Interplay, desperate for something that sells, today announced that a Kingpin sequel is in development according to this HomeLAN Fed story. You can find some screenshots from the 5 year old orginal game here and on FileShack we still have the demo. While it was mentioned that Kingpin 2 will be released on PC and Xbox, a developer or release date was not revealed. The company is also looking to revive the Descent & Earthworm Jim franchises.

Ridah from over at Gray Matter Studios updated his .plan with the news of a new Linux release, server only. Get the 1.20 to 1.21 release.

Grey Matter Studios programmer Ryan Feltrin updated his .plan responding to some Shack visitor complaints (problably found here) about the state of Kingping netcode. He says he currently has no control over release of new updates.

The KingPin Crime Inc. page has an interview with Ryan Feltrin of Xatrix Entertainment (now working on Wolfenstein2000) talking about KingPin.

There's a new version of the Kraze bot for Kingpin, with a new configuration file and better crouch code.

Couple of KingPin bits for you guys, first off you can check out the FAQ which has been updated at Poisonville. Then, to fill your competitive need, a tourney mod is now available for KingPin over at the Reactive Software page. It has admins, voting, and all that jazz you would expect.

There's a new version of the Kingpin bot KrazeBot out, v0.02, offering bug fixes and basic teamplay support. Thanks PoisonVille.

maXtron has a new version of RiEvEr's Kingpin bot, and it's called "The KrazeBot" now. There's now variable bot skill levels, a personal "accuracy" modifier and bots have favorite weapons along with a few other things.

Blues has word that Xtreme Design has 80 KingPin maps for download. The webmaster says though, "some of these are test maps".

According to Poisonville, maXtron has the first version of RiEvEr's Kingpin bot, with source code included that others can use as a base for their own bots.

3D Gamers has the new 1.21 patch and SDK of Kingpin up for download.

A KingPin DM strategy guide for you guys to check out at PlanetKingPin too.

Poisonville has an interview with Ryan Feltrin of Xatrix, (those guys who did KingPin) and ask his views on the violence in gaming thang.

Ridah pays a visit to the Fingershack for a .plan update regarding the unofficial client build of Kingpin 1.20 for Linux (following up to the other 1.20 releases from yesterday) as well as a couple of new bonus maps. Check it:

http://impact.frag.com/ridah/kptest/kingpin-1.20_glibc-i386-linux2.0.tar.gz" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="external

This is an unofficial full client build. I will be putting together a server only official build soon, which will hopefully find it's way onto the official Kingpin page.

Why server only? Because the full client needs a lot more work before it could be considered official. If there are any linux developement houses out there that would like to continue the work, they can contact me and I'll put you in touch with the appropriate Interplay representation.

The KingPin patch v1.2 has been released over on the Interplay FTP. The list of changes made is pretty hefty but here are a few of the more interesting ones I got wind  from Blue who got wind of this from 3D Action Gamers who I assume breaks wind on occasion.

+ New "g_mapcycle_file" variable, to set the cycle list to something other than "maps.lst" or "teammaps.lst"
+ Added "kickban" command to server (works same as "kick <id>" but also adds the ip to the filter list)
+ Download skins option in Player Setup menu
+ added "time" command to consol
+ fixed server exploit
+ alterations to voting system
+ client model server crash with dm_locational_damage enabled
+ Invisible player models for unknown female skins
+ Chasecam observer mode

The KingPin patch looks like it has completed development thanks to all of the testers. Just keep your eye on the official KingPin page (or here) and for the official release.

Saw over at Blue's News that Captured.com has put up a guide for Kingpin for those of us (myself included) who are stupid to get through the game.

PowerGamerz posts a short interview with Ryan "Ridah" Feltrin of Xatrix, working hard on patching up Kingpin (v1.17). Short interview it is, but they're  excellent questions (and answers). Here's one:

PG: It seems today that most game companies put 90% of their resources into the visual aspect of games, and not enough toward artificial intelligence. Why do you think this is? Could it be that programmers today just dont have the resources and time to create detailed AI?

Ridah: A lot of this has to do with publisher confidence. If you can show your publisher a good-looking game, they are more likely to push your game harder in it's marketting campaign, give you more time to work on the game, etc. These days, you really need a programmer solely devoted to the artificial intelligence. Also another large factor in the performance of the AI, is to have all the levels completed well before the ship-date. That way you can spend the time making sure the environments within the game don't pose any problems to the existing AI routines.

There a new Kingpin beta patch, bringing it up to 1.17. Remember that the new version breaks all the old save games. Thanks VE.

+ Invisible player models for unknown female skins
+ Chasecam observer mode
+ New "Push Download" tech for faster file transfers
+ Make download system backwards compatible with old servers AND old clients

+ Server's send "deposited" to GameSpy via "deaths" field
+ Disable CD check when enabling CD music in options

Wow, it works now. Ridah has been hammering away at Kingpin for a while and has released another beta, version 1.16. Here's the recent fixes/additions:

= NOT TESTED: BAN voting system to boot trouble makers (use "vote ban <nick>" to start a BAN vote, requires 45% of players to "agree" to take effect)

+ Fixed 100% CPU usage occuring on some NT servers
+ Fixed voice in Deathmatch sometime speaking in a male voice when using female character
+ More "SV_GetSpace: Overflow" fixes (please report the full message if you get this on a server)
+ Add debug info to "FS_Read: 0 bytes read" error

45% for a ban? does that mean you can kick out some guy beating the snot outta you in a 1 on 1? 51% better?