For the People, By the People: Year End Edition

A very brief FTP, BTP today. I do wish you all a happy and safe New Year's.

Bridge Commander:

BC Files serves up TiqHud's Raider Hardpoint mod, which adds a cloaking device to Zorg/Morpheus' Maquis Raider, TiqHud's Peacestarbase Hardpoint mod, which updates mrjohn's Unity One so that it's dockable, JamesTiberiusKirk's Swimmy Torpedo mod, which alters the appearance of torps, mrjohn's Armored Voyager One, Laurelin's 'Tal Shiar Starbase v1.2 (updated with a hardpoint fix), and CaptainKeyes' Damage Report sound mod.

Starshatter:

DamoclesX posts a peek at a Heavy Cruiser model from the upcoming Battlestar Galactica TC.

Void War Update and Multiplayer Award

Void War has been updated to v1.01.02. The patch includes minor bug fixes.

The independent space combat title was also awarded Multiplayer Game of the Year by Game Tunnel. Congrats to Rampant Games.

For the People, By the People: Thursday

Freespace 2:

A four-mission demo of Nuclear's untitled campaign has been released. Details can be found in this thread at HLP.

There is also a sample of concept music from Wing Commander Saga. The music is based on a theme from Wing Commander 4.

Hardwar:

Captain Zedo's now hosts Plague's IceBreaker skin for the Moon Moth.

Star Trek Armada 2:

From Armada2Files comes Anon's Omega X-class, Krasim's Federation Fighter, and AdmiralPicard's Super USS Enterprise.

X-Wing Alliance:

XWAU reports that their previously released VSD has been updated to v1.1; the new version, which is supposed to be currently available only at VinceT's X-Wing HQ (unfortunately, rooting around found only a news post today and not a link; perhaps I missed the linkage) and corrects return vessels and landing issues.

X2:

Egosoft will be donating money collected from sales of X boosterpacks to "Medecins Sans Frontieres" for the benefit of those impacted by Sunday's tsunamis.

On the lighter side, ThalonMook has released a ship mod consisting of a flagship, an X-Trans, and a Dragon.

Star Wolves Vid

Excalibur Publishing, publishers of Star Wolves in the UK and Scandanavian, have released a movie that shows off the combat title from Russian developers, Xbow. Thanks 3DGamers (mirror also available there).

Interview with an Avis + X2: The Return Screenshots

There's a new, very meaty Q&A with X2: The Return developer, Avis, which is accompanied by a trio of screenshots from the upcoming game by Egosoft. Avis chats about the Empire, I-War, his work on cutscenes in The Return, and consoles.

zeckensacks's Glide Wrapper v0.82b

zeckensack's Independence War/Independence War Deluxe and Wing Commander Prophecy and Secret Ops-friendly Glide wrapper has been updated to v0.82b. A list of fixes can be viewed in the changelog.

Hardwar UIM.04 and New ASROC

There's another Hardwar patch in town (and the incredibly goofy this town ain't big enough for all of the patches, yadda yadda, must follow). UIM.04, a 5MB patch that corrects issues with video-related crashes, is available.

Plagued Mind has also updated Mun's code and has released a new version of ASROC, which "should allow ASROC to work on all versions of hardwar and automatically find the info needed to make itself work with future versions of hardwar."

For the People, By the People: Wednesday

Bridge Commander:

BCFiles hosts Elminster's Common Weapons Pack v2.5.

X-Wing Alliance:

Darksaber's X-Wing Station has an updated version of the Firespray mentioned yesterday. The new version corrects a crash problem with the earlier version. Thanks XWAU.

X2:

This thread at the official X forums gives details on DeadlyDa's Ship, Station, and Galaxy Mod v0.1.1. The latest version tweaks new ship handling and offers more information on ships in the readme. Screenshots and download links are included in the thread.

Ace of Angels Update

Long quiet, the Ace of Angels forums have seen some recent developer activity. Seenar says:

We are in the process of integrating new technology into Ace of Angels. This is a huge undertaking because we are basically re-writing much of the code. The goal is to create an updated look to the game, while maintaining the same game play aspects that make it fun.

Further in the thread, he indicates that they are also working on bringing up a server for old players.

Hardwar UIM.03

Ian Martin is at it again, which means there's a new Hardwar patch to be downloaded. UIM.03 is a minor patch, which corrects a crashing bug involving dead pilots and saved games and enables embossing textures. Mirrors and more are including in the thread at Captain Zedo's.

For the People, By the People: Tuesday

Bridge Commander:

As seen at the BCU forums, Zambie Zan offers a low-poly Chichuba Light Crusier and an Eros-class Runabout for download.

Freelancer:

Watercooler Warrior has released another script, "Set Mission 1 Reward", which allows the user to do just that without directly manipulating .ini files. Bill-Boe Berlev (and no, I wouldn't want to say that three times in a row) has produced a Visibility Mod, which increases the range of visible objects in single and multiplayer games. Thanks Lancers Reactor (please make the scrolling stop).

Freespace 2:

Kazan's VP Constructor Suite 2.0-RC1 is available (via the HLP forums).

Master of Orion 3:

MOO3 Guardian serves up two updates to DarkCrimson's planet skins mods (gas giants and new skins for planets) and Lennier's Unliving Mod v1.0. Newly published are Psilondude's strategy tips regarding AI, System Taking, and Ship Design.

Nexus:

Darkshimmer announces the preliminary offering of dU's Star Trek: Age of War Alpha 1.0 TC. A small fix has already been posted. At least a partial readme is included in the linked post at the official Nexus forums

X-Wing Alliance:

Darksaber's X-Wing Station hosts Master Qui-Gon's Firespray Attack Ship; it includes three effects options. That and a whole lot more about the release is included at Darksaber's. Thanks XWAU.

For the People, By the People: Sunday Drive Edition

Bridge Commander:

Imperial Destroyer offers a hardpoint update to MrJohn's Guncutter 2.

Freespace 2:

The HLP forums brings a bevy of FS2 action today. We start with Blaise Russel's new campaign, "Shrouding the Light: Origins", which is now available. Freespace 2 Open has been updated to v3.6.5. The Freespace Conversion group has ported the "Christmas Heist" mission to Freespace 2; the mission was previously available only for Freespace. Starman01 has posted a Wing Commander Saga wallpaper. TrashMan shares pics of a variety of ships he's working on, while c914 has released his GTD Sirona. Lastly, there are three Wing Commander Saga shots at the CIC.

Nexus:

Jusas brings a new mission to the community.

Wing Commander:

The CIC also has word of the relaunch of the German Wing Commander site, Wingcenter, which apparently will be covering additional space combat titles in the future.

SaltLake for Christmas

The Commonwealth Navy SaltLake Base model is now available at the Independence War Paper Model site.

For the People, By the People: Santa's Sleigh Edition

FTP, BTP is short and sweet today and will be my last post for the day; it is unlikely that there will be updates tomorrow. Again, I hope all of you have a wonderful and safe holiday season.

Bridge Commander:

BCFiles offers Outalance Shipyards' Varuul Reman Light Cruiser.

Freespace 2:

Starman01 shares a series of shots of the Kilrathi Frawqirg-class Destroyer from the Wing Commander Saga forum at HLP.

Nexus:

ElectricMonk gives the gift of an "unfinished" SpaceTech episode that all-the-same features three new systems and five missions.

X-Wing Alliance:

As promised, the XWA Upgrade team has released the very slick Victory-class Star Destroyer by Trageton. The ship is available via the download page, filed under "Starships", of course.

