9 Years Celebration
THE YEAR IN HEADLINES - PART 2
October 2006
October 12 REYNOLDS GDC TALK ONLINE
"As part of its GDC Radio series of podcasts, game development website Gamasutra has published the full audio recording of a one-hour lecture Brian Reynolds gave on AI design at the Game Developers Conference of 2004. Whilst two years old, the presentation is still relevant for game designers today and includes some case studies that many Civ fans will be interested in."
October 12 SID MEIER ON GAMING
"Sid Meier sat down for an extensive interview with Shacknews about his views of gaming in general and his own experiences with game playing and game development in particular. For the opening question, Sid describes how he got into game development."
October 17 STEADY AS SHE GOES
"For the month of September 2006, Civilization IV was still doing well in the sales charts in North America, according to NPD Group which tracks unit sales across the continent. The game maintained it`s August ranking of 6th best selling PC game. The expansion Warlords fared less well: it was in the top 4 in August but dropped to the 18th spot in September. "
October 19 `AON` EPISODE 110 RELEASED
"The tenth episode of Age of Nations (AoN), "The Siege", has been released. Written by Daniel "DanQ" Quick, [t]he Greeks are coming to realize that not only is the war not going in their favour, but that it is going to get worse before it can get better. Threats from within also take a leap forward as actions turn violent..."
October 20 POLYCAST: THE OFFICIAL A.C.S. PODCAST
"The Civilization community now has an interactive voice. Apolyton Civilization Site (ACS) is the first Civ fansite to launch its own podcast. PolyCast is a bi-weekly roughly one-hour production featuring co-hosts Daniel "DanQ" Quick, Wouter "Locutus" Snijders, Makahlua and Imran Siddiqui.
Standard segments in each episode are an introduction, "In the News", "Interview" and an ending; other regular segments are featured on a rotating basis. "
October 23 NEW FIRAXIS PODCAST UP
"The fourth official Firaxis Games podcast has been released on the Firaxis website.
In this episode, your host Firaxis artist Steve Ogden talks about Civilization IV: Warlords getting nominated for a BAFTA Award and the release of Civilization Chronicles and Sid Meier’s Railroads!"
October 23 BRUCE SHELLEY INTERVIEW
"We’ve received another interview that is a "deleted scene" of sorts from the 96-page book The Chronicles of Civilization that's included in the Civilization Chronicles games collection but was ultimately cut from it. Quotes from this interview are still in the book, but the full thing is also well worth reading. The interview is with Bruce Campbell Shelley, the assistant designer on the original Sid Meier’s Civilization, and covers 5 questions and 11 anecdotes about the development of that game. It was once again conducted by Troy Goodfellow."
October 25 2K HAS DISCOVERED STEAM POWER
"2K Games, publisher of Civilization IV, and Valve have announced that they have reached an agreement to distribute a number of 2K`s games on Valve’s online distribution platform Steam. Among these games are the Firaxis products Civilization III, Civilization IV as well as Sid Meier’s Pirates!"
October 26 ONE OF THE 50 GREATEST GAMES
"Sid Meier’s Civilization II has been declared one fo the 50 Greatest Video Games of All Time in a book titled appropriately Game On! From Pong to Oblivion: The 50 Greatest Video Games of All Time that was released earlier this week (available in the US as well as Europe). Written by three British game journalists with 30 years of experience between them (Simon Byron, Ste Curran and David McCarthy), their aim was to write a book which would appeal to a general audience (not necessarily gamers) and give a complete overview of the history of video games, in all its forms and formats."
October 26 EMPIRES! RELOADED
"Alt Civs programmer Dale is back and with a vengeance. Covertly announced during the premiere of PolyCast, he has revived his old project Empires by adding an exclamation mark to the title Sid Meier-style (talk about ambitious ) and plans to re-invent the game on a 3D engine with some major gameplay changes."
October 27 PATCH V1.40X RELEASED
"Stardock has released a new patch for Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords, bringing the game up to v1.4, or v1.40X as this update will be called in-game. The new version has some updated graphics, updated balancing of planetary improvements, a host of fixes to make modded games more robust, and much more."
October 31 WARLORDS PATCH 2.08 OUT
"Today the long-awaited patch for Civilization IV: Warlords was released by 2K Games."
October 31 A06: `THE BRIAN REYNOLDS SESSION` (PART 1/5)
"The first in a five-part serial with Big Huge Games Chief Executive Officer & Creative Director Brian Reynolds from ApolyCon `06 held in Timonium, Maryland this past July has been posted."
