"Deus Ex is the best example of a story-driven action game that I've seen since Half-Life. This game should serve as a reminder that single-player games are far from dead. If you don't have the cash to buy this game, sell a bodily fluid...you'll thank me later."

"It should be around the end of next week. And it will be huge."

"The design philosophy of "interactivity" permeates Deus Ex, making it feel much more like a world to explore, than a game to be beaten. Almost everything you see can be played with and used in some way. If there's a plant on your boss' desk, you can pick it up and throw it at him - and he'll tell you to grow up. Newspapers can be read, furniture can be moved to block off doors, ATMs can be hacked for cash. NPCs can even be killed off, altering the storyline."

3DGN - A nice long review that ends up giving Deus Ex an A overall.

Dragon Games Online - This is a much shorter review. They give Deus Ex a 97% overall.

1. Will Contra Deus Ex be set in the Deus Ex universe or are we looking at a whole new game universe?

We are looking at the Deus Ex Universe still. The original game never did venture too much into the condition of certain countries, and not-so-secret societies that have been around since even before the Illuminati. We will be using a lot of source material from "Old world" conspiracy theory (Ming Voyages, Silk Road, Meiji Era etc....). Spain and Japan were both unexplored in the original game, and at the moment Spain (who is one of the strongest members of the European Union and the weakest in the UN) is in an ideal position not to be a part of the MJ12 conspiracy theory. Japan also has always stayed wary of their dealings with foreign countries, only opening up their ports by force (which was the only reason why the Meiji Era happened). Japan and Spain will be the main focus of the game, with Philadelphia as well as some of the other Deus Ex locations (and possibly Peking). The player might have unexpected allies throughout the game, and will find out what is the REAL conspiracy that is slouching towards completion. Notice that in Deus Ex, the weaker countries of the world were explored. It is difficult to pin a date on it, but the US has been in decline for years now. China is catching up, and Japan, although weakening economically (because of a stagnant private sector), is even more threatening to the US. The US' government sponsored weapons research and space research facilities such as Lockheed-Martin still essentially hold the market, but not very tightly. NASA and Lockheed-Martin are losing ground very quickly to new corporations, and Japan along with China are intensively researching space and weapons development. There are many more reasons that the US is (obviously) declining, but I would have to write a book to detail everything. China in the world of Deus Ex is relatively weak as well. It is the only country of its kind in the world, but MJ12 has control over it. For a European power like MJ12 to control China, China would have to be in very bad shape. The last time something like that happened was during the Opium wars, when the Europeans essentially got the Chinese hooked on Opium, and used that to their advantage. They "negotiated" Spheres of influence that allowed them to treat the chinese worse than dogs (games of polo using chinese men as steeds were common). Though MJ12's control is subversive, SOMEONE had to give in to MJ12 consciously, and the Chinese are very stubborn and have had hubris ever since ancient times. The player will start off as an operative for a group in Spain, which is THE center of commerce as a result of many things, including some that I can't disclose at this time (read: SPOILERS if I do).

2. You stated in your post that you wish to make Contra Deus Ex playable as a singleplayer game. Is it possible to play through the mod as one person in singleplayer, or will singleplayer gaming consist of using a team of bots?

You will be able to play the game as one person in two ways, either in a multiplayer game (in which people can join you later on) or in a single-player game (one player only). One of the biggest challenges I will have will be getting level scalability to work right. Diablo II takes the brute force approach and just adds more monsters as more players join, which could be easily implemented; Essentially though, I tend to dislike this approach and am looking at ways to make scalable puzzles/traps as well as scalable NPCs.

3. What is the official number of people that will be able to play co-op at once?

No official number yet =). I would say that 8 would be an educated guess, but I don't know for sure until I actually get scalability up and running and QA stuff worked out (I don't want everyone and their brother lagging out like on Battle.net the day of Diablo II's launch).

4. What ideas do you have for communicating between your team effectively? Will there be drop down menus for communication a la Unreal Tournament?

