Daily News
by Gail Helmer

[ Send Us News | Archives ]

Friday, May 18, 2001

E3 Report Day 1
Be sure to check out our E3 Report for Day 1. Click here

Return to Castle Wolfenstein Website Live
In conjunction with E3, Activision has announced the id Software and Activision's official Return To Castle Wolfenstein Web site click here. Featuring declassified information from the Office of Secret Actions (OSA), the Return to Castle Wolfenstein Web site includes background on the game, insight into the inner workings of Himmler's occult obsession, an in-depth mission briefing and comprehensive reports on the unholy inhabitants of the Nazi citadel.

Developed by Gray Matter Interactive Studios in conjunction with id Software, Return to Castle Wolfenstein is the heart-stopping follow-up to one of the most revered PC games of all time. As B.J. Blaskowitz, an Army Ranger recruited into the Office of Secret Actions (OSA), players infiltrate the twisted bowels of the Third Reich to battle horrific super-soldiers, zombies and mutants forged in the unearthly experiments of Heinrich Himmler. Built on the powerful QUAKE III Arena(tm) engine, Return to Castle Wolfenstein delivers fast-paced action and white-knuckle suspense. A frightening, action-packed adventure teeming with shocking paranormal experiments, nightmarish SS weaponry and bone chilling encounters with the Fuhrer's unrelenting warriors.

NVIDIA Releases Linux Drivers
NVIDIA has announced that the new Linux drivers are now live on the site. Click here

Wednesday, May 16, 2001

PC News

IL-2 Sturmovik Delayed
Ubi Soft Entertainment has announced a revised release date for the eagerly awaited World War 2 flight simulator IL-2 Sturmovik. Originally slated for Spring 2001, additional fine-tuning of the single and multiplayer aspects of the game mean that IL-2 will be pushed back for a release in November 2001.

In a statement made by Ubi Soft, the November release date will allow developers Maddox Games extra development time to add even more polish to the game, and also to incorporate feedback from the 300 pilots that have successfully applied for beta testing. Ubi Soft Entertainment is planning to release the demo for the game in September, so that gamers can get a full taste of the game in advance of the final release.

Commenting on the revised release date was Ubi Soft Brand Manager for IL-2, Vincent Munoz: “Ubi Soft are delighted with the game, and at the interest already shown in IL2. And whilst gamers must wait a little longer, A November release allows us and the developers at Maddox Games time to ensure that the final game is even better and becomes a benchmark title in the genre.”

Star Trek Expansion Pack Released
Activision, Inc. has announced that Star Trek: Voyager Elite Force Expansion Pack has shipped to retail outlets nationwidee. Giving players free reign of the ship in an interactive tour mode and features a host of new multiplayer maps and game mods. The expansion pack includes 10 decks of the ship, two new single player campaigns, 21 multiplayer maps and 12 new character models. It also feature five new multiplayer game modes: Assimilation, Specialties, Disintegration, Elimination, and Action Hero.

New Falcon Flight Simulator Announced
Falcon Lives! G2 Interactive, Inc., a Texas-based interactive entertainment publishing company, has signed a Letter of Intent with Infogrames Interactive, Inc., an affiliate of Infogrames, Inc. (Nasdaq: IFGM), that would grant G2 Interactive, Inc. the right to develop and publish titles based on the Falcon line of flight simulations.

G2 Interactive and its wholly owned development group, Force 12 Studios, were established to create high-fidelity military simulations for multiple entertainment platforms. G2 Interactive is lead by President/CEO Claude Cavanaugh. Claude has a wealth of development experience and brings with him previous military contractor and aerospace experience, including the Apollo manned space projects and tenure at Lockheed Martin Missile and Fire Control Systems. Force 12 Studios will be lead by Eric Marlow (a.k.a. "Snacko" to the flight sim community). Eric brings interactive entertainment industry experiences as well as experience leading the after-market "mod" group known as the Falcon 4.0 Realism Patch team. Eric will be Executive Producer at Force 12 Studios with the forthcoming Falcon-based products.

