Silent Heroes has released a little video...pretty good for a 1.26mb file. Here's the official explanation...Take a look in the movie-section for some trivial little flic with unclear message. The author must clearly have been high on...something. It's pretty funny in it's own way :)...You can find it on their movie page here...

This reported by Jono CA... the 2nd SS is making a movie about XWWII as well...release date should be in the next few days...

Non-BF42 related...There's a new Desert Rats demo out there and it looks pretty interesting. Currently I'm downloading it and we'll see if there's time but it looks to be a pretty good project. You can find out more at their homepage here...

DCX .6 is nearing completion and had a number of screenshots released of some very interesting items! Here's the lowdown...Infantry improvements
We've added a bunch of new handweapons for you foot soldiers. We've also organized these weapons and DC's original weapons into a number of kits. Some of these kits are automatically used on certain maps, some of these kits can be found laying on the ground and most of these kits can be found in our new armoury.
Aircraft - Many aircraft have been upgraded in DCX .6. We've introduced several variants of different aircraft with different seating and different weapons. And many other enhancements including; 11 versions of the F-16 (single seat and 2 seaters), MH-53, H-6 series "ittlebird", Mi-8, SA-342 "Gazelle" and UH-60. All our helicopters with wheels having rolling and steerable wheels. This greatly improves landing and take-offs as well as giving them the ability to taxi on the ground. Several other enhancements were also done. You'll just have to find them.
Ships - Several ships have also been upgraded for DCX .6. The most noticable is the Nimitz which now travels with DCX enhanced aircraft, modified spawnpoints etc.
Single player support - Another thing you will notice is the improvements for single player support. We've fixed a number of bugs DC has left behind that didn't allow bots to use certain vehicles. We also improved weapon and vehicle handling by the bots. Single player gaming is now much more fun and the bots are much more agressive and accurate.
Maps - Also in this release are 2 new exclusive DCX maps; SE Alaska and Hidden Airbase. We've also enabled single player support for 2 more maps; Operation Bragg and Inshallah Valley. And as usual we've allowed the new DC maps to be used with DCX vehicles. We also added all the maps with single player support to single player campaign.
Other stuff - There's also plenty of other things we've modified and added all over the place. Much of which hasn't been mentioned here. You'll just have to discover them in-game. If you're familiar with DC (Desert Combat), you'll notice some of the more subtle modifications. We think you'll enjoy them. Hang on, DCX .6 is coming soon. And we think you'll like all the new stuff we've added. Here are some of the awesome photos and there's more at their homepage here!!!

I was looking through some sites and came across some older photos that I thought should get some 'airtime' again. Really, these are some awesome Forgotten Hope pics! If you have any other pics that you think we should feature send them to our contact address...jpegs only!

There's 'talk' of 1.6 being released this weekend....sounds like speculation to me but I thought I'd pass it on anyway...who know's, it's a boy or girl? It a guess at the best of times...

I hadn't heard of this one before but I thought I'd pass it on in case you were wondering why you kept getting killed at a particular point in the Omaha Map...this from [CAT] 25th Soldier Select....Just got off the MOB Zulu Omaha beach server. While there I witnessed the most blatent act of cheating, I could not believe it. I'm playing Allies, storming the beach. I hit the top middle flag and lay prone (In the square zone adjacent to the wall of where the flag is) Next thing I know I'm killed by a Honomag MG. Didnt see one around????????? I discounted it as me not paying attention.
I go up there a second time. Same result, Honomag Mg. Instead of going for the middle flag I hopped in a jeep and captured the top flag. The rest of the team was swooping down, surrounding the middle flag area. Again I hopped in the square zone and layed prone. And low and behold there he was. I could just make out the top of his helmut, swimming around in the concrete. Dead, Honomag! This guy and a few others on the team managed to conceal themselves in the concrete. The whole allied team was swarming the place and they were still getting kills.There names: =OVL= Porkipork, and the rest of his clan =OVL= and another guy named Fet-Speed. Funny thing was, I was complaining about the whole thing, and it seemed know one else could see it. No one even said a thing. They kept scouring the area, trying to find them. I kept typing "wallhackers" with no response. Unbelievable. It appears that the perpetrators involved have also been banned on other servers...btw, this is recent news ( today's post )....find the rest of the thread posted here...

