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In order to deal with the amount of email regarding the recent release of Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix, Matt Loria of MacPlay's support team has made a number of posts to the IMG forums to help spread the answers. He discusses many frequently asked questions, including performance of the game, reason being not including support for multiple processors, and the status of the 1.02 patch.

He notes the performance concerns are because the game is much more resource-intensive than other games based on the Quake 3 engine. Support for SMP is more difficult because of the nature of the game's AI and scripting engine, and in the following excerpt, Laria also explains why the Punkbuster technology is the cause of the patch delays:

The version of Punkbuster that is used in RtCW is an application written in Carbon. Since the company that ported SoF 2 (OmniGroup) wrote the app in Cocoa (which is a good thing) the same version of Punkbuster cannot be used. Punkbuster will need to be written in Cocoa before we can incorporate it with Soldier of Fortune 2.

Soldier of Fortune II Forum Thread

Omni Group

Raven Software

MacPlay

SoF II

Buy SoF II

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Warbirds III, the massively-multiplayer online flight sim produced by Total Sims, has finally received an update restoring Mac OS X 10.2 support to the game. The new update, dubbed 10.03.02, also adds a smattering of other changes:

New AC: P400 (British P39 variant)

Mosquito NF II

New Cockpits: JU87 (works for -D and -G)

Adjusted AC: Ju87D and G

New: Link on main UI page to the PDC skins download page

New: Skin switcher for PDC skins. See PDC site (there's a

Fixed: Wingman sometimes dropping a bomb on launch

Internal changes in the game loop to fix some Offline mission
problems

iEntertainment Network

WarBirds III

Download 10.03.02 Update (14 MB)

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Aspyr Media has sent IMG five new screenshots from the upcoming action-thriller, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon. Aspyr's Chris Silman explains the new shots:

We are back with the second edition of NEW Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Game of the Year Edition screenshots for the week. Today we are featuring Mission 7 - Paper Angel.

The Ghost team is going in to blow a bridge under the nose of Russian guards, including tanks. Stealth is key - blowing the bridge will slow the Russian advance.

We are closing in on a finished version of the game and it just keeps look better and better. I couldn't be more thrilled to say that the Ghosts are coming soon!

Screenshot 1

Screenshot 2

Screenshot 3

Screenshot 4

Screenshot 5

Aspyr Media

Red Storm

MacPlay's Joshua Smith sent IMG a note to let us know that the company is now offering the MacPlay Shooter Pack for $39.99. The pack contains full versions of Sin Gold, Hexen II, and Heretic II and is available immediately from the MacPlay store.

All three titles are available seperately for $60, so it's quite a good deal if you're looking for some fast-paced action games. To learn more about the MacPlay Shooter Pack, head over to the MacPlay web site.

MacPlay

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Bejeweled seems to be one of the most popular games ever released on the PC. Easy to learn, easy to play, it's not hard to understand why. Now ported to the Mac along side her sister game, Alchemy, IMG has had the chance to scrutinize these two games.

To check out the review, click on the link below.

IMG Review: Bejeweled & Alchemy

MacPlay

Bejeweled & Alchemy

It's Friday, and that can only mean one thing; a new desktop from IMG's graphic guru, Brad Custer. Today's desktop features the upcoming expansion pack for Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds, Clone Campiagns, due out this month.

Here's what Brad had to say about this week's desktop:

Looking to expand your Star Wars universe on your Mac? Well, thanks to Aspyr Media the search is over because the battlefield just got bigger! Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds: Clone Campaigns, the explosive expansion pack to Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds, allows you to choose to play as the breakaway Confederacy of Independent Systems or the Galactic Republic in 14 missions based around characters, vehicles and locations from Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones.

Custer's Desktops

A while back, Brian "CreativeOne" Sounder announced in the IMG forums that OS X compatible beta drivers for Sound Blaster Live! would be out in the upcoming weeks. Recently, Brian returned to answer your questions, and clear up the confusion concerning the status of an OS X compatible Sound Blaster driver. Apparently they've hit a snag with the current developer of the drivers, but others are also volunteering to try and move the project forward. Here's a recent post:

The main guy working on the basic audio had a major system crash. We are still trying to get the system back from him to see what happened. I have a few other people that want to jump on programming, but I don't have code to give them. I got an e-mail yesterday saying they are still trying to get the system back. Development has basically stopped for the moment. The system is in Sweden and needs to be shipped in Germany.

SB Live for OS X

Creative

Sound Blaster Live!

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As the galactic strategy game Master of Orion III: gets closer and closer to release, Quicksilver has announced that they will be revealing more information and media as the due date approaches, starting off with four brand new screenshots:

As MOO3 rounds the final stretch, heading towards the finish line at breakneck speed, we are stepping up the information and image feeds. Expect to see more screens, stills from cinematics, music files, race bible excerpts and more! In addition, various sites and magazines will be featuring MOO3 interviews, previews, and articles (including a very-long overdue Dev Diary on Gamespy) which we'll point you to. Who knows, as we reach Gold Master status, we may even have a scheduled .IRC chat! Stay tuned!

Kicking it all off are new stills from diplomactic exchanges in progress.

Foreign Office Screenshots

Master of Orion III

Buy Master of Orion III

Freeverse Software continues their constant updates this week with a new update to their 3D Spades Deluxe. The game now supports the GameSmith matching service, full native support for OS X, and a number of gameplay variations. Also look for 3D Pitch Deluxe to be updated today.

Those who own a previous version of this or other titles may want to take a look at a helpful forum topic with answers from Freeverse employees about the state of upgrades. A page dedicated to just upgrades has been posted, and owners of Colin's Classic Cards can download to any of the new versions (all with x.2 versions) for free. Here is an explanation of the upgrade prices:

Anyone who purchased  "iPuppet Presents: Colin's Classic Cards" from it's release, through October 1st, 2002 is entitled to a FREE upgrade to the latest version of the new 3D Card Game version.  Please email us at info@freeverse.com with your User Code found on the back of the iPuppet manual and we'll send you a coupon to take advantage of this great offer.

Any owner of  3D Hearts, 3D Spades, 3D Pitch or 3D Euchre may upgrade for only $9.95. Please email us at info@freeverse.com with your name and address and we'll send you a coupon to take advantage of this offer.

Freeverse Update Page

Freeverse Update Forum Thread

3D Spades Deluxe

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