December 19th

Call for help: Ravi Chopra wrote saying he can't get his Game Wizard 12 MB voodoo 2 to work at 800x600 with his 20" monitor:

"I just got the Game Wizard 12MB and it appears to be working fine with Unreal up to 640X480 resolution. When I turn it up to 800X600, I get a very distorted (fish-eye view) screen. I have a 20" monitor that supports resolutions up to 1152X870, but does not specifically support 800X600 (the closest is 832X624). Is there any way around this problem? Thanks in advance for any help you can provide." -Ravi Chopra

Ravi has a G3 300MHz with a RasterOps 20/20 20" monitor (it's a few years old). It does need an adapter to get multiple resolutions, and he uses a Griffin Technologies MAC/PC 10D adapter which allows on-the-fly resolution swapping (unlike the original RasterOps adapter which required a restart and dip-switch setting for resolution swapping). The original RasterOps adapter did not allow 800X600 resolution either (just 640X480, 832X624, 1024X768, and 1152X870). The Griffin adapter for some reason does not support 1024X768.
He said he tried settings for other monitor types on the Griffin adapter and could not get it to work. I advised him to open his monitor control panel.and select show all resolutions thinking the 800x600 one would appear but it did not.
If you know a workaround to his problem and what to make him really happy for X-mas , let me know .;-)

Daniel Thomson sent word that he was able to use QuakeWorld RAVE with the generic voodoo 2 drivers: (I previously thought it wouldn't )

>"I've managed to get quake RAVE 1.09 and Quakeworld RAVE to work with my KTX 12Mb Voodoo2. All I did was enable the software Quickdraw 3D Rave extension, Quickdraw 3D, and the 3dfx Rave and 3dfxGlideLib2.x that came with the generic v2 driver installer. I also had to give RAVE quake 40Mb Ram. The only problem i've found is that r_fullbright seems to be permanantly stuck on 1 (i.e there are no shadows). I cant change this in the options because in rave quake it wont change to 2D so i cant tick the shadows box. Possibly if i could get someone that runs RAVE quake on a RAGE PRO or to check the box then send me their preferences file it could work with shadows".-Daniel Thomson

[See my Generic Voodoo 2 Drivers Feedback page for other game tips -Mike]

A MacUnreal server has been set up at 209.3.235.226.

The complete schedule for the National Macintosh Gaming Championship at MACWORLD Expo San Francisco has been posted at the official web site: http://www.io.com/~salvius/nmgc1999.html Slots are filling fast, but you still have time to register to play inyour favorite games (there are 21 games represented at the Championship)!- Vinny Salzillo, President Double Exposure, Inc.

Michael Lohmann decyber Unreal site put up a message board where Unreal fans can wish each other their best wishes for the holidays:

"Today we open our deCyber Xmas Greetings site and let Unreal fans wish everyone a merry christmas. We welcome everyone to say hi to Xlr8yourmac.com, Unreal Kingdom or who ever it may be. It's the only chance this year to send greetings out before xmas and they will all be posted as they are received. Tell us a Xmas joke, say what you want for xmas or let a nali know you love the peaceful world he live in...http://decyber.solgames.com/unreal/unreal.htm
Michael Lohmann
deCyber Unreal

Problem with Future cop with the Game Wizard Voodoo2:

Frank, I installed the Game Wizard 12MB card, and installed Future Cop. I get a warning when I tried to open Future Cop saying I need OTInetClientlib..... I don't know ware to get this library. Shouldn't of come with Future Cop? I also installed a USB PCI card and got a Thrustmaster digital game pad to try, but so far I haven't gotten it recognized in the game preference window. It did come with it's own Game sprockets extension. Any Ideas? -Dan Kuraisa If you know the answer to this, let me know.

[I ran futurecop with a GW 8MB fine in an Apple G3.-Mike]

Some insight from R. *glow* on what benefit a female, male or Skarrj warrior skins provide in Unreal multiplayer games:

• the troopers start with more health (130) so they are in affect "stronger". they can also jump higher, this is definately true.
• the males and females have the same number of health points (100) so they are equally strong, and jump the same heights, but the females are smaller than the males so they fit through a few small spots where the guys dont.

