News Archive

May 2000

• My b'day + review news!

  Hello, folks! First of all, thanks to all of you for the nice comments/mails wishing me a great 15th birthday! And thanks to The Untitled dude for the nice post too! But it isn't just me that gets the presents today! We have two important announcments.
  
  First of all, after the extraordinary poll, and a lot of dicussion, we have decided what mark/rate-system we should use in the future gaming reviews here at cosmo's! It will be a X out of 20 system. The results of the virtual cosmic vote were almost even between percentage and the X/20 system, in addition to a few votes for rotten-eggs and X/10. The reason of our choice is that we feel that the percentage system is a cliché, and really - what divides 83% and 84% ;)
  
  So, to give you guys an introduction of the system, as well as a present on my birthday - I have uploaded my review of Soldier of Fortune, Raven's latest title. Here's a snippet:

  And with all the glory on walls, skies and footprints, the game sure must follow the realism trend when coming to the real action, right? Oh, yes! The way you can blow off vitally almost every part of the enemy's body, even when it's dead, is the most wonderful - but yet the most controversial aspect of the game. That means, if you are buying this game to your 10-year-old kids, you could likely find yourself a concrete wall and run your head towards it. Though you can turn on a parent-lock function, this game is designed for over-eighteens. And oh, did I mention that the game is violent?

  Go read the whole thing!

  Posted Tuesday, May 30, 2000 by Cosmo. 6 Comments.

• Congratulations, cosmo!

  What is it with this untitled guy, you may wonder -- disappearing for months, only to reappear with two post on the same night. Well, I'm not just posting BS (at least that's what I tend to believe). Or don't you guys think it's noteworthy to mention the cosmic boy's birthday? That's right, the clock just passed by twelve, and on this day 15 years ago, cosmo3D's everything-mondo was born. Yup, he's only 15 years old, I bet a lot of you didn't know that. He has had some help, but the credit for making cosmo3D what it is today -- a comprehensive, useful resource for online gamers wanting the latest news -- is mainly his. Cosmo3D is getting bigger and better these days, with a new concept (gaming portal) and excellent reviews being pumped out (almost) frequently lately -- and according to the serverlog it has sure paid off. And all of this work _before_ his 15 year birthday. I find that amazing, and it just proves what I've known for a long time; this boy's got kills. So thumbs up for Axel, congratulations! And if anyone want to see a happy cosmonaut -- tell him how great he is by commenting on this post. Really.
  
  And while we're talking about commenting, don't forget to voice your opinion on whether I should review the fresh-released Matrix Half-Life mod or not (see last post), and also our frontpage poll on which rating system we are to use in our upcoming reviews. All entries are gratefully recieved, we want as many opinions on those two matters as possible (in other words; "your opinion is important to us" -- gosh, that sounds like a commercial). G'night, all, I'm off to do my homework for tomor... er, today :)

  Posted Tuesday, May 30, 2000 by NoName. 12 Comments.

• Important: Matrix Half-Life mod finally released - you want a review, guys?

  I dunno how faithful our readers are, according to cosmo there are some people who has followed this site from the beginning or so, so those of you who stuck with us when the site was still one of those "BluesNews rip-offs" ("the latest gaming news", you know) may remember that I was kinda "up in the sky" about a Half-Life mod inspired by "The Matrix", since Doff (former newshound and probably the biggest reason why cosmo's have such a big link library today) and I were two of the 25 lucky beta testers for this mod. Now, the private beta testing kinda flopped, due to our lack of feedback from us "lucky 25" (well, 'cept the doffed-up guy), so the team has finally released the first public beta, hoping for better response this time. The mod has been postponed a numerous of times, so I'm glad they've finally managed to release _something_ -- however, it's somewhat smaller than the private beta (according to Doff, it's about 4 megs), so I dunno how they managed to make it better _and_ reducing the file size. Well, enough chattering, go grab the red pill and the 6 meg map pack.
  
