El Mac 1/Magazine.iso/EL MAC 1/Shareware/Games/Macintosh Games FAQ

Text File | 1995-10-02 | 36.8 KB | 853 lines | [TEXT/R*ch]

comp.sys.mac.games Frequently Asked Questions List
(last changed October 1, 1995)

Welcome to the comp.sys.mac.games hierarchy!

If you're new to this group, READ THIS.  All of it.  Please.

[
  Changes to today's FAQ:
    Ta-daaaa.  All URLs pointing to either umich or info-mac have been
    changed to point to the AOL mirrors, which means you can use the URLs
    as given instead of hunting for an equivalent at your favorite mirror.

    Added the URL for Peter Cohen's HTML version of John Komp's Mac Arcade
    Games List.

    Added the URL for Scott Cherkofsky's Mac Flight Sim Page to the
    other-resources list.

    Added the URL for Antreas Hatzipolakis's guide to Internet Shareware-
    Freeware Programming Languages For the Macintosh (whew) to the section
    on getting started on programming games. (Thanks Rich!)

    Updated the URL for the Patchlist at Phillip Roos' pages.
]

This FAQ provides the answers to the most Frequently Asked Questions on
these newsgroups; readers new to this group should read it before posting.

It is posted twice a month to comp.sys.mac.games.* and monthly on or near
the 10th of the month to comp.answers and news.answers.  New users of Usenet
news should be sure to read all of the articles in news.announce.newusers
to familiarize themselves with the general etiquette of communicating on
the net.

The comp.sys.mac.games.* subgroups are:

comp.sys.mac.games.announce     Announcements for Mac gamers. (Moderated)
comp.sys.mac.games.action       Action games for the Macintosh.
comp.sys.mac.games.adventure    Adventure games for the Macintosh.
comp.sys.mac.games.marketplace  Macintosh games for sale and trade.
comp.sys.mac.games.misc         Macintosh games not covered in other groups.
comp.sys.mac.games.flight-sim   Flight simulator gameplay on the Mac.
comp.sys.mac.games.strategic    Strategy/planning games on the Macintosh.

How to get this FAQ:
The latest version is available at the Usenet FAQ archive at rtfm.mit.edu as
<ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/comp.sys.mac.games/comp.sys.mac.games_FAQ>.
If you don't have ftp access, send mail to [e-mail] with
the line "send usenet/news.answers/macintosh/games-faq" in the body of
the message.  You can also send email to <[e-mail]>; please
include "Games FAQ" in the subject line.

WWW users can find it in hypertext at the Utrecht Usenet FAQ archive at:
<http://www.cs.ruu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/macintosh/games-faq.html>.  (Note
that the URL given here changes monthly according to whichever WWW FAQ
archive seems to be most stable at the moment.)

Corrections, suggestions, and large cash bribes are welcome; please send
them to Christina Schulman at <[e-mail]>.

------------------------------

Subject: Table of Contents

         Table of Contents
         0. A word about flaming.
         1. Where can I find Mac games available for anonymous ftp?
         2. What does .hqx mean?  What about .cpt and .sit?
         3. Where else can I get Mac games?
         4. What's the Patchlist/GPHL?  Could somebody please repost it?
         5. What's ResEdit?  How do I get it?
         6. I'm completely stuck in this game I'm playing.  Where can
            I get a walkthru?
         7. What's an easter egg?
         8. How do I fix the bug in Indiana Jones:  Fate of Atlantis?
         9. The 7th Guest keeps crashing on my Mac!  What do I do?
        10. I just saw this really great game called "X-Wing" on the PC.
            When is it coming out for the Mac?
        11. I just saw this really great game called "DOOM" on the PC.
            Is it available for the Mac?
        12. Where can I find a list of forthcoming games for the Mac?
        13. What's the cheat code in SimCity 2000?
        14. What happened to the guy who did "Fool's Errand" and
            "3 in Three"?
        15. Where can I find Wesleyan Tetris?
        16. How do I run Apple ][+ games on my Mac?
        17. I've done some programming on other machines, and I'd like
            to write a game on my Mac.  How do I start?
        18. I've written this terrific game for the Mac.  How do I get
            it out to the major ftp sites?
        19. What's "IMG"/"Inside Mac Games"?
        20. Are there any freeware chess games for the Mac?
        21. Are there any mahjong games for the Mac?
        22. Where can I find Unlimited Adventures updates and modules?
        23. I always loved playing [Pacman, Star Wars, Frogger, etc.]
            at the arcade.  Is there a Mac version?
        24. What games will fail to run on my [AV Mac, PowerMac,
            bizarrely configured Mac]?  How do I fix them?
        25. What joystick should I buy for my Mac?
        26. Is there a FAQ for [FA-18, Sim City 2000, Civilization, Bolo,
            Pathways into Darkness, Spaceward Ho!, Marathon, 7th Guest...]
        Credits

------------------------------

Subject: 0. A word about flaming.

