Gaming News

GAME.NET have relaunched their Clan Servers product. The new service allows you to select the only bits you need, so you only end up paying for what you use. They have also added FTP upload support and command line control for advanced users.

Clan Server owners can also register for a web site and private TeamSpeak channel.

View the full list of features at the GAME.NET Clan Servers page.

DFC now have their own TeamSpeak server at GAME.NET. TeamSpeak is a voice comms utility for use in-game, and does a very good job from the looks of it.

Clan members can logon and follow the instructions on the TeamSpeak page, which will appear in the menu bar on the left.

A new version of the BF1942 mod Desert Combat is now available. Version 0.5L adds a load more weapons, land vehicles and planes, aswell as a bunch of new maps. The full installation is 542MB.

You can download Desert Combat 0.5L from our FTP server, hosted by GAME.NET.

A demo for the prequel to the 60s FPS game No-one Lives Forever 2, Contract Jack, has been officially released. The demo is multiplayer only, featuring two maps and 3 multiplayer modes, and weighs in at 100MB.

There is a new patch out for Battlefield 1942 - version 1.5. Installing this patch should not affect any mods you may have installed (eg Desert Combat).

Download now from our FTP Server. The full point release is 143MB, and the update from v1.45 is 46MB.

Thanks go to DF-Lynx for another cracking LAN. The time passes way too quickly imho :(

A good mix of games was had, from the usual suspects of BF1942, Medal of Honour, Colin McRae 2, Age of Mythology and Table Football to Paper, Scissors, Stone and Crisp Eating. The most memorable game was the BF1942 game where the lounge team won with just 3 tickets remaining, despite being bombed ceaselessly by Pup.

This weekend also saw the revival of the DFC Ladder, with just short of 40 games being played. The previous scores were archived and a new season started with everyone back to 1000 points. Hopefully this season will keep going for a while longer :)

Bean and Daz dragged away from BobLan to work. Not happy. Lynx and Pup STILL playing driving games. Boring. Go to bed you saddos. Some of us can't!

Day one of BobLAN is progressing well, but DFs Wij, AngryDaz, Mesmer already wimped off home. ;-)

DFs Lynx, EvilGoblin, Bean, Trebz, Pup and Reubs are still going strong and ready to start an Age of Mythology game!

By popular demand, the DFC Ladder is back in action. Clan members wishing to participate in the ladder should logon to the site and check out the rules, results form etc. There's even a new score calculation tool which will show you all possible outcomes of a match between two selected players.

Any problems, let Mesmer know.

Reminder to all DFC members that BobLAN 2003 starts a week tomorrow.

Although it is now too late for this LAN, make sure you generate us some pizza money for the next LAN by buying stuff from our affiliates.

Reminder of expected software versions:

• BF1942 - 1.45.18
• Desert Combat - 0.4j
• HalfLife - 1.1.2.0 (Steam)
• CounterStrike - 1.6 (Steam)
• MOHAA - 1.11
• Ghost Recon - 1.4

A new version of the popular IRC chat client, mIRC, has been released. You can download the mIRC 6.11 from the usual places.

It is another sad day for online gaming in the UK, as Telewest's BYGames service has announced it is to close early in November. Formed from staff that used to run Wireplay, it was one of the original GSPs here in the UK.

Read the announcement on their website.

Good luck to all the staff in the future.

Half-Life 2 has now slipped beyond xmas and into 2004. This comes from Christophe Ramboz - Vivendi chief exec. The reason for the slippage is the recent theft of the source code for the game. The source stolen includes the anti-piracy and network security systems, so a delay in release was inevitable.

Read more at gi.biz

Ensemble Studios today released The Titans - an expansion to their popular RTS game Age of Mythology.

The expansion beings a new mythology to the game - Atlanteans. These can dominate their opponents, promote selected units to Hero status, and have the ability to control time and space.

There is also a new single player story featuring the new mythology, as well as a new victory condition - create a Titan.

The RRP of £24.99 is a bit steep for an expansion pack, but no doubt it will prove as popular as the expansions to the previous Age of Empires games did.

The latest Medal of Honour expansion pack went on sale this weekend. MOHAA : Breakthrough takes the WWII action to North Africa and Italy, where you take on Rommel's Afrika Korps and the wops.

The single player game has 11 new levels, whilst the multiplayer version adds 9 new levels. With various new weapons, vehicles and player models, this should be a worthy addition to a great game.

Valve have finally made an announcement regarding HalfLife 2. ShackNews have posted a quote from Valve's Doug Lombardi:

The previously announced September 30th release date for Half-Life 2 is being pushed back. We are currently targeting a holiday release, but do not have a specific in-store date to share at this time. We will release that information as soon as we have confirmed a new date.

Does this mean it'll be out for xmas? Will it be released via Steam before it comes out in retail stores? Who knows :/

A new version of the BF1942 mod Desert Combat is now available. Version 0.4j is a lot bigger than previous versions - the full installation is 573MB.

Changes include new planes (F15c and Mirage), new vehicles, weapons and 3 new maps. Plenty of bug fixes and minor alterations to existing weapons, views etc. View the full change list here.

HalfLife and CounterStrike updates (1.1.2.0 and 1.6 respectively) are now available via the new Steam system. This replaces the the traditional separate updates for HL and CS. When you install it, you get a brand new installation - not an upgrade to your existing installation. If it detects you already have HL installed, it will import your basic config settings, but not any other scripts you may have setup.

You can download the Steam Installer. The larger file (379MB) contains both HalfLife and CS. The smaller file is the online installer, and will install the games you want over a broadband connection.

It seems much has changed, both in game and behind the scenes. Steam Auth is replacing WON as the authing mechanism. Only time will tell how successful this proves to be. Future updates also appear to be via Steam only - not sure whether installation files will be available or not.

In the game itself, the whole look and feel is slightly different. Better console, menus etc. Some maps have bits added. Commands added for quick buying, so no need for buy scripts anymore. Simply bind keys to the new commands. New CT equipment in the form of a Riot Shield. Expensive, but looks fun.

On the server side, it looks like they haven't got the LAN code implememnted correctly yet. A LAN needs to be connected to the internet in order for LAN clients to be able to connect, which is not right. Hopefully this will be fixed prior to our LAN in October :)

The date for the next BobLAN has been set - it is the weekend of 24th October. (The clocks go back that weekend, so we get a bonus hour :)). Running from Friday to Sunday, the LAN should see the usual mix of FTP, RTS and driving games, aswell as pizza, curry, rinky dink and beer.

All clansmen are welcome, and please make sure you generate us some pizza money by buying stuff from our affiliates.

Expected software versions:

• BF1942 - 1.45.18
• Desert Combat - 0.4j
• HalfLife - 1.1.2.0 (Steam)
• CounterStrike - 1.6 (Steam)
• MOHAA - 1.11
• Ghost Recon - 1.4

I know this post is a bit late, but better late than never.

There is a new patch out for Battlefield 1942 - version 1.45.18. It is mainly bug fixes, plus support for the forthcoming official mod Secret Weapons.

Download now from our FTP Server. The full point release is 107MB, and the update from v1.4 is 50MB.