  But the main reason I'm writing this post, isn't to announce this release, the observant visitor has already read this on PHL earlier today. The reason I'm writing this post, is to declare whether you guys want my opinion on this release, or not. The cosmo old-timers prolly remember that I promised a review/preview of the thing (our features page actually stated it was "coming up next" until last week or so), but since there wasn't really much to review at that time, I never really started pumping words (It was not like it was bad, but it was like an early beta/alpha, so the team said they'd include a whole bunch of other stuff). That situation has hopefully changed now. In other words, I may manage to put out a review of this sweet poop in a month or so (hey, I have a life, and my last exam is on June 16th). I want to know whether such a review would be of common interest for the avarage cosmo-visitor, or if I shouldn't bother. So, please make a comment to this post, stating whether you want me to do this or not (and the shy guys out there may feel free to bless my inbox, instead). Your opinion is important to me, and it doesn't need to be more than a "yes or a "no". Thanks in advance.

  Posted Monday, May 29, 2000 by NoName. 13 Comments.

• Cosmo3D's Review of The Sims!

  As announced, yet another review would come from our new star-reviewer, Anders Steinlein! The latest title in his review list is The Sims, Maxis' latest addition to the legendary SIM series. Here's some juicy lovin':

  A life simulator would obviously be a really comprehensive game, and The Sims is. It is however genially presented with its user-friendly interface, making it a breeze to play. The manual is excellent, covering everything you could possibly ever want to know about the game. Reading it is however not required due to the excellent interface, but I do recommend doing so anyway, to get as much enjoyment as possible out of the game.

  And now, go read the whole thing!

  Posted Sunday, May 21, 2000 by Cosmo. 36 Comments.

• Norway Stuff

  I've been out celebrating the National Day here in Norway the whole day (nice little detail on Blue's date bar today). If you wish do go a bit more in-depth in the happening, you may for instance check out Aftenposten's quick impressions in English. That was about it!

  Posted Wednesday, May 17, 2000 by Cosmo. 1 Comments.

• Rant

  Heya folks, just a few items: First off, I've now finally gotten a sort of none-minute-paid net connection. Though I am one of the unlucky ones here in Oslo (no net-cable, ADSL here) - I've now gotten a pre-paid ISDN subscription from CyberCity. Mmmmm, no more phone bill worries ;)
  
  Then, the E3 Expo is in full action over in US. If you want some news from the most important gaming expo of the year - Stomped@E3, Telefragged, AntiFart, GameSpot, GameSpot UK, ExtremeHW, PC.IGN and Gamers.com has coverage, amongst others.
  
  And as a final item - Playboy have finally posted their pictorial/interview with Ion Storm's famous level designer Stevie "Killcreek" Case. WARNING: The five pics in the free portion of the pictorial contain nudity so if you are offended by that sort of think, take heed. The rest of the pictures can be seen if you join their paid Cyberclub.
  
  And BTW, the latest Eminem song rocks ;)

  Posted Friday, May 12, 2000 by Cosmo. 20 Comments.

• Sniff-Fixes...

  I have now fixed some of te problems with the headline-sniffing, and all pages (including Half-Life.Net and Counter-Strike.Net) should be monitored correctly!
  
  Watch the space for a new game review tomorrow.

  Posted Thursday, May 11, 2000 by Cosmo. Post a Comment.

• Cosmo3D's TG00 Report

  Our guest writer, s-mag, was at the annual LAN-Party in Hamar, Norway - The Gathering - the world's largest party (4500 ppl) in it's category and the year's largest happening for lots of humble nerds around the world. And he has written a little report from the event, called "The Gathering 1900 - A little report from a little gamer", to spiff you up - here's a snip:

  Day four: Saturday. Wedding!! Final rounds. While the day went by all the game compos had their final rounds. The main games was Quake III Arena, Unreal Tournament and the old classic StarCraft, something I personally hadn't expected at all, but some people still plays Scorch... Four o'clock PM the probably largest wedding for a single couple in the world took place on the stage. It was the only time in five days all the speakers were turned off, though some headphones still worked. The couple was of course two nerds; Vegar Skjefstad, the boss, and Laila Dalen, his beatiful rose.

