Old News

Just a quick blurb to mention that from a very relaxing vacation. Work is going to be crazy the next couple of days, but after that I hope to get my new Defending the Monolith review done and start work on one for the new BloodBath. Speaking of which, I got a chance to play BloodBath 6.0 for about a three minutes this morning fiddling with a single-player on-foot level. So far, it looks pretty cool . . .

Ack, June is over already!

Just another friendly vacation update. We hope to be back home on the 29th. I saw on PlanetShogo that BloodBath 6.0 has been released. One major bug is that some weapon textures do not show up when using 16 bit textures. I usually use 16 bit textures with my TNT so this may be a major issue. You can download the mod here.

I saw on the Shogo-MAD forum that there's a new Shogo website in the UK called Padwah's Shogo Shed. He's looking for any suggestions for stuff to put on his site. Zing him an email with your suggestions!

In the off-topic department, my wife and I went to see The Phantom Menace again this week. What a cool movie!

I'm on vacation, yet I update--using the cheesy Win98 FTP client and Notepad, no less! Don't try this at home, kids!

I just wanted to mention how weird it is that the 2.3 patch is mentioned on the Shogo forums, but there is no mention of it on the Shogo patch page. Are the server map fix and the AMD 3D-Now! renderer the 2.3 patch? Let's hope not! Let's also hope that modders have no problems converting their mods to 2.3.

In case you missed it, Jeremy Blackman and Mike Dussault updated their .plans. Much to no one's surprise, Shogo was not mentioned.

Egads! The Shogo patch page has been updated (for the first time since March 10). It looks like the 3D-Now renderer and the server level patches are almost done. Also in two separate messages on the Shogo Forum, Bob (a Lith tech-support guy) said:

"I know we're testing the new 2.3 patch, but I don't know what all is being tested"

And in response to a question about when the 2.3 patch would be released, he replied, "We're currently testing it, but it's anyone's guess as to when it will magically appear on shogo-mad.com."

I'm in the process of writing a new review of Defending the Monolith version 2.0. With the help of Zematus and Quantus (thanks guys!) I have screenshots of all the new MCA models. In the meantime, download the mod and play it!

I emailed Lithology on Monday for information about hosting the Haus on their site. I still haven't heard anything from them, so that might not be the greatest idea . . .

Bunghole has released the source code for TOW Arena in the hopes that someone can find the level-change bug in the dedicated server. My partner in crime, The Master, will be taking a look at the source and seeing what he can find. The Master is also getting a copy of Shogo (finally!) so I can show him the wonder and glory that is Shogo.

I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow and will not return until the 28th or 29th. If I go crazy and load Arachnophilia on my parent's computer, I may do some updating. I will be checking my email regularly. Sadly this means no Shogo for a week. How will I survive?

The Phantom Menace was incredible. I was happy to see that Obi-Wan had "a bad feeling about this" in the very first scene.

Quantus and I played Squishie with a relatively new MAD called GTR tonight. Check out their website here. We had a great time battling them, and I hope to do so again soon. Welcome aboard, guys!

The Haus gets a much-needed face-lift. Let me know what you think of the new format! Look for our new features, Ask Joltox (name subject to change) and Quantus' Qorner, to begin soon!

I saw on PlanetShogo that someone is starting a Star Wars mod that may eventually become a full-blown total conversion. It's really new (the site just opened on the 11th), but check it out and see what they have planned. Speaking of Star Wars, my wife and I are finally going to get to see The Phantom Menace on Wednesday. I think I'm the last Star Wars geek on the planet to see it.

I saw yesterday that Interstate82 had released a single-player map pack. I decided I'd download it and play a bit before reporting on it. You can download it for yourself here. To play the levels, load the rez and start single player. There are three maps, a brand new one, a new version of his well-known Maniac Mansion map, and one based on MCA_ENTRANCE. I played through the first map and part of the second. I am very impressed so far. Download the pack and check it out for yourself!

Consider this a formal challenge to the Shogo mapping community. Make more single-player maps! Need an idea? Here's one: write the storyline branch that never made it into Shogo. If you tell Kura you're not dating anyone, let Shogo end normally. If you tell her you're taking Kathryn, then the new storyline kicks in. Ready? Go!

More Squishie goodness! Wraith has an updated version of Squishie 2.2 which reportedly squashed most of the bugs. As soon as it's done downloading, I'm going to give it a spin. Download it here (yes, it's the same filename as the previous release).

Defending the Monolith version 2.0 is ready for download! Get it here. It's almost 8M so you may want to pack a lunch.

Here's the scoop. All the classes have all new models and skins. The weapons all have skins now. There are four new actions you need to add to your autoexec.cfg, which put an icon above your head telling if you are happy, mad, in need of a medic, or in need of an airlift. The team-change and class-change commands are accessible through the console (type "help" for a complete list). It comes with three new maps.

Right now there are two DTM 2.0 servers up: Fierce Koala's at 198.164.141.183 and Awol's at 38.176.0.8. Download the mod and head over to either server! Thankfully, the bug that prevented DTM servers from showing up on Gamespy has been fixed. Tonight's Shogo Party is supposed to be DTM, I would assume they will be using the new mod as well.

Everybody (including myself) has been complaining that Monolith has abandoned Shogo. I decided to zip a couple questions off to Loki to see if he could give me any insight into Lith's plans. Here's what he had to say:

A.T. Hun: Is work still being done on a Linux server?

Loki: Yes. The Linux server is largely done (and in fact, compiles under FreeBSD as well; some work is needed if it's to compile under SunOS/Solaris, though). Unfortunately, there's a resource bug I'm trying to track down; I made the judgement call not to release the server until that bug is fixed due to the severity of it.

There you have it. The Linux server will be released. I'm still trying to find information on the 2.3 patch and the multiplayer start-point patch for servers. I'd like to thank Loki for taking the time our of his busy schedule to answer my question. Thanks, Loki!

Whoa! Here's some news that I've only been waiting for three months for. Wraith has ported Squishie (the Man vs. Mecha mod) to Shogo 2.2! It's beta and a bit buggy, but playable. Download it here! Wraith also mentioned that Awol has a Squishie 2.2 server running right now. You may not be seeing me for a while :) I played the new Squishie for a bit this afternoon. It's pretty rough, but it's still a lot of fun. Keep up the good work, Wraith!

The EZ-Net Shogo server is now running the BloodBath mod! Download the mod (and the 5.0.1 patch, if you'd like) and hop on. Kudos to the good folks at EZ-Net for running this sweet server!

Now that I've had a relatively good nights sleep, I've finally finished my review of BloodBath 5.0.1. Check it out here!

While I was thinking about it, I also did some housekeeping on my mods page and my links page.

I know I shouldn't post when I'm tired and upset, but I'm going to do it anyway. I started the Haus on December 28 because I really liked the game and felt there wasn't enough news or information readily available. But since the 2.2 patch has come out (March 10), Lith has functionally dropped Shogo. No Linux server, no 2.3 patch, no multiplayer start-point fix, no 3D-Now! renderer. Nothing. Zilch. Zippo.

I've got notes taken for several more reviews and a bunch of other cool stuff, but I'm wondering if it's even worth the effort. I was asked to join the PlanetShogo staff, but I've had a hard time deciding. Can I really help keep Shogo afloat, or am I stuck on a sinking ship? If anyone has any thoughts on this one way or the other, please let me know. I've had a lot of fun and I've put in a lot of time on this site. Is it worth it? You tell me!

Sorry for the lack of updates recently. There may be some rather interesting changes around here shortly . . .