Arky's archives - '04 News

Thought I was MIA? Guess again! It's true I was not online very much (started a new job, tryin' to get used to the new schedule), but I'm still here giving you the latest news! Visit the UFO: Aftermath section as a new patch has been released! Here are some details:

You can download either complete version, which fixes issues from all previous patches or just update from version 1.3, which fixes following issues:

- game does not crash in the last mission when the mind-control is used
- target areas in pilot rescue missions are fixed (bug was introduced in version 1.3)
- impassable corridors in UFO missions are fixed (bug was introduced in version 1.3)
- huge slow-down that occurred in certain outdoor missions was fixed

Also I'd like to point out that the guys at XCOMUFO.com's forums have given me a section of their forum for my website. I feel like I've been given too much, but we might all benefit from using it, so if you have a chance, drop a line in my forum.

I'd like to point out that it has been brought to my immediate attention that I had published the wrong information about Infogrames. In this document, it is clearly demonstrated that Infogrames has purchased Atari, but decided to keep the name to define the entire organization.

In other words, Infogrames bought Atari, and then decided to rename themselves Atari. Thanks to Nicolas for the information.

More news from the Altar team: the UFO: Aftershock is now online! there's not much new info, except for this:

"The year is 2054. Fifty years ago, something terrible happened and the surface of Earth became uninhabitable. The remnants of humankind escaped to an immense flying island, the Laputa. However a revolt against increasingly rigid and corrupt human leadership of the island escalated into a conflict that eventually destroyed it. The survivors of the survivors flee once again. Can they reclaim the Earth from the unknown forces now holding her in their grasp?"

I don't know where it's leading to, as there's a big gap in the storyline, but it's still looking good!

It's official! I've just received news from Altar Interactive that they are doing a sequel to UFO: Aftermath! Here's an excerpt from the newsletter for the new game UFO: Aftershock:

"(...) The Reticulans who invaded the Earth are not true representatives of their kind, they are a breakaway faction that burned the bridges and chose this backwater part of space to conduct its experiments.

The Reticulans would construct a large satellite (several kilometers across) with a closed ecosystem and move the remnants of human population there. The experiment with the Biomass would go on on the surface. Then something went horribly wrong...

* Global strategy - tactical missions and strategic game on the globe
* Sequel for successful UFO: Aftermath
* New amazing technologies and items for development
* New enemies and allies
* Source management, Base management
* Improved SAS system and RPG system
* Strong story

Because I don't have a forum, and because I don't need a forum for myself, I've decided to share my links with my host's forum, XCOMUFO.com. There you can find lots and lots of information, and you might see me there as well! Look in the sidebar to access the forums.

Ok, I may be late in the news, but here's my latest addition to the links page: UFO2000 . It enables you to play multiplayer on either a full working version of X-COM 1 or 2, or the demo. Visit the website for additional details.

For the past 2 days Micah (xcomufo.com) and I have been in contact with Chris Cates (a professional game developer); and here's what we discovered:

Sid Meier did an interview for Gamespot about a game called "Pirates!". At the end of the interview, he points out that his company (Firaxis) has complete access to MicroProse's old licenses, including X-COM. Because most of the interview is about the game "Pirates!", here's a transcription of when it becomes interesting for us:

"Firaxis has made an arrangement with Atari that gives us access to some of our classic titles, like covert action, X-COM, colonization ... most of the games we had association with at Microprose are still owned by Atari and they've been encouraging us to take a look at redoing some of those, so we'd like to hear from our fans and see what they'd like us to do."

So... what are we waiting for? I've already posted the same info on xcomufo's forums, and sent a feedback to Firaxis. Now it's your turn...

To view the interview on Gamespot, click here (free membership required to stream video). The video is called "Developer Interview 1" .