Download the trailer for the just released Conflict Vietnam. The game follows the lives of four soldiers: Ragman, Junior, Hoss and Cherry who have been separated from their squad. It is a third person shooter where you control all four soldiers in an attempt to find a safe path through this jungle-terrain and back to your unit while trying to avoid the carnage going on around you.

With this game we have once again pushed back the boundaries with some of the richest jungle environments you will have ever seen. Whereas Conflict: Desert Storm I & II were often about longer range combat, with Conflict: Vietnam it gets up close and personal.

We have a triple-A certified hit on our hands

- XBM

A 400mph vomit-stream of napalm-scented action

- XBOX

Hot or Not? BOILING!

- – Official PlayStation 2 Magazine

Official Website and trailer here

Grab it from Bittorrent here

What IS Bittorrent ?

Related sites here

and here

Discussion >>

The Demo has just been released!

Go Grab it here

And Tell IGNIQ what you think?

Discussion >>

Techland, the Polish company behind Xpand Rally, announced today that the game has gone Gold and will be available in European stores on 24 September:

There is still no decision made regarding the North American publisher although the game should be available soon via Internet stores.
The retail version of Xpand Rally will offer a comprehensive career mode with over 70 races and more than 800 tuning parts for 35 rally cars.
Multiplayer game with up to 4 players on LAN and Internet provides several racing modes including off road free style.
Photorealistic graphics, dynamic tracks surrounding, realistic car damage model and driver’s injuries simulation are the other hall marks of the game.
For all moding enthusiasts a set of editing tools allowing the creation of users’ own tracks and cars is also provided with the game.

Read the announcement on the official Xpand Rally website

Info:
Download a free multi-player demo of Xpand Rally
Xpand Rally Screenshots
Techland.com.pl
Discussion >>

IGNIQ- Are asking you what are your favourite half life mods and not so favourites.
Also what ones would you like to be seen done by the new half life 2 engine. I Myself will be reviewing these mods within the next week.

Discussion >>

Well i have had service pack 2 installed now for a little while and everything has been going reasonably well, until i tried to use Bittorrent. I have been using Bittorrent now for quite a longtime and have found it an invaluable tool for spreading files and conserving bandwidth. But now i am not getting high speeds like i once did. And after a little reading i have discovered that service pack 2 sets the TCP-connections to 10 connections max simultaneous, this being done supposedly to avoid the fast spread of worms, viruses and the like.

I was not happy with this at all, i like that security has been the main focus point in sp2 but in saying that i don't want my dam machine locked down by Microsoft in such a way that i cannot even use a p2p application to upload and download files to my fellow friends and companions across this vast space we refer to as the world wide web.

There is a German developer named lvlLORD who has come up with a fix that allows you to change the max connections with a little patch:

What's this all for?
After almost everybody knows the <>, I used a day to create for educational purpose a fix for this argumentative feature.

Unfortunately there exists no REG-key which could easily be set (would be so nice and easy, right? *smile*). The file TCPIP.SYS in the directory C:WINDOWSSYSTEM32DRIVERS and C:WINDOWSSERVICEPACKFILESI386 has to be changed (system dependend eventually in C:WINDOWSSYSTEM32DLLCACHE, too).

I am seriously considering uninstalling to avoid all this nonsense (though i may try the patch first). But if you would like to choose security over workability and compatabilty then service pack 2 might be exactly what you are looking for. I guess it is a case of working out which option is best for you and what you use your pc and internet for...

And how much control (or lack of) you wish to have (or not have) ;)
See here for a list of known apps affectedIf you want to try out the patch then get it here
If you want service pack 2, get it here

Want to make a slip-stream sp2 xp cd ? Check out this guide

Discussion >>

Red Storm Entertainment, developers of Ghost Recon 2 have released an in-game movie of actual gameplay (640x480) of the sequel to Ghost Recon (2:39, WMV9).

The game is not scheduled for release until early 2005 but let us take a quick peak at the storyline. In my experience to date, anything with the name "Tom Clancy" tagged to it has been no more than a disgusting propaganda infested insult to anyone with a shread of intelligence to work with. But let us not pre-maturely jump to conclusions before we see the plot.

In the wake of one of North Korea's worst famines, an insidious North Korean general influences the government to secretly divert humanitarian aid to beef up its army, slowly gaining power in the process.