About Speed:

I'm not sure about speed. but it seems that the walk speed could easly be set to any value... and yes 100 health is 100 health, but it wouldn't be hard to make each character react to damage differently. To be really sure that males and females moves at the same speed he suggests to make a map (virtual field/track.) and do a race of some sort to see which model (male/female) is fastest... imagine an endurance RACE total conversion with no weapons..;-) I like That .-Frank

Cool xmas present idea for the real gamer in you: The Intensor is an ergonomically designed video game seat/chair with a patented, built-in audio system that creates an immersive sound field and tactile sensation for the user. It is designed for compatibility with any game and any game platform (console, PC, etc.). The product also can be used with other home consumer electronics such as TV, VCR, CD, DVD, DSS, or any product with mono or stereo audio output. The base product features a folding design with an internal locking hinge and integrated carrying handle for portability. A fully featured chair base accessory enables the product to be used in desktop PC (and MAc I presume-Frank) applications. Take a look at the reviews at http://www.ign64.com/jsmid/hardware/14.html

December 18th

UNREAL II!!

GamesMania reports that Unreal II is underway ! Epic MegaGames has selected Legend Entertainment to develop Unreal II and Unreal Tournament for PC. (Legend is currently developing the PC game Wheel of Time, which utilizes the Unreal engine) The agreement gives GT exclusive global publishing rights to two new Unreal titles from Epic MegaGames. GT Interactive will publish Unreal II, the sequel to Unreal; and Unreal Tournament, a completely new entry in the category. GT also obtains an option to utilize the specially designed Unreal II engine to create additional software titles.

Legend is also apparently working with Epic on the development of the official Unreal Level Pak, which includes more than 10 new previously unreleased Unreal levels. Unreal Tournament and the Unreal Level Pak released is planned for the Spring of 1999.

If you are not yet familiar with Unreal Tournament , it features " training, novice", "normal, hardcore" and "turbo modes" for players of various skill levels. Among improvements, are several new weapons , including the 'Redeemer'--a weapon so lethal you can actually control the projectile through the eyes of it's built-in camera. (WOW!!) An advance user interface will make it simple to play Unreal Tournament, easy to get online and easy to adjust the game to their specific preferences.

Interestingly, as mentionned in that article, the Unreal Level Pak will also include "new enemies and never-seen-before weapons"

"We are excited to be working with Epic and GT on Unreal II and the Unreal Level Pack," said Michael Verdu, Chairman of Legend Entertainment. "We have a talented creative and technical team applied to these franchise products. For Unreal II, we'll be combining new technology, innovative game design, and Legend's strong art production capabilities to create a cutting edge action game. Unreal fans won't be disappointed by the results; this game is going to ROCK."
Read it all at http://www.gamesmania.com/english/news/98/dec/1217a.htm. Needless to say..but again 1999 will be an Unreal year !

If you want to see some exclusive preview of what Unreal Tournament will loks like, point your browser to : http://www.gamesmania.com/english/sneak/new/ut/screens.htm

Decyber Unreal has an exclusive interview with Tim Sweeney of Epic Megames about the new Unreal 2.20 patch . There is a mention about the coming new Duke Nukem that is going to use the Unreal engine...:-)

Call for awesome Unreal gameplay multiplayer screenshots

I was reading the news the other day and I found this cool message :

"Hi all, ... had to share this.....On Radikus, Marv jumped out through the "hidden" wall at the same time as I jumped off one of the catwalks at the top above the razorjack. As we were both in mid-air, he turned and, with one shot, took off my head.WOW!
Any other improbable shots anyone knows?!:-))"

So I was thinking if you would be interested in sending the links to your best screenshots. The criteria is simply originality :-) (tip:bind the screenshot key to a button of your 4 buttons kensington mouse for taking those Kodak moments..) .

Some cool new features in Unreal 2.20 : There appear to be new ini settings for individual bots:

BotAccuracy[0]=
CombatStyle[0]=
Alertness[0]=
Camping[0]=
FavoriteWeapon[0]=

This looks very interesting ...Notice the "camping" setting ...;-)

3Dfx Interactive comments on future Mac support
MacGamingStaff had an exclusive interview yesterday with 3DFX about the faith of future 3DFX Voodoo 3 Mac support Check it out!

