 Unreal 224 Mac Status Update
Mark Adams, President of Westlake Interactive, has written to comp.sys.mac.games.action to keep the Mac Gaming Community informed about Unreal updates (as is his habit, thanks Mark!). Here's the info:
We are continuing to progress on the Unreal Mac 224 patch, we have all of the code merged and are in the process of getting everything running properly on the Mac. After we have the game itself up and running we will test the new networking code to make sure it is compatible with the PC, and then prepare the update for release. One major change to 224 is the addition of an in-game network game finder, with a full windowed interface. While this is cool, it does add a lot of new code and represents a bunch of extra functionality for us to test.
We're hoping to have the 224 Mac patch ready in the next week or so. While there is some word of a 225 patch coming on the PC, from all we have heard it will be mostly PC specific bug fixes and server side changes, and will be compatible with 224 networking, so even if the PC updates soon the Mac 224 should still play on 224 or 225 servers.
Please don't email us asking for status on 224, it just takes time away from actually working on the patch!
Amen brother, whenever a company has something big to say they will tell us rather than waiting for us to e-mail them - it's not in their interests for the customers to lose faith in them! So please don't bug Westlake about Unreal 224, don't ask Maxis for a SC3k release date and NEVER ask Bungie about Blam.
Feel free to bug Blizzard about Brood Wars all you want though. (just kidding!) [Simon]
More Westlake Wisdom
Also from Westlake Interactive we have Phil Sulak talking about the Mac version of Falcon 4.0 (which recently reached the Gold Master stage).
A Mac Gamer asked:
I read a posting about the PC version allowing hires mode to be reached via command line and this feature being omitted from the Mac version-does this mean there's no Mac hi res mode in the release version without a patch?
To which Mr Sulak replied:
Correct. The PC command-line codes gave us a lot of grief, and I had to disable them a few months back. I meant to put them back in before we shipped, but I got bogged down fixing bugs. We hope to put the hi-res "feature" (which is actually somewhat unsupported) back in for a future patch.
This means that at least for now, the Mac version of Falcon 4.0 will only support resolutions up to 800x600 - we will have to wait for the patch if we want to play in resolutions up to 1600x1200 (the mind boggles).
Mr Sulak also spoke about the possibility of a demo:
We've had some talks about doing an F4 demo, but nothing final has been decided. MicroProse doesn't have Demo code available on the PC, so building a standalone Mac demo would be difficult at best. If we do make a demo, it will most likely need to be distributed via CD; my guess is that it would end up being at least 50 megabytes in size.
This is a shame for those of us who love to try before we buy, but rest assured that IMG will have a full review of the game as soon as we can get our hands of it - and if a demo is released we'll slap it onto the next available issue, so subscribe today! If you can't wait, check out IMG's preview of Falcon 4.0. [Simon]
 Marathon Reborn in Half-Life?
Well, it looks like those of you that would love to see the Marathon series updated to a modern, hardware-accelerated graphics engine might get your wish... Thomas Riisbjerg, identity and/or affiliation with Bungie unknown, has posted a web page with screenshots purported to be images of Marathon maps and weapons converted to run on the Half-Life engine.
This ambitious project is said to not only include many favorite Marathon 1, 2 and Infinity levels, but player models, game physics and weapons, and even Marathon EVIL. Even more interesting, the web page author claims that he is doing this with Bungie's blessing (though considering their previous attitude towards a Marathon-to-Quake conversion, we find that surprising.)
As of yet, there is nothing but a series of screenshots (which look rather nice in millions of colors). Unfortunately, even if this project does become a reality, we won't be able to try it ut until late Fall when Half-Life finally makes it to the Mac OS (courtesy of Logicware.) In the meantime stop by the web page and take a look at what might be the best-looking Marathon ever. [Eilers]
 New Parsec Screenshots, OpenGL Support
The online space combat project Parsec has updated the web page once again, this time adding some new screenshots. These dazzling images are rendered with the OpenGL version of the engine, a detail that should be of interest to those of you with ATI RAGE hardware; thanks to Apple's OS-level support of OpenGL, you just joined the club of those who will get to play this amazing-looking (and sounding, at least according to the MP3s on the web page) game.
If you're new to Parsec, this is a very ambitious cross-platform project attempting to develop a commercial-quality space combat game with a massive online "universe" of opponents and allies. Currently, they plan to support Win 32(95,98,NT), MacOS, Linux and DOS. The game is freeware, and should be available this coming Fall. [Eilers]
Myth III? Zartman Says Nay
Kudos to 'Dung' and 'Abbadon' of Soulblighter.com for spotting this one.
