|
Monday, September 27
|
New Version of Roger Wilco
-
A new version of Roger Wilco has been released with some bug fixes and new features. Roger Wilco is a popular real-time voice chat client to use with your teammates while playing multiplayer games. Click here to download: RogerWilco
Rogue Spear Mission Editor Help
-
Having difficulty trying to use the Rogue Spear mission editor? Rogue Spear Retreat has a guide on how to use the application. You can view the text file here: Editor Help
Simulators on The History Channel
-
For those lucky subscribers to the US History Channel, Simulators will air today at 9pm CST. They will trace the history of the aircraft simulator from the first instrument trainer to the latest devices used by commercial and military pilots.
Thanks Steve for the tip.
All Out War
-
All out War is now launching a Squadron League for Fighter Squadron: Screamin Demons over Europe. The League is a mission and squadron oriented competition that will promote teamwork and solid ACM tactics in a realistic set-up and mission structure. The first round will begin officially on Monday, September 27th. Squadrons and pilots may sign up at the AOW page at any time.
AOW is also continuing to run the Jane's World War II Fighters League as well as having a Pilot Listing page that allows pilots to register their handles and search for other online pilots in their favorite sims and connect with them via ICQ.
US Military News
-
Northrop Grumman Corp., Pico Rivera, Calif., is being awarded a $2,700,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide for the Flexible Acquisition and Sustainment Team (FAST) program in support of the B-2 aircraft from Sept. 17, 1999 through Sept. 16, 2005. This program will provide the continuing support necessary to fulfill the mission, conduct operations, and endure the combat capabilities of the aircraft. Expected contract completion date is Sept. 16, 2005 with three, three year options for a possible total of 15 years. Solicitation issue date was March 31, 1999. Negotiation completion date was Aug. 23, 1999.
-
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Sept. 17, 1999) - The Army has authorized production of an improved version of a tactical truck that was initially fielded to soldiers almost three years ago.
Army Acquisition Executive Paul J. Hoeper gave the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicle truck contractor, Stewart and Stevenson Inc., the go-ahead Sept. 9 to produce an A1, or modified version of the truck, after prototypes successfully completed more than 90,000 miles of extensive testing at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.
The improved truck, which like the original model comes in two-and-a-half-ton (M1087A1) and five-ton (M1083A1) variants, features a more powerful diesel engine, a better transmission and brakes, added corrosion protection, computerized engine diagnostics, and beefier drive line engine/transmission/differential connection) components, according to Army officials. The A1 also has almost 40 additional upgrades, such as more durable seating material and cargo tarp, beefier door hinges, and reinforced sections that can be used as footholds to gain access to the cargo area.
"We're going to produce and field a truck with eight times the reliability, availability and maintainability of the old 'deuce-and-a-half' truck it replaces," said Hoeper during a Sept. 9 press luncheon at the Pentagon. "We've got a truck we're proud to be buying for soldiers and I think the contractor is proud to be making it for soldiers."
More than 7,600 original-model (AO) FMTV trucks were produced and delivered to units Armywide since January 1996 as part of a $1.4 billion, five-year contract with the Houston-headquartered contractor, according to officials.
The Army needs 85,000 new trucks to replace its aging fleet, said officials. The new Light Medium Tactical Vehicle - two-and-a-half-ton cargo and van models -- and Medium Tactical Vehicle -- five-ton cargo, tractor, van, wrecker, tanker, and dump -- trucks were designed to replace 30-year-old two-and-a-half-ton ("deuce-and-a-half") and five-ton vehicles.
|
| |
|
Weekend, September 25-26
|
New Articles @ COMBATSIM.COM
Matrox Reveals New Video Card: Matrox Marvel G400-TV
-
Matrox announced the development of their new Matrox Marvel Friday. Some of the new features include:
- video capture and video editing
- hardware Motion JPEG (MJPEG
- an onboard TV tuner with audio decoding
- DVD playback
- DualHead Display for Microsoft DirectX 6 Environment-Mapped Bump Mapping
|
| |
|
Friday, September 24
|
Jane's F18 Delayed
-
Jane's F18 has been delayed to release in Q1, 2000. We'll report more on this when we discover the reason.
