Subsim Updates
28 June 2003
Flash Traffic from Tesseraction Games
Enigma Signs Publishing Deal for NA/AUS/NZ
"We have signed a publishing deal with DreamCatcher Interactive (www.dreamcatchergames.com) for North/South America. Release date is sometime in July. The paperwork went out on Thursday and was accepted on Friday."
"We have also signed a publishing deal with Auran Publishing of Brisbane Australia for the Australia/NZ territory. Release scheduled for July."
"Here is also a little pre-announcement: warfleet.net will begin a serialized novel presentation in the very near future. This novel will share the timeline with the retail singleplayer and give our players a taste for what we plan in the future. We will be publishing a chapter per week. Watch for a press release on Monday about David Bischoff - our newest writer (veteran of 40+ novels including a NYT bestseller)."
"Be sure to get setup over at the tides of war jabber server: www.tidesofwar.net/~jabber/ for the Sunday live update at 11:30am PDT."
--Kelly Asay, Exec Producer
Tesseraction Games
Full post here
Enigma Signs Publishing Deal for NA/AUS/NZ
"We have signed a publishing deal with DreamCatcher Interactive (www.dreamcatchergames.com) for North/South America. Release date is sometime in July. The paperwork went out on Thursday and was accepted on Friday."
"We have also signed a publishing deal with Auran Publishing of Brisbane Australia for the Australia/NZ territory. Release scheduled for July."
"Here is also a little pre-announcement: warfleet.net will begin a serialized novel presentation in the very near future. This novel will share the timeline with the retail singleplayer and give our players a taste for what we plan in the future. We will be publishing a chapter per week. Watch for a press release on Monday about David Bischoff - our newest writer (veteran of 40+ novels including a NYT bestseller)."
"Be sure to get setup over at the tides of war jabber server: www.tidesofwar.net/~jabber/ for the Sunday live update at 11:30am PDT."
--Kelly Asay, Exec Producer
Tesseraction Games
Full post here
25 June 2003
It had to happen! 2003 is the Year of the Pirate. First Sea Dogs II/Pirates of the Caribbean, then Pirates of the Burning Sea, and finally, news of Sid Meier's upcoming remake of Pirates!... now comes word of a Battlefield 1942 adaptation for Pirates. The mod is really raw and still in alpha state but the existing content and design indicate the Capt. Guy Smiley and the dev team are clever and serious. You can set sail in various size ships, from sloops to galleons to submarine units deemed "turtles" after the Revolutionary vessel.
The sailing and cannon firing interface is more complex than one would expect with a Battlefield mod but does allow one to control the ship and guns well. Shore cannons and fortresses with gates and docks provide shore battles worthy of a good mod.
The best part: the dev team has a keen sense of humor and has interjected subtle levity in the game. If it's a pirate's life for you, check it out!
BattleField Pirates!
The sailing and cannon firing interface is more complex than one would expect with a Battlefield mod but does allow one to control the ship and guns well. Shore cannons and fortresses with gates and docks provide shore battles worthy of a good mod.
The best part: the dev team has a keen sense of humor and has interjected subtle levity in the game. If it's a pirate's life for you, check it out!
BattleField Pirates!
19 June 2003
Subsim intercepted a transmission from the Tides of War dedicated Enigma Jabber chatroom. Follows are new and latebreaking news items about Tesseraction's naval game, Enigma: Rising Tide. Our intel suggests the speaker is none other than the notorius master planner, East:
////BEGIN INTERCEPT
"....Spent a good portion of yesterday ...and working on the retail-kit for Enigma. Completely re-did it with a screenshots package, game profiles, links, demos, sell-sheets, the works. We have received the preliminary offerings from 2 publishers so far - destination North America. We also received a mock-up box for the USA release - It looks really good.
We have had a range of proposed box art and most of them show what publishers tend to think of gamers....they are really simplistic and obvious. On the North American front we are also pursuing a self-distribution angle. Yes, that means we have all the pieces in place to get it done except the manufacturing and promotional costs.
Flyable aircraft is well on it's way as is the first phase of multiplayer. While we are working on a free feature patch at the moment, we expect to have the ability for the office to set sail together by the end of the month. We are going to start posting the development progress on warfleet.net beginning this next week.
Here's a peek at the upcoming patch: Fixes to several missions including USA Sub 5, LFN Sub 7, IGN Surface 10a,10b and enhancements to several others:
• Newly remodeled aircraft (which you will be able to fly at Christmas) which include...custom numbering, noseart, squadron markings and camo patterns. You will see these active in all the current missions.
