Railroad Tycoon II Pops Its Top!

PopTop Software's Railroad Tycoon II: The Second Century and Railroad Tycoon II for the Macintosh have Gone Gold.

Railroad Tycoon II: The Second Century, the expansion pack to PopTop Software's critically acclaimed blockbuster strategy simulation game Railroad Tycoon II, has gone gold and will be shipping to stores nationwide on April 26.

Railroad Tycoon II: The Second Century focuses on modern railroading from 1930 through 2030. Gamers encounter world catastrophes such as World War II, the Cold War, and global warming, and must solve problems such as the increasing demand for mass transportation in major cities. The expansion pack will have 15 stand-alone maps (multi-player and single player) and a campaign featuring 18 scenarios.

In addition, Railroad Tycoon II for the Macintosh has also gone gold and will ship to stores nationwide on April 26. Co-developed by PopTop Software and Westlake Interactive, Railroad Tycoon II for the Macintosh is the highly anticipated Mac version to PopTop Software's PC smash hit Railroad Tycoon II.

Well, as anyone who has read IMG's extensive preview of this title knows, this is very good news indeed. No word on whether the Second Century expansion pack will make it to the Mac version, but we have no doubt that brisk sales of RRT II Mac would make it all the more likely... [Eilers]





'I'll S'pht On Your Grave' Converts Myth II to Marathon
I was able to spend a few hours messing around with El Bastard's latest creation, a total conversion of Myth II: Soulblighter into another Bungie universe: Marathon. By converting the original sprite artwork from the Marathon series into characters in Myth II, Mapmaker guru El Bastard turned our favorite tactical warfare game into our favorite first-person shooter game! Well, of course, things are a lot different this time around...

The full cast of characters are here, from S'pht and Phor to Enforcers to those horrifying things (Devlins?) from Marathon Evil. This time it seems good guys and bad are on the same team; to see VacBobs fighting on the same side as Juggernauts (yes, they are included!) is quite a sight. El Bastard also imported the original sounds and voices from Marathon (most from Infinity), which makes me wonder how Bungie Legal feels about this whole project.

Gameplay is a bit mixed, though I won't be too hard on it since this is very much an "alpha" project in need of much tweaking. Suffice to say that El Bastard did an amazing job in replicating the original weapons and behavior of the Marathon monsters—they even go "berzerker" and attack everyone around them when their health gets low. However, I will give a definite thumbs down to the map included with the TC; boring, and the lava doesn't hurt anyone. What's with that?

El Bastard was just the first out the door; there are several other Marathon/Myth crossover projects being worked on, such as MaraMyth (although this one has dropped from the radar for a while.) Here's hoping Bungie Legal lets this one pass, because this is one amazing conversion. I can't wait to see the final product. Download the preview from Vista if you would like, but I recommend finding another source (such as the many Myth-related Hotline servers) because the Vista server is completely overtaxed. [Eilers]





Unreal Technology Page Gives 2.2.4 Details
The Unreal Technology page has been updated with a few notes that talk about the upcoming "224" patch to Unreal...

But we're not quite there with 224 yet. The guys have been beating on internal test versions for the past few days, and we've been polishing the code. It's both a blessing and a curse that the Unreal code is evolving by leaps and bounds, gaining major new features all the time. This approach makes testing each new patch a major effort. Though, 224 will be especially worth the effort because of the in-game server browser and level-of-detail optimizations.

224 will probably happen late this week.

...which means late next week, Mark Adams will give us the Mac version! We'll keep you posted as this highly anticipated update, supposedly the final for the ever-evolving Unreal before Unreal Tournament is release, nears completion. [Eilers]





Bungie.Org Picks Up the Myth Slack
Following hot on the heels of Ferrex's announcement yesterday of the closure of the Myth Codex, Bungie.org has announced the opening of a Myth section at their ever-expanding site. Bungie.org is not actually owned or operated by Bungie, though they do have a number of contacts. Since the site's inception it has endeavored to report news on all things Bungie, with sites dedicated to Pathways Into Darkness, Marathon, Oni and now Myth. [Simon]





Descent III Stocks the Arsenal
Interplay has updated the extensive web page for Descent III with a huge array of screenshots, details, and movies in MPEG format. Most recently the Arsenal section was updated, revealing 15 weapons so far and a promise of a weapon every week to come. Stop by and check out this amazing game, and then sign Matt Diamond's petition to help bring it to the Mac OS. [Eilers]






Mysterious Game Company Recruits Mac Programmers
Enigmatic company 'The Collective' is looking for programmers for PC, PlayStation, and Macintosh—that last one caught our eye! Here is the press release:

The Collective seeks talented game developers who dream of working in a cool, challenging, and zero BS environment.

Senior/Lead Programmers - PC, PSX, MAC
Entry Programmers
Senior/Lead Artists/Animators*
Artists/Level Designers*
Lead Game Designer
Guru Web Designers
Support Technician

* 3DSMax/Photoshop skills and reel required.

Submit resumes/reels to:

The Collective 401 Glenneyre Street Laguna Beach, California 92651, jobs@collectivestudios.com

The Collective produced the top-selling game Men In Black, based on the movie of the same name; thier upcoming projects include Star Trek: DS9, which uses the Unreal engine, and a 3-D action game based on the infamous animated shorts of Aeon Flux. Hopefully, with the addition of some Mac programmers to the fold, these games might be coming to the Macintosh. Head over to their website for some sketchy details, but here's a warning: It requires the Macromedia Flash 3.0 Plugin, as well as lots of patience (for modem users) and a fast processor. [Eilers]





Interplay Blows Out MacPlay Titles
Interplay is having yet another 'blowout' of old MacPlay titles, including Star Trek: Judgment Rites ($7.95) and Fallout ($19.95). You can also add an official MacPlay shirt to your order for only $4.00. Longtime fans of this once-active division of Interplay may feel this is insult to injury, noting that MacPlay hasn't released anything of worth in over two years. Mail sent to Interplay regarding MacPlay still garners a form-letter response stating that they are "evaluating the Mac market." Ah well, the sale is bad news for MacPlay, but good news for Mac gamers! [Eilers]





IMG Chat With Ambrosia Tonight!
IMG is proud to announce our chat with Mac shareware powerhouse Ambrosia Software tonight at 10 PM Eastern, 7 PM Pacific. Ambrosia's Jason Whong and Glenn Andreas, the author of the upcoming Cythera, will be joining us to discuss... well... Cythera. And anything else Ambrosia-related.

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!