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OCTOBER 31, 2005 - Annual updateYep, I'm still around. Once ZODIAC wrapped up about a year ago,
there really haven't been any siginificant updates, but I thought I'd
post an update just because it's been a whole year since the last one.
:) I also wanted to let people know that if you e-mail me at the address
posted here, it may take a while for me to reply, but I should eventually
get to it. I don't check that one so much any more, but if you do
e-mail me, you'll get my new one.
OCTOBER 19, 2004 - Part 3 music now availableSteve Foxon has put up his music from ZODIAC Part 3 in MP3 format. Get it at Orak's Music Emporium. He's provided some new download options, including the entire ZODIAC soundtrack in one ZIP file.
OCTOBER 17, 2004 - More download optionsAll of the Part 3 related files are now mirrored on Edge Files, thanks to Trestkon at DXEditing.com. Also the full version is now available via eMule. The new links are in the download section.
OCTOBER 10, 2004 - Full version of ZODIAC availableUploaded the "full" version that I mentioned in the last update. Go to the download section to grab it.
OCTOBER 8, 2004 - Part 3 ReleasedThe conclusion of ZODIAC is finally done! Go to the download section to download the Part 3 upgrade. A big, huge THANK YOU goes out to all the beta testers who patiently downloaded and played three separate beta versions. In a few days, I'll upload a "full" version of ZODIAC including
all six missions from Parts 1-3 as well as some additional download locations.
SEPTEMBER 5, 2004 - Part 3 Screen ShotsPut some screen shots from Part 3 up. Go to the screen
shots section to check them out.
SEPTEMBER 3, 2004 - Part 3 Beta Has StartedI spent a crazy amount of time on Part 3 last month and ended up finishing
it! Played through it several times on my own to find as many
issues as possible, fixed those, then threw it out there for the beta
testers. Whew, it's been a lot of work! When Part
3 is released mostly depends on how well beta testing goes; I'm hoping
it won't take too long this time.
AUGUST 1, 2004 - Part 3 Update #7Continued to make good progress in July and now I'm definitely in "wrap up" mode. Maybe 85% done. I won't likely be *quite* ready for beta by the next update, but it should be very close.
JULY 7, 2004 - Part 3 Update #6(sorry, this month's update got delayed a bit due to some FTP related issues...) Steve Foxon has completed the music for Part 3! Well, there's one little tiny detail we may need to work out during beta testing, but he's done with the music itself (hard to explain). Anyway... Woo hoo! I made really excellent progress on the one map I had left to do. I started on it the beginning of June and hit it hard; now it's about 99% done. So overall I'd guess that Part 3 is at least 75% done. If I can maintain that pace during July, by the next update I should have a good handle on when it'll be ready for beta.
JUNE 1, 2004 - Part 3 Update #5 Got a ton more done, mostly during the first half of May. At
this point, all of the main environments have been created and all of
the maps "connect." There's still a good chunk of work
to do detailing areas, working on conversations, and some pieces of the
gameplay, but it feels like I'm well past the halfway point. Very
encouraging!
MAY 1, 2004 - Part 3 Update #4Made huge progress on Part 3 during the last three weeks of April! If I had to guess, I'd say the first mission is over 50% done and the second is something like 20% done. It sure felt good to get back into it again. There's still a TON of stuff left to do, but April was a major step forward.
APRIL 8, 2004 - ZODIAC Part 3 livesOops, a little late with the monthly update this time. I was hoping to have some significant progress to report by now, but to be honest, March and the first week of April were more about *playing* games for me. Got through Unreal II, Call of Duty, and Far Cry, and messed around with some console games like Ninja Gaiden and Everything or Nothing. Not to mention I dabbled with my zillions of other hobbies. If I didn't have a full time job, I sure would have a lot more time for the truly important stuff. :) Tonight I'm going to put a few hours into Part 3, so hopefully I'll start getting back into "the groove" again soon.
MARCH 1, 2004 - Part 3 still moving forwardThe pieces are starting to come together, which is encouraging. I forgot to mention last time that Steve Foxon has completed the bulk of the music for both missions (he's way ahead of me as usual!).
FEBRUARY 5, 2004 - Still goin'Not much to report, other than Part 3 is still in progress. Had some distractions in January, so I didn't get as much done as I wanted to. Here's hoping this month goes a bit better. :)
JANUARY 1, 2004 - Back in the saddle I wasn't expecting much progress in December, but wow, I really didn't
do much of anything! I didn't even finish DX:IW, though I plan
to eventually.
