Bad Company 2 In Game Footage Released.

Infinity Ward's latest Call of Duty offering is debuting an all-new gameplay experience with Special Ops mode. Based on co-op centric, arcade-inspired challenges, Spec Ops mode is broken up into five tiers of missions, each allowing for up to three stars based on difficulty. Players can jump into Spec Ops from the main menu at any time -- it's completely independent from multiplayer or the main campaign mode -- and begin earning stars to unlock the next tier of missions, starting with Alpha, and moving to Bravo, Charlie, Delta, and Echo. All in all there are 23 challenges to check out (a few of which are co-op only), for a starting total of 69 stars in all.

Armed Assault Final Patch Plans and new beta patch release

Maruk released a statement about Bohemia Interactive's Armed Assault support plans as well as a new beta patch on the BI forums.


Quote Maruk :
I would like to apologize for massive delay with finalization of Armed Assault version. Release of Arma II required much more effort than we could imagine. However, we did not forget our previous title and we still intend to leave it in as good shape as possible.

We are aware there are some critical bug fixes already in 1.16 and we also managed to do some more fixes in 1.17 that we hope may increase stability and future compatibility of ARMA I.

We intend to use 1.17 as the very last EXE revision for first ARMA.
We currently have very little resources to test this new revision and we ask the community to help with testing it. If you still have Arma 1 and have time to test this latest version please give it go and post your observations to the forums.

There is only one thing that matters in this regard is that the version 1.17 does not introduce any serious new issues not present in 1.14 (the last official version). All other issues has to stay.

We will be reading the forums in next 1 or 2 weeks and hopefully make 1.17 the final official release for Armed Assault very soon.

Patch 1.17 (BETA)

Ubuntu 9.10 brings web sync, faster bootup, GNOME 2.28

The Ubuntu Linux distribution has received a major update today. The new version, Ubuntu 9.10, will introduce several significant new features and will deliver the latest version of the GNOME desktop environment and other applications.

This is the eleventh release of Ubuntu since the project's inception five years ago. The distribution has achieved an unprecedented level of popularity in the Linux desktop ecosystem and has attracted a considerable audience. Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, touts the new release as its best yet and says that the latest improvements will take the Ubuntu user experience to the next level.

Ubuntu 9.10, codenamed Karmic Koala, is the first release to include Ubuntu One, Canonical's new Web synchronization service. The service has gained several new features, including support for synchronizing contacts from the Evolution mail application and notes from Tomboy. Users can activate the Ubuntu One service by launching it from the Applications menu in the GNOME panel.

The new version of Ubuntu also offers an improved startup experience with new artwork and significantly improved boot performance. There are minor usability improvements throughout the entire distribution thanks to the Papercuts project, an initiative launched by Canonical to address user interface weaknesses in GNOME and other upstream projects. Ubuntu 9.10 has a new framework for programmers called Quickly that will automatically generate code templates to help get application development up and running faster.

GNOME 2.28, the latest version of the GNOME desktop environment, brings some nice enhancements to Ubuntu 9.10. This is the first version of Ubuntu to include GNOME's Empathy instant messaging client and overhauled audio preferences tool. Empathy has support for voice and video chat, Adium themes, and a number of other features.

Other important upstream software shipped with Ubuntu 9.10 includes version 2.6.31 of the Linux kernel and Firefox 3.5, which adds new features like private browsing mode and support for the HTML 5 video element.

"Ubuntu 9.10 gives users more reasons than ever to seriously consider Linux at a time when many are thinking again about their operating system options. We are delivering a platform for users interested in an easy-to-use, great-looking, web-friendly operating system," said Canonical COO Jane Silber in a statement. "A faster, more beautiful boot and login sequence, file and contact synchronisation through online services and great experiences on the most popular notebook, desktop and netbook models continue to drive Ubuntu into the mainstream of computing choices."

The Ubuntu development community has also released updated versions of the Ubuntu server and netbook editions along with a number of other variants such as KDE-based Kubuntu. For more details, check out the feature tour and official release notes. Users can download the new version from the Ubuntu website. Watch for our detailed review next week.

Source

Topic: Download DirectX 11 for Vista

DirectX 11 is now available for Windows Vista users through a new Platform Update for Windows Vista available automatically through the Windows Update function. Essentially, what Vista SP2 users will be getting is the latest iteration of the DirectX platform. DirectX 11 is in no way a single component. It is, however, a sum of technologies packaged together. The Platform Update for Windows Vista Beta offers the complete new DirectX package, allowing end users and developers to take advantage of components such as DirectWrite, Direct2D, Direct3D 11, Direct3D 10 Level 9, and DXGI 1.1. In addition, the download will also deliver Windows Graphics, Imaging, and XPS Library updates to the Windows Imaging Components, XPS Print API, and the XPS Rasterization Service. Following the integration of the Platform Update for Windows Vista Beta, customers will have the same DirectX technologies on Windows Vista as in Windows 7. With two versions of Windows (Windows 7 and Windows Vista) now supporting DirectX11 I expect game developers will embrace using the API in their games than they did with DirectX10.

STALKER: Shadow Of Chernobyl £3.50!!! on Steam

If the lack of MW2 is leaving a hole in your game collection it might be time to pick up some that you missed. Steam has a great offer on at the moment, STALKER: Shadow Of Chernobyl for £3.50 until Monday November the 4th. (not sure of US price – presumably around $5?) There are some interesting mods for this game. If you didn't get this game at the time this price is not an easy one to ignore.

Skulltag 0.98a Classic Doom online

Welcome to Skulltag!
Remember Doom? Skulltag makes it even better.

Skulltag is a port for the original Doom and Doom II by id Software.

Skulltag brings classic Doom into the 21st century, maintaining the essence of what has made Doom great for so many years and, at the same time, adding new features to modernize it, creating a fresh, fun new experience.

Skulltag

Here's why you should kill your time with Skulltag, versus vanilla Doom:

* Excellent online play

o Client/server architecture: play and switch between games with ease
o Supports up to 32 players
o Wide array of gameplay modes
+ Competitive: Team DM, Duel, CTF, Possession, LMS, Terminator, Skulltag
+ Cooperative: Survival, Invasion (or both!)
+ Modifiers, like Instagib and Buckshot, can be used to spice up any game.

* Modern and beautiful

o Choose between GZDoom's OpenGL renderer, or Doom Software
o Useful features like a console, Quake-style key bindings, freelooking, and jumping
o Full, enthusiastic support for ZDoom and GZDoom mods
o Support for Heretic, Hexen, and Strife, as well as Linux/FreeBSD

* Innovative new content

o Announcers and skins for online play
o Runes, new weapons, and new monsters for modders
o 50 new, well designed stock maps for any game mode
o Bots, and support for custom bots

* So much more!