Yesterday it was announced that the Ministry of Culture (which is responsible for overseeing all video games sold in China) banned Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, Painkiller and has ordered MMORPG developer Object Software to remove its Player vs Player system which rewards players for killing other players.

At the time we launched the World Tour, Painkiller was the best choice. Even the players themselves have stated that while the game lacks in several areas, it is fun to watch in a live environment and the competitions can be intense to the last minute.

The games we select for next year will be the ones that the community of gamers want to play, our sponsors want to sponsor and CPL wants to support. We just have to do a better job in selecting countries that embrace computer gaming for its positive aspects and support our competitions.

The CPL has always had the strictest standards when it comes to M-rated games and we feel that making these tournaments available only to participants that are 17 or above and is a great way to curb the general concerns about violence and gaming.

You can catch the feedback from the CPL here, and you can read Angel Munozs interview about it, here.

After an awesome stop in Dallas, USA and a cancelled stop in Liepzig, Germany many have been waiting for the next stop that will be held in Sheffield, UK. The time has come and this weekend the greatest players will fight for the honourable #1 spot. I have prepared everything for this stop and have written a feature with all the things you will need to know about the stop. We will ofcourse fill it with more information before and during the stop. I will be attending this World Tour stop as well and once again working with the tournament and CPL.

CPL WT UK Coverage

//dREk

With the next CPL World Tour stop around the corner here is a brief guide on each of the players and their performance to far on the tour. At time of writing each of the players below are attending the world tour stop in Sheffield. The event starts on Friday and ends with the finals on Sunday evening. Be sure to check out our coverage live from the event, with pictures and player interviews during the weekend.

» CPL World Tour UK Player Profiles

The n!faculty painkiller team (n!ScooBz0r, n!AgamemnonZ & n!eSrem) attended a LAN called Drome 12 ( www.drome.nl ). Its the biggest LAN in The Netherlands with 2000+ gamers. n!ScooBz0r and n!AgamemnonZ became first and second, n!eSrem couldnt participate in the competition due to his work. The frags are from the games played during the LAN. Hope you enjoy it a bit!.

You can download the movie here: http://www.own-age.com/vids/video.aspx?id=5729

An article about the LAN can be found on the n!faculty website here: http://www.faculty.de/news_details.php?id=1148

ESReality published an interview with Vo0. Its a nice read, here is a part:

—–
I did take a huge risk quiting university (although only being 2 months in), but I knew I had it in me after winning my two first and only tournaments back before the WT game was announced. I’ve placed really well, only getting 2nd twice, winning $89.500 out of the possible $99.500 after 9 tournaments. I still feel I could have done better but as I said, things go as they go. The thing about people that really want to be a progamer, it is a risk. I took the risk and succeeded, but alot of people will fail and will kill a year in their life (not going to school, not winning enough money to live on). There is no such thing as a written book how to become a progamer, and it’s hard to work your way up there. It all came to me, I wasn’t expecting anything great at ESWC 2004. I can still remember after winning my second group stage “oh my god I just made at least $1000 playing a computergame”. And look at where I’m at now, I could not have made a better choise in my life than I did. But as I said, it doesn’t go this way for everyone. Maybe I was lucky that PK was the WT game with such few competitors (although really skilled, Fatal1y/SteLam/ForresT/LeXeR, all reached (near)-god status in their previous games) unlike Q3 which had a huge following. Whenever a game has a huge following it’s a lot harder to have only 1 guy winning it all, I think.
—–

