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December 2002
| Wednesday, December 18, 2002 |
Age of Mythology Patch 1.02
Cage
@ 14:13
Comments
I saw over on Blues News that a new Age of Mythology patch is available via the in-game updater.
This patch brings AoM up to version 1.02. Here's the run down on the patch from the Ensemble Studios News Page:
CLIENT FIXES
- Fixed some possible timing exploits.
- Scenarios where the "Ulfsark" unit is forbidden no longer allow Ulfsarks to still be created from Dwarves or Gatherers.
- Unit Balance Adjustments (NOTE: Save games from versions 1.00 and 1.01 will not be affected by the balance changes. Recorded games from versions 1.00 and 1.01 are still supported and will replay as before):
Odin now gets his hunting bonus. The actual change was to increase Odin Villager and Dwarf hunting rate from +10% to +20%.
Thor's Pig Sticker improvement now affects hunting rate. The actual change was to increase hunting rate from +10% to +20%.
Loki's Ox Carts are now weaker instead of stronger. The actual change was to subtract 80 hitpoints from Loki Ox Carts.
Raiding Cavaly have +10% more Pierce and +5% Hack Armor. This should let Norse counter archers more easily in the Classical Age.
Norse Longhouse now costs 110 Wood instead of 130 Wood. This will let Norse make more Longhouses.
Isis Obelisks now cost 10 Gold instead of 5 Gold. This should prevent Isis from making quite so many Obelisks.
Egyptian Barracks now cost 75 Gold instead of 50 Gold. This will prevent Egyptians from making quite so many Barracks.
Ancestors now have 140 hitpoints instead of 180 hitpoints. This makes the God Power a bit weaker, but will also affect Mummy Minions.
Hippikons now take 20 seconds to train in Classical. They remain at 15 seconds in Heroic and Mythic. This should make it harder for Poseidon especially from having such large cavalry armies in Classical.
Helepoli now have -15% Hack armor, occupy +1 pop slots, and have -50 hitpoints. This should discourage the "all Helepoli armies" in Mythic.
NETWORK AND ESO FIXES
- A fix to help address the stats 2,4 error has been added.
- Changed the input and output chat text color to white for easier reading.
NWN Witch Wake Module
Nine11
@ 9:33
Comments
Bioware has released the first of several modules for Neverwinter Nights called Witch Wake. This one is (cleverly) named Witch Wake I: The Fields of Battle and is geared toward tenderloin first level characters. The core of NWN has also changed in that experience points are gained by completing tasks rather than killing nasties, rest replaces health by rolling the total hit dice then divide by two and regain that many hit points, corpses have inventories to dig through, persuasion is an active part of the game, conjured and summoned creatures will hang out for one turn plus the level of the player character, and a mess of other stuff. Obviously, it's a very different game... pooch-screwed or otherwise depending on how flexible you are. Personally, I think the idea is cool and won't feel like a re-heat of the old version. Here's an official cut 'n pastie:
The Witch's Wake is a multi-module story arc created by Rob Bartel, Lead Designer on the NWN Live Team, and utilizing selected systems developed by the online Neverwinter Nights community. It is set in a non Forgotten Realms world of Rob's own creation and will be released in episodic format, one chapter at a time. It is a continuing commitment to the Neverwinter Nights community showcasing the developments made by various content developers and delivering an exciting new official storyline to the many fans of NWN.
Many thanks to hitnrun for the heads up!
| Monday, December 16, 2002 |
4.1GHz @ -52C
Nine11
@ 16:45
Comments
Only a serious geek would understand that one. Check Tom's Hardware as they break another gigahertz barrier with chilly puter sportin' a compressor cooler from Chip Con. They've also got a 13MB flick, which is kinda like nerd pr0n. Get it here or here.
Gone Gold's New DNS
Nine11
@ 16:24
Comments
Our local Road Runner cable Internet service is trippin' on Gone Gold's new DNS number. If yer having problems accessing their page, it's http://216.127.78.116. Thanks to Bill Harris for the 411.
| Wednesday, December 11, 2002 |
ASUS nForce 2 Review
Nine11
@ 15:53
Comments
In case you were wondering, the ASUS nForce 2 is the board to get... today. As for tomorrow, who knows? Compliments of [H].
Got Plexi?
