A lot has happened since I last filled this space. MacDEU has become DEMON, MacHexen has gone through some heavy duty beta testing (and, no, I wasn't one of the lucky few to try it), and there's a hot new 3D shoot-em-up making waves on the PC.
MacHexen Update
From all indications, MacHexen is approaching completion. There have been a few rumors that some "glitch" has delayed its release until summer at the earliest. Frankly, folks, I don't believe it. On the other hand, I've heard that a prominent Mac mail order house has tagged the release at April 6. Well, I'm sure we all know how that works. If I had to guess, I'd say it's probably somewhere in between, probably much closer to April 6 than summer.
Gary Arnold, the Presage Software programmer who has tempted us with tantalizing tidbits during the development process, has gone underground for a frenzied last orgy of bug fixes. He emerged briefly to fill us in on a few details:
"It's coming along. A couple things are still outstanding, but the bug list is getting thinner and thinner. Cross your fingers for me, please! :)
To be honest and forthright with you, [the release is] Real Soon Now, barring any major disasters (my usual disclaimer :). I've been burning a lot of midnight oil, and this is the first I've logged in in over a week, so sorry if this is a bit late of a reply. Hexen is chugging right along, and everything's looking good!
I'll keep you up to date on when Hexen is nearing completion. There probably isn't too much to report betwen now and then, unless reports like "fixed more bugs" are interesting.. :) Rest assured, I'll be sure to let everyone know when final candidates start going out, and I'll probably even post to Usenet when a final is accepted. Have no fear, Hexen is almost here.. :)"
As we went to press, Gary Arnold sent this followup message:
"It's getting pretty close to being done. The 1.1 (8-player) code added some network problems, and right now they're the only bugs I have on my plate. I can't be certain, but I'd say April 6 sounds reasonable... I think that date will have more to do with how quickly GT Interactive can slap boxes together and ship 'em out than how soon I'll be done with the code (which is "soon" :)."
MDR's radar is on full tilt, and I'll keep you posted if I hear anything further.
MacQuake Rumors
I've heard rumors that the Quake port has been awarded to Lion Entertainment, the folks who brought us MacDoom. That would be a no. There has been no activity or bid for porting Quake to the Mac yet. I really don't expect to hear much -- except perhaps more useless speculation -- until Quake on the PC ships.
Duke Nukem for Mac?
Well, if you've been following the Doom PC boards on Usenet, you'll have heard of Duke Nukem, a new PC 3D-shoot-em-up from Apogee that claims to out-Doom id Software's current offerings. In case you don't know, there's a bit of a rivalry between id and Apogee -- those guys in the super secret level in Doom II that are hanging from nooses? That's Apogee's Commander Keen, star of a pretty decent little non-3D action game from a few years back.
Those who've played the demo (all there is, so far) have been impressed: you can actually damage walls when you shoot them, the ground can have slope to it, walking through water or blood will leave wet tracks when you return to dry land, and there are working mirrors and toilets, among other things.
On the other hand, I understand the game is also offensively sexist (not the same as sexy) in places, so -- despite the innovations in creating realistic 3D worlds -- it may turn off some gamers, too.
Anyway, the really good news is that Mac users will be able to take the Duke Nukem taste test themselves -- word on the 'Net is that Duke Nukem will be ported to the Mac eventually.
WAD Editor News
DEMON/ZenNode
James Knight <jknight@ai.mit.edu> has been busy. He renamed his WAD editor port, previously dubbed MacDEU, as DEMON. The letters stand for: Doom Editor for Macintosh Oriented Nuts.
At this writing you can find Beta 2 of DEMON, which contains quite a few Mac-like improvements, at:
http://www.ai.mit.edu/people/jknight/demon.html
Highlights of Beta 2 include the ability to use aliases for your Doom IWADs instead of editing the INI file, click-and-drag selection rectangles, and many bug fixes and Mac interface improvements.
Knight also has ported what he calls the best node and reject builder on the PC, ZenNode:
http://www.ai.mit.edu/people/jknight/zennode.html
Knight notes:
"The PowerPC version [of ZenNode] is significantly faster (i.e., four seconds as opposed to 75 seconds), so get one if you think it's too slow. You can also set the option to make a 'fake' reject map until you finish the final version. The reject builder is the part that takes the longest. All options can also be put in the ZenNode.cfg if you use the same ones frequently."
The original PC version of ZenNode was created by Marc Rousseau <rousseaum@pictel.com>.
WAD Builder's Reference
There's another new WAD builder's tool. David Spencer <Spence3D@aol.com> has compiled a large DocMaker catalog of textures, sprites, objects, and the like for convenient reference when building new WADs with DEMON (or any WAD editor, for that matter).
Right now, the only place you can find the Doom II Graphics Catalogue is on America Online in the Mac Games Forum (Keyword: Mac Games) in the New Scenarios section. You can also find it by doing a file search on SPENCE3D.
That's all of the news for this month. I've been seeing more and more Mac-made WADs, which is a good sign. Hopefully, the coming months will bring us a WAD resource editor for altering textures, objects, sprites, sounds, and more, and perhaps some new tools and other enhancements.
–Dave Kramer
Editor, MacDoom Review
 
If you have any tips or news of any new Macintosh WAD tools not covered here, please send them along for a future issue of MacDoom Review. Drop an e-mail to reeltime@voicenet.com.
