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Games Entertainment

Myth II Updated 153

Posted by michael from the body-parts-everywhere dept.
Bullseye writes "Today, MythDev and Project Magma are releasing their first update to Myth II: Soulblighter, created by Bungie Software. This update brings the game to version 1.3.2, and patches noticeable bugs in Windows XP/2000, as well adding native support for Mac OS X. Coinciding with this release, the group is also announcing Myth II 1.4, to be released May 15th, which is a major update to Myth II that contains over 100 enhancements, including: graphical and interface improvements, OpenGL support for Windows and Mac OS X, gameplay bug fixes and improved AI, and the addition of vTFL, allowing virtual play of Myth: The Fallen Lords in Myth II. The Myth II 1.3.2 update can be downloaded here. New players may also sign up for Myth II's free community-provided online gaming services, playmyth.net and mariusnet. An update to the Linux version of Myth II has been rumored, though not confirmed as of yet." Update: 03/14 23:02 GMT by M : See also MythDev's site about the game.
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Myth II Updated More

Myth II Updated

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  • Linux Update Please! (Score:3)

    by DG ( 989 ) on Friday March 14, 2003 @02:57PM (#5513464) Homepage Journal
    If any of the people involved in producing these updates hang out here on Slashdot, a Linux version of these updates would be verra nice!

    DG

  • What the hell? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Since when does slashdot post game updates? If that's the case you missed update 1.21f of Civilization III. At least that is more interesting because the updated DRM on the game causes it not to work on a lot of machines.

    • Re:What the hell? (Score:5, Funny)

      by Junks Jerzey ( 54586 ) on Friday March 14, 2003 @03:09PM (#5513579)
      Since when does slashdot post game updates?

      Especially updates of games released in 1998!

    • Re:What the hell? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Xzzy ( 111297 ) <sether@@@tru7h...org> on Friday March 14, 2003 @03:14PM (#5513620) Homepage
      > Since when does slashdot post game updates?

      My guess is because it's such an odd story.

      The people who created this patch aren't being paid for it, it's done entirely by fans of the game (who they are I can't tell, because the mythdev site doesn't have a list available..), they're doing it for free, and apparently doing it without support of the people who actually own the Myth francise (godgames).

      Very few details have been released about what sort of deal transpired that convinced a publishing house to permit a bunch of random people all over the world to extend and enhance a game.. without trying to cash in on the deal.

      It's not the updating of Myth that's important, but how it came to be.

      Plus Myth is one of the best games ever so it does deserve the attention anyways. ;)
    • When they're slashvertisements :)
    • In all fairness, this is a bit different since the game is no longer being supported by the developer. All of these updates are being done by a third party, and all of the support for this game is now being done by the community. In that sense, it's fairly monumental and great to see on Slashdot because many people have long written this game off as abandonware.

    • Re:What the hell? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 14, 2003 @03:17PM (#5513646)
      Myth II was released in 1998, and it's amazing that after 5 years the game is still alive: there's enough active players to get online games going at any time of the day, and now you see there is still third party development for it. Think of it as "gaming history that hasn't died yet", which is a refeshing contrast to the usual "trash that game that you bought 3 months ago, here's a new one that requires a better graphics card".

  • Linux version. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by termos ( 634980 ) on Friday March 14, 2003 @03:01PM (#5513505) Homepage
    They managed to port it for MacOSX, it shouldn't be too hard doing a Linux port as well, since OpenGL is not platform dependent. I really hope the rumors are true. :-)
    • There already is a native Linux port, although I don't know if they've got the code for it.

      -Erwos
    • The game is already ported to Linux by Loki. Although I doubt that they have loki's sources... and you're right, a port wouldn't be too much trouble; however, it would be some trouble which is more than enough for a port not to surface.

    • Re:Linux version. (Score:5, Informative)

      by Christianfreak ( 100697 ) on Friday March 14, 2003 @03:15PM (#5513631) Homepage Journal
      There already is a Linux Port you can buy it here [tuxgames.com]
      • While this is true, the Linux port currently has not been updated past version 1.3.

