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| Tuesday, May 19, 1999 |
 Star Wars Episode One: Racer First Impressions
In honor of the Star Wars Episode One debut in theaters, I'd thought I would share with you my impressions of one of the games inspired by this film. LucasArts was showing Racer behind closed doors at E3, but I'm sure they won't mind if I share a few minor details...
Star Wars Episode One: Racer is a title that should be of primary concern to Mac gamers; it marks the return of LucasArts to the Mac platform, something we have been anticipating for years. Sadly, one of the worst pieces of news we received at E3 is that the Mac version of this racing game isn't due until this coming Fall, 3 to 4 months after the PC version. Ah well, at least it is coming to our platform, right folks?
The game itself is fairly simple (like the movie, a friend of mine snickered--he still stood in line 8 hours for a ticket) in design and concept: race your pod racer against other craft, take the money from your winnings to buy modifications for your craft, win more races.
However, he technology behind this simple game is impressive indeed. In the movie, the pod racers are said to top 600 MPH; creating the illusion of such speed on a computer monitor is extremely difficult. Racer comes closer than most other racing games I've seen in creating the illusion of speed; the ground beneath the racer has a "motion blur" effect that really sells the illusion. The scenery is extremely detailed, and the sky textures are excellent.
Supposedly there are multiple landscapes and tracks, but we only saw the "canyon" track used in the many available screenshots. You can race any of a dozen different vehicles, though we weren't able to tell what the differences in handling or speed between vehicles might be.
Overall, the game looked amazing; the illusion of speed was convincing enough that several of our fellow journalists watching the demo "banked" their heads left and right as the racer turned.
No word on what sort of hardware it would take to get the game to run as smoothly as we observed, but our guess is that G3 hardware will be a minimum. Looks like we have to wait until Fall to find out. In the meantime, check out these screenshots. [Eilers]
Screenshot 1, Screenshot 2, Screenshot 3, Screenshot 4, Screenshot 5, Screenshot 6, Screenshot 7, Screenshot 8, Screenshot 9
Uber Reborn as OpenPlay
An interesting piece of Apple software has recently been made public source and reborn with a new name: Uber, Apple's cross-platform networking solution, used in Bungie's Myth: The Fallen Lords, is now OpenPlay. Currently supporting only TCP/IP (and AppleTalk between Macs) like Myth: TFL, this cross-platform networking core is being developed to cover even more platforms and protocols. The idea is to develop a solid networking package that would simplify the job of a game (or internet application) designer greatly by just calling the OpenPlay library instead of writing their own networking from scratch. Hopefully this would mean shorter porting times for networked PC games and more Mac-first titles.
This is an open source project, so anyone with programing skills or knowledge is encouraged to participate. Go to the Apple Public Source website for details and join the OpenPlay mailing list if you want the inside scoop on this project. [Eilers]
Myth II Coming to Linux
This isn't really news for Mac gaming, but we thought we'd share it with you because we know there are some brave, hardy LinuxPPC fans out there. While Linux will probably never be a 'gaming' OS due to its fearsome complexity, it does make for great network gaming due to its stability and speed.
Here's the press release from Bungie:
Bungie Software, long a leader in both multiplatform development and high-end games, casts a vote of confidence for Linux by announcing that their recent hit title "Myth II: Soulblighter" will soon be available for the open-source platform.
To port and distribute the title Bungie has turned to Loki Entertainment Software, the premier company bringing triple-A titles to the Linux platform. As Loki's president Scott Draeker points out, "Linux is not just for servers any more! Many of the ten-million-plus Linux users would like to play games on their operating system of choice." Loki recently released "Civilization: Call to Power", and will be porting "Railroad Tycoon II" and "Eric's Ultimate Solitaire" in the near future. Among other game companies, id Software recently announced that it will be releasing Quake III: Arena for Linux.
Code for the Linux version of Myth II is already being compiled, and Loki expects the title will be complete in the late summer of 1999. Linux users will soon be joining crowds of Windows and Macintosh gamers on bungie.net, the free Internet game service that supports Myth: The Fallen Lords and Myth II: Soulblighter. Elaborating on this decision, Bungie CEO Alexander Seropian noted, "Linux is a growing platform for computer enthusiasts, and Bungie is a growing company for game enthusiasts - it makes a lot of sense for us to make Myth available for Linux."
So now it looks like three-way platform wars tournaments are inevitable. But that's the great thing about Myth II; no matter what platform your opponent is using, their dwarfs' heads still roll downhill! For more on Linux gaming, check out LinuxGames.Com. [Eilers]
CarMACgeddon moves to Mac Carpocalypse
 John Coffey, maker of many a Marathon and Carmageddon modification (usually involving scantily clad women, but hey, whatever floats your boat) dropped us a note to tell us his CarMACgeddon and CNCC are combining to create Mac Carpocalypse: the "ultimate resource" for Mac Carmageddon. Stop by for the latest downloads, hints, tips, and whatever madness John cooks up. [Eilers]
GlideHack Updated
At the moment there is only one utility which allows us to take screenshots when running in 3dfx mode, it's called GlideHack. As well as screenshots it also features a number of valuable tweaks which are particularly useful if you're trying to use Micro Conversions' Game Wizard card such as gamma scaling. GlideHack has been updated to version 1.1 and includes the following changes:
- Added individual configuration files
- Added sounds.
- Added support for strange code that runs the 3Dfx card in BGR rather than RGB mode. (Hi Mikl—s!)
- Fixed a bug in the half-scale screen grab code (incorrect blue values).
- Tweaked the number formatting code in the setup.
Now you can mess around with that Game Wizard you just installed in your iMac... [Simon]
Mac Mechwarrior III Petition
Mac fan Lincoln Dunn dropped a note to let us know that he has started a Mac Mechwarrior III petition, in an attempt to convince Activision to bring this title back to the Mac platform. Stop by and sign the petition if you want to see this game on the Mac. [Eilers]
 Humongous Entertainment Introduces Junior Sports Network
Humongous Entertainment, makers of such "kids" (though we've seen adults enjoying them) sports titles such as Backyard Football and Backyard Soccer, have created an interesting Web tie-in for their games. Coming this fall your kids will be able to play against other kids live on the Internet.
From the press release:
Hey all you Junior Sports Maniacs, guess what? Your friends at Humongous Entertainment have launched a brand new online sports community for kids, the Junior Sports Network. The Junior Sports Network, or JrSN, can be accessed either through the front page of http://humongous.com or directly through http://jrsn.com.
Sunny Day hosts JrSN with the able assistance of Vinnie the Gooch, Earl Grey, and our newest announcer, Chuck Downfield for this fall's Backyard Football.
You also can register your coach name in the "Coaches Corner" and post messages about each of the three sports in our new bulletin board system "The Sidelines."
Humongous Entertainment also announces Junior Sports Network online multiplayer gaming for kids. Available in October 1999 with Backyard Football kids will be able to play other kids over Humongous Entertainment's gaming network accessed through the CD-ROM. Register your coach name now to become a beta tester for this new network at http://jrsn.com!
The site requires the Macromedia Flash plugin to work, and is quite an amusing example of Flash technology if you are into that sort of thing. [Eilers]
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| In Other News |
Apple E3 Coverage: Get an insider's vew of E3 from Apple's own web page
Game Violence Redux: GameCenter has yet another editorial on games and violence, this time from a developer's perspective.
Frodo on the Mac?: Stop by and sign the petition to bring massively-multiplayer online RPG Middle Earth to the Mac platform.
Video Game Violence: IMG reviewer and columnist Dan Radmacher rethinks this timely topic.
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 game, visit the Station.
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