This past weekend, Aspyr updated two of their game titles, Civilization IV to version 1.61 Rev A and Tiger Woods 2005 to version 1.1 Rev A. Both patches are available for download from Macgamefiles.com.

Civilization IV, a turn-based strategy game developed by Firaxis received a slew of stability and bug fixes in this update. Developed by Electronic Arts, Tiger Woods 2005 lets you have a chance to play as one of the top golfers in the world and in this latest update fixes the troubled launch for Mac OS 10.3 users and other minor changes.

Civilization IV

• Better performance on certain Macs (particularly G5's) that exhibited excessive CPU use in the original release. The game should no longer run dual CPU's to 100% capacity.

• Fixed numerous sounds issues including missing sounds, stuttering, 3D sound positioning, and movie soundtracks.

• Fixed globe graphical corruption at Low quality setting.

• Fixed bugs exposed by having the "Big Blue Marble" mod installed in CustomAssets.

Known Issues

• If you experience kernel panics on Intel Macs, make sure you have installed the latest version of the OS X 10.4.7 Combo update. If problems persist, turn off FSAA options and/or run the game in a window.

• Fixed launch failure under 10.3.x.
• Cmd-Tab and Cmd-H can be used in fullscreen mode to switch in and out of the game.

Course Installer
• Now copies courses with custom logo files.
• Courses and libraries are now sorted in alphabetical order.

Civilization IV 1.16 Rev A Update

Tiger Woods 2005 Rev 1.1 Rev A Update

Aspyr Media

Civilization IV

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005

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Today IMG released the thirtieth edition of the Inside Mac Games Podcast, the official podcast of Mac gaming. Each week we'll be covering all the news in Mac gaming in one tight package. This week features Blake Buck, commander of cookies, William Miller, a Harmonix goon, and Justin Ficarrotta, of Kill Monty Fame.

On the show this week's show:

After a rocky start, Episode 30 lays the heat on HEAVY. In addition to laying down the week's Mac gaming news, the IMG Podcast crew talks about Rage of Magic II, sexual experiences in Second Life, and unveils the a newly-refined BATTLE section.

Weekly News

• Peter Molyneux Interview
  
• Rage of Magic II Released
  
• dim3 v2.0 Open-Source Game Engine Released
  
• IMG Posts "Hear Me Out!"-The State of Mac VOIP
  
• Macgamestore: WingNuts 2 Digital Download
  
• World of Warcraft: Flying Mount Movie Available
  
• Red Marble Games Announces Democracy
  
• Hearts of Iron 2: Doomsday Announced
  
• Freeverse To Make Games With Unity

Weekly Features

• Listener Emails
  
• Contest
  
• Battle
  
• Stump Buck

IMG Podcast Episode 30

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Big Fish Games' Virtual Villagers for the Mac has been released at Macgamestore.com. The casual game is available for $19.95. A free demo of the game is available for download.

Virtual Villagers is a village simulator where you care for and nurture a tribe of little people by teaching them the basics of survival. The object of the game is to grow a small village in your computer: they have food needs, housing needs, technologies to research and diseases to fight! As the village grows and prospers, the villagers become curious about their mysterious island home and the secrets it holds. Aside from guiding the villagers' day-to-day lives, they player helps them to explore and restore the island.

Features:
• Runs in True-Real Time: new surprises very time you turn the game on.
• Hundreds of unique and customizable villagers.
• Breed your villagers and raise your own tribe.
• Unique and unpredictable "Island Events" to keep you on your toes.
• Uncover mysteries and milestones as you unravel the hidden story of Isola
• Runs in True-Real Time: new surprises every time you turn the game on
• Control the destiny of your survivors! Create your own adventure
• Amazing original soundtracks and ambient sound effects

System Requirements:
• Mac OSX 10.2 or later
• Processor: 500MHZ or faster
• 96 MB of RAM
• 32 MB of VRAM

Virtual Villagers

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World of War recently posted an interview with Blizzard Entertainment's Frank Pierce about the changes to be revealed in the game's upcoming first expansion. The Burning Crusade will increase the level cap, introduce new controllable flying mounts, and offer an entirely new continent to explore.

You decided to give the horde the Paladin and the community's response to the news was massive. People are concerned about the balancing. Are there any differences in the classes depending on the faction?

There won't be any notable distinction between the classes available to the Alliance and Horde but in terms of PvP, battlegrounds and the war and all that stuff, it's all still there. I don't think that because we have this class cross-over that we're going to see any drop-off in the amount of PvP, because at the end of the day, they are still warring factions. I still hate the Alliance as much as I did before :)

Certainly, the community was very vocal about the announcement and that's healthy. We want to hear what the community has to say, they wouldn't be so vocal if they didn't care about the game and so in that respect it's good to know they care so much about the game.

