Human Shield has informed us all at the forum that he's made a whole lot of changes to contribute to the Fallout world's consistency and feel and has combined them all in a mod for the game.

After putting it on hold for monthes I made the final touches. Includes basically all the changes I was going for, not too dramatic but noticible. Bugs will probably pop up tell me if anything doesn't work. Give feedback and sugguestions.

Tries to alter FO2 to come more in line with Fallout 1.

Evidently I overlooked some more Stalker news, HomeLAN Fed conducted an interview with Oleg about Stalker, it's more of a Q&A look-back at 2004:

HomeLAN - Finally, is there anything else you wish to say about the past year in games and/or the upcoming year in games?

Oleg Yavorsky - Year 2004 has been remarkable for us: we announced our own publishing subdivision and a new title to be released next year; while the end of the year was marked as a true time of changes as Ukraine elected its people’s president. My hope is that the next year is remembered as the time of positive changes on all levels of public life and naturally, gaming: I’m eager to see more creative and innovative concepts instead of old trite experiences implemented with new graphics. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone!

As usual we summarise the Stalker news rather then post each one, the latest from the Stalker world is a "pin-up" calender from GSC Gameworld (the makers of Stalker) and DAC's own Megatron had the chance to try out the latest build of Stalker, here's a snibblet:

I got my preview copy in the mail and was obviously excited about the next generation of gaming. STA.L.KER, a game in which you play an ex-soldier sent into Chernobyl to find a secret artifact. I quickly ripped open the box and put the cd into my PC. Quickly, I installed the game. I thought 10 cds worth of gaming goodness must be good! I was in for a shock...

You start up the game and are immediately chased by a pick-up truck. You have no weapons and must run down a road while escorting an old army veteran to safety. After a suprise twist it turns out the army veteran was actually a cyborg! This is just one of several examples of the many twists and turns the story makes. One minute you're hunting dragons in an underground bunker. The next you're hunting robots in an underground cave! The simple genius of this game makes it quite simply, great!

I got word that DAC had posted about a new post apocalyptic Half-Life 2 mod in the works, it's called Off-limits. This is multiplayer mod, so don't expect any single player action.
Link: Off-Limits

The Wasteland Half-Life 2 project have updated their site with some media files, here's what was posted:

Media has been updated so that you may take a gander at some of the behind the scenes efforts for Wasteland Half-life 2's mapping; look to the Locales section for visual goodness. Two of the polished and ready weapons are also up in the armory section, the Desert Eagle and Revolver. With each spread of the arsenal, from side-arms to melee to rifles and heavy weaponry, each firearm is a tool suited for different circumstances and occaisions-- and the key will be to master yours in each in turn.

We have compiled our initial work builds, and can happily report that the WHL2 ball is rolling well- expect some fantastic in-game appetite-whetting screenshots in the near future, and as always, keep your eyes peeled on our forums for advanced insight into goodies we've got to display.

We've had some downtime on our server today, our technies are working on the problem right now. You might notice some downtime during the day, but we'll get it back up and running for 2005! 8)

Tamara Chuang of the OCRegister posted an article which sums up IPLY situation this year, not much new there but it shows how bleak IPLY has become during this year. Here's a snibblet:

The one hope is Interplay's decision to enter the massively multiplayer online game market, which allow thousands of people to play one game at the same time. But MMOGs cost significantly more to produce than a typical video game. They are, however, a growing genre because they allow companies to continually charge players a monthly subscription fee.
....
For the nine months ended Sept. 30, Interplay reported a net loss of $4.3 million, compared with its loss in the previous year of $2 million. Revenues dropped 50 percent to $12.5 million.

Its stock, which trades on the over-the-counter exchange, was unchanged Thursday at 1.6 cents.

From all of the crew here at NMA we wish you a very merry Christmas, hope that you have a peaceful evening with all your loved ones.

This is the time to replay Fallout 1 and 2 again, and remember the good times that were.

Have a good one!

