Posted by wmull on Friday, May 11, 2001

While I'm doing a complete re-build of two codebases at once, and taxing my poor PC, I thought I'd a quick .plan update.

Firstly, some people have been mentioning that they think I'm a lead programmer (or indeed any kind of programmer) on SOF2. I'm not. I'm lead programmer on our PSX2 game, but one of my other hats is the programmer of Ghoul2, so I spend a fair amount of my time working on both our current PC projects because they both use it. Just thought I'd clear that up.

So E3. I am going to be there in an official capacity, but doing what I can't say right now. We will most assuredly be demoing SOF2 though, on multiple machines. So come along and see what all the fuss is about, and see if the screen shots we've released so far match up to your expectations.

Personally I'm looking forward to seeing - in no particular order, and assuming they are being shown - Freedom Force, Unreal Warfare, Red Faction, that incredibly pretty game AquaNox - those screen shots are nothing if not beautiful - and definitely the Game Cube Rogue Squadron II. Now that is a game I have been waiting to play for 20 years. I just hope it doesn't suffer from that bad game design decision concerning the At At leg roping that Rogue Squadron I did. I think to be honest from what I've seen this one game alone is enough to sell me a Game Cube. I'd like to see Max Payne, and of course I have to see the DukeNukem video. Halo goes without saying of course. Aliens Vs. Predator II looks like one to watch I'd say, and I'm going to be interested to see what Interplay does with Star Trek : Shattered Universe too.

And lastly, Pat Lipo made us sit through the video tapings from Cyclones this evening. Curse you Pat, I don't think I'm ever going to quite recover from it. Imagine the worst cheesy day time soap acting and multiply it by about 30 and your still not even close. When I say he made us sit through it, I mean it. Thanks Pat. This now means I can sit through 'Freddy got fingered' and not think it's the worst movie ever.

By the way, it should be 'if YOU'RE bored' and not 'if your bored' (i.e., it's not MY bored), Jake! :)


 SoF 2 Forums Posted by wmull on Thursday, May 10, 2001

We just added a Soldier of Fortune II section to our forums, dedicated, you guessed it, to Raven's upcoming SoF sequel! Check it out and post your thoughts, dreams and wishes!


 SoF 2 Gallery Up-to-date Posted by wmull on Wednesday, May 9, 2001

Okay, I've got all of the Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix screenshots that have been publicly released, so if you haven't taken a gander at our SoF 2 Gallery before or lately, you can do so now! This section is updated constantly and usually without notice, so be sure to check it often!


 Gaming For Life Posted by wmull on Tuesday, May 8, 2001

There's an article on Accessmagazine.com talking about online gaming, that features comments from some familiar names, including Raven's Kenn Hoekstra. Here a quote:

Kenn Hoekstra, who designs games, says he knows why Wendel and others like him are so obsessed with the games they play.

"Gaming is more open-ended and interactive than movies and television, so it's easier for people to get drawn into the game worlds where they get to make all the decisions," says Hoekstra, a developer for Raven Software.

Be sure to check out the rest of the article.


 SoF 2 Gallery Added Posted by wmull on Sunday, May 6, 2001

You'll notice on the navbar to your left, we've added a new section, SoF 2 Gallery, presenting awesome, splendorous new screenshots of the upcoming highly-anticipated SoF sequel, entitled Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix! Check it out, and look for the captions under the screenshots that give added information, thanks to Raven's Kenn Hoekstra.


 CGO SOF2 Preview Posted by wmull on Wednesday, May 2, 2001

Computer Games Online has put up a li'l SoF2 preview, which includes only a few literal details, but some new screens showing off the SWEET visual details:

Soldier of Fortune 2 employs the Quake III: Team Arena engine and its own second generation GHOUL II and ROAM Terrain System technology to allow you to ride in armored trucks and tanks and operate fixed machine guns aboard moving helicopters, surrounded by detailed skeletal animations. The system uses "per pixel hit location" to bring us more realistic damage modeling (aka "gore") than ever, although this time around you'll be able to use stealth and subterfuge, rather than just decapitation, to overcome obstacles.

Can't get enough of those SoF 2 screenshots!


 What Year Is It Anyway? Posted by wmull on Wednesday, May 2, 2001

Hmm, seems a little after the fact, but let's not be too picky. EvilAvatar has just named Soldier of Fortune (1) their Action Game of the Year.


 Raven's E3 Doings Posted by wmull on Tuesday, May 1, 2001

Alrighty, as promised, here's the skinny of what Raven will be showing and who'll be attending at this year's E3 Expo, thanks to Kenn Hoekstra, who says:

Raven is showing Soldier of Fortune 2 at the Activision booth on multiple computers. We'll be showing three levels...a Colombia Jungle Level, a Colombia helicopter assault and a Kamchatka base in the snowy mountains. I believe there are 3 - 5 weapons that will be fully functional and several enemy types. Raven will be represented by Brian Raffel, myself, Rick Johnson, Jon Zuk and Pat Lipo. Also attending, though not working, will be Jake Simpson and Clem Samuel.

Since I won't be going this year (boo-hoo :/), if anyone who is going to E3 this year would like to get in touch with me, perhaps we could conspire to report on the happenings with your help.... that's wmull@soldier-of-fortune.com; so if you're going to E3, be sure to drop me a line!


 Little Funny From Rick Posted by wmull on Tuesday, May 1, 2001

Raven Programmer Rick Johnson updated his .plan with a subtle mention of SoF2, but more of an insight into the humorous camaraderie amongst the Raven clan during their late-night sojournes. To whit:

We were going to release pictures of Raven staff actually working on a demo of SoF2 for E3, but instead, I have this little anecdote for you.

On our Cub Foods run, several members of the late night Raven Posse were heading back, and Brian Raffel was talking about his fixation of doughnuts, "You know, the great thing about doughnuts is that you can only have one or two of them, before you start to get sick." And so I ask, "Hey Brian, how many did you buy?" "Three... I couldn't resist, they were only $0.25 each", was his reply.

Stay tuned, we'll have more info on Raven's E3 plans, as that info arrives!