Cool Unreal Shadows... Tim Rhodes wrote about how cool is the new shadow patch with his TNT PC 3D cardL

"Shadows are pretty cool. So far I've only tested with Deck16 bot matches.In a way it makes it easier, because you can react to an approaching bot by seeing thier shadow from around corners or other cover. I may have dreamed this, but in the back hall where the rifle is, an approaching bot cast a shadow across me, which brought line of sight light levels down. It does seems to be at some FPS cost, but I haven't tested enough to tell."

I would love to see this implemented on Mac, and you ? :-)

I have no idea is this bug sometimes happen on Mac but this PC User explained how he fixed the "can not find map index.unr error.

" Well Thursday night I dicided to sit down and really figure this one out for myself, and here is the fix I came up with. Below is the procedure to allow Multiplayer if you currently are unable to from the Go to where you have unreal installed on your hard drive and then into the system folder within the unreal folder. Open up unreal.ini and go down to [Core.System] section. Scroll down a litttle more till you reach the Paths[1]=..\Maps\*.unr. Here you are going to replace the two .. with D: or whatever drive letter your CD is. Save file and you will then have access to the Multiplayer again."

Westlake Interactive comments on the ciming Mac Unreal 2.20 patch:

"Unreal version 220 has been released on the PC, and we're beginning to lookat updating the Mac code. We don't have any estimate when a new Mac version will be out. Right now we're still waiting to see if version 221 comes out very soon (which it is expected to), since there are several known problems with the 220 update. "The code changes from 219 to 220 are not as complex as from 209 to 219, but still will take a good bit of work. With the holidays and MacWorld [Expo] occurring in the next couple weeks it may be hard to get a new version out as quickly as we'd like (possibly not until we get back from MacWorld [Expo])."

Starcraft might be already shipping at Beyond.com! Ryan T. Grimes sent word he got the following email from Beyond.com saying his Mac Starcraft order had been processed and that he should get the game before X-Mas. He first got this emailm two days ago:

"We wanted you to know that your order for, "Starcraft", is now scheduled to ship within 14 days. We are doing everything we can to expedite your order, and we will notify you by email immediately when it ships. We will not bill your credit card until we ship your product."
And this yesterday:
Dear Ryan Grimes,
Thanks for shopping at Beyond.com.
Your order xxxx has been successfully processed, and you
will be receiving your product shortly.
To expedite delivery of your order during the holiday rush, we've upgraded your shipping method -- no charge to you -- from UPS Ground to Federal Express 2-Day Air."

It looks like this is the real deal !!!

December 17th

The Unreal X-Mas Map is here!!!!! Michael Lohmann sent word that the official deCyber Xmas map 1998 is out!!!. Get it at: http://decyber.solgames.com/unreal/decyberxmas.htm

If you like the maps, please mail the creators and wish them a merry xmas . That is the only salary they get, so make them know you appreciate their work !

THE TWO BEST BUILDERS ON THE NET:

Mark Austin
mark.austin@btinternet.com

Simon 'EZkeel'
EZkeel@aol.com

I received an email today indicating that StarCraft release date was 12/15/98. Here's the link that came with it: http://www.cddiscountworld.com/cgi-bin/cdworld/viewprod.cgi?471+5060

This seems to contradict other reports from Cendant Software: "IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 15, 1998 -- Blizzard Entertainment announced today that the Macintosh version of StarCraft will not be available before the end of the year. Although the single and multiplayer components are fully balanced and complete, Blizzard continues to work on the conversion of the campaign editor. Blizzard remains dedicated to the Macintosh community and is truly disappointed that the product's release date has been pushed into January> 1999. The Macintosh StarCraft team will continue to work diligently through the holidays and is committed to finalizing the game as quickly as possible."

Anybody know if this is bogus? Also, will the CD be hybrid PC/Mac? Thanks!

The UFO Quiz for this week is : Question: Which organization said : "Unreal is all too real !"? I will select 1 winner at random among the right answers I receive . This person will get a free copy of the excellent Unreal File Organizer from Tim Brown. You have until next Monday to send me your answer.

