Each week MacCentral posts news and info from the Mac game industry along with our other headlines, but every once in a while there’s a story that doesn’t make it to our weekday coverage. As a result, we’ve created this weekly retrospective, called the Week in Games.
Diablo 2, Lord of Destruction enhanced by Mac OS 9.2.2
Rob Barris of Blizzard Entertainment recently posted news in games forums at various Web sites (including MacCentral) noting that Mac OS 9.2.2 benefits hardware graphics acceleration both for Diablo II and its expansion pack, Lord of Destruction. The new build of Mac OS 9 was released this past week by Apple, and Barris noted that the new version includes updated system drivers for Nvidia and ATI-built graphics hardware (both of which are included from the factory on Macs). “Our testing has shown a nice boost in frame rates on both ATI and NVIDIA hardware in OpenGL mode,” said Barris.
Galactica online beta testers sought
Monkey Byte Development, llc has announced that it is selecting testers for the online version of Galactica: Anno Dominari. The space-based strategy game emphasizes galactic colonization and warfare; it runs on Mac OS and Mac OS X. In this game, you must use technology, build fleets of starships, colonize habitable systems, defend your territory, and engage other players in combat. For more details about the beta test program, Monkey Byte encouraged folks to subscribe to their electronic newsletter.
Khufu 0.91b released
Z Sculpt Entertainment isn’t just working on the forthcoming Return to Dark Castle game for Delta Tao. They’ve also published three shareware games of their own creation — Meteor Storm, Retro and Khufu. A puzzle action game with colorful pyramid-shaped piece and Egypt-inspired backdrops, Khufu has just been updated to version 0.9.1b. The new version of Khufu corrects a problem that would generate Type 3 errors on beige G3 systems. Users who haven’t been able to play yet are encouraged to give Khufu 0.9.1b a try.
MacMAME 0.56 released
Brad Oliver announced a new release of MacMAME, the freeware arcade game emulator. Version 0.56 will likely be the last version to support Mac OS 8.6.x, noted Oliver — future revisions will be built for Mac OS 9.0.x and above. Changes in the new build include getting in sync with the Win32 0.56 build; fixes to Mac OS X 10.1.x operability; and new OS X icons.
Netrikulator 1.0.2 released
FIDIM Interactive has announced a new version of Netrikulator, a puzzle game. The new version, 1.0.2, is ready for download from the FIDIM Web site. The new version of Netrikulator fixes some minor interface and scoring issues. In Netrikulator, you must link two network nodes together with different colored shapes as you race against time. Connect the nodes and proceed to the next level; make bad decisions and watch the network grid fill up with dead pieces.
Pillars of Garendall 1.0.1; Trinity plug-in released
Ambrosia Software has released an update to the Pillars of Garendall role-playing game. Version 1.0.1 provides speed enhancements, bug fixes and other changes. Also, Ambrosia released a plug-in for the game called Trinity. The plug-in adds the ability for players to pick three new specialties of their characters; new locations; and new appearances.
Surrender released
Dark Shadow Software Ltd has announced the release of Surrender. It’s exclusively for the Mac and an OS X version is available. Surrender is a two player turn-based strategy game played over a network on a 10 by 10 grid (GameRanger is supported). Each grid contains 4 planets, a black hole, and each player’s military forces (comprised of a starbase and a number of starships). The goal of the game is to destroy your opponent’s starbase or their entire fleet. Features include persistent player support and network synchronization of high scores. Surrender is offered as $10 shareware.
Vektor3 debuts; Mac OS X chess shareware
If you’ve found the chess program that Apple includes with Mac OS X to be lacking, you may be interested in SchubertIt’s Vektor3 instead. Distributed as US$10 shareware and offered as a free upgrade to registered users of Vanessa, Vektor3 offers a customizable 2D chessboard and multiple piece sets; multithreading support; support for variations; an annotation editor with text styles; game analysis; PGN export and import; HTML export and much more.
WingNuts ships
Freeverse Software sent out word that its new arcade action game WingNuts is now shipping. The company said that pre-orders for WingNuts shipped out on Friday and will continue to ship on Monday.
Elsewhere on the Web
MacGamer.com has posted an interview with Freeverse founders Ian and Colin Lynch Smith. Los Bros Smith were there to talk with MacGamer about their new card game, iPuppet Presents: Colin’s Classic Cards. Inside Mac Games posted a preview of Geneforge, the unusual new role playing game headed our way from Spiderweb Software. MacGamez.com has posted an editorial questioning the direction of real time strategy games entitled, Is Real Time Strategy Gaming A Lost Art? And if you’re out shopping this holiday season, make sure to check with Apple’s retail stores theater schedule for the time and date of a games presentation at the retail store near you.
Closer to home
Don’t think that just because today’s Week in Games article ran long that MacCentral gave gaming short shrift on its regular pages this past week. We noted Ambrosia Software’s release of Deimos Rising, a stunning new arcade action game from David Wareing. MacSoft provided our readers with Mac development details on Myth III: The Wolf Age, the hotly anticipated real time strategy game. Bold by Destineer released Age of Empires II: Gold Edition 1.0.3, which fixes some synchronization problems in early builds. Game developers may be interested in an OpenGL 2.0 poll currently being conducted from the OpenGL.org Web site. Westlake Interactive announced that Duane Johnson has been hired to work on their titles as a full-time member; Johnson has been developing Mac games for several years in a variety of capacities. Aspyr Media announced that Otto Matic has shipped; It’s the newest 3D action game developed by Bugdom and Cro-Mag Rally maker Pangea Software.
As always, if you have ideas for ways that MacCentral can improve its games coverage, or if you have game-related products or services you’d like to see featured on MacCentral, we encourage you to drop us a line.