Each week MacCentral brings readers leading news and headlines from the world of Macintosh gaming, but there are always a few stories and news items that don’t make our regular news pages. That’s why we post this retrospective, called The Week in Games. This week’s Week in Games features some information we’ve had kicking around for a few weeks, as our posting schedule was disrupted by the winter holidays and Macworld Expo.
| <?php virtual(“/includes/gamesboxad.inc”); ?> |
Airburst Network updated
Strange Flavour has released an updated version of its recently offered public beta for Airburst Network. Airburst Network is a multiplayer version of the offbeat action game that pits players on airborne platforms against each other as they try to pop their opponent’s balloons. The new version fixes “minor but annoying bugs” and reworks the KidChat mode.
Big Money Deluxe available from PopCap Games
The Omni Group and PopCap Games have released a Mac OS X version of Big money Deluxe, an arcade style puzzle game in which you must collect coins or risk breaking the bank. It’s available for $19.95 and requires a G3/400 or better running Mac OS X 10.1 or later.
ChexQuest now for Mac OS X
Scifience Studios has released a Mac OS X-native version of ChexQuest, a game originally distributed with cereal boxes several years ago. It’s a non-violent game in which you must destroy the Flemoids and save the Chex.
Danlab Games updates titles for QT 6.1
QuickTime 6.1’s release has caused various problems in different software applications, including games. Danlab Games has updated Creepy Mines, Froggy’s Songs, Twins Cards and Owari to fix issues related to QT 6.1.
EV Nova 1.0.3 released
A new version of Escape Velocity Nova was released by Ambrosia Software since our last Week in Games update — version 1.0.3. Escape Velocity Nova is the latest installment of the long-running adventure/arcade game of space exploration. The 1.0.3 version sports an impressive number of engine and scenario changes. Check out Ambrosia’s Web site for the details.
iConquer 1.1.1 released
Kavasoft has released iConquer 1.1.1, an updated version of its take on the Risk-style world conquering board strategy game. The new version features user-requested features like higher difficulty level, smaller map support, improved networking and Rendezvous support, support for German, and a fix for an incompatibility with Mac OS X 10.1.5 or earlier.
Lux 1.2 released
Sillysoft has released a new version of Lux, its $10 Mac OS X shareware version of a world-conquering strategy board game similar to the classic game Risk. The new version sports new modifier keys, more graphics with better placement and other changes.
Mah Jong Solitaire 1.00 released
Bonehead Projects has released Mah Jong Solitaire, a shareware Mac OS X version of the classic tile matching game. It sports different skill levels and layouts, suggest moves and undo moves capability, and more. It costs US$10 to register.
Rage Hard Forum opens
Rage Hard is a forthcoming ultraviolent 3D action game aimed at the Mac platform. Now there’s a Rage Hard Forum you can use to trade information and ask questions of other folks waiting for the game as well as the game’s developers themselves.
Return to Castle Wolfenstein 1.4.1 beta released
Aspyr Media has released a public beta version of Return to Castle Wolfenstein 1.4.1, the latest release of the popular 3D action game developed by Id Software. The 17MB update is recommended specifically for clean installations of the game, as updates from the 1.3.3 beta seem to cause some problems.
RuniX added to Infinity Game PaX
illumineX has added RuniX, a new arcade/puzzle game, to its iX Infinity Game PaX. The collection now includes six different games. RuniX itself is a tile matching game in which you must pair up matching tiles to remove them from the board. Check out illumineX’s Web site for more details about the other games. The full iX Infinity Game PaX costs $19.95 to register.
Stoked Rider snowboarding game coming this year
Bongfish is working on Stoked Rider, a new OpenGL-based snowboarding game for the Mac and Windows, coming in 2003. The game will focus on freeriding massive procedural mountains, according to the developer. Stoked Rider also features pro freeriding snowboarder Tommy Brunner.
Vega Strike open source 3D space simulator available
Vega Strike is a 3D space simulator available for Mac OS X, and the best part is that it’s open source. You can trade and bounty hunt in a vast universe, according to the developer. It’s a huge download — about 90MB — but check out the Web site for screenshots and more info.
WaterRace source code released to iDevGames
iDevGames — the open source code resource for developers interested in creating games on the Mac — has received the exclusive release of source code for WaterRace, the commercial water racing game from French Touch Software. The source code has been released under the GNU General Public License. Built around now-defunct 3D technology created by Apple called RAVE, the software doesn’t run natively in OS X, but it’s an interesting exercise in creating a 3D game engine.
Elsewhere on the Web
MacGamer has posted a feature called Doom III: What we know so far, which outlines the public information about Id Software’s next epic game, Doom III. Inside Mac Games has previewed Payback, the Grand Theft Auto-style action game recently finished for the Mac by Virtual Programming Ltd. Apple’s Games site has previewed Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3, the forthcoming extreme sports game from Aspyr Media.
Closer to home
This week MacCentral reported that MindQuest has axed TerraQuest, the spy game that rewarded one player $25,000 and promised to give away a total of $250,000. GarageGames has released Marble Blast for Mac OS X — it’s a 3D action game in which you navigate a marble around a maze. Game developers concerned about Maya’s stability with Mac OS X 10.2.3 may be interested in news from Alias|Wavefront. Freeverse Software has released eight board games that enable Mac users to play against each other online. Virtual Programming Ltd announced that Payback is shipping. MacBowl 2003 — a MWSF-related charity event that drew the participation of Mac game makers — raised $15,500 for a SF school.
As always, we encourage you to drop us a line if you have ideas for ways that we can improve our games coverage here on MacCentral, or if you have a Mac game or related product or service you’d like to see mentioned.