With your operating system, office suite, and browser momentarily patched into submission, it's time to take a break with your favourite computer game. But even fun stuff has bugs. Here are some recent patches for four popular games:

Activision Civilization: Find numerous improvements to the game's editor and interface, along with dozens of crash-preventing fixes, at www.activision.com/support/show-patch.asp?patchID=136.

Sierra Studios Half-Life: You'll find three patches for different versions of Half-Life at www.won.net/gamerooms/action/half-life. If you've got version 1.0.0.9, go to ftp://ftp.won.net/pub/half-life/english/10091010.EXE for a patch that adds server capabilities so you can play over a network or on the Internet.

Ativision Heretic II: There are now four patches available at www.activision.com/support/show-patch.asp. One of them, the Enhancement Pack Version 1.06 Update, adds features known to Heretic II fanatics: Deathmatch maps, new skins, and a new Armageddon level.

MicroProse MechWarrior3 1.1: The official MechWarrior site has a 2.5MB patch offering hundreds of bug fixes and enhancements. Find it at www.mechwarrior3.com/support/downloads.html.