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While it's sometimes a good policy to wait to see how a new system update pans out, those playing World of Warcraft may want to go ahead and give 10.3.7, the latest OS release from Apple, a shot. Among its enhancements are several addressed issues pertaining to the recently released MMORPG.

Additionally, Blizzard has put together a FAQ pertaining to the currently disabled graphic options in World of Warcraft, and how 10.3.7's release will help Mac gamers out.

Here's the word from Apple's website:

• Addresses an issue with Blizzard World of Warcraft in which the game's frame rate could drop considerably when in "Ghost mode," if the computer uses an nVidia graphics card.

• Resolves an issue in which enabling Vertex Shaders in World of Warcraft could lead to unexpected graphics issues when using an nVidia graphics card.

• Addresses an issue with World of Warcraft in which incorrect colors or unexpectedly flashing objects could appear when using an ATI Radeon 9600 graphics card, making gameplay difficult.

For details on what's changing in the game, also be sure to read through Rob Barris' post in the World of Warcraft forums.

Apple - 10.3.7 Info

WoW Forums: Mac Info - Graphics, FPS, OS X revisions

Blizzard Entertainment

World of Warcraft

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Freeverse and e.p.i.c. Interactive today announced that they have begun shipping Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood. Originally developed by Spellbound, the game takes you to the legendary 12th Century where you assume the role of Robin Hood.

About the game:

Take on the roles of Robin Hood and his Merry Men and lead them to the battle field against the nasty Prince John Lackland. In doing so you are able to enjoy the fabulous English landscape of 1190 as well as the giant castles and funny characters.

The thrilling story is features by an award-winning introduction and transfers you directly into the hero’s body with the first mission, in which you have to set your captive comrades free. Take up the battle against the oppressors and free the farmers from the evil Prince’s reign! Be smart, be fast! Be Robin Hood!

Features:
• More than 30 non-linear missions in which, for instance, you have to
save Little John and Friar Tuck, to prevent a wedding between Marian
and the revolting Guy of Gisbourne or to attack the tax collectors of
the Sheriff of Nottingham.
• Visit five giant castles in broad daylight or sneak in at night,
Experience different weather conditions.
• Play with up to nine integrated characters with specific abilities
and qualities.
• Innovative "mouse gesture" based fighting system!
• Decide yourself which tactic appears to be the right one for you:
reach the goal by creeping around the guards or fight bravely using
sword and bow.
• Available in english, german and french versions.
• Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood will be available at the Apple
Stores and other fine retailers as well as direct from Freeverse in
North America.

Runesoft

Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood

MGF: Robin Hood Demo 1.1

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MacSoft has released the long-awaited 1.5 patch for Halo: Combat Evolved.. The Mac version is now in sync with the PC version, which stands at 1.06. A number of enhancements have been made including advanced pixel shader support, support for USB devices, and GameRanger support.

A complete list of fixes, changes, and more are available on the download page at Macgamefiles.com, which is hosting the patch. For BitTorrent fans, a link to download the patch via BitTorrent is also included.

MacSoft

Bungie Studios

Westlake Interactive

Halo: Combat Evolved

MGF: Download Halo Update 1.5

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ToySight Gold is nearing release, according to a press release by Strange Flavour, the company behind the award-winning camera controlled game, ToySight. The new "Gold" version will add new games including one called FlySight, which allows up to 8 players connected via Rendezvous to play a 3D fighter combat game. You can control the aircraft with your arms and fire the guns by shouting "Dagadagadagadaga" into the iSight's microphone.

A playable demo of FlySight will be available in the next couple of days, so that Mac users will be able to test FlySight to make sure it is playable on their Mac. Check out the development screenshots of the right.

Freeverse

Strange Flavour

ToySight Gold

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Apple's resident games expert, Brad Cook, has served up another incredible games report. The feature includes a review of The Incredibles as well as The Incredibles: When Danger Calls. Both games accompany Pixar's latest film, The Incredibles, and lets both younger and more mature gamers get involved in the super-hero world.

Here's a section from the feature:

In The Incredibles adventure game, you can play as all four of the members of the Incredible family. The game loosely follows the film’s plot, starting the action, as the movie does, during Mr. Incredible’s early career before moving to the present-day timeline and the threat posed by the villain called Syndrome. However, the story diverges whenever possible to offer action sequences you didn’t see in the theater. For example, the opening bank robbery sequence turns into an extended adventure as Mr. Incredible tries to nab a series of crooks.

Apple - Games - The Incredibles

The Incredibles

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Fans of Aspyr's hit Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, will be happy to hear that an update is in the works. This latest update, being worked Aspyr programmer Brad Oliver, mainly fixes a number of multi-player issues. Here's a snippet from the update description :

I've finally gotten off my butt and started wrapping up the Jedi Academy patch. You can find it here. This is a BETA quality patch, and isn't yet final, but I'm fairly optimistic that it's final quality. If you try it, please let me know how it works for you in the comments. It's my hope that if there are no issues, we can get it finalized and released fairly quickly.

This patch should mainly be of interest to those of you who play online.

From the release notes - note my optimism that we'll release it some time in December :)

1.01c - xx December 2004

• Multiplayer app will now load .bundle DLLs from within pk3 files, provided you zip up the .bundle package, remove the .zip extension from the filename, and add "_mac" on the end. For example, cgame.bundle would be zipped, then renamed to "cgame_mac" and placed in a .pk3 file. This will allow Mac MODs to be used in "pure" server conditions, provided that the PC or Mac server contains a pk3 with the Mac DLLs.

• Fixed PC bug in multiplayer app where the client would display "Sabers only" when connecting to a server that disabled some, but not all, of the weapons.

• Dynamic glow is now a bit more dynamic than before. This may exact a bit more of a performance hit, so it can be disabled via the "More Video" options in the UI.

• Fixed potential PC bug when setting force power settings in the UI in the MP app.

• Workaround for "MAX_PATCH_PLANES" error that would occur when loading some very large 3rd party multiplayer maps.

• About box now uses the OSX default version on 10.3.0 and higher.

Oliver on Upcoming Jedi Academy MP Patch

LucasArts

Aspyr Media

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy

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Ryan Gordon has released a small update to the Duke Nukem 3D installer for OS X. The updated version has the screenshot-taking feature enabled, allowing users to take shots while in-game.

Same as last build, except screenshots work. Unlike previous builds, that'll actually do something when you hit F12 to take a screenshot. They'll land in "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Duke Nukem 3D/Screenshots" ... they're in PCX format (since that's what the game supports) but any graphics program should be able to convert them to anything else.

IcculusFinger

Duke Nukem 3D

MGF: Download Duke Nuken 3D

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The official World of Warcraft Europe site has posted new information regarding the current closed beta testing of the European versions of the game. As the beta progresses, Blizzard has noted that it will be making the French and German localized versions available for download. Additionally, European beta testers will get the opportunity to try out the next upcoming patch before its release to U.S. and Korean servers.

As far as those waiting to get into the testing, the final beta test is scheduled to take place at the end of December or early January, and Blizzard will welcome new testers at that time. This test will also begin with the English, French, and German versions all at once.

In related news, the results of a fansite chat have been posted, with questions pertaining to the game being answered by developers. For example:

Will high-level players be punished in some way under the new PvP system when they kill low-level players?

We aren't planning on punishing players for killing low level players; instead we would like to offer compelling incentives to players who kill appropriately level opponents. In addition, the Battlefields will be restricted to players of specific level ranges.

World of Warcraft Europe

WoW - Fansite Chat

Blizzard Entertainment

World of Warcraft

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