  Read the whole thing here.

  Posted Wednesday, May 3, 2000 by Cosmo. 5 Comments.

• Cosmo3D's Longest Journey Review

  Our new reviewer and decent adventure dude, Anders Steinlein, today presents his thoughts on one of the most anticipated adventure games last year, The Longest Journey. To give you something sweet to chew on, here's a snip:

  Finally, the technical aspects... These three words should sum it up: Oh-my-God! This is definitely the most spectacular graphics I have ever seen in an adventure game. Presented in high resolution and 32bit colour (where available), everything from gloomy, sad, dark to incredibly bright and colourful places looks absolutely fantastic! The cut-scenes are also spectacular, and collaborate to increase the overall tension. What I hear of music is just about as good as the graphics, that means very good. It fits perfectly to the locations in the game. Unfortunately, there is way to little of it - too many locations carry the "quiet" sound. I want more music!

  What are you waiting for? Read the whole thing here.

  Posted Tuesday, May 2, 2000 by Cosmo. 19 Comments.

• Tread Marks Contest Closed

  The lucky winners will recive a mail in just a moment - as you probably understood, our Feedback Contest giving you the chance to win a copy of Tread Marks is finished. All you had to do was to leave your name/mail, and a comment on the new site, and I have to say that I'm proud of all the positive comments!
  
  I've picked out 20 of the comments for your viewing pleasure:

  • Sorry to hear about Seumas McNally. I am however happy that Cosmo3D is around, great news features to save me time and I'd be very happy to win Tread Marks! I'll still visit the site daily but I hope that I'm picked to win. Thanks and keep up the good work.
  • keep the free stuff coming!
  • wow! cool site!
    
    i do not play online games, except for TreadMarks*... but Cosmo3D seems like an excellent resource for online gaming info, tips, updates and etc.
    
    keep up the great work!
    
    * i was just browsing for info on openGL back in Oct. '99, and saw a little article on a beta version of a tank racing and battle game... i was especially interested because the article mentioned that the terrain engine allowed in-game terrain deformation. i thought "hmm... sound interesting..." so i downloaded the beta and was immediately blown away by the graphics and sheer fun of the destruction! (EVEN THOUGH i could only play in software 3D mode...) and when i played online against "real" players, well, that was it! i purchased a decent 3D accellerator JUST for TreadMarks and have been hooked ever since...
  • Keep up the good work !
  • I think its pretty snazzy now.
  • To be honest, I was never here before so I don't know 'bout the difference. Cool so far and "I'll be back"!
  • dunno, just got here
  • Nice site. Main page is slightly too wide for my 1024x768 resolution though. and could use some fancy graphics.
  • Good contest!
  • looks good so far. this is a site i will visit again!
    keep up the good work!
  • way cool. this site went into my bookmarks immediately (let's see if it's gonna be starting page some day).
    site graphics could be improved (like, larger left and right margins for the text). content is good.
  • Siden er kjempe kul. Alt en gaming site skal ha!
  • Site is cool. Got the link from Longbow... was sad to hear about Seumas McNally :(
    
    Re: Cosmo3d... the logo, banner and nav at the top of the screen takes up way too much space. It would be nice if it was reworked so that 2/3 of the first screen was useless on each page. That was the only suggestion I could find.
  • I heard that this game competes in a class with Tanarus, which, if you know about Tanarus, is quite a taunt. I have to find out.
  • thanx
  • Nice new layout,,,,,,good job.
  • I think it's pretty sweet, but the colors are a bit hard on the eyes :)
  • I think the new Cosmo3D rocks! Info is a lot easier to find now. It is much more organized.
    Keep up the good work!

  So, thanks again guys from the overwhelming response, I will take a look at the constructive words on the design too.

  Posted Monday, May 1, 2000 by Cosmo. Post a Comment.

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