Want to know what Battlefield Vietnam is all about but don't want to hit a million sites to find out....PlanetBattlefield has just such a site here including speculated release dates...

Another XWWII movie is going to surface soon. Members of the [BB]Clan have been making one on the St. Mere Eglise map. Reportedly they have only one more scene to shoot and then finish editing according to Crashwithuhk.

Silent Heroes have been doing some checking on their mod and they've achieved quite the progress! According to CSport.net ( which tracks current users and overall users ) this is the *current* standings as of Jan25/2004. If you check the numbers today the numbers will of course be increased... 1. Desert Combat - 315,971 2. Eve of Destruction - 32,521 3. Forgotten Hope - 11,960 4. Silent Heroes - 9,529 5. Empires - 8,516 6. Interstate - 7,050 7. Experience WWII (S9RM22) - 6,098 8. Battlegroup 42 - 4,672 9. GC Mod - 4,650 10. Home Front - 3,958 11. Pirates - 3,668 12. Action BF - 1,497 13. DC Extended - 981 14. Dogfight Mod - 503 15. Siege - 449
Tracked on number of user-names that has been logged playing the different mods the last 31 days. Tracking on names isn't perfect, but since DICE hasn't implemented any ID-support it's the best they can do for now. * = not all mods listed in the stats are actually released yet. Stats are recieved from servers being populated by their beta-teams.

Here is the current listing --- DC Dethroned!!? 1.Conquest - 411,122 2.Desert Combat - 327,816 3.Capture The Flag- 75,383 4.Eve of Destruction - 34,382 5.Forgotten Hope- 12,488 6.Silent Heroes- 9,941 7.Cooperative- 26,302 8.Team Deathmatch- 19,918 9.X Pack 2 - Objective Mode -12,651 10.Interstate- 7,300 11.Battlegroup42- 4,826 12. Experience WWII (S9RM22)- 6,301 25.Next Threat- 155

Battlegroup42 has a huge update and we've only got a few of the pics which I thought were sweet! ( slight bias towards aircraft! ). You can find the rest of the pics and more about their map update here!!!!

I'll try and keep up a little more with the updates...I've got a condition called 'tweaking', not twitching....anyway...I've currently got my 2600XP+, Geforce4TI4200 up to 1647 using 3dmark03. My big DC weekend turned into a big tweakfest....oh well... now to go and try it on the battlefield!!!

The [SoK] guys are looking to make a movie and need more characters....do you feel the spotlight? Here's what they've got to say...Us [SoK] guys are working on putting together a XWWII movie on St. Mere Eglise. We don't have a server, and not enough guys to fill all the "roles" that we have set up. I thought of no better place to ask for help than here. All we need is a good server to run around 20 guys, tops, and enough guys to fill the 20. So far we have enough to make about half, or a little more than half of 20. You may still get in ... check out the thread here.

Here are some of the latest pics from an yet unreleased map for XWWII... it's Okinawa and the map creator would be samurai....

After searching for some news...any news on the Lost Battalion mod it appears they are making some 'adjustments'. I was noticing that hitting anything on their website was all but impossible.... maybe I should be glad... check out their current site here...

By now you've heard that Forgotten Hope has released a video that's almost 4 minutes long.... well, if you've had trouble getting it here are a few more links to download it...1 , 2 , 3, 4 , 5 , 6.  Keep in mind that they are currently finishing a longer version with smoother shots...to be released soon...producer of that one is unknow soldier. For those having problems with the codec go here and just install the codec or you can go here and install ffdshow....no spyware included. BTW... if you're looking for a new FH Server....find it here...