Every now and then some moron posts something along the lines of "Mac
games suck!!!!!  Get a real machine!!!!!"  And immediately 30 or 40
people take the bait and post long, vitriolic replies and exhort everyone
to mail-bomb the perpetrator.

Please, please, please don't waste your time and our bandwidth replying
to this kind of idiocy.  More often than not it was posted as a practical
joke from the account of some hapless user who left themselves logged in
in a public computer cluster.  The owner of the account then logs back
in a day or two later to find several megs of hate mail and uuencoded
core dumps in their mail spool.

If you feel that you absolutely have to share your witty, concise flame
on the complete superiority of the Mac above all other gaming platforms,
take it to comp.sys.mac.advocacy, where it will be appreciated.

------------------------------

Subject: 1. Where can I find Mac games available for anonymous ftp?

The 2 major sites for ftp'ing Mac software are sumex-aim.stanford.edu
(usually referred to as "info-mac") and mac.archive.umich.edu.

However, these two sites are so incredibly busy that they are nearly
impossible to connect to (in fact, info-mac no longer accepts direct
ftp connections), so you will need to use a mirror site such as
mirrors.aol.com.  A mirror site is a site that contains an exact copy
of the contents of another site, in the hopes of diverting some traffic
away from the more popular site.  Mirror sites are usually updated 1 to 3
days behind the "mother" site.

Other mirror sites of info-mac and umich exist at grind.isca.uiowa.edu
(North America), archie.au (Australia) and nic.switch.ch (Switzerland).
It's more polite and generally faster to connect to a site that's on the
same continent as you are.

Wherever this FAQ points to a file at info-mac or umich, the URL
(Universal Resource Locator) given is for that file's location at the
AOL mirrors.  This is because the AOL mirrors are fast, reliable, and
frequently updated.  It's also because the FAQ maintainer enjoys the idea
of Usenet taking advantage of AOL for a change, instead of the other way
around.

Bruce Grubb periodically posts a comprehensive list of Mac ftp sites
to comp.sys.mac.games.  It is available via ftp at info-mac as
<ftp://mirrors.aol.com/pub/info-mac/info/comm/mac-ftp-list-403.hqx>
and at umich as
<ftp://mirrors.aol.com/pub/mac/misc/documentation/macftplist4.0.txt>.
(The name will reflect the current version, which may be later than 4.03.)

------------------------------

Subject: 2. What does .hqx mean?  What about .cpt and .sit?

Files ending in .hqx are binary files which have been converted to
BinHex format so that they can be transmitted as ASCII text files via
the Internet.  There are various utilities that will BinHex and de-BinHex
files, among them Compact Pro and StuffIt (see below).  Some Mac ftp
clients such as Fetch will automatically de-BinHex files when you download
them.

Files ending in .cpt have been compressed by Compact Pro; files ending
in .sit have been compressed by StuffIt.  Compact Pro by Bill Goodman
and StuffIt Lite from Aladdin Systems are shareware; they can be ftp'd
from any of the major Mac ftp sites, and the registration fee for each
is $25.

StuffIt Expander is a nifty free utility from Aladdin Systems that will
uncompress StuffIt, Compact Pro, and Applelink archives.  It will also
decode BinHex 4.0 files without requiring you to first strip the
headers.  It's available at info-mac in MacBinary and binhex formats as
<ftp://mirrors.aol.com/pub/info-mac/cmp/stuffit-expander-352.bin> and
<ftp://mirrors.aol.com/pub/info-mac/cmp/stuffit-expander-352.hqx>.

------------------------------

Subject: 3. Where else can I get Mac games?

Well, you could buy them.  Most software stores have a section for Mac
games, but you can usually get better prices, a better selection, and a
better return policy from mailorder sources.  Each issue of MacWorld and
MacUser contains many, many ads for mailorder companies, between which
they occasionally sandwich articles.  The phone numbers for the biggest
sources in the USA are:

        MacConnection:  1-800-800-3333    1-603-446-5555
        MacWarehouse:   1-800-255-6227    1-908-370-3801
        MacZone:        1-800-248-0800    1-206-603-2400
        Mac's Place:    1-800-249-0009    1-406-758-8000
        (formerly Computer Outfitters,
         which was formerly Mac's Place.  Don't ask.)

They'll be happy to send you a complete catalog upon request.

There are also several mailorder sources on the WWW:

        Computer Express:  <http://www.cexpress.com/>
        Cyberian Outpost:  <http://www.cybout.com/>

Cyberian Outpost in particular has an excellent reputation on the
comp.sys.mac.games groups.  Both of these companies do overseas shipping.

