A new status update has been released for Standoff Episode 4. The next chapter in the famous Secret Ops mod is still a ways from being complete, but work is steadily progressing. Testers are now putting some of the first new missions through their paces, and it sounds like this next episode will be big. It will also include improvements to the Simulator and more missions will be tracked in the Scoreboard. Here's Eder with some specifics.
If you're wondering how long it might take to develop all the missions in this episode, here's something to put things into context - this episode has more missions (including the usual ship selection-based variants, mind you) than Episodes 2 and 3 combined. Don't worry, though, it definitely won't take as long to develop as those two episodes combined. We are still hoping to get both remaining episodes finished this year, after all...
The other thing I should mention is some further simulator changes. When released, Ep 4 will add scoreboard-capabilities to a few more missions (we're not currently sure if that will include all of them, or if some will remain to be done in Ep 5, however)... but that's not all. Pierre has also been working on implementing more DLL hacks to improve the system overall. So, first up - you will never again have to use the 'alswantsmoreships' cheat. All fourteen ships will now be selectable in the sim at all times. The second, and even bigger, change is the addition of further explanatory captions during the battle. Every time you get a special bonus of any kind, the game will explain how many points you got, and why. This will be especially important in the non-gauntlet missions, which will feature a number of special bonuses other than the quick-kill bonus you're already familiar with.
The screenshots below all show off new sim improvements. You can see the game awarding more points for killing a Corvette, noting a quick-kill and displaying information about the current gauntlet wave.
Goku reports that Richard Garriott will be discussing movies based on video games on G4's Attack of the Show this evening. Mr. Garriott was present at the world premiere of the Wing Commander Movie, so it should come up. This episode premieres on Thursday, June 29 at 7 PM Eastern/Pacific. As of this writing, the East Coast has less than an hour before it airs, so good luck trying to catch it. Fortunately, it appears to be replaying on June 30 at 3 AM & 9 AM and July 3 at 4 AM
Video game king Richard Garriott, film guru Chris Gore, and Tomb Raider movie scribe Gary Whitta will be joining us to discuss if Hollywood can pull their heads out of their trendy butts long enough to capture the magic of video games on the big screen or if we'll be subject to horrible adaptations until the sun swallows the Earth and ends humanity.
Edit: The segment with Garriott has aired. Despite being being an interesting talk with the founder of Origin, Wing Commander did not end up being a specific topic. Better luck next time!
Edit 2: Jetlag captured the interview. You can download the 25 meg xvid encoded clip here. The participants are hopeful about movies based on future games with more intricate plots and storytelling methods, but they seem somewhat oblivious to games that have already achieved that in the past.
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