News Archive for 01/03/13

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UDA 4.0 provides ODBC, JDBC drivers for Mac

03/13, 7:40pm

UDA 4.0 provides ODBC, JDBC drivers for Mac

OpenLink Software has released Version 4.0 of its Universal Data Access Driver Suite (UDA) for the Mac OS, which includes Multi-Tier ODBC Drivers and Type 1 & 3 JDBC drivers.

GD: Manthei Interview

03/13, 6:50pm

GD: Manthei Interview

Games Domain has published an interview with Kevin Manthei of KMM Productions, who has worked on the music for feature films in addition to games coming soon for the Mac such as Sacrifice and Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption. "Every minute counts in a game," says Manthei. "So the challenge is to write a score that has a definite sound and vision behind it, encompassing the entire game or level that will still work after the 300th listen!"

D2: LoD Assassin Screenshot

03/13, 6:45pm

D2: LoD Assassin Screenshot

A new screenshot from the upcoming expansion set Diablo II: Lord of Destruction shows the assassin shocking her enemies by charging the ether with lightning.

DR: Halo Preview

03/13, 6:35pm

DR: Halo Preview

Daily Radar has published a preview of Bungie Studios' Halo based on a demonstration of the game shown today at Gamestock 2001. The preview is complete with a number of new high-resolution screenshots of the game, which has matured significantly since its last public demonstration. "The once barren hills are now teeming with architecture, vehicles, flora and fauna. No longer does this look like a spruced-up version of Tribes."

AVault: Summoner Preview

03/13, 6:05pm

AVault: Summoner Preview

The Adrenaline Vault has published a preview of Volition's upcoming 3D role-playing game for the Mac and PC, Summoner. The preview is quite in-depth and based on hands-on play with a recent build of the game. "During combat, your ability points may seem to drop rather quickly as you race to cast healing spells on comrades, but your points recharge quickly once the battles are over. As long as you manage to avoid getting into a long series of fights with no respite, you will be able to recharge yourself to full health and AP after each battle."

Avernum 2 1.0.2 balances high level

03/13, 6:00pm

Avernum 2 1.0.2 balances high level

Spiderweb Software has released Avernum 2 1.0.2, a new version of its epic fantasy role-playing game for the Mac. The new version rebalances the high level portion of the game to add challenge, decreases the power of gymnastics, allows players to fight through the Empires checkpoint by Pyrog's lair and many typo and bug fixes.

New Halo info. and screenshots

03/13, 5:50pm

New Halo info. and screenshots

Bungie Studios' Halo is among the games being highlighted this week at Gamestock 2001, Microsoft's annual entertainment showcase. The company has released new information and screenshots from the game, which will be released first on the X-Box this Fall followed by Mac and PC versions in the following months.

Console: Unreal Tournament for Dreamcast

03/13, 5:40pm

Console: Unreal Tournament for Dreamcast

Evening console news: Infogrames has announced that Unreal Tournament for the Sega Dreamcast will be appearing on store shelves this week; EA is now shipping Triple Play Baseball for the Playstation 2, which features all 30 MLB stadiums and realistic likenesses of stars such as Jason Giambi and Derek Jeter; Microsoft is showcasing many of the X-Box launch titles this week during its annual Gamestock show; and nearly 40% of active video game players plan to buy a new gaming console in the coming months, according to new research from Webnoize.

TypeStyler 3.7.2 fixes bugs in type tool

03/13, 3:10pm

TypeStyler 3.7.2 fixes bugs in type tool

Strider Software's TypeStyler 3.7.2, an update to its font styling and text manipulation tool for print and Web graphics, no longer requires that the URL Access extension be installed, which had prevented users with older Macs from using the application and also addresses a couple of web and JavaScript problems that were revealed in last week's release.

Games: OS X Development Shortcomings

03/13, 2:50pm

Games: OS X Development Shortcomings

games.macnn.com has a special report on the challenge for game developers to bring their titles to Mac OS X as well as a new poll that lets readers choose the game to be featured in next week's desktop picture at Custer's Corner.

Greenstone on OS X and Games

03/13, 2:35pm

Greenstone on OS X and Games

As the release of Mac OS X is 11 days away, many game developers still lack the ability to adequately bring their titles to the new operating system. Pangea Software President Brian Greenstone, whose team is hard at work on the 3D action/adventure game Otto Matic and has successfully shipped three Mac titles in recent years, talked to games.macnn.com about the changes for gamers and game developers in OS X and how some shortcomings in Mac game development remain unchanged.

GraphSim brings Fantastic Journey to U.S.

03/13, 2:30pm

GraphSim brings Fantastic Journey to U.S.

