|
Two Idiots, Braveheart, The Mail, and Some Slapstick Gary: What are you doing, man? Randy: Well, I am taking these two 27 inch televisions that we have laying around, and I am making some incredible VR goggles. Gary: What are you, an Idiot? Randy: I know what you're thinking. But if I can get the counter-balance just right, I think it will work. And I think I have it. Let me just lower it onto my head, and - Gary: Wow! You actually have two giant screen TV's strapped to your big melon head. Don't tell me that thing actully works. Randy: Of course it does! Now, let me turn my head to test the gyro. (loud snapping sound is heard) Gary: Eeeww... Randy: One thing I didn't figure in was the incredibly weak nature of my spinal column. Gary: Watch out, man. You are stumbling toward the - (loud scream followed by a horrendous crash) Gary: balcony. Well, folks, that siren can mean only one of two things. Either Randy is dead and I inherit the entire Idiots fortune, or it's time to read a little VIEWER MAIL! Randy: (from down below) Ouch. Read the letters, man. Dear Idiots, I thought you two might be interested in the new Braveheart game under development. It is a 2-D RTS game, ala Civilization, until you go into battle. Then it morphs into a 3D combat game, ala Myth. Check it out. http://cnn.com/TECH/computing/9904/12/braveheart.idg/index.html Robert Esteves Gary: Thanks for the info, Robert! We did go by Eidos website and check out Braveheart for ourselves, and it does indeed look spectacular.
Randy: I'm back. Did you push me? Gary: Uh, no, of course not. That would be mean. Randy: (after a long, suspicious pause) Yes, Robert, and it is exactly the kind of fusion we have been talking about. A melding of game styles to create a new and better game. The first portion of the game is a real time strategy game like Starcraft or Yoot Tower. You must manage resources for your land and grow it into a sizable kingdom. Your ultimate goal being, that you one day become King of the Scots, and go kick England's butt. (finally!) Red Lemon, the development team on this project really went the extra mile on this one, using maps from Russian satellites they accurately recreate the topography of Scotland and the surrounding countries. There are over 200 different clans and all the tartan colors are true to their clans according to Red Lemon. The team used the Wallace Clan Trust and the Council of Clan Chiefs to do extensive historical research to keep the game true to history. Gary: However, when it comes time to do battle the game switches into a real time war strategy game similar to Myth. You control legions of different types of soldiers and guide them through real time battle. All the characters are 3D polygon based and the game can supposedly support up to 700 troops on the fields simoutaniously! You can train villagers to become soldiers and even use war machines like catapults to mash your kilted foes into haggis. Randy: The characters are modeled after the actors in the very successful movie of Braveheart and for all you ladies, yes, William Wallace looks like Mel Gibson. The game includes over 20 minutes of full screen video straight from the movie and all the voice overs in the game were performed by Angus McFadyen who played Robert the Bruce in the Braveheart movie. While no mention of a Mac version is mentioned on Edios website, we think this game will become a big hit and make it over to Macintosh if users voice their opinion. After all with the help of studios like Westlake Interactive many other of Eidos great games, like Tomb Raider, have made it over. So keep your fingers crossed and write Eidos a letter! Gary: Since we are proclaimed Idiots, it is only natural that we would ocassionally have to make a correction. Randy: In our last column we incorrectly stated that: Aspyr Media will be porting over Madden Football 2000 for EA Sports, filling a long time gap in the sports game genre for Macintosh. Matthew Parsons wrote us a little clarifying information… Actually, Aspyr will be publishing it. Westlake is porting it. P.S. Idiot's With Sticks is an awesome name for a company. I just might have to poke your eyes out and steal it. Gary: Man, we really need to stop using the side panel off the Captian Crunch box as our main reference resource. Randy: But, hey, I was right about the crunch berries turning your tounge blue. Gary: Yeah, but Westlake Interactive is too important a company to slight on this important porting effort. Mark Adams and company at the Austin, Texas-based Westlake have brought many great titles to the Mac. Tomb Raider Gold, Shadow Warrior, Duke Nukem 3D, Unreal, Flight Unlimited, Links Pro and so many more. Now they are bringing sports back to the Mac with Madden Football 2000. Thank you, Westlake Interactive. Matthew, for that major omission we do deserve to have our eyes poked out. Randy: But you still can't have our name. We worked too hard to prove to the world that we really deserve to be called Idiots. Gary: Another reader writes: From your recent column: <snip> Since Blizzard Entertainment has released all of our games on the Mac, it's difficult to see how you are characterizing us as coming back, since we never left. I hardly feel it is fair that you are lumping us in with the companies that did leave, and are only now coming back. Otherwise I enjoy your column most every week :-) Thanks, Brian Love Randy: Good point, Brian. We were trying to mention some of the killer titles that will be coming out for the Mac soon. But the way it was worded, it does read as if Blizzard had left the Mac and is now coming back. So, for the record, Blizzard Entertainment has always supported the Mac with some of the funnest games out there. Keep up the great work. Gary: And finally, this week, we have to report on the status of the T2 steering wheel and Carmageddon 2. Several readers have offered workarounds to getting the steering wheel to work with Carmageddon. And one reader claims to have C2 and the wheel working perfectly, even if he had to jump through hoops to get it to work. Randy: And true to our name, the Idiots can't seem to duplicate his work. So, we will be working closely with him to find out if we can post a solution for all of you driving fans in the next week or two. Gary: Until then, folks. |
