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As IMG's coverage of last week's E3 expo wraps up, we have one more article to bring you; a report on the status of the new Mac game company with an old name, MacPlay. While the company did not have an official presence at the show, MacPlay's Jason Whong was roaming the floor of the event to offer a
much-anticipated update on some of the company's projects.

The Mac OS port of the critically-acclaimed role playing game Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
is progressing at a rapid pace. According to Whong, the game will
officially enter the beta testing phase pending the addition of GameRanger
support.

The Macintosh version of BGII will support a number of useful features that
will appeal to dedicated fans of Baldur's Gate. BGII will have the
ability to import characters from original Baldur's Gate, even though that
game was brought to the Mac by a different publisher. Also, even though 800x600 is the
standard resolution for BGII, players will be able to take advantage of
higher screen resolutions. This resolution switching, as well as other
tweaks, is possible thanks to the included BG Config application.

BGII will be a Classic application with the possibility of a Carbonized
version at a later date. For Mac users who have invested in Creative's
SoundBlaster Live! for Macintosh, MacPlay has not ruled out OpenAL or EAX
support as part of a future update. BGII will require G3/266-based Mac or higher.

The obvious question is, "Will the Baldur's Gate II - Throne of Bhaal
expansion come to the Mac?" The answer is not so obvious. MacPlay had
nothing to announce about the possibility of the expansion, but it was not
ruled out either.

Whong also offered a sneak peek at another upcoming title, Fighter Squadron:
Screamin Demons Over Europe. This World War II combat flight sim hopes to
fill a hole in the current Mac game lineup for a fast-action dogfighting
game, but will have competition from the upcoming World War II Online game
from Cornered Rat Software.

Baldur's Gate II - Shadows of Amn is expected in time for Macworld New York
while Screaming Demons will arrive later in the summer.

MacPlay Web Site

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BioWare (add to watch list)

Baldur's Gate II (add to watch list)

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