Myth@Bungie.Org

News Archive for February 2001

Wednesday February 28th

Even MORE plug-in PR from TMBM { Lophan }

Now, let me preface this with the fact that I usually C&P the plug-in PR posts so the author/promoter gets the message across the way they want. But, sometimes, I have to water-down some of the superlative language used since it does appear on our front page and I don't want the idea that these are 'our' words either saying that the item is 'good' or 'bad'. With that in mind...

A new person has made a map... it's Darth Bane, who happens to have above-average colormapping skills. This should be interesting:

One of TMBM's least known members (although he is their 'leader'), Darth Bane, has released his first multiplayer map entitled Clash in the Deep Mire which features an FFA and a two-team mesh. The Deep Mire, legendary home of the Skrael lizard race, is a foggy, dreary, wet land. Remnants of the long lost cluture remain, and the deep swamp likely covers the rest.

The members of TMBM are very excited about Mire's prospects with it's beautiful colormap and incredibly fun game play. You can download this map from the TMBM site (www.tmbmcentral.net) or at the reborn Mill (mill.evichra.com). Don’t miss ou... download Darth Bane’s premier map today... and we don't think you'll be disappointed!

Tuesday February 27th

More pre-release 'Valley of Ruin' PR { Lophan }

Hot off the presses (read: my email inbox)... more plug-in PR:

Valley of Ruin is a brand spankin new map for Myth TFL. A truly scenic creation, it also sports wonderful gameplay, and multiple opportunities for a wide spectrum of tactics. VoR is a very large map to boot: 30% larger than Trow, and more than twice as large as Carnage, allowing room for several versions of the map; expect to find 2, 4, 5 and 8 team variants in the final release.

Valley of Ruin will also ship with a co-operative variant, scripted by your MAGMA friend ChrisP. However, more scenery has yet to be added, and more kinks yet to be hammered out, so the map is presently in alpha. A public beta will be available in less than a week, and in the meantime you can check out some screenshots at www.m-i-a.net/vor.

Monday February 26th

Idiot Collective releases 'MythCHESS' { Lophan }

More plug-in PR:

MythCHESS v1.0
A series by Elijah ~idiot~

The most innovative map ever designed has been revealed to the Myth community! Every possible step was taken to make sure that the chess style of gameplay was ported to the Myth II engine, and every effort has been made to make sure that the netgame scripting works seamlessly. Two meshes have been included, one with regular Myth units, to give a more 'BattleChess' feel, and a nostalgic Chess mesh with original chess pieces!

Features include:

• Instant Pawnswapping (Pawns are auotmatically traded for the highest point piece your opponent has...)
• Scripted Turntaking (At the Legendary Difficulty level, players are forced to take turns...)
• Retextured Models (Used to indicate whose turn it is, they light up!)
• New Sounds sanctioned by MacSoft (Thanks MacSoft!)
• Easter Eggs (Cheering Peasents, dwarfs playing chess against each other...)
• New Scenery! (Hehe, look closely, you may see it...)
• New Units! (The chess pieces are very cool...)

Sunday February 25th

'Tales of Gloomveil' Fiction Contest! { Lophan }

We got this interesting little piece of PR this morning intended for wonderful readers such as yourself:

Cloaked within a shroud of mysterious black Fog, the Gloomveil region is a ghastly realm of danger, exploration and adventure. It's been a year since Gloomveil.com opened its gates and let the Fog roll in. Since February 2000, this intriguing online world has grown in breadth and depth, attracting adventurers from every dark corner of the globe.

We're celebrating our one-year anniversary with the "Tales of Gloomveil" fantasy fiction contest! Write a winning piece of Gloomveil-inspired fiction, and compete for cash prizes. You could score $200.00 US for a first place win!

For details of the Tales of Gloomveil contest, please visit us online: http://www.gloomveil.com

Beyond the Web-based Gloomveil experience, playable "Extensions" to the Gloomveil world are being planned for cross-platform computer games such Myth III: The Wolf Age, as well as for print publication as a stand-alone game world manual. A Myth II: Soulblighter extension is already in the completion stages. "Restless Hollow" is newly a discovered location in Gloomveil as well as a creepy Myth II multiplayer map. Check out the beta version, and 30-second animated trailer here: http://www.gloomveil.com/restless_hollow

Saturday February 24th

EVIHCRA IS LIVE! { Forrest }

In a surprise move by various prominant members of the Bungie community and presumably some Sims fans and others too - and even more of a surprise because I had no idea it was happening! - The Mill has undergone cellular mitosis and spawned a whole network of Mill-like sites for various games. Lets hope this can help take down the evil Planet dynasty. The full PR from Gary "the Battle Cat" Simmons of Hell Hole fame (that's five bucks, Gary), and one of the founding members of Bungie.org:

Attention Gamers: A new era in community online gaming has just arrived!