November 2006
November 1 AOM4 RELEASED
"For a long time Stan Karpinski maintained that Ages of Man III would be the last release for the series of major Call to Power II mods that have been dubbed unofficial sequels by many in the CtP community. But two months ago he changed his mind and started to develop Ages of Man IV, which he released a few days ago. This latest version has no major new features, but is a cleaning-up and rebalancing of the game."
November 1 COLUMN #227; BY SOREN JOHNSON
"We’ve received yet another excerpt from the 96-page book The Chronicles of Civilization that is packaged with the recently released Civilization Chronicles. This time it’s a chapter written by Civilization IV Lead Designer Soren Johnson about the online Civilization community."
November 17 SOREN ON `CIV` PODCAST
"Civilization III Co-Designer and Civilization IV Lead Designer Soren Johnson from Firaxis Games discusses his role in Civilization Chronicles with two of Apolyton Civilization Site`s (ACS) staff, Wouter "Locutus" Snijders and Makahlua."
November 24 `AON` EPISODE 111 RELEASED
"The eleventh episode of Age of Nations (AoN), "Distant Shores", has been released. Written by Gordon "Illuminatus" Smith, literally and figuratively, nations and factions within nations are beginning to distance themselves from one another at an alarming rate. Frustrations in the military brass and growing resentment within their ranks along with annoyance and irritation within governments push patience to its limits."
November 24 `TRANSITION 2006`: EXECUTIVE CHANGES
"As of November 1st, 2006, Apolyton Civilization Site (ACS) ceased being a venture jointly owned and administered by two individuals as it had been since its founding on July 26th, 1998. ACS co-founder Daniel "DanQ" Quick is now controlling owner and administrator with existing staff members Wouter "Locutus" Snijders, Ming and rah as part-owners and administrators. Markos Giannopoulos, who founded and for more than eight years co-owned and administered ACS along with Quick, is remaining on staff as Technical Director."
November 27 NEW STAFF MEMBER; CIV4 SITE UPDATE
"Shortly after the change in site ownership a new member was added to the Apolyton Staff -- Diadem (also known as Michiel in real life). He will be the new Civ4 Content Editor, responsible from bringing and keeping our Civilization IV section up-to-date."
December 2006
December 6 NEW OTF MODERATOR
"A message from Ming: It is with great pleasure that I announce that we have suckered somebody into being a moderator for the OTF and its related subforums. Against his better judgment, Drogue has agreed to take the position."
December 9 DECLINING BUT STILL THERE
"For the month of October 2006, Civilization IV was still hanging on in the sales charts in North America, according to NPD Group which tracks unit sales across the continent. It dropped 8 spots in the ranking of best-selling PC games, from 6th in September to 14th in October. Its expansion Warlords fared less well: whilst still 18th the previous month it has dropped out of the top 20 since."
December 9 WARLORDS FOR MAC RELEASED
"Aspyr Media has started shipping the Mac version of Civilization IV’s expansion pack Warlords. The game is available on DVD and the suggested retail price is $29.99."
December 9 TWO NEW CTP2 STAFF MEMBERS
"The Apolyton Staff Room is starting to feel crowded as yet more people have signed up for a shiny staff badge. Long-time respected Call to Power II community members and modders E and BureauBert have been asked and accepted the role of joint content editors and forum moderators for our CtP2 section and forums."
December 11 BHG LICENSES `LEFT BEHIND`
"Big Huge Games have signed a multiyear technology licensing agreement with Left Behind Games for the development of a sequel to their recently released game, Left Behind: Eternal Forces. Left Behind: Eternal Forces is a controversial game set in the world of the popular Left Behind apocalyptic franchise."
December 11 GAMASUTRA INTERVIEWS BRAD WARDELL
"Gamasutra has published their five page long interview with "Master of the Galaxy" Brad Wardell.
Brad Wardell talks about their attempts to acquire Master of Magic license from Atari, differences between GalCiv2 and Dark Avatar, their new MMO game Society that is currently under a development hiatus, his stances on copy protection and trends in gaming industry today."
December 13 GAMESPOT Q&A WITH SID
"Tor Thorsen of GameSpot has done a Question and Answers session with Sid Meier about the recent release of Civilization Chronicles to take a look back at Civilization`s past--and its future."
December 15 CIV: #10 TOP FRANCHISE - IGN
"Gaming website IGN has listed Sid Meier`s Civilization as #10 in its list of the top 25 franchises in gaming history.
IGN applauds Civilization as having pioneered the turn-based strategy genre through its addictive mix of exploration, economics, warfare, research, and diplomacy, and for the ultimate one-more-turn feeling we all know and love."
December 20 GAMESPY: BEST TBS OF 2006
"Gamespy has declared Galactic Civilizations II: The Dread Lords the turned based strategy of 2006. It is also the sixth best PC game of 2006."
