i am choking on the irony. we are making an Unreal engine game. but i have unsuccessfully looked through these hallowed ION Austin halls (meaning i have been pilfering through my co-workers' offices early this morning before they arrive), searching high and low for a copy of the original Unreal. DID SOMEONE HIDE THEM ALL?!? IS THIS WARREN'S IDEA OF AN EASTER JOKE?!?

i want to look over the Underworld Level One conversion someone recently did and the Thief conversion too. (UW is one of my all-time favorite games--whoever did this, WAY TO GO!) anyway, i need the original because i cannot look at these levels with the heavily modified Deus Ex version of Unreal. it's amazing--you'd think the Unreal CD would be everywhere here; all i find are empty boxes...

in other news, Deus Ex is looking like a game. we're a few days away from reaching Alpha. you can play missions 01 & 02, walk around, talk to numerous NPC's. since we're an RPG, we're trying to create believable NPC's, not just fast-action shooter villains. it's way fun to listen to them talk and otherwise interact with them. pissing off the hulking, cybernetically freakish Gunther Hermann is actually terrifying. (though part of me is yearning to work on a shooter...)

currently, you can also do things like collect inventory items and use the skills your character has (chosen and advanced by the player from a selection of skills). picking locks and jury-rigging mechanical devices is cool already, though obviously we will be tuning the entire skillset as we go. also, the various in-game nanotech powers (also carefully selected and upgraded by the player) are fun to play with. (no one can have all of them, so the character building choices in some way determine how you play through the missions.)

i think the version we have by E3 will be impressive. i look forward to showing it off. warren, chris norden and i (and maybe others) will be attending the conference. i wish it was back in atlanta...to hell with LA.

anyway, back to searching for the Unreal CD & crunching on the Alpha milestone. if i can find that CD, i'll take the time out to play through the Looking Glass conversions. (i've already rifled through half the offices, heh, which is what they get for not coming in at the crack of dawn like i do...i think one of team mates wears womens' underwear. i'm not saying who.

for more on the Unreal conversions, for those of you who are as interested as i am, go to Saam's way-cool Looking Glass fan site:

Through the Looking Glass

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