Wednesday, March 1, 2000

Battletech -- 11:43 pm CST, Update by The Master

Okay, since there's been a mention of a paper game today, here's another. Battletech by FASA is my FAVORITE RPG type game for paper-and-pencil gaming. And it looks like Micro$oft is going to put out some really nice games in the Battletech universe. Saw some Mechcommander 2 screenshots on the Adrenaline Vault that look really cool. Check it.

Mozilla M14 On the Loose -- 10:09 pm CST, Update by J.t.Qbe

Getting closer. . . Mozilla M14 is available for download here. Only Linux, Mac and Win32 versions right now. Grab it and see your next browser growing up before your very eyes.

A.T. Hun comments: I just downloaded the Win32 version. The problem in M13 with the title bars on The Haus not displaying properly is gone! ESPN.com looks better, but still not quite right. I'm going to have to futz with this a bit more.

Parsec Demo -- 9:29 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

Way back in August I first brought you news of a "non-commercial space shooter" called Parsec (story). I was beginning to wonder if anything had happened with it. Well, as it turns out, they have a self-running demo out for Win32, Linux, and Mac which you can download here. Besides watching the fly-through, you can also fly around for a bit, but there are no enemies (just power-ups). It looks very cool and runs quite nicely on my system (Celeron 400, 128M, AGP TNT), even at 1024x768x32. Well worth the download.

More Q2 Under Linux -- 1:15 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

I'm still working on my "Setting Up Quake 2 Under Linux" article, so I thought I'd give you an update. Using Tweak3D's TNT Image Quality Autoexec.cfg at 800x600 I end up with 9.8 fps using the Crusher demo. Eliminating the autoexec.cfg and/or lowering the resolution to 640x480 really doesn't help a whole lot. Of course, since I'm using pre-release video and sound drivers, I can't expect a ton of performance. Plus, I can't seem to get it to run in fullscreen mode, which I'm sure is killing performance. My system specs are: Celeron 400, 128M PC66 SDRAM, Creative AGP TNT, Creative Sound Blaster Live!.

New Qbe Root: Freeciv -- 10:51 am CST, Update by A.T. Hun

J.t.Qbe has sent along his latest masterpiece on the world of Unix/Linux gaming entitled Freeciv: a Free Civilization for Unix. If you liked Sid Meier's classic real-time strategy game, Civilization, you want Freeciv. Check out Qbe's review then head over to the Freeciv website and download it!

Update by A.T. Hun I'm downloading the Freeciv tarball as I type this. Actually, I just like saying "tarball". Tarball, tarball, tarball.

Anniversary of Secret Service Raid on Steve Jackson Games -- 10:37 am CST, Update by J.t.Qbe

According to this retrospective, today marks the tenth anniversary of the Secret Service raid on Steve Jackson Games. Ok, so maybe you don't remember it. Yet it was a watershed event in drawing attention to citizens' rights (or lack thereof) in cyberspace.

I started playing Steve's boardgames when I was 12. Ogre will forever be one of the greatest wargames. A.T., remember Car Wars? My wife still says that no sane person should know what a Bootlegger Reverse is. . .

A.T. Hun comments: Darn tootin' I do! I wasted many, many hours on that game in high school and early college. Always blew out my tires on the Bootlegger Reverse.

The Master comments: Only played Car Wars once. Chaoticon (RP convention ran by my old Gamer's Club at UWGB) Tried one of those bootlegger gigs. Smoked two other players before I went over the side of the arena and went bu-bye. Heh-good game :-)

J.t.Qbe comments: I met Steve Jackson once at Gen Con in '91. Good guy. . .

Greenmarine Rants -- 9:52 am CST, Update by The Master

Brandon Reinhart of Epic updated his .plan, with a withering attack on EverQuest (a massive online RPG). This is why I don't play these games. Check the update:

During the EverQuest beta I gave it a try and railed on it afterwards because I lost a level when I died. I swore never to play it again. Cliff bought a copy of it a while back to check it out, so I've been playing with it. I built up a level 7 Dwarf Paladin.

So I'm running around killing mobs and crap and I die and stuff. Last night I died and went to recover my corpse. After I pick up all my equipment, my client crashes. I reconnect and all my stuff and my corpse is gone. So I'm told I have to send EMAIL to some dude at Verant or something. Poof goes the EverQuest account. What a waste.
. . .
I've got a serious problem with games that require hours upon hours of your time only to take away the things you have earned. Whether its the levels you've gained or the items you carry. Whether its through game design decisions or through bugs.

A.T. Hun comments: The reason I don't play these games is that I don't like the idea of paying for the privilege of playing a game I already paid for.

Tuesday, February 29, 2000

Congrats, Sparky! -- 1:31 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

A great big off-topic congratulations to former Detroit Tigers skipper George "Sparky" Anderson who was elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veteran's Committee. Sparky was the only manager to win the World Series in both leagues, including the Tigers' glorious 1984 campaign. I hope he goes into the Hall with a Tigers' old English D on his cap, but I've a feeling it will be the Big Red Machine's C.

More Windows Hatefulness -- 1:25 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

I'm typing this from Linux--out of necessity. I was doing some WordPerfect work and listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show (must . . . listen . . . to . . . sports . . . radio) on RealAudio when a RealPlayer crash caused Win98 to BSOD. Fortunately I was able to save my work and reboot. Explorer crash. Reboot. Explorer BSOD. Reboot. Load Linux. Do work. Get work done. 'Nuff said.

Finished UT -- 10:39 am CST, Update by A.T. Hun

I managed to finish Unreal Tournament last night (hooray for me). With the number of maps, it is more an exercise in intestinal fortitude than anything else. The game is very cool all told, but the ending couldn't be more anticlimatic. I went through it on a very easy skill level mainly so I could learn all the maps.

My next trick is getting a UT server running under Linux. Whee!

Is This Thing On? -- 9:49 am CST, Update by A.T. Hun

I assume that everyone's computers have safely passed today's Y2K/Leap Year challenge. Hopefully we can now give the Y2K Bug the fitting burial it deserves. It could be interesting tonight, because I know the computers at the place I bowl on Tuesdays are NOT Y2K compliant. They don't understand the concept of 2/29/2000. Should be interesting :)

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