Graphic Simulations Corporation has announced Pro Pinball Fantastic Journey for publishing and distribution in North America. The pinball game, which was developed by UK-based Empire Interactive and is now available for $25 from GraphSim's Online Store, features a full 3D table with real ball physics and gravity as well as steam-powered contraptions such as a drill, boat, submarine and airship.

Druid or Assassin Poll Results

03/13, 2:25pm

Druid or Assassin Poll Results

The results of our poll last week indicate that the major of our readers, 54%, are more interested in playing the Druid in the upcoming expansion set, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction. 33% are more interested in playing the Assassin while 13% are just not sure. Our new poll will decide the theme of next week's desktop picture at Custer's Corner; users can choose among Escape from Monkey Island, Quake III: Team Arena, Rogue Spear, Rune and Unreal Tournament: Game of the Year Edition.

Roundup: Custer's Arcane Practitioner

03/13, 2:00pm

Roundup: Custer's Arcane Practitioner

Yesterday Custer's Corner released a new desktop picture, "Arcane Practitioner", featuring the Necromancer from Diablo II; Sentry Studios has released Infiltration 2.85, a major update to its military mod for Unreal Tournament; The Collective indicated that the Mac version of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Fallen should be on store shelves in four to six weeks; and Wolfpack Studios released two new Quicktime movies showing its upcoming massive multiplayer online role-playing game, Shadowbane, in action.

FiringSquad: Neverwinter Nights report

03/13, 1:45pm

FiringSquad: Neverwinter Nights report

FiringSquad's report on its recent visit to Bioware headquarters includes an update on the development of Neverwinter Nights, the company's 3D role-playing game for the Mac, PC and Linux. The article indicates that the release is now tentatively scheduled for "late this year", while previously a summer release was the estimate. The delay is partly caused by the unexpected difficulty in implementing the 3rd Edition ruleset in addition to the game's purely massive feature set.

Advanced Final Cut Pro classes in DC

03/13, 1:25pm

Advanced Final Cut Pro classes in DC

Henninger Education Center (HEC), an Avid training center located in the Washington metropolitan area, will be conducting its first Advanced Final Cut Pro class on March 28-29. To enroll in a course, students can register via e-mail or phone (703-908-4033). HEC also says that it will be providing Macromedia's Flash and Dreamweaver courses in the near future.

IBM and Hitachi to developer PowerPC servers

03/13, 1:15pm

IBM and Hitachi to developer PowerPC servers

IBM and Hitachi announced a development and manufacturing pact for a new line of Hitachi-branded servers, which will include future versions of IBM's PowerPC processors.

Razer dispels closing rumors

03/13, 1:15pm

Razer dispels closing rumors

kärna Technology, makers of the popular Boomslang gaming mouse, has dispelled rumors that the company has closed its doors. XSReality.com quotes General Manager Robert Krakoff as saying that the company has not shut down, but it has lost a large investor. "We're talking to several companies and still have several options, so hopefully we can make something work," says Krakoff. "We're very optimistic."

FileMaker 5 Unlimited wins Codie Award

03/13, 1:15pm

FileMaker 5 Unlimited wins Codie Award

The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) has given FileMaker Pro 5 Unlimited its prestigious Codie Award for Best Numeric/Database Software, selecting it over IBM DB2 Universal Database v7.1 and three other finalists. Additionally FileMaker Developer 5 was a Codie finalist for Best Application Development Product.

Shadowbane: The Age of Days

03/13, 1:05pm

Shadowbane: The Age of Days

"The Age of Days" is the second in a series of short stories revealing the backstory to the upcoming massive multiplayer online role-playing game from Wolfpack Studios and Gathering of Developers, Shadowbane. Two more segments—"The Age of Twilight" and "The Unknown Future"—will be released in the coming weeks.

MacMAME 0.37b13 Released

03/13, 1:00pm

MacMAME 0.37b13 Released

Brad Oliver has released a new version of the extremely popular arcade emulator for the Mac, MacMAME 0.37b13. The new version brings the Mac version in sync with the DOS version, modifies the PPC 68k core to support encrypted opcode arguments in pc-relative reads, adds support for 555 and 888 direct modes (used for transparency effects in some games), and moves some more strings to the resource fork to aid in translations.

DAMN: New R6/RS Mods

03/13, 12:55pm

DAMN: New R6/RS Mods

*DAMN Gamer has released new mods and maps for the Mac version of Rainbow Six and Rogue Spear. *DAMN R6 Replacements, a mod for Rainbow Six, gives players new weapon sounds, action menus, over 30 skin combinations, and 3 bonus skins including Mike Meyers. Cocobolo DTD HK ITD 1.2, a mod for Rogue Spear, contains over 60 HK firearms and authentic skins of the H&K International Training Division. Finally, the group has released three new maps for the Mac version of Rogue Spear: Urban Operations including two that are conversions of popular Half-Life: Counter Strike maps.