G2 Interactive / Force 12's goal of producing high-fidelity military simulations and their dedication to support the Falcon line of products will delight those who enjoy this immersive genre. G2 Interactive / Force 12 will also seek product opportunities that open the simulation experience for users of hardware platforms not typically associated with simulation entertainment, such as console-based machines.

Wilco Announces Airport 2000 V3
Wilco Publishing has announced Airport 2000 Volume 3, its new add-on for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000. Set for May 23 release, the new edition will reprise the precise airport recreations that originally put the series on simmers' radar--this time with seven new airports. It will also add greater interactivity for each flight adventure, the ability to insert flight plans into the Flight Management Computer (FMC) included for the first time in this volume, and evaluations of desktop pilots' performance on each flight.

Interplay Announces Their E3 Line-up
At this year's E3, Interplay is showcasing new titles such as Hostile Waters(tm): Antaeus Rising and Starfleet Command® - Orion Pirates. Developed by Rage Software, Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising combines powerful real-time strategy with action elements as players take command of a super-powerful aircraft carrier/manufacturing platform. Players create military units with their carrier and command their army against the forces of the Old World Cabal. Then, when their plans are laid, players will take control of their units, leading from the front lines in intense third-person action!

The latest addition to the critically acclaimed Star Trek: Starfleet Command® franchise, Star Trek: Starfleet Command® - Orion Pirates, will also be shown. Currently in development by Taldren, Starfleet Command - Orion Pirates is an original expansion to Star Trek: Starfleet Command®: Volume II - Empires at War that allows gamers for the first time to battle for or against Star Trek's legendary Orion Pirates. Orion Pirates adds dozens of new missions, new weapons, and new ships, along with new single player campaigns as well as an improved interface and new crew voices.

Military News

Lockheed Martin X-35 Test Update
Flight-Ready STOVL Propulsion System Crews, this week, begin installing the flight-ready shaft-driven lift fan in the Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighter X-35B at the company's Palmdale, Calif., plant. The flight engine is scheduled for installation next week, with engine runs planned by month's end.

All flight-related activities are proceeding on schedule. First STOVL flight is targeted for late June or early July, when the aircraft begins a series of vertical takeoffs and landings. Transitions to and from STOVL and conventional-flight modes will follow.

The X-35B, with more than 27 hours of flying time on its airframe, has completed all of its conventional-flight requirements.

The aircraft is currently in a maintenance/modification period after completing its STOVL propulsion ground-test series. Disassembly and inspection of the STOVL propulsion hardware is continuing ahead of schedule, following the successful completion of the Accelerated Mission Test (AMT) series last month. The AMT's primary purpose is to demonstrate propulsion system durability.

Initial AMT inspections indicate the STOVL propulsion hardware emerged from the demanding tests in excellent overall condition.

The shaft-driven lift fan propulsion system includes a thrust-vectoring rear nozzle, wing-mounted roll ducts that provide lateral control and additional thrust, and a Rolls-Royce counter-rotating fan mounted immediately aft of the cockpit driven by a Pratt & Whitney F119-611 engine via a drive shaft. The fan's cool thrust multiplies the engine's lifting force and contributes to a more benign ground environment.

Tuesday, May 15, 2001

PC News

Flanker V2.51 Beta 6 Released
SSI has announced that the Beta 6 release of V2.51 is now available for downloading. The file is a about 2.6 MB in size. This Beta 6 is being considered as a candidate for the release version of 2.51. Unless there is a major problem introduced by Beta 6, this will be the final beta release for v2.51. Click here for complete download details on the Beta 6 release.

Advanced Fleet Command V13 Released
The Warship Database Project has released this latest installment which includes 15 new graphics, 11 new units, and a new country. Alot of various fixes and enhancements with these two updates. IMPORTANT: FC V1.32 is required for WDP-AFC V13. Click here to check it out.