The Q3 report from IPLY has arrived, here's a snibblet:

For the third quarter ended September 30, 2004, Interplay reported a net loss of $1.5 million, or $.02 per basic and diluted common share, compared to a net loss of $2.2 million, or $.02 per basic and diluted common share, in the same period last year. Net revenues for the third quarter 2004 were $.9 million versus $4.7 million in the same period a year ago, a decrease of 80%. The decrease in net revenues was mainly a result of delivering zero new title gold masters in North America in the 2004 period compared to delivering one new title gold master in North America in the 2003 period. Additionally the Company delivered zero new title gold masters internationally in the 2004 period as compared to releasing three titles, two of which had previously been released only in North America, in Europe in the 2003 period.

Additionally, the Company announced it has signed an agreement with Majorem, an Israeli game developer, to exclusively publish and distribute "Ballerium," the massively multiplayer online strategy game. The game, currently in beta testing, is expected to be commercially launched by summer 2005.

RPGDot is reporting that there is a new The Fall review out on the net, this time it's GameCaptain who have take a look at the game, they gave it a whooping score of 85%.
Link: The Fall review@Gamecaptain

Akella has opened the official Metalheart forums and..erm.. well not much else to say eh.
Link:Metalheart forums
Spotted at RPGDot

If anyone remembers a game called Shadow Vault, which we have reported a little about earlier, you'll be glad to hear that it's now gone gold:

December 22, 2004. Montreal, Canada. Publisher Strategy First and developer Mayhem Studios are happy to announce that Shadow Vault has shipped to retailers nationwide.

“A strong apocalyptic, cyber-punk setting submerges the player in non-stop turn based action! Amazingly simple controls and a compelling storyline are the basis for this eerie thriller. If you have been waiting for a turn based game to wet your feet, Mayhem’s Shadow Vault is game for you … all the depth with half the confusion” says Jay Podilchuk, the Producer at Strategy First.

About Shadow Vault
The sky is blackened by dark clouds and planet Earth is nearing its sad end. Humans have already tried all possibilities to avoid doom. Only one option remains - a ‘time tunnel’ leading back to the year 1958. The alliance is back in the year 1958 and the ‘time tunnel’ is their only chance to change what has transpired in order to avoid a war that should have never happened. But the alliance plans are delayed when the Contingent government, an organization hell-bent on war and domination, went through the tunnel first. Now they must begin battle again and save the Earth from these invader’s hands.

Shadow Vault is a turn based Strategy RPG set during a violent time in Earth’s alternate history. Battle the forces of the Contingent government through 20 different levels, featuring over 30 unique characters and units or go against human opponents in 10 multiplayer levels over LAN or internet. Designed for both casual and hard-core strategy players, the games provide countless hours of strategic gameplay delivering lots of action and strategic possibilities without the need of studying a huge manual.

Features

· Stylish nuclear war ravaged environment where buildings and structures can be destroyed or used for cover
· Unique unit classes, each with its own special sets of abilities, such as medics, engineers, snipers and more
· Units improve abilities and acquire new ones as they gain combat experience
· Over 30 unique abilities and 40 different actions to enhance and update your units
· Hours of strategic gameplay through 20 game levels
· 30 units and characters to choose from or battle against
· Epic story and dynamic storyline that immerses the player into the game
· High level Artificial Intelligence that reacts to as player’s strategy
· Intuitive game rules and interface placing emphasis on the strategical experience rather than a steep learning curve

One of the IPLY investors on the Raging Bull forums got an email from Luke Haas regarding IPLY and here's what he posted:

Received a message from Luke Haase today. he said that Interplay will hopefully report q3 earnings this week, but that it isn't certain that they will report this week. He also said that Interplay continues to work on financing issues. He said more info would be available in q3 earnings. Again, he isn't giving much info, but the fact that he responded within one hour to my email gives me some comfort. If Interplay was done, I assume he would have gotten back to me late, if at all.