Fearful that North Korea is amassing huge quantities of military weapons, the new Chinese regime eliminates arms sales to North Korea. In response, the North Korean government initiates secret overtures to Russia, who strikes a quiet alliance. In the midst of another North Korean famine, food riots begin rocking the countryside and the rogue North Korean general assumes complete control of the army. Blaming China for the famine, he begins charging north to seize Chinese territory with tacit support from its new Russian ally.

China moves to respond, but limits the level of escalation, fearing open conflict with Russia and a possible nuclear exchange. Instead, China officially agrees to a multinational force to safeguard the China-North Korean border. Unofficially, the Ghosts and other special forces go in. Their mission: cripple the North Korean threat and depose the rogue general.

Oh well, i thought this one may be different (REALLY, i did). What can you do. Though if an insulting mud fest of distorted morality is really what you want then you should be right at home here..each man's meat...well you know the rest (or do you...!)

Grab the trailer from 3dgamers (42.9 MB)

Ghost Recon 2 Official Website

Ghost Recon Official Website

Ubi-Soft's GR2 Section

Discussion >>

More sign ups have been announced for the BETA test for the PC version of the board game Axis & Allies.

The real time strategy game will be coming out sometime before the end of the year; this BETA test invitation will be closed on September 9, so sign up soon at this site.

Info:
Official Atari website for Axis & Allies
TimeGate Studios - Developers of Axis & Allies
Atari's Betatests.net - Home Page for the Atari Betatesting Community
Discussion >>

LucasArts announced today that Star Wars: Battlefront has received Gold status and will be on shelves 21 September.

The game has been described as "a Battlefield 1942-style war-action game set in the Star Wars universe".

From the official press release:

Prepare for battle. LucasArts is excited to announce that the highly anticipated action/shooter, Star Wars Battlefront has officially GONE GOLD on PS2, Xbox and PC and is scheduled to blast its way onto store shelves on Tuesday, September 21, 2004 --- day and date with the Star Wars Trilogy, which marks the first time all three classic films will be available on DVD.

Info:
Star Wars: Battlefront official website from Lucasarts
Discussion >>

An official update from Valve:

The second phase of the Half-Life 2 preload begins to Steam account holders today.

This will allow users to download the majority of the audio of Half-Life 2 in encrypted form. No purchase is required to pre-load Half-Life 2, but is required to activate the game. The moment the game is made available, those who have pre-loaded and purchased Half-Life 2 via Steam will be ready to start playing right away.

Recent developments:
Half-Life 2 pre-load begins
HL2 Fans Hopes Raised by False Announcement
Half-Life 2 going Gold is a complete hoax!
Discussion >>

Well,

To whoever it may concern Microsoft has officialy launched their Windows Media Player 10 after months of beta testing, and also public testing as it was available for download in the early stages of its "development".

I downloaded it to see what the changes were.

First let us see what Microsoft say about it:

A whole new look giving you quicker and easier access to your favorite digital media.

Translation: A few licks of a lighter shade of blue paint here and there to give foundation to the word "sleak"

A world of music at your fingertips. With Windows Media Player 10, you are just a click away from the world's largest collection of digital music.

Translation: A list to online distributers of poorly encoded mp3 tracks who will charge you an abomination to download them.

Smart Jukebox Features,
Remove the hassle of organizing even the largest digital media collections.

Nah, i'd rather hire an escaped mental patient to stab me in the face with a rusty fork than let Microsoft manage my music collection the way "I" would like it.

The only good thing i'll say is that they have finally given users the option of ripping their cds to mp3. In the past all you could do was rip them to wma (Windows Media Audio) Thus helping Microsoft further in taking over the world with one foul swoop/ or bite...

I have never liked Windows Media Player. I think the most useless feature would have to be the "Media Guide", you might remember it from such useless news broadcasts as "J-Lo to split with new hubby", or "P-Diddy releases new line of "Who gives a f***?"

If you really want to try it out than grab it here

But i would highly recommend Quintessential player. It is a free no-nonsense audio player that has supported every format i've thrown at it.

I want something to simply play my music, not an overly bloated advertisement-jukebox that serves no purpose on anyones' desktop.

Discussion >>

Maps and mods recently released for DOOM 3:

Added: Also check our list of links to reg-free DOOM 3 mods.

Outerlimits2 Map

The map is a space station theme with a main indoor area and one outdoor
area. There are several secret rooms in various locations (walk through walls)
and bonuses in each.

