Keeping a game up to date can be just as important as any other software. In the rush to get games out the door, some companies may not fully bug test a game. It is quite common for patches to be released within weeks after a game hits the shelves. Games are also a little unfriendly with version numbers û without an obvious Help>About menu it can de difficult to track down your current version.

A common problem to watch is the origin of the game û some releases have localised versions and patches may have mixed effects that are not clearly identified by the publisher (non-English version of games can be susceptible to this problem). In addition some games are updated in later production runs, so earlier patches may not be required. Some updates make saved levels incompatible with the patched version, so you have to start the game again.

To avoid grief with any update, try to view any readme texts in a patch and backup your saved levels. Most patches will check that they can be applied to your version, but donÆt rely on this always being the case. If the patch causes problems, try uninstalling the game, rebooting and installing the game again. Also check the publisherÆs site for any additional problems.

Many games come with auto-updates, but these can present their own problems ûpatches can be huge (Half-Life is over 50MB) and you may not know what they do to your system. Other auto-update programs may copy the patch to a temporary location which can be accidentally deleted, so reinstalling the game requires a new download.

This month we have included a number of recently released game patches on the cover CD. At press time, the Quake 3 point release was up to 1.25y beta. However, this patch has a number of reported bugs so it wonÆt appear on the CD until final release. It also requires point release 1.17 - which is included on the CD.

Scott Mendham