Click to enlarge

Back in late August Guild Software announced they would be delaying the major 3.0 release of the Vendetta test to give them time for a last round of testing/bug fixing. True to their word, the Vendetta Test 3.0 was released yesterday, adding major features to this online space shooter.

While Guild Software hopes to eventually make the cross-platform application into a full massively multiplayer online space strategy game, for now they have a free beta test available for anyone running Mac OS X (as well as Windows or Linux). Milestone 3 of the test brings many features on top of the previous deathmatch and capture the flag gameplay modes. The universe of Vendetta is now made up of nine sectors, with players spawning as one of three nation colors. A basic trading system is now in place as well, adding a new dimension to the gameplay.

Here's an excerpt from the news page:

The game now features complete persistency. Red, Blue, and Gold "Nation" characters are spawned at their respective home stations, at the corners of a new 9-sector Universe. Many of the sectors contain space stations, with which you may dock, repair your vessel, purchase (or sell) ship addons, and trade in commodities. Each station has a commodity (currently called "widgets") in which it specializes, making long-range trade between stations a lucrative venture. Destroying enemy Robots or rival Nation pilots will also convert their bounties into credits for your use. Friendly Fire damage is not possible between members of the same Nation, giving gameplay a more team-oriented spin. Chat messages are now broadcast across all sectors. A very basic, temporary navigational aid is now present on the HUD, to help you find your way through the universe.

Graphically, some enhancements have been made for owners of recent videocards (Geforce4, Radeon 8500, Matrox Parhelia, etc). The game should still be playable for users on low-end systems, but some sectors may be slower than others. Some users of older videocards (TNT1, G3s with Rage128s) may wish to disable Environment Mapping (Video Settings menu) to increase performance in some sectors.

Check out the Vendetta site for more on what is not yet in the game like improved sound, skyboxes, and many tweaks yet to come in the gameplay. If you haven't yet created a Vendetta account, do so on their site to also get access to the game's messageboards where many discussions about gameplay in version 3 are already underway.

Guild Software

Vendetta Online

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