August 2002

R6:3 Delayed Friday August 30 | Rocky

Raven Shield has been delayed until February 2003, is this bad news? No - it is actually good news, read why at our Rainbow Six site AGR-S.com.

Swedish Marines Thursday August 29 | Rocky

CASM 1.1 is Chris Anderson's mod that converts the Ghosts into Swedish Marines. In this huge 30Mb mod you can expect to see Swedish woodland uniforms with hand rendered camo, new weapons including small arms, support weapons and anti-tank weapons.

This is the first in a series of mods from Chris that will include desert and urban versions. Grab this 30Mb Ghost Recon mod here.

New Detonator Drivers Thursday August 29 | Rocky

Nvidia have released v40.41 Detonator Drivers, boasting of a 25% increase in performance. Low Profile has installed them and given v40.41 a big MLP thumbs up, grab them here.

Sum Of All Fears Prizes Thursday August 29 | Rocky

Textravaganza have a copy of TSOAF to give away, just answer the simple question they have posted here. Also remember that AGR-S.com has T-shirts and posters to give away, in a competition that closes in a couple of days, so click here and get your name down!

SOAFIE Update Thursday August 29 | Rocky

If you use the US version of the Sum Of All Fears mission editor SOAFIE, visit the official site now for an update.

IT Screen Shots Thursday August 29 | XianSaint

The official Ghost Recon site has updated their site with 8 new screen shots. Check it out here.

New Interviews Tuesday August 27 | Rocky

GR.com has pointed out two new Interviews released this week. Check their news page for details on a HomeLan interview with Richard Dansky, and a GDXbox interview with Robbie Edwards.

Ghost Recon in Winter Tuesday August 27 | Rocky

Check out the images in this discussion depicting the Ghost Recon maps in winter. They already look great, and project leader Kris is putting a team together to provide new winter camos and new missions - check out the progress and leave some feedback here.

IT : Weapons Detail Tuesday August 27 | Rocky

Now that you've seen the list of weapons in Island Thunder, you might be wondering what some of them are. Jester has put together a brief summary of each weapon on our Island Thunder preview page.

Island Thunder Details Tuesday August 27 | Rocky

WorthPlaying.com have released some nice details on Ghost Recon's new expansion pack. Check it out for information including the full list of new weapons, a list of eight new vehicles and 3 superb new screens!

The official forums revealed some interested news about the weapons today : Although the weapons have been listed as multiplayer only recently, Island Thunder features a new QMK system that makes these weapons available for solo play through the quick missions, but not the campaign.

Jack Ryan Thriller Set Tuesday August 27 | Rocky

Rainbow Six fans might be interested in a special DVD boxed set I stumbled upon. It features 3 Jack Ryan movies in one boxed set - check it out here.

Free Libya! Monday August 26 | Rocky

When AV_/\po||o and AV Sentinel let the GR.net mod testing team loose on his new Free Libya campaign, little did we know what a treat we were in for. I enjoyed it so much I wrote the review for it personally, you'll find that here. With eight excellent missions, a very nice collection of weapons and extra features - this comes highly recommended.

Download this superb 24Mb Desert Siege mod (updated) here. Leave feedback for the mod team in this discussion here. Visit the AV homepage at their new home at http://www.fl-ava.net/

Up in Arms Monday August 26 | XianSaint

An avid fan of Ghost Recon and this site, (whom I won't reveal for the obvious reason) has brought it to my attention that there is a person that is basically stealing from the GR Mod Community. How you might ask? By selling a "compilation of mods" on ebay. Check it out here. Some of the best mods are large in size and it's understandable why someone (especially on dial-up) would want to acquire them on CD, but the bottom line is that by putting the mods on e-bay this guy is potentially making profits off of other peoples work, to my knowledge without the modders consent or approval. I will personally investigate this matter further and expect more details to be posted.

*Update* The issue has been resolved and I have been in contact with the involved parties. They have assured me that the active auctions have been withdrawn and there is no plans for future auctions. For more details, visit this post in our forums.

IT at Amazon Saturday August 24 | XianSaint

You knew it wouldn't be long before Amazon got onboard with the Island Thunder pre-orders, and now they are. For the low price of $19.99, this bundle of gaming goodness can be yours. Purchase it from the GR.net Amazon store and help support the site.

Baja Updates Friday August 23 | Rocky

Baja Bravo has updated his site with some pretty neat screenshots, what are you waiting for - go check out Caitie, and join her fan club here. More awesome shots here!

