Quake3, SOF2, Fly!2, and Shadowbane News

Graeme Devine of id Software has posted a new .plan that outlines the status of an OS X/AltiVec enhanced point release (idis name for "patch") for Quake III Arena. Due to other more pressing benchmarks in other projects (Doom3 and Castle Wolfenstein?), the point release is not being given the attention it deserves, but that does not mean it is not coming. Here is a clip from Graemeis .plan

Well, for several reasons, weire still working on the point release, and itis still a ways out. Weive been working extremely hard to get it to you, and working with the mod community to get all the features into the point that youive asked for, and itis all taking a little more time than we originally anticipated. Weive also been working hard on the various other work projects id has for Robert, Mr. Elusive and I. Some of these have been on a critical time path in the past few months, and have required our utmost attention.

Quake III is the online arena fighting game that was released last year for the Mac, Linux, and PC, and still retains a rabid and loyal fan base inside the Mac gaming community.

Shadowbane, the MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game) by Wolfpack Studios, has updated itis Web site, adding all kinds of fantastic new information for those avidly awaiting this gameis release. The additions to the site include new monsters in the Bestiary, a FAQ update, and some new fiction to enhance the world Shadowbane takes place in. Also, the first stage of the beta test has finally come to completion, as announced by J. Todd "Warden" Coleman, the VP of sales and marketing for Wolfpack Studios. Unfortunately for those who have been following the game, Shadowbane has lost GoD Games as itis publisher and is currently looking for a new one. This could be bad, but so far Wolfpack is maintaining that Shadowbane is in no danger and development is trundling along at it original elephantine pace. For more info, stop by the official Shadowbane Web site.

Gone Gold has announced that Fly! II has reached GM (golden master) and is in the process of duplication for the PC and the Macintosh. Fly! II is the second installment of the amazing Fly! series that puts you in the pilot seat of virtually any aircraft you can imagine. Fully 3D and very realistic for a flight sim game, this is sure to have the hard core aviation buffs drooling into their oxygen masks. Keep a sharp eye out for the first sighting on store shelves any day now. For more information on this game visit the official Fly II Web site.

We also noticed an interesting announcement on the PC today for those who have been interested in the political hot seat that is Soldier of Fortune. The Adrenaline Vault has the official announcement that Soldier of Fortune 2 has been announced for PC. The original Soldier of Fortune was scheduled for a port to the Mac OS, but unfortunately fell through. The good news is that Soldier of Fortune 2 has scrapped the Quake 2 engine of the previous game and jumped right into the Quake III engine, adding their patented GHOUL technology, (upgraded to GHOUL 2) that allows for realistic targeting on the enemyis body, and even more realistic gore. This increases the level of realism in the violence of the game, allowing you to blow off all human extremities. The original game caught much flak from government bodies in Canada and anti-game violence advocates in The States for the increased realism, and was given a Mature rating. In Canada, this meant the game had to be put in a separate adult section of software stores of British Columbia (west coast Canada), behind a screen of some kind. Basically the game was put into the same class as pornography, and the game was dropped by many big retail chains because of this. Raven Software declined to comment when we contacted them back in the Fall in regards to the new classification. Soldier of Fortune 2 will be published by Activision. For more information on this new game visit the Adrenaline Vault news item.