Gal Civ 2: Dreadlords Info and Beta Test

The Gal Civ site has been updated with a lengthy article that discusses the differences between Gal Civ I and Gal Civ II and the hopes that the "sequel" will instead be another contender in the same genre (as opposed to being just a sequel). The article also discloses that those who pre-order the game and/or have an active subscription to Totalgaming.net will be eligible to beta test Gal Civ II.

JtL Advanced Pilot's Guide

Marzuk offers an Advanced Pilot's Guide at SWGVault. The guide covers ships, equipment, droid commands, and basic flying and combat tactics.

EVE Newsletter, Volume IV

A new edition of the official EVE newsletter, which recaps recent happenings in the world of EVE, is now online.

Standoff Released

The Standoff Prologue episode has been released. Information and the download link are available at the CIC.

For the People, By the People: Thursday

Bridge Commander:

From BCFiles: Anon's TMP Photon Torpedo, Zorg/Morpheus' Federation Starbase Replacement v2.0, Orion 5's Romulan Crew with Mutator, a series from Cpt. LC Amaral, which includes the Ambassador-Class TNG Pack v2.0, Ambassador-Class Ent-C Pack v2.0, and Ambassador-Class USS Belmont, D&G Productions' Advanced NX Mod v1.1, 1701-E's Elite Force 2 Sovereign Bridge v1.0, mrjohn's Romulan Nierrh-Class Destroyer, DJCube's Direct Hits Bridge FX v1.0, Starforce Productions' USS Ajax Excelsior Variant v1.0, and Starforce Productions' USS Curnow Excelsior Variant v1.0.

Freelancer:

The SW: Tides of War team promises an alpha of their SW TC before Christmas. Thanks Lancers Reactor.

Freespace 2:

From HLP's forums: The Babylon Project (could someone fix their news script, please?) has released a Raider Wars trailer, available through File Planet. Woomeister has posted a high-polygon model, the Mara, which is also available via FP. Continuing on, the Star Wars board shows off an untextured Murian Transport by TopAce and an untextured Trade Federation Battleship by Ratri.

On the campaign side, there is a repack of Derelict that includes voices--all in a single file.

Hardwar:

As seen at Captain Zedo's boards: REAxion continues to release test versions of HardLook and to correct for bugs. HardLook is currently compatible with 2.04, U3.00b4, UIM.01, and UIM.02 games. The editor allows the user to change a variety of variables, including moth specs, pilot cash and names, and moth teleportation from hanger to hanger.

Klingon Academy:

Recent Moogle releases include the Federation TMP Academy Training Fighter, the Romulan Ti'Vari-Class Cruiser, the Romulan Joval-Class Destroyer, and the Romulan Swift Claw-Class Light Cruiser.

Also, Kt'Hyla's AI Trainer Tutorial (final version) has been released.

Nexus:

TheStressPuppy gives a preview of his lovely Ages of War TOS Constitution, and Cmd Kewin previews the VdaTool.

Starfleet Command 3:

SFC3Files hosts red_green's Rise of Kingdoms II v1.0

Starshatter:

Melkor shares his Campaign Setup guide at Starshatter Central.

X2:

Egosoft have released an "X2 All-in-One Bonus Package", which includes all the plug-ins previously released in one package. The user can choose which plug-ins to install.

zeckensacks's Glide Wrapper v0.82

zeckensack has updated his glide wrapper to v0.82. Changes and bugfixes are listed in the readme.

Standoff to Be Released Today

Although it's not available yet, Standoff should be released today. Keep an eye on the Standoff site, the CIC, and the CIC's Standoff forums.

If you need Secret Ops (which is required to play Standoff), the CIC hosts the file, as does Underdogs.

Vendetta Online Update

The official Vendetta Online site details recent changes in the massively multiplayer game, which includes new ship types and ship tweaks.

EVE Ship Tweaks

EVE-I.com has posted a recent developer blog update by TomB, who discusses ship and combat changes and testing on Singularity.

Heads Up: Evochron

Starwraith 3D Games has announced a freeform space sim in their December newsletter. Evochron is due for an early 2005 release. Thanks Nick!

For the People, By the People: Sunday Drive That Carries into Monday Edition

Bridge Commander:

At BCFiles: Breen Shippack (with hardpoints; based on an earlier release by redragon) and Zambie Zan's Deathbird v1.0.

Freelancer:

From Lancers Reactor: Mancer and Crabtree-CCN's "Mancers-Starwars Shippack No. 3" (thirteen Star Wars ships, most of which are TIE variations) and the Hornvipers Mod Team's "Streetch Mod v1.0" (single-player and multiplayer-compatible; adds a few systems and transit opportunities).

Freespace 2:

There's a bevy of Wing Commander Saga screenshots in this CIC thread. Thanks CIC.

Hardwar:

Wez's offers a build on patch for UIM.02. smurph provides details in this thread at Captain Zedo's board. Also, there is a poll question that will determine the name of Ian Martin's new Moth.

Klingon Academy:

His Divine Shadow's Pre-TOS Cruiser Pack is once again available.

Starshatter:

Melkor's posted an update on the Star Wars TC in the Star Wars board at Starshatter Central's forums. turgotZ shared a screenshot of the Gemini Freighter in another thread. Lastly, there are screenshots from the Battlestar Galactica TC on SC's main page.

B5: IFH Dev Update

Space Dream Factory has posted an update on Babylon 5: I've Found Her's "Danger and Opportunity".

Happy Holidays!

Over the next week or so (and starting today), I will be doing quite a bit of traveling and socializing. That means I will have fewer hours to contribute to ATFW; however, I do have a laptop and an aircard, so I will be making a few updates along the way.

There are a few fan projects and mods to be released around Christmas Day, and I'll be doing my best to keep an eye on those.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday season.

For the People, By the People: Saturday

Freelancer:

This one caused a bit of a double take, but PerfectH has released an A-10 "Warthog" for use with Freelancer. Also, Daves Addon System v1.1 is also available at Lancers Reactor. This version only has the Dallas system and a Christmas goodie included.

Klingon Academy:

Kt'Hyla is looking for comments on his AI Trainer Tutorial.

Nexus:

There are a couple of new mod tools--Rainman's Milkshape Plug-in for .msh Files and timetraveller's Nexus Texture Converter (NTC) v1.0 Build 90, which is available at timetraveller's NTC site.

X-Wing Alliance:

greg has released a custom XWA Sound Effects upgrade (from the XWAU forum).

WCU: Privateer Remake Linux Testers Needed

Hellcat has put in a request for Linux testers in a thread at the CIC. An optional speech pack is available and no compiler is required; the files can be downloaded from the Privateer Remake site.

UIM.02.01 and Embossing Screenshot

Ian Martin shares a pic at Captain Zedo's of embossing in Hardwar and also states that UIM.02.01 "will be out in a few days"; the patch will at the minimum fix a "tiling problem with clouds".

All About EVE's 2005 Plans

EVE-I.com shares a recent post by Oveur from the official EVE forums. Oveur discusses some of the projected changes in the game, including weapons and ship tweaks.

SWG Chat on Monday

Stratics will host a House of Commons chat on Monday, December 20 at 5 PM PDT/8 PM EDT. The channel is #StraticsHoC, and there are a couple of IRC servers to choose from. Topics will include Jump to Lightspeed and plans for 2005. For full details, visit SWG Stratics.

For the People, By the People: Friday

Hardwar:

At Captain Zedo's, Ian Martin has posted a screenshot and a request for input regarding specs for a Moth coming to you in 2005.