If you know the address of an Hotline server that specializes in Unreal maps and mods, let us know .

Contrary to what has been mentionned by a reader yesterday on the main page, Dark Vengeance only supports RAVE and not 3DFX. It will work though with any 3DFX Voodoo 1 or 2 cards with the Rave drivers that come with the game.

There is a new Unreal CTF type game coming called Capture the base or CTB. It uses a unique scoreboard and feature voice messages announcing from your speakers what is going on during the game. Take a look at http://www.unreality.dk/ctb/shots/scoreboard.jpg. Verrry neat!

Westlake Interactive have some infos on Mac Klingon Guard of Honor (uses Unreal Engine)

"Klingon Honor Guard has gone gold! The final CD's have been sent to duplication by MacSoft, so if manufacturing goes asplanned the game will be on sale at MacWorld in San Francisco (Jan 5). It should be in stores in early January or so.Klingon Honor Guard allows you to fight your way through the heart of the Klingon Empire, with over 20 levels and 10 weapons, against some of your favorite Star Trek enemies . For more information on Klingon Honor Guard, check the Microprose and MacSoft web sites."-Westlake Interactive

Ambrosia Software officially releases Slithereens, a unique arcade shareware game. For screenshots, info, and downloading, you can visit the official Slithereens web site at Ambrosia Software.

December 16th

First sorry if the news were late yesterday. I had meetings all day...my `posterieur` still hurts..;-)

This page describes what went wrong and jeopardized Adam Hinkley`s Hotline File transfer utility software development.: A brutal murder, encrypted secret source codes, a legal battle over intellectual rights and a 1M$ pending deal with Apple. [really?]: http://www.it.fairfax.com.au/981215/industry/it1.html

Michael Lohmann of decyber Unreal sent words on the new X-mas Unreal maps :

Our new Christmas Map deCyberXmas has really gotten you up on your modem. I'll upload the Xmas map in 1-2 days but you'll get it before because you are one the mailing list. hehe...lucky again...Unreal - http://decyber.solgames.com

He also sent us 7 new single player maps:

• Trapship
• Stranded
• Hasard
• Expert
• Cherokee
• Research Facility
• Cowday

Among these Stranded caught my attention:

• A chance to play with a backhoe!
• Fully rendered Big Rig(tm) with trailer.
• Search some mobile homes and watch TV.
• No monsters! But the neighbors are demented and armed...
• Big keys to open the gates! (remember those?)
• A quasi-realistic setting to search and destroy.
• New textures and a govt 1911 45 ACP pistol to kill with.

Unfortunately it does take a healthy machine to run it smoothly. It takes place in a mountainous area and you play the role of a truck driver.!! Your rig has broken down and now you've got to get help - or get the hell out of there!

A reader reported having problems with several maps linked on our map of the week page. I am now checking this with Michael and will let you know what we found. The message he got when unzipping the files with stuffit expander 4 wassaying the zip files were garbled.

Unreal patch 2.21 rumored to be released this week according to Planetunreal.com. It will apparently corrects all remaining bugs in Unreal and especially problems with Sound, AI, Installing, and Remote Administration. The Mac version should follow soon after.

The Skin place has some new cool Santa skins for the holiday season . Check it out at : http://www.unreality.dk/skinplace/

Duke Nukem Playstation: Time to Kill rated higher than Tomb Raider 3 !

Over at Gamespot UK, TTK scores an 87%, while TR3 settles for an 80% score.

The review for TR3 references TTK is several places, pointing to TTK's superiority, stating: "...there are in fact a few elements introduced in the very similar 3D adventure Duke Nukem: Time to Kill that could have helped Tomb Raider III."

The TR3 review also says, "For those who are looking to shoot or carve through tons of foes in a 3D environment, there are games like GT Interactive's Duke Nukem: Time to Kill...but the Tomb Raider line remains more about puzzles than combat." I can`t wait to see this on Mac!