December 21 `AON` EPISODE 112 RELEASED
"The twelfth episode of Age of Nations (AoN), "Difficult Choices", has been released. Written by Gordon "Illuminatus" Smith and Daniel "DanQ" Quick, [f]acing a full invasion, civil and military leaders in Greece are fracturing further. A sense of regionalism is now spreading amongst the populace. Two familiar faces make their return in the process: one set to help unite the country from the outside, and the other sure to divide it further from within."
January 2007
January 7 POLYCAST `BLOOPERS: VOLUME 1`
"PolyCast, Apolyton Civilization Site`s (ACS) official podcast, is not perfect. If there was ever any doubt to this statement, it can all be removed thanks to the release of the audio series` first blooper reel."
January 10 PRAISE FOR BOTH `WARLORDS` AND `DREAD LORDS`
"Worthplaying announced at the end of 2006 Civilizations IV: Warlords expansion pack came in 18th place for all game platforms, and Galactic Civilizations 2:Dread Lords came in tied for 12th place for all game platforms."
"FiringSquad found a worthy holder of the 3rd best game of 2006 in Galactic Civilizations 2: Dread Lords by developer-publisher Stardock."
"Voodoo Extreme: 2006 Game of the year awards gives the Underdog of the year award to Galactic Civilizations II by Stardock, and shows Civilization IV Warlords in at number 18 for the Game of the year by Firaxis."
"Gamerdad gives Galatic Civilizations 2 Dread Lords and Civilization IV Warlords a perfect ten!"
"Gamers Temple shows some r-e-s-p-e-c-t for Civilization IV Warlords by giving a good 88% while stating this is a must have for civ fans everywhere. Gamers Temple also pay a high compliment by calling Galatic Civilizations 2 Dread Lords the best space strategy game of 2006 and backs it with a sweet 92% rating."
"IGN gives Galatic Civilizations 2 Dread Lords an honorable mention as one of the Editors Choice 2006 top choices. IGN also gives Civilizations IV Warlords a solid third place in its 2006 Editors Choice Awards courtesy of Editor Steve Butts."
January 11 STATE OF PLAY: FIRAXIS
"State of Play a featured article over at Computer and Videogames.com about Firaxis done by none other than Soren Johnson. This article gives us a look at the Industry through the eyes of Soren Johnson"
January 14 `GRANDPA TROLL` JOINS STAFF
"Long-time Apolyton Civilization Site community member Bruce "Grandpa Troll" Cronkite effectively joined the site`s staff on January 7th as a News Editor by starting to submit a number of items, and it is now official today."
January 15 A06: `THE PAUL STEPHANOUK PRESENTATION` (PART 1/5)
"During ApolyCon `06 held in Timonium, Maryland this past July, Big Huge Games (BHG) designer Paul Stephanouk gave a presentation to attendees on the development of the company’s premiere title, Rise of Nations, which offered a glimpse into BHG` approach to game in general."
February 2007
February 9 DARK AVATAR RELEASED EARLY
"Galactic Civilizations 2: Dark Avatar has been released a week early. You can purchase the game through Stardock Central."
February 12 A06: `FIRAXIS Q&A` (PART 1/5)
"During ApolyCon `06 held in Timonium, Maryland last July, Firaxis Games Director of Creative Development Sid Meier, Designer/Programmer Soren Johnson and Senior Producer Barry Caudill answered attendee questions about the company, the Civilization series and computer strategy gaming in general."
February 19 DARK AVATAR SCORES OVERWHELMINGLY POSITIVE REVIEWS
The latest expansion to Galactic Civilizations II, Dark Avatar, has been well received by various critics. An improved AI, increased game options, and added customizability were, among others, frequently cited reasons for their praise.”
February 22 `AON` EPISODE 113 RELEASED
"The thirteenth episode of Age of Nations (AoN), "Loyalties Questioned", has been released. Written by Gordon "Illuminatus" Smith and Daniel "DanQ" Quick, [q]uestions are getting answered, but how they are received on all sides of this tireless and tiring war is not so forthcoming. To this end, growing desperation leads one ally to turn on another and then point elsewhere for the cause"
February 27 NEW `FREECIV` VERSIONS RELEASED
"Himasaram reports that the Freeciv project has released two new versions - the stable 2.0.9 version and the third beta of 2.1.0."
February 27 VOX IMPERIUM: PLAY CIV IN YOUR BROWSER
"Ajax-based Vox Imperium is now open to play. Vox Imperium is a free browser strategy game, which draws from a rich history of strategy gaming, bringing together elements from Civilization, Settlers of Catan, and Go, spliced together with a slick web interface to create unique gameplay that will challenge both the novice and the seasoned tactician."