        The good thing is that hopefully the Linux app will be updated, and if so, a person would not need to buy the specific 'Linux version' of the game; all someone would need is the data files (from any version of the game) and the updated app.
    • MacOS X is more than just unix:
      It is the plain old MacOS API with a few twists, this is called Carbon. The closest you come to this on Linux is coding for Wine.

      Then there is the OS X API, Cocoa. This is basicly NextStep API, where coding reallly ought to be in Objective-C or Objective-C++.

      And finally you can code for X-Windows / Unix.

      And there is a long way from Carbon to Linux.

  • Great news! (Score:3, Funny)

    by The Evil Couch ( 621105 ) on Friday March 14, 2003 @03:03PM (#5513529) Homepage
    I think the big question is, will they include fun with the 1.4 patch?
    • This man is a genius! I guess people still care about this game and playing this game after five years because it's not very fun. :(

      What was I thinking?
      • He's just regurgitating a joke that's been done to death on other gaming sites. "Is this the _____ that makes the game fun?"...

        One of the other popular ones is "Looks like an SOF2" clone.

        It's the "unoriginal bastard" way of patting themselves on the back for how witty they are :) Like the "in soviet russia Myth patches you!" stuff. Heh.

        Myth was a cool game. Especially the tutorials, "Way to blow things up!". I stayed away from Myth2 though because of the installer. If you uninstalled the game before the
        • Congratulations on your unsuccessful attempt at being analytical.

          No, I played the game. I enjoyed Myth 1 better. And Syndicate Wars above Myth. Thus Myth 2 spent little time on my hard drive as I didn't think it was fun.

          My comment was a tongue-in-cheek way of saying that I, like many others, didn't find the game to be fun or worth my money and time.
    • They're talking about Myth II, not Myst II (aka Riven).

  • Bad time to be the FNG (Score:3, Funny)

    by Badmovies ( 182275 ) on Friday March 14, 2003 @03:06PM (#5513561) Homepage
    Myth would be one of the worst games to be the FNG. I don't know how many times a wight has managed to get too close for comfort, despite my archers. Quickly picking out somebody with no battle honors, the veterans tell him to, "Go kill that thing, be a man." Then they duck, because big chunks of exploding wight and a red splatter (that used to be the new guy) are inbound.

  • Good to see this... (Score:5, Funny)

    by daeley ( 126313 ) on Friday March 14, 2003 @03:11PM (#5513595) Homepage
    Maybe we can expect to see Halo finally! Go Bungie!

    Disclaimer: This post suffers from Rose Colored Glasses Syndrome (RCGS), a sometimes deadly disorder associated with blind devotion to particular software companies [bungie.com] beyond [apple.com] all [apple.com] evidence to the contrary [macworld.com]. Please give as much as you can afford to the RCGS support outlet near you [aspyr.com]. With your help, we can eradicate this dread disease [microsoft.com].

    • Re:Good to see this... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by hc00jw ( 655349 ) on Friday March 14, 2003 @03:26PM (#5513732)
      1) It wasn't Bungie that ported this is Mac OS X / Win XP, as the game was sold to Godgames

      2) It wasn't even Godgames who done it, it was a bunch of volunteers who operate outside the company. No, this does not mean that Myth is open source, but that a select few can get to it (as far as I can tell... there is little to no information on all the relevant sites)

      3) Bungie also isn't porting Halo. Peter Tamte (sp?), who used to work for Bungie, has set up a company (the name escapes me) which is porting the game.

      4) If you wipe out Microsoft, you take Bungie with them. Game over man!
      • 1, 2, 3: Yes, I know. Note use of humor.

        4: And this is bad why?
        • 4 is bad, becaus Bungie are still Bungie, for pfhuck's sake. And I don't want Bungie wiped out - who else is going to start another gaming revolution with yet a new concept never seen before?

          • Re:Good to see this... (Score:4, Interesting)

            by daeley ( 126313 ) on Friday March 14, 2003 @04:06PM (#5514068) Homepage
            How many games has Bungie brought out since 1999 when Oni and Halo were announced?

            One and a half: Halo for Xbox and Oni (through Take Two/GoD).