You can read the interview here: http://www.esreality.com/?a=post&id=872253

(To download You must register “LOGIN” on fileplanet)
Original Post from Jaspos:
Download : www.planetunreal.com/jaspos/painkiller
FileName : TreeOfWoe.zip
ReleaseDate : August 14, 2005
Game : Painkiller
LevelName : Tree of Woe
LevelAuthor : Jaspos
LevelRequirements : Painkiller + BOOH + Powermad.
LevelInstallation : Extract TreeOfWoe.zip into your Painkiller directory.
Install Powermad available here http://www.kalme.de/painkiller/. Start Painkiller and use command pmloadlevel treeofwoe to load level .
AuthorComments : My first level for Painkiller released with some known visual issues due to my lack of early planning for level zoning, something I dont like at all, but it would take much re-work to fix so my apologies for that. The level will load without an image. It is supplied but needs code added to scripts to make it work, something I dont do. I know of some other issues, but time dictates that I release the level.
Thanks for the help at the PK forums. I have created and tested the level myself so if you find any issues and problems please email me and I will fix and update what I can. http://www.pkeuro.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=286[URL=http://imageshack.us][IMG]http://img311.imageshack.us/img311/8530/shot01068tk.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[URL=http://imageshack.us][IMG]http://img311.imageshack.us/img311/3403/shot01112qz.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[URL=http://imageshack.us][IMG]http://img311.imageshack.us/img311/1033/shot01159ym.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

The big Grand Final for IndiWEB PK Challenge has ended. The winner is SK|SteLam who did beat Dignitas/reptile in the Grand Final game. SK|SteLam has really dominated the IndiWEB PK Challenge tournament by winning two qualifiers and now winning the Grand Final and take home €700 euros. Dignitas/reptile lost against SK|SteLam in the WB final but won against 4K^Zaccabus in the Consolation final and could face SK|SteLam again. However, SteLam played well once again and managed to win.

Big thanks to IndiWEB for doing this tournament and credits to the admins who made it possible (Darthbane, Charly and Gurke).

After the big Grand Final for IndiWEB PK Challenge I decided to interview the winner SK|SteLam. Id like to state that this is just a short unprepared interview but hopefully it is a good read.

You can find that interview at http://www.team-dignitas.com/.

Tonight on the Team Sportscast Network we have the grand finals of the IndiWEB Painkiller Challenge. Over the last 4 months we have seen six exciting tournaments run by the IndiWEB tournament team.

Tonights games will start at 2pm EST ( 8 pm CET ) with the winners bracket final between Deniz “reptile” Kalkmann from Team-dignitas, the winner of challenge #5 and Stephan “SteLam” Lammert from SK-Gaming, the winner of challenges #2 and #6.
These two top German players will be playing for a spot in the final, earning a guarenteed 350 euros. The winner of the final will take home 700 euros! SteLam is the only player to win two of the six challenges, but can he make it 3?

We will then move onto the consolidation final, between David “Zaccubus” Treacy from 4Kings and the loser of the winner bracket final.

The final match of the night will be the grand final of this tournament, which has been labelled an “online World Tour”. All three matches will be played in a best of 3 format.

Who will take home the gold? Zaccubus? Reptile? or SteLam? . Join TsN’s very own Joe from 20CET as he brings you all the action from all three games!

TsN- We Call the Shots!

Painkiller cups are popping out of the ground, and this time we’re serious. ESNL provides a late summer cup for benelux residents. For a small online cup the prizepot is nearly €125. Featuring €50 for the first prize and a ticket into the Netgamez 2005B event.

Want to give a throw at it? Then sign up at http://www.esnl.org/cup/

PAINKILLER MAPS LIST

———-
[ MP MAPS ]
———-

( DM MAPS )

