Due to problems fixing two big bugs, we are unfortunately going to have to delay the release scheduled for today. Voogru and Elven have been working really hard to find and fix the 'hitbox' bug (which really has nothing to do with hitboxes) and a client-crash recently introduced for listenservers. We are hoping that this release will be the official 3.0 release, and want to make sure it's especially solid. I under-estimated the difficulty of fixing these bugs, which is exacerbated by the fact that these guys are new to NS coding, and have had to hit the ground running.

We're still going to try to release before the CPL next week, but if it's not ready in time, we'll wait until after. There are so many bug-fixes, map updates and polish items in this version that I think it'll be worth the wait. We're sorry if we spoiled your weekend plans!

In other news, the new Unknown Worlds and NS web-sites are nearing completion, and will be unveiled in the next couple weeks. We've unified the two sites, and greatly improved the navigation (no more flash), added user profiles, and added instant Constellation donation approval and more. Here's a screenshot to give you an idea.



Thanks for hanging in there while we undergo this transition, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Cheating-Death 4.22.5 has been released. Though it does not contain new detections, it does include a compatibility fix for last night's Steam update.

The Forsaken HL2 Mod Team are pleased to announce a new content update to our site.

We've added new concept sketches, coloured art, location concept, a fully skinned shotgun model and our first complete player model of a Religious Leader and much more... check it all out in our concept art section.

We have the fgd finalized for this build of WaterWars. Will get it up and post a link as soon as I can.

All mappers who have maps, need to submit them to me no later than saturday night. Will get everything put together and get a downloadable alpha out for all testers.
We will include a readme explaining how to use the objects and entities.

Stay tuned

This week our modest community rose to over 50 members. That’s not bad at all. Thank you all for your ongoing support. We can guarantee you will not be disappointed.

Additionally, I have four new members to introduce to you today. First up is Snarker. He is one of our new mappers. He seems to be very excited about working with Black Dragon. I look forward to seeing his work.

JFry is the other new mapper. He is very dedicated and, in fact, is already working on some rough layouts for the initial levels. His drive is sure to be a great asset to our team.

Skiprat is a new concept artist. His style is very unique (check it out in our forums) so I am sure he will bring a new dimension to the team.

Last, but not least, is Lurchus_Orilios. He is yet another concept artist with a great sci-fi vision. You can also see some of his work in the general forum.

Well, that’s all for now. We hope to bring you new media soon so stay tuned.

Yes, you read that right! AMX Mod X is now proudly the first 64bit Metamod plugin! For 0.20 we will be distributing 64bit versions of AMX Mod X (and Metamod, if no official binaries exist by then).

To achieve this, we have built a new hybrid compiled called AMXXSC which compiles files into a new format called ABL (Abstract Ball). You can read more about this by clicking here.

The important thing is the physical changes you will see. AMX Mod X 0.20 plugins will be ".amxx" instead of ".amx" to differentiate between these two formats. This new format is for AMX Mod X only, however, old plugins will still work. I have prepared a simple chart to show what files will work, and where.

As you can see, the 64bit version of AMX Mod X can only use the new plugins. To help this transition the web compiler will use the new format and everyone will be urged to upgrade to AMX Mod X 0.20.

The AMD64 version is not heavily tested. If you would like to help test it, please PM BAILOPAN and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Although we have the JIT working on both Linux and Windows, we will not have an AMD64 Linux JIT in time for 0.20.

In other news, there will be a new compiler front-end for AMX Mod X 0.20! "compile.exe", to replace "compile.bat", will feature re-compilation intelligence and drag n' drop compiling!

For anyone crawling CVS for the new hybrid compiler source, we're not gonna commit it until right before the release date. The source to the 64bit changes to the Core have been committed however. You can read about the 32/64 hybrid compiler based off SC 2.5.1 by clicking here.

As usual, the mastermind behind the AMD64 port is PM OnoTo who took the time to sit down and debug all this. Thanks, PM!

That's not all! Look for updates to a Multi-Lingual AMX Mod X soon. As you can see, we've decided to make 0.20 a smashing release as possible.

We are broadcasting live at 8pm EST / 1am GMT on Half-Life Radio.

Louis and Captain Maverick are still at Valve! They've been there since yesterday! More on this story tonight. Here's a brief description of the trip (MORE on this tonight and during our Saturday night Half-Life Radio Show!)

After a three-hour drive, it was a relief to finally climb out of that thing Louis calls a car. We spent a few minutes in the lobby, soon to be met by Jess Cliffe, one of the CS:Source game developers, as well as co-creator of the original CS. He escorted us back to an office, and my first focus was on the machine he led us to. It looked like a standard Dell Dimension mid tower, P4 2.8C processor, 1gb DDR400, and a Radeon 9800XT video card…just your run of the mill gaming box. The display…well, that was another matter altogether. An Apple 23” wide screen Cinema Display hoarded the lion’s share of available desktop space. If you have never seen a 23” wide screen, you are missing a breathtaking sight. The only real perspective I can give you? Two 17” LCD’s joined side by side. You can view a full web page, in half of the desktop. Or two pages, side by side. Great for huge viewable image, but what is the verdict for gaming? The 30ms+ response time made fast action frames “tear” on the screen, making it difficult to focus on the most important portion of the screen, the center. LCD’s can be great for gaming, provided you stay in the sub 20ms category. The Apple was awesome, just not suited for fast action FPS games.

