by Jeremy Condit

After months of waiting, Warcraft 2 and its expansion set have finally hit the Mac gaming shelves. Single-player games may be engaging, but Warcraft 2’s multiplayer capabilities have made it one of the most popular and enduring games available. Plus, the lower processor/bandwidth requirements make it an ideal network game for play over both campus or office networks, not to mention the Internet. Here you’ll find plenty of sites that have interesting strategies or information concerning Warcraft 2, plus useful information for those interested in playing Warcraft 2 over the Internet.

The Mother Ship
• Blizzard Entertainment <http://www.blizzard.com/>: This page belongs to the designers of Warcraft and Warcraft 2, Blizzard Entertainment. Download a demo of either game or check out what’s in store for Mac gamers in the future. Blizzard seems to be very enthusiastic about the Mac platform, and it’s reflected in their release plan (simultaneous Mac/PC) and their Web page content. Kudos to Blizzard!

Strategies
Getting stomped by your friends? Can’t even beat the computer? Want to improve your game? You’ll find plenty of interesting and helpful stories and strategies in these pages...

• Shlonglor’s War 2 Page <http://www.andrews.edu/~fraizer/war.cgi>: Most Internet gamers would consider this page the quintessential Warcraft 2 strategy page. Indeed, it does have a lot of useful hints and strategies--there’s something here for every player, beginner or advanced.

• LordSlippy’s Warcraft 2 Page <http://sap.silcon.com/macguy/>: This page, like the above, has plenty of strategies and stories that are useful for any Warcraft player. It’s also quite well-designed and good looking--plus, it’s always nice to see that “Made with Mac” logo...

• StoneFist’s Island <http://www.students.uiuc.edu/~bwood/stoneisle.html>: More than anything, this page gets big style points for a very intriguing design. It has a few interesting strategies and a convenient, condensed list of good Warcraft 2 links, but on top of that, it’s simply fun to explore.

• Lucky’s Warcraft 2 Page <http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/2573/war2.html>: This page is no longer maintained, but it still provides a good collection of stories and strategies, separated for beginners, intermediates, and experts.

• Warcraft 2 FAQ <http://www.ogr.com/faqs/warcraft2.faq>: Any more questions? Read the FAQ. If you want to play a Kali game but don’t know what THF is, you ought to have a look at this document. Can’t finish a solo scenario? Want a few hints about good/interesting strategies? Your next stop should be the FAQ...

PUDs
Done with the single player scenarios published by Blizzard? Exhausted all the possibilities of the network maps included with the original game? The good news is that there are hundreds, even thousands of third party Warcraft maps and scenarios available for free over the Internet. Here are a few well-organized and comprehensive sources for third-party maps...

• Pudland <http://www.eggcite.com/pudland/>: A nice-looking and well-organized index of PUDs, organized by the number of players for which the PUD is designed. Each index lists vital statistics for the map and allows you to preview the map before downloading, making good use of some of Netscape’s newer features. Among other things, this site provides a very comprehensive list of links to other sites on the Internet.

• Pudzone <http://www.pudzone.com/>: Similar to Pudland, this site contains a large index of available PUDs, providing both single and multiplayer maps. One distinct advantage of this site is that it lists the most popular PUDs available from the site--sift through hundreds of maps to go straight to the best picks.

• Ultimate Collection <http://www.monmouth.com/~vfuks/war2/>: This page makes available a gigantic collection of PUDs. It might not be the most organized listing, but the advantage of downloading a package of hundreds of PUDs is that you’ll never have to worry about not having the map that you need in order to play an Internet game. It’s also updated occasionally to include the newest maps. Well worth a look...

IRC
One of the most useful features of the Mac version of Warcraft 2 is its built-in TCP/IP capabilities. What this means is that anybody with a direct connection to the Internet, whether through a campus, office, ISDN, or SLIP/PPP connection, can play multiplayer games with other people from across the world. If you know the IP number (four numbers from 0 to 255 separated by periods) of a computer hosting an Internet game, you can join in.

The question then becomes, “How do I find games?” You’ll need an IRC (Internet Relay Chat) client--the most popular is Ircle, available from <http://www.xs4all.com/~ircle/>. Once you’ve loaded up Ircle, flip through the manual and set up your preferences appropirately. Log on to an EFNet server such as irc.netcom.com or irc.nol.net, and then join one of these channels:

• #macwarcraft & #macwarcraft2: Both of these IRC EFNet channels provide a convenient way to find other Macintosh players over the Internet. If you stop by one of these channels, hang out a bit to see if other players are available, and you’re bound to find a game within a few minutes. Get the host’s IP number and join up! Just remember not to be overly anxious or obnoxious--annoying other people won’t help you find a game.

• Mac Warcraft 2 League <http://home.stlnet.com/~fusion/wc2ladder.html>: This page has been set up by a group of Mac Warcraft 2 players who arrange games and an ongoing tournament over the Internet. They’ve established a ladder and a method of keeping track of scores--if you’re ready for serious tournament play, check out this page. If you’re ready to join in, you can find games with other players through the IRC channels mentioned above.

Kali
TCP/IP play is built in to the Macintosh version, but unfortunately, PC Warcraft 2 players don’t have this feature available. Plus, finding players over IRC can often be an unwieldy system for starting games. For a greater variety in games or players, try using the Mac version of Kali, a utility that allows you to play any IPX networkable game over the Internet.

• Kali <http://www.kali.net/>: This site is the official home of Kali, the utility for pushing IPX network data over TCP/IP. Get the official scoop and the latest version from this site. If you have difficulty logging in or want to forego the pretty pictures, go to <ftp://ftp.kali.net/> to download the latest Mac Kali beta.

• Kali for Mac <http://www.ebicom.net/~jnaron3/kali.html>: Established by a Mac Kali enthusiast, this site contains loads of information on the Mac version of Kali. You’ll find the latest news and downloads, plus links and information concerning games that can be used in conjunction with Kali. Worth a look!

Usenet
Want to talk about Warcraft 2? There are plenty of Usenet newsgroups that make this feasible...

• alt.games.warcraft: This newsgroup gets quite a bit of traffic and can provide answers to most game-related questions. Keep in mind that it’s mostly populated with PC players, so technical questions concerning the Mac version might best be referred to the good folks of...

• comp.sys.mac.games.strategic: This newsgroup is not specific to Warcraft 2 by any means, but it’s the most appropirate place to post if you have a question that you want to direct to Mac users only. It has much less traffic than the alt group, so it tends to be a little less crowded with flame wars or meaningless drivel with which Usenet groups must contend.

Signing Off...
The above links should give you some starting points for Warcraft info on the Internet. If you want to learn how to improve your game or if you just want to find other players, you should find what you’re looking for above. If I’ve missed an interesting or important site that you wished you had seen here, though, feel free to write to me at <afn02635@afn.org>.

If you’re still thirsty for more cool stuff on the Internet, try these picks o’ the month:

• Antennahead Software <http://www.antennahead.com/>: This up-and-coming software company just released Shatterbat for the Mac and is working on Sanctity, a very cool-looking game. If you’d like to drool over their upcoming projects or download their 3D animation library (!), check this site out.

• Inside Mac Games <http://www.imgmagazine.com/>: If you haven’t already heard, IMG has put a lot of work into revamping its Web site. You’ll be sure to find the latest demo releases and news concerning Mac games right here.

• MacAddict <http://www.macaddict.com/>: This new Mac magazine has a very well-maintained Web site, with up-to-the-minute information about new releases, software updates, and Mac-related news.