I was originally thinking of just using Unreal Tournament's way of communicating, but I think that using the infolinks of each player would be much cooler. I am still looking at alternative ways of doing effective communication between team members. I, if at all possible, might also include voice support. This would involve a lot of work but would give an immense payoff. But even then that is just an embellishment. As to sending messages to either teammates or the general game, pressing the key bound to talk once would prompt you for something to say in the general game, while pressing that key twice would prompt you for something to say to your teammates. There will of course still be the option to have multiple squads, and in that situation talking to the general game (to coordinate attacks) is useful. Effective team communication is the foundation for a great game, and there are some additional things I intend to add so that attacks can be effectively planned.

"SDK plans are still tentative, but we know we want to do it. Currently we've assigned two people--writer Sheldon Pacotti and associate producer Bob White--to work out some of the details."

"The SDK will (most likely) include the modified DX Unreal-based editor and the DX ConEdit conversation/flag system written by Albert Yarusso and used, primarily, by Sheldon Pacotti."

"Contra Deus Ex is a cooperative multiplayer RPG that spans everywhere from Spain to Philadelphia with its epic storyline. In Contra Deus Ex, you must cooperate with other players to accomplish your mission, and the AI and level design reflect this. To further strengthen the bond you need with your teammates, the levels are scalable, so no teammate will go unused. The characters are persistent, so you can develop a truly unique character. There are special items, unique items, new weapon enhancements, and wearable armor, all of which show on your character's model, and a trade window to trade money and items. In addition, there are new skills, new weapons, new augmentations, and AI enhancements. It is being developed by Alpha Interactive (my 8-strong development team). Just letting you guys know that Neo's isn't the only multiplayer mod, and I definitely think that witchboy would like this project :)"

PCGW: And now the final question (and most obvious)…what's next for the Ion Storm folks at Austin? Deus Ex 2?

SP: Definitely a Deus Ex 2, plus two or three other projects currently in a numinous stage of preconception. Not much has been nailed down for sure yet. I'm likely to be as surprised as you are by what comes next....

All in all a very interesting interview. Head on over to read the whole shebang

"If this is you, please help us correct the problem. Open your deusex.ini file.

Find the section titled [Firstrun].

Delete the line that says Firstrun=400.

Save and exit deusex.ini

This will force a re-initialization of the rendering system. Make sure you choose D3D support when the option is offered to you. When the confirmation page comes up, make sure that DX has recognized the card you're using correctly.

This gives us a clean slate to work with.

If you're still having the problem, please e-mail an accurate, concise (skip the editorializing, for my sake) description of your symptoms [the symptoms. Not the problem. tell me what it's doing, not what you think is broken] AND a copy of your deusex.log file to:

DXSupport@Ionstorm.com

We just created the mail address, so give it a couple of hours before you start sending stuff in."

"Same old drill; new address. Send an email to DXSupport@ionstorm.com with the following information:

- Your description of the symptoms. The symptoms, not the problem. I need to know what it's doing, not what you think is broken.

- Run DXDiag and attach the text file. (this is a Direct X diagnostic tool, not a DEUS EX utiltiy)

- Copy off your deusex.log immediately after you've recoved from a lock/crash, without restarting the game. Attach that to the e-mail.

Thanks guys. The more straightforward data we get, the better shot we have at figuring this out."

in user.ini change
tilde=
to
tilde=type

then add
-hax0r
to the shortcut for the game

then, in the game, hit tilde to invoke the command prompt for some cheats

for the coolest cheats, go to the credits and type things like

quotes
(which brings up the team quotes)

iamwarren
(which let's the player 'break' techno devices when he gets near them, like warren does)

thereisnospoon
(which puts the game in matrix mode)

also, shooting hoops has a different text msg in each location

Hmm..Matrix mode? Looks like I have to try that one out. Thanks!

-Newbie Guide - A good guide to get you up and running.

-Overview - Basically gives you some reasons to buy DX.

-Cheats Guide - Good for working out some of the more arcane cheats (as though you masters need the help:)

Standard DM

Capture the Ambrosia Container (Like CTF)

NSF vs UNATCO ( Think tribes in the DX universe : )

"When we shipped Deus Ex two weeks ago, we knew the game performed better with some video cards than with others. For us, the performance problems seemed minor and highly configuration driven. Internally we were able to tweak game settings to achieve acceptable performance. That seemed like enough of an answer.

"You guys quickly set us straight on THAT subject!

