Toronto-based game publisher DreamCatcher Interactive Inc. has announced that next year they will publish a new 3D hovercraft racing game called Fuel. The game is currently in development by Firetoad Software, and is scheduled to be released next autumn. Although the official statement from the companies today didn’t mention the Mac specifically, MacCentral has learned that Fuel will be coming to the Mac through this new partnership.
Firetoad Software’s Fuel was formerly called Everglade Rush. The game is built around a graphics engine that can optionally leverage Nvidia’s GeForce3 graphics processing unit, which is the centerpiece of Apple’s premium build-to-order video cards for its line of Power Mac G4 systems. In fact, Fuel was highlighted by Nvidia earlier this year at the GeForce3’s launch. The game uses what Nvidia calls GeForce3’s “nfiniteFX engine,” which provides vertex and pixel shader effects that provide realistic texture and reflection mapping.
Firetoad Software indicated on its Web site that the game is currently in development for the Xbox video game console as well as Windows and Macintosh computers — a point confirmed by the game’s lead developer, Nathan d’Obrenan. “Well, I’m using Mac OS X almost as much as my primary system, so it’s a safe bet to say it’s coming to OS X,” d’Obrenan told MacCentral.
DreamCatcher CEO Richard Wah Kan also confirmed with MacCentral that his company’s publishing arrangement for Fuel extends to the Macintosh version.
The game features “more than five different racing vehicles in every environment and terrain imaginable.” It sports single player action as well as Internet and LAN-based based multiplayer action.