• a batch of new patrols including a "set sail" patrol
• New explosion and sinking effects
• new voice command and control features (binocular selecting...)
• fire control teams (fires will now be put out by your crew).
• a huge increase in performance and a huge decrease in memory footprint
• greatly improved ship to ship collision handling, many fewer incidents of "sticky boat" syndrome
• enhanced debris and particle systems - much more realism
• Ship camo has been redone, ship textures are sharper and better defined
• several crash bugs have been fixed
• a complete cursor system has been added; this includes the ability to right click target an enemy ship in the viewport
• implementation of a stabilize camera option. Currently the camera is always stabilized to the horizon (decreases sea sickness dramatically)
• DC Depth, Torpedo running depth and speed will all be adjustable; we plan on also giving you the ability to store patterns for DC runs, favorite depths, etc. Depths, etc. will be a type of selector so that it matches the look and feel of the hud. - no windows menus, just interface analogs
We are finalizing the Australian release with Auran... We are also finalizing the North American release with DreamCatcher. We have had to postpone our goal of World Domination (and self-distribution) until later due to lack of capital. Timescales on US & AUS: July, around the 4th
The patch currently has increased performance about 33%, lower texture memory usage ,smaller overall memory footprint, optimized routines, and externalized compressed textures. Many of these things are courtesy of one of our new programmers - Greg 'Jett' Lancaster. The graphics setup are now being done so you use sliders to adjust particles, visible distance, FX levels, etc. makes the game playable at lowest settings - you can still see what's going on.
You will love the rocket propelled torpedoes later....
We do have a new writer coming on board David Bischoff - 40 books published including a New York Times best seller, interesting guy.
The other main feature in the patch is new camera work...the camera has been made to match "human" capabilities as far as correcting for pitch and roll. You will hurl in heavy seas.... it looks amazing and completely upgrades the experience. PT's feel like speedboats now. Camera follows the rotation of the boat (pitch, roll) but is damped to simulate the human desire to remain upright - plumb and perpendicular to the horizon. It is no longer instant and you get the sensation of muscles being involved...
Something already planned: the ability to call for help, rescue, air support, and re-supply AND new orders.
And, finally, to round out the future roadmap...
We are currently planning 12 new ships and 24 new aircraft for the Christmas release.... real numbers will be smaller, but that's the goal. The Schnelleboot comes in 1938 End of current singleplayer is October 1937. We may give a precursor - big, slow, easy to kill. SP shows the new technology/capabilities, then MP gets it...."
END OF INTERCEPT ////
Want to get out the bright lights out & interrogate the Skipper of TG yourself? Just come along to the dedicated Tides of War Enigma Jabber chatroom on a Sunday evening (UK time).
Thanks to Buxton!
////BEGIN INTERCEPT
"....Spent a good portion of yesterday ...and working on the retail-kit for Enigma. Completely re-did it with a screenshots package, game profiles, links, demos, sell-sheets, the works. We have received the preliminary offerings from 2 publishers so far - destination North America. We also received a mock-up box for the USA release - It looks really good.
We have had a range of proposed box art and most of them show what publishers tend to think of gamers....they are really simplistic and obvious. On the North American front we are also pursuing a self-distribution angle. Yes, that means we have all the pieces in place to get it done except the manufacturing and promotional costs.
Flyable aircraft is well on it's way as is the first phase of multiplayer. While we are working on a free feature patch at the moment, we expect to have the ability for the office to set sail together by the end of the month. We are going to start posting the development progress on warfleet.net beginning this next week.
Here's a peek at the upcoming patch: Fixes to several missions including USA Sub 5, LFN Sub 7, IGN Surface 10a,10b and enhancements to several others:
• Newly remodeled aircraft (which you will be able to fly at Christmas) which include...custom numbering, noseart, squadron markings and camo patterns. You will see these active in all the current missions.
• a batch of new patrols including a "set sail" patrol
• New explosion and sinking effects
• new voice command and control features (binocular selecting...)
• fire control teams (fires will now be put out by your crew).