3DFX Voodoo4 Delayed
-
3dfx announced to its investors yesterday that the release of their next generation product has been delayed to February or March of 2000. No explanation was forthcoming.
Editor of AGN3D in Hospital
-
Jeremy Allford of AGN3D has been diagnosed with a brain tumor and has been admitted to hospital. Our best wishes go out to Jeremy for a full recovery.
Live Reports from the "Bear"
-
Our reporter "Polar Bear" was in the vicinity Wednesday, 22 SEP 99, when a USMC F/A-18 made an emergency landing at MCAS Mirarmar. The aircraft had a failure in it's right landing gear. The Aviator flew around San Diego for several hours, attempting to jar the gear loose.
After several unsuccessful attempts to extend his gear, the F/A-18 was aerial refueled. He continued performing aerial maneuvers t dislodge the gear. After several hours he was sucessful in dislodging the gear.
The Aviator successfully landed the aircraft at MCAS Miramar. He landed on the runway using his hook. The gear did not collapse and the aircarft was saved.
On Saturday Afternoon, 1500 PST, a P-51R crashed in the final race of the day, at the 36th National Air Races Championship, in Reno Nevada. Apparently the modified P-51 broke apart, on the first lap of the final race of the day.
Unfortunately, the pilot was killed and the aircraft was destroyed. The P-51 crashed into a residential trailer park. Fortunately there were no other deaths associated with the crash.
The Saturday races were concluded, due to respect for the pilot. The Air Races continued on Sunday.
Polar Bear covered the story and will have pictures and a debrief on this coming weekend.
|
| |
|
Thursday, 23 September
|
New Articles @ COMBATSIM.COM Today
New Version of Warbirds Released
-
iEntertainment Network announced today that it will soon release WarBirds 2.73, which contains a new physics model, a unique terrain editor, two new aircraft, as well as other features. You can download the new version here: WarBirds
Dynamix Loses Staff
-
More than a third of the workers at Eugene computer-game developer Dynamix are being laid off as its parent, Sierra On-Line Inc., reshapes the way it does business, Sierra announced Tuesday.
About 60 of Dynamix's 170 employees left from the last layoff will lose their jobs and some of the company's best-known titles - including the flight-simulation games "Desert Fighters" and "Pro Pilot Paradise" - will be discontinued, Sierra said. And Dynamix - founded 15 years ago by two University of Oregon students - will cease to exist as a brand and a distinct business entity.
Jane's Defence Weekly - 22 September 1999
-
Raytheon sweetens BVRAAM bid
Raytheon has announced a ground-breaking offer for a US/UK co-operative programme covering all future variants of the company's AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) that would give the UK government equal voting rights on all aspects of the weapon's future development.
France cuts spending on equipment by 3.6%
France is to slash spending on military equipment by 3.6% next year, but the drop appears unlikely to jeopardise any of the country's arms programmes.
South Africa approves procurement packages
The South African government gave final approval on 15 September to its planned equipment procurement packages, committing R21.3 billion ($6.44 billion) to the programmes over the next eight years.
Industry may fail US tactical radio needs
Amid growing concerns that it might be lacking some key technologies needed to fully develop the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS), the US Department of Defense (DoD) is formulating a Technology Master Plan to assess the availability of commercial technology to aid the system's development.
Future bomber blueprints put focus on speed
Ongoing studies for the US Air Force (USAF) to identify advanced concepts for a future US bomber aircraft have borne their first fruit, with industry officials agreeing that speed, including hypersonic performance, is likely to be the primary characteristic of a long-range bomber replacement.