            How many new games have been announced since 1999?

            One: the sequel to Halo.

            Is the first Halo on Mac or PC four years after they were announced? Nope, and it may be five years before they do.

            How exactly are they starting revolutions any more [bungie.com]?
            • Is the fate of Bungie the ultimate proof of the unbridled, overwhelming evil of Microsoft? I think so. In one short step we lost what I thought was the most innovative, creative gaming company to the jaws of doom. The day I read Microsoft had acquired Bungie I wept. The unkept promises (Halo for the Mac was being demoed by God), the sacrifice of a great company for the SOLE purpose of having ONE decent game for the X-Box has to be the saddest, most frightening episode in the history of the personal computer
          • Bungie is long dead.
            Microsoft sucked their soul out.
            My tears are long since shed.

            Do I get extra points for rhyming haiku?

            Who's going to start another gaming revolution? Hint: It won't be a sequel-slave owned by Microsoft. (Nor EA for that matter.)
  • This is great news, and a thank you out the the dozens of people involved since the beginning, from Vista, Project Magma, Playmyth, Mariusnet, this is an extraordinary under taking to keep a 5-6 year old Game alive but you people have done a magnificient job, and I hope you guys keep up the good work.

    Oh and as a side note, I hope the NVidia driver becomes available, I can only get 640x480 on my 17" iMac on OS X M2 ;)

    PS I KIK UR DED, I OWNZ J00 N BC TRO!

  • Helm's Deep recreation on Myth. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Angelwrath ( 125723 ) on Friday March 14, 2003 @03:17PM (#5513653)
    I'll bet the Myth engine could do an awesome recreation of Helm's Deep. It features rain, lightning, ambient sounds, could create the same effects. Just needs sound, Aragorn, Lego and Gimli (with an axe, not satchels) and a host of Orcs, Archers, Elves, men.

    I'd love to see a mod file that did this, and the video to watch it.
    • Just needs sound, Aragorn, Lego and Gimli

      Yea lego would kick ass in the battle of Helm's Deep. If the orcs blow up your wall, you just rebuild it!
    • Could it handle the destructible and climbable walls, though? Also, I'm not sure it'd scale to quite that many troops. The Total War [totalwar.com] series also has an engine with most of the right components to do a Helm's Deep simulation, but as far as I know, it still would be unable to handle troops on the walls, or ladders for climbing the walls.

      • Re:Walls? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by tjwhaynes ( 114792 ) on Friday March 14, 2003 @04:14PM (#5514151)
        Could it handle the destructible and climbable walls, though? Also, I'm not sure it'd scale to quite that many troops. The Total War [totalwar.com] series also has an engine with most of the right components to do a Helm's Deep simulation, but as far as I know, it still would be unable to handle troops on the walls, or ladders for climbing the walls.

        There are plenty of Myth II levels where you need the mortar-wielding dwarves to blow holes in wall to proceed through the level. So that part is going to be fine.

        As to siege ladders, I don't think I've seen that happen. But then again, it's definitely time to dust off the Total Codex and go Mything in Action.

        Cheers,

        Toby Haynes

    • ARRRHG!!! There were no elves at the Battle of Helms Deep! Peter Jackson is a dork, he completely missed the climax of that part of the story. Now the battle at Minas Tirth and the Siege of Gondor, with the rescued when thing seem to be their lowest is gonna be, "Ho Hum, seen it before ."

      Shelob was the perfect climax. JACKSON!!! We HATES it forEVER!!!

      Of course the army of the dead will be cool, if Jackson bothered to read that part of the story (which I for one don't count on.)

      Sorry.... Dunno what cam
      • Yeah, I know... the Elves didn't save Helm's Deep.

        But it was a nice touch. In all realism, I think Tolkien's oversight was to think that the Elves would not stay to defend Middle Earth. Old aliance... eh, if the Elves loved Middle Earth at all, and they did greatly, then they would have come to aid. I'll bet the Dwarves would have as well, if they were told what was going on.

