PfhorSlayer has published the first screenshots of version 2.0 of Aquaduct, the Xbox tunneling app for Mac OS X. Aquaduct 2 features compatibility with XBConnect as well as a new interface.

Jarvis Badgley, via Louis Wu of HBO, noticed a good, if belated, review of Halo for the Macintosh over at MacOSXHints by robg.One thing I can say-- this review has to be the third or fourth time I've seen a Mac user write that the game actually performs better at higher resolutions than at 640x480, a behavior pretty much the opposite of what I've experienced with Halo on PCs.

Bungie has put up a series of pages about the dedicated Halo PC servers they run that are hosted by HomeLAN, the same outfit that hosts well-known webcomic Penny Arcade.

VersionTracker now lists an entry for PPFMaster 1.0, a Mac application created by Scotiasoft Systems for applying PlayStation Patch Files. From their site:

The Mac version of Halo has now reached 1.03, bringing it compatible with the large number of PC-based servers out there that have already been running 1.03 for some weeks now. HBO is running a list of mirrors for the patch. We've also put up our own mirror of the Mac Halo 1.03 Updater. This also means that the HBO-Subnova Halo PC server has also been upgraded to 1.03 once more, bringing back some of the stranger custom gametypes that were hosted on it earlier. Thanks to Frankie for the heads-up over on Bungie.net.

UPDATE: VersionTracker, a site that... well, tracks versions, if you're into that sort of thing, also has a page on the Halo 1.03 Update, and some users have put some quite negative comments on it about the update. This mainly has to do with requiring the CD in the drive to play the game, which is especially aggravating to laptop users (like myself) who don't like to carry a lot of CDs (or use up precious battery life) while on the move. Here's hoping that at least, once MacSoft is satisfied they've sold all the copies of Mac Halo that they're going to, they'll change their minds and remove this requirement in a later patch; currently the Read Me file states:

Previous versions of Halo did not require you to have a CD inserted to play the game. Unfortunately, due to heavy illegal online downloading of the software, this and all future versions of Halo will require a CD to play.

Sympathizing as I do with the all-too-logical desire to get paid for work you've done, I can understand how someone stealing your stuff can piss you off.

Well, for us personally here at Rampancy, the circle has finally completed. The new Bungie game that eventually became Halo was a mere collection of rumors referred to collectively as Blam when sites like HBO and The Core (later Rampancy) started. Later it was introduced, to the surprise and awe of many, at Macworld New York in the summer of 1999, and was immediately heralded as the next big thing in gaming, and that as a Mac game would singlehandedly revitalize the Mac gaming scene.

That didn't happen, of course. Bungie became the premier Xbox developer and Halo the must-have title that drove Xbox sales, and only now, at the end of 2003, more than four years after we first heard the strains of Marty O'Donnell's soundtrack during a demo film generated in real time, using OpenGL, on a Macintosh, can we play Halo, in real time, using OpenGL, on our Macintosh.

And now our holiday care package has finally arrived at Rampancy headquarters, including a copy of Mac Halo, two copies of Halo for Windows, as well as Eric Nylund's latest Halo novelization First Strike, which was devoured all in one sitting last night. More on that later. In general, I enjoyed it, and I have to say I enjoy Nylund's style better than that of William Dietz, who novelized the plot of the first Xbox game in the title Halo: The Flood. However, the most interesting things about it were the potential implications for the plot and gameplay of Halo 2.

It feels great to finally play Halo on the Mac; the game is just as much fun as it ever was, and the new maps and weapons, as well as the availability of internet multiplayer, are more than welcome additions. One might be tempted to grouse about how long it took, but that isn't finally the point.

It was especially gratifying to see that the Special Thanks section of the original game-- which appears in the Xbox version's booklet and in-game credits, was carried over into the books and credits for the Mac and PC versions. Especially gratifying since Tyson "Ferrex" Green of Bungie, primarily responsible for starting The Core/Rampancy and whose legacy is a major part of the reason this site is still here, was kind enough to send out thanks to the denizens of Rampancy.net and Rampancy Hotline in his special thanks, for which we're eternally grateful.

Frag on, you crazy diamonds.

Aquaduct 2 has been announced by PhforSlayer of Postpose. Aquaduct users can now play against those using the XBConnect tunneler for Windows, as well as use a nifty new interface for listing, hosting and joining games. Aquaduct 2 should be available "soon" according to the site.

The 2003 Game Hall of Fame article is up at Macworld, but it doesn't mention Halo outside of its "upcoming games" section, as they say Halo was released too late to be considered this year.

Good grief, what was there to consider?

Well, maybe Stuntmutt will have to modify one of his new characters in One One Se7en, as it appears that Mac Halo doesn't suffer from the same performance bottlenecks that PC Halo does-- at least not according to Corey Tamas of Macgamer, who rated Mac Halo 99 out of a 100.

Brandon "vector40" Oto has written a tutorial on flying the Banshee called Banshee Handling in our Halo Articles section. Maybe this will help me a bit; frankly, I've been on the side of the argument that says that Banshees are unbalancing Halo multiplayer, but that may be because of lag... or lack of skill. Yeah, definitely lag... or lack of skill.

Several IMG reader reviews, as well as the IMG review itself, have listed as a con that FSAA (full screen anti-aliasing) is broken in Mac Halo. However, a quick turn around the forums at Gearbox that ported Halo from the Xbox to the PC will turn up the fact that Halo does not support FSAA.

Jean-Luc Dinsdale from InsideMacGames has (predictably, if also accurately) gushed about Halo on the Mac, calling it "the most advanced, the best produced, the most amazing first-person shooter to have ever graced [the] Mac". (All you Half-Life fans, make sure you read that last part carefully.The four-page review is quite thorough, but overall they give the game a 9.25 out of ten (what are they using, the Richter scale?) The review also ends with an important note for those who haven't yet gotten over the Microsoft buyout:

According to SketchFactor, there's another edition of Ask The Cananimators up at Bungie.net; I think this is the third installment. It's about bacon again. And hockey.

Halo for the MacOS platform (MacOS X only) has now shipped in North America; news has spread around the Web from MacCentral, Blue's News, Break Point Halo, and, of course, HBO.