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The Sky's the Limit

He also enjoys Age of Empires II, which will appeal to anyone who loves to play such strategy games as Sid Meier’s Civilization III. You control one of 13 kingdoms and lead it from the fall of Rome to the Middle Ages, a span of 1,000 years. Not only must your armies be stronger than your opponents’, but you must be a skilled negotiator too if you want to conquer the world.

Fresh, relevant, culturally-interesting experiences.

“Quite simply, Age II is one of the most popular and interesting games created for any platform, ever,” Tamte states flatly when asked why he sought to bring the game to the Mac. “It’s a great example of a game that offers an experience unlike any other game. It’s a model that I hope we can follow when we create our own games.”

AOE II: Catapulting into action.
AOE II: Catapulting into action.

New Ideas, New Games
Not only will Destineer release ports of games available for other platforms, but it will also be creating original content that is currently under tighter wraps than the Star Wars prequels and Matrix sequels combined.

  “We are developing our own technology from the ground up,” Tamte affirms, “and, although this technology will run on a variety of machines, it will be especially good at delivering visually astounding experiences on a Power Mac with NVIDIA GeForce graphics.”

Links 2002: Golfers' paradise.
Links 2002: Golfers’ paradise.

Destineer currently employs 12 people to handle the conversion work (most of which is being handled by Westlake Interactive (Age of Empires II) and Green Dragon Creations (Links LS 2002)) and develop new content, but Tamte expects that number to grow to 40 next year and likely hit 80 within two years, which is good news for anyone wondering what kind of resources the company will have to draw from for Mac games.

Links 2002: Design your dream course.
Links 2002: Design your dream course.

“As a developer,” he says, “Destineer Studios is firmly committed to simultaneous Mac/PC development.”

But that kind of commitment shouldn’t be surprising coming from a guy who’s so excited about the bright future of Macs and gaming.
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