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News: January 22 - 31, 1999
Firing Squad has received the new Half-Life multiplayer pack from Valve Software! It's a 1.5 MB download that contains the following: 2) Recon grunt multiplayer model - the human military commander. Ted Backman, modeler. 3) Cannibal multiplayer model - a humorous comic book character from Chuck Jones' twisted childhood. 4) Skeleton multiplayer model - low visibility, low contrast model. Hard to play against. Steve Theodore/Chuck Jones, modeler. 5) New decals - collection of multiplayer decals including flags, political parties, barnyard animals and other images from, yes, you guessed it, Chuck Jones' twisted childhood. 6) Team9.bsp - a new team map intended for 4 on 4 competition. Developed by Doug Wood, who did the Bounce map. Sounds awsome! More A3D 2.0 and EAX gaming goodness. Headover to Firing Squad and grab it! HAB-12 Developer Interview and Preview AGN3D has posted an excellent interview with the some of the team from Ratloop Games on HAB-12 from which I snagged the following on audio: Q: There is mention on the site that there will be a 3D audio system for the game. Are there any plans to incorporate postional audio with standards like DirectSound3D, Aureal A3D, or Creative's EAX extensions? A: We already support A3D, and EAX will definately be in there too. Apart from those standards, we have currently implemented a very fast and impressive software 3d positional audio system. Now, even gamers without the expensive soundcards can experience immersive 3D sound. Q: What benefits could a gamer playing HAB-12 get from the 3D positional audio? A: Audio clues play a very big role in our game design for Hab12. You will need to listen carefully, and be observant. Good 3D adds another aspect to the game, allowing positional information to be deciphered by the player offering clues or warnings about what's happening or about to happen. So what is HAB-12? Well according to Ratloop, Hab-12 is a 3rd person adventure. For more info you can check out the excellent preview, also from AGN3D. Starsiege
Near Gold! Thanks to Blues News and Planetstarsiege for the the pointer to Rick Overman's plan which indicated that this DS3D, A3D supporting title is near gold. For more on Starsiege audio check out our interview with Rick from way back in June. Tribes Interviews Planetstarsiege has posted an interview with Mark "Gotmilk" Frohnmayer which among other things, confirms that the upcoming patch will enable A3D support. For even more insite into Tribes check out another interview with three of the Tribes team members over on Insomniax.Net Thanks to Blues News for the pointers. And Another MX300 Review Thanks to Aureal A3D Central for the pointer to Insomnimania where they have posted an MX300 review. This one is a little different and worth a read as they put a lot of attention into midi and dos support which should be of interest to all you emulator fans out there. Speaking of Aureal A3D Central, don't forget to check out their great collection of links to reviews, previews, interviews and a whole lot more. Two Speaker Reviews and Dreamcast AGNhardware has pointers to Gamecenter's review of Monsoon's flat panel speakers and a review of Kenwood's CL-701 speakers over at Gibbed. Alan Briggs has also posted a review of Sega's Dreamcast console system at AGNHardware. More
3D Audio Support Thanks to Aureal A3D Central and Carsten's 3D Compatibality page for the news that Experience will support DS3D Experience is a first person 3D shooter/adventure game using the WXP Engine. Whats nice to see is this multiuse engine has DS3D support built right in. Carsten's list was also updated to show that Soldier, which is a 3D action game being developed by Gigawatt, will support DS3D. Finally, Rune, which a 3rd person action adventure from Human Head Studios will be developed using the Unreal engine so expect to hear support for A3D 2.0 and EAX 2.0.
MidiLand Speaker News @ 3DAI 3DAI has some news on upcoming speakers from MidiLand. Head over for all the details including a new 6 speaker system! Aureal Press Release:
Aureal to Open Program for Systems Integrators Aureal Semiconductor Inc. today announced a new program that will allow systems integrators to directly purchase audio add-in products from Aureal. Aureal Preferred Partners Program (AP3), which will commence in February, was created in response to demand for direct access to White Box product support to independent computer manufacturers -- who account for nearly a fifth of worldwide personal computer sales, according to International Data Corporation. Vortex DLS Bank from iXBT Hardware Thanks to Pavel for letting me know that our friends at iBXT Hardware (Russia's leading Computer Hardware site)
have just posted a new article with a description of
creating nice DLS bank for Vortex boards (note that you will need your Russiam
language skills to read the article).
