Lemuridae Caveat
News Archive for January 2001
Tuesday January 30th
Giza: Valley of the Kings released { Lophan }
Cam DeGray has released version 2.0 of his map Giza: Valley of the Kings (available at The Mill). This is a very nice looking map with some new models, including Egyptian obelisks and swank palm trees. Attention to detail is the order here and the map even includes an excavation team, which of course, you can kill.
Myth III Lead interview at GA Strategy { Lophan }
As reported by Acrappa at rampancy.net, Lead Designer for Myth III: TWA was interviewed by GA Strategy and offered a couple new tidbits of info regarding where the project currently stands. Here's a taste:
For veteran Myth players, what will be a few of the key areas they will notice improvements in Myth III over previous titles in the series?Oh?... you can't? Are you sure you never worked for Bungie before?... Anyway, you can check out the full interview here.
Besides just a graphic overhaul, we are planning on incorporating a few new controls that will make unit management easier and more robust. Can't talk about anything more right now...
Saturday January 27th
The Tavern Art and Story Contest { Forrest }
From ~Drunken Dwarve:
The Tavern is currently holding an art and story contest. Read the stories, look at the art, and then vote for your favorites in the poll area. So come to The Tavern, kick up your feet, have a few drinks and see what all the fuss is about! Winner will be announced February 15th.Sounds like an interesting experiance, so go check it out!
Thursday January 25th
Bungie.org and bungie.net back online { Lophan }
It seems no one is immune to the occasional network outage.
Microsoft made big news yesterday and today as their main sites and the sites of their affiliates (ever heard of bungie.net?) went down temporarily due to an error by an employee (the Bungie Soul may soon be getting some company...).
Strangely enough, bungie.org was inaccesable for a good part of today due to some as-to-yet undetermined network problem (prolly a down router). The good news is that everything is honkey-dorey again. Otherwise, you would'nt be reading this right now. So, REJOICE!... and post something in our forums (unless, of course, you're a wank).
Valley of Ruin Plugin PR { Lophan }
Here's a little PR about an upcoming plugin from Deadman:
"I'm working on another new map for Myth: TFL, titled 'Valley of Ruin'. Presently, it's just in alpha, but a public release could be done in as little as a month. It's a large scale multiplayer map, with a posibility of a solo level built in.The map is essentially a giant valley with a network of rivers cutting through the middle of it. The map is larger than 'If I had Trow' by about 30%, and I'm currently planning to have it feature 2, 4, 5 and 8 start meshes (very similar to The Vessel's mesh layout www.m-i-a.net/vessel). The map will also feature some converted Myth2 units, as I'm working on project Magma as well and I have access and permission to use those units. As far as unit sets go, I'm sticking with the classics: Either desert or creep for light 2 team, trow for dark 2 team, Carnage dark for dark ffa, grave for light ffa, etc. There may be some other variants as well. Unlike vessel, this map will not stress the game engine in any way differently from standard Bungie TFL maps."Sounds interesting. We'll keep you informed as to the progress of this project and many others. As always, fulfill your Myth TFL & Soulblighter (and the soon-to-be Wolf Age) plugin cravings and stop by The Mill.
Wednesday January 24th
bungie.net connection woes + update { Lophan }
If you've been trying to connect to bungie.net lately, you likely have been unable to connect to the server. Seems that Microsoft is having some DNS problems of a sort which has been playing havoc with their services... including bungie.net. However, the Marathon Story Page reports that all is well again, so jump back on and kill till thy heart is content.
In other news, the Bungie Events Calander is back up and accepting events for 2001. As well, a new Myth 1-on-1 ladder site has surfaced called Myth: Test To Be The Best at the myleague.com site. Check 'em both out! (thanks Yer!)
Happy Birthday, Mythmaster Central { Forrest }
Today is the second anniversary of the first news post and film submission to Mythmaster Central, and to celebrate, Ryan "Smasher" Woodward sends in a Matrix-like film defying all probability.
Check out Mythmaster Central!