Island Thunder History Lesson Friday August 23 | XianSaint

Sure has been a busy week with all the news coming out...but hey, that's good isn't it? Who could've predicted that the GR EXP 2 would be called Island Thunder? Well, the phrase is actually not "totally original" as a quick search at www.google.com turned up the following interesting bit of information.

In February 1997 the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) Special Operations Capable (SOC) landed at Porto Scudo, Sardinia for Exercise Island Thunder '97, a joint and combined exercise with the U.S. Army's Southern European Task Force (SETAF) and elements of the Italian armed forces.

Those that are interested can read the full article here.

GR EXP 2 Box Art Friday August 23 | XianSaint

In case you missed it, here is a nice shot of the box art for Ghost Recon Expansion Pack 2, Island Thunder. Similar to the traditional Ghost Recon covers, this pic shows off some of the new boonie hats...

Cover Art

This image has been added to our Store, and will be linked to Amazon as soon as they start taking orders.

Thunder at Gamespy Thursday August 22 | Rocky

Gamespy have the largest, most detailed look at Island Thunder so far right here. It's based on the press-release two mission preview build and has new info and screenshots, check it out. Thanks Akira!

New Utah Map Wednesday August 21 | Rocky

Akira has released his first map for Ghost Recon over at @war. We tested out Utah Beach last night and both of the missions were great fun. There are already positive comments in our forum about this cool beach landing map, so grab it now and clear those beaches!

Island Thunder Movies Wednesday August 21 | Rocky

Thanks to Pyro Monty and Jayster for sending us info on an IGN exclusive - movies from the new Ghost Recon expansion pack! Check them out here.

Kosovo Wednesday August 21 | Rocky

Another Rogue Spear conversion is on its way to Ghost Recon - the Kosovo map! Judging by the screenshots and info posted by Monolith here, this is going to be a superb map with superb missions! The map is being recreated by Mike Schell and the package is named "Lost Thunder", look out for it soon(ish).

Ghost Recon Expansion 2! Wednesday August 21 | Rocky

The next expansion for Ghost Recon is to be called "Island Thunder" and is set in Cuba! EB Games have the exclusive, check it out here and screenshots here.

Eight single player missions, and five dedicated multiplayer maps are included. Helicopter and boat insertions are new, and from the description of the new maps, they sound awesome. Twelve new weapons to keep all you weapon nuts happy! Expect to see Island Thunder on the shelves in 4 weeks in the US, and around the middle of October in Europe.

We have a new forum open for discussion of this new expansion, you'll find the full press release in it here. Thanks to Wade for the news!

MLP04 Castle Tuesday August 20 | Rocky

Low Profile has released his Castle conversion for Desert Siege. As we reported earlier this is an extremely well put together map that fixes some errors in the original map, and adds some new features that enhance the gameplay. It also now includes a mission from Rose, and all game types are available. Go here and select the 5Mb Ghost Recon (the SOAF version is incomplete, lookout for it next week).

Leave Low Profile feedback in our forums here, and check our Review here.

News in Brief! Monday August 19 | Rocky

Time to catch-up with this weeks mail bag!

Recon.org.uk have 10 teams battling it out in their European Recon League, and they want more! If you are up to the Euro challenge, give them a visit and check out the League Section.
Migo tells us that Ghost-Recon.de has Version 2 of the 75th Ranger mod from Sixpence - hold on tight - it's over 50Mb! Contents include 15 missions, Trance M4 weapons, new specialists and of course 75th Ranger camo!
Shadow has prepared another patch for the SOAF Combat Essentials mod grab it here! This is Patch No.3, for all the patches see the main download for this mod, which I have bumped to the top of the Downloads list on the right.
Looking for another source of downloads? Bookmark The Gaming Vault.
Milan Lan! Yep, Italian gamers check out these pages for details on prizes and surprises at NGI Lan02 in September.
Finally check out our new POTD "Protecting Tanks", neat PS work.

IGOR for Dummies Sunday August 18 | Rocky

El Oso has put together a comprehensive beginners guide to Ghost Recon's mission editor IGOR. The first few sections are up already, check them out here, and you too could be making your own mission's just like El Oso's Black Sun missions!

Finding Mods Saturday August 17 | Rocky

As most of you know, while we maintain the Download section here with the latest mods, and patches and updates - the actual coding for this sytem is maintained by the experts over at @war. One of the coolest options they have is that from their page you can search on any criteria to find your own mod preferences. For example, you could search for a specific modders files, or SOAF mods only - the permutations are almost endless - check it out!