GS: WWII Online Screenshots

03/13, 12:20pm

GS: WWII Online Screenshots

GameSpot has posted nine new screenshots of World War II Online, the upcoming massive multiplayer online war combat game from Cornered Rat Software, Playnet and Strategy First.

Oni in Europe at number one

03/13, 12:15pm

Oni in Europe at number one

Afternoon console news: Oni for the Playstation 2 has debuted at number one on the sales charts for its European launch; MDK2 Argmageddon for the Playstation 2 has been approved for manufacturing and will ship to stores later this month; Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance for the Playstation 2 will take advantage of the system's 2x2 full-scene anti-aliasing; and GameSpot has posted new movies showing Quake III Revolution for the Playstation 2 in action.

Troi Activator 1.2: trigger FileMaker scripts

03/13, 12:10pm

Troi Activator 1.2: trigger FileMaker scripts

Troi Activator 1.2 is a $90 plugin for FileMaker 5 that can be used to trigger scripts across any LAN or the Internet; the plugin interfaces with FileMaker's built in security to prevent unauthorized triggering and allows you to pass other relevant information with the trigger as well as start and stop listening for remote trigger messages with one script step.

Corel to bundle apps with HP Scanjet 7400s

03/13, 10:05am

Corel to bundle apps with HP Scanjet 7400s

Corel announced that it will bundle PhotoPaint 8 with the HP's Scanjet 7400c, 7450c, and 7490 scanners and CorelDRAW 8 with HP Scanjet 7490c scanners.

VueScan 7.0 supports Nikon LS-40, new GUI

03/13, 10:05am

VueScan 7.0 supports Nikon LS-40, new GUI

Hamrick Software's film scanning utility, VueScan 7.0, adds support for Nikon LS-40, a "significantly reorganized" user interface, zoom capabilities to both preview and scanned images, and a new "Device RGB" color space as well as bug fixes.

PageSentry 4.0 for Mac OS X

03/13, 9:40am

PageSentry 4.0 for Mac OS X

Maxum Development has announced PageSentry 4.0 for Mac OS X, a "major" upgrade to its Internet server monitoring, which it says "will run natively" under OS X and will bring new reporting features for measuring server reliability, detecting chronic problems, and monitoring quality of service. A public beta version will be made available to coincide with Apple's release of Mac OS X on March 24 and a final version is expected to be released later in the spring of 2001.

ExtremeZ-IP 2.01 improves performance

03/13, 9:35am

ExtremeZ-IP 2.01 improves performance

Group Logic has released ExtremeZ-IP 2.01, a maintenance release to its file and print services software that brings performance improvements. A trial version is available online.

Sapphire introduces 70 new Photoshop filters

03/13, 8:45am

Sapphire introduces 70 new Photoshop filters

Sapphire Innovations has released Sapphire Filters Vol. 1, a £10 collection of 70 new Photoshop filters "ranging from color effects, inverse/negative effects, displacements, bar/line effects, warping effects, ringed/radial effects, interference patterns, oddball colour shift effects, light effects and more."

Web Confidential posts minor updates

03/13, 8:45am

Web Confidential posts minor updates

Web Confidential 2.2.1 for Mac [710 KB] and 1.2.1 for Palm [220 KB] are minor updates to the $20 password manager.

Carbon-compliant Opera due in 11 days

03/13, 8:30am

Carbon-compliant Opera due in 11 days

A Carbon-compliant preview version of Opera, the alternative Web browser that was released as a technology preview late last month, is due to be released on March 24, according to MacUser UK. The company is also developing a 68K version, which it has previously stated will be ready before the Carbon version.

PopChar Pro 1.3.2 squashes bugs

03/13, 8:30am

PopChar Pro 1.3.2 squashes bugs

PopChar Pro 1.3.2 fixes several bugs with the $29 utility that adds a menu for quickly accessing special keyboard characters.

Tech: DVD/CD-RW spread, Napster blocks songs

03/13, 8:30am

Tech: DVD/CD-RW spread, Napster blocks songs

Early morning tech news: combo DVD/CD-RW are gaining in popularity with most PC manufacturers offering the drives as standard or optional equipment (Apple does neither); Napster has blocked 26,000 of the 135,000 songs that record labels have identified as being copyrighted; and the wife of the late musician Frank Zappa has filed suit against EMusic claiming copyright infringement.