I invite you to take a look at GT interactive Online store : They have several Unreal items on sale like an Unreal hat, posters, mousepad coffee cup, music CD, T-shirts etc. A great holiday gift idea ! (note that you also get a free Duke Nuke`m mouse pad with every order over 20$. (a 10$ value). check it out at http://www.gtstore.com/index.asp?storefrontID=1 (menu at the top)

December 15th

Another Marathon duality map version floating around: Will Craig, the winner of our UFO giveaway contest wrote he found another slight conversion of Marathon Infinity's Duality netmap. " I've seen this one floating around Hotline. It's called, I'm pretty sure, Celer Manus Di. It's basicallly a beefed up duality. It matches all the architecture, but has an added basement and other things. Celer Manus Di was also the name of a Marathon Infinity map, I'mpretty sure. I've also found unreal conversions of two of the Quake1 DM maps. The Bad Place and The Dark Zone. If you want them, (and if I can still find them) I can send them to you. These two maps have also been floating around varius Hotline sites. (Pimpshack Quake and Blasco's Unreal server, which seems to be down now, are the two hotline sites I check for unreal maps). If you know the link to these maps let me know!

From what I hear, PC gamers have mixed feelings about the new Unreal 2.20 patch. A lot of bugs have been reported and many servers are reverting back to 2.19. Among many bad comments, the poor weapon sound quality is one that is often mentionned. The 8ball's "lost lock" sound (when thetargeted player is out of range or view) is reminiscent of the sounds that those old 197x's/198x's Atari game consoles...

Make sure you check out our Unreal Maps of the week!. Download them and then come back to the Maps page and vote for your favorite.

Dark Vengeance Bug fix wish list. Sebastian Flory posted a series of bugs he'd like to be corrected in a future version of Dark Vengeance :

'My bug-fix wish list for dv 1.1:

- collision detection
- configuration with rage pro & 3Dfx "black screen" fix
- improve of internet play
- in-game internet games locator (seem not very hard to me... : for ex.: user launch an internet game, it references itself to some server @ reality bytes.. others user look for internet game, query reality bytes server.. return an ip list, ping each server, get info, display a list.. join...)
- GAMMA correction on 3Dfx card (not that bad.. but.. really dark)
- clear buffer when releasing key (to disable the "still attacking but not pressing anything" "bug")

Macintosh Gaming event! Over $25,000 in prizes! Thousands of spectators and hundreds of participants will attendMACWORLD San Francisco in January, 1999 to be a part of the National Macintosh Gaming Championship and Exhibition!See all of the latest Mac products from all of your favorite Mac publishers, and enter the championship, if you dare...running on Game Wizard Voodoo2 souped-up 300mhz G3 Macs and BSG Laboratories Intensor Sensory Gaming System 108 decibel chairs, the hottest games will be played in bone-crunching head-to-head format while the audience watches. Champions will walk away with HUNDREDS of dollars worth of new games and hardware. PLUS, ANY participant who wins three or more single-player tournaments (team tournaments excluded) at the 1999 National Macintosh Gaming Championship in San Francisco will win a $5,000 GIANT GRAND PRIZE PACKAGE, consisting of: A High-End Power Macintosh G3 Computer with a 17" Monitor, a Micro Conversions 12MB Game Wizard Voodoo2 Card, a BSG Laboratories Intensor Sensory Gaming System WITH Subwoofer, and an all-expenses paid trip (some restrictions apply) to MACWORLD Boston to compete in the second half of the National Championship, including airfare, hotel and admission to exhibits!

There is NO fee for entry into the championship, and participants can play in as many tournaments as they'd like, BUT all participants MUST be registered attendees of MACWORLD San Francisco. While you visit us, make sure you spend time talking to the designers and
programmers of your favorite Mac games, and be sure to visit the software store, where you can purchase all of the hottest Mac titles after seeing
them demonstrated. If you call yourself a Mac gamer, DON'T MISS THIS EVENT!

For more details and to register, visit the official web site: http://www.io.com/~salvius/nmgc1999.html

There is a petition to bring Half-Life on the Mac Platform. The address of the petition is: http://www.getbrutal.com/half-life/. For your information, Half-life is apparently using Quake II engine. [And is an awesome game - read about it at Gamecenter.com-Mike]

Need help on map making? The cool independent Unreal editing site is UnrealEd.net.