Wastemyhate Map

This Map take Place in a Castle Style Area what was
somehow Teleported to Hell, some UAC Soldiers was also
Teleported with it, but they dont survived long fighting
the Demons.....

BattleReady v1.3 Mod

1. Much harder gaming experience.
2. Stronger monsters that deal more damage.
3. New particle effects for most weapons.
4. Enhanced lighting effects for weapons and monsters.
5. Weapon tweaks.
6. Blood decals stay around 5 minutes.
7. Bullet casings stay around 5 minutes.
8. Custom made bullet wound decals.
Guns now leave marks representative of their calibre.
-pistol
-machinegun
-chaingun
-shotgun
-plasmagun
9. Reworked zombies.
-extremely tough [600 - 1000 health]
-headshots bring them down.
10. Player max health and armor levels raised.

MegaEfx Mod ver. 0.9

This Doom 3 mod enhances the visual appeal of the game by upping the visual effects throughout. Blood, debris, and decals all stay around longer, and the weapon effects such as sparks, lighting, smoke, etc. have all be increased.

Advanced Sentry mod

This mod creates a sentry to fight for you with just the toss of a grenade.

Fragger Mod 1 (BETA)

This mod is about improving the visuals in Doom 3 by adding new skins and other
things that make the graphics really stand out. How good is having a really
good system if all you see are grey demons? Also, you'll see no flashlights,
night vision or anything that helps you see better. No radars or anything like
that. This game is about atmosphere (atmosFEAR?), and it's supposed to be dark.

DOOM 3 Quake 3 Map Converter:

This program allows you to convert your favorite Quake 3 maps into Doom 3.

TinMan Squad Mod

This mod for Doom 3 lets you call upon the help of AI controlled friends to assist you in blasting your way around.

Death Is Coming Map

Your Mission:
Just find the Exit
That's it!!!!!!!

PolyModifier v0.1 Mod (BETA)

This mod applies smooth to the models in Doom3, giving
it smooth look. this mod is for all of you that hated
those spikes in the cinematics or while playing.

Maps and mods recently released for Far Cry:
Far Cry SP Devil's Coast Map

This custom single-player map has a great atmosphere and two unique endings. Sequel maps are currently being developed.

Far Cry Enhanced Realism v1.4 Mod

This mod for Far Cry adds many tweaks to the weapons and gameplay to give the game a more realistic feel. Works for both single and multiplayer.

Far Cry Sexy Valerie - Cleavage Edition

This skin for Far Cry lets you spice up the character of Valerie Cortez by showing a bit more cleavage than usual.

Maps and mods recently released for Battlefield 1942:
BF 1942 Surreal Alpha 22 Mod

Version 22 of the Surreal Alpha Mod adds new weapons, vehicles, and more.

BF 1942 RealPlane Mod v1.65

5 new planes all with RealPlane corrected armaments, new eye candy effects and
killer AI

BF 1942 Remagen Map v1.0

This map is based on the Battle for Remagen bridge in March 1945, where the US
soldiers fought the Germans in the air and on the ground for control over the
last bridge over the Rhine.

BF 1942 Merciless v1.6 Mod

This is the full install of v1.6 of the Merciless mod for Battlefield 1942. It adds new textures, sounds and more to your Battlefield 1942 experience to ensure the highest possible historical accuracy.

Discussion >>

United Offensive, the expansion pack to the WWII shooter Call Of Duty, has gone Gold and will hit the shops on September 15.

Going Gold means a game is finished the development stage for code, content and packaging and is ready for delivery to manufacturers.

The expansion will include 13 new single player missions, 11 new multiplayer maps and 3 new modes of play. It will be available on PC-CDROM and will cost 29.99 USD.

Info:
Official Call of Duty: United Offensive site (Flash)
Gray Matter Studios - Developers of United Offensive
Register for updates on this game from Activision
Call of Duty: United Offensive Official Movie
Discussion >>

A new high and low-res video has been released featuring in-game footage of this highly anticipated release from the Medal of Honour franchise.