I think Interplay's only move at this point is to sit back and pay down debt and try to win some lawsuits, and then sell the company at a cheap price, say 20 million, which would still net herve a profit on his shares (at least I'm hoping something like this happens. I continue to hold just in case this scenario plays out)

Looz passed the information, that a new website nas been set up for the Polish Wasteland project, which has also gained new members Soda & Piskor, hitherto working on the project Shell-Pit, and an engine created for the project. In a related story, Shell-Pit has gone to sleep with the fishes.

As we had announced, we have a big surprise for you. After a short and concrete turn of negotiations with Soda and Piskor they've decided to join our team, bringing in an engine prepared by Piskor. This heralds a number of changes:
- new attractive look
- lack of constraints known from the Fallout 2 engine
- an ability to make the game exactly as we want it.
After years of work we've decided that our work is worth of a stand-alone game, not just a Fallout add-on. We've made a great leap forward. Stay tuned, more information to follow!

Living up to our promise, we are proud to present the first models to appear in the game. Based on concept sketches by DrPotf0r and SzU, they've been modelled by SODA. Presenting to you: Crazy Irma, Easy Dorothy and Amative Matilda. Also, we'll throw in a slightly worn, damaged by time in a few places, but still beautiful
Syrenka.

After years of trying, we start anew, without the flaws of the ancien regime, we stride forward a new, third way. Polish Wasteland and our new logo.

Gamespy have posted an article about the year 2004 and they couldn't skip the drama series called Interplay, here's a bit from the article:

Earlier this year, the first signs of serious trouble started emerging when it was revealed that Interplay fell behind three months on paying the rent for its facilities and was facing eviction unless it magically came up with almost half a million dollars. In June, most people were asked to clear their desks and file for unemployment because the offices were shutting down. Interplay's parent company, French publisher/developer Titus, asked to be delisted from the Paris exchange in early June. In August, there was a legal dispute between Interplay and Vivendi regarding a breach of distribution agreement, claiming VUG withheld payments, although both parties reconciled a few months later without revealing the settlement terms. Technically, Interplay is still alive, after it has sold most of its assets, like passing on the Fallout franchise to Bethesda.

Yup, it's official ze 1.6 patch of The Fall has arrived, here's a summary:

- Hint-Anzeige korrigiert
- Anzeige der Waffengewöhnung korrigiert
- XP-Verteilung stärker auf Party ausgerichtet
- PCs werden schneller müde
- Beim Rasten tauchen seltener Feinde auf
- Feinde bei Kämpfen während der Rast sind stärker und zahlreicher
- Wachende PCs bekommen weniger LE durch rasten
- Looten nach einem Rast-Kampf ist möglich
- Items sind stapelbar (Stapelanzahl ist abhängig von der Größe der Items)
- Autosave-Option implementiert
- Gegenstände kombinieren korrigiert
- Stärke der Tiere gebalanced
- Anzeige der Uhr beim Rasten implementiert
- Alle fünf Schwierigkeitsgrade gebalanced
- Kompatibilität zu älteren und On Board-Grafikkarten erhöht
- Allgemeine Stabilität für unterschiedliche System erhöht
- Ladezeiten und die Performance weiter optimiert
- Diverse Questbugs gefixt

The dynamic duo Haris and Miran created a brand new mod for Fallout 2, which they've called the Living Dead Mod.

This mod is a bit like a zombie shooter game. But since this is Fallout 2, you'll shoot ghouls in graveyard looking dark maps.

Damon White reports @ www.GamingReport.com on the GURPS Online project by Steve Jackson Games:

Steve Jackson Games and World Apart Productions have mutually agreed to stop development of the GURPS Online project. We gave it the "old college try," but after delays caused by other project priorities, and a re-evaluation of the economics of text-based games into today's computer game market, we decided not to continue with the effort. Worlds Apart is continuing to give full support to its The Lord of the Rings Online Trading Card Game and other online TCG projects. Steve Jackson Games doesn't have any new plans for an online GURPS game; when that changes, we'll let you know.

I spotted over at BluesNews that Filefront had interviewed the makers of the upcoming PA MMORPG called Twilight War:

Q: Speaking of XORG, how is it that you decided to create a hybrid between a FPS and an MMORPG? Tell us a little about the collaborative process.

