Aspyr Media on Wednesday announced the final system requirements for LEGO Star Wars, which will be shipping next month. Because such sites as Amazon.com donit always change their preliminary system requirements when a game is released, Aspyr has said that in the future it will wait until shortly before a game ships to announce those criteria. System requirements donit always change between the time the publisher acquires the Mac rights to a game and its shipping date, but when they do -- such as Doom 3 initially requiring a G5 processor but requiring a G4 by the time it shipped -- the alteration can make a big difference in terms of what Macs can run the title.
Final system requirements for LEGO Star Wars call for Mac OS X v10.3.8, a G4 or G5 1.2GHz processor, 512MB RAM, 2GB free hard drive space, 32MB video RAM and a DVD drive. Aspyr recommends a G5 processor and 64MB video RAM for optimal performance.
LEGO Star Wars uses old-fashioned LEGO building blocks to tell the story of the last three Star Wars movies -- also known as "the prequels" -- in a kid-friendly way. Players can control over 50 characters from the films, from Anakin Skywalker and Yoda to Darth Maul and General Grievous, as they make their way through 17 levels of action, including levels that allow them to fly ships. A secret level is available for gamers who achieve certain objectives.
The game also features "Drop In/Drop Out" gameplay that allows a second player to join the action and take control of a character whenever they want. Free Play mode enables players to use unlocked characters in any level and switch between them at will. Jedi knight characters can use the force to move and assemble LEGO bricks into different objects; other characters have their own special skills. While the game doesnit use dialogue from the movies, it does employ authentic sound effects.
Aspyr on Wednesday also said that a free patch for Battlefield 1942 will be available at MacGameFiles on Thursday. Updating the game to version 1.6.1, the major changes included in the file are support for more mods, including Desert Combat Final and Extended, and built-in GameRanger support. GameRanger is an online service for Mac gamers.