You can download bank (7 Mb) from here. A Readers Views on the Xitel Storm Platinum We got an e-mail from a reader who received a a pre-release version
of the new Aureal Vortex 2 based Xitem Storm I'm not going to buy into the Creative vs Aureal, Live! vs Vortex, EAX vs A3D debate/pissing contest. After all, it's just a freakin' sound card, but an outsider would get the impression that it's a matter of life and death. So how is it? Whatever your preference is, it can't be denied that A3D 2.0 *works*. So does EAX. But at almost a third of the price of a Live! (we don't have final prices, but it looks like it'll initally be about AUD$150 [that's just a guess, it could be more or it could be less]) and considerably under an MX300, it's gotta be right up there on the must-have list. Xitel also have excellent support (they went above and beyond the call of duty to get me a Storm VX when I was after one and they weren't in the country yet). So just get one! You know you want to... Dave Rossum Maximum PC Interview We mentioned this one a while back and suggested that you head out to the news stand and pick up a copy of MaximumPC. Well, you can now read the entire interview online over at the americas soundblaster.com site. Sound
Design Tutorial While visiting Gamecenter Underground I followed a link to Sonicwallz where they have a tutorial on sound design in computer games. Powerslide
Patch Again I saw on VoodooExtreme that a patch for Powerslide has been released. You can grab it from 3Dfiles. The patch addresses some "problems with EAX sound cards with release drivers" and may also help with problems on some other types of sound cards. Tribes
Patch This Week? I saw on VoodooExtreme (via Datumplane Starsiege) that the Tribes patch might be released this week. Lets keep our fingers crossed that 3D sound will be covered in this patch (A3D was actually already implemented but deactivated in the shipping version). Mail Server
Was Down O.k. - Our mail server is back up now but it looks like some mail was lost in the process. If you sent us any mail in the last 24 hours please resend it. Thanks and we apologize for any inconvenience. Thief Review Firing Squad has kicked out a review of the aurally awsome, Thief: The Dark Project. Here's a snip on the sound from this excellent review: The sound engine of Thief is truly the masterpiece of the game. You'll need a 3D sound card to get the most benefit, but even if you don't have one, strapping on headphones is like stepping into another world. The sounds of footsteps carry down cramped hallways. You'll hear water dripping in dank basements and dungeons. A startled guard crying out "who's there" can be enough to stop your heart. All of these aspects come together and combined with 3D spatial effects, it has an incredible effect. Just play up through the prison level and listen to the pathetic echoing moans of the prisoners and anyone will be convinced: Thief has probably the best sound of any game available today. Even
More MX300 Reviews Thanks to AGNHardware for the pointer to two more MX300 reviews. One from Fresh3D and if you are looking for something a little different, check out the High Performance PC Guide where they do some frequency spectrum analysis. Heretic II Enhancement Pack Beta Testers Required Steve Stringer from Ravensoft is looking for 25 very serious beta testers to put the Heretic II enhancement pack though its paces. It would be nice to have some 3D soundcards in the mix so if you are interested check out his plan. Thanks to Thresh's Firing Squad for the news. Another
MX300 Review Thanks to Aureal A3D Central for the pointer to another MX300 review. This time its over at Combat Sim. Tribes .vol Editor and Battlezone 2 Chat Thanks to AGN3D for the following pointers. First off is info on a new editor out that allows Tribes mod makers to edit the sound files within the game. Head over to Planetstarsiege for the details. Next is an announcement from the Pandemic Times that there will be a Battlezone 2 IRC chat at 6pm PST on EFnet #watch featuring George Collins and others from the development team. The original Battlezone featured A3D out of the box and has since add IAS support. EAX support (via IAS) is also around the corner. One last thing. Our mail server is down right now so if you are trying to reach us, send directly to me here. New MX300