A: Well, we like both styles of games, so we wanted to make an RPG with an FPS combat system. Twilight War is an RPG primarily, it just has a point and shoot combat system that allows people to feel a bit more in control of their character, and it will be faster paced as a result. The combat we are trying for is more dynamic than the statistics and stochastic-based RPGs. The emphasis is still on improving your character, acquiring items, exploration, and social interaction like any MMORPG – you can get missions and quests with other characters, crew multi-position vehicles, and improve the skills of your character, which will affect combat prowess to some degree.

The Stalker chat which the guys over at Oblivion Lost had today is finished and of course they have a chat log where we can view the various Q&A's, here's a snibblet:

What is the release date for now? Will there be any DEMO version and when?

Oleg: Release date: May 2005. We are not talking about demo yet. Beta testing is the upcoming code-sharing with public:)

When do the announced beta test starts and how much player will be able to play?

Alexey: Early next year, we`ll announce it on official site. The quantity of players will be advised with THQ.

PsychoSniper informed me of the latest Fanout Weekly update, here are some snibblets:

We're getting closer to deciding on certain issues that are holding us back from begining the mapping process of the begining town that will encompas the demo.
The design document is also being further revised, and the team is expecting Enderandrew to post the updated one anytime now, although he claims he would have posted it allready, execpt he was indulging in a great USMC tradition of getting drunkl and therefore got deleayed.
And so those watching this project can understand, the desing doc affects asspects such as maping due to the fact that the main consensus among the team seems to be that we want the demo to fit reletivley seamlesly into the compleated mod with regards to things such as storyline and plot elements, which will affect some things in the layout of the maps.

And some really good news.
Weve had some new members join the team

Apparently Fbos has gotten an award from Gamespot, they were one of the titles that won the Most Despicable Product Placement award. Which is odd when you look at the rating they gave Fbos in their review.
Link: Gamespot best and worst of 2004
Thanks goes out to Briosafreak for informing us.

Well since I've been away the usual Stalker newsbits have flourished on the net, Oblivion Lost is reporting that there is:

• New directX9 shots of Stalker at Worthplaying
  
• Brief Q&A with GSC
  
• Stalker preview/hands-on at Oblivion Lost
  
• Stalker movie clip at Filefront
  
• New Delay of Stalker
  
• A buttload of new screenshots at Gamekult

Lich from Fallout Modding Centre has completed his mod for Fallout 2, in his own words:

Finally I've completed the construction of my first mod- which adds two new locations on the worldmap: the Poison Truck and Bunker 21. Although the locations aren't large, they're comprised with nearly 30 scripts. They're certainly worth visiting and in my opinion, quite interesting. Frankly, there aren't that many such mods out and the only one I can compare mine to is the Abbey.

Glowbewohner passed the news that the Fallout fan site www.supermutants.de (German) and the www.supermutants.net (English) has got a new design, courtesy of The Fall's developers, showing that Supermutants.de is a site for Fallout as well as The Fall.

There is a new preview of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. from the French gaming website GameKult. No new information is revealed,, but even so, Oblivion-Lost has provided a translation. However, the most interesting part of this article is the large number of accompanying screenshots.

In addition, the German Krawall Gaming Network has posted an article and photos of the GSC team (the developers of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.) taking part in demonstrations in the Ukraine.

Links:
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. preview at GameKult.
Preview translation on the Oblivion-Lost forums.
GSC article at KGN.

Spotted at Duck and Cover and Oblivion-Lost.

