Minneapolis, Minn.-based Mac game publisher MacSoft on Thursday announced that it is shipping its long-awaited conversion of Microsoft’s strategy game Rise of Nations. The game is expected to hit retail stores just in time for Christmas — it’ll be on store shelves in North America the week of December 13th, while it’s expected to hit stores in Europe the following week.
MacSoft’s version of the game is called Rise of Nations: Gold Edition, and it combines the original game with the more recently released Thrones and Patriots expansion pack. A game that combines turn-based and real-time strategy elements, Rise of Nations lets user raise a mighty civilization over 6,000 years of history. Players build cities, engage in trade and diplomacy to expand the nation’s borders, and can use military might to take on their enemies. Players can lead 24 different nations as they play through five single-player campaigns and up to eight players in multiplayer (Mac-to-Mac only) gameplay.
The Thrones and Patriots expansion pack adds six new nations, four new single-player campaigns, more than 20 additional units, new wonders and new government types. Developed by Big Huge Games, Rise of Nations was originally published for Windows by Microsoft. Its Macintosh conversion was done by Westlake Interactive.
MacSoft’s Rise of Nations: Gold Edition costs US$49.99. Its system requirements includes a 600MHz or faster processor with Mac OS X v10.2.8 or later, 256MB RAM (512MB recommended for online play), 32MB video card, 1024 x 768 pixel resolution, CD-ROM drive and 1GB free hard drive space. MacSoft’s Web site had not been updated with information about the game as MacCentral posted this article.