X2:

Recent official releases include the Gunnery Crews 3.0 plug-in, which enhances the gunnery skills of capital ship crews, and the Trade Command Software MK3, a trading tool.

LPe and Entropy

The Binary Star website has been updated with a brief section on LPe, their physics engine, and some details on how this will affect Entropy, their Elite-styled space sim.

Hardwar UIM.02 Released

Ian Martin has announced the release of his second Hardwar patch, UIM.02, at Captain Zedo's. From the thread:

Here is my second upgrade to Hardwar, mainly a cosmetic upgrade, with the principal feature being 32 bit display and 32 bit textures, and the concentration on Direct3D (3DFX and software support deleted).

This is a 4.81Mb zip file, please save on to your local machine. Please host and/or distribute as you wish.

As usual, it will upgrade HW F2.0 to UIM.02 - no earlier upgrade is needed.

Please see the thread for the direct link, along with Wez's mirror. Update: 3D Gamers also has a mirror on their Hardwar downloads page.

The readme is in a separate thread:

1.<< UPGRADE UIM.02 >>
----------------------

Welcome to Ian Martin's second unofficial Hardwar upgrade.

The main purposes of this upgrade are some fixes to UIM.01
and the addition of 24/32 bit support - a cosmetic update.


Requirements
------------

Hardwar should still run on a 1998 era PC, but DirectX9 is required. Please download
this from http://www.microsoft.com/directx. We detect the DirectX version, and report if
DirectX9 is not detected, but do allow the user to continue anyway, just in case the
detection code, which uses DLL file versions, shows a fault.

A Direct3D compatible 3D accelerator card is required from UIM.02 onwards.

Features and fixes for UIM.02
-----------------------------

1) 3DFX Glide is deleted. Any 3DFX users should select Direct3D. Users of an old 3DFX
pass-thru card should select Secondary Display.
2) Software rendering is deleted.
3) 24/32 bit display mode is introduced. If operating in windowed mode, it selects the
desktop's colour depth, where the desktop is 16 bits per pixel or above.
4) An option to select 32 bit textures is added. This should ONLY be where 64Mb or more
of texture memory is available. Hardwar does not use the automatic texture management
system, it shrinks textures until they all fit.

If texture memory is limited on your system, try some or all of these (in this order)

a) Do not use 32 bit textures.
b) Clamp textures to 256x256 (some older cards do not allow larger textures anyway, so
Hardwar shrinks them regardless).
c) Use the old explosions.
d) Disable mipmaps.

5) An option is added to revert to the old fog colours.
6) Hardman was not correctly reading the max number of network players - this is fixed.
7) The 'victim' modes introduced in UIM.01 are disabled in network games.
8) The clouds now use a new BMP texture, and are redesigned. They are still an option.
9) A missing building was re-added, Vacant 008.
10) A bug was found and fixed in the texture shrinking code (see 4 above) causing a fatal
crash where available texture memory was limited.



Compatibility.
--------------

DirectX9 required.

UIM.02 will only connect to itself in a network game. It has a new network GUID.

UIM.02 will load UIM.01, U3.04 save games, but not earlier ones.

X2: The Return Delayed and Developer Diary

Egosoft and Deep Silver have announced that X2: The Return won't be making the rounds until Q2 2005.

Further, there is a developer diary for The Return at TVG. The first edition covers the team members, the to-do list for the game, the design process, Devnet, the background story, the learning curve, and the state of the genre.

JtL Review and Privateer Fighter Screenshots

SWG Vault points towards a new review of Jump to Lightspeed. They've also posted four screenshots of the master level Privateer fighter.

EVE Object Explorer Updated

EVE-I reports that Crowley's Object Explorer, which provides details for all sorts of items in the EVE universe has been updated. More on the tool can be found at EVE-I's download page for ObEx.

Updated Starshatter Demo

Matrix Games now offers an updated version of the Starshatter demo, which now features "the training campaign, Operation Live Fire, and the first five days of the first dynamic campaign, Operation Highland, along with a few single missions and a few multiplayer missions that can be enjoyed entirely for free." Thanks Blue's.

Star Wars Game Re-cap

UGO has an article that provides an overview of Star Wars games. As expected, the X-Wing series makes an appearance. Thanks Slashdot.

For the People, By the People: Wednesday

Freelancer:

bakedpotato and Eraser's Close Encounters in Sirius v2.0 has been released for single-player and multiplayer. The mod offers a storyline campaign and a no storyline option. GS Studios' Dog Fight Mod Stage 2 is also ready for download, either at its native site or at Lancers Reactor.

Nighstalker has made available a server-side and client-side WTS-World 2.4 Ship Addon Pack v1.02 patch.

On the design side,Watercooler Warrior's FlIniSchema, which is a mod tool for creating simplified INI files, is now available, as is Anton's FLModelTool v1.0a Beta 6, which features a number of bug fixes from Beta 5. Check out Xtreme Team Studios website for more on FLModelTool.

Thanks Lancers Reactor.

Freespace 2:

Ransom Arceihn has announced the release of his campaign, Sync.

The CIC has three pics from Wing Commander Saga.

Nexus:

Rainman has developed a mod called the "Focused Behaviour mod", which removes focused behavior annoyances in the game when using an F-command.

Starfleet Command III:

SFC3Files.com offers a Klingon rank mod by SKills, Annihilation by the_one (Borg mod), and Alternate Universe B: Swift Wars by Alternate Universe.

Wing Commander: Secret Ops:

The CIC features half a dozen screenshots of rendered scenes from the upcoming Standoff.

Gal Civ: Prelude to War Announced

Stardock announced that a free expansion for Galactic Civilizations will be released by the end of the year. More on Prelude to War can be read at the Gal Civ site.

Vendetta Online's Upcoming Changes

The Vendetta Online site has been updated with a detailed progress report that covers changes from Monday, December 20 and beyond.

EVE Ship Comparer

Megacyte has released a new EVE Ship Comparer, which can be picked up at EVE-I.com.

For the People, By the People: Monday

Bridge Commander:

A few new missions, Abandon and the Romulans, BOPS-KIB-Card-1 (Bird of Prey against Cardassians), Borg-KIB-Vorcha (Vorcha versus Borg), and Sov-sb-Cards (Sovereign-Cardassian), all by TiqHud.

Freelancer:

Lancers Reactor today features the FLModelTool v1.0a Beta 5 by Anton and Serafina Model in FLMM v1.0 by Yedan and Asmo.

Freespace 2:

A demo version of "The Wheel of Fire" campaign has been released. There is more information on this Babylon 5 campaign and a download link in this thread at HLP. Also, DeepBlue has released a ship pack that features both textured and untextured models.

Hardwar UIM.02 Preview

Ian Martin has posted a screenshot from the upcoming UIM.02 patch for Hardwar, which will feature 24/32-bit display. He also reports that the 32-bit textures are almost complete.

For the People, By the People: Sunday Drive Edition

And this one is very short and sweet.

Starshatter:

Damocles X has released a final version of his Babylon 5 HLT and a set of missions to accompany the ships. There's also a new ship, the Arcadia/Atlantis.

X2:

Reven has released the Xenon Shipyard Respawn Inhibitor AL Plug-in v1.0. As you might guess, the plug-in prevents Xenon shipyards from respawning.

Privateer Remake v0.9b

The CIC now hosts the Privateer Remake v0.9b version (full version and a patch for v0.8), which includes bug fixes and some campaign additions.

SWG: JtL Q&A and Novice Pilot Guide

SWG Warcry sports an article-formatted Q&A with Jump to Lightspeed associate producer Julio Torres, who discusses the design of the add-on. Also, SWG Vault has a Novice Pilot guide.