Introducing EVIHCRA, soon to be the largest and most comprehensive automated Internet game file archive and information resource. This is not just another stinking burial pit for your game maps, plug-ins and add-ons. This is a fully interactive and customizable online database community where you can present your own hard work to the world as well as submit reviews of the work of others.

You have FULL PERSONAL CONTROL over your own gaming files, not some biased, self serving, pickle-polishing geek. Submit them when you want, removing or replacing them as YOUR need arises. Membership in Evihcra is absolutely FREE and only requires an easy registration process for full member benefits! Non-members may download any of the files as well as rate them for the community.

Evihcra's database engines operate somewhat the same as "The Mill", but this is not your father's Mill. This is a Mill on steroids and adrenalin: pumped up, edgy and ready to detonate if you eyeball its woman. The Evihcra community is like nothing you have experienced before, each game inhabits its own distinctive web site suited to the particular game it represents, yet each site shares the same database, membership roster and central organizational hub. Envision Evihcra as ancient Greece with each of the game sites as one of the City-States. As such, each unique game site fosters a community feel in a larger environment without all the hemlock, wooden horses and sweaty guys in short skirts.

Online at this juncture of the time-space continuum at Evihcra: * The Mill - all your favorite Plug-ins, Maps, Recordings and Utilities
* The Sims! - Skins, Furnishings, Full House Packs and Utilities

Coming SOON to Evihcra:
* Unreal Tournament
* The Quake Series
* SiN

Penciled in for the foreseeable future (depending on what YOU want), the community of Evihcra sites will possibly include:
* Deus Ex
* Rune
* Star Trek Voyager Elite Force
* Starcraft/Broodwars
* Total Annihilation
* Halo
* Descent 3
* Rainbow Six Series

Immortalize your work or download your next favorite game add-on! Visit Evihcra today at http://www.evihcra.com/

Thursday February 22nd

Past Myth:TFL Praise at GamesDomain { Lophan }

Dean Gordon wrote an article in the 'review' section at GamesDomain listing out the 10-or-so computer games which captured him and led to his current addiction to gaming. Although this article is old (Jan'00) it does list Myth: The Fallen Lords as one of those games and he goes on to compliment it in the following passage:

Myth was the first modern game to truly blow me away. By the time Bungie delivered the goods I would say that I was a pretty jaded gamer. Been there, done that. Seen everything. And after seeing all the hype about how this "Braveheart-wannabee" would be the "next big thing", I was even more skeptical. But after a mere 30 minutes on my hard drive, I was convinced I had touched the face of God (or it was a really excellent game; one of the two). Stunning graphics. Amazing pure tactical gameplay. But what really warped my fragile little mind were the multiplayer (m/p) aspects of the game. Up to this, I had only dabbled in online m/p. But the first time I logged onto bungie.net and played King of the Hill and giggled in joy at the unfolding beauty of the raw carnage, I was hooked. Truly one of the rare instances where reality has met and exceeded hype.

Wednesday February 21st

Myth III Development Updates { Lophan }

Two items regarding the upcoming Myth III: The Wolf Age by Mumbo Jumbo:

Firstly, Andrew Meggs, lead programmer for the project, comments on the story of the Myth series in the rampancy.net forum. Here's a snippet:

No one game could possibly contain the ENTIRE story of a fantasy universe with thousand-year cycles of light and dark; Myth 1 didn't, Myth 2 didn't, and Myth 3 doesn't attempt to. So while Myth 3 is A complete story, it can never be THE complete story.

MWA: You guys think we'll be seeing some shots in the game before e3 comes around, like for an e3 preview or something along those lines?

iggy popped: Unlikely, we're working to make a big e3 splash.

Santa's Head: Although I just took 5 shots for the guys at GoD. Maybe you can find some there. *8)

Tuesday February 20th

Sparse news round-up... & a teaser! { Lophan }

Pretty quiet weekend in terms of Myth news: a little comment regarding shadow rendering in the Myth III engine by Andrew Meggs in the rampancy.net forums.

