Every day MacCentral brings readers news and info about the world of Mac games along with our other headlines, but there are always a few stories that don’t make it onto our regular news pages. That’s why we’ve come up with this retrospective, called The Week in Games.
Combat Mission: From Barbarossa to Berlin demo available
Battlefront.com has released a demo version of Combat Mission: From Barbarossa to Berlin. It’s the latest installment of the acclaimed wargame series developed by Big Time Software that combines tactical turn-based strategy with real time 3D gaming. This installment puts players on the Eastern Front during World War II, beginning with Operation Barbarossa and ending with the fall of Berlin. Bear in mind, however, that it’s for Mac OS 9 only. (Battlefront.com has previously told MacCentral that it’ll require a complete rebuild of the game’s RAVE-based graphics engine to support OS X.)
Escape Velocity Nova 1.0.2 released
Ambrosia Software has released a new version of its space-based adventure/action game Escape Velocity: Nova. The new version, 1.0.2, sports dozens and dozens of changes, both to the game’s engine and to the game’s specific scenarios. You can download the new version or an update from Macgamefiles.com. Visit Ambrosia’s Web site for the complete details on what’s changed, if you prefer.
Halo 2 trailer now available in QuickTime
Who knows if it’ll ever make it to the Mac, but some of us just want to stay tuned to what Bungie Studios is working on anyway. When Microsoft debuted the trailer for Halo 2, it was in Mac-hostile Windows Media Player 9 format. Now Bungie.org has published a list of mirror sites that sport QuickTime-based versions of the trailer. Check it out.
MacDX Web site updated
Mark Thomas of Coderus reports that the company’s Web site has been updated. Coderus makes MacDX, a licensable software tool for developers that can help easy the conversion of Windows-based games that utilize Microsoft’s DirectX libraries to the Macintosh. The site now features more info, samples, and testimonials.
Sin 1.1.3 brings Mac OS X compatibility, more
MacPlay has released an update to one of its first games — Sin — now compatible with Mac OS X. Sin 1.1.3 (available for download from Macgamefiles.com ) also sports many other changes.
TacOps 4 to ship this week
Grognards, rejoice! Major H. reported that the first cases of TacOps v4 are now in the mail to the warehouse. TacOps is the turn-based tactical battlefield wargame so realistic it’s used to train military officers. Major H. said that Battlefront.com — the game’s publisher expects to begin fulfilling pre-orders on September 13. Alas, it runs in Classic mode only on Mac OS X, but still, if you’re a wargame fan, it could be worth it. (Please note that TacOps should not be confused with the Tactical Ops UT mod that is sometimes referred to by its players as “TacOps.”)
WingNuts 1.2.1 released
Freeverse Software has released an update to WingNuts, their popular arcade game that puts you in the pilot’s seat of a time-travelling airplane. The new build supports Mac OS X 10.2, “Jaguar,” some force feedback controllers, and more.
Xoggle beta updated
Attention, word game fans: Xoggle has been updated to a new public beta version. It’s an open-source Boggle-style game created by Drew Hamlin of Vizspring Software using REAL Software’s REALbasic development environment. The new version fixes bugs. Multiplayer gaming is still disabled, but Hamlin and his cohorts are hard at work on integrating it into a forthcoming build.
X-Plane 6.30 final released
Laminar Research publicly beta-tests each of its builds of its modular OpenGL-based flight simulator, X-Plane. This week, however, the developer released the “final” build of X-Plane 6.30, so visit the site to download it.
Elsewhere on the Web
Inside Mac Games reviews Fallout 2, the post-apocalyptic role playing game from MacPlay. MacGamer has posted a preview of Master of Orion 3, expected from MacSoft later this year. Apple’s Games site features an advanced look at Aliens vs Predator 2, now in development for the Mac from MacPlay.
Closer to home
Aspyr has given up New pics of the week for Ghost Recon. Titan Computer has announced work on a new multiplayer tactical shooter that will be Mac-first called Rage Hard. Aspyr is shipping The Sims Vacation, a new add on pack for its The Sims game. MacPlay is shipping Soldier of Fortune 2: Double Helix and GameRanger multiplayer support for it is now available. The Journeyman Project series and Myst III: Exile creator Presto Studios is closing its doors. Monkey Byte Development wants testers to try out its new Shockwave-based games.
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