DECEMBER 1, 2003 - Part 3 Update #3Between Deus Ex: Invisible War (released tomorrow in the U.S.) and the holidays, I don't expect to get a huge amount done on Part 3 this month. I have recently overcome a few significant hurdles though, and have returned to cranking away on the meat of the levels. Steve Foxon is once again doing the music, and has already completed the tunage for one of the two levels. Other than the music, I'm the only one actively working on ZODIAC, but that's OK. :D On the topic of DX:IW, it seems that many were disappointed by the demo
that was recently released. There were some things I didn't care
about it at first, including the overall visual presentation and the mouse
response. And clearly some of the giant text is designed for
an X-Box hooked up to a TV set. :) If you've installed the
demo, this tweak utility will update a key .ini file, which clears up
some of those issues:
NOVEMBER 1, 2003 - Part 3 Update #2 I made some good progress on the final mission, but there's still plenty
to do. Even though the two missions in Part 3 are smaller than
the previous missions, they still take time to do. I should
be getting some additional help on the other mission too, so hopefully
that will speed things up a bit.
OCTOBER 6, 2003 - Part 3 Update #1Oops, missed my monthly update by a few days. :) We are, in fact, working on Part 3, the final two missions of ZODIAC. As usual, I've been stuck in "analysis paralysis" on the details a bit too much in the early stages, which has slowed things down. It seems that I don't want to get too much mapping done before I have the gameplay designed, yet I don't want to design too much gameplay until I have the mapping done! I've also been distracted by a number of things, like some of my other hobbies, etc. :D Still, Nick has managed to get a good deal of work done on his portion of the first mission, and I've completed some of the main conversations for both missions. I've got most of the rest of the maps at least roughed out as well. If we want to get Part 3 done before DX2 is released, we're going to need to step it up a notch!
SEPTEMBER 1, 2003 - Full Version of Part 2 AvailableThanks to T.natrix for helping me get the full version of Part 2 out there. If you're new to ZODIAC, you'll want to download the full version, as opposed to Part 1 and then the Part 2 upgrade. You can find links to everything here.
AUGUST 17, 2003 - Updated Part 2 Screen ShotsI finally updated a couple of the Part 2 screen shots to reflect the final versions of the maps.
AUGUST 13, 2003 - Stuff Was hoping to have the full version of Part 2 available by now, but
I'm still having technical problems. I will post an update
as soon as I get it uploaded somewhere. Also, I completely
forgot to update the screen shots, so I'll do that soon.
JULY 11, 2003 - ZODIAC Part 2 Released ZODIAC, Part 2 has been released. Go to the Download
section for links - there are a few options, including an upgrade from
Part 1 and a Mac-friendly manual version. I'm currently having a bit of a problem uploading the "full" version. I'll post an update when it's available. I'll also be posting updated screen shots to replace a few of the "in progress" ones. If you'd like to check out the soundtrack to Part 2, Steve Foxon (aka Orak) has made several selections available as MP3 files. Head on over to Orak's Music Emporium for the download links.
JUNE 23, 2003 - Part 2 Beta Testing Continues I had planned on having the first round of beta testing last one week,
but it's already been one month. Where does the time go?
MAY 23, 2003 - Part 2 Beta Testing Has StartedReal Soon Now ended up being May 23. :) All of the missions for Part 2 are complete, so the beta test team will now hammer on it for a while. Part 1 was in the test phase for three full months; I'm hoping to speed that up significantly... Should be able to start on Part 3 soon.
APRIL 30, 2003 - Part 2 Progress Report #8Whew, April went even faster than March! The beta test for Part 2 has *still* not started. I'm essentially the only one working on the mod at the moment, so things are going a bit slowly. Also, between a minor home improvement project and some other distractions, I've put less than my normal time into it. The final mission is at least 95% complete though, and I've made a pretty solid "to do" list that I'm going to crank away on. I'm not going to try and predict how long that's going to take this time, other than Real Soon Now. :)
MARCH 30, 2003 - Part 2 Progress Report #7Where the heck did March go? Well, Håvard has bowed out of the mod, but he did make some nice contributions. The final mission of Part 2 is 85-90% complete, so I'm in the process of cleaning up last minute odds and ends. At this point, I'm hoping to start the beta testing in 2-3 weeks.
FEBRUARY 28, 2003 - Part 2 Progress Report #6Part 2 isn't ready for full beta testing yet, though the first two missions are ready. We've made significant progress on the core gemeplay of the third mission and we're still in the process of finishing up the bits and pieces. I'm hoping to be very close to beta in the next two weeks or so, but we'll see. :)
JANUARY 31, 2003 - Part 2 Progress Report #5Whew, almost missed the January update. I made huge progress on the second mission of Part 2 over the holidays, and in fact, it is essentially done. Håvard and I still need to finish our parts of the third mission and then we should be ready for beta testing. I'm hoping to get to full beta testing by late next month.