So, to get the week started off:

Keep your eyes open for a new feature section here at myth.bungie.org which will hopefully become a heavily used resource for the Myth Community, espcially in light of some of the recent activity (or inactivity).

Thursday February 15th

Gamespot 'GSAT' includes Bungie games { Lophan }

Gamespot is currently holding what it calls the "GSAT 2001", a way to "test your knowledge of PC and Video games." This test is strikingly comprehensive and covers all game type and genres. With their recent prominence in the gaming world, it's not surprising that Bungie's name and games come up from time to time during the exam. What is surprising is that Halo isn't mentioned... maybe because it hasn't been released yet. Nevertheless, here's the Myth related question:

74. Which of these units from Myth: The Fallen Lords did not appear in Myth II?
A. Forest giant
B. fir'Bolg
C. Myrmidon
D. All of these

The questions specific to other Bungie games will be posted to their specific sites Soon(tm), so stop by them and see if you're up on your Bungie acumen.

Wednesday February 14th

'Charlie's Point' plug-in released { Lophan }

Let the PR roll:

Charlie's Point brings you 18 new units some from the original Vietnam Units and some all new ones. Keep in mind that these units are similar in name only they have all new swanky sprites. By far the coolest unit is the Huey Gunship but there are several others. Combat is a totally new experience in gameplay, not like regular Myth and not like WWII. The multiplayer combat has been given much attention and is fun and scary at times.

The map set Tour1 containts 4 meshes: 1 by General Pepper and the other 3 based off of Salvation. There are several other maps coming out that will support Charlie's Point; Cold Steel and Point of Alpha Company are in the process of making some right now.

You can download Charlie's Point at The Mill. Information on Charlie's Point is available here at wod's Place of Myth.

Piping-hot Jinn Info... { Lophan }

As reported by Acrappa at rampancy.net:

The Vista Cartel, makers of the upcoming blockbuster Myth II:SB plug-in Jinn, have updated their site and given a little more info on the progress. Among other things, h'biki mentions:

We have been busy adding multiplayer capabilities to Jinn, in light of the current trend for 'solo only' gameplay.

If you're yet to visit the Vista Cartel site, you would do yourself well to check it out as it has some interesting information about scripting (for you mapmakers) as well as having an exceedingly cool design. Check it out! And if you haven't seen the Jinn menu screen, you can check it out here.

Monday February 12th

Mythwolfage.com goes live! { Lophan }

Time to welcome another Myth site into the realm of existence. The much talked about domain name of mythwolfage.com has finally gone live and is awash with activity. Some current features include an interview with the Myth III development team and an 'extensive' FAQ.

It's there. It's live. Have at it!

Sunday February 11th

We've been Slashdotted! { Forrest }

It appears that the box which hosts some B.org sites, includuding this one, has been linked to from Slashdot. This means that, as of this writing, zillions of crazed linux geeks are swarming the servers around B.org. So if you're experiancing any slowness or connection failures, that's why. But don't worry, Claude tells me it usually only lasts a day or so, so if you can wait out the bad whether things should be back to normal soon.

Saturday February 10th

Project Magma Executes 'Co-op d'etat' { Lophan }

We received this rather long peice of PR in the mailbox today, and it our pleasure to deliver it to you:

'Project Magma', a team of TFL diehards, has released four quick-to-download co-op maps based on solo level TFL games, re-scripted with M2 units. The co-ops focus players to work on seriously demanding teamplay. In addition, the Magma team has created an M2-stocked, 33-map sequel to the Clan of the Bear's landmark 'Unity' series, and have ported the M2 "Lands" maps to TFL with original and brand new variants.

Four co-ops, based on TFL solo levels "Ambush at Devil's Overlook", "Flight from Covenant", Shadow of the Mountain" and "Forest Heart", have been overhauled to test the most disciplined of teams. Near-impossible played solo, these maps have been stocked with powerful M2 units, souped up TFL units, and a horrifyingly vast host of enemy units waiting to exercise a team of 3-5 players in strategy, communication and adaptation. The maps weigh in between 0.1 and 2.2MB (zipped), so they are set to be the best bandwidth-friendly training tool any group of hardcore players could use for tournament-level practice.

