More bugfixes and optimizations are in store for Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures players come the 27th. A long list of preliminary patch notes has just been released detailing what's going to change in the game's August 27 patch. More bulleted items than you can shake a stick at in the full article.

Remember waaaay back in June when we brought you guys Ravine's nifty homebrew app for Eternal Rest? The map editor thingy? Well, he's just decided to pass on the uh..torch, if you will, and share the app's source code with the rest of the homebrew community.

According to Ravine, he's not using this anymore and thought that someone might wanna use it so he's sharing the goods with anyone who's interested. However, he also says (and I quote), "YOU CAN USE THIS IN ANY WAY YOU LIKE AS LONG AS YOU DO NOT CLAIM IT AS YOUR OWN." Yes, in big block letters fellas, so if you do decide to use this PLEASE don't hog the credit.

Okay, a few notes from Ravine himself:

First, you can only save one map at a time. This map is stored in (%ERME Folder%/maps/map.txt). So if you want to be able to save more than one map, jusy copy it after it is save and rename it to whatever it is to be called. You can use different tilesets with this editor, just make sure you name the tileset, tiles.png, and chnage the number of tiles int the tiles.txt file. (To count the number of tiles, start counting from 0) You can also take the tiles you are using and decrease the size by half to make the thumbnails for it. You would put that image in the media folder and title it tilesThumb.png.

Controls are pretty much still the same as before, so if you weren't able to catch our coverage of Ravine's Map Editor, you can download the actual Map Editor here. If you have more questions, Ravine says you can PM him right here on PSPUpdates or email him at ravineproductions@gmail.com. Oh, also, If you're using the 2.x or 1.0 version, just copy the media and maps folder from the 1.5 version.

Download: [ER Map Editor Source Code]
Discuss: [Forum Release Thread]

Normally, the Piranha Plant of Nintendo's Super Mario fame is something to be avoided at all cost. Those rooted, toothed creatures typically hiding within pipes would like nothing more than to ensnare an unwary passersby. The Red Piranha Plants, which first appeared in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, are the snappier of the two varieties. The other being the Green Red Piranha Plants are most dangerous when their pipes are the only platforms available to get across a ravine.

Some species also spit fireballs or even jump all the way out of their pipes. Others live entirely outside pipes, either rooted or equipped with root-like legs. Although they are immune to jump attacks, Piranha Plants are vulnerable to projectiles, such as fireballs, Troopa shells, and hammers.

On the other hand, the Red Piranha Plant Lamp is a docile, stationary creature and totally benign. You can keep it in your room, even next to your bed, without fear of waking up the next morning half digested inside its belly.

Nehe's OpenGL tutorials, which have been ported to work with PSPGL, has inspired a lot of smart minds. This time out, SG57 shows us how the tutorials has sparked some ideas in his head.

Although without previous OpenGL experience and having started learning PSPGL for only three days, SG57 is already converting three OpenGL games and is now presenting us with a his 'from scratch' demo of a walking robot. This is not yet texturized as the developer still needs to make some more tweaks for the details.

To control this Robot PSPGL example, just hit L-Trigger to zoom out and R-Trigger to zoom in. The Start button will exit the application.

Known bugs in this SG57-created example are:

-Left Arm (or Right) Spins in a circle.
-Left and Right arms were supposed to go back and forth like the legs. SG57's current calculations are off but he promises to improve this later on.
-Theres some Z-fighting on the robot's right arm. Zoom in close enough and you'll see some red in the green body - that's called Z-fighting. There isn't any stitching since there aren't textures, but it would be there if there's z-fighting.

If you encounter any other bugs aside from those mentioned above, SG57 will greatly appreciate it if you let him know. So don't forget to leave your constructive criticisms and suggestions in the comment section or contact the developer here.

SG57's good news doesn't end there, however. With the demo, he has just proven he can create animations of 3D models and he hopes to take things a step further.

With Ravine's help, he will be doing a 3D program PSPGL and create a 3D FPS game "worth downloading". With PSPGL, they "can take examples, collision mechanisms, AI examples, textures, techniques, etc. from any other open source OpenGL FPS" - and with the seven openGL FPS open source that SG57 has collected, he is now confident that they have enough to get them started. Right now, their 3D FPS game has an 88%-completed world. So do watch out for this seemingly exciting project from SG57 and Ravine!

Download: [SG57's Demo Robot PSPGL Example]
Discuss: [Forum Release Thread of SG57s Demo Robot PSPGL Example]

QJ.Net resident developer Ravine has come up with a map editor to aid him in his latest project. He came up with this idea while he was working on Eternal Rest, and have decided to share this app for those who either want to help him in creating his game or those who want to use this in developing their own game. (He has one request though, just make sure he'll be among the first to be made aware of your project.)

According to him "You can use different tilesets with this editor, just make sure you name the tileset, tiles.png, and change the number of tiles int the tiles.txt file. (To count the number of tiles, start counting from 0). You can also take the tiles you are using and decrease the size by half to make the thumbnails for it. You would put that image in the media folder and title it tilesThumb.png." He also reminded us that the user can only save one map at a time (located at %ERME Folder%/maps/map.txt), so it's necessary to copy and rename the saved file to avoid overwriting it.

Here are the controls:

• Move Selector - D-pad
• Scroll Through List of Tiles - L and R Triggers (It scrolls to the end of thelist then you have to scroll back)
• New Map - Hold Start and Press Triangle
• Load Map - Hold Start and press Circle
• Save Map - Hold Start and press Square
• To place a tile - Press cross

As a testament to how friendly our community is, Ravine is even willing to assist you with any concerns you might have. If you do have any questions, you can reach him here, or you can simply ask him in the forum release thread below.

Download: [Eternal Rest Map Editor]
Discuss: [Forum Release Thread]