Grab the hig-res clip from 3dgamers here (13.4 MB)

Grab the low-res clip here (10.9 MB)

Moh - Allied Assault Website

Moh - Breakthrough

Moh - Spearhead

Discussion >>

LucasArts launches today new updates to the Star Wars: Galaxies game that includes new quests and new ways to become the Jedi class of player:

Previously, players became Jedi characters using "holocron" items that hint at specific professions to master. That is, in order to have a Jedi character, players previously had to master several of the game's many professions (including hand-to-hand combat fighters, crafters, and entertainers) in order to unlock a "force-sensitive" character slot, essentially starting an all-new Jedi-to-be character from scratch.

With the new system, players will instead undertake a series of quests that Sony Online and LucasArts hope will be infinitely more compelling than repetitively trying to master professions. Becoming a Jedi will be the object of a lengthy quest that can be unlocked only by acquiring a certain combination of "badges"--distinctions that players earn for accomplishing various tasks in the game, including mastering specific professions, exploring certain wilderness areas, and others.

Read Gamespot's first look at the new content here and a review from GamePro.com here

A new mod is also available for Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy on the PC; the Jedi Academy Force Mod III - Return of The Sith

This mod lets you choose from nearly 30 different character classes including Wookie, Stormtrooper, Gungan, Jedi Sentinel, Battle Droid, Mandalorian, and Sith Zealot. All the classes have been balanced with different skills and abilities, so there's sure to be something for everyone.

Download the mod free here (Reg. required)

Info:
Star Wars: Galaxies official site
Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy official site - single player demo
Discussion >>

An update to the beta Counter-Strike Source has been released by Valve.
Steam users who have it installed will receive the update automatically when they start Steam.
Changes in the update:

• Improved consistency of hitboxes between the server and client
• Fixed glows showing through map geometry
• Fixed grenades getting stuck in props
• Fixed rendering errors with DX8 and anti-aliasing
• Fixed playerlist in-game UI: will now properly display players
• Fixed skywalking exploit on De_Dust
• Fixed alt-tab video corruption bugs
• Fixed player hovering over ground on round restart
• Fixed reload animation bugs on AWP and Scout
• Updated scoreboard to display 32+ player games properly
• Updated weapon sounds
• Updated weapon model textures
• Updated player hand texture
• Reduced effectiveness of flashbangs behind the player
• Added Friends list to in-game UI
• Added sv_password for servers

From the official Steam news

Discussion >>

An official movie is available now on Gamespot for Call of Duty: United Offensive.
The expansion pack to the highly popular Call of Duty is due for release in Autumn 2004.
Check it out here

Info:
Official Call of Duty: United Offensive site (Flash)
Discussion >>

The www.ilovebees.com story continues, with fans across America journeying out to over 200 different locations recently to try unravel the latest set of clues.

On August 24, the main countdown on the site ended and the site filled up with GPS co-ordinates and times.
Fans zeroed in on these co-ordinates, which all turned out to be public pay-phones and waited for them to ring.

When the phones were answered, a voice on the line requested a password, and if the correct one was given, a tape played of seemingly random snippets of dialogue.

As more and more of the phones were answered, a collection of these pieces of dialogue built up on a page on the site and fans of this new alternate reality game have been trying to figure out how they fit together.

G4Tech TV, a gaming and technology show in the U.S., sent a reporter out to the pay phones to wait for the call with the fans.

The show is available online, and serves as a good intro for those who haven't been following the story, check out the video here.

Info:
ilovebees quickstart
ilovebees.blogspot.com - Blog owned by one of the characters in the story
ARGN.com - Alternate Reality Gaming Network
Ilovebees.com AXONS GO HOT (Aug. 20)
New messages appear on lovebees.com (Aug. 2)
Halo 2 Trailer Mystery (Jul. 24)
Discussion >>

Evil Genius is a tongue-in-cheek reversal on the popular spy theme, allowing the gamer to play the part of an evil mastermind, bent on world domination...

This 3d simulation / Strategy release from Elixir Studios is not planned for release until October.

1.1 Minimum configuration:
--
Windows® 98SE/Me/2000/XP
Pentium® III 800 MHz or higher
DirectX® 9.0b
128 MB RAM - Windows® 98SE/Me, 256 MB RAM – Windows® 2000/XP
GeForce™2 MX 16MB or equivalent DirectX® 9 compatible video card
300 MB (approx.) free hard drive space (additional space required for
Windows® swap-file and DirectX® 9.0b installation)
16x CD-ROM drive
DirectX® 9.0b Compatible Sound Card
MS compatible mouse
Keyboard
--
1.2 Recommended configuration:
-- Pentium® 4 1.5 GHz
DirectX® 9.0b
256 MB of RAM
NVIDIA® GeForce™ 3 or equivalent with 64 MB RAM
300MB free hard drive space
swap-file and DirectX® 9.0b installation)
24x CD-ROM drive
DirectX® 9.0b Compatible Sound Card
MS compatible mouse (with wheel)
Keyboard
--

Supported Operating Systems:
Windows® 98 (Second Edition),Me,XP & 2000

Not Supported:
Windows® 95 and previous versions.
Directx®9.0a and previous versions.

