IMG Archives
Archives  News  Heavy Metal F.A.K.K.2 OS X Beta  


Tuesday, April 10, 2001
 

Click to enlarge
Heavy Metal F.A.K.K.2 OS X Beta
1:21 PM | IMG News | Comment on this story

Good to their word, OmniGroup has posted an OS X update for Heavy Metal F.A.K.K.2 on their web site. This software is considered beta, though they claim it is even faster than its OS 9 counterpart. Other improvements include fixes to the sound system, which cause stuttering in some cases under OS 9. Here's an excerpt from the ReadMe with more:

Improvements from the OS 9 version


In the process of porting the OS 9 version, we fixed some bugs which
are enumerated here.


- The sound system has been updated to fix a number of issues
including incorrect stereo separation, and some stuttering problems.


- You can hide the application when the game menu is up. This will
allow you to check your mail, read a fan site, or whatever and then jump
back into the game quickly. Simply hit cmd-h or cmd-tab. When you want
to resume playing, just click on the application icon in the dock.


- The OS 9 version appears to only run if it is in the root of the
volume on which it is located. The OS X version should run from
anywhere.


- The OS 9 version will select stretched video modes on wide screen
monitors instead of the unstretched version that has a square pixel
aspect ratio. The OS X version prefers unstretched video modes.


- Various performance improvements on average the OS X version seems to be about 10% faster than the OS 9 version (although we certainly haven't tested every location in the game under every machine configuration!)


Known issues with the OS X version

- The OS 9 app will not read the OS X-generated config files. If you copy config files from Library/FAKK2/fakk2 to your OS 9 installation, the OS 9 version will complain about not having enough video memory. This is probably a line ending problem and we should be able to fix it in a future build.

- There are still some areas that could use performance tuning. If you are seeing performance problems, you can lower your video resolution or lower the detail settings. One especially helpful change is to switch to 'vertex lighting' under the advanced video settings panel.

- If you run with vertex lights, several types of effects will draw incorrectly. This includes the blue glow behind menu items, the load status indicator, the sky in several levels, and some sprites of hanging plants (and probably other stuff). This is a bug in the platform-independent portion of FAKK2, so all versions of FAKK2 have this problem.

- There is at least one sound problems which we are looking at (looping monster attack sounds can sometimes continue on after the monster has been killed).

Head over to Macgamefiles now to start the download of this 2.5MB update. Be sure to read through the included ReadMe for installation details and how to report any bugs you find.


A reviewer at the MGF listing reports the update will also work with the demo. In order to get the demo running, start the game, then hit tilde to bring down the command line. Type "map fakkhouse_demo" (without the quotes) and hit return to start playing. Be sure to rate your experiences with the update in the MGF listing as well. Also be sure to post any issues you have in our OS X forum.

Mac OS X Forum
OmniGroup FAKK2 Web Site
Download FAKK2 OS X Beta 2 Update (2.5 MB)
Gathering of Developers
Ritual Entertainment
Heavy Metal F.A.K.K. 2


Other Mac Games News for Tuesday, April 10, 2001

Mac Rune Patch, EAX Info2:58 PM
• Heavy Metal F.A.K.K.2 OS X Beta1:21 PM
Update on Simon 3D, Other e.p.i.c. Titles11:14 AM
Westlake on Deus Ex Soundblaster vs Multiplayer9:58 AM
GameSpy Previews Myst III: Exile9:19 AM
The Feeble Files Coming to the Mac9:06 AM
Baldur's Gate Multiplayer Beta 2 Now in Testing9:04 AM
Fly! II Release Date Confirmed8:41 AM
 
View all of the Mac games news for Tuesday, April 10, 2001 on one page

Mac Games News for Monday, April 9, 2001

SMS+ Updated for OS X1:56 PM
Interview with Warren Spector1:29 PM
IMG Reviews Escape from Monkey Island10:15 AM
Elite Force Expansion Pack Image Gallery10:01 AM
Details on Neverwinter Nights: Concept Art9:52 AM
Soundblaster Arrives, Sleep Issues?9:35 AM
Mac GeForce 3 Backorder, Price Drop9:31 AM
Red Faction Movie Madness9:21 AM
Rune: Halls of Valhalla Characters Revealed9:16 AM
Gathering of Developers at E36:00 AM
New Deus Ex Multiplayer Maps6:00 AM
 
View all of the Mac games news for Monday, April 9, 2001 on one page


Recent Mac Games News

Friday, April 6, 2001
Thursday, April 5, 2001
Wednesday, April 4, 2001
Tuesday, April 3, 2001
Monday, April 2, 2001


Search for other Mac games news stories or browse our Mac Games News Archive.



Archives  News  Heavy Metal F.A.K.K.2 OS X Beta