NCsoft on Wednesday announced that the Mac version of its MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) City of Heroes is now in open Beta. While the developer originally expected to ship the final version before the holidays, it now expects to release it in January. A specific date was not made available.
City of Heroes lets players create hero or villain characters who live in Paragon City or on the Rogue Isles, respectively. They choose from hundreds of powers and thousands of costume options as they customize their creations, then they play solo or in groups as they battle their foes and undertake missions. As in most RPGs, characters become more powerful as they gain experience.
A City of Heroes battle
NCsoft is bringing City of Heroes to the Mac with assistance from TransGamingm whose Cider Portability Engine places a wrapper around a game's Windows code, remapping the commands to their Mac OS X equivalents. While the technology adds a slight performance hit, TransGaming says it allows developers to bring their games to the Mac faster and more cheaply, albeit only for Mac with Intel processors. Publishers including UbiSoft and Electronic Arts have also used Cider.
When City of Heroes is officially released, it will be sold at NCsoft's PlayNC store and TransGaming's GameTree Online.