For the People, By the People: Saturday

Bridge Commander:

New at BCFiles.com: Morgan2010's Intrepid-class USS Saratoga, Starforce Productions Team's Theseus-class, SPT's Wycombe Prototype, SPT's Britain-class Carrier, and Mackie's Excelsior Kitbash. There are also a few new maps and missions, including TiqHud's Klingon Patrol-Trouble with Kardassians, TiqHud's Cargo Escort, and TiqHud's Capture Card Hybrid. Lastly, there is a single bridge retexture--scottpkeane's S4 NX Bridge Re-texture.

At BCU, there is a new
Starbase background by Orion 5, Mine Version v 04 by Defiant, Direct Hit Bridge Alerts by DJ Curtis

Freelancer:

From the Lancers Reactor comes v1.3 of the Omicron Bandit Server Mod, a Cut Scenes On/Off tool, Daves Addon System v1.0 (single and multiplayer), Nightstalker's WTS-World v2.4 Ship Pack Add-on v1.02 (sixteen vessel ship pack), and IONCROSS Game Data for the aforementioned ship pack.

Freespace 2:

Lynx posted a series of pics at HLP that show off the Venture-class EW Corvette from the Wing Commander Saga TC.

Klingon Academy:

Romulan Dawn Part One has been upgraded; for those who have not finished the first six missions, a Mission Enabler has also been released that unlocks those missions.

Recent ship releases include Moogle's Romulan N-8 Mandukam Class Scout, Whitestar and Cortez Explorer, and diforces' Galaxy Class. Phoenix Experimental Shipyards previews the upcoming D'Hatham Warbird.

Nexus:

Darkdrone's Age of War has been released, albeit in alpha status. Age of War is a Star Trek modification that will feature two co-op missions and the Fed, Romulans, Borg, and Klingons.

Arparso's Nexus Skirmisher v0.3 is now available. The tool allows modders to create custom missions and now features full mod support.

Wing Commander: Secret Ops:

The CIC reports that Standoff will be released on December 23. Impressions of the campaign are included in the news article.

X2:

X2 Source reports that Egosoft has released a 120-page behemoth known as the "MSCI Programmer's Handbook", which is all about X2 scripting (must be a registered user to download).

X-Wing Alliance:

XWA Upgrade has a screenshot of the VSD, which is expected to be released in time for Christmas.

Gal Civ 2 Screenshots

The Galactic Civilizations 2 website has screenshots currently only viewable by Totalgaming.net subscribers and/or owners of Gal Civ: Altarian Prophecy. Since I fit neither category, I'm afraid that's as specific as I can manage.

Hardwar UIM.01 Changelog

Ian Martin's posted the readme for the recently released UIM.01 patch for Hardwar:

Requirements
------------

Hardwar should still run on a 1998 era PC, but DirectX9 is required. Please download
this from http://www.microsoft.com/directx. We detect the DirectX version, and report if
DirectX9 is not detected, but do allow the user to continue anyway, just in case the
detection code, which uses DLL file versions, shows a fault.

Features and fixes for UIM.01
-----------------------------

1) A server side bug where menu options were displayed but no longer valid at the client side due to lag, is fixed. The bug caused a crash on the server.
2) The tunnel between Reservoir and Downtown is opened permanently.
3) A bug in some of the navigation, causing AI pilots to get confused, is fixed.
4) Retire pilot in a multiplayer game has a confirmation screen.
5) Some new explosion graphics are added, for Direct3D users only. These are high quality 256x256 24 bit colour images. There is an option to retain the original ones. This has been tested on a 32Mb NVidia TNT, and a 128Mb GeForce4.
6) A bug with USB gamepad axis values is fixed. This has been tested on a Thrustmaster 12 button gamepad.
7) An old frame buffer problem which has been present since 1998 is fixed, for Direct3D. This caused a very occasional crash.
8) There is a new fog distance option, for Direct3D, which allows most of the largest craters to be seen at all times. This is only intended for contemporary fast machines and has been tested on an Athlon 2600, Celeron 2.4Ghz and faster machines.
9) There is an option to limit the number of remote players in a network server. This is intended for users who host servers with modest bandwidth. Hardwar does require a lot of network bandwidth (though this is being looked into) and if you allow 64Kpbs per player, you should be able to host a server. If, for example, you have a 256Kbps upload speed (from your perspective) you should be able to have 4 remote players.
10) Some work has been done to compress the network data, and tokenise the information. Data sizes have typically fallen by 20% but this can be much lower.
11) The manually activated autopilot now flies to a lightwell.
12) Direct3D W buffering is now enabled, where the accelerator supports it - most cards do. This cures the z ordering problems in tunnels, and other areas. It defaults to on, but there is an option to disable it - at least one user has reported a problem with an old Voodoo card.
13) The flares cast a less harsh but richer light.
14) A new server side clicking bug is fixed - caused by unloading cargo.
15) The joystick throttle problem has been addressed, and there are additional config options.
16) The maximum number of players in a network game works.
17) An option is added to simulate lag, in a single player game. Each frame lags by 10 frames.
18) If a pilot is named "I am a victim" most of the AI pilots attack him. If the pilot is named "I am a made victim" then he is invulnerable. This was done to test the engine at its limits, both in terms of display capabilities and control code.
19) When games are saved, dead pilots are not saved.
20) When using developers info, it was always allocating a huge buffer, not needed.
21) The CD music selects random tracks during extended flying.
22) The sky colour is changed to be more like the real Titan.
23) Remote players in a network game, are updated at 10 fps when using radar, messages or hanger display, to minimise network bandwidth.


Compatibility.
--------------

DirectX9 required.

UIM.01 will only connect to itself in a network game. It has a new network GUID.

UIM.01 will load U3.04 save games, but not earlier ones. This has been tested with a save
from a long term server U3.04 (5000+ days!).


Making Videos
-------------

Some time ago, a facility was added to allow silent videos to be created. There are
problems with this facility, but used with care, it can create effective videos.

This is acheived by recording your actions for a short period, then replaying that recording,
grabbing each frame into incrementally numbered 24 bit BMP files. Use a third part
utility to create an AVI, MPEG or QT, using those BMPs.

a) To record, set the detail options for highest speed. You need to be able to record at
12 or 24 frames per second.

Start a single player game, and get to the point where you wish to start recording. Save
the game. For this example , your save is called "vid1.sav"

In the command prompt, go to the hardwar directory, and enter:-

hardwarw.exe /t:load "vid1.sav" /t:recordsave

Act out the scene. A maximum scene of 30 seconds is recommended.

b) To play back and grab at 24 frames per second:-

Set the detail options to maximum. Choose a sensible resolution for the video.

hardwarw.exe /t:load "vid1.sav" /t:recordplaygrab24

Lots of BMPs will be created in your hardwar folder.

You can then use these to create a video. Specify 24 frames per second.


It's not perfect, and it's not easy.

EVE Chat Log

EVE Gate has posted a log of their chat with CCPers Kieron and Oveur. Topics include ice belts, projectiles, bounties, battleships, and drones.

SWG: JtL Q&A

RPGVault has a very vanilla Q&A with various Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed developers, who discuss favorite ships in the add-on pack.

For the People, By the People: Thursday

Bridge Commander

Bridge Commander Files serves up the Ber'taa Battleship, Nemesis Red Alert Sovereign LCARS, and the Nemesis Sovereign LCARS.

Freelancer

Recent additions to the Lancers Reactor include the v1.65 patch for Freeworlds (clients and servers) and NG Resonance.