GRAPHICS:
The Map was de_dust, and in game res was set to the LCD’s native resolution, 1920x1200. The 9800XT seemed to have absolutely no issue with running this resolution, even in the most frag filled sections of the map. Graphic quality can be summed up in one word: Amazing. The level of detail is just amazing. The textures on the ground and walls were mind blowing. Individual pieces gravel are visible on the ground, and the mortar between the bricks looks just like mortar, grainy texture, uneven surface and all. All equipment the player purchases at the beginning of the round is visible on the player model as he moves about. You can even see the fingernails in detail on your player model! At one of the bombsites, one indoors, with sun slits in the dome above, the individual dust motes are visible floating through the air. Gone are the jagged lines that previously represented curves, to be replaced be natural looking arcs. Even looking at the player models hands were a study in shapes and proportions. They just looked real. Everywhere you looked, visual improvements had been made.

PHYSICS:
Being based on the Half-Life 2 engine, this play test gives us a quick look into the physics engine that has been the most anticipated advancement the game has to offer, in my opinion. I was not disappointed by me glimpse. The realism programmed into the game is just mind blowing. Things move. LOTS of things! There were loose cinderblocks lying on the ground, and when we shot them, pieces chipped off, the block slid across the ground and spiraled to a stop in a convincing whirl of dust. The block seemed to absorb most of the pistol shot, only moving a few feet, as you would expect from a rather light 9mm round meeting a large block of stone. Spare tires littered the map, and in response to some rifle fire, one of the tires took the bullets impact in such a way that it was stood up, and actually began to roll away. Another squirt from the rifle and the tire gained momentum, hit a wall, bounced off and spun itself down onto the dusty ground. Very realistic! In another scene, the view point is from behind a large crate, near a bomb site. Mini’s team mate runs past, and from behind takes two rounds to the lower leg. The model appears to stumble, as if it’s leg had just collapsed, and takes a final round to the head, splattering blood in the dust. I felt like I was there, in the dust. Of course, all of this watching, and the shooter stepped around the corner and promptly knifed Mini! Also worth mention are the flash bang grenades. Depending on how close you are to the point of detonation determined the time and severity of the effects, as previous, but the EFFECTS! A high pitch squeal fills the air, your vision appears to have taken a frozen, the last image you saw, washed in white, becomes fixed on the screen, almost as if it was a snapshot. Bleeding through this “snapshot” is the action in the area, with your normal vision returning as the snapshot image begins to fade. Your vision wobbles. The realism is almost distracting from the gameplay, it’s THAT good.

ENVIONMENT:
If you have played CS, then played Joint Ops, you will understand what I am about to say; The positional audio on this game is great! Shots sound far off when they are, not simply more faint than up close. Bullets hitting a wood crate you are hiding behind have distinct sounds as they pass through first the far side, then the near side of the crate. Rounds whine off of stone nearby and smack into barrels with a satisfying clang.

IMPRESSIONS AND CONCLUSION:
With the wild popularity of the original CS, and the high expectations of it’s devout followers, this game must deliver. And from what I saw, deliver it does. You will not be disappointed. The CS:Source crew has been working long days as of late…it’s crunch time, and 16 hours/7 days is not unheard of. What must be the high point of the day, the CS:Source development team gets together for about an hour a day to “playtest” the game and see their hard work paying off. A projected August Beta release date has been mentioned, with the CS:Source Beta being offered to Steam Cyber Café members first, followed a week later by opening up the beta to all who have a valid CS:CZ key and the current version of Steam installed.

Our hat is off to the hard working team at Valve for producing such a leap forward in the intense world of gaming. This would seem a suitable predecessor to the original…I just hope it won’t be another 5 years before the next!

An update for CS:CZ and Counter-Strike has just been released. Steam will update itself automatically when you restart. Here is a list of the changes:

COUNTER-STRIKE: CONDITION ZERO:

• Improved behavior when a user changed their name to "spec_HELP_TEXT"

COUNTER-STRIKE

• Improved behavior when a user changed their name to "spec_HELP_TEXT"


• Players are only blocked by the shield's hitbox


• Changing weapons but keeping the same animation index plays the new weapon's animation


• Improved how smoke grenades come to rest


• HE, smoke, and flashbang crosshairs are now the same size


• Improved famas burst mode firing (matches the visuals)


• Improved closed shield behavior


• Improved hint message overwriting behavior


• Switching to the C4 or grenades no longer masks AWP firing sound


• Improved behavior of footstep sound when jumping to a different surface type


• Buying a primary while throwing a grenade no longer lets players have primary weapons + shields


• Improved sv_restart behavior (limit is increased to 60 seconds)


• Cycler_sprites are reset properly and show up on subsequent rounds (chickens)

In Rats-Mod 3.0 there will be new models for every weapon.

Here you can see a render of the "Strohhalm" who will replace the Rocketlauncher.

We want to take this time and thank our listeners! 800,000 listeners and still growing. We've come a long ways with Half-Life Radio. The HL Radio show contains Valve employees which include Gabe Newell who are on regularly, as well as rock stars from a variety of top bands. Streaming from 5 different countries and serving the world, even Microsoft and PlayStation are now climbing onboard the radio show which is why we are doing Xbox and PS2 reviews. We've been mentioned on G4 Tech TV and there's more to come. Why are we named the #1 Talk-Game station in the world by the media? Because, people like us, and chics dig us. Stay tuned.. more on the way!