December 14th

HO HO HO! X-Mas is coming rapidly and as Michael Lohmann promissed , decyber Unreal will have some x-mas maps for you ! Neat huh!

Click on these links to get an exclusive preview of those maps: Xmas2, Xmas3 and Xmas . YOU'LL LOVE IT :-) 3 new singleplayer maps and some DM maps will be available later this week. Stay tuned.

A new Hotline client is available at http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Dunes/8043/products.html Check it out, it looks very cool.

UnrealED/VPC Fix: Michael Barbieri wrote saying he has a trick the allows to use Unreal ED with VPC:

"I was able to use the Unreal editor under VPC. I was getting an error about a missing file and I had one of my friends that had a pc send it to me. It was a long time ago and I have not used it since, but I think this was the file I had to put in my "system" directory inside the "windows" directory to get it to work. Maybe it will work for you Michael
You can get this file here"

Will Craig got the right answer for our UFO giveaway. I received 8 good answers and picked up a name at random. His answer was:

"I found the two pirate logos. They are in an unbordered screenshot in the "3dfx vs Rave Card" section. It's a screenshot of the flyby castle and the two red flags are instead covered with pirate crossbones. The URL of the page is: http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/games/UNREAL/3Dcardappearance.html. The URL of the picture is: http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/games/UNREAL/Screenshots/Unreal-5.JPG¨

Will, contact me to get your UFO copy.

I will post later today the new maps in competition for this week (for the Maps of the Week Page). Come back later during the day to download them

Unreal 2.20 beta is out for PC Be sure to look at http://unreal.epicgames.com for their updates. Here are some users first impression on this new patch :

"My mind may be fooling me, tricking me into believing the graphics code has been improved. But the startup-sequence (with the Castle) sorta seems much sharper and even a bit quicker. I'm getting an average of 21fps now, used to only get maybe 15. (Then again, all the junk I used to have has been removed, stuff like ICQ and stuff.) I don't know... maybe you and I are going crazy! Jon
.. One of the first things I noticed after applying the 220 patch, I'm sure the graphics have improved, like they patched textures or something - DM-Loxi looks a lot better."

Note also that this patch is supposed to improve (again) the multiplayer play of Unreal. I heard that movement prediction was added to the game which makes Unreal a lot smoother in multiplayer mode (a similar technique was used in Quakeworld).

The new codebook is available at http://www.codebook.pp.se. This database contains a lot of tips, tricks and reveals some easter eggs in your favorite mac games.

Dark Vengeance follow-up: (Mac Gamers have mixed feelings about this game)

"..Must admit, at first I wasn't overly impressed - the camera seemed too dodgy by comparison to Tomb Raider and Kite herself is nowhere near as nimble footed and agile as Lara (though maybe that's just my control...But after a little while I really started to get into it and found once I stopped expecting TR and treated it as a game in its own right it was very enjoyable. The biggest flaws remain (for me) :- the surface detection. I've been walking on thin air and had the game refuse to let me pass when there's nothing in the way. I've also got stuck in the walls (particularly when there's a window ledge or other outcropping).- and the camera. While I got used to it for most of the game and don't have a problem with it for the majority of the demo, it does appear to do some bad things at important times. Though that's probably just a matter of more familiarity...Since both of these issues seem to be a common thread in the messages on the group I'm obviously not going nuts.Having said all that, I probably _will_ buy the game. But given my copy of TR2 will be here soon, and Myth 2 after that, it'll probably have to wait 'till well after XMas.- Martin Cox"

some feedback on Dark Vengeance multiplayer :

"Just to let you know how is going my dark vengeance experience... I convinced an adsl friend o mine to download the demo (pc) as well...He installed the game, and then, we get into a FANTASTIC deathmatch game....Whether i was the host or he was.. the game was enough smooth to be really fun (some wrapping of the oppenent, but not very often..) and i really wouldn't have guess that it will be as fun as it is before playing it...But, same problem/suggestions as for single player play... (especially the camera/collision stuffs)...I will certainly try with more player tonight (all except one on modem, the other on ADSL)...So, i'm sure there is some optimisation to be made... but it's already VERY fun, especially with a gamepad...Btw, special effects are really AMAZING (the flame that follow me... green lightning sword..)-Seb"