Yup, there's a new (The Fall) patch in town and it's called 1.5, here's some info:

- Fixes in Zusammenhang mit laden und speichern
- Tiere bewegen sich korrekt
- Neue Minimap
- Händler überarbeitet
- Probleme in Zusammenhang mit Rasten behoben
- Probleme beim Werfen mit Handgranaten behoben
- Diverse Korrekturen bei der Vergabe von XP für Quests
- Kampfgeschwindigkeitsregler korrigiert
- Looting in der näheren Umgebung eines Charakters verbessert
- Diverse Questbugs gefixt
- Diverse Absturzursachen bereinigt

Gaist posted a little update to the Wasteland Half-Life 2 project, here's what the man said:

The site is up and running, both behind the scenes and before them, and the first chapter of the story is now up. You can access this via the buttons on the PDA to the left. If you're here, you're probably interested in the nitty gritty details of round two for Wasteland Half-life--- so I'll share some with you to whett your appetite.

Our first order of business and plan is to bring to Half-Life 2 solid and intense deathmatch, the core of our first swing at the mod, and release it in a relatively short time-span. We already have a considerable leg up on this task, and far prior to this site becoming public for your perusal, we'd been hard at work hammering out the vehicle for your wasteland firefights. This initial release could partially be considered WHL: Source, as one way of looking at it, though new additions have been made to the arsenal and cast for such, and the maps included are being done from the ground up- both new locales and a return of old favorites.

We are excited about the prospects of working with steam in conjunction with our plans for content release, and with this engine can conceivably provide new weaponry, gear, and gameplay on a regular basis to those playing. Our team is fast at work forging a path into the exciting new potential of the engine, and the results are simply fantastic. To say the least, I have no doubt you'll be drooling once you see some of the stuff we're pulling off with source.....

It's time for some new Fallout files, this time around we got quite alot added:

1. My Way - By Grendelin
   
2. Plasma Projectile (FRM) - By Wild_qwerty & PsychoSniper
   
3. H&K Total Conversion mod - by Grendelin
   
4. Noistist FOT Campaign (demo) by Noistist
   
5. Pulse Rifle Mod - by Grendelin
   
6. IG-89 - by Grendelin
   
7. Fo Classic Guns (FOT) - by Retlaw83

There is a new S.T.A.L.K.E.R. preview from ActionTrip. Not much new information here, just another S.T.A.L.K.E.R. preview, even if it drags weeks behind the recent rash of them.

The premise in the game is this - you assume the role of an unlucky individual who was brought to the Zone and left there amid a pile of bodies, with no recollection of his previous life and no way of tying the events of the present with his past (something you'll desperately want to do throughout the game). After being nursed back to health by a character referring to himself as "the Dealer," you begin your survival and the search for your lost identity in the Zone by assuming the role of one of the "stalkers." To survive in the zone you have to retrieve artifacts. Artifacts are items that have absorbed radiation and so-called anomalous energy (hmm, I can easily imagine toilet brushes glowing green in the dark). They are, of course, scattered all around the Zone, which refers to the area around the accident site of Chernobyl. The Zone is full of those anomalous Artifacts which are the stalkers' primary source of income and you're after them, but the thing is - other stalkers are after them too. Apart from your fellow stalkers, other unfriendly creatures also roam the Zone, so you'll not only have to collect Artifacts, but try to avoid being killed by mutants and other such abominations.

GothDragon sent us the news that they'd completed the first, final version of the main rule book for a Fallout D20 setting.

It's been awhile since I first announced starting this book on this site, but the first complete version is finished. The book is available at:

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/falloutd20/

There you can download the full rule book (with two larger chapters available in another free Yahoo group), character sheets and player aids.

Anyone with questions or comments can reach me at : gothdragon@yahoo.com , or on the main Fallout D20 Yahoo group message board.

GameConnect Magazine has posted a large preview of Metalheart, ambitiously titled "Everything About: Metalheart: Replicants Rampage." It's 8 pages long with quite a few screenshots, and covers a number of very specific elements of the game (one page being devoted only to the global map, for example).

Metalheart: Replicants Rampage is a role-playing game with a turn-based combat system and a huge game world designed in classical cyberpunk style. The characters live in the dark post-apocalyptic world inhabited by four different races: humans, mutants, cyborgs and mysterious nomads. The player can form a party of up to 6 members with characters belonging to any of the four races. To complete some quests, a player will have to hire different specialists proficient in some particular skill, like snipers, demolishers, welders and many more.
One of the most prominent features of the game is its well-balanced implant system. It allows your characters to wield different devices that alter their abilities. There are three classes of implants which vary depending on the difficulty of their installation.