Monday January 22nd
Bungie Pentathalon: Official Results { Lophan }
Yeroen (well, Max if you want to get technical) has offically posted the long-awaited results of the recently contested Bungie Pentathalon making it's first visit to the Pacific Northwest. The five events consisted of Virtua Tennis, Street Fighter III, Spades, CounterStrike, and Myth: The Fallen Lords. While the action was hot (especially in that Spades game), the winning team has been crowned for the Year 2001.
Here's a brief excerpt from Yeroen's report:
The day climaxed with a furious round of Myth: The Fallen Lords, with all four teams sporting three champions in a huge first round battle to the death. Phoenix and Cinemaonline came out on top, and then went head to head on the old classics, Desert and Creep. Cinemaonline pulled off a resounding Territories on Creep victory in the first game, but couldn't hold on to the lead as the Phoenix boys, led by Paul "Ruiner" Bertone, cleaned up in games of Desert Terries and Last Man on Creep.Further detail is available at (where else?) bungie.net And btw, be sure to subscribe to the myth.bungie.org channel in your sidebar to keep up to date on breaking news in the Myth World (and there's a lot of that!).
Sunday January 21st
GA Strategy interviews Scott Campbell { Lophan }
In a short article, Gamers Alliance Strategy squeezes a little more out of Scott Campbell, project lead for M3:TWA. It's short, but here's a nice quote from the intrepid designer:
Myth has a deep and heroic story about the struggle between light and dark. It has massive battles, political intrigue, ancient prophesies, and sinister betrayal. Each level that is completed, more of the story is revealed, drawing the player into the game, and urging them towards the last battle and the cinematic ending. Heck, even I want to play this game right now!Most of the other info is basic explanation of the gameplay and which is nothing new to those familiar with TFL and Soulbligher. Check out the whole article here.
Saturday January 20th
Santa's Head speaks... people listen { Lophan }
Santa's Head of the Myth III team posted what Noctavis at rampancy.net has dubbed a real zinger based on some information about those "Iron Clad Trows" we've been hearing so much about in the news lately. With everyone up in arms about unit balance and the clear mistake that was the Myrkridian Giant, Santa's Head sets the record straight, well... straighter.
Of futher interest, SH had this to say:
Trust me.. this is going to live up to your expectations. We have a few add-ons that are NOT being thrown in to make sure the game is out on time, and most importantly, is a balanced, FUN game.Oh, BTW... it looks like we'll FINALLY find out the identity of The Head (!) This is of particular interest to me as He lived in my house for over six months back in 1998 while I was working for the Myth Codex (those of you from TFL will know what I'm talking about).
Friday January 19th
M3:TWA preview at Gamespot { Lophan }
The most complete preview to date has been posted over at zdnet: Gamespot and it reviews what we've pretty much mined out already but they do have most of the neat character sketches and game details. Here's an excerpt:
"Although, we are taking a [new]route in terms of adding 3D acceleration, 3D models, and doing stuff with the terrain engine and physics that are still way beyond what the other RTS games are doing right now." However, the game will still use much of the underlying technology from Myth II: Soulblighter. This lets the designers at Mumbo Jumbo keep the core gameplay from the game's predecessors but gives them room to add lots of new bells and whistles to keep the series on the cutting edge.It's long. It's large. It's here.
Wednesday January 17th
Myth III Trailer Released! { Lophan }
As reported by MacGamer:
GoD has released the first trailer for the upcoming Myth III: TWA set for release around Christmas 2001. While the trailer doesn't show any in-game action shots, it does have a nice sequence of that 3D ghol exhibiting a bad attitude. Certainly worth the download... get it here from MacGamer.
QUICK UPDATE: Joe-chan has informed us that Bachus reduced the size of the trailer to Quicktime format and it's only 800k! However, the smaller clip features only the 3D ghol (gets rid of the intro) which is the only real "Myth III' part of the trailer anyway. Grab it here!
Tuesday January 16th
Official Myth III Site goes live { Lophan }
It seems that GoD has finally put up some actual content for Myth III: The Wolf Age at the official site. A new character can be seen in the b/w picture with the logo as well as more screenshots of the editors (BTW, I blew it... the editors are Macintosh - sorry about the mix-up).