Luke Malish comments on Klingon Guard of Honor :

"First of all, I personally don't have much interest in KHG, but I can tell you that what I consider the three best game review sites on the net gave it pretty good marks. OGR gave it a 7.5 out of 10. Gamecenter rated it a 4 out of 5. And Gamespot gave it a 6.4 out of 10 (ok, not that great). [Maximum PC rated it a 2 out of 10-Mike] Still, this game isn't horrible. I found while reading the reviews such cool things as enemies actually arming there knives if you had your knife armed instead of shooting at you. It sounds ok, I guess. This just proves it didn't do horrible though."

December 13th

You have until tomorrow to cast your vote for the Map of the week contest. I will put the latest map "the Pit" in competition against my 2 favorites maps so far.

I will announce the winner of our UFO giveaway contest tomorrow. So far , only 1 person got the right answer. If you did not noticed , the question for this week was:

ATI 128 PC chipset first feedback posted ( a 3DFX killer ? )

I have been following the latest first tests of this chipset from ATI. So far no Mac version of the card is apparently available for testing, but respectable PC hardware evaluation sites like Tom's Hardware (Tom Pabst) and Anandtech got a first glimpse at the PC version of the card. To my surprise, they had different opinions on this product. I read both articles and tried to hightlight their differences of opinions.

On the heat issue : (completely different opinions)

Tom: He noted 91C temperatures in Quake 2 and tested it with a thermal probe to accurately report actual temperatures. He noted that after exiting the game it quickly reduced to 63C, much cooler.

Tom seems to be concerned whether this will affect other components nearby. Since the ATI 128 will be a PCI solution on Mac and not located on the board, that is good news I guess. I don't know at this point if this can cook the PCI cards beside. (Note: the ATI 128 tested did not have any heatsink at all which makes matters worse - the production version might have one.)

Check here for other problems he noted.

Anand: He noted that the chip should not be as hot as other new chips like the TNT, due to the .25 micron core technology.

They differed also in comments on Socket 7 [Pentium and AMD/Cyrix motherboards - Pentium II's use a slot 1 cartridge design-Mike]

The big surprise they noted was that the Rage128 does not seem to slow down for 32-Bit color mode vs 16-Bit mode. Framerates showed very little drop at twice the color depth (unlike all other chips out there). Very promising.

The tests showed the Rage128 framerates slightly higher in Quake II than the Banshee, but slower than a Voodoo2 or SLI (dual Voodoo2's). At present, It is not possible to use SLI with the Microconversions Game wizard [Micro Conversions told me that they are working on SLI and a control panel for the Game Wizard, as reported in yesterday's news at www.xlr8yourmac.com) . Provided it was, it would still cost an hefty 400$ without 2D acceleration. We will post the results obtained with the ATI 128 and Villagetronic Banshee when they become available. One particular point will be to see which one perform better in middle range systems since Tom indicated the ATI 128 was using more CPU power than the nVidia TNT or the 3DFX Banshee for example. It will have to be determined how RAVE will perform with the ATI compared to the 3DFX based cards.

Other factors remaining to be addressed are the rendering appearance of the ATI 128 vs 3DFX chipsets and also its price vs performance. Among other factors to be determined are the Mpeg Video playback with DVD (useful since the CPU can do other things when playing DVD). At this point it is difficult to predict the outcomes but one main advantage in favor of the ATI will be its ability to run 3D games in 32 bits (millions of colors) in higher resolutions, something the newly announced Voodoo 3 won't allow (Thousands of colors only). 3DFX indicated they prefered to favor performance over 32 bit rendering at least in the first version of the Voodoo 3 ( Banshee II). I will try to dig more info on the differences and let you know what I found . Make sure to read the 3DFX Voodoo3 Q&A given by Steve Shick of 3DFX linked on the main page yesterday [use the yesterday's news link there].