February 27 LIKE COLONIZATION? PLAY FREECOL!
"FreeCol, a GPL Colonization clone, has been under development for the last two years and is currently at version 0.5.3. The game is playable both in single-player and multiplayer modes, and has an impressive array of features."
February 28 FREE MMORPG CIV IN BETA
"Ever wondered what it would be like to play Civilization as a MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online game) or an RPG (role-playing game)? Well, wonder no more, since a new project has been started that allows you to do both things at the same time! Civ-Online is a free text-based MMORPG that’s based on Civilization."
March 2007
March 1 TAKE TWO EXPLAINS FINANCIAL PRESENT AND FUTURE
"Release of 2006 earnings from Take Two Interactive comes with a boggling loss after a profitable 2005 report. Citing the transition between new gaming consoles, lower average selling prices of current generation software and higher development costs for the next generation software, claims by the company expect the investments to produce a positive 2007 fiscal result."
March 11 PATCH 1.5X OUT FOR DARK AVATAR
"GameSlave reports another patch, this one Version 1.5X with a substantial list of tweaks. This article covers what can be found by downloading the patch over at Stardock Central."
March 13 ACADEMICS: CIV1/2 AMONG 10 MOST IMPORTANT GAMES OF ALL TIME
“A committee of two game designers, two academics and a game journalist selected the ten most important video games of all time: Spacewar! (1962), Star Raiders (1979), Zork (1980), Tetris (1985), SimCity (1989), Super Mario Bros. 3 (1990), Civilization I/II (1991), Doom (1993), Warcraft series (beginning 1994) and Sensible World of Soccer (1994).
According to Steve Mezetzky, one of the game designers on the committee, Civilization`s balance, opponent AI, interesting victory conditions and constant stream of tantalizing rewards made the game extremely addictive and always pushed the player to play just 10 more minutes."
March 14 MAC PATCHES FOR CIV4 & WARLORDS
"Aspyr Media has released new patches for the Mac versions of both Civilization IV and its Warlords expansion, bringing them up to v1.61 Rev C and v1.0 Rev B respectively. The Warlords patch brings the users up to compatibility with version 2.08 of the PC."
March 15 SID & SOREN SHARE SPOT IN HOT 100
"Game industry website Next Generation has compiled and released their traditional list of of Hot 100 Game Developers, in which they list the most influential names in the game industry of the past year and the potentially biggest names for the year to come. Just like last year, both Civilization IV designer Soren Johnson and Civilization guru Sid Meier made it onto this list, sharing the 67th spot."
March 16 POLYCAST `BLOOPERS: VOLUME 2`
"PolyCast, Apolyton Civilization Site`s (ACS) official podcast, is not perfect. If there was ever any doubt to this statement, it can all be removed -- perhaps again -- thanks to the release of the second blooper reel from the audio series."
March 18 CIVILIZATION IV RANKS # 2 PC GAME OF ALL TIME
"IGN`sTop 25 P C Games of all time brings our very own Civilization IV developed by Firaxis and published by Take Two Interactive in at the number two slot!"
March 22 `AON` EPISODE 114 RELEASED
"The fourteenth episode and season finale of Age of Nations (AoN), "Loyalties Tested", has been released. Written by Daniel "DanQ" Quick and Gordon "Illuminatus" Smith, [t]he Greeks prepare for another assault attempt on an enemy city with the Egyptians hot on their trail. A third faction looks to follow-through on its promise of support, while elements of another make a decision to explore switching sides in the intercontinental conflict."
March 24 SID MEIER INTERVIEW AT GUARDIAN UNLIMITED
"Guardian Unlimited did a very revealing interview with the Guru himself, Sid Meier. While this covers many subjects of interest to us, Poly Peeps will be the mention of Civilization version for DS with a Wi-Fi six player mode. In addition, a small crumb trail could have been started with Sid`s remark about the potential future of Civilization V."
March 28 NEW EXPANSION ANNOUNCED: `BEYOND THE SWORD`
"Strategy Informer has exciting news: a new Civilization IV expansion pack is on its way! Titled Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword and scheduled for release in July 2007, this expansion will focus on the later eras of the game (post-Gunpowder)."
March 30 TAKE-TWO BOARD OVERTHROWN
"Minutes ago at the annual shareholders meeting of Take-Two Interactive (TTI) a group of disgruntled shareholders has voted out the existing Board of Directors and CEO and replaced them with a selection of their own.
The new Board plans to put in place strategies designed to revitalize Take-Two, focus on supporting and enhancing its creative output, improve its margins and ensure that the 2007 release pipeline meets expectations."
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