NOTE:  Mailorder sources are NOT the most reliable source of information
about release dates for games.  Games are often advertised in their
catalogs, usually with preliminary screenshots, months before they are
actually available.  Also, the sales clerks generally have no idea when
the game will be released.  If they tell you it'll be available in "two
weeks," that could mean two weeks, two months, or a year from next Tuesday.

Local Mac User Groups are another source for games; often shareware and
freeware games are distributed on disk at meetings or are available for
downloading on their bulletin boards.  Contact your local MUG for details.

If you can't find a game anywhere else, you can always order it from
the company directly.

------------------------------

Subject: 4. What's the Patchlist/GPHL?  Could somebody please repost it?

The Patchlist is a list of fixes that the legal owners of certain games
can apply to the programs to bypass the irritating copy protection
schemes.  Anthony Chan used to maintain it; Geoffrey Peters now maintains
it and periodically posts the latest version to comp.sys.mac.games.

The GPHL is not currently available by email, although an auto-remailer
is in the works.  It is, however, available at lots of sites on the WWW:

   Geoff's home pages:
     <http://www.apanix.apana.org.au/~geoff/files/gphl-current.txt>
   Dave Stanworth's Games Domain:
     <http://wcl-rs.bham.ac.uk/GamesDomain/info/gphl.html>
   Mark Lilback's GWU Gaming Society:
     <http://gwis.circ.gwu.edu:80/~gwugs/ghpl/>
   Phillip Roos' "Mac Fun" pages (includes patch submission form!):
     <http://www.nada.kth.se/~d92-pro/Fun/MacPatch/patchindex.html>

------------------------------

Subject: 5. What's ResEdit?  How do I get it?

ResEdit is a utility from Apple that lets you edit the resources of Mac
files.  (Hence the name.)  You will need it if you want to patch games
or extract beep sounds.  You can severely damage your software this
way, so you really shouldn't use it unless you more or less know what
you're doing.  (And even if you do, it's a good idea to use it on a
copy of the file.)

ResEdit can be ftp'd from
<ftp://ftp.support.apple.com/apple_sw_updates/US/Macintosh/Utilities/>.

------------------------------

Subject: 6. I'm completely stuck in this game I'm playing.  Where can
            I get a walkthru?

Solutions and hints for many popular games are available via anonymous
ftp at <ftp://risc.ua.edu/pub/games/solutions/> and
<ftp://ftp.uu.net/pub/games/solutions/>.  There's also a large solution
site at <ftp://nic.funet.fi/pub/doc/games/solutions/>, but you will need
gunzip or MacGzip to uncompress these files.  (Gunzip is available from
the GNU archives at prep.ai.mit.edu; MacGzip is available at
<ftp://mirrors.aol.com/pub/info-mac/cmp/mac-gzip-10b0.hqx>.)

If you can't find an answer there, post your question to the appropriate
subgroup--chances are *somebody* on comp.sys.mac.games has gotten farther
than you!

If someone posts a question for which you also want the answer, instead
of posting "Send me the answer too!" send email to the original poster
and ask him or her to relay the answer to you.

------------------------------

Subject: 7. What's an easter egg?

An easter egg--the kind you find in Mac games, anyway--is any sort of
hidden surprise (hence the name) that occurs when an unlikely set of
conditions are met.  For example, when the system clock is set to
December 25, Maelstrom displays Christmas ornaments in the title screen.
Another example is the very large literal easter egg suspended over a
remote lake in F/A-18.  A list of Macintosh and Newton easter eggs compiled
by Brian Kendig <[e-mail]> can be found at info-mac at
<ftp://mirrors.aol.com/pub/info-mac/info/mac-newton-easter-egg-list-94.txt>.

Of course, if the programmer didn't put it in on purpose, it's not an
easter egg, it's a "feature."

------------------------------

Subject: 8. How do I fix the bug in Indiana Jones:  Fate of Atlantis?

There is indeed a bug in Indy Atlantis.  On the Team Path, when you land
the balloon on the "X" in the desert, the game hangs.  A patch for this
bug is available via anonymous ftp at info-mac at
<ftp://mirrors.aol.com/pub/info-mac/game/com/indy-foa-updt.hqx>.

It can also be obtained directly from LucasArts at:

    LucasArts Entertainment
    P.O. Box 10307
    San Rafael, CA   94912

    Phone (tech support only):  [phone]
    Fax:  [phone]

------------------------------

Subject: 9. The 7th Guest keeps crashing on my Mac!  What do I do?