        But yes, of all things, why PJ messed with the Ents and Huorns saving Helm's Deep, I don't know. It's as great an injustice as E

  • It stands up (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ianscot ( 591483 ) on Friday March 14, 2003 @03:19PM (#5513665)
    Myth II is maybe the best game I ever played, bar none. The solo game, the multiplayer, just everything about the look and feel, the soundtrack, the level design... It has to rank up there with the original Civ for time-sucking potential. I didn't even love the fantasy setting, personally, but it's the best.

    Maybe I could RTFM/A, but not here: does the updated version support old films? Films, for example, with the various mod packs, like WWII, Civil War, or Lego Land? The films from this game were so watchable, just great.

    (If someone had recast MOO II in a similar way, it'd rate a /. story. This is just as cool a game, or moreso.)

    • "does the updated version support old films?"

      I'm mad 'cause I can't find my old film "And Garwin Alone" anywhere... I think it was from Myth:TFL... I fought a multiplayer match where my entire army was wiped out except for one warrior who had killed 17 (!) enemies with his sword. I uploaded it to some fan site but I don't remember which one and Google doesn't know about it anymore :/

      • It was a 40oz Film, a bunch of really wild films that the now defunct Mythcodex.com put together...man that was a long time ago. Fortunately, we (Clan Plaid) still have all of the 40oz films on our hotline server, including "Garwin", and the script that went with it! Install a hotline client (Hotline Inc. is no longer around, but there are several 3rd party clients for Win32, OSX, and Linux) and login to hotline.clanplaid.net. They're under Games/Myth Series/Myth TFL/Films/40oz Films That warrior was quit
        • CP is still around? Spiff. I was never a player that was worth much, but my roomie (one of the amazing Chocobos) and brother (M2M, and/or Myth 2 Max) were both rather active. The latter still is, and has been testing the betas of the ProjectMagma stuff.

    • Re: Support for old films (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Myth II v1.3.2 will support films from 1.3, however, due to all the fixes in unit pathfinding and AI, old films will be incompatible with version 1.4.

      But don't worry, you can always reinstall version 1.3 and watch all your old films =)
      • Myth II v1.3.2 will support films from 1.3, however, due to all the fixes in unit pathfinding and AI, old films will be incompatible with version 1.4.

        ARGHH! Say it ain't so Joe! I have over a thousand films... That's irritating that they can't make it backward compatible without having the game installed twice! ARGH! All my movies of completing the game on legendary, gone...

  • Style (Score:4, Interesting)

    by 5n3ak3rp1mp ( 305814 ) on Friday March 14, 2003 @03:22PM (#5513692) Homepage
    I don't know what it is about the Myth series that hooked me. Perhaps it was the way the dwarf said "Buuuurrrrnnn!!" as he lobbed a molotov dessert to a pack of life-force-challenged, body parts flying... and other battlefield physics. Maybe it was the tension inherent in one of your archers dying... for the rest of the level. Maybe it was the enhancement that allowed really good characters that stayed alive and kicked ass, to appear in the next level (with their improved skill) and even allowed you to name them.

    All in all, it was definitely a polished, atmospheric game, with interesting constraints and levels. Not an FPS, and not an RTS.

    One thing's for sure - if you never tried the multiplayer or the level packs which basically redesigned most of the game (fighting Lego characters? World War II armaments?), you missed out on at least half of the fun!
    • WW2 ruined the online game IMO. It was unbalanced and tedious. Very little skill involved.

      Single player though, it's laugh with the WW2 plugin. The lego one cracks me up too. There's a few crap ones (there was a sci-fi one which was awful), but most of the unit plugins add an interesting dimension. Like the one that makes archers fire exploding dwarves:)
    • I can tell you what hooked me: playing Myth: The Fallen Lords, on one of the very first scenarios, I was messing around with the controls, going all over the map, and came upon a trailer at the edge of the playable area with a hick sitting in front of it, and country music streaming out. That pretty much did it. Yeah, the look, the physics, the game play all ruled (especially for the time), but Bungie's sense of humor was the kicker.

      I still play Marathon too.
  • Damnit, there goes my calculus grade.
  • The web site gives no description of the game. Without downloading it, how do I know what it is, and why would I bother?

