Due to an oversight, the patch does not add the OpenGL or S3 Metal rendering drivers. If you have patched the 3dfx demo and really want to try these drivers, you will need to download the full 55MB demo. You are still best off using Glide for your 3dfx card, or Direct3D for all other cards except S3s.

Everyone's probably heard about the speed and performance update we've been working on for Total Annihilation: Kingdoms (Version 2.0). The update is scheduled to go live on www.cavedog.com later this week and should provide a massive performance boost in all areas of gameplay.

Following is a list of the major tweaks and additions that can be expected in the Total Annihilation: Kingdoms 2.0 update.

Kingdoms should now run at least two times faster in all instances. In many cases the game will run even faster than that.

Faster user interface

Faster game loading

Faster single and multiplayer gameplay

During intense battles, Kingdoms can now automatically adjust the level of shadow detail and animation updating to maintain a responsive frame rate

Kingdoms RAM footprint has been reduced by 24MB

Kingdoms should now run effectively on a P200 with 32MB of RAM (64MB is highly recommended)

A new option to control unit/shadow scaling quality in hardware modes is available

A registry control has been added to allow players to change the level of unit animation updating

The introduction movie can now be turned off

Assigning orders to units while the game is paused has been improved

The offensive capabilities of the Veruna Dirigible have been reduced

The size and polygon count of the Veruna Dirigible has been decreased

The Zhon Wisp will now target and fire more effectively

Anti-cheating measures have been updated

The multiplayer check making version 2.0 incompatible with version 1.x has been updated

A number of errors dealing with unit data have been corrected

Two additional maps have been added to the game

Or click here for some more fun >:)

The Need for Speed games have always been about ludicrously expensive exotic sports cars that the average player will never be able to afford. Motor City, by contrast, goes back to the roots of classic car culture. The game strives to recreate the feel of the "grease monkey" era--a time when people spent as much time under the hood as they spent behind the wheel. Fat-fender hot rods, blown muscle cars roaring on open headers, and the sleek class and style of the early Corvette... these are the cars that players can expect to see in Motor City.

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. This is a tale of tragedy and of triumph. Of rebirth and revenge. You are Raziel, disciple of Lord Kain. For millenia you served him as you and those like you evolved into godlike beings. But there was something different about you, for eventually your ability surpassed that of your master Lord Kain, but for this you were banished forever... or so it seemed. You awaken to find a force unlike any you've ever known... an ancient entity of unknown origin who rules the spectral plane. You learn that Lord Kain and his minions have wreaked such havoc in the material plane that The Elder's very existence has been threatened by their actions. For centuries The Elder's anger has grown until at last you have been resurrected to serve The Elder. You mission now has but one purpose- Destroy Kain!

Electronic Arts and Origin Systems recently announced their work on Ultima Online 2. Although UO2 won't go gold for at least a year, UO2 will have some positive gaming features going for it including

• New 3D graphics engine
  
• Motion-aptured animations
  
• Vast new environment to explore
  
• And even action figures based on the UO world.

"We've learned a lot about online entertainment over the past two years since we launched Ultima Online," said Jeff Anderson, vice president of development at ORIGIN and executive producer for UO2. "But, most important, we learned that we are not just making 'games' any more. We're building virtual worlds that will offer new ways for people to interact, socialise, and adventure on the Internet."

Check out the full article here

We're probably looking at some time over the week or perhaps Monday. There are few little bugs (from the earlier demo) still left to fix and test.

14 Degrees East has other games planned, but I can't talk about time-scales," said Brian Christian, Director of Interplay's 14 Degrees East division which deals with all of the company's Star Trek titles. "We have two games right now in design that we'll definitely be making, I can tell you that. Every Star Trek game we release will be better than its predecessor, meaning that Star Trek fans will constantly be surprised and amazed by the 14 Degrees East titles they're playing."

The demo opens up with a short movie, in game visuals this time, but I have read elsewhere that there will be several FMV sequences through out the game, that ill help to set the mood. Apparently the keys to the Core of the planet have been found and when they are used, at the correct time, the prophecy will be fulfilled. The thing is that no one really knows what this means.

-Command line switch -sli fixes Voodoo SLI problems.

-Can now select user tracks in multiplayer - run UpdateTrack.exe in editor folder to convert old user tracks to new format.

-Track editor tracks can now be exported double size - select "yes" on export when queried. Tracks exported this way will have "double" on the end of their name when viewed in the game.

-Track editor now defaults to 2nd card if available (fixes bug with Voodoo cards)

-Added command line switch -nomip for graphics cards that can't handle mip map levels.

-Now remembers filter and mip map settings between front end and main game.

-Misc. other minor bugs fixed.