One thing though... I REALLY wish they would start spelling 'Myrkridia' correctly! :P
First Myth III preview at CGO { Lophan }
As reported by rampancy.net:
Computer Games Online has posted what seems to be the first preview of Myth III: The Wolf Age. While there is no new info as to the features of the game (they do go over things like 'procedural foilage' and the sketetal animation system again), they do offer a couple of screenshots of what seems to be a Windows-based game editor (!). The maps look pretty swank, and notice the Jinn desktop image... things to ponder...
Sunday January 14th
Mythmaster Central haz filmz! { Forrest }
Firstly, I've added the Wolfpack to the Mythmaster Profiles page.
Secondly, and more importantly, Smasher has sent in the first new film of the new millenium! Also on the page is a note about Myth III and the future of MMC.
Check out Mythmaster Central!
Saturday January 13th
Myth Village opens its doors { claude }
Hot off the presses from Infininight:
Myth Village just opened it's doors in a preview fashion. And not only does it have the new Myth III logo, but we can confirm that Santa's Head, Fisj, and Iggy Popped have been hired into the Myth III development team. This announcement was made at the Bungie Fanfest Friday night.The newest item up at the site is a Development team description... go read it!
Santa's head is the creator of the World War II series for Myth. Fisj and Iggy are proficient myth mapmakers and have been working on the Jinn TC for Myth. Great news for the Myth community! Myth Village also has a short history of the members of the development team.
Friday January 12th
'...it's hard to think of anyone topping Bungie' { Lophan }
I hope all of the lucky souls in the Bay Area are enjoying the FanFest right now, but I did want to mention that Mark Asher has written an article over at Gamecenter with a commonly heard concern over Myth III: The Wolf Age...
Any friend of Myth's is a friend of mine :)Mumbo Jumbo
Finally, Myth III was announced, but it's a Mumbo Jumbo game and not a Bungie one. Your guess is as good as mine as to what that will mean, but it's hard to think of anyone topping Bungie. Still, I'm glad to see the franchise continued.
It's also interesting to note that the rest of the article was basically 'complaining' about different issues within the gaming market and Myth III was the only specific game mentioned, and it seems to be of a somewhat positive and hopeful tone.
Thursday January 11th
Mythmaster Central Updated { Forrest }
The Mythmaster Profiles has been activated with its first two submissions - one for myself which should have gone up long ago, and another for Ryan "Smasher" Woodward. If you would like your name added to this page, first send in a film. Once that's done and the film has been posted, just send in your profile in the format detailed on the page, and it will be added.
Santa's Head & Vista on Myth III team { Lophan }
Thanks to an ailing Freewill from Bungie Sightings (who is diligently setting up what looks to be the best FanFest yet) reports some of the most heartening news to those of us looking forward to the upcoming Myth III:
Now, unto the big news. It's official, the man behind the SINGLE biggest Myth TC, the man who single-handedly changed the face of Myth, Clan Plaid's own Santa's Head is part of the Myth III team! He posted info about it over at Clan Plaid's forum, "Yep, I'm on the team, and what that means." He confirms that Fisj and Iggy Popped from Vista and part of the Jinn TC team (another awesome Myth TC that is close to completion) are part of the team as well. Are you drooling yet? I sure am. Oh wait, that's just my cold. :-/Ahhhh... the news is just getting better and better. Hope you feel better soon buddy (like tomorrow soon!) and keep the exclusive info flowin'.
Wednesday January 10th
What we know so far about Myth III { Lophan }
I'm sure that you've already seen most of the following information, but I wanted to sum up the most recent stories and releases about the upcoming Myth III:
Gathering of Developers has officially announced the creation of the prequel to the Myth Series (by Bungie) by start-up developer Mumbo Jumbo (headed up by Scott Campbell and former Ritual programmers Mark Dochtermann and Ron Dimant). The story centers on Connacht, the emperor who defeated the Myrkridia and the Trow and delivered the West from their evil clutches. Project lead Scott Campbell quotes, "This game will allow you play in the dangerous and fantastic past of the Myth world, where many secrets will be revealed about the world of Myth and it's future. And, you'll be able to play Soulblighter when he was a good guy. How cool is that?" Very cool, indeed...