• a huge increase in performance and a huge decrease in memory footprint
• greatly improved ship to ship collision handling, many fewer incidents of "sticky boat" syndrome
• enhanced debris and particle systems - much more realism
• Ship camo has been redone, ship textures are sharper and better defined
• several crash bugs have been fixed
• a complete cursor system has been added; this includes the ability to right click target an enemy ship in the viewport
• implementation of a stabilize camera option. Currently the camera is always stabilized to the horizon (decreases sea sickness dramatically)
• DC Depth, Torpedo running depth and speed will all be adjustable; we plan on also giving you the ability to store patterns for DC runs, favorite depths, etc. Depths, etc. will be a type of selector so that it matches the look and feel of the hud. - no windows menus, just interface analogs
We are finalizing the Australian release with Auran... We are also finalizing the North American release with DreamCatcher. We have had to postpone our goal of World Domination (and self-distribution) until later due to lack of capital. Timescales on US & AUS: July, around the 4th
The patch currently has increased performance about 33%, lower texture memory usage ,smaller overall memory footprint, optimized routines, and externalized compressed textures. Many of these things are courtesy of one of our new programmers - Greg 'Jett' Lancaster. The graphics setup are now being done so you use sliders to adjust particles, visible distance, FX levels, etc. makes the game playable at lowest settings - you can still see what's going on.
You will love the rocket propelled torpedoes later....
We do have a new writer coming on board David Bischoff - 40 books published including a New York Times best seller, interesting guy.
The other main feature in the patch is new camera work...the camera has been made to match "human" capabilities as far as correcting for pitch and roll. You will hurl in heavy seas.... it looks amazing and completely upgrades the experience. PT's feel like speedboats now. Camera follows the rotation of the boat (pitch, roll) but is damped to simulate the human desire to remain upright - plumb and perpendicular to the horizon. It is no longer instant and you get the sensation of muscles being involved...
Something already planned: the ability to call for help, rescue, air support, and re-supply AND new orders.
And, finally, to round out the future roadmap...
We are currently planning 12 new ships and 24 new aircraft for the Christmas release.... real numbers will be smaller, but that's the goal. The Schnelleboot comes in 1938 End of current singleplayer is October 1937. We may give a precursor - big, slow, easy to kill. SP shows the new technology/capabilities, then MP gets it...."
END OF INTERCEPT ////
Want to get out the bright lights out & interrogate the Skipper of TG yourself? Just come along to the dedicated Tides of War Enigma Jabber chatroom on a Sunday evening (UK time).
Thanks to Buxton!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
EA AND DIGITAL ILLUSIONS ANNOUNCE DEVELOPMENT OF BATTLEFIELD VIETNAM
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., June 18, 2003 - Lock and load your M-16 and grab your flak jacket, it's time to hit the jungle in Battlefield Vietnam™. Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS) announced today that Battlefield Vietnam for the PC is under development and expects to debut in early 2004. The title will be published and distributed by Electronic Arts under the EA GAMES™ brand.
The Battlefield franchise is entering a new era with more firepower and beautiful yet ferocious new combat settings. Staying true to the over-the-top, action-packed multiplayer style that gave Battlefield 1942™ its critical and commercial success, Battlefield Vietnam will drop players into some of the Vietnam War's fiercest battles. Fighting in theatres from jungles surrounding the Ho Chi Minh Trail to the city streets of Hue, players will choose from two well-equipped forces, the United States or the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and Vietcong.
Offering an arsenal of weapons and vehicles authentic to the Vietnam conflict, players will battle in first-person perspective. The workhorse vehicle for the U.S. during the conflict was the helicopter and it will serve the same purpose in Battlefield Vietnam. The NVA will be outfitted with many Russian-made vehicles including the T-54 tank and Mig-21 jet. Taking a step forward from its franchise predecessors, Battlefield Vietnam will allow passengers to fire from moving vehicles and players will have the ability to airlift other vehicles via helicopter. The game will also deploy new rendering and sound engines that will help take players deeper into the 1960's mindset.
Battlefield Vietnam, like its brethren Battlefield games, allows players to join forces on teams in games up to 64 players over the Internet, or jump into single player action. Battlefield Vietnam is being developed by Digital Illusions Canada, a subsidiary of Sweden-based Digital Illusions.
###
EA AND DIGITAL ILLUSIONS ANNOUNCE DEVELOPMENT OF BATTLEFIELD VIETNAM
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., June 18, 2003 - Lock and load your M-16 and grab your flak jacket, it's time to hit the jungle in Battlefield Vietnam™. Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS) announced today that Battlefield Vietnam for the PC is under development and expects to debut in early 2004. The title will be published and distributed by Electronic Arts under the EA GAMES™ brand.