Nine11
@ 15:48
Comments
I know I've been down on mods lately, but some are works of art and certainly have a place in this world. Check out BiT-Tech's article on fabricating plexi and this swank plexi puter tucked away in the forums.
LCD Comparison III
Nine11
@ 8:08
Comments
Tom's Hardware popped off another LCD Comparison and the Iiyama AS4314UT dominated the pack. In fact, it has a 20ms response time which makes it suitable for FPS gaming. There are faster LCDs on the way, but the Iiyama is here today... hooray!
Here's a clip which sums things up pretty well.
Fast-action games such as Quake and Unreal can be played without a problem, you can run all over the place and shoot anything that moves. The AS4314UT is a pleasure to use for game-playing, as long as you don't attach too much importance to the color rendering, which is slightly weird due to the predominance of blue.
Asheron's Call 2 Review
Nine11
@ 7:52
Comments
Firing Squad posted a lukewarm review of Asheron's Call 2. The game bucks the RPG trend by leaving out NPCs and dispensing quests with relics, which must be fixed in the ravaged game world, and by potions dropped by slain monsters. Gameplay follows the traditional "kill stuff and level up" theme. Skill points can also be bought back by killing a few more nasties, which is a nice twist if ya level up in the wrong direction. Music is a mixed bag, but the graphics are damn fine! Unfortunately, the game is also a resource hog and most people won't be able to run it in fancy mode. Overall, AC2 is an interesting blend which is probably less offensive to MMORPG n00bs.
Quote Of The Day
Nine11
@ 7:38
Comments
Today's quote is yanked from FiringSquad's review of Asheron's Call 2. The music can be described as the good and the ugly... the bad will be addressed in a patch.
I can’t help but feel that whoever composed the music used to sit around in dark cafes, talk to depressing women and whine incessantly with an affected lisp that “it’s so hard to be a poet.” Listening to the music is an exercise in joy and frustration that has to parallel coaching a young Kobe Bryant. One moment you’re in love, the next moment you have a Tony Soprano tantrum.
nForce2 Roundup
Nine11
@ 12:09
Comments
Anandtech has a nForce2 motherboard roundup. I'd guess all the hype is true about the nForce boards because they are significantly faster than other AMD chipsets and scale well to CPU speed. With the price spread only differing by little more than $30, I'd have to give a nod to the ASUS A7N8X.
| Thursday, December 5, 2002 |
Quote Of The Day
Nine11
@ 10:10
Comments
Here's Gone Gold's musings on what can happen when flaky game installs go bad:
“Hello?”
“Forget what I said about Mayonnaise Mogul.”
”What happened?”
”It reformatted my hard drive and hard-coded my default keyboard in Windows to Zulu.”
“I didn’t know the Zulu had keyboards.”
“Well, if they do, I can e-mail them now.”
“Good luck with that.”
| Wednesday, December 4, 2002 |
Bastardization Of The Day
Nine11
@ 9:24
Comments
This is what happens when rednecks strike it rich... well, that and Kid Rock!
Troopers UT2K3 Mod
Nine11
@ 9:06
Comments
This Star Wars mod/TC for Unreal Tournament 2003 perked my interest. While still in the crawling stages of development (soon to be followed by teething and potty-training), Troopers: Rise of the Rebellion looks like it could be a mess of fun! Imagine a Team Deathmatch game between the Empire and the Rebellion with Star Wars vehicles and exotic locals like the Death Star and Hoth. There's a 7MB teaser which includes some in-game footage... more like a level romp... which I nabbed here.
Athlon XP 2800+ Available
Nine11
@ 8:39
Comments
NewEgg.com has the AMD Athlon XP 2800+ in stock for anyone with $399 burning a hole in their pocket.
| Tuesday, December 3, 2002 |
Quote Of The Day
Nine11
@ 9:33
Comments
A rich German self-proclaimed playboy wants some hoochie to screw his brains out... literally!
"I don't care why they make love to me, who cares, as long as I have my fun all the time. Just for killing a man while doing love, that's a good beautiful thing to do."
I've heard Anna Nicole Smith is looking for "work".
Santa's iPod
Nine11
@ 4:41
Comments
Not being one to be left behind, Apple has posted some parodies on their own "Switch" advertisements. They've got two of 'em from Saturday Night Live. They're not the best I've seen, but they'll get ya in the Christmas swing and are harmless enough for any Apple users who are swift enough to travel on the Net.
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