BladesP9 writes "A group of Myth fanatics have made good on their pledge to create a cross platform tool for the Myth III RTS game engine. FlyingFlip Studios has completed its first stage in the creation of a tool for the Mac/PC game Myth III. The tool, named Ballistic, is based on the old Vengeance code which was released to the public by the game's original publisher back in 2003. The update is native to Macintosh OS X, yet works well on Classic Mac OS, and there's also a version for Windows - many will remember the Myth III game shipped with a very basic tool that was Windows only. This same group is making updates to the Myth III game as well and plan an update to be released shortly."

heXXXen writes "The first release of Unreal Annihilation is out now - it's a total conversion for Unreal Tournament 2K3/4 that mimics classic PC RTS title Total Annihilation. However, the first release only supports UT2K3, with 2004 support coming June 6." Elsewhere, an anonymous reader writes "Part two of the Community Bonus Pack for UT2004 has been released, featuring a whole host of new maps, skins, and mutators for the game, with information and screenshots available at FPSCentral. Torrents can be found at PlanetUnreal (UMOD version and ZIP version.) The 'official' CBP2 channel can be found at #cbp on irc.enterthegame.com."

Mr. Fluffyhead writes "This hardcore RTS gamer's rather thoughtful wish list asks the question, if somebody made a 'real' war sim, would anyone want to play it?" From the fake Newsweek cover story about the "Ultralisk Rape Scandal" to Mr. Wong's yearning to break the Geneva Convention in pixel form, this one's a humourous yet realistic look at real time war games.

Thanks to Wired News for its article discussing the use of forthcoming PC strategy title Rome: Total War in a History Channel TV show called Decisive Battles - the piece explains: "As video-game graphics evolve to portray increasingly realistic environments, TV producers are turning to game developers for help in re-creating history." Heartwarmingly, the article continues: "While TV can't compete with the visual spectacles created by big-budget, computer-generated scenes in movies like the upcoming Troy, the History Channel can put viewers in the middle of battles with thousands of men hacking and slashing each other to death." Elsewhere, it's mentioned that the Creative Assembly-developed title "also lent its technology to a BBC series called Time Commanders", in which "teams of contestants [battled] against a computer loaded with the tactics of the greatest military minds of all time."

Thanks to GameSpy for its overview of the changes and interview with Gas Powered Games boss Chris Taylor regarding PC action RPG sequel Dungeon Siege II, due out via Microsoft later in 2004. Taylor, lead designer of the classic RTS Total Annihilation, discusses the original Dungeon Siege ("Overall the response was very positive, and most criticism was offered as a call for features in a sequel"), and reveals features for the sequel including (Phantasy Star Online mag-like?) "exotic pets", of which he explains: "You can buy these and develop them by feeding them different items you find in the world."

Thanks to GamersWithJobs for its interview with Dylan Fitterer of BestGameEver.com, a site which offers a new 3D-engine, freely downloadable Windows PC game every week, one which "either incorporates a new idea or is a refinement of a previous release based on feedback by the players." The FAQ on the official site explains: "The first mission of this site is to prototype all kinds of different games as quickly as possible. So - there will be a new game prototype up for you to try, love, hate, whatever - each Friday", and Dylan says of this: "The constant pressure keeps my productivity up and the regular releases keep me... releasing" - highlights of the many downloadable titles include Riders On The Board, a hoverboard game where the player "flies around the terrain by firing your harpoon into hillsides and giant lava lamps", as well as parking-attendant related "RTS hybrid" Free Parking.

An anonymous reader writes "Halo.bungie.org has made available a video showing the evolution of Halo, from its initial conception as a PC-based RTS game to its final release on the Xbox. The video is 14 minutes long, and is a 'look at some very early builds of Halo, with voiceover and commentary by 4 Bungie employees'. The video was originally shown to a group of Bungie fans at E3 in 2002, and has never been available save 'a [rudimentary] shakycam version' until now - it's being distributed via BitTorrent."

