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Our CGA partners Stomped have posted a new interview with The Collective's vice president Gary Priest. The Collective is currently finishing Simon and Schuster's upcoming Unreal Tournament powered game, Deep Space Nine: The Fallen. The interview also includes new screenshots showing the latest build of the game, with SSI promising to release more soon.

Stomped: How much more work is needed from your end before the game is completed?

Priest: We're just tying up loose ends now, bug fixing and gameplay balancing / tweaking. We're also making sure that all the cool dialogue is being used effectively and are spending some time getting this perfect. The last of the cut-scenes are being created and linked into the game and we're adding some extra depth to sections of the game that occur on DS9 itself, in the promenade and Ops.

The Collective

Simon & Schuster

DS9: The Fallen

Stomped's The Fallen interview

Simon & Schuster (add to watch list)

The Collective (add to watch list)

DS9: The Fallen (add to watch list)

Buy DS9: The Fallen

Duane Johnson, the programmer currently working on the Mac version of Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force, has given IMG a little update on how the game is progressing. We brought you word a few days ago that it has entered the beta testing phase. Here's what Johnson has to say about his progress:

Well I ran into a nasty bug in the HoloMatch game that prevented
connecting to servers over the internet. But I've just found & fixed it
so it's much better now. There are still a few minor bugs that I'm working
on, but it's "on schedule".

You may remember Johnson is also working on the Baldur's Gate multiplayer patch and Tales of the Sword Coast add-on. Apparently he's put those on hold until the BG bug fix is released.

Westlake Interactive

Aspyr Media

With the recent release of OS X public beta, gamers have started asking more and more for OS X supported games. Id software has already shown their interest, announcing they will release a version of their upcoming point release for Quake 3: Arena for OS X. What will happen to other games like Unreal Tournament and Deus Ex? We asked Westlake about their plans to carbonize these games, and it looks like they will only be able to do this at the request of the original developers. They had already mentioned that it's up to Epic to make the desicion of a OS X verison of UT. Here's what they had to say:

We haven't made any final decisions, but carbonizing a previous product
may not be cost effective. As for DX and Rune, UT would have to be
ported to OSX first as they are all based on the UT/Unreal Engine.

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GameSpy managed to track down Alan Lawrance of Volition to answer some questions on Red Faction. Volition's greatly-anticipated game will feature an impressive new physics engine called Geo-Mod. In this long interview, Lawrance reveals quite a lot of information about the game, especially on the AI, levels, animations and the Geo-Mod engine. Check out this clip:

GameSpy: How will the land, sea, and air vehicles be incorporated into the game? What purpose or functionality will they serve to the player?

Alan Lawrance: The player will be able to commandeer six vehicles throughout the course of the game. We have revealed four vehicles so far: an APC (armored personnel carrier), a submersible, a massive drilling vehicle, and a flying combat craft. All vehicles have their own 3D cockpits, unique weapons, and customized physics. Generally, the player will be able to use a vehicle for a limited amount of time, and then will resume the game on foot.

The vehicles will almost always be necessary for the player to use. The vehicles have much more firepower than the player, and offer protection. Certain vehicles have special abilities (like the drilling ability of the Driller vehicle) that will have to be used to proceed in the game.

Red Faction

Volition

GameSpy's Red Faction interview

GraphSim (add to watch list)

Volition (add to watch list)

Red Faction (add to watch list)

The popular Mac emulator MacMAME has yet again been updated recently. There were a few bugs fixed, but author Brad Oliver points out it has been compiled with Codewarrior 6. So if you encounter any installation troubles please report them. Also, this version has been carbonized, useful for all thoses OS X beta users. Check the updates:

In sync with the DOS 0.37 beta 8 build. [Brad Oliver]

Added support for Cabinet Marquee artwork in the front-end. Place a file
called "marquees.zip" into the 'Cabinet Marquees' folder. [Brad Oliver]

Expanded the number of screenshot packs supported. Valid zip package names
are images.zip, images_0 through 99.zip and images_a through z.zip. [Brad
Oliver]

MacMAME is now built with CodeWarrior Pro 6. Please report any unusual
issues as they might be compiler optimizer bugs. [Brad Oliver]

Many internal fixes for the Carbon target. The Carbon build runs under
MacOS X, but much work remains before it's acceptable. [Raphael Nabet, Brad
Oliver]

Download MacMAME 0.37b8 (2.7MB)

MacMAME

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PC.IGN sat down with Human Head Studio's Tim Gerritson to talk about their upcoming third person Viking game, Rune. The preview offers an in-depth look at the game's single and multiplayer experience. Here are some of the gory details:

...it's possible to remove the limbs of your enemies. Also, amazingly enough, your AI driven foes will react to those events in kind. As Gerritsen tells us, "a goblin that gets its shield arm removed will continue to fight you, but if you cut off it's sword arm, it'll run for the hills." All in all, the best option in any battle is to pick up your favorite bladed weapon and go for the head of your opponent. A well-placed neck shot will send your foe to the great beyond faster than anything else, unless you start messing with Rune Powers...

Rune Interview at PC.IGN

Gathering of Developers (add to watch list)

Human Head Studios (add to watch list)

Westlake Interactive (add to watch list)

Rune (add to watch list)

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