Grab the demo from 3dgamers (195 MB)

Official Website

Related

Discussion >>

The road to the release of the highly anticipated Half-Life 2 game hit another pothole yesterday when the forum account of Gabe Newell, CEO of Valve, was hacked.

An impostor raised the hopes of gamers across the planet by falsely announcing that the game had gone Gold.

When a game goes Gold, it means that the game content, code and packaging are completed and the product is ready to be sent for manufacturing.

The administrator of hl2fallout.com, where the supposed announcement was made issued this statement:

After a close scrutiny of Gabe Newell’s account history on the forums, we've come to the conclusion that the gold post is a fake. While we can't be 100% certain at this stage, all indicators point towards someone hacking the forum account. That said, all Gabe's previous posts on these forums are quite legitimate.

We apologize for the confusion and will be investigating further. Theoretically, an IPB forum account should be very difficult to hack. Well, that was the theory at least. We'll keep you updated.

The story was also confirmed as a hoax by Valve in the official steampowered.com forums:

false.

Do you really think the gold announcement will be made with a 4 word forum post? OMFG will count as four words by itself! :-]

This is only the latest in a series of problems that have beset the development of the game:
· In late 2003 the source code for the game was stolen from Valve's servers and leaked onto the Internet by hackers who gained access.
· Earlier this month, the full script to the game was included in a file sent out with Counter-Strike: Source beta.

Info:
We're going gold monday... - The false announcement
Half-Life 2 Fallout Forums -> Fool's Gold
Steam Users Forums - HL2 Going gold - Hoax??????
Discussion >>

A new mod has been made available for Doom III that brings features of other mods together. With increased gore and longer stay times for corpses, permenent shell casings and bulletholes. More weapons have been updated with other effects such as the flares that are now bindable with other weapons (this could be a saviour at times).

Check it out over at filefront (registration required)

How is Doom 3 running for you ?

Was it as good as the hype ?

History of Doom 3 video

Duct tape mod

Boost Doom 3 performance by up to 40 %

ATI beta Doom 3 drivers

Doom 3 official hardware guide

Discussion >>

A memory exception error caused by physics props that plagued the initial beta testing for Valve's Counter Strike: Source engine has been updated/fixed. Your game will be updated the next time you turn on Steam.

Don't have Steam yet? Grab it here

Discussion >>

After years of hard and painful training, you finally managed to get into the top-ten of quadracers! There are 8 races left for you to race, and you need to score enough points during those 8 races to become the ultimate world champion.

The DEMO only contains 1 track and 2 quads.
The full version contains 5 'mudracer' quads and beautiful tracks in 8
different countries.

Release is expected next month.

Official Website

Related

Download the 1-track playable demo from 3dgamers (43.8 MB)

Discussion >>

Browse our archives:

Igniq.com Weekly News Archives

Archive for this week:

4.9.04 Conflict Vietnam - Trailer
3.9.04 Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault Demo
 Xpand Rally - Gold
 Half Life Mods
 Service Pack 2 affecting p2p apps ?
 Ghost Recon 2 - Trailer
 Sign up for Axis & Allies BETA test
 Star Wars: Battlefront - Gold
 HL2 Second Stage of Preload Today
2.9.04 Windows Media Player 10 Release
 DOOM3, Far Cry & BF 1942 Mods/Maps
 Call of Duty: United Offensive - Gold
1.9.04 Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault - Trailer
 Star Wars: Galaxies New Content
 Update to Counter-Strike Source
31.8.04 Call of Duty: United Offensive Official Movie
 ilovebees.com featured on G4Tech TV
30.8.04 Evil Genius - Demo
29.8.04 HL2 Fans Hopes Raised by False Announcement
 Doom 3 expspice mod
 Counter Strike: Source - Memory Bug Fixed
 ATV Mud Racing - Demo