"Within days, we started seeing messages, lots of them, about D3D performance issues and immediately set to work trying to find a solution. At that point, as regular readers of usenet and the various DX message boards know, we fell silent on the subject of D3D issues. Some of you took our silence as a statement that we didn't care or weren't paying attention. Trust me, we were paying attention and we did care. Each flaming thread about D3D performance was like a dagger to the heart. Well, we think it's time to pull the dagger our and cauterize the wound.

"We didn't want to say anything publicly until we had a solution but now, we think we've found one.

"At [this link] you'll find a file called "D3DDrv.dll." If you're using an nVidia, Matrox or other D3D card, you really want to get this file and, following the instructions at the download site, give it a try.

"We've done a fair amount of testing on this. We're seeing dramatic framerate improvements (and, obviously, significant gameplay enhancement!). But, as I said, a lot of the D3D problems seem to be configuration dependent and we need to hear from you before we change the patch status from "beta" to "final." Let us know how it works for you.

"And if we're right, if this does fix Deus Ex's "D3D Performance Problem," please tell your friends. We obviously have a vested interest, but we'd like to hear how people like our GAME rather than what people think of our framerate..."

There you have it straight from The Spector himself. Go grab the fix here.

"Often in the game you will find yourself peering around corners or picking a lock, rather then engaging in combat with a NFS agent. This forces the player to heavily consider each option before rushing in, guns blazing, breaking up the gameplay to keep things interesting and fresh so that the character goes through stages of exploration, combat, and stealth."

Head on over to Gamespy to see the full review

"To summarize: Lord Brinne was a well-loved poster on the Ultima IX Horizons messageboard, who died June 21, 1999. In tribute to him, Lord British saw fit to include a tomb bearing his name in Ultima IX. It is nice to see the tribute continue into Deus Ex!"

Agreed! Here is the screenshot again. Thanks Clockwork!

"Deus Ex expands into hundreds of directions, and like blood vessels in a body, the veins of its storyline provide passageways for the elements of exploration, artifact discovery, character development and interaction. The development of the storyline and how it evolves through the player's actions is one of the most remarkable experiences I've ever had. All role-playing games are supposed to possess this attribute, but few actually deliver. Deus Ex sets the standard for how a player's action should affect NPCs (non-player characters) and the environments they interact with. In Deus Ex for example, the player is frequently presented with the dilemma of dangerous encounters. In almost all cases players can choose to kill, incapacitate or completely avoid enemies, and more often than not there are benefits and consequences to each alternative."

The article brings up a lot of the finer points of Deus Ex that make it not only a great game, but a classic.

"Speaking of your fellow officers and superiors, may I just say that the interaction of characters is incredible? They all seem so aware of your actions. Each decision you make is reflected through your conversations to the point where you feel like people are actually keeping tabs on you."

In the end Deus Ex bows out with an astonishing 98%. If you're still having doubts about buying the game go read this review now and then go buy the game!

Sahab was kind enough to send along the following tweaks to help boost performance in Direct3D mode under Deus Ex. Here's what he had to say: I was messing with the DeusEx.ini file and made the following changes to improve performance:

VolumetricLighting=False

In the end, I would like to say that playing Deus Ex has been the most fun since Counter-Strike. More skill is required than the ability to hit the fire key, and I have to give this game my all around applause of approval.

All in all the review is a great read. Head over to read it now, unless of course, you don't need anymore reason to buy the game and your on your way to the store now. 8)

Open the User.ini in the DeusEx\System folder. Add/Edit the following 2 lines.

t=talk

T=talk

when in the game press the T key to bring up "Say", delete the "say" & any other text that appears & type in preferences & hit Enter.

Other games have striven to offer multiple solutions to every situation, often with limited success. This time it’s been done right: what you do and how you do it are almost always entirely up to you, and the game responds accordingly.

The review continues on to talk about the game's skill system and futuristic setting. Definitely worth the read.

Deus-Ex.org: Is there any chance of (working) OpenGL being added in a patch? The OpenGL rendering in the demo doesn't seem to work.

WS: I'm afraid we just don't support OpenGL and don't really anticipate supporting it in the future. If enough people tell us they want or need it, we'll see. Right now, we think Glide and D3D are enough.

The interview covers a range of questions, from multiplayer plans to level creating tools, so be sure to check it out.

Also, be sure to to check out Part 1 of the interview with Sheldon Pacotti if you haven't already.