The vast majority of 7th Guest crashes are caused by memory problems.
DON'T change the application's preferred memory size to anything other
than the suggested memory size (2300 k), or it will crash!  If virtual
memory or the Modern Memory Manager are available on your system, turn
them off and restart your Mac before starting the game.

If you are running 7th Guest on a Power PC, try using the PPC patch from
<ftp://www.cybout.com/cyberian/files/7thPPC.sit.hqx>.

Because the 7th Guest writes saved games into the application file, a
crashed game often causes the user to lose his or her saved games.
To recover saved games from a crashed copy of 7th Guest, rename the
original 7th Guest folder, then install another copy from the CD-ROM.
Run your new copy through the opening sequence, then before playing
anything, save a game at the ouija board.

Now use ResEdit to recover the original 7th Guest application file within
your renamed 7th Guest folder.  This will create two files, "T7GMac" and
"T7GMac(damaged)".  Open and allow verification of the recovered T7GMac
file.  Locate the resource labelled 'T7SG'.  Copy the entire T7SG resource
by selecting its icon and using the standard Edit menu functions, then
close the recovered T7GMac application file.

Now use ResEdit to open the newly installed copy of the 7th Guest
application.  Paste the copied T7SG resource into the application file
so that it completely replaces the existing T7SG resource; use the
same resource ID as the one you're replacing.  Save the file, quit
ResEdit, and run the new copy of the 7th Guest; the ouija board should
point you to all your old saved games.

------------------------------

Subject: 10. I just saw this really great game called "X-Wing" on the PC.
            When is it coming out for the Mac?

According to the 3 April 95 issue of Macweek:

 "LucasArts of San Rafael, Calif., will bring Dark Forces to the Mac in
  May, followed by Full Throttle, X-Wing Collector's CD-ROM and Tie Fighter
  Collector's CD-ROM.
    ...all the artwork for the Mac versions of X-Wing and Tie Fighter will
  be re-rendered in high resolution, at 640 by 480 pixels."

Dark Forces is now available for the Mac; X-Wing and Tie Fighter are in
the works.

------------------------------

Subject: 11. I just saw this really great game called "DOOM" on the PC.
             Is it available for the Mac?

Yes.

While discussion of DOOM is appropriate in comp.sys.mac.games.action,
you will find much, much more discussion and information in the
rec.games.computer.doom hierarchy:

  rec.games.computer.doom.announce  Info/FAQs/reviews about DOOM (Moderated)
  rec.games.computer.doom.help      DOOM Help Service (new players welcome)
  rec.games.computer.doom.misc      Talking about DOOM and id Software
  rec.games.computer.doom.editing   Editing and hacking DOOM-related files
  rec.games.computer.doom.playing   Playing DOOM and user-created levels

The rec.games.computer.doom FAQ is available at
<ftp://ftp.mantis.co.uk/pub/doom/periodic/RGCD_FAQ>.

------------------------------

Subject: 12. Where can I find a list of forthcoming games for the Mac?

There is a list of forthcoming game releases available from Computer
Express at <ftp://ftp.std.com/vendors/COMPUTER_EXPRESS/new.txt>.
This list has expected shipping dates for both IBM and Mac games.

Games almost invariably ship later than the expected shipping date;
to approximate the actual date of release, double the time between
now and the listed date, then add an extra month for good luck.

------------------------------

Subject: 13. What's the cheat code in SimCity 2000?

In version 1.0, type "porntipsguzzardo", which will give you $500,000,
allow all technologies and rewards, and prevent the military from
building a base.  Once you've used this code, you will receive an
additional $500,000 each time you type "ardo".

In version 1.1, however, this was changed; you need to open the map
window and type "pirn", then click on the status window (next to the
weather), then type "topsguzzardo".  After that, typing "ardo" will
still give you an additiohnal $500,000.

For much more information on SimCity 2000, see Kevin Endo's SC2000 FAQ,
available at <ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/th/thx/>.

------------------------------

Subject: 14. What happened to the guy who did "Fool's Errand" and
             "3 in Three"?

Cliff Johnson, the author of the Macintosh games Fool's Errand, Puzzle
Gallery: At the Carnival, and 3 in Three, is now working in the FunHouse
group at Philips Media, which produces CD-i games.  His titles there
include Cartoon Carnival, Merlin's Apprentice, and Labyrinth of Crete.

A sequel to Fool's Errand and more modules for the Puzzle Gallery were
planned at one point, but they were never completed.  3 in Three is still
available from Inline Software, but Fool's Errand and At the Carnival are
out of print.

------------------------------

Subject: 15. Where can I find Wesleyan Tetris?

You can't.  Wesleyan Tetris, also known as Obnoxious Tetris or Randall
Cook's Tetris, is NOT freely distributable, and it was removed from the
major ftp sites at the request of the author, Randall Cook.