A reader reports a successful use of Unreal with Ramdoubler (useful if you lack Hard Disk space and real RAM)

'Contrary to earlier posts, I have had good luck using RAM Doubler with Unreal on my Performa 6400/200 with 72 megs of ram, System 8.1. I am using version 8.01 of RAM Doubler. I have it set to 108 megs instead of doubled. It would occasionally crash, even with 97 megs allocated to it, especially when loading large levels such as Xerania, until I stumbled on the solution. The trick is to set the suggested size and the minimum size to the same value. for a couple of days I have had them both set to 91 megs and have never crashed, even with under 10 megs of free disk space. This is great because I don't have to tie up 72 megs of disk space as one would with virtual memory. - Marty Fender'

Feedback from two respectable ;-) Mac gamers on Klingon Guard of Honor Unreal TC: You probably know now that the PC version was poorly rated (2/10). the main reasons were the lack of polish and so-so textures. Here are 2 comments from Mac users :

" I've heard of a bunch of reviews of this game, and they all seem to say about the same thing... Too bad, it could have been a neat game, when I heard about it I was looking forward to being a Klingon. But even in screenshots the graphics don't look very good, and I really think they rushed the game to get it out the door. Just adds to a long list of sucky Star Trek games."..- Dohnut

"Yah, this one definitely fall into the "shovelware" category, where someone tried to cram as much Trek into a game in a very short period of time as they could. I downloaded those KHG "demo" files and played them with Unreal, and let's just say I wasn't thrilled... The new special effects were great, but the weapons were balky and hard to aim (they all seemed to give off a blinding flash right in your face as they fired) and the animation of the enemy characters was extremely poor compared to Unreal chars. The level design was big, square, and empty, and the textures were of wildly varying quality.

"Things I did like: having enemies "beam down" behind and in front of you was cool. Splattering blood was quite cool. I liked the zero-gravity rooms as well, and the magnetic boots. But overall it just lacked the polish and perfection that Unreal has--and only aquired after almost three years of development. "-Michael Eilers

I got a lot of replies from readers mentioning they were not able to run Dark Vengeance with their Voodoo 2 from MC as well as with other 3dFX card RAVE engines. So far I have no solution for you but maybe it worts it to check if the same problem arises with the generic "Rogue" voodoo 2 RAVE drivers.

[Note: as mentioned in Today's xlr8yourmac.com news the fix is reported to be to use the supplied 3dfx rave extension and not the Game Wizard Rave extension (but keep the Game Wizard glidelib extension!). A MacPicasso 540/3D Overdrive owner says the supplied 3DFx Rave extension also worked as well - but again you need to use the 3DO Glidelib extension. -Mike ]

MC Game wizard:

I've got the low memory problem message on my 7600 with 8.5.1 g3 220mhz 160megs of ram and mc 12meg voodoo 2. The rave driver doesn't work. -Shawn Freebairn [Again - today's xlr8yourmac.com news reports using the game's supplied 3Dfx Rave extension fixes this-Mike]

MacPicasso MP540 with 3D Overdrive.

Dark Vengeance doesn't seem to work with the MacPicasso MP540 with 3D Overdrive. It gives an error saying that the RAVE drivers lacks some feature to work correctly with DV. I was wondering if other people experience this problem and if there is a way around it. Thanks.-Rick [today's xlr8yourmac.com news reports using the game's supplied 3Dfx Rave extension fixes this-Mike]

MacMagic

I couldn't get the demo to work with my Macmagic card. I tried disabling the Village Rave and going with the 3dfx extension included with the demo but still no luck. Any ideas?

I couldn't check it yet but I suspect the same problem is present with ALL 3DFX based cards. If someone can confirm it is the case also with their Voodoo1 from Techworks, let me know.

Update: Frank just sent another reader Tip for Voodoo 1 card owners with Dark Vengence:

" I checked personally if Dark Vengeance works with the 3DFx voodoo1. It does but you need to do the following :

Open the Custom.ini file with simpletext and add the following like without the quotes : "HARDWARE=SOFT8"

then once you get the menu, open the option section , select the rendering engine option, press enter and then press the "up arrow key". Quickdraw hardware acceleration should be available. You are all set after. "

Other Site Games/Unreal Info:

• VOrb Review
• Game Wizard Preview pages - framerate comparisons, screenshots and more.
• Site Game Related Articles Index