Freespace 2

TopAce announces the release of his second campaign, "The Journey to Epsilon Pegasi", at the HLP Forums.

Starfleet Command 3

SFC3.net released the Generations at War Server v2.0 in late November.

Wing Commander: Secret Ops

The CIC has posted four screenshots from a Standoff mission. More screenshots and commentary are in this thread.

Hardwar UIM.01 Released

Dust off your favorite Moth. Ian Martin announced the release of the full version of Hardwar patch UIM.01:

It's a 4.93 Mb executable, which will extract and install the upgrade. Please download and save to your local drive. It will be deleted from the above web space in 10 days. All beta versions are now withdrawn.

This will upgrade Hardwar F2.0, or any of the SR upgrades, to UIM.01.

If there are any major problems please do report them here.

There is a direct link to the patch available, as well as a mirror.

EVE Guide

Battleclinic now offers a free EVE guide. You do need to be registered in order to download the file via their forums. Because of that, I am unable to check out the guide at this time. The guide is said to contain "really good source material".

IGF Entries Preview

Game Tunnel and DIY Games offer previews of Independent Game Festival entries for the coming year. Space-related games (I didn't include the straight up scroller shooters) include the already-released Dark Ore, along with a not-quite-bevy of other to-be-released games, including Eschaton: Chain of Command, Rock Station, Sector 13, Star Sonata, and Z1: AI War, which seems to look and sound a bit like Descent.

Thanks Blue's.

WCU Steltek

The CIC has has thumbnails and pics of the Steltek drone and scout from the Privateer Remake.

For the People, By the People

I'm a bit pressed for time, so I'm posting an abbreviated version of FTP, BTP. It's going to take a few days just to catch up, in any case.

Freespace 2:

Gai Daigoji's Unification Prequel campaign for Freespace 2 is now available, as is Noise's Into the Depths of Hell, Chapter Four. Also, ngtm1r's Cleaning Crew has been released.

Freelancer:

Recent downloads from the Lancers Reactor include a new version of the Trade Route Calculator, Skystalker's Ship Pack, Spawn's Oregon WTS Add-on v1.02 (for the WTS-World v2.0 mod), Prometheus Mod v1.2, the Omicron Bandit Freelancer Server Mod v7.1, Battleship Wrecks v1.0, and Logical Jump Holes v3.0.

Hardwar:

Hardwar patch UIM01 Beta 4 has now been sent out for testers.

Ian Martin asks what next after the UIM01 testing is completed and the patch is released. If you have suggestions, check out the thread at Captain Zedo's.

Homeworld 2:

SW Warlords has been updated to v.40. The SW:NR site has four new screenshots from the Star Wars: Invasion TC.

X-Wing Alliance:

The B5 for XWA TC has been revamped; the site now features screenshots of the Bakari Takushni Fighter and the Poseidon Supercarrier.

Privateer Remake v0.8, German Starfighter Elite, an I-War Glidewrapper, and a New DosBox

Big thanks to Nick to sending in the following bevy of space sim-related items:

• Privateer Remake, a Vegastrike engine-based Privateer TC is now at v0.8 for Windows and OSX machines.


• Nick writes: "The German version of Elite-Starfighter is out, with a planned English version to follow, sometime in December."


• DosBox v0.63 is now available at SourceForge. The program allows older games to run normally on current hardware. Nick has tested it with "many Space Sims including Privateer, Privateer - Righteous Fire, Frontier - Elite II, Star Crusader and Inferno."
  
  The latest version mostly contains bug fixes.


• zeckensack's Glide wrapper (still at v.80e) website has shown recent signs of life that indicate a new release is forthcoming. This wrapper is known to work well with I-War (and I-War Deluxe), but Nick also informed me that it works well with Secret Ops (in a Win98 partition).

Vendetta Online Now Available

Vendetta Online, a massively multiplayer space sim, is now available for PC, Mac, and Linux. The game can be purchased either online or at a local EB or Gamestop.

A description of the game from the VO website:

Vendetta Online is a massively multiplayer game, shipping now, which permits thousands of players to interact as the pilots of spaceships in a vast universe. Users may build their characters in any direction they desire, becoming rich captains of industry, military heroes, or outlaws. A fast-paced, realtime "twitch" style combat model gives intense action, coupled with the backdrop of RPG gameplay in a massive online galaxy. Three major player factions form a delicate balance of power, with several NPC sub-factions creating situations of economic struggle, political intrigue and conflict. The completely persistent universe and detailed storyline add to the depth of immersion, resulting in a unique online experience. See the Vendetta Introduction to learn more about this newly launched product.

Thanks to Geert-Jan for the heads up (and possible upcoming review of the game).

EVE Chat on Thursday

EVE Gate will be hosting an EVE Developer chat on Thursday, December 9 at 8 PM GMT/3 PM EST/12 PM PST. The chat will be held on irc.coldfront.net, channel #EVEGATE.

EVE: Exodus CS Issues

Eve-I has posted GM Arkanon's lastest blog post, which covers customer service issues in the wake of the add-on pack Exodus. It's directed mostly to newbies (or n00bs).

And yes, I am back with internet access finally (although not broadband--but not dial-up, either).

Flight Commander Released (And a Small Update)

(Just a quick note that I'm still not back. I'm posting this from a public coffeehouse with free wifi access that has the initials DD. I'm still hoping to have access by the beginning of November, but I'm not certain. How's that for conclusive? Anyway, on with the good news.)

From Ed Benowitz:

Ed Benowitz announces the release of Flight Commander 1.0. The Flight Commander space combat engine was programmed from the ground up starting in 1999. After 5 years of effort, the Flight Commander 1.0 release represents a full-fledged game engine created by and for Wing Commander fans. Flight Commander takes advantage of hardware acceleration, providing scalable graphic detail, 3d surround sound, and force feedback joystick support. Although the game programming was done from scratch, graphics, sounds, stats, and gameplay are similar to Prophecy. Gameplay allows for capital ship torpedo runs, defense missions, and patrol missions. Flight Commander music dynamically changes as the battle progresses, and features an original song as well. Flight Commander is meant to be easily modified and customized. It provides simple interfaces for mission and campaign creation; a mission design, complete with a spoken briefing and 3d graphics, can be completed in under 10 minutes with an
easy to use graphical mission editor. For downloads, screenshots, and more features, visit http://flightcommander.solsector.net.

Congrats to Ed for the release of Flight Commander. We hope to chat with him in the future about Flight Commander.

Delay

Sorry everyone about the gap in news. Beth is moving, so she doesn't have time to post, and I've been too busy with university to worry about looking for news.

But not to worry - we're hoping that everything will sort itself out within a week or two. Until then, hang in there.

For the People, By the People: Monday through Wednesday

Bridge Commander:
BCFiles.com now hosts the Galaxy Captain's Yacht by Mr. John, the Le'Duk by Mr. John, the MVAM Fusion Cube v1.1 by Mr. John, the NX Galaxy MVAM Fix by Masterwindu, the Windrunner Prototype by Starforce Productions Team, the K'Tinga Class Battlecruiser by Wraithzero, and the Brinok by zeljko. And from the BC Universe forum, new mods include Dragon_UK's Borg E-Bridge Retexture v1.3 and Borg Crew v2.0, Zombie Zan's Melak Warbird, DJcube's Scrolling Mutators Pak, and Adonis' Borg Cone.

Freespace 2:
Gai Daigoji's nineteen-mission Neo Terra campaign can now be downloaded.