Thanks to IGN PC for its article discussing hints from Chris Taylor of Gas Powered Games regarding a possible follow-up to seminal RTS Total Annihilation. Apparently, at a recent gaming career day, Taylor, the original designer of TA, informally confirmed "...that Gas Powered Games was working on 'an RTS follow-up to Total Annihilation'", but IGN note "it's not exactly clear yet [from his brief comment] on whether or not the game will be a true sequel... or simply a new RTS in the vein of Total Annihilation." Although Gas Powered Games are currently working on a sequel to Dungeon Siege for Microsoft, their jobs page confirms they're also looking for RTS genre artists, and an earlier GameSpy interview discusses this long-under-wraps strategy title. Taylor also mentioned the publisher of this new title is "a big one... one that doesn't also publish operating systems [like Microsoft]" - it seems Atari own the rights to Total Annihilation 2, and previously asked Korean developers Phantagram to develop a sequel before that deal allegedly fell through, though Taylor's game could still be a sequel in concept only.

Zenin writes "Microsoft has graciously released the source code to Allegiance for free on their site. Allegiance was released back in 2000, and rated the 'Best Game No One Played' by GameSpot - this little- known multiplayer space-combat/team-RTS was pretty innovative, yet never took off in the mainstream. Nevertheless it quickly developed a fanatical following - a dedicated community who reverse engineered the game to enable complete mods, expand server power, and much more. A million thanks to Joel 'solap' Dehlin and the rest of the Allegiance development team for making this happen!"

Decaffeinated Jedi writes "GameSpy is running a feature looking at the editors' picks for the top real-time strategy games of all time. Included on the list are such classics as StarCraft, Command and Conquer: Red Alert, and Age of Empires. The article looks at each game's significance to the genre as a whole, as well as offering some reader feedback on the editors' choices. Why not grunt rush their server, have a look at their picks, and share some of your own RTS favorites here?"

0xBulbizarre writes "The long awaited patch to V2.0 for FPS/RTS hybrid Savage is now here, in both Windows and Linux flavors. It's also worth taking the time to read the amazing 2.0 ChangeLog for a list of all the additions, fixes, etc in the new Savage patch, since they've made new units, new visual effects, and plenty of other changes besides - lets support good Linux game makers." We've previously covered this reasonably well-received 'acquired taste' of a title, and elsewhere, HomeLan Fed is reporting on unconfirmed rumors from "highly placed sources" that Savage publisher iGames may be closing its doors, but that "[Savage developer] S2 Games is still in operation and will continue to support and add onto Savage as planned." Update: 01/22 00:15 GMT by S : A follow-up at HomeLan Fed has the CEO claiming "rumor of [iGames'] closing was started by an innocent miscommunication [with the company's] former COO."

Thanks to Empires Heaven for their interview with Stainless Steel Studios' head Rick Goodman regarding the PC RTS title Empires: Dawn Of The Modern World. He discusses why the game will become a trilogy by using expansion packs ("One of the compromises I think you make in Civilization 3 is, to cover that [large of a] period of time, you can't cover any one period very in-depth"), and the circumstances that led to his split with Age Of Empires creators Ensemble Studios, which he co-founded ("Ensemble wanted to do their next game in a year, and I told them that I wasn't the kind of guy that could do a game in a year and I should probably go off and take whatever time I needed and let them take the time they needed.") He concludes by discussing the difficulties of development: "One thing you learn [in the industry] that most gamers don't understand: that game development is a series of compromises."

Thanks to the IGF website for revealing their list of nominees for the 2004 Independent Games Festival awards, which have been running since 1998 "to encourage innovation in game development and to recognize the best independent game developers." The finalists in the 'Open Category' include everything from "blend of puzzle and action" Fuzzee Teevee, budgeted at a mere $10,000, to the $1-1.5 million "FPS and RTS [hybrid]" Savage: The Battle For Newerth. The 'Web/Downloadable' category also has some interesting entries, from seeing "two possessed cue-balls duke it out in realtime battle" courtesy of Kung-Fu Chess follow-up Billiard Boxing, to recently-featured "puzzle-based massively multi-player online roleplaying game" Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates.