'µnity3' brings M2 units such as Stygian Knights, Heron Guards, modified TFL units, Mauls, Mortar Dwarves, Ghasts and other M2 regulars to TFL's netplay maps in a vast array of tilt, slugfest and irregular army combinations. Aiming to encourage large team games and some refreshing twists on the Slugfest rules, ChrisP of the Underdogs designed an incredible variety of TFL and M2 unit mixes bringing new tactics into old territories.

Project Magma has also released their port of the "Lands" maps featured on M2 for TFL. This map is considered by the porting team to be the best-looking and most fun map to date and contains all three 'Super-Script' units - Myrkridia, Myrkridian Giants and Warlocks. Almost completed are M2 maps "Venice" (complete with destructable walls) and "Grounds". All M2 ports come with the original unit stocks, as well as several new variations, team numbers and difficulty-level dependent settings.

'Project Magma' began in February 2000 with the intention of enlivening TFL netplay by porting M2 units, models and maps to TFL. This means several of M2's units are able to use TFL's more streamlined game engine, making enjoyable M2 games less dependent on high-end hardware. Some compromises had to be made, but Magma maps continue to be the most-played third-party maps on TFL today.

The first five maps ported were Bungie Corp's "Gyre & Gimble in the Wabe", "Drowned Kingdom / Empire", "Clash / Cracks in the Cloudspine", "Dead Man's Chest / Float" and "Dead of Winter".

All maps can be downloaded from http://www.udogs.net/magma/.

Friday February 9th

'In the Crypt of Arianna' released { Lophan }

A little CA little C&P from The Mill:

After a wait too long, so much so that I don't remember when it started, "In the Crypt of Arianna" is finally complete. With it comes the Idiot Map Making Collective standard of quality in all things.

This map is incredible for one person to do almost everything on, especially one who does not specialize in some ends of the mapmaking process. It has replay value on credit of its absurdity alone, but the truth is that this map is great in its own right.

The meshes are well organized, forming interesting gameplay with the terrain, the scripting in multiplayer is genuinely apart from anything myth has to offer, the new units leave the eye with a bit of a twinkle, and most of all, the solo leaves the world of myth behind with the fact that it does not operate in a straight line, nor does it let the line come to you; at every corner there is a surprise, and at every surprise there is a reward. It makes for a fun game all around.

Wednesday February 7th

VoodooExtreme: Poll Smash! { Lophan }

As reported on bungie.net (and commented on endlessly in various forums):

VoodooExtreme is trying to find out who is the best game developer out there. Bungie is enjoying a slight lead at the time of this writing (via honest means... I swear!) and if they hold on until the end of the day, they'll go head-to-head with Blizzard tomorrow (well... later today). Get yer butt over there, stand up and be counted!

Monday February 5th

Webcam Shows Bungie Mything { Forrest }

Thanks to Scott Back (via Louis "Jennifer" Wu ;-] ) for pointing out that last night Bungie played about an hour and a half's worth of Myth, including Demise on the Plains, Gyre and/or Gimble in the Wabe, and another map I don't recognise off the top of my head. How do we know this? The all-knowing, all-seeing Webcam, that's how. And a log of the shots is available exclusively here at Myth@Bungie.org! Just click here!

Myth and MacOS X { Lophan }

In what has been a very S-L-O-W weekend in terms of Myth news, I did come upon an article at Inside Mac Games by Michael Yanovich regarding the new MacOS X and gaming. While some games had problems (Deus Ex and Unreal Tournament) running under Apple's next-generation OS, the reporter experienced no problems or slowdowns with Myth: TFL or Soulblighter. Here's an interesting excerpt:

Interestingly enough, I was not able to log on to Bungie.net to play Myth II online. This could be because my DSL has been very flaky lately, or it could have been caused by a problem at Bungie.net. Whatever the reason, two attempts to connect resulted in failures.

Thursday February 1th

Myth Wars! { Lophan }

Something new (well, sort of) for Myth campaigns that takes a large-scale view of multiplayer gaming. Read on:

Myth Wars: A little game by Duckyjo and William Wallace

This game was created in a joint effort by William Wallace and Ducky to make something different that people could play to enjoy the Myth world in a different sort of game. It is a war game in which all players control one or more armies and the generals of each army. The armies can be of any sort, such as light, dark, mercenary, fir'Bolg, or any other that one can think of.