The Battlefield franchise is entering a new era with more firepower and beautiful yet ferocious new combat settings. Staying true to the over-the-top, action-packed multiplayer style that gave Battlefield 1942™ its critical and commercial success, Battlefield Vietnam will drop players into some of the Vietnam War's fiercest battles. Fighting in theatres from jungles surrounding the Ho Chi Minh Trail to the city streets of Hue, players will choose from two well-equipped forces, the United States or the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and Vietcong.
Offering an arsenal of weapons and vehicles authentic to the Vietnam conflict, players will battle in first-person perspective. The workhorse vehicle for the U.S. during the conflict was the helicopter and it will serve the same purpose in Battlefield Vietnam. The NVA will be outfitted with many Russian-made vehicles including the T-54 tank and Mig-21 jet. Taking a step forward from its franchise predecessors, Battlefield Vietnam will allow passengers to fire from moving vehicles and players will have the ability to airlift other vehicles via helicopter. The game will also deploy new rendering and sound engines that will help take players deeper into the 1960's mindset.
Battlefield Vietnam, like its brethren Battlefield games, allows players to join forces on teams in games up to 64 players over the Internet, or jump into single player action. Battlefield Vietnam is being developed by Digital Illusions Canada, a subsidiary of Sweden-based Digital Illusions.
###
13 June 2003
TRANSMITTING USS DEVILFISH PATROL REPORT:
130800ZJUN03
FLASH FLASH FLASH FLASH FLASH FLASH
FM USS DEVILFISH SSNX-1
TO USSDEVILFISH PATROL REPORT ADDRESSES
SUBJ PATROL REPORT 0603
TOP SECRET HAMMER
//BT//
1. (TS) NEXT NOVEL WILL KICK OFF A NEW
SERIES, SET IN PRESENT DAY, FIGHTING PRESENT
DAY THREATS.
2. (TS) NEW SERIES GUARANTEED TO SURPRISE
AND DELIGHT ALL READERS OF THE PACINO
SERIES. LAUNCH DATE UNDETERMINED,
HOWEVER, STAY TUNED TO FUTURE PATROL
REPORTS.
3. (TS) INTELLIGENCE HAS REPORTED THE
INCURSION OF CERTAIN SUBMARINE FICTION
COMPETITORS INTO USS DEVILFISH OP-AREA.
ADDRESSEES URGED TO EXERCISE DUE CAUTION
PRIOR TO READING SAID MATERIAL AS IT MAY
LEAD TO DEADLY DISAPPOINTMENT.
4. (TS) TO ALL SUBMERGED UNITS COMUSUBCOM:
GOOD HUNTING AND REMAIN UNDETECTED.
5. (S) AUTHOR OF TERMINAL RUN, MICHAEL
DIMERCURIO, SENDS.
//BT//
************************************************
THE NEW NOVEL AND THE NEW SERIES
I get a huge number of emails a day asking, "when's the next novel coming out?" It's a bit like asking a pregnant woman when the baby is due. There is a due date, but the baby comes when it is ready. The first contractions are starting, so it won't be long before it goes to the publisher.
This book is a completely new series. It will have all the great elements of a DiMercurio yarn: submarines, characters that step right off a submarine deck, conniving bad guys, amazing (but interesting) technology, but now there's a host of new characters, fighting today's submarines in today's battles.
The Pacino series may come back depending on reader demand, but try the next novel and see for yourself how well this comes together.
The title - I can't disclose the title because my juiciest titles are finding themselves on other people's books (how about that new TV show THREAT MATRIX - did someone read THREAT VECTOR and like the sound?). For now I'll call it TITLE CLASSIFIED.
Stay tuned for more on this one. I guarantee you'll love it.
See you at test depth,
Michael DiMercurio
*******
Michael DiMercurio's books:
TERMINAL RUN
THREAT VECTOR
PIRANHA FIRING POINT
BARRACUDA FINAL BEARING
PHOENIX SUB ZERO
ATTACK OF THE SEAWOLF
VOYAGE OF THE DEVILFISH
and THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO SUBMARINES
with Michael Benson
For more submarine action, see www.USSdevilfish.com
130800ZJUN03
FLASH FLASH FLASH FLASH FLASH FLASH
FM USS DEVILFISH SSNX-1
TO USSDEVILFISH PATROL REPORT ADDRESSES
SUBJ PATROL REPORT 0603
TOP SECRET HAMMER
//BT//
1. (TS) NEXT NOVEL WILL KICK OFF A NEW
SERIES, SET IN PRESENT DAY, FIGHTING PRESENT
DAY THREATS.
