A RELIGIOUS REVIEW
(19 July 2008, 00:21 | Civ4 | 26 comments) Jordan J. Ballor of Blogcritics magazine posted an article that reviews Civilization IV from a religious perspective. First summing up what other religious sources have said about the game, Ballor postulates:

Indeed, while Civ IV deserves praise for integrating non-material elements like religion and culture into the game play, in the end these pieces suffer the same fate as the rest of the game`s components. Civ IV, ultimately, is less about the development of civilization than it is about the expansion of imperial tyranny.

He continues to explain what role religion plays in the game but how in the end it still boils down to conquer[ing] your opponents, by any means necessary.

The author concludes the the game`s popularity is well deserved as it taps in to a fundamental human drive for dominance in a way that promotes critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity. He compliments the interface while taking issue with the repetive nature of the gameplay and some of its bugs, as well as the underwhelming graphics. Overall the author considers it a suberb game though, but the adeptness with which it meets the deepest human desires for power and control teaches us as much about ourselves as it does about the progressive unfolding of history.

Read the full two-page review on the Blogcritics site. - Locutus

BTS PATCH 3.17 OUT NOW!!!
(18 June 2008, 22:53 | Civ4 | 96 comments) Firaxis Games, producers of Civilization 4 and Civilization 4:Beyond the Sword, have released a new update to their title Civ4:Beyond the Sword. This patch updates Civ4: Beyond the Sword to version 3.17 and should supersede all other patches. It corrects many bugs, including those corrected in Bhruic`s unofficial patch, and also contains many enhancements and balances based on fan feedback.

You can download the official patch in one of several places, depending on which version of the game you have.

If you have the retail (boxed- CD/DVD) version, you may download the patch from Apolyton`s servers, a 168 MB download. You may also obtain the patch by logging into Civ4`s multiplayer Gamespy service, which will prompt you to patch automatically.
If you use a game purchased on Steam, do not install these files; Steam will automatically update you if you have it set to do so, or you may choose to update from the Steam client.
If you purchased the game from Direct2Drive, you may download the update from their website. The Direct2Drive patch is somewhat larger at about 258 MB.

Please ensure you are downloading the correct patch for the game you are playing, as otherwise it could render your game unplayable.

Further details, and a full changelog, may be found in the forum thread. - snoopy369

RTW ADDON PACK 2 AVAILABLE NOW
(15 April 2008, 09:27 | Civ4 | 30 comments) Apolyton Civilization Site is pleased to announce that Dale "Dale" Kent has released an expansion to his highly popular mod, The Road to War: RTW Add-on Pack 2!

With a recorded 90,000+ downloads (from all sources) the Road to War has become the second most popular mod for Civilization IV! Join the war and rewrite history today!

There have been a great many changes in the Road to War over the last six months. The changes are so comprehensive that no definitive change list exists. However, you will notice differences in every aspect of the game.

Some of the major noticeable changes include: new maps, new events, new wars and much much more!

The Add-on Pack 2 rounds off the Road to War mod to be the most complete World War II mod available.


Add-On Pack 2 is available at the RTW Homepage as a 410MB download. It is a full install and replaces any previous installation. RTW Add-on Pack 2 requires BTS with the 3.13 patch. - snoopy369

POLYCAST SPECIAL ON `CIVILIZATION IV: WAR OF TWO CITIES`
(8 April 2008, 19:19 | Civ4 | 4 comments) Available on some mobile phone carriers` models already and more of both into the future, Civilization IV: War of Two Cities based on the Civ franchise for the PC has been developed by Floodgate Entertainment and published by Oasys Mobile. As the name implies, it`s you as the player versus an opponent -- one city matched against theirs. Defend and nurture your city as your neighbour does the same, each coveting the prize of the other`s land. Little has been known about this title to date, and that is now changing.

Last month Apolyton Civilization Site (ACS) Chief Owner/Administrator Daniel "DanQ" Quick and staff member Tony "GarretSidzaka" Kiehl spoke with representatives from both developer and publisher about CivIV: WoTC on topics including its technologies, civilizations and -- of course -- units. Entitled "Focus: Civilization IV: War of Two Cities", it is being released as a special edition of PolyCast (PC), an official podcast of ACS. Quick is one of PC`s regular co-hosts and Kiehl a regular on its sibling show ModCast. The four interviewees are made up of two representatives from both Floodgate and Oasys: Founder and Creative Director Paul Neurath and Lead Designer Scott Kimball, and Vice President of Product Development Rick Raymer and Producer Jason Rice, respectively.

Total runtime is 52m17s. PolyCast is also the collective banner for both series. ACS is the only known community to produce its own Civilization podcasts. - DanQ

`WAR OF TWO CITIES` QUESTIONS FOR DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER
(3 March 2008, 19:15 | Civ4 | 2 comments) Coming soon to mobile phones near and not-so-near you is Civilization IV: War of Two Cities, based on the Civ franchise for the PC. As the name implies, it`s you as the player versus an opponent -- one city matched against theirs. Defend and nuture your city as your neighbour does the same, each coveting the prize of the other`s land. Little is known about this title to date, and now is a first and ideal chance to bring your questions directly to the source.

Led by Apolyton Civilization Site (ACS) Chief Owner/Administrator and regular PolyCast (PC) co-host Daniel "DanQ" Quick, two representatives from developer Floodgate Entertainment one from publisher Oasys Mobile Inc. will be available to answer questions from around the community about CivIV: WoTC. The feature will be released under the banner of PC, the official podcasts of ACS. Floodgate`s Paul Neurath is its Founder and Creative Director; Matthew Bellows oversees the company`s operations, sales and marketing. Oasys` Rick Raymer is their Vice President of Product Development.

You can either post your question(s) in this thread or leave a voicemail by calling or VoIPing your message. There are no limits on the number of questions you can ask, but note that not all may be asked or make it into the final release of this special. Where identities are verifiable and service available, those whose questions are used in this episode will receive a three-month subscription to "PLUS!", ACS` optional subscription service. The deadline for submitting questions is this Friday, March 7th, at 11:59PM EST.

This special is anticipated be both recorded and released sometime this month. - DanQ

2 SID MEIER INTERVIEWS
(29 February 2008, 19:06 | Civ4) On February 20th, in the Game Developers Convention `08, Sid Meier talks about Civilization, Portal, and Dinosaurs.

Meier also admits that he did not expect Civ to become so addicting, "I actually did not really expect the game to be as addictive as it was," said Meier. "Every game had its fans but this kind of universal addictiveness.. was scary." FULL STORY

Also on February 20th, Game|Life asked Meier two questions, one about his game`s expectations and another about if he ever get nervous.

Here is Sid`s answer to the question about his games. Meier: "I think my name on the game box has come to mean that people can expect a certain type of game experience when they buy one of our games. Our games are known for addictive, fun gameplay delivered in exciting environments that offer players lots of choices and interesting decisions to make. FULL STORY

Thanks to shacknews for the first news tip and Game|Life for the 2nd. - AAHZ