The game successfully affirms all the best traditions of intelligent RPG such as Fallout and Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura. Metalheart: Replicants Rampage will satisfy even the most refined taste of true connoisseurs.

What's been posted at the Trinity site:

It's time for another update. As you might have noticed, we've been experiencing server problems. At this point everything is all right and we're hoping it'll remain that way. We've got one more thing to say regarding the website - we've dought a domain recently ant thus you can easily navigate to our site by typing in http://trinity.gzt.pl (or simply http://gzt.pl - until our team main page is up). A Forum is available at http://trinity.gzt.pl/forum and http://gzt.pl/forum. More good news follow - the work on the title has sped up, presently the game skeletal structure is under development, the game physics, the scripting system, the location editor and we've also started work on the AI. Recently, the graphical user interface has been designed. A team of our programmers is taking care of all that. But they're not the only ones to be working; The writers are also doing a great job and we estimate that the storyline is ca 40% ready.

For the time being the only thing that falls behind are the graphics. The reason is a purely human one - we don't have enough skilled graphic artists, both 2D and 3D, animators and concept artists. So I'm encouraging every graphic artists to cooperate. It'll be hard to create anything without you guys, and with you... the postnuclear RPG fans will be bestowed on a game they've been waiting a long time for.

As Sajdon remarks in a newspost at Trzynasty Schron, this Polish Fallout fan site had celebrated the fifth anniversary of its founding last week. We can only congratulate and wish them many more years of glory.

Yes, exactly... Today is the fifth anniversary of our site. At 27 November 1999 certain Oozy decided to create the first Polish site about Fallout 3. Aftermath of his strange whim can be witnessed to this very day ... Our site has gone through many ordeals; A few times it's lost the server, sometimes it appeared dead for several weeks, but here we are and we keep on trying. We've seen many sites rise and fall; Today not many of them still exist, but we strive to remember those that mobilised and helped us.

Wild_qwerty emailed me the latest monthly update from the Mutants Rising project, here's some of what was posted:

New forum opened -We have opened our new public forum(s) at the NWS web site - http://forum.nwsgames.net/

Farewell ColJack! -Due to real life creeping back into the fore, it is with great sadness that we say farewell to ColJack (again). To those of you who don't know, ColJack was one of the two founding members of Mutants Rising, the other was Navyguy (anyone know where he went?). Of course ColJack is always welcome back to MR when he has some time on his hands again.

Mod Status -Unknown at this stage, but I can tell you that we are currently a hive of activity, the new members are doing a great job and the old hands are still doing their part. As the saying goes 'Many hands, make light work' so we are always on the look out ...

Demo Status -We are still working on this and have hopefully solved the problems with the buggy dialogs (this was our biggest objection to releasing the demo before). Also the demo will now include a couple of new critters and weapons along with a glimpse of the Mutants Rising story.

Demo Release Date -No date set yet, but we will hopefully begin the next round of testing soon.

Sample Audio -Hometown MP3 -Check out this clip called "Hometown" by Eimink.

New Critter - Female Child -This critter has been modeled by Lisac2k one of NWS' newest members.

Concept Art - Main Menu -Here we have a concept sketch by another new member, soup

The Sigonyth site has been updated with some more background story and the first ever screenshots of the MMORPG project:

As previously announced in the last news, we're updating the web site to match the actual Sigonyth evolution. Today we updated the Colonization History page, there you can find all the details you ever wanted to know about the Sigonyth story, from the "Miracle Zero" construction to the time the players will be involved in.

Ze official site for Metalheart : Replicants Rampage has had an update, with lots of new screenshots and art. The russian page has also been updated with more info on the races, but the english one is not updated yet.

One note-worthy page is the difference between "demo" and the latest build page, here's a snibblet:

3. Texts and Dialogues

”Demo”:
Some dialogues were not complete and were inserted raw to be updated later, thus many of them appeared to be almost unreadable. The main characters weren’t able to communicate with many NPCs. The interface inscriptions were also preliminary version. The English version was made by common developers and could thus look a bit lame .

