Mark Rein has updated the Unreal Engine News page with a brief inside peek at Unreal Championship, the Xbox Unreal Tournament followup in development at Digital Extremes. Mark talks about the features DE has put in the Unreal engine, and how some of those features have found their way into Epic's version of the engine that ships to licensees. There's a screenshot showing the particle effects that have been added to the engine. The update also mentions this article about the movie A.I. where the Unreal Tournament engine was used to create 3D versions of the set. Saw that on Voodoo Extreme.

There's an update on the Strike Force Center webiste, with some info on the internal 165IR1 release of this Unreal Tournament mod. The site lists the changes in this release and also mentions it will be a while before the general public will see it.

Got an email saying a new version of Night's Edge is out. This is a mod for Unreal Tournament. They call it a "tactical simulator".

The Tactical Ops website has the news that beta 2 of this Unreal Tournament is finally out. It's a pretty damn big release at 104mb, but they have several mirrors listed. The mod is available for Windows, MacOS and Linux versions of Unreal Tournament. There is no "what's new" list (in fact the news of the release is the only thing on the site), but there is a known bug list.

After months of waiting, the Tactical Ops have finally announced a release date for beta2 of their Unreal Tournament mod. Today! It will be out around 3pm Central and of course there are all kind of IRC happenings as usual with a mod release.

VE has an interview with Daniel Vogel formerly of Loki who went on to work at Epic after his work on the OpenGL driver for Unreal Tournament.

Epic pimpdaddy CliffyB updated his .plan file with the news that Epic is looking to hire a level designer/enviromental artist. For all the requirements read the .plan.

If Half-Life ain't your thing, but Unreal Tournament is, you might be interested in knowing that the Tactical Ops website has 3 screenshots showing the improved Desert Eagle weapon model.

Computer Games Onlien has a new level design article, teach your how to make a map for Unreal Tournament. Epic Games level designer Alan Willard walks you through the basics of the Unreal Editor.

A new version of the UT Strike Force mod has been released. There are several changes in this 1.61 version, and they've also included 3 new maps to play on. There's also a 52mb demo of the modification for those who want to sample before downloading the entire mod.

VE got a response from Mark Rein of Epic Games in reference to the story yesterday about James Green (a former Epic employee) who was a bit disgruntled about how Epic was handling a few things. Mark confirms what James was saying.

Unreality has an interview with James Schmalz of Digital Extremes, asking him about the upcoming Xbox Unreal Tournament followup Unreal Championship. Saw that on Stomped.

The Strike Force Center has been updated with some news on this UT mod. There are screenies from a new map and a new gun.

The people at Spelletjesgarnaal just keep on going with the E3 footage. This time they have a 20 minute movie showing the Xbox game Unreal Championship. UC is being developed by Digital Extremes, co-developers of Unreal and Unreal Tournament.

The Tactical Ops website has been updated with a trailer for the upcoming Beta 2 release of this Unreal Tournament mod. It runs for about 6:30 and requires the DivX codec.

The official site for the Xbox game Unreal Championship is now up with familiar screenshots and info about this game from the co-developers of Unreal and UT, Digital Extremes.

Strike Force Center has a map pack for the UT mod Strike Force up, including several previous maps that were left out of the current 1.60 release, as well as a few maps that weren't ready for release yet but are now.

Version 2.86 of the Infiltration mod for Unreal Tournament is on it's way, according to a news update on the website. They have been fixing the leaning problems, animations play properly now and fix prone-hopping. They'll also add a new weapon. Thanks to Stomped for the tip.

Version 1.6 of the Strike Force mod for Unreal Tournament has been released. This release puts the big in big ass, because it's a 255mb download. There is a Windows, Linux and Mac version. So what is new that makes it 255mb?

- New real-life weapons and equipment: Beretta M92, Glock 18, Benelli M3, Benelli M1, HK MP5-Navy, HK MP5K, Mac-10, HK G36K, Colt M4A1, Remington M40A1, Claymore Mines, Knives and Nightvision goggles: over 22 in all!
- Updated weapon models for the Frag Grenade, Flash Bang and Kalashnikov AK-47
- 3 additional game modes: Hostage Rescue, Escape and Deathmatch
- 48 brand-new maps from our award-winning team of mappers for all game types
- New original player models and skins for both the Strike Force and Terrorist teams
- Realistic new gameplay features, including prone position, scope wobble, encumbrance and more
- Improved online code to reduce lag and improve speed
- New code specific features to prevent online cheating
...
- New animations for both first and third person including prone, firing animations and aiming!
- A customizable HUD and new character selection interface
- New art by professional artist Jay Faircloth and new music by professional musician Tim Jenssens

StrikeForce -net has a new guide on the upcoming 1.6 version of the UT mod Strike Force. They have taken a look at the 19 weapons in the mod. There are pics and descriptions.