 MacSoft Chat Tonight!
IMG is proud to announce our exclusive chat with Mac game publishing giant MacSoft tonight at 10 PM Eastern, 7 PM Pacific. MacSoft's Nate Birkholz will be joining us as we discuss their upcoming releases of Falcon 4.0, Total Annihilation, Age of Empires, Rainbow Six, and much more!
The chat will be held in the IMG Chat Room. All you'll need is a java-enabled browser to join the chat! See ya then!
 Railroad Tycoon Preview from IMG!
Greetings! Games are everywhere! And we've got the low-down on another hot new game for the Mac, Railroad Tycoon II.
All aboard! Railroad Tycoon II is the sequel to one of the best ever created (at least we think so). IMG's Robn Kester previews this incredibly detailed railroad building simulation, due to be released for the Mac within the next few weeks. In the meantime, our Preview is the scoop you've been waiting for! [Deniz]
Families Sue Game Industry Over Student Shootings
According to a report by AP Newswire, a group of parents whose children were murdered by high school freshman Michael Carneal have sued Sony, iD software, Interplay and 22 other companies, blaming their products for the deaths. According to the suit, violent video games, action movies and sex-oriented Internet sites were responsible for the state of mind Carneal was in when he opened fire on a prayer group in the lobby of his high school.
A particularly juicy quote from the article:
"We intend to hurt Hollywood. We intend to hurt the video game industry. We intend to hurt the sex porn sites,'' said attorney Jack Thompson.
The suit asks for $130 million in damages; no word on when it will go to trial. [Eilers]
 MacMAME hits .35b10, Adds 3D Hardware Support
Venerable arcade emulator and constantly moving target MacMAME has been updated yet again; this time a new feature has been rolled into the mix. MAME can now use the scaling features of 3D cards to smooth and anti-alias game graphics so they appear higher in resolution. Note that this does not mean that MAME will use 3D hardware to speed up 3D games such as Tempest; nor does it mean that Virtua Fighter-style games will work or be supported in the future. The "3D" hardware support includes RAVE, VooDoo (GLide) and OpenGL, virtually every solution available for the Mac. [ed note: I tried RAVE and OpenGL acceleration on a Blue G3 350, and it was extremely unstable, watch out!] [Eilers]
 MacMAME .35b10 (2.1 MB)
Myrkridia Sculpture: Yeah, But Does It Go With The Couch?
The Myrkridia sculpture which was the grand prize in Bungie's Seven Phoenix Rising tournament has been completed. If you want to sneak a glance at it, two pictures are available at Bungie.Net. [Daranciang]
MacWEEK Article Confirms Mac Bleem! Support
After their recent court victory over Sony, Bleem LLC seems positively bullish about the future. Not only are they planning to ship their PlayStation emulator on time, they are making the Mac port their "first priority" after the PC version ships, according to spokesperson Glenn Kelly.
Bleem! is supposed to differ with Connectix's Virtual GameStation in several ways; it will support over 440 titles (though Bleem!s standards of support seem to be looser than Connectix standards) and more importantly utilize 3D hardware directly, allowing games to be played at much higher resolution than standard NTSC.
The Mac version is slated to be released "the second half of this year." Check out the MacWEEK article and the Bleem! website for more details. [Eilers]
Civ II Gold hits the Shelves
Some lucky Mac gamers have already received their copies, but for the rest of us waiting with bated breath, MacSoft is reporting that Civ II Gold can be found at a store near you this week. As an added bonus, if you already own Civ II, MacSoft has included a $10 mail-in rebate. [Howell]
Diablo II 70% Done
Next Generation Online reported that Blizzard Software has finished development of the five character classes for their upcoming sequel to the award-winning Diablo real-time RPG. Two of the game's three "acts" are also complete, leading a Blizzard spokesperson to claim the game is "nearly 70% done." There was of course no announcement of a Mac version or any hint of a final release date for PC or Mac versions. [Eilers]
Secret Fallout Map Making Page
It seems that there is a secret page on the Fallout website which details how the maps for the huge, amazingly detailed levels of this post-apocolyptic RPG. The Vault Network revealed the location of this page; an interesting read for anyone who is a fan of this Interplay title. Unfortunately its sequel never made it to the Mac. [Eilers]
More On Rumored Apple OpenGL/3Dfx Driver Support
It seems our post regarding the rumor of Apple developing and releasing "generic" OpenGL drivers for 3Dfx chipset cards has generated more e-mail responses than the average news item, so we though we would revisit the isue with some analysis.
