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Blizzard Entertainment has released a new patch to their highly-popular real-time strategy game WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos. The new patch updates the game to 1.06 and changes a lot of balance issues, including drastic changes to the spellcasters.

Here's a snip from the list of changes, as quoted from Blizzard's site:

Most spellcasters (Sorceress, Priest, Shaman, Witch Doctor, Necromancer, Banshee, Druid of the Talon) have been re-balanced. In general, units with piercing damage rip up spellcasters, while basic melee units, such as Ghouls or Footmen, are weak against spellcasters. The specific changes to the units in question are:

They have a new armor type, unarmored, which takes bonus damage from siege and piercing attacks. They also have a new damage type, magic, which does reduced damage to fortified and hero armor, but does bonus damage against medium armor.

They had their damage adjusted, typically downwards.

They no longer gain damage as they go up in level, and gain less hitpoints as they go up in level (but start with more hitpoints when initially built)

Many autocast buffs and debuff costs reduced.

Casters, including Dryads, have had their mana regeneration rates boosted by 30%.

If you haven't got WarCraft III, it is available from the IMG Store for $35. You can also pre-order the upcoming expansion, WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne for $34.95. The Frozen Throne is scheduled to ship at July 1st. If you want more information about the upcoming expansion you can read our own preview of it.

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Blizzard Entertainment: Changes in version 1.06

IMG Preview: WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne

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Giga Designs has started shipping the G-celerator G4/1.4 GHz upgrade, the fastest processor upgrade to date. The G-celerator features 2 MB of DDR L3 cache, running at 233 MHz, and includes a copper heatsink and fan. It is available for purchase now at Other World Computing for $630.

Stay tuned to IMG for a review of the G-celerator G4/1.4 Ghz in the future.

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Virtual Programming today released a small patch for Europa Universalis II that fixes a major issue with the game:

This file updates Europa Universalis II to 1.0.1. It fixes the problem with reloading saved games. To install, simply copy the 'EU II' file into your original 'Europa Universalis II' folder

download EU II 1.01 update

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Last year Coderus released a revolutionary product called MacDX. MacDX allows software and porting houses to bring DirectX based products to the Mac OS platform rapidly and cost effectively by providing the DirectX interfaces and functionality so that the product runs just as it would on a PC.

Since its release, MacDX has been used to port over games such as Wipeout 2097 and KickOff to the Mac. IMG recently spoke to Coderus Mark Thomas about MacDX and its impact on Mac gaming.

To read the interview, please follow the link below.

IMG Interview: Coderus' Mark Thomas

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Project Magma, a group of Myth fans with access to the source code (from MythDev) of Myth II and Myth III, recently released their latest version of Myth II. Version 1.4 is no small update; it adds everything from Open GL support to a larger array of resolutions. The patch is available for Classic Mac OS, MacOS X, and Windows.
Here's some of the major features added in the patch:

Myth v1.4 adds over 100 enhancements, bug fixes and new features to Myth II: Soulblighter, in the areas of: graphics; interface improvements; elimination of plugin lag; elimination of chat lag; elimination of the 'walking bug', new mapmaking features; AI improvements and bug fixes; optional vTFL (virtual TFL) gameplay, which effectively brings both games and communities to the same program; and much, much more.

Myth v1.4 also include the changes present in Myth II v1.3.2, namely support for OS X

Myth II v1.4 released

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Gamespot recently got to check out the upcoming Star Trek game from Activision, Elite Force 2. This sequel to the classic FPS Elite Force looks to expand on the original, giving players the feeling that they're playing through episodes of the TV show. The preview goes through the numerous new features, along with a quick rundown of the story.
Here's a snip from Gamespot's preview:

The game's 11 missions are broken up into three to seven sublevels each, and a number of levels in the missions we played concluded with fights, either defending a VIP or attacking a powerful boss. Much of the game's action sequences have a fast-paced, run-and-gun quality, which may not be surprising, considering that the game is powered by the Quake III engine, physics and all. The developer has also seen fit to add a certain amount of replay value to the otherwise linear levels by including secret areas and hidden starship icons--collect enough icons, and you'll be able to unlock a few extra maps. The tricorder's secondary function, a structural integrity view, plays a part in the hunt for secret areas and in some of the main puzzles. With this orange-tinted view turned on, weak points in doors and walls are shown in bright red, and these points can be easily blasted apart with a phaser. The other view option is night vision, which you can turn on at any time to help you find your way around the USS Dallas' darkened corridors.

IMG: Elite Force 2 Preview

Elite Force 2 Hands on Preview

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Graal, a MMORPG designed by Linux Cyberjoueurs, has recently been made available for OS X via a compatible client. Featuring a swords and sorcery theme, Graal sports team-based quests, an evolving world, and the capacity to accomodate player-created content:

Graal is a massively multi-player (MMP) game that involves quests, player personalisation, persistent NPCs, sparring, and general exploration. Developed over the course of 3 years, the Graal MMP support hundreds and even thousands of simultaneously connected players. This means that you will interact in a vast virtual world, with many kingdoms and quests, with players from all over the world.

Those interested in screenshots or more information can find all at the official Graal site as well.

Graal

VersionTracker - GraalOnline

Sonnet Technologies, well-known for their Mac products, have slashed prices on the Encore/ST G4 upgrades by as much as $70 USD. Below is a summary of the new pricing structure:

Encore/ST G4 800 MHz $279.95 (was: $299.95)
Encore/ST G4 1.0 GHz $429.95 (was: $499.95)
Encore/ST G4 1.2 GHz $529.95 (was: $599.95)

Our friends at Other World Computing (OWC) are offering these cards at the reduced prices (actually, even better):

Encore/ST G4 800 MHz - $277.99
Encore/ST G4 1.0 GHz - $426.99
Encore/ST G4 1.2 GHz - $519.99

To place your order, head over to Other World Computing.

IMG Feature: 1200 Megahertz Madness

PR: Sonnet Drops Prices On Encore/ST G4 Upgrades

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