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Free Fallout 3 Creation Kit, Less-Free DLC Coming in (Hopefully Not Post-Apocalyptic) Near Future

Nathan Grayson — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 21:09:12 -0600

Despite a non-presence on Bethesda's profit-profit-???-profit schedule, Fallout 3 mod tools are officially on the way. Said a press release from the destroyer of White Houses:

"The official editor for Fallout 3, called the G.E.C.K. (Garden of Eden Creation Kit), will be available for free download in December and will allow Games for Windows® users to create and add their own content to the game."

"The release of the G.E.C.K. provides the community with tools that will allow players to expand the game any way they wish. Users can create, modify, and edit any data for use with Fallout 3, from building landscapes, towns, and locations to writing dialogue, creating characters, weapons, creatures, and more."

Even (circle one) <better/worse/Y>, Bethesda's sprinkling a smattering of DLC on top of its latest massively single player RPG, giving players a chance to nab a spot in the vaunted Brotherhood of Steel, grind Commies' bones to make more ground, and save a cleverly titled portion of Pittsburgh from total annihilation. DLC descriptions are as follows:

Operation: Anchorage. Enter a military simulation and fight in one of the greatest battles of the Fallout universe – the liberation of Anchorage, Alaska from its Chinese Communist invaders. An action-packed battle scheduled for release in January.
The Pitt. Journey to the industrial raider town called The Pitt, located in the remains of Pittsburgh. Choose your side. Scheduled for release in February.
Broken Steel. Join the ranks of the Brotherhood of Steel and rid the Capital Wasteland of the Enclave remnants once and for all. Continues the adventure past the main quest. Scheduled for release in March.

Are you man enough to save Pittsburgh? Or are you a builder -- not a fighter? Well, please don't comment about it. You know how much we hate it when you do that.

Rig of the Month: Project FiveWood

Tom Edwards — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 19:15:37 -0600

Chris Cook comes from a long line of artists and explains that “it is this great gene pool that I am abusing here.” While Chris may make light of his own skills, it’s evident from these photos that he is an able successor to his forebears.

Project FiveWood utilizes nine types of wood, including mahogany, cherry, pine, and cedar. Chris’s goal was to create not a wooden shell but rather a case made entirely of wood—without a single screw! This project took more than 350 hours to complete—not including design time. We find the result well worth the effort.

Check out the rest of the rig right after the jump.

Thom Davis Has the Best Seizure Ever

Tom Edwards — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 18:09:20 -0500

A man needs a place of his own, and when Thom Davis found using the family computer for his gaming pursuits to be less than ideal, he set about building the Seizure, the ultimate form-follows-function gaming rig. His goal was to create a rig that was gaming friendly, had no exposed wires, and looked good in the living room. We think he succeeded on all three counts.

While building the Seizure, Thom discovered that connector manufacturers definitely tend to think “inside the box,” and typically don’t make cables suitable for such a large rig, but with the assistance of a local electronics supply store, he was able to create the 6-foot cables he needed to complete the job.

More photos after the jump!

This Mod Goes HawgWild

Tom Edwards — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 17:55:21 -0500

Vic McGuire found a diamond in the rough when he set out to build his latest mod. While browsing through a computer store, he found a custom case with chrome-plated front air grills in the junk pile and an idea came to mind. After arduously sanding the rust off the grills, Vic had the basis for the HawgWild U.S.A.

Hit the jump for more delicious photos!

Mod Shop Gamers' Challenge Winners Announced!

Nathan Edwards — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:25:08 -0500

The Mod Shop might be heading for the workshop in the sky, but that doesn't mean we're leaving our Gamers' Challenge contestants in the cold.

The contest prompt: Create your best mod featuring a brand, character (or characters), or theme from a game of your choice. Winner gets an all-expenses-paid trip to PAX.

We had a really hard time picking the winners for this one - they were all so good, we wish we could have chosen them all. But that's not how this works, so in the end our intrepid panel of judges had to pick just three: one Grand Prize winner, one Second Place, and a Juror's Prize for best first-time mod.

Hit the jump to meet the winners!

We Love the Weighted Companion Cube Case, Not Sure If It Loves Us Back

Tom Edwards — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:21:57 -0500

Scott Dacus is such a big fan of Portal his ringtone is the game’s theme song, “Still Alive.” However, an even bigger fan of the game commissioned Scott to build this case as a gift for his wife. We think this man is a genius or headed for divorce court—either way, he’s our new hero!

Hit the jump for an up-close look at a case which will never threaten to stab you, and in fact cannot speak.

Open Source Community Blasts Nvidia on Drivers

Chris Moody — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:04:55 -0500

Nvidia has reiterated that it won’t provide open source drivers for Linux. They claim that there is no need for it. It does however provides binary Linux drivers and has open sourced a few drivers.

According to ZDnet Nvidia said in a statement: “NVIDIA supports Linux, as well as the Linux community and has long been praised for the quality of the NVIDIA Linux driver. NVIDIA’s fully featured Linux graphics driver is provided as binary-only because it contains intellectual property NVIDIA wishes to protect, both in hardware and in software,”, which was in response to developers’ direct criticism of hardware vendors that produce just closed source drivers.

So what's the beef? Read on, to find out more.

Gaming Round-Up 6/23/08: Starcraft II's Possible Release Date, Comp-Related College Degree Enrollment Down 50%

Nathan Grayson — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 19:18:37 -0500

Is the gaming industry dying a slow, prolonged death? Probably not, but I got your attention, didn't I? Plus, the gaming industry might be dying after all, so everybody wins! Read on to find out all about it.