2. (TS) NEW SERIES GUARANTEED TO SURPRISE
AND DELIGHT ALL READERS OF THE PACINO
SERIES. LAUNCH DATE UNDETERMINED,
HOWEVER, STAY TUNED TO FUTURE PATROL
REPORTS.
3. (TS) INTELLIGENCE HAS REPORTED THE
INCURSION OF CERTAIN SUBMARINE FICTION
COMPETITORS INTO USS DEVILFISH OP-AREA.
ADDRESSEES URGED TO EXERCISE DUE CAUTION
PRIOR TO READING SAID MATERIAL AS IT MAY
LEAD TO DEADLY DISAPPOINTMENT.
4. (TS) TO ALL SUBMERGED UNITS COMUSUBCOM:
GOOD HUNTING AND REMAIN UNDETECTED.
5. (S) AUTHOR OF TERMINAL RUN, MICHAEL
DIMERCURIO, SENDS.
//BT//
************************************************
THE NEW NOVEL AND THE NEW SERIES
I get a huge number of emails a day asking, "when's the next novel coming out?" It's a bit like asking a pregnant woman when the baby is due. There is a due date, but the baby comes when it is ready. The first contractions are starting, so it won't be long before it goes to the publisher.
This book is a completely new series. It will have all the great elements of a DiMercurio yarn: submarines, characters that step right off a submarine deck, conniving bad guys, amazing (but interesting) technology, but now there's a host of new characters, fighting today's submarines in today's battles.
The Pacino series may come back depending on reader demand, but try the next novel and see for yourself how well this comes together.
The title - I can't disclose the title because my juiciest titles are finding themselves on other people's books (how about that new TV show THREAT MATRIX - did someone read THREAT VECTOR and like the sound?). For now I'll call it TITLE CLASSIFIED.
Stay tuned for more on this one. I guarantee you'll love it.
See you at test depth,
Michael DiMercurio
*******
Michael DiMercurio's books:
TERMINAL RUN
THREAT VECTOR
PIRANHA FIRING POINT
BARRACUDA FINAL BEARING
PHOENIX SUB ZERO
ATTACK OF THE SEAWOLF
VOYAGE OF THE DEVILFISH
and THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO SUBMARINES
with Michael Benson
For more submarine action, see www.USSdevilfish.com
10 June 2003
Star of Disney's Highly-Anticipated "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" to Narrate New Swashbuckling Adventure for Xbox and PC
May 30, 2003 (Rockville, MD) -- Bethesda Softworks® announced today that actress Keira Knightley will narrate the thrilling role playing video game, Pirates of the Caribbean. Knightley stars in Disney's upcoming feature film, "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" which opens in theaters nationwide on July 9th. Slated for a June 2003 release for the Xbox(tm) video game system from Microsoft and PC CD-ROM, the Pirates of the Caribbean game offers players the most realistic pirating action to date.
"We are thrilled to have Keira Knightley join the project," says Todd Vaughn, executive producer of the Pirates of the Caribbean video game. "Adding her talent and voice to the game greatly enhances this deep, rich gameplay experience."
In addition to her role as the female lead in "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl", being produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, Keira Knightley can also be seen in the current box office hit, "Bend It Like Beckham" for which she won the Best Newcomer Award from the London Film Critics. Knightley was recently cast as Guinevere in the upcoming Bruckheimer action film, "King Arthur."
"I'm delighted to have the opportunity to work on this exciting project," said Knightley. "The Pirates game will be a wonderful extension of the film and I'm sure the gaming public will enjoy it immensely."
Developed by Akella and Bethesda Softworks, the Pirates of the Caribbean video game is a unique role-playing experience with an intriguing storyline, which gives players the ability to explore everything the world has to offer. Deciding to become a cold-hearted mercenary for hire, a peaceful and profitable merchant or a swashbuckling pirate will influence future interactions. Gaining wealth and experience gives players the opportunity to hire crewmembers, sail larger ships, and uncover priceless treasures.
08 June 2003
The popular Palm O/S submarine game ShipHunt has revamped their website. A new, streamlined web portal offers players easy access to the testimonials, support, screenshots, features, and download page with style. The Support section includes a detailed layout of ShipHunt's elaborate command consoles and a section with tactics and tips. If you are a Palm or Palm O/S Pda owner, check it out!
ShipHunt Website
ShipHunt Website
