More information about the upcoming expansion pack Rune: Halls of Valhalla has been released recently by various sites around the Web. A fresh preview of the value-priced title is available at PC.IGN, while Human Head business director Tim Gerritson has been interviewed by Evil Avatar. In case you haven't heard, the add-on will also be a stand-alone product, so those without the original Rune will be able to join in on the multiplayer fun. Halls of Valhalla will include many new levels, models, and two new gametypes. In his Q&A, Gerritson covers a number of topics surrounding the expansion, as well as the Rune franchise itself and the constant PC-versus-console debate. Here's a clip with information on the new networking code:

What, if anything was done to improve the network code from the original release of Rune?

TG: Chris Rhinehart made two primary changes. First, he reduced the amount of data that was being sent back and forth from the server and the clients (such as by making movement speeds constant, and by eliminating useless data checks). Second he improved the way client-side prediction is handled so that it was better and faster (it was also easier since the movement is now constant). This reduced the amount of data that needed to be exchanged so that slower connections don't have to work as hard, and eliminated the biggest bugaboo we had in the original game- jitterying player movment on heavy traffic servers.

It still won't make your game sing when you are playing on a 16 player game server in Korea from your home in Iowa via a dial-up connection, but overall ping times will be better, and the game will still be playable even in high ping situations.

If you're looking for more details about the Halls of Valhalla, check out PC.IGN's preview. It offers coverage on many of the new features and gameplay modes, including details on Arena and Headball game types.

Look for the Mac version of Halls of Valhalla to appear in the next month or two. Westlake has promised to include the just-released 1.06 patch and EAX enhancements at the same time, so this next update should be a knockout for Mac Rune fans.

Halls of Valhalla Preview at PC.IGN

Tim Gerritsen Interview at Evil Avatar

Gathering of Developers (add to watch list)

Human Head Studios (add to watch list)

Westlake Interactive (add to watch list)

Rune (add to watch list)

Search for other Mac games news stories or browse our Mac Games News Archive.