Beta:
The dialogues are totally rewritten and their structure now appears to be quite similar to what you got used to – a menu with several variants of answering. All the NPCs now have their own unique set of cues. Some logical discrepancy of the narrative and the corresponding dialogues are now fixed. All the texts are now being revised by professional translators.

Kumquat informed me of a thread where MCA (Mr. Chris Avellone, former Bis) talks about the ending in Kotor 2, here's his rant:

I don't know if you've ever played Fallout, but if you haven't, you should. One of the best role-playing games ever made.

In any event, one of the many cool things about Fallout (which may have been done in previous games that I am ignorant of) is that the choices you made with each city you visited in the game caused a different splash screen at the end of the game, describing what happened to the locale in the future as a result of your actions.

The same sort of effect is present in Kotor2, though it does not only apply to planets and their people, but it also extends to your companions as well, depending on how you treated them or how horribly you broke them to your will - if they survived at all.

Splash screens didn't mesh with the Star Wars aesthetic though, so we had to pick a different means of displaying the information within the genre aesthetics. In any event, I wanted to let you guys know so that aside from: Your character's gender, your character's light side/dark side leanings, the 4 different answers to your questions about what happened in K1, you ALSO get variations based on how you solved each planet and how you dealt with each of your companions, so the permutations can get extensive.

In any event, it's all done in the name of replayability - hopefully, each person who plays the game should have some key experiences that are different, and get a different perspective on the story (and beyond).

Corith has announced, in a post in the No Mutants Allowed forums, that he has written an article on Interplay's decline. It summarizes Herve's history as CEO of Interplay and includes personal reflections by Corith.

Herve was not a gamer, nor much of a businessman. In the fall, prior to Interplay's closure. The company produced two, nearly identical products, one of which was ready prior to the Christmas shopping season. Although he had never played either one, Herve held back the completed product back until the first of the year when the second product would be ready, on the justification that they were different enough and they complemented each other. With such a view, it was obvious to everyone, that he had not played either. As a result, Interplay had no products for that Christmas season, resulting in a major loss of revenue.

Herve also failed to understand his consumer base. He came from making games for consoles (xbox, Playstation, gamecube) and pushed Interplay product line toward that market instead of staying with PC titles that Interplay had been renowned for. He also tried to milk a popular title with cheaply made games that had little to do with the original product, other than a similar name. Interplay's customers were not fooled, they knew crap when they saw it. Herve's games did poorly compared to titles created prior to his arrival.

The first online review of the German post-apocalyptic RPG The Fall has been posted at WithinGames. It is in German and spans just over three pages. Overall the game scores 7.0, out of a possible 10.0, though the scores for individual elements are much higher, also, the reviewer has noticed the many bugs in the game. Can't say much else about the review, since I cannot read German.

Link: The Fall German review at WithinGames.

Spotted at RPGDot.

Whiptail Interactive has announced that they will be publishing the action RPG Restricted Area in North America. It is expected to ship in the United States late into the first quarter of 2005. The game is currently available in Germany.

There is an expanded announcement, with comments from the President of Whiptail Interactive and the Creative Director at Master Creating (developers of Restricted Area) at Worthplaying.

Spotted at RPGDot.

Herve continues to string Interplay along, according to this recent post by Corith in the Raging Bull Interplay message board.

From what I've been able to determine, not much has changed.

Herve is still refusing to pay former employees for accrued vacation pay. He is still trying to find a moronic investor with super deep pockets to fund his Fallout: Online concept (although he has no personal or first hand knowledge of such products).

He is claiming insufficient records for filing late. Although, he has enough records after his stealth conversion of salary employees to wage, for hourly calculations.

Lastly, Herve has a very small staff at his shadow company, not more that 5 people. Even president, Phil Adam is frustrated with Herve's actions.

All the same as last month, and the month before that, and the month before that . . .