    It sounds like a lot of people here are hooked on it... maybe someone should post some good reasons to download it? Or update their web site? Otherwise this story is pretty much only interesting to those who already have it....

  • Yeah great... but what IS this? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by hoggoth ( 414195 ) on Friday March 14, 2003 @03:43PM (#5513853) Journal
    Forgive my ignorance, but I never played Myth the first time around.
    The article and web site doesn't say what this download IS! Is it a freely downloadable version of the game Myth or do I need to already have the game and this provides some kind of patch to the game?

  • Hmm. (Score:1, Offtopic)

    by frodo from middle ea ( 602941 )
    I have said this before and i'll say it again.
    Tetris is the only game worth playing. Every other game is just a myth.

  • For the record... (Score:5, Informative)

    by telbij ( 465356 ) on Friday March 14, 2003 @03:46PM (#5513875)
    For eveyone who thinks either:

    a) it's awesome to see a game developer supporting a 5 year old game

    or

    b) why is /. posting a game update

    This game is NOT being supported by the developers. The game was originally played on bungie.net which is no defunct (after M$ shut it down).

    This is a community led support project. Probably the best example I've seen because not only have they updated the code, they've also recreated a free on-line gaming service. I'd say that is a major success story for an aging game community.

    Also, for those of you not familiar with Myth (or Bungie games in general), this game is the most revolutionary RTS game as much today as it was in November 1997 when first released. I still haven't seen RTS game that comes close to the user interface and visceral intensity of this game. Although at first glance it appears similar to other games, don't be fooled. An expert Myth player can control a large army with a frightening amount of micro-management. The unit balance offers a WIDE variety of strategies and tactics to be effective, and in general the whole thing is so well designed that subtleties of the game continue d to emerge for years after it was developed.

    My only regret is that the community has been reduced to a small pool of expert players and a slightly larger pool of rank-whoring players who only play one game type (generally one of the most boring). To me this game is dead, but I can never forget the greatness of Myth II in its prime. Check out Myth World Cup '99 [macobserver.com] for some of the best films ever.
  • Back in the day, I was often near the top of the bungie.net ladder (even had an eclipse for a bit a couple of times), was a bungie.net volunteer admin, and contributed to one of the main Myth-centric websites... it's nice to see that folks are keeping Myth going and extending it. Sweet. :)
  • To put things in context, out there one the net somewhere is a large extension to MythII called "Seventh God", also done by volunteers, that adds completely different levels and character types to the original.
    • Far from the only addon that does that. Jinn does too. As does Bushido. As does Civil War. As does Wild West. As does WW2.

      The amount of addons for Myth 2 is staggering. I have every single player addon made, whether it be a minor hack, map pack or full on huge beast like Seventh God. Not got many multiplayer ones since it's hard to find people willing to play anything other than the original maps and bloody WW2.
  • Used to play Myth2 hardcore. Haven't played in a long while. Guess I'll have to dig out my Myth Codex discs and play this weekend. I remember when WWII:Recon came out, it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. Can't wait to play some 6x6 KOTH again.
  • You know, us. The folks that use Linux?
    When ya gonna take care of us??
    How about updating us??

  • The Myth story (mod up) (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Bungie was a game company that made games for the Mac platform, famous things such as Marathon (like Doom, but much better).

    Acording to legend, some staff saw the movie Braveheart and came up with the idea of making a "big bloody war game" based on mythology.

    So with just a few staff, the company hacked the 3rd-person shooter game Marathon's code into a 3D real time strategy engine. Myth isn't like anything else (no, it's nothing like Warcraft), it's more like a movie where you move the units and fight bat
    • If you wrote that yourself: Great work

      If you cut and pasted: Nice find!

      Interesting about "Braveheart" (the movie, not the piss poor game). Never knew that was actually the main inspiration. Figured it was a factor, and always made the connection when playing, but didn't know it was the main one. God bless them for that!

      Radio Shack, at least in Canada, has often had Myth 2 for $10 or less (often times less than $5). I have the Linux version. A friend gave me his Windows version. Very glad he did with all

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