Free Libya! Saturday August 17 | Rocky

In a little over a week one of the best modded Ghost Recon campaigns will be released to the community - Free Libya! These missions represent some of the most enjoyable challenges I have ever faced in Ghost Recon, and I'm sure this campaign is going to be a huge success.

Catch-up on progress in our forums, and at Apollo's Weblog.

Industrial Mission Thursday August 15 | Rocky

Good news! Rawker's excellent Industrial map now has a mission thanks to Harntrox, grab it here.

SOAF Missions Thursday August 15 | Rocky

Scarecrow mailed in his Sum Of All Fears mod which adds 5 missions and new sounds - grab it here.

Nam Era Thursday August 15 | Rocky

Ebud is working on new skins for an upcoming mod from talkinBEERmug, check them out here. Ebud is a new modder to the Ghost Scene, having worked on OFP mods, he has seen the light and is now enjoying modding for Ghost Recon - that's what we like to hear!

X-Box Live Wednesday August 14 | Rocky

Gamespot have a poll on their front page that features Ghost Recon. It asks "Which of these games are you most looking forward to playing on Xbox Live?" Check it out and place your vote! The Ghost Recon X-Box official page can be found here.

N42 Missions Tuesday August 13 | Rocky

Karma from Network 42 mailed in a mission pack for Desert Siege that they have put together. Eight missions and a new "Spy Hunter" game type are included. N42 is home to accomplished Ghost Recon modders Rose and talkinBEER mug, these guys make serious mods that are not for the light-hearted - grab the N42 mission pack here, and hold on tight!

Industrial Map Monday August 12 | Rocky

Rawker's Industrial map is here! We grabbed the following screenshots recently during the testing phase, and loved the map - even though we never found the secret disco! Download it here, and check out all the neat touches, and the secret area if you can.

Note that there are no missions included - this is strictly a multiplayer map at the moment. Rawker wanted to pass on his thanks to the community for supporting his maps with positive feedback and encouragement! Join this discussion in our forums and see how the map evolved, and leave your comments.

Star Trek Phasers Monday August 12 | Rocky

For all you trekies out there, here's 9of9's Phaser v1.0 mod which adds 3 kits, new sounds, new models and new textures. 9of9 is available for feedback in this discussion in our forums.

M E U (S O C) MOD Monday August 12 | Rocky

Lloyd's Mods latest release is the Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) uniform pack. Featuring new MARPAT camo for all soldiers, including the specialists and renamed characters to identify them by rank, check out Lloyd's screenshots here, and download the 18Mb mod from here.

Speznaz Sunday August 11 | Rocky

Sixpence has released his Speznaz mod - and it's worth a look. All the characters are now issued with SpezNaz Urban Camo, and there are also new Specialists, Russian weaponary, menu pictures and 5 missions! Grab the main 10Mb download, and this small patch, visit GhostRecon.de for more info.

Reticle Modding Saturday August 10 | Rocky

If you have ever wanted to make your own Ghost Recon reticle, now you can thanks to this Tutorial from Cobra6 of the DTD Pro Mod Team. The tutorial covers the design, file attributes and alpha channel work for a sniper rifle. Enjoy, and be sure to send us your best efforts! Part two dealing with Assualt Rifle and Pistol reticles is coming soon.

Cocobolo IDF Friday August 09 | Rocky

At last Cocobolo have released their amazing IDF weapons modification.

It weighs in at a whopping 43Mb, but there is also a split version for slower connections. Grab the full 43Mb file, or this 26Mb file plus this 16Mb file.

Red Sun Friday August 09 | Rocky

The =DRAG= team have announced their latest modding project, and posted some images in our forums right here. It's due out in around a week, more details as we get them!

Downtown Friday August 09 | Rocky

AusieGuy has completed his new Downtown map, grab this 25Mb map here, feedback here. Mission scripting is provided by Harntrox, enjoy the challenge!Please check the install instructions for details on why there are two versions of this map included.

Frames + New Map Thursday August 08 | Rocky

Frame Rates, love 'em or hate 'em, someone is always talking about them. At the moment there are two great posts in this forum discussion that could help increase your Ghost Recon performance. Topics such as Sandra, chipset drivers, shadows, anti-aliasing, texture quality and the z-buffer are covered, amongst other tips - good luck. Let us know if you notice any performance gain after tweaking your system.