Eternal War will have over 100 unique units and buildings for the player to control. EW allows the player to advance his civilization from prehistoric cavemen into the future. This is done through seven different levels in the game. The player can command land, water and air units in the game. Units in EW can be grouped into squads of up to 12 units. Once a group of units is formed into a squad they will protect one another move together and will form formations. Formations allow the player to place his units into a formation to best utilize each unit. This helps a lot when moving a lot of units.

Loot and extort your way to infamy in the seedy world of the 17th century Caribbean. Strike terror in the hearts of victims as you board ships, ransom hostages and sack towns. The only rules are the ones you make. Seek a Letter of Marquee and fight for your King and country as a privateer or become a ruthless pirate, either way, remember to ply the crew with rum and treasure or face a mutiny. Cutthroats: Terror on the High Seas features over six million miles of territory to explore, and over 70 ports to sack. In addition to the real time top down engine for fighting other ships, Cutthroats features individual control of your crew members when attacking a port. This allows the player to duck in, raze a few buildings, empty the treasury, and return to the high seas.

First of all we're NOT doing a grappling hook. Period. We've discussed it to death and decided it's not our thing. We like the translocator and we think you'll learn to like it too. We've got lots of heavy-duty CTF players at Epic and DE and we've played and played and played and played UT's CTF to ensure it's right. You guys are going to love some of the other CTF maps. But remember we're trying to do things our way not copy someone else's game. If you really love games you'll learn to appreciate the variety available to you not chastise it.

As for a grappling hook for UT - we'll leave that to the mod-makers if they feel it's necessary. I personally think you guys will get more than used the Translocator and it's particular uses and quirks. You love it or hate it the same way you love or hate the grappling hook in other games. You'll learn it's ins and outs the same way you learned the other tools in the other games.

One of the posts here said "Item Four: The translocator. First you should be able to destroy enemy units you find lying around." You can destroy enemy beacons. Just shoot them a bunch of times. You can also push them off into lava with a few good shots! If the originator tries to translocator to a broken beacon or one in lava, they'll die.

Believe me folks, in the last 16 months we've been working on Unreal Tournament we've had more heated arguments about functionality and what to include/not-include than you'll ever likely see on this message board.

Avault's PC Game Release Date List Updated - ImPaLe @ 8:06 pm PST
Avault's PC Game Release list has been update to March 2000.Our PC release date list has been updated through March 2000. Our December titles have expanded considerably, so if you are wondering what you will -- or will not be -- playing this Christmas, or what you will be doing to cure those post-holiday blues, head on over here, and check it out for yourself.By the way, I am not "technically" a new staff member, i used to be Narayan.

News Posters - Falcon @ 6:11 pm PST
We are in need of one or two dedicated news posters here at GS. If you feel you can post at least one story daily and have good grammar, feel free to contact me at falcon@gamesurge.com and I will get in touch with further details.

TopazChat version6 released - Falcon @ 10:45 pm PST
Here is a quote from the TopazChat page

TopazChat version 6 is now available for download. This version is designed ONLY as a chat interface, it has no options for responses, spamming or channel moderation. Several improvements have been made to the chat interface, including support for sound and custom user settings for users on battle.net.

SC:Land up - Falcon @ 11:38 pm PST
The old SC site, Starcraft Land which went on a hiatus a while ago is back up again with a new layout. You can see them here

All I gotta say is, if this system actually comes out, I think I'll go nuts..The dreamcast just came out, take a break guys! Who could picture a 256bit 400mhz system anyways? That is some year 2100 gaming :)

Phew... enough news to last me a while...

Source:Tactical Planet

You can view the screenshots here

I think our official spec is a P166, 32 meg. I would recommend a P200 or higher if you want to experience most of the cool new environmental effects we've added. A hardware card is also required. Here at work I am running the game on a P350 with a RIVA TNT. I leave everything on and experience very few slow downs. Keep in mind that I am running debugging builds of the game. After we fully optimize the code I expect release builds to be faster.

Source:GA Strategy

Sacred Lands Review - Falcon @ 8:11 pm PST
Merrie Rickmann over at Computer Games Online has a review on-line of GT Interactive's strategy/role-playing game, Disciples: Sacred Lands. The game was given an overall score rating of 3 /2 out of 5 Stars. Here's an excerpt:

If you believe that the only good strategy game is one in which you're frantically clicking your mouse and scrolling around the map fast enough to make yourself dizzy, you'll probably want to quit reading now. Those of you who rank a good turn-based strategy game high on the list of life's pleasures will want to learn more about Disciples: Sacred Lands.

More details about Renegade will be released in the coming weeks. Check http://www.westwood.com for updates.

Source: GameNation