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Battlefield 1942:
 First (BUGGY!) attempt at a 1.3-compatible server is here:
  http://icculus.org/betas/bf1942/

Serious Sam:
 beta1 is now available.
 (Bugzilla is more effective than emailing me bug reports directly.)
 beta2 is available with a few important fixes:
  http://icculus.org/news/news.php?id=1235
 The Second Encounter will probably go beta soon, since it seems more or less
 playable already, despite some obvious issues.

Unreal Tournament 2003:
 2199 patch is out.
 We will be doing an updated demo for win32, Linux, and MacOS X, btw. No
 timeframe right now.
 MacOS X version is in beta. I'm working on it...

MOHAA:
 So the damned game uses the Miles Sound System for audio.
 I called RAD Game Tools about stapling the Linux port of MOHAA onto
 EA's win32 Miles license, but it's a no-go...RAD wants money for each
 platform you release your game on...which is fairly obnoxious, considering
 we're talking about 4,000 bucks a pop here. For win32 and mac, this is a
 justifiable expense, but since this is a sort of unauthorized (and FREE) port,
 I was hoping for a little charity. Instead, I'll have to jettison that code
 and put an OpenAL solution in its place. Bernd, Nicholas and myself banged
 our heads together to do this at Loki for FAKK2 (Medal of Honor uses FAKK2's
 codebase as a foundation), and it was not fun. It'll be interesting
 to see how it turns out when rewriting it from scratch, though.

 That being said, OpenAL is a better audio API in my opinion, has been proven
 robust by several triple-A games for Windows, Mac, Linux, and XBox, has
 (among others) Creative Labs and Nvidia supporting API/driver development, and
 is free for any developer that wants to use it, look at the source, or
 reimplement the specification. There is NO good reason to license Miles any
 more. I'm talking to you, game developers. Save your money and make my life
 easier by using OpenAL in the first place.

 (And yes, I'm pissed that I was given a "tough shit" attitude by the RAD
  sales guy. But I mean it, OpenAL is better.)

 That's the client. As for the Spearhead server:

  Beta2 is here:
  http://icculus.org/betas/mohaa/spearhead_lnxded_2.11-BETA2.tar.bz2

 I'm waiting on latest codedrop from EA. Once that's merged, I'll clean up
 some last minute bugs and release a stable Spearhead server.


America's Army:
 Fixed my stupid showstopper (bug in UnrealScript compiler generated wrong
 code), now I can run the obstacle course at boot camp. Some other bugs,
 still, but partially I'm waiting on the Army to stabilize the codebase (they
 just moved to Epic's post-ut2003 codedrop, so they're still picking some
 bugs out on their end, too).
 Current version (1.5.0)'s dedicated server is doing wierd things on mapchange.
 Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on DICE for restarting bf1942 at the end of each
 round.


Other stuff:
 I think it's beyond kick-ass that Nintendo is handing out a GameCube
 port of the Ocarina of Time to those that preordered The Wind Waker. Doubly
 so that the "Master Quest" version is there as a separate game on the same
 disc. I've been wishing that they'd put the "Second Quest" concept back into
 Zelda ever since I discovered it missing...shortly after Link makes out with
 the Princess at the end of Zelda II. It's an interesting concept to see so
 much familiar stuff in a game...but with little things moved around to keep
 it new. I dig that. GameStop threw in an Ocarina of Time strategy guide from
 Prima with my preorder too, so this was totally worth the money.

 Ultimately, though, it'd just be a freebie if it didn't have the friggin'
 magic...you know what I mean. There's a reason beyond bullshit marketing of
 a franchise that makes me anxious for the next Zelda or Mario or Metroid
 game. I really wanted the N64 for Zelda, and I wanted the GameCube for
 Metroid Prime...neither has disappointed.

 Speaking of Metroid, the original Ghetto Nintendo version of Metroid is
 buried on your Metroid Prime disc somewhere, so the homage to classics
 continues. As both a consumer and a loyal gamer, Nintendo is right at the
 top of my list right now.

 ...

 And for those slamming Dragon's Lair 3D...it's exactly what it was supposed
 to be, and I have no complaints, even with its flaws. If you were addicted
 to the original ("Mom, can I have more quarters? I just died for the 800th
 time in a row"), then go buy it used and get your four or five hours of
 gametime out of it. The "history of Dragon's Lair" movies are interesting,
 even if you can't stand the gameplay. I'd do a Linux port for free if I got
 to meet Don Bluth. :)

 ...

 Go read American Psycho. NOW.
 The movie is good, too, but (surprise!) the book is better.

 Don't, under any circumstances, give into commercialism, though.

--ryan.


When this .plan was written: 2003-02-16 15:07:27
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