Despite of the popularity of shoot-em-ups, like Doom II, good computer games don’t have to be violent. Maxis, the maker of the wildly successful SimCity, has a bunch of new titles out that let users simulate various activities and even learn a little in the process. But Check out SimTower, in which you have to build and run a skyscraper, and SimTown, a whimsical children’s version of SimCity. They’re each less than $50 for the Macintosh; PC versions won’t be out until after the New Year.

CD-ROM drives are becoming a standard computer peripheral. If you don’t have one, consider putting one on the Christmas list (assuming your computer has enough power to handle CD-ROM):Prices for the cheapest CD-ROM drives are down to around $200. Beware of prepackaged multimedia kits:you’ll often find that you can get the individual items cheaper (especially speakers) if you buy them separately.

And you’ll want some of the best software for these powerful multimedia devices. For kids, Broderbund’s Living Books are standouts, with particular nods to Tortoise and the Hare and Harry and the Haunted House. Science fiction fans will like the amazing Star Trek:The Next Generation Interactive Technical Manual or the dazzling Rebel Assault, LucasFilms’ game based on the Star Wars movies.

Myst remains the gold standard for complex and beautiful CD-ROM problem-solving games; if you know someone who’s figured out the mystery of Myst’s world and is looking for new challenges, try The 7th Guest. All of these CD-ROMs are available for PCs and Macs, for $40 or $50 apiece.

Speaking of CD-ROMs, Voyager has a wild new one for the Macintosh based on the classic movie parody This Is Spinal Tap. It includes the complete film plus all sorts of background material, outtakes and related goofiness. A PC version is due next year. Elsewhere on the popular-culture front, Seventh Level’s Monty Python CD-ROM, for PCs, has garnered rave reviews, but stay away from GameTek’s Saturday Night Live:The First 20 Years, which looks like it was put together in a hurry with very little imagination. All of these are about $50.

CD-ROM encyclopedias still aren’t really up to snuff, but there are a couple of CD-ROM reference works worth checking out. Street Atlas USA, for PCs and Macs, provides maps of virtually every place in the United States. It’s great fun to throw it an obscure, remote address and watch it show up on a map on your screen. And PC owners should check out Dorling-Kindersley’s CD-ROM version of David Macaulay’s The Way Things Work, one of the most delightful educational CD-ROMs to come along yet.

If you know somebody with an artistic bent, get him a copy of the incredible KPT Bryce, about $100 for Macintosh; it creates highly realistic artificial landscapes. Younger artists (and older ones too) will have a ball with Dabbler, about $50 for PC and Mac. It makes art fun.

Writers will appreciate the newest version of Microsoft’s Word, 6.0, which runs about $300, or just $100 if you’re upgrading from an earlier version. The Macintosh version of Word 6.0 has been slammed by Macintosh magazines as too big and too slow, and those are fair criticisms, but the payback is incredible power and features such as resume and newsletter-makers.

Everybody seems to love screen savers, and Berkeley Systems’ After Dark continues to lead the pack by a wide margin. The latest version, 3.0, adds a number of valuable features and even more cute new modules. Berkeley also has special versions out for fans of Star Trek and The Simpsons.

Also from Berkeley:Expresso, a colorful and powerful datebook and organizer whose only disadvantage is that it eats up a lot of hard-disk space.

Every computer owner wishes for more memory, of either the storage or operating variety. Hard-disk prices have fallen sharply in recent weeks:I picked up a 730-megabyte drive for a bit more than $300, a price that would have been unthinkable this time last year. Operating memory also continues to fall in price, and it always comes in handy to provide room to run today’s bigger programs.

Macintosh owners have an advantage here, though:Any owner of a newer Mac will love to get the under-$60 RamDoubler as a gift. It uses software tricks to double the amount of available operating memory, a miracle that’s in keeping with the spirit of the holiday season. That’s a lot cheaper than buying new memory for your machine. ^Mark Potts is director of product development at Digital Ink, The Washington Post Co.’s electronic-media subsidiary. His e-mail address is pottsm(at)twp.com

LA TIMES-WASHINGTON POST12-12-94 1648EST