Fighting Steel Project V3.0 German Version
The Naval Warfare Simulations Team has released the German Version for Fighting Steel Project V3.0. Click here to check it out.

NVIDIA Announces Quadro Dcc Graphics
NVIDIA has announced the Quadro DCCTM, the premiere professional graphics solution certified for real-time character animation, next-generation game development, and visual effects production. This new solution from NVIDIA features built-in support for programmable vertex shader and programmable pixel shader technology, enabling real-time rendering of a virtually infinite palette of special effects - unlocking the power of digital content creation software, such as 3ds max TM 4, Discreet TM’s award-winning 3D modeling, animation and rendering program. ELSA® will sell the Quadro DCC as the ELSA GLoria TM DCC exclusively through Discreet’s vast network of 3ds max resellers.

Conquest: Frontier Wars Announced
Ubi Soft Entertainment has signed a deal with Digital Anvil Holdings to publish Loose Cannon and Conquest: Frontier Wars worldwide. The two projects were originally handled by Digital Anvil, an Austin, Texas based company founded by Chris Roberts. Roberts is one of the stars of the development world, best known for the wildly successful Wing Commander series. Eric Peterson, the original producer of the game, has opened his own development house called Fever Pitch Studios, Inc., to finish work on Conquest: Frontier Wars, which is slated for release in the 3rd Quarter of 2001.

Conquest: Frontier Wars is a 3D real-time strategy game that takes place in solar systems around the galaxy. Aimed at RTS players ages 18 to 35, the game-play is reminiscent of tactical situations faced by the U.S. and Japan in the Pacific theater of World War II - but now those events are played out on the modern battleground of space.

Military News

Successful System-To-System Test Of AMSTE
Northrop Grumman Corporation's Integrated Systems Sector (ISS) successfully completed the first of a set of system-to-system flight tests as part of a contract to develop an Affordable Moving Surface Target Engagement (AMSTE) capability. The test took place May 10 at the Eglin AFB, Fla., test range. This one-year, $12 million project is funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Special Projects Office, in conjunction with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome, N.Y. The purpose of the AMSTE program is to develop a system that locates and identifies a ground target moving at up to 50 m.p.h. and destroy it with an affordable precision weapon.

The test was conducted by ISS's Airborne Ground Surveillance and Battle Management (AGS&BM) Systems business area. This exercise was designed to test the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System's precision ground moving target indicator (GMTI) coupled with a Joint Strike Fighter GMTI radar developed by Northrop Grumman's Electronic Sensors and Systems Sector in Baltimore, Md. The equipment was mounted on a BAC I-II test bed aircraft and gathered precision GMTI engagement quality track data in real time.

Data gathered will validate algorithms and system-of-system design for a late summer test at Eglin AFB, Fla., where a low-cost precision weapon produced by Lockheed Martin Missile and Fire Control in Orlando, Fla., will be dropped on a moving target.

"We want to be able to find and follow those targets that are trying to evade detection and hit them with a small, affordable precision weapon," said Bill McCall, senior program manager at AGS&BM Systems in Melbourne. "With this capability, we'll be able to reduce collateral damage and deny the enemy sanctuary of movement. Our aim is to design flexible architecture that will work with multiple intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms, multiple attack platforms and multiple weapons, all with a standoff, all-weather capability," he said.

Boeing Flies FLIR Pod On F-15E
Boeing last month tested on its F-15E1 aircraft the advanced forward-looking infrared targeting system, or FLIR, the U.S. Navy will install on Boeing-built F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft.

E1 flew the Raytheon-provided system, called Terminator, for more than six hours during three flights to evaluate its FLIR imaging and designation capabilities as well as the ease of integration.

"Terminator's imagery and pointing accuracy were outstanding," said Boeing test pilot Joe Felock. "It is a very impressive system."

Boeing operates E1 as a technology demonstrator aircraft. No modifications to the aircraft were needed, as the Terminator interface is compatible with interfaces for the Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night pod that F-15s already carry.