Also in our forums AussieGuy has released a single image from his new map. It's looking very impressive, an extremely clean looking map. Expect to see the download available very soon, meantime have a look!

HX3 Desert Assault Wednesday August 07 | Rocky

=SEALZ= HX3 Desert Assault by Harntrox Final Version is now available! The pre-release version has been getting played heavily on servers posted in our Games Forum, fans just love it! And no wonder - 50 missions, that have not had their quality sacrificed for quantity, plus helicopters, tanks, drive the trucks, and random elements. All that for a 6Mb download!

If you have Desert Siege, you'd be mad to miss this - grab it here or here.

Skinning Tuesday August 06 | Rocky

Ruin has added a new Beginners Guide to Skinning report to our Modding Recon section. There are 8 indepth sections, walking beginners through the process of achieving new uniforms for Ghost Recon mods. Check it out here.

GR Exp 2 Tuesday August 06 | Rocky

We have updated our GR Expansion 2 page with new details regarding the soundtrack and possible release date, check our GR Mission Pack 2 Box on the right.

Badtree Tuesday August 06 | Rocky

Our list of Console Commands will be updated later today with a new finding - the "badtree" command. An anonymous (but informed) visitor mailed me the secret behind this mysterious command - it's a tool for map makers. Here's what arrived in the mail.

"If trees are too close together, the AI may try to pathfind between the trees, even if he can't fit between them. If you type "badtree" in the console, it will set such trees on fire, so that the map maker can find them and move them."

So now you know!

Shootout v1.0 Monday August 05 | Rocky

Shootout is a weapons modification from a new modding team, with the following weapons :- FN F2000 + Grenade Launcher, HK 33, Steyr Aug, FN FNC, HK G36, SMG, HK PDW, HK53A3, USP 9, Glock 18, HK P10, Colt Double Eagle, Desert Eagle, P99, Steyr Scout, and the HK G3SG1. Grab the 3Mb file here.

A-Team Sunday August 04 | Rocky

-=Somebody=- mailed in a progress report on his upcoming A-Team mod. This mod will feature the 4 A-Team members, new camo weapons, and new kits.

Beta and Beta Saturday August 03 | Rocky

Two Beta mods almost ready for release are Rawker's Industrial map, and Cocobolo's IDF weapons and uniform pack. Mix the two together and what do you get? Some killer screenshots!

Both of these mods are superb. Rawker's new map is very detailed, large, and boosted by a great mission from award winning modder Rose. Cocobolo's IDF mod is tremendous, so good in fact that I'd even recommend it to fans who might not usually download weapon mods - these models are simply outstanding. As soon as they are released (shortly), the download link will be posted here.

TCZ Back to School Saturday August 03 | Rocky

The Combat Zone have a pretty neat competition coming up. Compete on Low Profiles excellent Castle map (as yet unreleased) on one of 10 Dedicated Servers on dual OC-3 connections - with some cool game prizes on offer thanks to Ubi Soft!

Doom Missions Saturday August 03 | Rocky

DangDave sent in 3 new missions, including a daytime version of the Desert Siege Beach map. These missions can be played solo, or online - have fun!

Industrial Map Saturday August 03 | Rocky

The Platoon have some news and images from Rawker's Industrial map which is due out shortly, check it out - looks cool.

MLP New Site Friday August 02 | Rocky

Low Profile has relaunched his Marylandlanparty.com site with a neat new design, and some interesting news. First of all LP has announced he will be releasing a map pack that has every single map that he has made for Ghost Recon - and it weighs in at around 10Mb! That's five excellent maps, yes five - because the other announcement is that LP has already started work on Athlete's Village! I was lucky enough to chase LP around this map a few nights ago - and it was awesome, it will be a great map for online battles for sure. Bookmark Low Profiles site now and watch for future developments!

Sabre Teams Thursday August 01 | Rocky

Thanks to Storm for sending us news that BajaBravo's Sabre Teams is now on general release, and can be grabbed here. This massive mod is not to be missed, even at over 40Mb, dialup users might want to make the effort to download this cracker. Featuring work by most of the communities top modders this mod tops off a month of tremendous mod releases.

If you are deliberating wheteher or not to download this hefty mod, or are downloading it as you read this - have a peek at the readme file which will give you an indea of the level of professionalism we are talking about here... remarkable work.

A discussion thread has started here, please feel free to leave feedback.

Fishing Hole Thursday August 01 | Rocky

Drunk Bob has released his new map - the Fishing Hole, grab it here. Visit Bob's site for more information.