New Server Up, Great Mod btw!!
[SaS]Forgotten Hope- 69.93.40.68 14567- 50 Player server - Version FH 0.5e with Community Map Pack Hosted by [SaS]- http://www.sascentral.com

Server Specs: Dual Xeon 2.8Ghz , 1G Dual Ported DDR Ram, 2 x 80 Gig SATA HD's, Multihomed Premium Bandwidth
Datacenter in Dallas, TX http://www.theplanet.com
[SaS] is long time MOHAA/BF1942 and now Call of Duty unit together now for almost 2 years. We like the FH mod a lot, I was on the XWWII mod dev team for a short time, they have some nice stuff also but I think FH overall has a better mod so we have decided to host a server to try and get some more players running your great mod. Look forward to seeing you there, help us fill our server 24/7.

Here's a small report regarding the Flashpoint Balkans Beta.... which people have been applying for since Nov4/2003 - From Brandon...Well guys, That time has come and gone, and the first round of beta testers have been picked, based on forums activity, and background. These first 7 individuals will be involved in playtesting the mod, and reporting bugs. These 7 will be announced on next saturday, just to build suspense . And just in case youre one who wasnt picked, don't worry, as we will be adding to the beta team as the beta grows. Thanks all, and keep applying. To apply go to this thread...

Entering the 'Parachute Fray' is the Forgotten Hope mod and it's decisions on the Parachute dilemna. They've given the parachutes to only the Paratrooper and the Pilots classes in their mod....

Desert Combat Extended has been busy of late adding the F-15A to their arsenal. Here's a picture of the underbelly which is probably the last thing you will see.... Also they have test video of the different variances of the plane.... visit their homepage here to download it.

Xbox2 has confirmed the CPU type to be a 64nm part....here's a little from the article....Today we can confirm that the Xbox 2 CPU will also be built using a 65-nanometer manufacturing process. “It’ll be built on a 65-nanometer process,” a source confirmed to TeamXbox. “IBM has already taped out experimental samples at its East Fishkill fab but it will take between 12 to 18 months for them to deliver commercial parts. Anyway, they’re way ahead of Intel.”
There are countless stories as to why Microsoft decided to drop Intel in favor of IBM. But sometimes, it just could be as straightforward as Jodie Foster claims in the movie Contact, "The simplest hypothesis is most likely to be true."
And the truth is, when it comes to microprocessors, IBM has been pulling off one success after the other. It was the first company to deliver a 64-bit processor for the desktop, the PowerPC 970 found in Apple’s Power Mac G5 and, contrary to what most analysts predicted, it is the first company to deliver a 90nm microprocessor: the second generation PowerPC 970 found inside the new Xserve G5 that will also power the second revision of the G5. With this updated PowerPC 970, IBM delivers a 90nm processor before Intel’s Prescott. Go to TeamBox for more of the article....

Just a note that one of the reasons for missing yesterday's news was an upgrade that took place on my home computer.... the upgrade went fine...all's ready for BFV.

The website listed in Jan18/2004 listing is actually active, just busy. - 5.5 million top secret photos will be released Monday at the following URL ... http://www.evidenceincamera.co.uk/  . Evidenceincamera has been created by The Aerial Reconnaissance Archives (TARA), at Keele University. Our aim is to make the aerial reconnaissance photographs, deposited by the UK Ministry of Defence at TARA, accessible via the internet. For the first time, you can access 5.5 million photographs taken over occupied Western Europe, by the Allies during World War II. Work is continuing to make millions more photographs taken throughout the world, during World War II and later conflicts, accessible.

During World War II, photographic reconnaissance played a major part in the intelligence war. The advanced photographic techniques developed, gave intelligence officers the ability to view the enemies activities in 3D, and make highly accurate assessments. Discover a new way of looking at our history, and our future at evidenceincamera.

Wondering about a release date for BF Vietnam? Well, so was I and the date March26/2004 popped up  ( see here ). It's been mentioned again and again that the end of March/Beginning of April so that date would make sense. Also....wondering about a demo? None to be released before the main release.... sorry. Review to check out ... one by Shacknews here. Minimum requirements....I keep seeing 1.8 Ghz thrown around....memory....you should be running 512mb anyway.