France and Italy agree to build Horizon frigate
France and Italy have agreed to build the Horizon anti-aircraft frigate together following the collapse of the tri-national Common New Generation Frigate (CNGF) project triggered by the UK's withdrawal in April.
Centauros for Spanish Army
The Spanish Ministry of Defence has awarded the Italian IVECO-OTOBreda consortium a $70 million contract for 22 8 x 8 Centauro VRC wheeled armoured reconnaissance vehicles and a training, spares and support package.
Details emerge of Taepo Dong 1
North Korean Television has displayed a two-stage missile believed to be the Taepo Dong 1, showing previously unknown details of the platform just as Pyongyang appears to have agreed during talks with Washington to suspend testing of its long-range ballistic missiles.
New Zealand's armoured vehicle RFT
The New Zealand Ministry of Defence has released a Request for Tender (RFT) to seven manufacturers for new wheeled armoured vehicles for the New Zealand Army.
Threat to Israeli defence reorganisation
Although less severe than originally planned, the reduction of the Israeli defence budget may jeopardise the implementation of the ZAHAL 2000 reorganisation programme just entering its first phase, according to Israel Defence Force (IDF) and Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials.
Rheinmetall DeTech buys Oerlikon
Germany' s Rheinmetall DeTech has taken over Oerlikon Contraves Defence of Switzerland, one of the world's leading manufacturers of air defence systems and medium-calibre (20mm to 35mm) ammunition.
Balkans, Lessons Learned, Discussed at NATO Meetings
-
TORONTO, Canada -- NATO's 19 defense ministers gathered here Sept. 20 to 22 to discuss peacekeeping operations in the Balkans, lessons learned in Kosovo and future defense capabilities.
The informal meetings were the first since Operation Allied Force, NATO's successful air campaign against Yugoslavia. NATO officials make no decisions during informal talks; they pave the way for decisions to be made at the next formal meetings, which will be held in December.
The U.N. Mission in Kosovo plans to set up a new, multi-ethnic civilian emergency force, the Kosovo Protection Corps, to help with emergency planning and reconstruction tasks, Solana said. The force will be made up of 3,000 active duty and 2,000 reserve personnel, a NATO official said. The French government has contributed the uniforms for the corps.
About 47,000 NATO-led international troops are currently maintaining security in Kosovo, including about 6,000 from ten NATO partner nations. The U.S. contingent numbers approximately 7,000.
NATO now has about 80,000 troops in five countries in the region, Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Kosovo.
During the first day's meetings, the defense ministers discussed lessons learned during Operation Allied Force. NATO's air campaign was successful, stressed Great Britain's Secretary of State for Defense George Robertson, who will soon take the reins as NATO's next secretary general. The British defense leader emphasized that the alliance successfully coped with the humanitarian crisis,
stabilized neighboring nations and forced Milosevic to withdraw his forces.
NATO ministers also looked at ways to improve NATO's performance. They called for better advance planning to allow for rapid escalation if necessary and better defense capabilities. Interoperability, sustainability, air and sea lift capabilities, the need for more precision guided
munitions and the need for better intelligence.
|
| |
|
Wednesday, September 22
|
New Articles @ COMBATSIM.COM Today
7:26PM MST -Rouge Spear hits the Shelves
-
Rogue Spear Retreat is reporting that Rainbow6:Rogue Spear has been spotted in the US at Babbages. It's selling for a retail price of $44.99
7:26PM MST - Microsfot DirectX 7 Released
-
3DFiles.com has posted a bunch of URL links to download DirectX7 for Windows98. You can find the download page here: DX7
7:25PM MST - Mechwarrior3 1.2 Patch
-
3DFiles.com has posted a new patch for MechWarrior 3. You can download the patch here:MW3 1.2
7:04PM MST - Warzone 2100 1.08 Patch
6:41AM MST - Rogue Spear News from Rogue Spear Retreat
6:30AM MST - New 3D Blaster RIVA TNT2 Drivers
-
3DFiles.com is reporting Creative Labs has posted wew drivers for Windows 9X and NT 4.0. Virtual desktop support added, more languages, etc. Were forwarding you to the Creative Labs page to choose the right driver for your operating system. You can download the drivers here: 3DBlasterTNT
6:20AM MST - New Falcon4 Fansite
-
Jim Garwood has posted a Falcon4 resource site with 10 TE missions. To view the site, you can click here: F4 Site
3:00AM MST - Free Space2 Demo
-
FreeSpace2 is a single-player campaign with over 30 missions. New scenarios include flying with Vasudan squadrons, piloting advanced stealth fighters, and "painting" targets with TAG (Target Acquisition & Guidance) missiles. Command up to eleven squadmates in battle. Order them to defend, attack, disarm or disable your target. An in-depth combat system enables players to target and destroy subsystems, disabling engines, defensive turrets, missile batteries, and fighterbays.