Homeworld 2:
TheStressPuppy has begun a mods tutorial thread in the HW2 Star Trek forum. Links have been added to a research tutorial, ship exporting in Maya, and weapon configuration information. HW2 Warlords, a Star Wars TC, has been updated to v0.30 Patch 2.

Starshatter:
DamoclesX has posted another update on his upcoming B5 TC and is looking for mirrors.

Flight Commander Update

The CIC has a development update from Eddie Benowitz regarding his Wing Commander-inspired freeware space sim, Flight Commander.

Nexus Preview

GameShark offers a preview of Mithis' Nexus - The Jupiter Incident, which is based upon the single-player demo.

Star Trek: The Neutral Zone v2.0

As seen at STGU, Cateia Games has released v2.0 of their arcade space shooter, Star Trek: The Neutral Zone.

Void War Interview

Gamershell.com have an interview with Jay Barnson of Rampant Games on their just released space-sim Void War.

Source: Blue's

X2 Download Updates

Egosoft has updated the download page for registered X2 users with a new script (Station Management Software) and fixes/updates for other scripts.

Combat Log Analyzer v0.09 and Blog Update

Eve-I.com announces that Combat Log Analyzer v0.09 is now available. This EVE tool allows players to analyze combat logs. A change log is also online.

There's also a new dev blog by Oveur regarding packets and information from players.

Void War (Officially) Released

Rampant Games has announced the release of their space combat title, Void War. As previously announced, a demo can be downloaded and the game may be purchased online. Thanks to Veloxi for the news (via Blue's).

DarkSpace v1.4822

DarkSpace has been updated to v1.4822. From the change log:

- Removed the gadget destroyed messages.
- Implemented new priority based queue for sending data to clients. This queue will hold nouns/verbs in memory until enough bandwidth is available to send to the client.
- Increased the scope of the syncronized ship verb to global, since the new priority data queue will keep the verb from flooding low-bandwidth clients. Ships in the metaverse will update their positions more often, preventing ship ghosting near spawn points.

Over the past few day or two, there have also been developer updates on the UDP layer and beta testing.

ATFW Status Update

Updates will be slow in the next little while. I'm currently in the middle of a move, which is complicated by the fact that I will be in temporary housing for about a month and then have to relocate again (although next time it will be a much more manageable distance). If you have news, as always, send it to me or feel free to leave the news in a comment.

Haegemonia v1.10

Digital Reality has issued a patch for Haegemonia:

New 1.10 patch for Haegemonia. This small file is for use for players with new generation graphic cards. If you experience the problem of having "invisible units" after loading in a saved game, please download this file to get rid of that problem.

Thanks to Blue's and 3DGamers.

For the People, By the People: Sunday Drive Edition

Bridge Commander:
BCFiles.com serves up the New England (Cruiser), the Xindi Aquatic Dreadnought, and the TOS Total Uniform Conversion Mod.

Freelancer:
You can find BlazeMe's Extra Cargo and Weapons mod at the Lancers Reactor.

Freespace 2:
Singh was kind enough to offer a description of his campaign, which made yesterday's FTP, BTP:

With almost the entire GTVA forces and systems annihalated after mutual destruction with the Shivans, it is upto the surviving forces at the Aleph system to re-explore the remains of the battlefields and pick up the pieces of a once-proud empire. But the re-exploration of GTVA space reveals a dark secret of what exactly had happened, and of things to come.

There are new screenshots from Blackwater Operations.

Klingon Academy:
Bobby has released the intro movie for The Korvat Incident campaign.

Vega Strike:
etheral walker shows off his Narn Frazi fighter.

X2:
Reven is looking for beta testers for his Turret AI script.

EVE Developer Blogs

Eve-I.com has new developer blogs from CCP Hammer (loot drops) and Hellmar (adding game time to accounts).

David Braben Interview

CVG chats briefly with David Braben about the upcoming Elite IV, which is apparently still in development and also "still a long way off". Thanks Blue's.

For the People, By the People: Saturday

Bridge Commander:
BCFIles.com hosts a Sovereign Class bridge retexture by Captain Raven and a Th'Nor Light Cruiser by Wok.

Freelancer:
Lancer's Reactor has word of the Omega Systems Beta v1.3 by Cooler Cheater (single-player and multiplayer add-on) and the Rebalance v3.5 Beta3 Music Teaser Pack by Zod.

Lastly, a patch has been released for the TNG mod, bringing it to v2.2. According the Starfyre Studios' site:

This patch fixed several crashing errors and problems that were going on. It's much more stable and the number of console errors has been greatly reduced.

Freespace 2:
The Starfox mod is looking for help. Singh has posted screenshots and an update regarding the upcoming campaign, "No Turning Back". Deepblue has posted a Babylon Project-related mission, "Reciprocity".

Hardwar:
After much discussion about writing a new Hardman on Captain Zedo's boards, Ian Martin confirms that a modified Hardman will be included in the UIM01 patch, and that he also intends to write a new version in the future, along with source code.

Klingon Academy:
Moogle has released a Fenlon Class Monitor, a Saladin Class Light Frigate, and an Akula Class Light Destroyer.

Starshatter:
DamoclesX has posted an update on the status of the B5: Hold the Line mod.

Void War for Free

The CIC will be giving away three copies of Void War that requires only the skills and brain-power required to fire away an email. Details are at the CIC, of course.

SWG: JtL Rebel Pilot Guide

The official SWG site presents the "Getting Started as a Rebel Pilot" guide.

Nexus - The Jupiter Incident Demo

As seen at the official Nexus site:

The Battle at Stonehenge

The Gorgs, a wild, militant warrior-race, have attacked battle station Stonehenge in the Cyrus System. You, in charge of the defenders of the battle station, are facing critical numerical superiority. Three tiny base-defending frigates and one small tactical destroyer are the remaining forces of the human fleet. Your ships only have limited weaponry; you and your fellow humans need help. Either your ships rely on their speed and succeed in breaking through the blockade, or you launch a surprise attack on the enemy and destroy the radio jamming device.

Be a part of events prior to the release of Nexus - The Jupiter Incident! Familiarize yourself with a small group of characters from the game! Lead them to victory!

The demo is one mission and can be played on three difficulty levels. With a couple of ships at your disposal you need to defend a space station while trying to get help and not be noticed by your enemies, the Gorgs. Pay close attention to all communications as you are thrown into the action immediately.

The official site lists mirrors; Blue's also has a list.

Void War Released

The full version of Void War is now available for purchase; you can also check out a demo (a very reasonable 10.5 MB download) before you buy.

SWG: JtL Chat Log

SWG Stratics has posted the log of yesterday's Star War Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed chat. Topics include formation flying, ship upgrades, and landing areas.

For the People, By the People: Thursday

Bridge COmmander:
BCFiles.com offers Mr. John's Death Star II v1.0.

Freelancer:
Today, Lancers Reactor sports Acid's Starfriar (a modified Starflier), Asmo's Shroud, The Next Generation v2.1 (bug fixes), an updated DP Mod for Cogamers.com's Open Beta Server, and a Jet Black Civilian Skin by Megatog615.

Nexus - The Jupiter Incident Interview

Accompanying their preview a few days ago, Eurogamer also has an interview with HD Interactive's Zsolt Nyulászi, who talks about the game's history and well-known name changes (including a fun bit on the "most stupid name of human history"), the completion of the game and its impending release, and the game engine.

EVE Agents Blog Update

Eve-I.com scoops the latest blog update by CCP developer t20 regarding agents.