More recently, someone deliberately and maliciously uploaded a copy that
was infected with a virus, so if you have a copy of Wesleyan Tetris, you
may want to check it with Disinfectant (available at
<ftp://mirrors.aol.com/pub/mac/util/virus/>) to make sure that it's clean.
Randall Cook is not to blame for the spread of the infected copy.

------------------------------

Subject: 16. How do I run Apple ][+ games on my Mac?

STM, an Apple ][+ emulator for the Mac, is available at
<ftp://cassandra.ucr.edu/pub/apple2/STM/>.  Note that STM runs ONLY
in 256 colors and will not work on black and white Macs.

STM will NOT let you use your old Apple ][+ disks on your Macintosh (and
you'd have trouble cramming those old 5.25" disks into a 3.5" disk slot,
anyway).  The comp.emulators.apple2 FAQ, which is available at
<ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/comp.emulators.apple2/>, lists several ways
to transfer disk images, most of which involve cables or modems.  There
are already lots of Apple II disk images available at
<ftp://minnie.cs.adfa.oz.au/pub/apple2/wktimages>.  You must use a program
like ResEdit to change each disk image's type to DSK5 and creator to A2EM
for them to work with STM.

------------------------------

Subject: 17. I've done some programming on other machines, and I'd like
             to write a game on my Mac.  How do I start?

To quote the Public Domain Mac Programming FAQ Answer sheet, you'll need
"a Mac, a lot of time, and a few hundred $."  Programming on the Mac
is not for the faint of heart.  Get the Programming FAQ via ftp from
<ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/comp.sys.mac.programmer/> and read it; any
questions it doesn't answer are probably best asked in
comp.sys.mac.programmer.help or rec.games.programmer.

Another excellent and comprehensive source of advice on the subject is
Will Iverson's document, I Want To Make a Mac Game, available at
<ftp://mirrors.aol.com/pub/info-mac/dev/info/make-a-mac-game-faq-5.hqx>.
I strongly recommend that interested beginners read this from cover to
cover, as it were.

You might also find Antreas Hatzipolakis's guide to Internet Shareware-
Freeware Programming Languages For the Macintosh useful; it's at info-mac
at <ftp://mirrors.aol.com/pub/info-mac/dev/info/internet-mac-lang-30.hqx>.

And good luck!

------------------------------

Subject: 18. I've written this terrific game for the Mac.  How do I get
             it out to the major ftp sites?

Do NOT post binaries to the comp.sys.mac.games groups.  The best way to
release your game to the csm.gamers is to make it available at an ftp
site and then post an announcement about it to comp.sys.mac.games with
the site name and path.  You might want to offer to email it to people
who don't have ftp access.  For the best way to send your game to
info-mac and umich, see below:

[The rest of this answer was shamelessly stolen from L.H.Wood's
 Screensaver FAQ, with permission.]

If you want to spread good Mac shareware or freeware to the world, giving
millions of people, including me, the chance to see it, simply email a
binhexed copy of the compacted or stuffited archive to:
   <[e-mail]>
which will distribute it to ftp archives across the world, including
the big ones - info-mac, umich, their many mirrors, and comp.binaries.mac.
Remember to add a text description of the contents before that long binhex
column!

Don't send self-extracting archives (SEAs) - Compact Pro, Stuffit Expander
and Stuffit Lite are readily available from these ftp archives, and we all
know how to use them. Dial-up access to ftp sites is on the increase and
SEAs run up others' phone bills unnecessarily.

------------------------------

Subject: 19. What's "IMG"/"Inside Mac Games"?

IMG is Inside Mac Games, an an almost-monthly CD-ROM magazine dedicated
to Macintosh Computer Games.  A Free Preview Edition of each issue is
uploaded to info-mac in <ftp://mirrors.aol.com/pub/info-mac/per/img/>.
(It's also uploaded to AOL, Compu$erve, and GEnie.)

Email [e-mail] for subscription information.

Please don't post to comp.sys.mac.games.* asking whether this month's
issue of IMG has shipped.  An announcement is posted to
comp.sys.mac.games.announce when each issue ships.  If you absolutely
have to ask someone, send email to [e-mail] instead of posting.

------------------------------

Subject: 20. Are there any freeware chess games for the Mac?

An unauthorized port of Gnuchess is available at umich in
<ftp://mirrors.aol.com/pub/mac/game/board/gnuchess4.0b4.sit.hqx>.
There's also "Chess Set!", a shareware chess stack for Hypercard,
available in <ftp://mirrors.aol.com/pub/info-mac/game/brd/>.  Steve Bushell's
freeware "Chess++" is available in <ftp://ftp.std.com/pub/python/>.