DECEMBER 28, 2002 - Mac version of Part 1 availableI've had several requests for a "Mac-friendly" version of ZODIAC Part 1. After some trial and error and some help from some Mac Deus Ex players, I've made a version available that can be installed manually and uses Mac compatible file names. Get it here.
DECEMBER 15, 2002 - Part 2 Progress Report #4 (and more!)Whew, there's been quite a flurry of activity on ZODIAC this past month or so. Håvard Skjæveland has joined us as a mapper, and has already produced some very nice results. He's talking over half of Mission 4, which I was going to have to do entirely by myself. A nice surprise! As Darth Vader would say, "He has become a most powerful ally." :) We've gone through a few rounds of internal testing on Mission 2 and it's looking very good. Still have a small number of known issues to work out, but it's quite solid. Steve Foxon has completed the music for two out of the three missions of Part 2, and is mostly done with the final piece. Yeah! I've been cranking away at Mission 3 and making good progress. Finally, I've updated the FAQ with a new tidbit of troubleshooting info.
NOVEMBER 17, 2002 - Part 2 PreviewI've posted six screen shots from Part 2 on this site and Steve Foxon even has a ZODIAC Part 2 music preview at his Orak's Music Emporium site. Click here to go directly to the new screen shots and here for the music preview (in the Future Missions section). Note that Part 2 is in development, so parts of it are still a little rough. And no, that's not the Washington Monument. :)
NOVEMBER 3, 2002 - Part 2 Progress Report #3I'm back into "the groove" of mapping, so things are starting to shape up again. Nick's level (Mission 2) is done, though it still needs to be properly tested. I've decided to create Mission 4 myself (from scratch) and as a result, that level is now moving forward nicely. I still have plenty of work to do on Mission 3, but the key elements are in place.
OCTOBER 3, 2002 - Latest Part 2 Progress ReportSeptember wasn't as productive as I had hoped, but we're still making progress. Mission 2 is still not *quite* ready for beta testing (but oh so close), I have made some progress on my mission (Mission 3), including getting the bulk of the geometry completed, but Mission 4 seems to be somewhat in limbo. Things should pick back up this month, though!
SEPTEMBER 3, 2002 - Part 2 Progress ReportIf you've been keeping score, you know that we're currently developing ZODIAC Part 2, which will include missions 2-4. While it's going pretty well, I'd say we still have a few months to go. The good news is that much of the delay is a result of the missions being a bit more elaborate than originally planned. Mission 2 (by Nicholas Cowen) is just about ready for beta testing, while Mission 3 (by Steve Tack - that's me) and Mission 4 (by Jeff Hellesen) are coming along well. ZODIAC Part 3 (the finale) will contain the final two missions (Mission 5 & 6) and should be available in early 2003.
AUGUST 4, 2002 - Part 1 in PC Gamer UKIf you still haven't played Part 1 (shame on you!) and you live in the UK, you can save yourself the download, as it's on the disc that comes with the September issue of PC Gamer UK. There's a bit of text about ZODIAC and even a couple of screen shots in the magazine itself too!
AUGUST 2, 2002 - ZIP file of ZODIAC Part 1 musicIf you haven't downloaded Steve Foxon's music yet, you can now download all of it as one 17 MB ZIP file containing all of the MP3 files. The link is on this page of his music site: ZODIAC Part 1 Music
JULY 25, 2002 - Steve Foxon's ZODIAC music now availableBefore you can buy it in stores :), you can download MP3's of Steve Foxon's
music from ZODIAC: Part 1. For free! Check out his brand new
site Orak's Music Emporium
and grab them before this special offer ends forever! Just kidding...
"Orak" (a.k.a. Steve Foxon), has made some non-ZODIAC
music available too, so be sure to check it out.
JULY 19, 2002 - Part 1 Readme.txt correctionI've had a few people tell me that they couldn't get ZODIAC to run correctly until they upgraded to at least Deus Ex version 1.109. Unfortunately I stated in the Part 1 Readme.txt file that 1.014 or higher would work. That doesn't appear to be the case. So if you're getting this error after attempting to launch ZODIAC, try upgrading to 1.109 or higher. The 1.112fm patch (36 MB) is available here. FYI, some have also not been able to play the Hotel Carone mod until applying one of these patches.
JULY 7, 2002 - The plan for Part 2A few folks have asked when the next installment will be available and what it will include. The plan is to include missions 2, 3, and 4 in Part 2. Hopefully we'll be done with those in 2-3 months. These next three missions won't likely be as large as the first mission. After that will be the "full" version, which will include the final two missions. |