For the People, By the People: Wednesday

Bridge Commander:
BCFiles.com hosts a Lt. Commander Roper bridge mod by Quillick that replaces Miguel with the author of the mod. (Nevermind that I instantly envisioned Mr. Roper from Three's Company and thought it was a bit extreme--but not totally implausible--that he'd join Starfleet just to get away from Mrs. Roper.)

Freelancer:
Lancers Reactor has a screenshot from the Privateer: The Reckoning mod.

Freespace 2:
After a couple of days of database errors, Hardlight Productions has reemerged from the black (and white).

Hardwar:
Ian Martin has stated that the beta test mentioned yesterday should begin in two weeks. All slots have been filled.

X2:
The Commander's Space Station offers another ship building guide. This one focuses on the X Shuttle.

New Void War Designer Notes Entry

The latest (and last) entry of the Void War Designer Notes is now online. This entry covers pick-ups and why they were included. The entry also states that Void War is very close to release and that the team is in bug-fixing mode.

Starshatter v4.0.3 Released

Matrix Games announces the availability of Starshatter v4.0.3:

Starshatter v4.0.3 is now online. You can grab your copy by clicking on the Members link from the main www.matrixgames.com page and following the links to Starshatter or by going to the Downloads page. We recommend that all Starshatter owners update to this release version as soon as possible. Take a look at the change list below:

This patch fixes the following issues with
Starshatter 4.0.0

1. Fighters no longer marked killed in action when landing
2. Reduced damage radius on starbase
3. Improved landing path for allied starbase
4. Increased atmospheric AI hard deck to reduce ground
collisions
5. Campaign medals now properly awarded after completing
campaigns
6. Increased stand-off range for starship target approach AI
7. Added wide-screen video mode support (1280 x 800)
8. Player self-destruct penalty is now correctly applied
9. Attack target command has been made ship-specific
10. HUD shows velocity as a negative number if ship is flying
backwards
11. Starship missiles no longer target mines
12. Added "Hold" order to tactical view Action menu
13. Campaign mission generator can now handle players assigned
to fighters stationed at ground-side starbases
14. Smooth-scrolling side views in F1 cockpit camera mode
15. AI pilots acknowledge RTB and Dock radio orders
16. Built-in data files are now filtered from the mod config
screen
17. Adjusted aim-point for ground targets
18. Adjusted mouse wheel sampling for greater throttle precision
19. AUTO time skip will now exit when player gets near enemy
units - both for safety and to remove a minor exploit
20. Carriers will now bug out to a random sector when threatened
21. Corrected campaign scoring of sorties and kills for fighter
squadrons
22. ILS hoops are now easier to see when using HUD daylight
color setting
23. Self-destruct may now be bound to a joystick key
24. Fixed aiming parameters for port-side point defense batteries
25. Fixed starboard hardpoint on Falcon fighter


This patch fixes the following issues with
Starshatter 4.0.1:

26. Fixed several CTD errors
27. Increased carrier sensor range by 50%
28. Improved carrier AI response to threats
29. Improved fighter AI RTB behavior
30. Added limited hull repair to severely damaged starships
between campaign missions
31. Fixed minor object placement issues in Hegemony order of
battle
32. Improved point defense weapon aiming
33. Carriers will no longer bug out to a planetary sector


This patch fixes the following issues with
Starshatter 4.0.2:

34. Fixed a CTD when exiting mission with fighter on runway
35. Fixed a CTD associated with ship destruction during battle
36. Fixed a rare CTD associated with certain save games
37. Fixed fighter AI landing behavior
38. Fixed campaign duplication when deploying empty mods
39. Fixed system override function in engineering screen
40. Improved strike fighter targeting of enemy starships
41. Fixed hostile weapon damage when friendly fire is disabled
42. Added support for specular texture maps
43. Corrected several scripting errors in Operation Highland
44. Fixed minor object placement issues in Dantari order of
battle
45. Fixed parsing of Galaxies in packaged mods

DarkSpace Developer Update

Faustus gives another update on network code changes, the queing of nouns (game objects), and a timeline for a testing patch and the live patch.

EVE Blog Updates

EVE Portal reports on blog updates by TomB (NPC pirates and spawning issues) and Oveur (the recent Tranquility server cluster updates).

Homeplanet English Distribution Poll

Nick has posted a thread and poll at the Homeplanet forum regarding the release of an English version of the game.

For the People, By the People: Tuesday

Klingon Academy:
Marcus has posted his Peregrine fighter for download.

X2:
The Commander's Space Station hosts a Design Studies for Ship Building. Reven's made available a tutorial on scripting.

Hardwar Patch UIM01 Update

Ian Martin posted the following update on the UIM01 Hardware patch:

A quick update:-

The clicking bug is fixed.
The W buffering is done.
The navigation problem from Alpha to Haven is fixed.
New grafix added.
Compression added to large outgoing link packets. Still testing, a random sample compression rate is 17% (lots of same bytes!) to 92%.
More to do on the link game.
Need to be able to build Hardman.

I hope to have it out to beta test in early October now. I plan to let 6 people have it for 2 weeks, longer if a fatal problem shows up.

Who'd like to test it? The first 6 private messages with an email address are welcome to help.

If you have time to test, be sure to check out the thread at Captain Zedo's.

B5: IFH Update Coming Soon

I've Found Her Project Leader Renderer has posted an update at the B5: IFH forum:

The update, in general, is ready (including skirmish mode). It was in beta-testing stage for quite some time, right now we're fighting with some modelling issues. As soon as we fix them, the update will be released.

DarkSpace Developer Update

Faustus has posted another developer update on the DarkSpace developer announcement board. Again, this post regards connectivity and networking issues.

SWG: JtL Updates

Lucasarts has revamped their Jump to Lightspeed website, with information on starships, sectors, and playable races. One of those races--the Sullustans--are featured in an article by artist Jason Minor at Pc.ign.com. Further, SWG Stratics reports that cap ships will not be not playable. Lastly, SWG Stratics will be hosting a House of Commons chat with SWG developers on Wednesday, September 22 at 5 PM PST/8 PM EST.

UPDATE: The House of Commons chat has been postponed until Thursday, September 23 at 5 PM PST/8 PM PST.

B5: SCTS Site

Carlos sent word that B5: SCTS has its own site now. The site also includes various B5 mods for Starfleet Command 2.

Nexus Preview

Eurogamer previews Nexus: The Jupiter Incident, offering details on the space strategy combat title from Mithis based on a presentation. Thanks Blue's.

Heads Up: Babylon 5 Starship Commander Tactical Simulator

(And we will be referring to this one as B5: SCTS in the future.) Thanks to Darkblade at the HLP forums for pointed out the existence of B5: SCTS, a freeware game in the style of Starfleet Command. The developer is Carlos Bott, a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Maryland. I contacted him for futher information (including whether the game was still in development), and here's what he had to say:

The game is definitely in production. I just coded the jumpgate and jumpgate vortex effects, and am currently working on a planetary atmosphere glow effect.

The game's idea is based upon Taldren's Starfleet Command Series. The B5: I've Found Her Fighter Simulation was also an inspiration for the project.

Since re-starting the program in June, I have changed the graphics engine from TrueVision3D to Conitec A6 Game Studio, due to better and advanced graphics possible with the engine (particle, vertex and pixel shaders).

I have most of the Babylon 5 ships from the Babylon 5 Wars board game (from Agents-of-Gaming) models converted for in-game use. I have used the Homeworld B5 mod as a starting point for the models, but will use models provided by DamoclesX (doing the B5 Starshatter Mod), and by Atherohaven. I have coded basic navigation within a system and have begun programming on the ships systems (some ships having up to 24
weapons hardpoints alone). I will be using RazorAI for my AI system once that AI package is released. There will be an alpha test, which is about six months away - primarily due to my Computer Science teaching duties with the University of Maryland, followed by a private beta and a public release. A non-Babylon 5 version generic combat game is also a possibility.