------------------------------

Subject: 21. Are there any shareware mahjong games for the Mac?

Sort of.  Shanghai II and its shareware clone Gunshy are excellent games, but
they are not actually mahjong, although Shanghai does use mahjong tiles.
Rumor has it that there is a commercial version of japanese mahjong that
is only available in Japan.

There is a freeware Japanese-rules mahjong program called "Macjong 0.20a",
but it is reputedly buggy and incomplete.  It is available at umich in
<ftp://mirrors.aol.com/pub/mac/game/card/macjong0.20.sit.hqx>.

There is also a shareware mahjong game under development that uses Chinese
rules.  It is reportedly pretty good and at least as stable as Macjong.
A beta is available at
<ftp://ftp.luth.se/pub/mac/games/board/mahjong0.9.4d2.int.hqx>.

------------------------------

Subject: 22. Where can I find Unlimited Adventures updates and modules?

There is a large collection of freeware and shareware UA modules at
<ftp://ftp.csua.berkeley.edu/pub/frua/modules/> (the mac modules' names end
in .sit).  Updates are in <ftp://ftp.csua.berkeley.edu/pub/frua/patches/>.

------------------------------

Subject: 23. I always loved playing [Pacman, Star Wars, Frogger, etc.]
             at the arcade.  Is there a Mac version?

Probably.  John Komp maintains a list of Mac versions of various 80's
arcade games, and Peter Cohen has made it available on the WWW at
<http://www.tiac.net/users/flargh/mac_arcade.html>.  You can also send
email with the subject "Mac Arcade List Please" to him at
<[e-mail]>.

------------------------------

Subject: 24. What games will fail to run on my [AV Mac, PowerMac,
             bizarrely configured Mac]?  How do I fix them?

Brian Lev maintains a "Broken Games List" of games that break on AV and
PowerMacs and any known fixes.  To get a copy of the list, send email to
[e-mail] with the subject "Broken Games List Please" or
ftp it from <ftp://ftp.csua.berkeley.edu/pub/jwang/broken-games.txt>.

------------------------------

Subject: 25. What joystick should I buy for my Mac?

It depends on what games you want to use the joysticks with.  The
Thrustmaster is generally considered to be the best joystick for flight
simulators, but it's rather pricey, and it's not ideal for other games.
The Thrustmaster is reportedly also virtually unusable for left-handed
people, as it is molded to be held in the right hand.

The Gravis MouseStick II has some problems, but it works well with many
games, and it's considerably cheaper.  The Flightstick Pro is also popular
and usually less expensive than the Thrustmaster.  (This doesn't constitute
any kind of endorsement from the FAQ maintainer, who doesn't even own a
joystick.)

------------------------------

Subject: 26. Is there a FAQ for [FA-18, Sim City 2000, Civilization, Bolo,
             Pathways into Darkness, Spaceward Ho!, Marathon, 7th Guest...]

There are FAQ's for many of the more popular Macintosh games.  Try looking
in the info or games directories at the major ftp sites.  Another good
place to look if you have WWW access is Dave Stanworth's Games Domain, at
<http://wcl-rs.bham.ac.uk/GamesDomain>.

Here is a partial list of Macintosh game resources on the net.  I'm not
responsible for any inaccuracies, omissions, or outright lies on this list,
but please email any additions or corrections to me at <[e-mail]>.

A-10 Attack! FAQ:
    Petteri Sulonen's A-10 Attack! FAQ is at
    <http://www.cs.hut.fi/~psu/A10FAQ.html>.

Ambrosia home page:
    The unofficial Ambrosia home page is at
    <http://www.digitmad.com/ambrosia/ambrosia.html>.  It contains
    information about Ambrosia products such as Maelstrom, Apeiron,
    Chiral, and Swoop.

Atomic Games home page:
    The Atomic Games home page, with information about Atomic products
    such as Operation Crusader, is at <http://atomic.com/>.

Bolo FAQ:
    The Bolo FAQ is at <ftp://noproblem.uchicago.edu/pub/Bolo/!FAQ.txt> and
    in HTML form at <http://prog.vub.ac.be:8080/~gpappas/Bolo/faq.html>.
    There is an entire Big 7 newsgroup devoted to Bolo: rec.games.bolo.

Casady & Greene home page:
    The Casady & Greene home page is at <http://www.casadyg.com/>.  It
    contains information and demos for C&G games such as Glider Pro,
    Zone Warrior, and AmoebArena.

Civilization FAQ:
    Send email to <[e-mail]> with the subject "Civ FAQ please",
    ftp it from <ftp://wcl-l.bham.ac.uk/pub/djh/faqs/civilization.faq>,
    or go to <http://wcl-rs.bham.ac.uk/GamesDomain/civfaq1.html> on WWW.