The Ultimate Gamer's Resource is one of many PC Gaming sites you'll wander across on the net, but if you point your browser here you will find a list of upcoming releases. Here is what it says under Bungie Software:
Apart from the failure to mention the fact that Oni will be released for Mac as well, something sticks out like a sore thumb. Myth 3?!? Could this relate to the mysterious "Blam" project? [ed note: we seriously doubt it. Don't e-mail Bungie and ask them.] Does UGR know something that the rest of the world doesn't? The fact that the Oni release date is overly ambitious certainly sheds doubt on the rest of the info. Or are they simply making a dangerous presumption. Whatever the case, this rumor is sure to get people talking.
As suspected, Bungie's PR Guy Doug Zartman has been quick to douse any fires that may have been started by the Myth 3 rumour:
Even "unfounded rumor" is generous - I would characterize that report as "completely high". If there were a Myth 3 in the works, or even if we were planting rumors, it still wouldn't be there and nowhere else. I'll ask them to take it down. BTW, the Oni release date is also fabricated.
Well, THAT rumor had a short run![Simon]
IMG Shareware Spotlight
As the light dims on another May day, IMG wheels out its spotlight, as it does every week. Today, it focuses on five excellent examples of shareware.
Heading the charge into this week is Misty Software's new game Battle for the Universe. Those familiar with Misty's previous efforts will recognize it as Battle for the Planets' sequel. This revised edition of the game contains largely improved artificial intelligence, completely new artwork, and most important, a new level of gameplay. BftU also brings with it a strong online community, where games can be found at any time during the day. Space adventure fanatics, this is for you.
Skittles, by John Stiles (maintainer of emulation.net) is second on the list. Stiles proudly proclaims this game as his best, and it is not difficult to understand his reasoning. At first glance, Skittles appears to be the classic Tetris. Upon second look, it becomes clear that the two have very few similarities. The graphics are cute, well-done, polished; music is fun to listen to but not distracting, and it features the kind of addictive gameplay many products on the market fail to attain, even with their large budgets. All will enjoy this gem.
From Freeverse Software, Reversi: The Eclipse lives true to its name. It takes the time-tested brain teasing of Othello - more commonly known as Reversi - and mixes it in with a theme of the sun versus our moon Luna. Hence the term "eclipse." However, never content with making a simple port, Freeverse has littered this game with their trademark humor and vicious computer AI which will push the best of players to their limit. Free Internet play via FIOS, the Free Internet Othello Servers, is provided in the package.
Dr. Max, by programmer Steve Chamberlin, is also featured this week. Fans of the Nintendo Game Boy game "Dr. Mario" will recognize it instantly. A test tube experiment has gone horribly wrong, and it is your job to distribute the proper medicine to combat viruses which are rapidly taking over the lab. The game is well thought out and presented, and is the ideal strategy headbanger. One precaution: Free time will magically disappear when you launch this one up.
Rounding out the list is Anubis, Inc.'s game Anubis Casino, their first entry into the shareware arena. It reproduces seven classic table casino games, including Baccarat, Blackjack (also known as 21), Caribbean Stud Poker, and Roulette. If you can't quite afford to travel to Vegas, paying the fee for this is a good substitute when the gambling bug bites.
Shareware authors: Would you like your game to be featured in the IMG Shareware Spotlight? E-mail Dan Daranciang at dan@imgmagazine.com with all the details of your masterpiece. The spotlight is turned on every week. [Daranciang]
 Next Issue of IMG Coming Soon!
The next issue of IMG is fast approaching and will be shipping within the next 10 days. IMG Volume 7 - Issue 3 will feature previews of games like Fly! (Quicktime movie included), Caesar III, and reviews of hot new games like Starship Titanic, Imperialism II, Tomb Raider Gold, Civilization II Gold and more.
We're also proud to announce the return of an extremely popular feature, our video interviews. In 7-3 we video interview the folks from Aspyr Media who recently scored Madden 2000 for the Mac. Find out what's in store for Madden 2000 and what we can expect from Aspyr in the near future.
And of course we'll have the hottest new demos on the CD including Caesar III, Railroad Tycoon 2, Gungan Frontier, Freddi Fish 4, Tomb Raider Gold, and much more.
If you haven't signed up for a subscription, now's the perfect time! Subscribe today and you'll be guaranteed to get IMG 7-3. Subscriptions start at just $39 a year.
And get ready for our hardware extravaganza. IMG 7-4 will be shipping in late June and will cover all the latest hardware including USB joysticks, accelerated video cards, and more.
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