... and to Windows and Linux as well. Appleswitch at Source.bungie.org reports that a Mac OS X conversion of the Marathon sequel scenario Rubicon, appropriately called Marathon: Rubicon X, has been released. It requires the latest version of the cross-platform Aleph One engine. Rubicon was originally released in 2001. The X conversion features new high resolution art as well as new and updated maps.
MBO pointed out an unusual Gamasutra postmortem article from last summer which I don't remember seeing before. It's not on a game itself, but of an update to a game. In this case, the 1.5 and 1.5.1 updates to Myth II produced by Project Magma. It's a two-parter; one details what went right and the other what went wrong. Don't know what Myth is? Head to Get Myth and get the updated demo for Windows or Mac OS X.
One of the best total conversions for Marathon, Tempus Irae, has gotten an Aleph One facelift: new high resolution textures, alternate soundtracks, netmaps, even a sequel-- the works. Check it out at source.bungie.org.
This week's Halo 3 Weekly Update by Frankie has more about Halo 2 than Halo 3, but that's no reason not to read it. At least, not a good reason. There's good news and bad news. The good news is, Halo 2 for Vista won't require DirectX 10. The bad news is, the Clan playlist is going away due to underutilization.
We've archived the update for May 26 in our Halo 3 Updates section.
Two separate articles on the port of Halo 2 to Windows Vista today. Kevin Unangst (no jokes please) talks to GamePro. Word is that Halo 2 for Vista will come out a bit after the OS' release, currently slated for early in 2007, and that the game most likely will not be cross-platform compatible with Halo 2 on the Xbox, as it would require changes on the Xbox version to work.
MGS General Manager Shane Kim talks to Engadget, and pretty much confirms the same thing: no cross-compatibility for Halo 2.
First posted by Louis Wu at HBO, who is up awful damn early. Again.
Not all the Bungie game news is from E3 this week. Over at source.bungie.org, new releases of the Aleph One engine, CTF(Lua), and the netmap Conflict came out. Thanks Treellama and The Battle Cat.
On Monday May 8, registration for the Myth World Cup 2006 tournament opened up. Check their site for details on rules and teams.
Aspyr has released a patch to bring Wideload Games' Stubbs the Zombie up to version 1.0.2. It addresses some issues related to performance issues caused by a memory leak, problems with saved games and limited user accounts, and audio and video stutter.
So far it seems to be only the Windows version that's getting patched.
I AM CRAZY AND I WROTE ANOTHER BANSHEE ARTICLE
LOOKIT http://rampancy.net/info/articles/banshee_handling_v_evasion
Now, look. I didn't really want to do this, but there it is. And there's one last little thing that didn't even warrant inclusion there, so I'm just going to put it here.
I'm speaking, of course, of
See, you play enough, often with people who really just... don't get the juices flowing, and a certain disturbingly sadistic side comes out. Maybe it's just me. But it's there and you find yourself basically toying with folks like a cat with a mouse. Consider this my confession. I'm not going to say that I've done everything here, but I've done everything here.
It should be observed that a number of these are actually useful techniques in and of themselves. Also, the first three of these are basically products of goatrope's depraved mind.
After I completed my last Banshee piece (the narrated video), I felt that I was done with this series. I’d said most of what I had to say, and moreover, it was coming up to the point that I was ready to quit Halo PC in general. I had never wanted to “overstay my welcome” and linger past my prime, growing steadily less effective as a wave of new players continually reminded me of what I no longer could do.
I did in fact make an official “retirement” from the game. However, more than a year later, I found myself still picking the game up from time to time, and recently I’ve been playing regularly again. No matter how poor this game may be, I cannot help but love the Banshee. So here I am, with one final article, on a few last points regarding what I have always called the most critical skills of the capable Banshee pilot: positioning, angles, and fundamentals.
PMA Blades at PlayMyth.net has put up a thoughtful piece on the future of the Myth franchise, looking forward to PlayMyth's fourth anniversary coming up near the end of this month, and the ten year anniversary of Myth: The Fallen Lords next year-- hopefully to be marked by a tournament.
For those who have copies of these classic games, you owe it to yourself to brush the dust off and get online, either through PlayMyth.net or Marius.net; the latter's gameserver is running, even though the website seems to have had a meltdown. MariusNet can't create new accounts anymore, but the username "guest" doesn't require a password and will let you in to play.
If you haven't played Myth before, you're missing out on a big part of the Bungie Experience (despite the fact that they don't own the franchise anymore) which is a lot more than cyborgs and AI constructs.