Many of you might know that PC Gamer has dug up some info on LucasArts latest RTS title, Star Wars Battleground. For those out there who haven't seen the article or whom may not own the latest PC Gamer edition, I have scanned in some pictures of the full article. Please note that each image file is around the 200k mark. It may take a while to load on some connections.

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Cog Warehouse, a new site for cogging, was recently put on the web. Its most important elements are the cog repository, forums, and the "Request-A-Cog", which can be accessed in the forums. Cog Warehouse is located at http://www.digitalrice.com/members/cogwarehouse/.

Millennium recently updated several times with following stuff.

• New tutorial - How to change HUD
• Hot thread - Talking about latest Enhancement pack into details on the forum.
• More info - More information are added for EnhancementPack ME.

So be sure to check it out.

It's been about four months or so since the last bit of news came out of the DFLev website, but a lot has changed since then. Recently, a new website was acquired. (http://www.dflev.f2s.com) instead of the old, long address. Despite the inactivity of the site, the members of the group itself have been doing work on Jedi Knight mods.

If you've played the Starfighters MOD, any of the version from 1.0 to 3.5, you can expect the final version to be released sometime within the next two months. Starfighters 4.0 will include different firing modes, more ships than ever before, and even new weapons!

The other new project happening at DFLev is the Invasion! MOD Levels we're putting together. The COGs were posted on the site, and DFLev saw those COGs as pure oppertunity. We've based a whole new kind of JK Gameplay off of it, and we are STILL thanking the guy who thought it up and posted the COGs.

For more information on both of these projects, please visit the DFLev website at http://www.dflev.f2s.com and expect the release of these two projects to happen in the near future! Until next time, c-ya around!

Elyas's Domain has re-opened its doors, finally up and running. The Current Projects section now contains screenshots of my newest project, Life of a Merchant, or LoaM. I've uploaded my enemy pack - which should (hopefully) appear here for download. Until then, get it at my site.

BIG NEWS! LucasArts has announced "Star Wars, Jedi Outcast, Jedi Knight II". It's being developed with Raven Software on a modified Quake III engine. It's expected to be released next Spring.

In the tradition of the multi-award-winning Jedi Knight, rebel agent Kyle Katarn returns in exhilarating first-person action. Several years have passed since Kyle avenged his father's death and saved the Valley of the Jedi from Jerec and his band of Dark Jedi. Allowing his Force powers to languish for fear of falling to the dark side, Kyle entrusted his lightsaber to Luke Skywalker, vowing never to use it again. But when a new and menacing threat to the galaxy emerges, Kyle knows he must reclaim his past in order to save his future. Jedi Outcast is being developed in partnership with Activision's critically acclaimed devloper Raven Software. Players assume the role of Kyle as they employ a unique mix of weapons, Force powers and your lightsaber in both single- and multiplayer modes.

• Expanded and enhanced use of the lightsaber features a slew of attack and defense moves
• Tap into the powers of the Force including Jump, Push, Jedi Mind Tricks and more
• Employ combat or stealth, depending on the situation. When a fight is necessary, be at the ready with an arsenal of weapons: stun baton, Bryar blast pistol, blaster rifle to name but a few.
• Explore breathtaking Star Wars locales--Cloud City, the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4, Nar Shaddaa, the smugglers' moon--plus some never-before-seen locations
• Two multiplayer modes: Jedi training and team-based cooperative play
• Developed in conjunction with the critically acclaimed Raven Software using an advanced Quake III™ engine

Another new feature in Jedi Knight II is the game's buddy system. Through the course of the single-player campaign, you'll run into several NPCs, some of whom you'll be able to partner with. During the demonstration, LucasArts spawned in one such "buddy" while Katarn was facing a lightsaber-wielding boss character, and the ensuing fight looked remarkably like the spectacular fight between Qui Gon, Obi Wan, and Darth Maul in Episode I. Raven, no stranger to visual splendor, is incorporating a lot of eye candy into the game as well. Lightsabers leave red-hot scorch marks in any surface they touch, including floors, walls, and pillars. Additionally, the developers have implemented the GHOUL 2 animation system from Soldier of Fortune II into Jedi Knight II, and they've doubled the polygon capacity of the Quake III engine.

Environment effects are great too. There's glass that Kyle can leap through. This demo had a section where Kyle dueled another Jedi on a polished floor, with crystal clear reflections of the combatants and their sabers. It looked like a set piece from one of the movies. You can also damage the walls with the lightsaber, making angry yellow and red scars in a shower of sparks. If you stand too close to the wall when using an elevator, you leave a straight line all the way up between floors. The damage eventually disappears, but it sure looks cool in the meanwhile.

The game takes place approximately 4,000 years before the Star Wars movies. However, space travel still exists, and the universe is still very technologically advanced. You'll traverse worlds like Tatooine, which will look very familiar to you and yet contain enough subtle cues to remind you that these are ancient times.

