Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Flight Commander v1.1 Released

Eddie Benowitz announces the release of Flight Commander v1.1. Flight Commander is an original 3D space combat engine. The latest version offers a number of graphical enhancements and new features. The mission editor has also been spiffed up. Full details on the latest release and (a lucky) seven screenshots can be viewed in this thread hosted at the CIC forums.

Space Empires 5 Beta Pics

Malfador has updated their SE V website with eight screenshots from the 4X title's beta. Thanks, Lee!

Heads Up: Star Trek Battlestations

As seen at the STNZ 2 site, Mark Hu's Star Trek Battlestations intends to make a Star Trek-flavored RTS game with "the fluidity of Homeworld".

Star Trek Neutral Zone 2 Alpha 2.4.3

Thanks to Stuart for the heads up that a new version of the STNZ 2 alpha has been launched. The 2.4.3 version includes a Spanish translation, a new chat system and new power management system, and several fixes.

Heads Up: GalaxyHack

James sends word of his open-source simulation project, GalaxyHack. The game's site describes the sim as:

GalaxyHack allows you to design a fleet of spaceships which can then be tested in AI script based battles against fleets designed by other players. Though battles take place in real time, the strategy comes before hand, both in writing short AI scripts in a simple scripting language, and also in the set up and selection of your fleet. You don't actually have any control over your units at all mid-battle, but rather use the time to see where the set up of your fleets is working, where your fleets' weaknesses lie and changes are needed, and perhaps also to learn from the strategy of your opponent.


Certainly not a standard type of game we hear about, and even better, the site offers GalaxyHack v1.38 so you can freely check it out on Windows and Linux machines.

Heads Up: Precursors, Birth of the Federation 2, Starfox: Shadows of Lylat, and More

Apologies for the lag as of late. Between the travel and the work, I haven't had a great deal of time. However, I have several emails worth of newsworthy goodness to share, and those will follow.

First of all, thanks to Nick, who pointed out several days ago that GamersHell featured a press release during E3 for Precursors, which is described as "updated conversion of good old and still famous game Elite, a modern First Person Shooter, classic science fiction movies and the world of the novels from Andre Norton." The game is under development by Deep Shadows, a Ukrainian studio.

Also from the GamersHell E3 section, one can find screenshots of two other commercial space combat titles from the east, Parkan II and Space Rangers 2, and screenshots of X3: Reunion.

Nick also shares two other non-commercial games of potential interest: Birth of the Federation 2 and Starfox: Shadows of Lylat.

BotF2 is a fan-made sequel of the TBS original; a handful of screenshots may be viewed at the website. Trek-Online.com offers a recent interview that clarifies that the game's engine is an original/3DState hybrid.

SF: SoL aims to merge the Starfox universe with the Freespace 2 engine. There appears to be no website yet, but a forum sports screenshots and a FAQ.

Friday, May 20, 2005

Epiar Mission Ideas Needed

The Epiar developers currently seek ideas for missions in the upcoming v0.6.0 release. Contributors whose ideas are used will be credited.

Starglider: Resurrection Development Update

A new Echthros Entertainment worklog discusses AI problems, solutions, and the new focus on strategy in the Starglider: Resurrection remake.

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Evochron v1.588

StarWraith has released Evochron v1.588, which includes an AI multiplayer improvement, a revamped training system, and more.

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

ST Neutral Zone 2 Manual and Interview

A website version of the Star Trek Neutral Zone 2 manual has been opened. Trek-Online.com hosts a recent interview with Krešimir Špes of Cateia, who chats about a number of game features.

Heads Up: Gunstorm

Cornutopia Software announces that their arcade (in the style of Asteroids and Galaga) space shooter, Gunstorm, is available for download. The shooter has been patched to v1.03, which addresses an issue related to changing screen resolutions.

Cellblock Squadrons v2.0

Thanks to Joel for the news that Super Furious has released a free v2.0 update for Cellblock Squadrons. The patch adds a number of features, including asteroids fields and a targeting assist option, as well as a number of bug fixes and tweaks.

Monday, May 09, 2005

Starshatter v4.5.0

Starshatter v4.5.0, which features a major graphics upgrade (requires a hardware T&L card) and assorted tweaks and bug fixes, has been released. The readme can be viewed via the title link.

Massively Multiplayer Round-Up

The official Star Wars Galaxies site profiles the Kashyyyk city, Kochirho; the site also offers details on three additional storage slots on ships that SOE will give to purchasers of SWG: The Total Experience.

IGN writes about places of interest on Kashyyk in the final installment of their Imperial Field Guide, while Dallas Dickinson pens a second developer diary entry at Gamespot regarding the choice of Kashyyyk for an expansion. Finally, in non-RotW news, MMORPG.com talks with Julio Torres about the Combat Upgrade feature.

omgrawr.net posts the log from their chat event with EVE developers, CCP.

Monday, May 02, 2005

Evochron v1.488 Released

Evochron has been updated to v1.488. The latest version includes graphical enhancements and tweaks, bug fixes, and a couple of new features.

Chain of Command On-Hold

Jake Cannell has announced that Chain of Command is on-hold but that he continues to have interest in completing the project:

Chain of Command is on hold - no longer in active development as of last month. . .

At this point I am uncertain what will happen with this game and engine. I still put it in a little time now and then working on it, but I don't know where that is going yet. I hate to see the project unfinished and would like to take it to some level of near completion, but I simply can't afford to work on it full-time anymore.

That being said, I am interested in continuing it as an independent side project and looking forward to meeting anyone who has some interest in pitching in resources/time to complete it.


The full announcement can be read in this thread at the official forum.

Sunday, May 01, 2005

Gal Civ 2 Beta 2 News

The Galactic Civilizations 2 site reports that Beta 2 will begin shortly after E3 later this month. The second beta will feature a new user interface, but many game features will not be added until late summer.

Mass Media (X3 Interview, Hegemonia Patch, SWG: RotW Screenshots)

MMORPG.com has posted the first three of seven Rage of the Wookiees screenshots (day one, day two, and day three).

Gamespot chats with Egosoft's Greg Kingston about X3: Reunion. The developer discusses the single-player campaign and how it will mesh with the game's open-ended nature, the storyline, differences between the PC and Xbox versions, missions, and the economy.

Lastly, 3DGamers offers the Hegemonia: Legions of Iron v1.09 patch, which adds a few maps, beefs up the A.I., and includes bug fixes.

Thanks to Blue's for the links.

Starflight III Updates

The Starflight III website has been updated with progress reports on all aspects of development. Team members have also uploaded a comparative visuals page to show off recent progress in graphics; new Nav and Comm screenshots can also be viewed.