We recently asked a pair of questions to Volition's Mark Allender about the Mac version of Summoner he is working to complete at this very minute. This 3D RPG is currently in the testing phases at GraphSim and is expected to be ready for release in the near future. We were curious about the auto-updating feature mentioned in the PC version. The Summoner page also mentions EAX support, which makes us wonder if the Mac version of this game might also be EAX-enabled for those owners of brand-new Soundblaster Live! cards. Here is his response:

1) Unfortunately, we do not have the auto-updating technology for the Mac
like we do for the PC. Our auto-updating code has been around since
FreeSpace and has been honed and refined during all the projects inbetween
then and now. Unfortunately, the code makes heavy use of Windows API calls.

2) We will not ship the Macintosh version of Summoner with EAX or OpenAL
support. It's really a matter of timing. It might be cool to do, but
without hardware, we are close enough to release that adding new technology
like this is potentially risky.

The lack of EAX support is a little disappointing, but the sting is lessened because it also means Summoner is getting very close to release. And since Mark doesn't rule out the possibility, Soundblaster Live! owners might expect an EAX-enabled patch down the road. Stay tuned for more info on Mac Summoner from IMG very soon as this much-praised RPG nears completion.

Summoner Site at GraphSim

Official Summoner Web Site

GraphSim

Volition

Summoner

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