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The News section is maintained by Jonathan Dreyer. Please send any comments or submissions to him.
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Sorry for yet another little vacation there, but the good news is that it will be that last one for a very very long time, from now on daily updates really means daily updates!

Interplay's Learn to Program Basic
As you may have read off the Tikkabik/MGL news page in the past couple days, Interplay has a new hybrid mac title coming out soon that is designed to teach children and wanna be programmers how to program in basic. As soon of you may remember we covered this title way back on November 28th 1997, you can read our original write-up here. I then remembered the following e-mail that I got from Interplay PR the next week in response to a question I had on the external capabilities of the software:

yes, the freestyle area in the program will allow students complete access BASIC commands and total freedom to write their own program in BASIC. The very cool part of it is that the programs can be saved by the student and e-mailed or copied to floppy to send to friends, etc. And the recipient will not need to have Learn to Program BASIC on their machine. It's very cool.

As you can see, sometimes the MGA and I are on the ball... : )

UPDATE: Unreal Mac
We just sent out Unreal Mac Beta 2 to the testers, we've been fixing lots of bugs and trying to clean everything up. Still a good bit of work to do, but things are coming together.

On another front, we recently licensed the ZSS sound & music library from Zerius Development Inc. ZSS is very slick and will allow Unreal to play the 's3m' and 'it' music from the PC with no conversions. This means you get all the great music from the original Unreal plus the ability to play any music for add-on levels created by third party PC developers with no changes. We're also using ZSS for sound effects, allowing us to do cool things like reverb for echo effects.

New Stuff at the MGA!
Check out the MGA's new web-based forums here!
Check out our new review of Star Control 3 here!
Check out our new review of Diablo here!

Also, my e-mail address has changed, it is now: jddreyer@csi.com

Sorry for the little break in news there, I got busy with other projects and just completely forgot to update the news, Sorry

QuakeWorld 2.21b1 Released
QuakeWorld 2.21 Mac is here! Beta 1 of both the server and client are available for download. The version of the client below now up does work with the mouse, we (Westlake Interactive) accidently posted a debug version for a few hours that didn't. Click here to download the new Mac QuakeWorld Client and/or Click here to donlowad the new Mac QuakeWorld Server.

MacSoft to Bring Total Annihilation to the Mac
MacSoft and Cavedog Entertainment™, creator of the international award-winning Total Annihilation™, today jointly announced that the 3-D real-time strategy game will release on the Macintosh platform in the Fall of 1998 for about $49.99. Released on PC CD-ROM in September 1997, Total Annihilation is one of the most critically acclaimed real-time strategy games ever created, featuring more than 150 run-time 3-D game units, ultra-realistic 3-D terrains, advanced multi-player capabilities and 50 explosive, single-player missions.

"Total Annihilation was exactly what real-time strategy gamers were starving for. We created a groundbreaking game that seamlessly blends a free-form, 3-D world with lightning-fast game play and unparalleled realism," said Ron Gilbert, creative director and co-founder of Cavedog Entertainment. "We're thrilled to be working with MacSoft to bring the immersive Total Annihilation experience to Mac gamers."

"Total Annihilation is a generation ahead of the flat 2-D real-time games," said Peter Tamte, executive director of MacSoft, GT Interactive's Macintosh publishing group. "True 3-D offers innovative new gameplay dynamics and strategies players haven't experienced in any other real-time strategy game."

Total Annihilation feature highlights include:

• More than 150 different real-time rendered vehicles and structures;
• Combat over land, sea and air with units such as spider tanks, battle tanks, submarines, stealth bombers and more;
• Multi-player capabilities include modem, LAN and Internet combat, including unique watch-and-join modes as well as the ability to share resources and information;
• More than 25 missions per side, playable as either the Core or the Arm;
• Advanced enemy AI can challenge even the most experienced player;
• Simple commands allow for customized unit groupings, predetermined attack paths and configurable unit AI;
• Original music score performed by a 95-piece symphony orchestra;
• Scalable battlefield views with screen resolutions at 640 x 480 and higher;
• Customizable game interface options include line of sight, fog of war, units available in multi-player battles, background music and mouse click interface.