-[ 0.32 ]=- {Public Beta Build: 2004-01-18 16:39}
- Fixed: Updates some Lexicon-entrys.
- Fixed: Several weapon and ammo-icons updated.
- Fixed: Increased TOW speed, acceleration and drop-rate.
- Fixed: M203 and AG36-grenades decreased from 6 to 4.
- Fixed: Handgrenades decreased from 6 to 4.
- Fixed: Animation inconsistency that sometimes made MG3-gunners walk with crooked backs.
- Added: New regiment: MJK (Marinens Jaeger kommando)
- Added: C8 with ag36 to MJK.
- Added: C8 with aimpoint to MJK.
- Added: C8 with scope to MJK.
- Fixed: Lexicon-entries for AG3's corrected.
- Fixed: Gboat collision-issue that made it destroy other vehicles very easy.
- Fixed: New icons in the spawn-menu.
- Fixed: Map Ingenmansland updated.
- Fixed: Decreased reload-speed for helicopters.
- Fixed: 5.56, 7.62 and 7.62-underkalibrated got its damage vs helicopters decreased.
- Fixed: TOW damage increased by 20%.
- Added: NM142 to the Norwegian side.
- Fixed: The maps of Narvik, Skogsvag, Myren and Lingonstigen was updated.
- Fixed: Fixed some issues with Grkpbv90120.
 

PThis from [BFE-WaW]Montgomery .... 5.5 million top secret photos will be released Monday at the following URL ... http://www.evidenceincamera.co.uk/  . Evidenceincamera has been created by The Aerial Reconnaissance Archives (TARA), at Keele University. Our aim is to make the aerial reconnaissance photographs, deposited by the UK Ministry of Defence at TARA, accessible via the internet. For the first time, you can access 5.5 million photographs taken over occupied Western Europe, by the Allies during World War II. Work is continuing to make millions more photographs taken throughout the world, during World War II and later conflicts, accessible.

During World War II, photographic reconnaissance played a major part in the intelligence war. The advanced photographic techniques developed, gave intelligence officers the ability to view the enemies activities in 3D, and make highly accurate assessments. Discover a new way of looking at our history, and our future at evidenceincamera. When I tried to access the site today, well I couldn't so hopefully the URL will be up tomorrow.... just for interest sake.

Parachutes in XWII will be removed if members have their way. Apparently it was already decided by the mod designers but somehow just got lost while they were making the latest build. Apparently it wouldn't affect such maps as Market Garden where that would effectively take care of a spawn point. To read more about the issue for XWWII go here for the thread...

Not the news you were expecting???? Visit the Archives ( link top left ) and you'll find all our old news. Even though it's not listed here something else to watch out for is the 1.6 release by EA and the Silent Heroes patch.

Thanks to FractalD for this news thread...after talking with him this weekend and doing a little research it does appear that *apparently* BF1942 is in development for the Xbox and may be ready for store shelves by Christmas 2004. Xbox2 doesn't seem to be anywhere near a release this year... this from Microsoft Japan, An interview in the 1/23/2004 issue of Japan's Famitsu magazine with Xbox Japanese chief Yoshihiro Maruyama reveals a few interesting tidbits on the next generation Xbox console. Regarding the console's release date, Maruyama has this to say "Of course, our plans [with next generation hardware] are moving forward. I'd like to release something in the near future, but if asked if the release will happen next year, I'd say that no, it won't be next year. For the release of our next generation hardware, we'll be watching the movements of our rivals Nintendo and Sony. (thanks to Gamerscircle.net )

Half- Life 2 has apparently surfaced in Russia.... According to Gamasutra they have caught wind of news that versions of Half-Life 2 were being made available for sale in the Ukraine, similar reports are being made of versions of the game appearing in the Russian market. The product circulating in the Russian city of Novosibrisk is apparently a two-disc game based on the code leaked onto the Internet last year. The code has apparently been made fully playable and even translated into Russian. ( thanks to Gamerscircle.net )

Here's a new pic from BFVietnam.. a little napalm anyone?