Review and a Contest From Aureal A3D Central I see that IGamer has posted their review of the MX300. Just one point though. The MX300 does not currenlty support EAX at all. Speaking of MX300s, you can win one plus a set of Midiland 4100 speakers in a contest over at Gamer's Depot PII Celeron Motherboard with Integrated Vortex 1 Aureal has announced that Iwill Corporation has begun shipments of a motherboard with the Vortex 1 integrated. Check out the details in our press release section. RoadWars
Supports EAX Road Wars (Published by Intense Entertainment) is set to feature EAX and will be on shelves April this year. Grabbed from AGN3D Road Wars offers twelve players to choose from, each with their own vehicles in a race that has become popularized by a violent society. Players earn money with each race that can be spent on upgrading vehicles with with new weapons, armor types, and tires. Road Wars also supports multi-player modes, realistic weapon and car physics, 3D dynamics, force feed back, EAX, 3DNow, and DirectX 6.0 support. Drakan
Interview Part 2 Flamelands has posted part 2 of their interview with members of the Drakan team. Drakan will support DS3D with EAX and A3D. More on Sensaura 3D Theres an email from Farhaan Mirza, Sensaura Communications Manager, over on 3DAI that points out that Sensaura 3D is not an API and is accessed using Microsoft's DS3D API. For the details on how that works and more on Sensaura 3D check out our recent feature. Myth 2 Review Frontline has posted a review of the A3D and DS3D with EAX supporting Myth II and offer the following on sound: You'll fight from canyons to dark ghostly catacombs, and with the support of EAX the enviroment is truely remarkable! I must agree that the inclusion of EAX in the game is excellent, with different enviroments in different audio depth. You'll occassionly hear the howling of the wind or the oinks of the approaching Mauls. The sounds of bombardment from the Mortar Dwarvens are nicely demostrated both in range and depth Speaking of reviews, Firing Squad has an exclusive review of the Abit BM6 motherboard. Simon Says
Intel RSX Actually, its Simon the Sorcerer that will be using Intel's RSX for 3D audio support. The game is using the same engine as Prince of Persia 3D which is on the official A3D and EAX lists so take that a good sign for broad 3D audio support. For more details on Simon the Sorcerer check out the preview over at Gamesdomain. Thanks to Aureal A3D Central for the pointer. Official
SB Live Updates Creative's SBLive site was updated today with an inhouse EAX Q&A and a feature on Dolby Digital. The Q&A includes a response to the question "does EAX use a geometric model of the environment? Can you give us a simple explanation of how that can be done and whether or not it is an effective approach in a 3D game API?" There is a very extensive response to the question which explains why Creative's scientists feel that EAX technology is the way to go and why a geometry model is not. Look for a followup from us on this question in the near future. Among other things the Q&A also includes some words about the development and adoption of I3D2 (which is the proposed instustry-standard 3D audio API). Labtec APX
4620 Review Purified 3D has posted a review of Labtec's APX 4620 speaker system. If you are in the market for a new set of speakers these are worth a listen. After reading the review at Purified 3D you can check out our own recent review of the same system. Heretic II
Review Thresh's Firing Squad has posted an excellent review of the sonically stimulating Heretic II. Here is a snip on the audio: Throughout the game you'll find these little, seemingly non-pertinent noises come out of nowhere that will just send chills up your spine. I remember a moment as I was entering a hallway that I heard quick footsteps flutter down the corridor. I whirled around to find nothing… but what was that sound? It was this fear of the unknown had me on edge throughout the game - It grabbed a hold of me from the start and never let go. You'll definitely want to make use of your 3D sound card for this one - the whole ambience is nothing short of stunning. Oh ya, in case you have forgotten, there is an A3D 2.0 patch just around the corner that has received rave reviews from the folks at Raven. EAX support is also in the works. The good just keeps getting better! Dreamcast 3D
Audio Thanks to Alan Briggs for pointing us to some excellent technical information on the audio system in Sega's new console system called Dreamcast. Why are we looking at a console? Well it uses Qsound's 3D algorithms on a Yahama chip. Local