It looks like MacSoft 's PR Machines have gotten back from the E3:

MacSoft Sales Up 151 Percent
MINNEAPOLIS, June 3, 1998 - GT Interactive Software Corp.'s Macintosh publishing group, MacSoft, today announced that its Macintosh revenues increased 151 percent during the first quarter of 1998 compared to the first quarter of 1997. MacSoft publishes a variety of consumer-oriented software packages for Macintosh computers.

MacSoft attributed this growth to continuing sales of top-performing games such as Quake, Duke Nukem 3D and Civilization II, as well as the introduction of new products such as Top Gun, Play To Win Casino, and Deadlock. Additionally, MacSoft's home-office products Desktop Labels Pro and MacPublisher also performed well during the first quarter.

According to MacSoft Executive Director Peter Tamte, "our continuing growth proves there are substantial opportunities in the Macintosh consumer software market. The confidence gained from Apple's recent profitability is getting customers back into the stores. Now, with Apple introducing its first new consumer Macintosh in over two years - the iMac - we have yet another reason to be excited about Apple's future."

MacSoft to Release Civilization II Gold Edition
MINNEAPOLIS, June 3, 1998 - MacSoft announces the development of Civilization ™ II Gold Edition, which adds multi-player capabilities and many additional scenarios to Sid Meier's Civilization ® II, one of the best-selling and most highly acclaimed strategy games of all time. Civilization II Gold Edition is scheduled for release this summer.

"Civilization II for Macintosh is one of the best-selling Mac games of all time," said Peter Tamte, executive director of MacSoft. Civilization II has earned numerous awards, including Time magazine's Best Strategy Game of the Year for 1996 and PC Gamer's 1997 Game of the Year.

Sid Meier's Civilization® II and the add-on scenario packs Conflicts in Civilization and Civilization II Fantastic Worlds™ will be included in Civilization II Gold Edition. Other features of the game include:

• Multi-player support for up to seven players via hotseat, modem,LAN or Internet;
• A multitude of new options including timed moves, open/closedgames (players can join games in progress by taking over for an AI opponent), password protection and negotiation screens for human-to-human parleys where players can trade units, advances, money and make or break treaties;
• For faster gameplay, Civilization II Gold Edition will load any scenarios and allow players to pick a civilization to play. This includes user-created scenarios as well as preset game scenarios.

Civilization II Gold Edition allows players to be ruler of their own empires, controlling every decision necessary to build the most powerful civilization on the planet. Players can build societies based on the principles of democracy or rule with an iron fist. They can bring glory and power to their civilization by building incredible "Wonders of the World" or put their people to work to develop the principles of law, science and technology. Players can also negotiate with history's most ingenious leaders and form alliances with them or, on the contrary, command their military units to wage war against them for the purpose of conquest.

As in the original Civilization, the player's ultimate goal is to be the first civilization to colonize space or conquer the world. Civilization II Gold Edition thrusts players into an active role in history's greatest events.

MacSoft to Release Deer Hunter
MINNEAPOLIS, June 3, 1998 - The best-selling PC game in the country is coming to Macintosh this summer when MacSoft publishes WizardWorks' mega-hit Deer Hunter. Outpacing unit sales of best-sellers Myst, Riven, Quake II and Tomb Raider, Deer Hunter for the PC topped the PC Data charts for the first three months of this year. MacSoft's release of Deer Hunter marks the first hunting simulation game brought to Macintosh consumers.

Deer Hunter is an interactive deer hunting challenge that allows players to use a rifle, shotgun or bow as well as deer calls, rattles and binoculars to track and hunt deer in the wild. Locations include Arkansas autumn woodlands, Colorado Alpine forests and Indiana winter land. Live video and animated sequences combined with natural forest sounds result in a realistic hunting game play experience.

"With realistic scenery, including natural forest sounds and true-to-life hunting gear, Deer Hunter is truly the next best thing to actually being in the woods," said Peter Tamte, executive director for MacSoft. "Gamers will feel the thrill of the hunt sitting right at their computer."

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