WorldofWar.net: Burning Crusade Interview

Blizzard Entertainment

World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade

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For those interested in learning more about the work involved in creating a game like Civilization IV, Firaxis is offering a podcast featuring Soren Johnson and Dorian Newcomb discussing the creation of the popular game.

Take a walk down memory lane with designer Soren Johnson and artist Dorian Newcomb as they relive the adventure of bringing Civilization IV from concept to reality, find out what technology Sid is using for the first time, and why designer Jon Shafer walked in for his interview carrying an axe.

Firaxis Podcasts

Aspyr Media

Civilization IV

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Apple's Game section recently began offering a trailer of The Burning Crusade, Blizzard Entertainment's upcoming first expansion for World of Warcraft. Apple also offers iPod versions of the Burning Crusade trailer as well as other WoW related videos.

To view the trailer and other video offerings click over to Apple's game site at the link below.

Apple Games: Burning Crusade Trailer

Blizzard Entertainment

World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade

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Blizzard Entertainment has released a new page offering information about the upcoming World PvP addition coming in the 1.12 patch for World of Warcraft. The new PvP option will allow players to help the Horde or Alliance compete in objective based battles over strategic positions and resources.

The next patch for World of Warcraft will include significant new updates to PvP gameplay. One of these updates is the addition of two outdoor world PvP objectives. Although details of these features are subject to change during development, we'd like to provide you with a general idea of what to expect. Check out our new outdoor PvP information page to learn more about the new challenges that await you in the Eastern Plaguelands and in Silithus.

WoW: World PvP Preview

Blizzard Entertainment

World of Warcraft

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Firing Squad has posted an interview with Sean Dahlberg of the newly formed Stray Bullet Games. Made up mostly of former Wolfpack Studios employees, Stray Bullet continues support of the Shadowbane MMORPG while also working on a new title. The interview discusses the new company's relationship with Ubisoft and its plans for the future.

FiringSquad: What can you tell us at this time about the new MMORPG that you are developing and how it will differ from other games in this genre?

Sean Dahlberg: There isn’t much we can openly discuss at this time. Not because we don’t want to, but because we have not solidified many things about it. Our internal project is still in the early development stages. One thing you can guarantee; it will contain meaningful Player-vs.-Player conflict. We want to not just give players the ability to fight each other, but reasons that equate to something more than just “levels” or “phat lewt”.

FiringSquad: When do you expect to reveal more info about the MMORPG and will Stray Bullet be looking at publishers for its development?

Sean Dahlberg: That is hard to say at this time. We are taking the experience and expertise we gained from Shadowbane and other unannounced projects and applying them to the next game, but our internal project will definitely be something new. It will take some time yet to nail down the core of the design, and refine it till we’re happy with all aspects of it. We are a very community-driven company, so we may bounce ideas off of our fans from time to time on our forums but hard details will be some time coming. As for whether or not we will look for a publisher or self-publish, that has yet to be determined.

Firing Squad: Stray Bullet Games Interview

Stray Bullet Games

Shadowbane

Ubisoft

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Macworld's Game Room has posted a review of Civilization IV, the latest incarnation of the long running turn based nation building sim. Civ IV adds 3D graphics, national religion, and a variety of other new options to the familiar gameplay. The Game Room gave Civ IV a score of 4.5 out of 5 mice.

From the review:

Civilization IV sports a new game engine with some three-dimensional elements to it. When you engage in combat with an enemy unit, the normal birds-eye game screen will zoom down to the action, where you can watch your larger-than-life units do battle until one of you is defeated. While Civilization IV lacks actual combat along the lines of a game like Warcraft, it is a big improvement over previous editions. During combat, you’ll see the various motions associated with each military units—the longbowmen will draw their arrows. However, there is no actual contact between units, and there is no combat sound, as there was in Civilization III.

This increase in the 3-D graphics’ depth and complexity and the greater complexity of simulation in areas like Civics explain why Civilization IV’s system requirements are considerably higher than its predecessor. Some Mac gamers have fumed over the greater requirements, but, at later stages of the game when empires are particularly large, the game can slow down unless you’re on a machine that matches or exceeds the game’s hefty system requirements. (A G5 or better is mandatory, according to Aspyr.)

Macworld Game Room: Civilization IV Review

Aspyr Media

Civilization IV

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