You can download the demo here: FS2
|
| |
|
Tuesday, September 21
|
New Articles @ Combatsim Today!
8:25PM MST - Sierra Cancels Desert Fighters!
-
Sierra On-Line today announced plans to split into three business units: Core Games, Casual Entertainment and Home Productivity. As a result several titles will be cancelled. Included among them are Desert Fighters, Pro Pilot Paradise, Babylon 5 and Orcs: Revenge of the Ancient. The company said these games did not meet its "success criteria."
The Core Games division will focus on strategy, action, RPG and adventure titles, including Homeworld and the Half-Life series. Casual Entertainment will produce sporting games, such as the Trophy Bass games and Profesional Bull Rider, and card and party games, such as Hoyle.
6:36AM MST - US Airforce News
Click on the Story for more details!
6:30AM MST - Gathering of Developers Joins Developer's Corner Learning Forum
-
Dallas, TX, September 17, 1999
Developer-driven computer and video game publisher Gathering of Developers today announced that its official company forum is now hosted on Developer's Corner Learning Forums. The Gathering's forum at the Developers Corner allows consumers, independent game designers, students and fans to interact directly with the company and each of its developers. Developers represented under The Gathering's forum include the company's founding partners3D Realms, Edge of Reality, Epic Games, Ritual Entertainment, PopTop Software and Terminal Realityas well as third-party game developers Remedy Entertainment, Triumph Studios, HumanHead Studios and Third Law Interactive. Game developers will answer questions on range of topics including animation, artificial intelligence (AI), sound effects and level design.
For more information click here: GOD GAMES
6:10AM MST - Flight Unlimited III Ships
-
Electronic Arts and Looking Glass Studios have shipped Flight Unlimited III. Look for it on store shelves this week!
6:00AM MST - Falcon 4.0 Beta 1.08 Cockpit
-
Thisky's Flight Sim (french) news center has posted a bunch of new screen shots for the latest beta patch for Falcon4 including the new 1024x768 cockpit. You can view the pictures here: Falcon4 Screen Shots
1:24AM MST - Delta Force2 Demo Officially Released
-
Novalogic has informed us that they have finally released the official version of the Delta Force2 demo. You can download the demo here: D2fdemo.exe
|
| |
|
Monday, September 20
|
New Articles @ Combatsim Today!
6:28PM MST - RogueSpear Cheat Codes
-
We've managed to get our hands on the cheat codes you can use in Rainbow6 Rogue Spear!