Thanks to EGM for their article discussing the latest Electronic Arts games based on the Lord Of The Rings movie franchise. In talking to executive producer Neil Young, previously creator of unconventional online title Majestic, the existing, well-received Return Of The King game is dissected, but there's also information on further LOTR games due in 2004. Young discusses the already unveiled "[PC] RTS game we're developing called The Battles of Middle-Earth, which is being developed by our Los Angeles studio by the team that did Command & Conquer Generals", but also talks about "a new game - currently entitled The Lord of the Rings Trilogy... due out by the end of next year." According to Young, this multi-platform action title strives not to be a sequel too far: "The idea isn't to just take you back through the fiction again, but to give you some other characters who you might not expect to be able to play, and really extend the multiplayer features.. [and] develop the online feature."

Thanks to GameSpot for their guest 'GameSpotting' editorial discussing the perceived decline of the real-time strategy genre. The author argues: "While there have been unusual bright spots on the RTS gaming scene, the overall look of it is pretty grim. Most games offer very little when it comes to revitalizing the genre, and eventually they even fail in rekindling old interests that faded away when we let go of Command & Conquer and Warcraft." He finishes with a call to arms, citing Command & Conquer: Generals ("[a] dearth of interesting strategies") and Age Of Mythology ("[offering a] rote formula") as examples of this lack of innovation, and urging: "Only you can stop the market from regurgitating the same old titles, and maybe even encourage it to make a few nudges in the right direction."

Thanks to OgreCave for their review of Fantasy Flight's boardgame version of seminal PC RTS WarCraft. The review starts off: "Ladies and gentlemen, WarCraft has left the computer, and this time it's survived", and continues: "Where Eagle's Age of Mythology conversion focused on all the little complex details of resource building, putting the whole game there, FFG's WarCraft makes the crucial change of putting the board back in." He concludes: "Basically, if you're looking for [in-depth, detailed] stuff to chew on, it's unquestionably here, but the focus is on fun, and that's what gets delivered." Elsewhere, there are some additional scenarios for the game already available on the official site.

1eyedhive asks: "After seeing some interest in the Programming for the Single-Handed article a few weeks back, I became interested in applying some of these solutions to gaming. There are very few ambidextrous (let alone left-handed) apparatuses that provide the functionality required for decent FPS/RTS gaming. Any ideas on a solution, or at least a helpful fix that won't break the bank? A little background: I have hemiparisis (partial use of my right arm/hand/leg/foot), as such, I depend almost 100% on my left hand to do everything, from programming to gaming, I have enough use of my right hand to operate 2 arrow keys at a time, but the rest must fall on my left hand or feet (including the mouse)."

Thanks to OgreCave for their article discussing the imminent arrival of the Warcraft-licensed board game, adapting Blizzard's classic RTS series for paper-gaming. They point to a new article on maker Fantasy Flight Games' site, where "...designer Kevin Wilson described his desire to have an endless variety of scenarios for the game, and how victory points and interchangable board pieces will make it possible." The game itself, shipping later this month, will have "13 board sections alone, helping bring the game's component count to over 400 pieces", but despite the large amount of units, an earlier article describes the design goal: "...to create a fun, relatively simple game that could be played in under 2 hours while still capturing enough of Warcraft's charm to have players yelling 'Zug zug!' and 'At your command, my Lord!'"

Ant writes "According to Blue's News, there's a playable demo for S2Games' FPS/RTS hybrid, Savage: The Battle for Newerth now available, providing the chance to sample multiplayer under either Windows (143 MB) or Linux (155 MB)." There are also BitTorrents of the Windows demo and the Linux demo, courtesy GameTab, for this welcome Linux-friendly title, recently cause for controversy when GameSpot pulled a review of it after "...allegations by the game's developers that the reviewer of the product did not play it for a sufficient length of time."

Thanks to OgreCave.com for their first look at the Age Of Mythology board game, as Ensemble/Microsoft's popular RTS title follows the trend of videogames like Warcraft, and gets translated into a tabletop game courtesy of Eagle Games. The writer sees parallels to another popular new boardgame, saying "Given how much people talked about Puerto Rico's similarity to real-time strategy games when it came out, it just seems a little... strange to me that it and its designer aren't mentioned here", but overall, reckons this newly-released game "...looks like it'll be a blast to play."