Korin Hasegawa-John
- 2001.11.14
Q: A lot of my friends play lots of computer games,
especially first person shooters. I'm interested in playing against
them, but have never played many games (except for Tetris and the
like). Could you please give me an intro to first person shooters
on the Mac?
A. Now is a good time to be a Mac gamer. There are lots of games
around, from old favorites (such as Civilization, Marathon II,
Quake, and Unreal) to middle aged games (such as Quake II, Unreal
Tournament, Quake III, Alpha Centauri, and Deus Ex) to new games
(such as Age Of Empires II, Oni, and the upcoming Halo). A lot of
these games are first person shooters.
This means that you play from the perspective of a player in the
game, so you can't see yourself. Mostly you can see your weapon. At
the bottom of the screen is a bar which keeps track of health and
ammo, and also what sort of weapons you have. Most newer games
include a sight at the middle of the screen. You can customize what
this looks like.
Most of the newer games, such as Quake III, Unreal Tournament,
and possibly Halo, have an environment where you can play against
computer controlled enemies. This is a good way to learn. You
aren't humiliated by other computer players, and you can adjust the
skill level of the computer players to match you. Once you can beat
the computer players soundly at a reasonably high level, you're
ready to play other people.
Hardware
Hardware is a big concern, and it all depends on what kind of
game you want to play. For Marathon II, you should have a PPC
running at 100 MHz or faster, a video card with 1 MB VRAM (no
acceleration needed), and 32 MB RAM free. For Quake and Unreal, a
fast 604 or G3 (200 MHz plus), a hardware accelerator supporting
either RAVE or GLIDE with 4 MB VRAM, and 96 MB RAM free.
Quake II, Unreal Tournament, Deus Ex, and Quake III all want a
G3 or G4 at 350 MHz or more. GLIDE acceleration works best,
although an OpenGL card is all right as well. You definitely need
16 MB VRAM or 8 MB VRAM and AGP. The more system RAM the
better - 128 MB or more free is good.
All of these games can be played online or on a network. You
should either use broadband to play on line or use an ethernet
network. LocalTalk will work with Marathon, but it's not very
nice.
You also need an input device. This is a matter of personal
preference. Some people like game pads or joysticks. Personally, I
prefer a multi-button mouse such as Kensington's Mouse-In-A-Box
Optical Pro. Some mice don't work well with some games. The same
goes for joysticks and game pads. If you are in the market for an
input device for gaming, go to a retail location and try one
out.
Coming soon: Netiquette and
Tactics. Tips on how to get a good score and not die every 5
seconds.