Dark Forces:
    The Dark Forces home page at
    <http://deepthought.armory.com/~tdalton/DarkForces/> and Dark Forces
    FAQ at <http://gpu.srv.ualberta.ca/~kloepelm/df.html> were developed
    for the PC version, but much of the information is useful for the Mac
    version too.  There is a Dark Forces newsgroup, alt.games.dark-forces.

Delta Tao home page:
    The Delta Tao home page is at <http://www.outland.com/deltatao/>.  It
    contains information about Delta Tao products such as Spaceward Ho!,
    Strategic Conquest, and the new Dark Castle.

Domark home page:
    The Domark home page is at <http://www.domark.com/domark/>.  It contains
    information about Domark products such as Out of the Sun and Flying
    Nightmares.

DOOM FAQ:
    The rec.games.computer.doom.* FAQ is available at
    <ftp://ftp.mantis.co.uk/pub/doom/periodic/RGCD_FAQ>.  Several other
    DOOM FAQs are available at
    <ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/games/doom/>
    and are listed on the WWW at
    <http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/games/doom/top.html>.

Electronic Arts:
    The EA home page is at <http://www.ea.com/>.  But they've pretty much
    abandoned the Mac, so why bother?

Exile:
    The Exile home page is at
    <http://www.nimr.mrc.ac.uk/~m-bradbu/Exile/index.html>.

F/A-18 Hornet FAQ:
    Anon ftp it from <ftp://chemotaxis.biology.utah.edu/Public/>
    or <ftp://williams.edu/pub/Hornet.Archive/>.  The Graphics Simulations
    Corporation home page is at <http://graphsim.com/graphsim/>.

Flight Simulators:
    Scott Cherkofsky's Macintosh Flight Simulator Page at
    <http://www.shirenet.com/~crusader/html/Flight_Simulators.html>
    is a good clearinghouse for Mac flight sim URL's and information,
    including a discussion of the Thrustmaster and other joysticks.

Glider Pro:
    The official Glider Pro page at <http://www.casadyg.com/gliderp.html>
    includes the latest updater and a fistful of downloadable houses.
    There is also an unofficial Glider Pro page at
    <http://falcon.cc.ukans.edu/~cubsfan/glider/glider.html>.

Graphics Simulations Corporation:
    The GSC home page is at <http://graphsim.com/graphsim/>.  See also
    the entry for F/A-18 Hornet.

Infocom games/Interactive Fiction:
    For information about Infocom games, the Scott Adams adventures, or
    just about any other sort of text adventure, check out the Interactive
    Fiction archive at <ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/>.  Also see the Usenet
    newsgroups rec.arts.int-fiction and rec.games.int-fiction.

Loderunner:
    The ftp site for homebrew Loderunner levels is
    <ftp://wcl-l.bham.ac.uk/pub/djh/loderunner/>.  To upload levels, contact
    Ron Hunsigner at <[e-mail]>.

LucasArts home page;
    The official LucasArts home page is at <http://www.lucasarts.com/>,
    but it's rather slow and difficult to connect to right now.  Instead,
    try the unofficial but much more stable Lucasarts home page at
    <http://bantha.pc.cc.cmu.edu/LUCASARTS>.

Macintosh Strategy Games list:
    Michael Hanson <[e-mail]> maintains an excellent list of
    strategic games for the Macintosh, with pointers to further information,
    at <http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~hanson/mac_strat_games.html>.

MacPlay home page:
    The home page for MacPlay, the Mac division of Interplay, is at
    <http://www.macplay.com>.  It includes information and demos for
    MacPlay games such as Castles: Siege & Conquest, Wolfenstein 3D,
    Kyrandia, and Flashback.

Marathon:
    The undisputed Marathon Mecca of the Internet is <ftp://ftp.amug.org>,
    which contains patches, editors, hint files, homebrew levels, and
    just about anything else having to do with Marathon you can imagine
    (and lots of things you can't).  If you can't find it there, it
    probably doesn't exist.  It is, however, a very very busy site (you're
    not the only one whose life has been consumed by Marathon, you know),
    so you may have difficulty connecting during peak hours.

Marathon Demo FAQ:
    Send email to Aapo Puskala at <[e-mail]> with the
    subject "Marathon FAQ please".

Marathon Engine FAQ:
    Send email to Jeff Eaton at <[e-mail]> with the subject
    "Engine FAQ please".  Jeff adds that a copy of the FAQ will be
    sent automatically; questions about how to get past the crushing
    room in Defend This! wil be ignored.  :-)

Marathon Hyperarchive(s):
    The Marathon Hyperarchive is a graphical interface to the amug ftp site.
    It is at <http://www.amug.org/~marathon/steve/hyper/index.html> and is
    maintained by Steven M. Wood <[e-mail]>.  A sort-of-mirror
    of the Marathon Hyperarchive is maintained by Claude Errera
    <[e-mail]> at
    <http://www.ese.ogi.edu/pub/entertainment/marathon/>; most of the
    files are local to that machine, so it may be faster to download from
    this site than from amug.

