Entirely gratuitous screenshots article - posted by Cargo Cult on Saturday October 6 2007

... to make up for the lack of pre-release shots, perhaps?

Enjoy!

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MINERVA: Metastasis released - posted by Cargo Cult on Tuesday October 2 2007

Two and a half years in the making, it's finally done.

Yes, this version requires Valve's Half-Life 2: Episode One to play - if you don't have it, I fully recommend the new Orange Box as a perfect way of warding off gaming scurvy. And no, I wasn't paid to say that!

In terms of MINERVA, there's a 150MB installer ready for download - and if you get stuck or would otherwise like to express your undying admiration for our dear Minerva, there's the newly invigorated forum for you to explore.

Foreign language packs should arrive soon, once again courtesy of the Sarmatia project - for now, you'll have to make do with the inferior English original.

I am exhausted. I have an unopened , 750ml bottle of Duvel looking longingly at me, ready for a triumphant one-man celebration.

Enjoy!

Edit 2007-10-02: One major issue people are having is the lack of HL2: Ep1 content in MINERVA. Make sure that Steam restarts after running the MINERVA installer, and if you haven't played HL2: Ep1 for a while, start it up to make sure all relevant files have been extracted from the GCF archive thingies...

Edit 2007-10-02: Looking for the MINERVA soundtrack additions? All available for download in stupendous-o-MP3 format at zhaymusic.com!

Edit 2007-10-03: A review! From the mighty Rock, Paper, Shotgun! Slightly spoiler-y screenshots, but fantastic ones nevertheless. My ego is close to rupturing.

Edit 2007-10-03: It appears the installer has a bit of a bug - any desktop icon it creates will try launching the new MINERVA as a Half-Life 2 mod, not as an Episode One mod. Resulting in big red ERROR models, magenta-and-black checkerboard textures and lots of other missing stuff. Launch the game from the Steam games list instead, while I sort out an updated installer...

Edit 2007-10-04: Updated installer! All links should now point there. Torrent with new download may be back up again tomorrow.

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MINERVA Development Environment, v2.0 - posted by Cargo Cult on Friday September 28 2007

Well, the iMac finally arrived a few weeks ago. It works very nicely, and is considerably faster at compiling maps than the old MacBook Pro. In fact, it's hardly had a chance to play at being a Mac - I installed Windows XP on it the evening after delivery, and it's been running the Source SDK almost ever since.

*cough* And occasionally the Team Fortress 2 beta...

Oh, and that 'MINERVA' thing? To be released on Monday evening, all going well. And all does appear to be going well!

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TNT Belgium? UTTERLY SHIT - posted by Cargo Cult on Tuesday September 4 2007

If you have any reason to deal with TNT Belgium, please avoid completely.

They don't deliver, they invent excuses, and the apparently very helpful people on the customer service line over the past few days were making promises they couldn't possibly make or keep.

That work address I gave earlier, for delivery between three and four in the afternoon? Not on file. That sort of thing is impossible, apparently.

Aaaaargh...

So, in a completely childish manner, I'm posting my grievances on a well-read blog - in the hope that some other people might deprive TNT of their custom. So ner-ner-ner... ;-)

Edit 2007-11-20: Seems TNT in Britain is fully capable of making a complete arse-up of things too!

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NO GODS OR KINGS, ONLY MAN - posted by Cargo Cult on Friday August 24 2007

Well, Bioshock's been released in the EU, despite some problems. So I thought it would be best to assign a new article, for spoiler-containing comments!

However, would you kindly avoid spoiler-containing subject lines? 'Cause they get displayed on the blog-beast's latest comment thingy. You have been warned.

Quick hint - if you're not hearing Atlas, you may have a corrupted download over Steam. So go to Properties: Local files: Verify integrity of local game cache... and see what happens. My copy has decided to download oodles more data, presumably overwriting whatever got damaged.

Oh, Steam, we do love you really...

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