November 24th, 1999
| [8:30 AM] Unreal Tournament Final Demo W/Rave Support Released by Staff As reported by Mac Gamer's Ledge, the battle for the best multiplayer, first person shooter, blow-up-everything-and-have-a-great-time-doing-it-game heated up yesterday with the Mac release of the full Unreal Tournament (UT) Demo. The new demo adds support for Apple's graphics card of choice, the ATI Rage 128. Also fixed, apparently, was a problem with hosting online games in the original UT demo. The new version supports hosting online tournaments. You can information about the new Unreal Tournament Demo from a number of sites, but our Mac Daily Network partner Mac Gamer's Ledge has collected download links and news about the UT Demo. You can find more information at their web site. The Mac Observer Spin: The most noticeable differences between the software rendered version and the new RAVE version are enhanced lighting effects, most prominent in firing certain weapons and in atmospheric lighting, enhanced smoke effects (wait until you fire the rocket launcher), and improved frame rates. On one machine, a G3/400 with 192MB RAM, frame rates jumped from around 18fps to near 30fps, with all of the advanced graphical effects enabled. This is truly a great time for the Mac gaming community, perhaps the historical high point. Never have such graphically impressive and immersive games existed, and to have two released almost simultaneously (along with Quake 3 Arena) is a delight for gamers everywhere. Traditionally, the Mac community would have to wait weeks or months for comparable releases, but with UT and Q3, that has changed. With other potential mega-hit titles around the corner, such as Star Wars Episode One: Racer, and the recent release of the smash titles Sim City 3000 and Tomb Raider III, the Mac gaming community is justifiably giddy. If for no other reason than to be amazed at the technology and sheer beauty of both games, we at The Mac Observer recommend that you download the demo versions of both UT and Q3. The demo versions are free, and are quite robust in their features. A number of Mac Observer staff members have been playing UT since the original demo was released, and have thoroughly enjoyed the experience. |