Mumbo Jumbo claims that Myth III: TWA (while using the Myth II: SB game engine) will feature true 3D characters, a storyline reminiscent of the well-spun tales of the first two installments, as well as an enhanced graphical engine which includes "procedural foilage" (?) and deformable terrain. Skeletal animation is also mentioned which should further enhance the realism of combat that we all know and love. Needless to say, Myth III will also support all of the latest and greatest 3D technologies available for all platforms (those being Windows, Mac OS 9 as well as Mac OS X). Multiplayer is also promised (as if Myth could do without it!) and some new concepts on team play are in development as well. A supposed shot of the "new" soulless is available at Bungie Sightings thanks to our very own Freewill, even though, as our resident Myth officianado Forrest has noted, that soulless were creations of Soulblighter and therefore could not exist...
Mumbo Jumbo is on a very aggressive timetable and is shooting for a October 2001 simultaneous release for both Windows and Macintosh. Further news to follow as it comes available.
Boy oh boy... 2001 is going to ROCK!
Special thanks to GameSpy and Inside Mac Games, and others who unwittingly contributed the information used in this post.
Tuesday January 9th
MythWiz Quiz back in business { Lophan }
As posted on bungie.net:
After an absence of over two years, the Journal of the Legion MythWiz Quiz returns to service to stun and confound friend and foe alike. Originally clinging to existence at Myth.Bungie.Org (!), the quiz has now found a new home and a second lease on un-life.Think you're something special? Prove it... take the MythWiz Quiz.When asked what he thought of the return of the Quiz, Forrest Cameranesi, Geek of All Trades, and Myth.Bungie.Org (!) reporter replied, "The dead walk. The DEAD WALK!" We refrained from pointing out that the dead actually shuffle and lurch.
Thursday January 4th
Myth III: The Wolf Age announced! { Lophan }
Originally broken by Blues News, word has come out that the next incarnation of the Myth series will be coming from publisher and new rights owner God Games supposedly in the month of October 2001 (info is sketchy). Here's a C&P snippet of the juicy info:
...perhaps you would prefer to control the strategy. Myth III: The Wolf Age allows you to do just that. The game is the highly anticipated prequel to the two original Myth games from Bungie Software. It takes place 1000 years before the start of Myth: The Fallen Lords and follows the life of Connacht - the legendary hero who saved humanity from the insidious Myrkindia [sic] and the oppressive Trow, eventually becoming the emperor of all human lands. Myth III explores the daunting past before the Great War and the destructive clashes between the races.Stomped has recently reported that GoD will be issuing a formal announcement at next week's MacWorld expo in San Francisco. Apparently an official Myth III site is in the works but as yet has not been posted (check it here).In 1421 AE, the world is in sheer chaos. The nightmare, Myrkindia [sic], runs rampant over the lands. The Trow enslave the Ogre to build titanic temples to their god. A new Leveler, claiming to be Moagim reborn, has just risen and swears to smash the empire of Cath Bruig. Most of humanity has been scattered for hundreds of years, existing in war tribes who hide in fear of the evil creatures who stalk the night. Myth III: The Wolf Age will live up to even the most critical Myth fan's expectations, yet is immediately engaging and easy-to-learn for the first time strategy player.
GREAT NEWS! The speculation and rumor mill will certainly pick this one up and run with it prior to any official announcement. The developer has not been officially announced but the name "Mumbo Jumbo" has been thrown around, albeit no one seems to know who they are. Let us only hope that whoever does get the nod will carry on the fine tradition and rich storyline which Bungie has created with this classic series. In the meantime, head on over to our forums and let the speculation begin!
Creation Releases "The Camp" for WWII { Forrest }
The Camp from Ozone and Ghost is a WW2 map designed primarily as a coop. The map has you assulting a P.O.W. camp to free the prisoners inside. The map is the first WW2 coop to feature an advanced scripting A.I. Enemy Units will behave realisticially, reacting differently to bullets, grenades, and RPG's fired at them, and never standing still. Also featured is a system that makes modeled guard towers accessable to player and enemy units in both the solo and the multiplayer meshes. A coordinated and strategic assault is required for victory.
Thanks Ares. Perhaps WWII will actually get interesting now that Creation is into it.
Handy Links:
The Camp page at The Mill
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