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STARCRAFT FOR MACINTOSH NEARS COMPLETION (Posted: 2:29 pm Pacific Time, 5 minutes after it was received)
Blizzard Confirms Plans for Starcraft: Brood War Expansion Set
IRVINE, August 26, 1998 -- Blizzard Entertainment announced today that StarCraft for the Power Macintosh is entering the final stages of production and is expected to hit stores by the holidays. StarCraft will be Blizzard's first product to take advantage of the features of Apple's new iMac consumer computer which shipped earlier this month.

Blizzard also confirmed plans for a StarCraft expansion set entitled Brood War that will be ready early next year. StarCraft: Brood War features include an extended story line, six new units (two for each race), three new tile sets and 24 new missions.

As commander of the Terrans, Protoss or Zerg species, StarCraft players embark on a collision course for galactic domination. While battling in space, on planetary surfaces and within installations, players face 30 do-or-die missions. With each mission, more of the epic story of the universe unfolds.

With StarCraft for the Macintosh, we continue our tradition of offering highly addictive and exciting real-time games, while creating new worlds, experiences and technologies, said Michael Morhaime, president and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment. Additionally, we are continuing to expand our focus on Internet gaming by providing access to Battle.net, multiplayer campaigns, ally and team-play options and a worldwide ranking system.

iMac is a great games machine, with outstanding screen fidelity, full sound, a Pentium-toasting chip and access to USB add-ons, said Clent Richardson, senior director of worldwide developer relations at Apple Computer Inc. StarCraft is exciting and innovative and we're sure that the millions of Mac games enthusiasts out there will be thrilled to see it on Macintosh.

Key features in StarCraft for the Macintosh include:

• Three intergalactic species boasting unique units, technologies, attributes and abilities.
• Evolving storyline that unfolds as players experience the game from each of the three species' perspective.
• 30 different missions in space, on planetary surfaces and within installations.
• Real-time light sourcing, true line of sight and advanced translucency engine combine for visual and tactical realism.
• Multiplayer option that supports as many as eight players via networks and the Internet.
• Seamless one-click free access on-line gaming via Battle.net. Blizzard charges no hourly or monthly fees for game play. Internet access is required to play over Battle.net.
• Cross platform support that enables competition between Macintosh and PC players.
• Unique player IDs and worldwide rankings for tournaments and challenge ladders on Battle.net.
• Full-featured campaign editor that allow players to create their own scenarios and maps complete with trigger points, custom speech, sound, text and hero characters.

StarCraft for the Macintosh will be available in CD-ROM format at most computer and software retail chains worldwide. The game is also available directly from Blizzard at (800) 953-SNOW and www.blizzard.com.

System Requirements
System requirements for the Macintosh versions of StarCraft and Brood War are: Power Mac or compatible, 16MB RAM with Virtual Memory (32 MB recommended), System 7.6 or higher256-color, 640 x 480 display or better; and double-speed CD-ROM (Quad-speed for cinematics).

Speed Demon 2 Coming Along
According to the folks over at the Racing Mac, who have been in touch with Frank Kane of Cerberus Development to find out about the progress of their sequel to their hit game Speed Demon, Speed Demon 2. The game will feature full 3D graphics, which will allow for more realistic physics. Frank had this to say to the Racing Mac:

"As of now, all of the 3D cars are modeled and textured, 3Dfx hardware support is in place, and the new interface has been implemented. "I still need to do some work on the physics model, but apart from that, it's almost ready for beta. Hopefully things in my day job will get more sane soon, and I can finish it up."

Logicware hints at 7 more titles
In a recent newsgroup post, Logicware's Burger let us know that of the 7 titles they hope to be bring to the Mac that 4 of them are 100% comfirmed while the other 3 are in discussion. Although he hasn't told us anything about the names of the titles, other than the fact that they are all ports of PC games. As soon as Logicware releases the names of these titles, you can read all about it here at the MGA!

MGA's First Contest
In case you didn't notice the large print on the front page, the MGA's is holding a new contest. The MGA's "You Don't Know Jack" Contest, we will give away a copy of Berkley System's You Don't Know Jack Vol. 3, for fun a copy of You Don't Know Jack German Edition, and a Berkley System's Flying Toaster T-Shirt. Come back September first to enter the YDKJ contest at the MGA

Clanlord v38 released
The latest update in the beta-testing of DeltaTao's online RPG has been released. You can download it form Delta Tao's Clanlord webpage.

SCOTT KEVILL RELEASES QUIVER
Perth, Western Australia -- August 23, 1998 -- Scott Kevill today announced the release of Quiver, the most anxiously awaited Quake utility for the Macintosh.

Quiver is a Quake level editor for the Macintosh. Quiver allows you to design your own new worlds for yourself and others to experience.

Main features include:
- Slick user interface

- Professional CAD quality

- Multiple 2D and 3D views in wireframe, solid-shaded, and texture-mapped modes

- Walk through your level as you build it - Multi-level grouping with a powerful hierarchy view to manage complex levels with ease

- Fully integrated and intelligent compiling utilities built-in - Supports multiple sources for textures in several formats - Advanced entity editing with customizable and drop-in support - Drag and drop objects within and between levels - Interactive texture alignment

- Light-sourced preview saves tedious trial and error lighting adjustments

Quiver is US$20 shareware and is available from http:// quiver.telefragged.com/