We'll keep our eyes on this one and continue to report as it progresses. Thanks to Carlos for the quick response.

For the People, By the People: Monday

Bridge Commander:
New today are Madon's Enterprise A bridge modification, Banbury's random encounter script, Defiant's distress call mod, and Defiant's QBautostart Extension 0.7.

Freelancer:
skyshooter's released FL ID Referrer 1.06 (at Lancers Reactor), which allows modders to view, edit, and create infocards in Freelancer.

Privateer 2:
Thomas Perl's patch for Privateer 2, which allows the DOS version of the game to run in Windows, has been updated to v2.0. Thanks CIC.

Vega Strike:
etheral walker shows off his Centauri Sentry Fighter, Whitestar, and EA Freighter.

Steve Robertson on Paper Models

And in the Independence War realm, Steve Robertson has posted information on modeling a station and on the corvette model:

Doing a station would be no more difficult than any other model really. Salt-lake is mainly cylinders. The main rotating section might be tricky - you'd probably have to use a wooden dowell for support.

The I-War standard 'hangar' station should be fairly easy to do.

I must get going on the Corvette. I've re-moddelled a lot of it to give it a buildable structure, but I need to re-do the textures.

Ian Martin on Hardwar Design and Source Code

At Captain Zedo's, Ian Martin has given more information on the design of Hardwar and on whom might own the source code now:

The design was a mutual thing, a group effort, but Gremlin insisted that the videos and plot be placed withing the game.

The source code would have been owned by SR, and that ownership would presumably have passed to the liquidator.

Freelancer: TNG Mod v2.0 (Really, Truly, Seriously)

The Freelancer TNG mod v2.0 has been re-released; everything seems good (hasn't been pulled since yesterday), so this should be the appropriate proper one. Really. What is the TNG mod?

The Starfyre Team of Reynen, Bob the Dog and Spawn have done an excellent job of adding to the Freelancer Universe. 10 systems, 14 factions, 75 custom ships and upgradeable power supplies, engines, scanners and tractor beams but the highlight of this version has to be the flyable stations. It's quite a site to see one flying around.

For those of you new to the The Next Generation MOD your in for a real treat. This Singleplayer and Multiplayer compatible 90 Meg modification of Freelancer adds tons of all the goodies that make playing Freelancer exciting.

Read more at Lancers Reactor.

Cross-Platform EVE?

CCP's Hallmar recently posted (thanks Eve-I.com) on the feasibility of porting and supporting a cross-platform EVE:

Hellmar writes on the official EVE site:

Noticed this petition about adopting EVE to more operating systems. This topic has often been discussed here at CCP but it always boils down to were we should focus our efforts, i.e. should we port to Mac and/or Linux or concentrate on making existing platform even smoother.

Nothing would be done until after Shiva of course, I would still be interested to hear what you think.

- Hellmar

There is a thread at the EVE Online forums regarding this issue.

Starflight III and Ur-Quan Masters

Since we were out of commission for a while, I hope you'll forgive some late news (I have faith in your generosity of spirit). Nick points out that back in August, the Starflight III team released the Navigation Tech Demo. Nick also shared with us that The Ur-Quan Masters (that would be Star Control 2 incognito) v0.3 is also available. So if you've missed these earlier releases, do check them out. Thanks, Nick!

For the People, By the People: Sunday Drive Edition

Bridge Commander:
MadJohn has released a stack (not recommended) of Battlestar Galactica ships for use with Bridge Commander, including the

Colonial Shuttle, Haphaestus, EA Destroyer, Mineral Ship, and Armistice Station. Grab those at BC Files.

Freespace 2:
Kazan has released VP Maker v1.6. New features include:

• "old" interface available


• VP to VP Copy (accessable via "old interface")

There are newish screenshots at the Twisted Infinities website.

Hardwar:
Snakebite has released the Alien Moth fix, which now allows players to complete the game's plot using the Alien Moth. Also, see this thread at Captain Zedo's.

Homeworld 2:
The good news: the Freespace 2 TC for Homeworld 2 has been updated to v.33 (beta). The bad news: the bandwidth for the month has been exceeded. If you have hosting space or simply want to know more about the latest changes in the TC, please have a
look at HLP's thread on the topic (and thanks to HLP for the heads up).

Klingon Academy:
Moogle's released another ship and now offers the Sydney Class Corvette.

Starshatter:
There are some additional screenshots from the B5: Holding the Line mod.

SWG: JtL Imperial Pilot Guide

The official Star Wars Galaxies site offers a "Getting Started" guide for the Imperial Pilot class, which will be available in Jump to Lightspeed. Thanks SWG Warcry.

Vega Strike v0.4.2

From the "I swear this wasn't posted on the fifteenth" file, the Vega Strike team has released a new version of the Windows version of the space sim to v0.4.2. Changes include the inclusion in an insystem FTL, trading stats, and several other changes for mod developers.

Freelancer TNG v2.0 Mod (And No, Not that TNG)

I haven't really begun to seriously cruise the fansites yet, but this mod is so huge, I think it deserves its own post. Starfyre Studios has released its 90MB Freelancer modification--The Next Generation v2.0. This is one meaty mod, so I'm only going to post the twenty-nine point list. Please check this post at the Lancers Reactor for full notes and a download link.

1. Over 75 new ships added to the Freelancer Universe.
2. Over 500 new pieces of equipment (Weapons, shields, engines, thrusters, upgrades, and more)!
3. Over 20 new commodities for you to buy and sell.
4. Over 40 new music tracks for systems, bars, and intros.
5. Over 45 new sounds for various equipment & weapons.
6. 3 buyable battle stations for players.
7. Core return program for expensive ships.
8. 10 additional systems.
9. 14 additional factions.
10. A gauntlet in the arena for players to run with over 20 grueling trials.
11. Internal police featuring Starfyre creators & ships.
12. New costumes for Trent, Juni, and King.
13. An arena system where players can test there metal against NPC or PVP.
14. Planets use a new system for docking, no more old docking rings.
15. New Freelancer menu with advanced options (Difficulty level, more graphic, key, & sound options).
16. Player ships now drop loot when killed.
17. Greatly improved ship customization options.
18. New movement & ship controls.
19. Upgraded graphics, sound, and physics engine.
20. Massive explosion / weapon enhancements.
21. Greatly enhanced “Identity” engine.
22. Greatly improved AI tactical & offensive capabilities.
23. Improved & more difficult single player campaign mode.
24. Anti-Hack / Cheat systems to help improve game integrity.
25. Police system for administrators.
26. New solo missions, Capital ship missions.
27. New group missions, Battle stations.
28. Different starting ship.
29. An extremely comprehensive & detailed manual.

EDITED (September 19, 2004): Not the mod you're looking for--apparently, the posted mod was not ready for primetime. Lancers Reactor has pulled it pending the release of the correct file.

For the People, By the People: Friday

Klingon Academy:
Moogle has uploaded his Tyrusian Imperial Fleet and the Regula R1 Class Station. Also, diforce has released a SFC conversion for KA--the Galor Class Warship.

Starshatter:
There are even more pics from the B5: Hold the Line TC.

Vega Strike:
Two more from etheral walker--the Centauri Personal Liner and the (non-canon) EA Tempest Class Cruiser.