Marathon Spoiler Guide:
    You can ftp it from umich in
    <ftp://mirrors.aol.com/pub/mac/game/gameutil/>,
    send email to Michael K. Neylon at <[e-mail]> with
    the subject "Marathon Spoiler Guide Please", or find it on the WWW at
    <http://www.engin.umich.edu/labs/mel/mneylon/marathon/marathon.html>.

Microprose home page:
    The Microprose/Spectrum Holobyte home page is at
    <http://www.microprose.com/>.

Myst Hints:
    You can find a hierarchichal system of Myst hints at
    <http://www.astro.washington.edu/ingram/myst/index.html>

Operation Crusader:
    The Operation Crusader home page is at <http://atomic.com/Crusader.html>;
    and an extensive Operation Crusader FAQ is available at
    <http://atomic.com/cru/OC_FAQ.html>.

Pathways into Darkness FAQ:
    David Reevely's Pathways into Darkness FAQ is available at
    <ftp://mirrors.aol.com/pub/mac/game/gameutil/pathways.faq.txt>.
    There are also "Pathways into Cheating" and "PID Basic Survival Guide"
    documents available in <ftp://mirrors.aol.com/pub/mac/game/gameutil/>.

Realmz:
    Send email to Ivan Chou at <[e-mail]> with the
    subject "Realmz FAQ please" or go to Bill Ferguson's Unofficial Realmz
    Page at <http://www.realtime.net/~bill/realmz/index.html>.  For even
    more Realmz info, take a look at Jim Foley's other Unofficial Realmz
    Page at <http://www.engr.wisc.edu/~foley/realmz.html>.

Realmz: Prelude to Pestilence FAQ:
    Send email to Bo Lundqvist at <[e-mail]> with
    the subject "Realmz Prelude Faq please" or ftp it from
    <ftp://wcl-l.bham.ac.uk/pub/djh/faqs/realmz-prelude.faq>.

The 7th Guest FAQ:
    You can ftp it from <ftp://wcl-l.bham.ac.uk/pub/djh/faqs/T7G.faq>.
    This FAQ does not contain the solutions to all of the puzzles, but
    it has a considerable number of hints and solutions.

Sim City 2000 FAQ:
    Send email to Kevin Endo at <[e-mail]> with the subject
    "SC2K FAQ please" or ftp it from <ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/th/thx/>.

SimTower FAQ:
    Send email to Brad Stuart at <[e-mail]> with the subject
    line "SimTower FAQ please."  It's also available as a Web page at
    <http://cville-srv.wam.umd.edu/~bvs/simtower.html>.

Spaceward Ho! FAQ:
    Send email to <[e-mail]> with the subject 'SPHO FAQ'
    (without the quotes, all uppercase), or anon ftp it from
    <ftp://ftp.cc.columbia.edu/pub/beecher/spaceward-ho-faq>.
    It's also available as a Web page at
    <http://www.columbia.edu/~beecher/ho/spaceward-ho-faq.html>.
    See also the Delta Tao home page at <http://www.outland.com/deltatao/>.

Warlords II:
    The Warlords II FAQ is available at the Warlords II home page, at
    <http://www.princeton.edu/~rfheeter/w2home.html>.  This page is
    maintained by Robert Heeter, <[e-mail]>.

Wolfenstein 3D:
    Doug Ingram maintains a site at
    <http://www.astro.washington.edu/ingram/wolf.html> that contains
    everything the Wolfenstein addict could possibly need:  level editors
    and random level generators, WolfenCheat, WolfenZoom, and fistfuls
    of homebrew Wolf levels.

------------------------------

Subject: Credits

This document is copyright 1995 by Christina Schulman.

Suggestions and additions to this FAQ have been contributed by:

Ian J. Ball <[e-mail]>
Simon K Boocock <[e-mail]>
Anthony Chan <[e-mail]>
Barry Klawans <[e-mail]>
John Komp <[e-mail]>
Hidetaka Mizohata <[e-mail]>
Rich "Akira" Pizor <[e-mail]>
Bill Rausch <[e-mail]>
Ingemar Ragnemalm <[e-mail]>
Jeff Strobel <[e-mail]>
Dave Stanworth <[e-mail]>
Sherman Uitzetter <[e-mail]>
L.H. Wood <[e-mail]>
Kurt Yoder <[e-mail]>

Thanks, guys!