Feature on Sensaura 3D Audio Watching the past few months battle between Creative and Aureal, where the weapons have been press releases, lawsuits and, we almost forgot, soundcards, would make you think that these are the only companies with a 3D audio technology. Well we know there are other companies that have developed 3D sound technology and one of them is Sensaura. Mikael Hagen takes a look at the Sensaura 3D audio technology. GA-Source
MX300 Review Thanks to 3D Audio Immersion for the pointer to a new review of the MX300 done at GA-Source. ALive on a Rantage - EAX 2.0 - Proprietary or Not? Lee from ALive is really helping to stir the pot this time. Its an interesting topic for all, but of particular interest to......is it Live owners or Vortex 2 owners or perhaps Qsound and Sensaura licensees? The question being asked is should Creative Labs make EAX 2.0 a proprietary API or keep it open as in EAX 1.0? Lee lays his views out for all to read in an extensive editorial so be sure to visit ALive and get the details. GameSpots
Best and Worst of 1998 Thanks to AGN3D for the pointer to Gamespots "Best and Worst of 1998" awards. The following are of particular note from the audio perspective: Best Music - Grim Fandango Stuff.... Firing
Squad has posted an ATI Rage
128 Fury (P)review, MX300 Review Accelerate! has posted a review of the Diamond Monster Sound MX300. MP3Spy Its the weekend when you are more likely to get one or two of the "thats not 3D!" posts from us. Here is one that a few of you might be interested in, snipped from a GameSpy newsletter I just received. Like GameSpy, MP3Spy is a server browser. Instead of finding the best gameservers, though, MP3Spy hunts down Winamp SHOUTcast servers. That means you can stream .MP3 files right to your desktop and listen to music and stuff from all over the net! Interested? Then follow this link. Labtec Q & A Something a little different here. I figured while I was doing the review of the Labtec APX4620s I would ask the fine people at Labtec a few questions. 3DSS: Is Labtec planning on a AC3 system? Labtec:
Labtec does not have a plan currently to develop a 5-speaker system (utilizing the 5.1
channels in AC3) because of their Virtual Dolby which, 3DSS: On the Dolby Pro Logic model (5620) who designed the virtualization algorithms? Labtec: Dolby Labs. 3DSS: Is Labtec planning on doing a four point system to take advantage of all the new four speaker sound cards like the Sound Blaster Live and Diamond Monster Sound MX300 that are on the market? Labtec: Our Roadmap for future products includes 4 point systems. It would be premature to discuss any details of timing 3DSS: The cost of paying for two subwoofers aside, is there a disadvantage to using 2 3 piece systems for a 4 speaker setup? Labtec: The only disadvantage would be the lack of a single master volume control. All other system balancing could be handled by software. Since the rear channels are full bandwidth in these systems, two systems with subwoofers may be better than one with a single sub, but clearly dedicated systems are the way to go. Thanks goes out to Cathy Dawson and Ray Weikel of Labtec for answering our questions. Amen to 3D Sound I don't remember us mentioning EAX support before and its not on Creative's EAX list. Carsten's 3D Compatibility Page reports that Amen from Cavedog will support DS3D with EAX. Update (23-1-99): Thanks to Dave from the 3DNews Network for reminding me that the game will also support A3D 2.0. Here is the snip from his interview with Greg MacMartin and John Mavor from the Amen team: Will you support either A3D 2.0 or EAX?
Legend
of Blademasters and 3D Sound Thanks to Aureal A3D Central and to Carsten's 3D Compatibility Page for the
info that Legends of Blademasters from Ripcord Games
will support A3D and DS3D with EAX. Reborn and 3D
Sound Thanks to Voodoo Extreme for the pointer to the official Reborn website from NerveLab. According to the official site information Reborn is "a fast paced, first person action adventure, with a highly cinematic feel to it". Of course what gets our attention is 3D audio and according to the site Reborn will support "3D spatialized sound" We are following up with Nervelab to get more details on the nature of the beast. MX300 Review Thanks to Aureal A3D Central for the pointer to Computer Games Online where they have posted a review of the Diamond MX300. |
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