Besides a self-cooling capability required by U.S. Air Force fighters, the only difference between Terminator and the Raytheon Advanced Targeting Forward Looking Infrared system, which Boeing is integrating on the Super Hornet, is one processor card that translates the F/A-18 interface to the F-15E.

The first flight occurred within three weeks of Boeing receiving the pod. Such rapid integration is an outgrowth of Bold Stroke, a Boeing Phantom Works initiative that promotes an open-systems architecture approach for the company's products.

Bold Stroke is showing how adopting commercial computer technologies and standards across multiple aircraft can help reduce avionics costs in military systems. "This is another validation of Bold Stroke's emphasis on open-systems architecture across Boeing platforms and on transitioning technology to production programs," said Reg Varga, who oversees Bold Stroke.

During the flights, E1 also carried the Airborne Video Solid-State Recorder built by Fairchild Defense, a Smiths Industries Company. The device stores in-flight video and audio on a computer disk rather than tape. The multi-channel recorder is based on commercial standards and interfaces; it offers better imagery and reliability than videotape systems now in use.

US Navy Tests Trident II D5 Missile
A US Navy TRIDENT II D5 Fleet Ballistic Missiles (FBM), built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. was successfully launched in a test conducted today from the USS KENTUCKY (SSBN 737) at the Eastern Test Range off the Florida coast.

The test was another in a continuing series of operational evaluation tests conducted by the Navy to monitor the safety, reliability, readiness and performance of the TRIDENT II D5 Strategic Weapon System (SWS).

The missile represented the 91st consecutive successful test of the TRIDENT II D5 Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) and continue the impressive string of successful test launches that began in December 1989.

"The D5 missile's performance continues to exceed even our most wildly optimistic expectations," said RADM Dennis Dwyer, Director, US Navy Strategic Systems Programmes. "No other large ballistic missile or space launch vehicle in the world has amassed such a remarkable record of reliability and launch success. This is true testament to the dedication, skill and engineering excellence of our missile system prime contractor, Lockheed Martin, Missiles & Space Operations."

TRIDENT II D5 is a three-stage, solid propellant, inertial-guided submarine-launched ballistic missile. It is 44.5 ft in length, 83 inches in diameter, weighs 130,000 lbs., has a range greater than 4000 nautical miles, and carries up to eight Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicles (MIRVs).

Trident II D5, the sixth generation of fleet ballistic missile developed by Lockheed Martin for the US Navy, is presently deployed in the Atlantic Ocean. The US Navy plans to deploy the D5 missile system into the Pacific SSBN fleet over the next several years.

BAE Completes Live-Fire Tests On TIRCM/CMWS
BAE SYSTEMS in support of the Advanced Threat Infrared Countermeasures/Common Missile Warning System (ATIRCM/CMWS), has completed a rigorous series of live fire tests.

The tests, conducted by the US Army at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, April 4-24, 2000, complete another major phase of the US Government Development Test/Operational Test (DT/OT) programme -- a critical requirement for the Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) decision early next year.

ATIRCM/CMWS is the next-generation countermeasure to protect aircraft from infrared-guided missiles.

During the tests, live missiles were fired at an infrared source located near the ATIRCM jammer and CMWS sensors -- both of which were mounted on a cable car simulating an airborne vehicle such as a helicopter. Ten test flights were successfully completed, with missiles launched from different angles and ranges.

Scenarios involved both single missiles and multiple missiles launched simultaneously, and at various distances.

The full ATIRCM/CMWS system, being developed at BAE SYSTEMS under an engineering and manufacturing development contract, consists of passive missile warning, active infrared jamming and improved countermeasure dispensers. The system is currently designated for installation on the US Army AH-64, UH-60, CH-47, EH-60, and various other aircraft.

[ Send Us News | Archives ]

Click Here for Printer Version

© 2014 COMBATSIM.COM - All Rights Reserved