• The Gamesmania article linked to below was submitted by ZeroXcape, a staff member of JediKnight.net, one of the original Jedi Knight sites. Apologies on behalf of the staff here for not including that link. By the way: the preview lists the release date as Spring 2001, which is incorrect. The official projected release date is Spring 2002.
• TheForce.net Games is reporting that JK2 will have a strong tie to Episode II. Thanks to MrRavenX of Phoenix Knights for this link.
• RobZilla noted that IGN has posted an interesting preview of JK2. It's basically a recap of the known information, as well as a description of the in-game footage they were able to get a look at.

The game will also use the same GHOUL 2 code used for locational hit detection being developed for Raven's other title, Soldier of Fortune 2. "You can tell if you hit them in the head", explains Pettit, "and if you hit them in the head, they die instantly." If you've played the original Soldier of Fortune and severed someone's arm with a rifle shot, you'll have a good idea what to expect in Jedi Outcast when you hack away at enemies with your lightsaber.

I got to demo Jedi Knight II for Justin Chin at the Lucas Arts booth. That was a cool moment. He seemed to be into what we are doing, which is important I think. Trying to continue the whole spirit of the original game is very important to us. The reaction we got from almost everyone for both SOF2 and JKII was extremely gratifying to be honest, and makes some of the long nights worth it.

Spaff: A lot of people are annoyed at the massive amount of Star Wars games and the so far lack of the said "50/50" ratio of Star Wars to original titles.

Simon Jeffery: Its still absolutely our intention and strategy to be 50 percent Star Wars and 50 percent non-Star Wars. You've got to remember that the games we're showing now have been in development for quite a while and at E3 next year there will be a lot of new, original titles that are not Star Wars. It just takes a long time to get there. We're not ready to say what they are yet because I think that there's not point in trying to get people over-excited about something that they won't be able to see for 12 to 18 months. Yeah, we could have shown some [original] games we're building in-house now, but then everyone would be upset at us for showing games too early. Its difficult to please everyone all the time, I guess.

Okay, enough sappy crap. DarkJedi86, Archimedes, whatever you wanna call yourself, you'll be missed by the rest of the staff here at Massassi. You were always up to beta-test whatever I was working on. And no matter how much it sucked you'd always call it cool. I'll miss having an ego boost like that, and fear that I will get people's honest opinions from here on out. Anyways, I just wanted to post a farewell note and sing you a goodbye song. Okay, just the note. - Peace.

Well, anyways, if you're trying to run Jedi Knight on Windows2000 with DirectX 8.0 installed, then you might run across the problem of the JK launcher telling you to reinstall DirectX 5 for Win9x/ME. If this is the case, just right click on your link in the programs menu, go to properties, and tell it to refer to the JK.exe (or JKM.exe if you're playing Sith) instead of the launcher program. And bing-badda-boom, there you have it. It runs fine on Windows2000, and no more problems.

• Download BackToBed.com Server
• Download Obi-WanKenobi.net Server
• Download EscapeMI.com Server
• Download GameDose.com Server
• Aglar's Server
• Massassi.net Server

ZeroXcape: What's your relation with Fan sites like jediknight.net, massassi.net, and mixnmojo.com? Do you ever give them insider information?

Haden Blackman: Personally, I visit those sites every day, as do many people at LucasArts. :) As a company, we're trying to involve the fan sites more and more. At the same time, we don't want to "scoop" our official sites, like LucasArts.com or StarWarsGalaxies.com.

Another force power that I got to see included the ability to throw the light saber. I was impressed with the fact that in one scene there were multiple entrances to a room. The light saber was thrown and even though it went around a corner when I ran into the next room it appeared through another entrance and returned to my hand. Very cool effect!

Here's a personal example, I recently uninstalled a program, yet it still remained in my Add/Remove applet in the Control Panel. TweakUI lets you even get rid of problem programs like that. And you'd expect to pay what; $19.95 for an awesome utility such as this? But no folks, this program can be yours for the low-low price of a 110k download. So go grab it now directly from Microsoft's TweakUI Page. After you guys use it, tell Brian Lozier how much you like it, as he's still using an outdated version.

Here's the typical story: You download a free program, try it out, and either like it and keep it or uninstall it and never think about it again. But did you know that many programs have buddies that they invite along onto your system, whether you leave the original on there or not?

This is called Spyware because it uses installations and/or registry entries into your computer to leave resident applications that send people information about you. Most commonly, it records your email addresses and when you're connected to the internet it sends this to a database where others can draw from to send bogus ads.

I know this situation sounds hopeless, but fear not good citizens! There are those that would stand up and fight against such diabolical underhandedness. One such group is LavaSoft, who makes a program called Ad Aware, which is available free for public use. I installed it on my computer, and found 7, count 'em, 7 Spyware programs in my system. Take into account that I'd only been using my current hard drive for a month, so there's no telling how many hidden utilities there are floating around on older computers.

So, without further delay, get thee to Download.com and rid yourself of this high-tech cancer.