Cyberathlete Organization is releasing the demo in cooperation with Activision & Ritual at the upcoming CPL Tounament.

I also saw this blurb of press from Activision over on Billy's VE Love House:

Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) will launch Ritual Entertainment’s highly anticipated Sin demo on Sunday, July 26, with three sinfully exciting promotions. The demo, which is comprised of two single player and two multiplayer levels, will debut simultaneously at noon PDT on Activision’s Web site www.activision.com , Ritual Entertainment’s Web site www.ritual.com and on C/Net’s Gamcenter as the Download of the Day. The Sin demo also will appear on Gamecenter’s front door through the weekend. Players who download the Sin demo from the Activision Web site between July 26 and August 30 can enter a random drawing to win a top-of-the-line Micron computer system that features a 3Dfx Voodoo card, as well as dozens of second and third prizes, including five 3Dfx Voodoo cards and 25 Sinday T-shirts. The drawing will be held on September 1, and the winners’ names will be posted on Activision’s site.

New Q2CTF4
Disruptor updated his ol .plan file with news on a new CTF map:

I've released a new version of the q2ctf4 (Outlands) CTF map which is now available on our FTP site; ftp://ftp.idsoftware.com/idstuff/quake2/maps/q2ctf4a.exe or ftp://ftp.idsoftware.com/idstuff/quake2/maps/q2ctf4a.tar.gz It should be extracted to \quake2\baseq2\maps. This version of the CTF map attempts to address issues with making play more balanced. It is currently running on our CTF server at 192.246.40.37:27913 Thanks to Brian Hook, John Cash, the people on 3DNet and EFNet (you know who you are) for their input in making this map more balanced

Max Payne Update
There is a new Max Payne Development Update online!  It's by Sam Lake, MP Game Designer.   This second in a series of three updates by Sam focuses on the game setting and actual levels of the game.  Here's a snippet, but for the entire update, head over to the Official Max Payne Site!

And yes, we've done our homework, watched all the right movies. Expect all the grim and gloomy game locations that you would expect from a movie of the crime-thriller genre, hell, expect game locations worth a few crime-thriller movies. Our plan is to do 18 big levels for the game, but that might change a bit during the development (hopefully we can manage even more).

Is Realism Fun?
Well, I'm hoping to get a hold of a particular demo for this weeks demo update, but in the mean time I have written up another editorial which is a bit more cohesive than last weeks. (Sorry, I was pretty toasted on last weeks post)

Scott Miller made a .plan update related to this topic on how the advancement of technology in games is actually hurting gameplay sometimes.

Display Doctor v6.53
A new version of the extremely versatile and useful Scitech Display Doctor utility has been released. Check out the Whats New list. This utility seriously helps framerate for people who use the software renderer in Quake/Duke/Unreal etc.

Sin Video & Demo News
GameCenter has just posted the E3 video that was being shown by Activision with some of the best footage yet of Ritual Entertainment Sin title. The demo is scheduled to be released (!) on the 26th of this month so check out the preview and video to prepare yourself for one of the hottest titles of the summer

If you're waiting with bated breath for Ritual and Activision's inaugural SiN demo set to release July 26 on Sinday Bloody Sinday, Gamecenter has some big news for you. We will be offering the exclusive premiere of the official SiN demo on the big day! That's right, Gamecenter's Top Downloads will be the place for your first taste of SiN.

Speaking of Sin, there is RealAudio interview with project manager Joe Selinke online at http://www.activision.com/games/sin/

USA vs. Sweden
Just got this email about a Quake1 4on4 match in the making between DeathRow & Clan [9] of Sweden.

Where is the best Quake players USA or Europe Big fight: Best of USA vs Best of Europe (DeathRow vs Nine) When: August 3 -August 10 Were Nine (Stockholm Oden gatan 44 ,Sweden) 200 Sek or 25 $ to get inside and see the fights Looking into the possibility to send the fights live on Internet (Maby, maby not) DeathRow players:Thresh, B2, Unholy, Da5id, Frick, LittleDragon , Reptile Nine players:Paralyzer , DOOMer, Xenon , Nikodemus, oKKun, Spice, liquid 5 Fights NQ and 5 tights QW Also 1 on 1 and 2 on 2 fights. There will be a website about this in a few days. Nine have a page up already but only in swedish. http://www.nine.nu/clan9/9vsdr.html

BoatRocker.com Forums
The Boatrocker Forumns have opened up for everyone interested in discussing what magic may be coming our way from the boys at Rebel Boat Rocker working on the Prax Wars project.

New PingTool
Version 2.1 of PingTool, a shareware multi-game server browser, is now available. Quake 2 master server support and extensive new filter options have shown up in this version which should make you happy.

The Views

• 3DGaming.net ONLINE!
  3DGaming.net, a 3Dnews.net affiliate (Gee, who woulda thunk?) has just opened their doors with several different previews and reviews posted to celebrate the grand opening. The views include: Dominion: Storm over Gift 3 , Fallout2 , and Blood2 along with some other interesting articles profiling the online game cheater. :)
  
  
• StarSiege Shots
  8 new screenshots of StarSiege have been posted on the VUP website which are looking pretty good.
  
  
• Anachronox Interview
  Gamers Digest has posted a preview / interview of Anachronox with several members of the development team discussing what we can expect to see in what many are saying could be a revolutionary game.
  
  
• Prey Interview
  After a short break of posting interviews, LAReviews is back on the ball with posting a new interview with the project leader of Prey over at 3DRealms. Paul S.

When Prey ships, the performance range between the low-end and the high-end will be the greatest I’ve ever seen in this industry—that means that we have to be very careful to make sure that Prey scales elegantly across a wide spectrum of platforms. On the low end, we’re targeting a P166-200 with a Voodoo 1-quality 3D accelerator. The sky’s the limit on the high end. We do want to make sure, though, that the game plays well on the low end—that’s very important to us.

• Daikatana Backgrounds
  The Daikatana.com website has just posted a pair of new images that are just perfect for the desktop image lover (in 800x600 and 1280x1024 sizes) depicting "the RoboCo Ragemaster 5000" from the Japan episode.
  
  
• TombRaider 3
  GameSpot UK has posted a preview of Tombraider 3 which includes a few new screenshots to look at as well as an overview of what the game will be about. One good guess would be more boob polys.
  
  

Tech

• Gamespot on Savage3D
  Lloyd Case over at GameSpot has posted an article discussing some speculation as well as a hard look at the benchmarks that have been coming out of testing the new S3 Savage3D chipset and how it will affect the 3D market.
  
  
• GLQuake & Quake2 Tweak Guide
  Quoted from Blue's page: 3Fingers' Quake2 and GLQuake Tweak guide on Billy's House o' Pancakes has been updated, now with up to 30% more tweaks. Both the Quake and the Quake II sections have been enhanced
  
  
• Virtual Doctor
  MyDesktop Network today unveiled new Technical Support forums for their popular VirtualDr site. Check them out! http://www.virtualdr.com/forums/
  
  
• Benchmark Baloney
  Jeremy at Allgames 3D has posted an editorial called Benchmark Baloney that takes a look at all of benchmarking in regard to advertising
  
  
• New Tweakit
  BGR Software has just released a new version of their Tweakit utility for 3D hardware owners.
  
  

werd
That's my daughter you're talking about!

Um, yea. So I'm thinking seeing Jennifer Love Hewitt naked would probably be a good thing.