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| Thursday, April 29, 1999 |
 MacSoft Gets Ready to Launch Falcon 4.0
Well, it has been a long time between combat flight sims on the Mac, with the lone exception of Warbirds. Buth those of you seeking t get your hands on some hot military hardware and splash some MIGs have only a little longer to wait, because Falcon 4.0 is close to release.
From the press release:
Jump into your cockpit and prepare for take-off with Falcon® 4.0 for Macintosh from MacSoft, an affiliate of GT Interactive Software Corp. (Nasdaq: GTIS). Originally developed by MicroProse®, Falcon 4.0 is the highly anticipated single and multi-player combat simulation game for the Macintosh, set in the Korean peninsula with a real-time, full-scale war in progress.
"Falcon 4.0 gives flight sim gamers the chance to experience flight simulation at its best with more military flight training and air combat maneuvers," said Cindy Swanson, marketing manager for MacSoft.
In Falcon 4.0, players take on the role of a pilot in an F-16 jet fighter and face a variety of tactical and land and air missions. Providing the most authentic F-16C flight modeling to date on the Mac, the game includes highly detailed models of avionics systems, weapons systems, threat environments and artificial intelligence.
The simulated terrain, planes, air bases, weapons and other objects are rendered with detailed 3D texture-mapped graphics using digitized aerial photography, creating a highly realistic visual experience for gamers. For an ultra-realistic combat experience, Falcon 4.0 features thousands of tanks, aircraft, ships and military personnel attempting to carry out orders from all levels within the military's organizational system.
For those who are just now learning about this game, let me say personally that Falcon 4.0 has some of the most eye-popping graphics and ear-wrenching sound I've ever seen and heard in a flight sim. Dust of that flightstick, MacSoft is bringing us yet another great game. [Eilers]
 Ritual Entertainment's FAKK2 Coming to Mac
Ritual Entertainment's Heavy Metal: FAKK2 (Federation Assigned Ketogenic Killzone) title will be coming to the Macintosh. This new 3rd-person perspective game, based on the popular Heavy Metal movie from the 70's, will use the Quake 3 engine and will be published by Gathering of Developers. Thanks to MacLedge. [Kester]
Senator To Try To Ban Games For Minors
Well, it looks like the fallout from the recent Colorado school massacre is going to affect more than just guns and school security. Consider the following, from Fastest Game News Online:
Pennsylvania's Senator Jack Wagner, has stated that he is supporting legislation that will make it more difficult for minors to buy graphically violent games. Wagner said: "The level of graphic violence in video games far exceeds that which is permitted in R-rated movies. Since the age limit for R-rated movies is 17, I am proposing a similar age restriction for violent video games." He has also proposed that it should be a summary offence to sell, rent or provide violent games to people under 18. He argued: "What I am proposing is not censorship. Individuals and companies would still be free to create, sell and rent violent video games. They could not, however, offer such games to minors."
With the recent sad events in Colorado, and the long-building pressure to regulate content in the video games industry to try and stop violence before it starts, this seems like just another quick ploy to grab some attention in the media. Does requiring minors to show their ID to purchase a game make sense to you, or is it another violation of basic rights? Consider is this... any minor can walk into almost any store in America and buy cigarettes. Sure, there's a law against it, but it doesn't seem to stop it from happening. [Kester]
Close Combat IV Moves to Mindscape
Mindscape Entertainment today announced a new publishing deal with Atomic Games to publish the next installment in the acclaimed Close Combat series, formerly published by Microsoft. This is potentially good news for Mac gamers, as Microsoft has a poor record (to say the least) for allowing their games to come to the Macintosh - we've got better odds with almost anyone else.
Currently scheduled for release in the fourth quarter, the new Close Combat game will include a new strategic level of play to complement the real-time action. Gamers will play single battles, operations, or wage full campaigns as either the Axis or the Allies during one of the most pivotal and epic conflicts of World War Two: the Battle of the Bulge. Enhanced graphics will include detailed map animations and visual weather effects such as rain and snow.
We asked Keith Zabalaoui about the possibility of seeing Close Combat IV on the Mac (especially now that Microsoft is no longer publishing their titles and Mindscape seems to be more Mac friendly).
"I doubt it", said Zabalaoui, "No publisher seems to want it." [Deniz]
 It's Not Polite to Frag Someone While They Are Talking...
If you have been playing the Test version of Quake 3 (recently released to much fanfare) then you may have noticed that occasionally players will appear frozen with a bubble above their heads. The natural reaction of course is to blow them part, they're not moving so they're begging for a fraggin', right? Well, not quite.
The bubble indicates the player is talking or accessing the console. This may seem to be obvious, but a for great many people it doesn't click straight away. In any case, it is seen as extremely bad form to frag someone while they're typing since they are unable to defend themselves, Xian Antkow of ID Software has publicly pleaded for people to leave these players untouched, branding those who would frag them as "Typer Killers".
There is also a new "disconnected" icon that floats above the head of those who are experiencing heavy lag or are actually disconnected from the game. These people are immobile, but can also be killed; these frags aren't exactly fair either, and you are likely to get just as bad a rep if you run around blasting everyone with low ping!
So people, please check your targets before you pull your trigger - or you may make some enemies! [Simon]
MesaQuake 3D Library Updated Yet Again
Keeping pace with the fast-moving world of Mac Q3Test, developer Miklós Fazekas released yet another version of his MesaQuake library today. This version, designated 3.1b9, adds the ability to set your screen refresh rate in the game, as well allowing use of the teleporter without any adverse effects.
For those unfamiliar with this library, MesaQuake permits users to employ their 3dfx cards with Q3Test, rather than just the Rage series of chips, bypassing earlier concerns about the 3D acceleration-only game. Note that this solution is not perfect, and is not supported by either iD or the developer, so please do not report any bugs using this configuration, as they will be ignored. That said, IMG readers have been reporting a high success rate.
As always, your one stop shop for the latest game updates is IMG's Updaters page. It's updated immediately whenever a new version of any game software is released, including weekends. [Daranciang]
Quake3Test Movie Available
For those who don't have the hardware to play the new Q3Test demo, a movie of actual gameplay has been made. Created by filming the screen with a Sony DV camera, the high-quality film gives a good look at some of the cooler special effects from Quake 3: Arena, such as transparent weapon flares, bullet-marks on the walls, "jump pads" and the flash and fury of the rocket launcher. If this doesn't convince you to upgrade to some serious hardware, nothing will! [Eilers]
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| In Other News |
MacWEEK Speaks: columnist Tony Smith has some interesting thoughts on the signifigance of Quake3Test's debut on the Mac.
Another Unreal Tournament Preview: Next Generation Online has a detailed article about Unreal Tournament, coming to the Mac this Spring.
Virtual PC Update: This minor update doesn't add any new features, just fixes bugs with Powerbooks and some Y2K problems.
New VillageTronic Drivers: VillageTronic has released new drivers for their NextGen MP850 graphics acceleration card.
Railroad Tycoon II Site: if you want an in-depth look at this upcoming game, visit the Station.
NoBeige previews new iMacs: they've got the scoop on the new, faster iMacs and when they will be available.
Even Columnists Like Games: Tom Lovino of the great Mac website About This Particular Macintosh confesses that he uses his Mac for games. Hey, is that so wrong?
UnrealFinder Updated: this utility for finding online servers for Unreal slaughterfests is now at 1.0.2 and requires Unreal version 2.2.0.
Get Games 4 your Mac: The Games 4 Mac Campaign website has ben updated with a new campaign to convince UbiSoft to bring the racing game Speed Busters to the Mac. Stop by and sign up, and sign their many other petitions while you are at it!
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