|
Code |
Action |
|
normalcolors |
Map draw AI normal colors |
|
panickedcolors |
Map draw AI panicked colors |
|
roestatecolors |
Map draw AI ROE colors |
|
roespeedcolors |
Map draw AI ROE speed colors |
|
combatstatecolors |
Map draw AI combat state colors |
|
behaviorcolors |
Map draw AI behavior colors |
|
psychstatecolors |
Map draw AI psycological state colors |
|
threatawarenesscolors |
Map draw AI threat awareness colors |
|
awarenessstatecolors |
Map draw AI aware colors |
|
alertnessstatecolors |
Map draw AI alertness colors |
|
aiplancolors |
Map draw AI plan colors |
|
levelmaps |
Map draw level maps |
|
testplan |
Map draw test plan |
|
drawplan |
Map draw plan |
|
pathpointlinks |
Map draw path point links |
|
coverpoints |
Map draw cover points |
|
pathpoints |
Map draw path points |
|
objectwalls |
Map draw object walls |
|
obstaclewalls |
Map draw obstacle walls |
|
wounddeath |
? |
|
teamshadow |
Team invisible mode |
|
theshadowknows |
Invisible mode |
|
debugkeys |
Debug keys activated |
|
silentbutdeadly |
Fart mode |
|
fastactionresponseteam |
? |
|
monocle |
Monocle mode |
|
turnpunchkick |
Side scroller mode |
|
1-900 |
Heavy breathing |
|
clodhopper |
Clodhopper mode |
|
meganoggin |
Mega head mode |
|
bignoggin |
Big head mode |
|
5fingerdiscount |
Refill inventory |
|
explore |
Victory conditions |
|
nobrainer |
Brain usage |
|
stumpy |
Stumpy mode |
|
teamgod |
Team god mode |
|
avatargod |
Avatar god mode |
|
Hit 'F7' |
Unlocks turbo mode |
|
Hit 'F8' |
Turns off turbo mode |
10:51AM MST - Unprecedent User Volume Hits COMBATSIM.COM
- We may end up calling this day "Black Monday" in the COMBATSIM.COM history book. At the time of writing this notice, our servers are being pummeled by unprecedented volumes of Monday morning user traffic. We are attempting to upgrade our hardware right now, so please be patient as we get things back up to speed.
6:31AM MST -Creative Labs releases New Soundcards
-
CNN.COM is reporting that Creative Labs is replacing its Sound Blaster Live! Value card with two new offerings specifically targeting gamers and MP3 fans.
Today, Creative Labs released the Sound Blaster Live! X-Gamer and the Sound Blaster Live! MP3+. Priced at $99, the X-Gamer and the MP3+ feature the same 32-bit EMU10K1 processor with digital input and output, for connection to digital devices such as DAT decks. In contrast, the Live! Value card requires an upgrade for digital output. With almost the same hardware, the X-Gamer and the MP3+ are differentiated primarily in terms of their software bundles.
You can read the complete story here: New Sound Cards
6:02AM MST -Flight Gear Simulator
-
The Flight Gear Team has announced the release of v0.7.0 of their free, open-source, OpenGL based, multiplatform flight simulator. The Flight Gear simulator is downloadable for free and complete source code is available under the GPL source code license. Flight Gear can be compiled and run on Windows, Macintosh, Linux, FreeBSD, and any other flavor of Unix. Ready to run windows and mac packages are available.
Flight Gear features a sophisticated, DEM based, irregular triangle mesh terrain, accurate coastlines, a world wide airport data base, scenery coverage for much of the world, accurate stars, sun, moon, and planets that are positioned correctly for time, viewer position, and season. Flight Gear also features an accurate WGS-84 oblate ellipsoid world model so that correct and optimal great circle routes can be flown.
4:44AM MST - 3dfx Linux Drivers
-
3DFiles.com is reporting that 3dfx released new drivers for the Voodoo Banshee and Voodoo3 series video cards. It will not work with the Voodoo Rush, Voodoo2, or the Voodoo Graphics (Voodoo1). It's version 2.60. You can download them here: LINUX 3DFX (warning, site is slow)
3:34AM MST - Rogue Spear Greatest Hits?
-
RougeSpear Net is reporting that Red Storm Interactive will be releasing a promotional CD of the music from "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear", composed by Bill Brown. The music CD will be included with each unit of the new CD-ROM game "Shadow Watch" Due out in spring 2000 (original score also by Bill Brown & Soundelux) - Music CD is to be released this fall. You can find some of the music samples here: RS Music
|
| |