Here is the full text from MacOS Rumors that began the discussion:
Apple to deliver out-of-the-box 3dfx OpenGL support? [14:32 EST, 4/8] Although no public commitments have yet been made, Apple developers are reportedly working on including code that could potentially deliver complete, out-of-the-box OpenGL support for the entire 3dfx chipset line (Voodoo1, Voodoo2, Banshee, Voodoo3) without need for third party drivers.
This could mean that any 3dfx-based card, even many of those designed for the Wintel platform, could be simply plugged into a Mac and used immediately. Obviously, this is a Good Thing™ for the platform.
Now, to clarify several issues regarding this rumor: According to comments by Mike Breeden of Accelerate Your Mac, a software driver that allows use of cards with 2D support (VooDoo Banshee and VooDoo3) is impossible due to physical firmware differences between PC PCI cards and Mac PCI cards. So even if the rumored Apple driver was released, it would not allow Mac users to buy PC Banshee or VooDoo3 cards and run them plug-and-play, contrary to what the MacOS Rumors site claims. In matters of technical expertise, I must give a personal vote to Mike Breeden over the MacOS Rumors crew.
Second, such a driver would not enable 3Dfx (GLide) acceleration, only OpenGL acceleration; in other words, only OpenGL games (such as the upcoming Unreal Tournament) would be supported, not older games that depend on RAVE or GLide.
Thirdly, MacOS Rumors has failed to produce what any detective requires to give credence to a rumored activity, namely motive. Apple has worked long and hard with VillageTronic and MacMagic to bring VooDoo II and Banshee cards to the Mac, as well as with 3Dfx to secure the migration of VooDoo3 to our platform; what motivation would Apple have to undercut all three by allowing anyone to buy cut-rate generic cards and plug them into their Mac? In conclusion it seems that the MacOS Rumors crew got a bit carried away by the rumor and failed to point out the technical obstacles. Rest assured we will see VooDoo3 and OpenGL/3Dfx on the Mac someday, but the source isn't likely to be Apple when third-party companies exist to provide a solution. [Eilers]
Mac Quake Utilities Updated, Mod Released
Giles Williams, Quake utility-maker extraordinaire, has updated two of his utilities and released a "mod" created with them. Here is the press release:
MacQFE - the popular front end for MacQuake has been revised and its internals repolished for better performance. This simple app makes loading custom mods, maps, and server configurations as simple as clicking a mouse - while PC users are still messing with their command lines.
MacQFE is $10 Shareware, but v1.30 is fully functional and available here.
meQanno - the new modelling utility for macQake has undergone rapid development since the alpha release less than three weeks ago. This latest version boasts a more Apple-like interface, with full support for Navigation Services, and improved skinning facilities, including the option of making new skins any size or restricting their size for Quakeworld compatibility.
meQanno is $10 Shareware, and the un-registered version is limited to producing models with only one animation frame.
AutoQuake - this is a custom weapons mod for Quake and Quakeworld built entirely on the Mac using meQanno. The new guns include the Volcano and Vampire weapons which have to be seen (and heard) to be believed!
Autoquake can be found on the "Made with meQanno" page of the GQT website.
If you atre a fan of Quake and its endless capacity for modification, check out these great downloads for Mac-made mayhem! [Eilers]
Mac-O-Rama Announces Tax Rebate Sale
Our friends at Mac-only software reseller Mac-O-Rama sent along this notice
Finished filing your 1040? MAC-O-RAMA has the perfect way to relieve your stress! We have the best “shoot ‘em dead without risking an audit” games on sale!! Check these out:
Postal $11
Duke Nukem 3D Bundle $18
The Big 6 $39
Dark Vengeance $36
If you prefer a little more strategic planning to go along with your carnage, you’ll love these titles:
Allied General $10
Myth: The Fallen Lords $21
Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far $23
Myth 2: Soulblighter $36
Also, be sure to stop by <http://www.mac-o-rama.com> to get Starcraft for $35. Price includes FREE Priority Mail shipping in the US. Plus, purchasing Starcraft at MAC-O-RAMA automatically qualifies you for the drawing to win cool Starcraft action figures!
So stop by this excellent online store and burn up that check from Uncle Sam; you can put off that kidney tranplant until next year, right? [Eilers]
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