DM_1on1_HydeDM1 (Mr.Hyde)
DM_1v1_meatless (Tectonic & pha3z)
DM_5quid01 (CPL map)
DM_Absinthe (CPL map)
DM_Babel_GORE (shadow)
DM_Ballistic (CPL map)
DM_Blink (Tectonic)
DM_Catacombs (PeTjA)
DM_Courtyard_GORE (shadow)
DM_Cursed (PK)
DM_ExMortis (PK)
DM_Factory (PK)
DM_Fallen1 (PK)
DM_Fallen2te (gellehsak & Pkeuro)
DM_Fallen2 (PK)
DM_Fallen3 (PlanetPK)
DM_Forest (shadow)
DM_Fragenstein (PK)
DM_Hell (Maiden_Canada)
DM_Illuminati (PK)
DM_Iron (killua-chan)
DM_JumpMap_01 (shadow)
DM_K3Angeldust (K3rN)
DM_K3Inzane (K3rN)
DM_K3Unholy (K3rN)
DM_Lukin (Lukin)
DM_MAGMA1_alpha2 (B6)
DM_Mandra1 (?)
DM_Maniek1a ([M]aniek)
DM_Maniek2 ([M]aniek)
DM_Mine (PK)
DM_Opera (shadow)
DM_Psycho (PK)
DM_Q1KMB (Pkeuro)
DM_Q1ZTNDM3BETA4 (Pkeuro)
DM_Ruins (PeTjA)
DM_Sacred (PK)
DM_SkyTemple (shadow, host by Tectonic)
DM_Swamp (PeTjA)
DM_TESTARENA (Pkeuro PK++)
DM_Town1 (Maiden_Canada)
DM_Trainstation (PK)
DM_Unseen (PK)
DM_UnseenReloadeD (PeTjA)
DM_Warefare (?)
…

( CTF MAPS )

CTF_Chaos (PK+BooH)
CTF_Forbidden (PK+BooH)
CTF_Trainstation (PK+BooH)
CTF_Forest (PeTjA)
CTF_Opera_Beta2 (B6)
…

(DMPCF MAPS )

DMPCF_Chaos (PeTjA)
DMPCF_Pentagon (PeTjA)
DMPCF_Q1PIT (Pkeuro)
DMPCF_Tower (PK)
DMPCF_Warehouse (PK)

…

———-
[ SP MAPS ]
———-

(PK)

C1L1_Cathedral
C1L2_Atrium_Complex
C1L3_Catacombs
C1L4_Cemetery
C1L5_Enclave
C2L1_Bridge
C2L2_Prison
C2L3_Opera
C2L4_Asylum
C2L5_Town
C2L6_Swamp
C3L1_Train_Station
C3L2_Factory
C3L3_Military_Base
C3L4_Castle
C3L5_Ruins
C3L6_Forest
C4L1_Oriental_Castle
C4L2_Babel
C4L4_Alastor
C5L1_Benchmark
C5L1_City_On_Water
C5L2_Benchmark
C5L2_Docks
C5L3_Monastery
C5L4_Hell
{ C6L0_PCFHQ }

(BooH)

C6L10_Shadowland
C6L1_Orphanage
C6L2_LoonyPark
C6L3_Lab
C6L4_City
C6L4_Pentagon
C6L5_Leningrad
C6L6_Colloseum
C6L7_IceWallow ?????
C6L8_Galleon ?????
C6L8_Mines
C6L9_Mine

(FAN SP MAPS)

Hills [Machu Picchu] (Varus)

…

——————————————————-
Thanks to : shadow, Tectonic, k3rn, killua-chan, PeTjA, Mr_Hyde, pha3z, blowfish, Warhog, the pkeuro team & all i forgot

HELP to complet the author list, add missing map … b6.email@free.fr

For Map hosting : I can host some maps, b6.email@free.fr Topic : Map

Little CTF map like Q3CTF1
————————
Downloads :

http://fpsqg.jexiste.fr/downloads/CTF_Opera_beta2.pkm
&
New 2x03_Opera.mpk file (turn off physic)
http://fragarea.free.fr/downloads/painkiller/maps/2x03_Opera.zip
————————
Install :

Put the file CTF_Opera_beta2.pkm on “PK folder”/DATA/

Extract the 2x03_Opera.zip & past 2x03_Opera.mpk under
“PK folder”/DATA/MAPS/

————————
BETA 2 :

ADD: CTF Light effect (Red & Blue)
ADD: more weapons (2 smg, 2 boltgun & 1 Electro)
ADD: 2 MegaHealth
ADD: 2 Silver Armor
ADD: 4 Bronze Armor
ADD: 8 Health
ADD: 4 Ammo Megapack
DEL: Gold Armor

Qubism.net ( www.qubism.net ) has announced they are to hold a PK 1v1 Cup. The cup will include 16 players, and will be single elimination with all matches being the best of three games.

The map pool is:

DM_Absinthe
DM_Sacred
DM_Psycho
DM_Meatless

You can find the rules here, and registration form here. The cup will start soon, and you can contact players and admins on irc in #qubism.

Little CTF map like Q3CTF1

http://fragarea.free.fr/downloads/painkiller/maps/CTF_Opera_TEST.pkm
&
New 2x03_Opera.mpk file (turn off physic)
http://fragarea.free.fr/downloads/painkiller/maps/2x03_Opera.zip

Install :

Put the file CTF_Opera_TEST.pkm on “PK folder”/DATA/

Extract the 2x03_Opera.zip & past 2x03_Opera.mpk under
“PK folder”/DATA/MAPS/

The 19th issue of Team Dignitas Painkiller Spotlight is out and this time the glory fell upon the new gamer talent Ztrider from Team Fnatic. He is definitely one of the best newcomers for gaming this year by having no previous “pro” history and improving his result as the time goes on with placements like 4th in CPL WT Brazil and Sweden and now recently a well respected 3rd place in CPL WT USA. This interview covers areas of how everything started for this great talent, his strengths and weaknesses, the road towards number 1 and of course WT 2006.

Here is a piece of the whole interview:

Team Dignitas:
Tell us a bit about your gaming career and how it all started and the story behind your choice of Painkiller as the game?

Fnatic/Ztrider:
Yep, next one 🙂

The whole Dignitas PK Spotlight interview could be found here.

If you have not read the other great painkiller spotlights go to www.team-dignitas.com and go to news archive and select Painkiller Spotlights and you will get all of them.

Enjoy!

//dREk

Inpainkiller ( www.inpainkiller.de ) has published a rare PCF interview with its CEO, Adrian Chmielarz.

Adrian Chmielarz:
Yes, we are still tweaking on it (PKTV) and it is being tested by several side teams through Dreamcatcher. I would say we are 80% done. It was much harder than we anticipated, actually – easily the hardest thing we ever did for the multiplayer.

You can find the interview, here.

Varus made the 1. Custom SP Map for PK.
400 Monsters, long Time of Gameplay & lots of crazy Quests & Traps.
This is what Varus sayed:

OK…time to cry and maybe to die…

also on http://www.darkscorner.de

…enjoy !
Post in pkeuro Forum here http://www.pkeuro.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=283

The details of the UK CPL World Tour stop were announced today. The event will take place over the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of September at the Magna Science Adventure Centre in Sheffield.

The landmark $1,000,000 CPL World Tour, which boasts the largest cash purse ever offered by a game tournament, is traveling several international cities and is expecting to bring together the worlds best competitive PC game players and computing enthusiasts at every stop. The official game of the World Tour is Painkiller.

The title sponsor of the tour is Intel, the worlds largest chip maker and a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communication products. Intel will be providing the microprocessors inside every gaming PC used at the UK CPL Word Tour stop.

The other main tour sponsors include NVIDIA, the worlds leader in graphics and digital media processors.

UK CPL World Tour Stop details:

The UK CPL World Tour stop will be offering a total prize fund of about $70,000.

$50,000 – Painkiller tournament

$10,000 – Counter Strike 1.6 tournament

$8,000 – Female Only Counter Strike 1.6 tournament

As well as the official tournaments, the event will also host a Bring Your Own Computer (BYOC) LAN party at Magna Science Adventure Centre. Game Frontier (CPLs Strategic Partner) will arrange approximately 300 BYOC places, which will be open 24 hours from Friday 2nd to Sunday 4th September.

For more information visit http://www.gamefrontier.com

//dREk