SMAC-X SHIRTS FOR SALE (24 March 2000, 17:36 EST) Firaxis got in touch with us this afternoon to let us know that they are now selling SMAC-X T-Shirts through their website. You can see a screenshot of the front and back of the shirts to your right; at present, they are available in medium, large, and extra large sizes only. Tell them Apolyton sent you! -DanQ
APOLYTON INTERVIEW PHIL SULAK (21 March 2000, 7:19 EST) Phil Sulak from westlake interactive spoke to Apolyton recently about CTP and his work on the Mac port of this amazing game. It's a real good read into the work that went on and Phil's own impression of the Mac platform.
GAMESTATS LOOKING FOR NEWSIES (20 March 2000, 23:42 EST) Are you bored? Do you surf listlessly from site to site, looking desperately for something to do? Well, GameStats has the job for YOU!
GS has several vacant positions on their News Team and are actively looking for mature, articulate and game-savvy people to fill out our ranks. Just email GS' News Team Leader, Ralph, a little about yourself, including any experience or knowledge you think would be useful. Selected applicants will be contacted with further details.
If you are chosen, just be sure to keep visiting Apolyton from time to time... -DanQ
Apolyton &Friends News
19-25/Mar 2000
FIRAXIS PROMOTIONS & HIRINGS (23 March 2000, 16:51 EST)Firaxis announced today three promotions and four hirings. Specifically, Dave Evans is now the Director of Software Development, Greg Cunningham has taken over as Lead Artist on the Dinosaur project and Jeff Morris is now the Quality Assurance Manager. Also the following were hired: Mark Cromer, a veteran sound designer, two artists - Ryan Murray and Alex Kim, and Michael Fetterman as a Production Assistant. More details on the press release as well as the Dino and Civ3 sections. -MarkG
FIRAXIANS: CIVILIZATION 3 (23 March 2000, 16:55 EST) Yes, this news item will look like the one in the Dinosaurs section as well as today's Firaxis press release. So, from the recently promote people, here are those who are working on Civ3 Dave Evans, Director of Software Development: An original Firaxian, worked on Microprose programming the sound engines for Pirates! Gold, Sid Meier's Colonization, Civilization II and Magic: The Gathering. He is now working on AI, sound and graphic technologies probably for both Dinosaurs and Civ3. Jeff Morris, Quality Assurance Manager, quite known on our forums from SMAC, will obviously get involved with Civ3. As for the new people: Mark Cromer, joins Firaxis as Lead Sound Engineer. With a past that includes Magic: The Gathering, all of the Civilization II add-on packs, MecWarrior III and Falcon IV, there is nothing else that needs to be said. Michael Fetterman has been hired as a Production Assistant on both the Dinosaur and Civilization III projects. Also, Alex Kim, who worked for Microprose on X-Com Interceptor and Civilization II Gold, is joing the Civ3 art team. There is definately more civ2 blood in civ3, no? Give your comments on the forums -MarkG
FIRAXIS: LOOKING FOR A LEAD ARTIST? (23 March 2000, 2:17 EST) If you check the Miscellaneous section you can read about an interview of Brian Reynolds on Daily Radar. Well, presenting the other partners in BHG, Brian tells that David Inscorne was the Lead Artist on Dinosaurs. So, who's designing those dinos and those trees now, Firaxis(to put it simply(and a bit silly)?) It would be good to know... -MarkG
FIRAXIANS: DINOSAURS (23 March 2000, 16:54 EST) You probably saw the Firaxis press release announcing the promotions and hiring of several people. Let's sum up those related with Dinosaurs, starting with the promoted. Dave Evans, Director of Software Development: An original Firaxian, worked on Microprose programming the sound engines for Pirates! Gold, Sid Meier's Colonization, Civilization II and Magic: The Gathering. He is now working on AI, sound and graphic technologies probably for both Dinosaurs and Civ3. Greg Cunningham, Lead Artist, has been working on Dino graphics since the begining of the project(strangely, I was wondering just this morning(on the news item below) on who's going be the lead artist on Dinos now!) :) Jeff Morris, Quality Assurance Manager, quite known on our forums from SMAC, will obviously get his hand into the Dino game as well. As for the new people: Mark Cromer, joins Firaxis as Lead Sound Engineer. With a past that includes Magic: The Gathering, all of the Civilization II add-on packs, MecWarrior III and Falcon IV, there is nothing else that needs to be said. Ryan Murray has created art for X-Com Interceptor and other games and will be working on Dinosaurs as well. Finally, Michael Fetterman has been hired as a Production Assistant on both the Dinosaur and Civilization III projects. Give your comments on the forums -MarkG
CtP FOR MAC REVIEW IN MACHOME (19 March 2000, 14:24 EST/CtPMac) The April 2000 issue of MacHome magazine contains reviews of both Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (SMAC) and Civilization: Call to Power (C:CtP). They give a stellar 5 of 5 "Apples" rating to SMAC but hold back a little on C:CtP giving it 3.5 "Apples".
The reviewer, Alex Handy, writes the following of C:CtP:
"At first glance C:CtP seem to be more of the gloriously addictive gameplay we've come to expect. But the further you delve into the depths of a game you discover that it is no longer Civilization. It's addictive, fun and original, but it's no longer a sequel. ... The space system is a bit pointless, and a lot of the futuristic units seem to fall short of the capabilities they're intended to have... And yet, the game is still surprisingly addictive." He also comments on problems with the interface, unit movement and menus. From the SMAC review he additionally comments: "...C:CtP is a fun game, definitely worth playing for hours on end, but once you try Alpha Centauri, you'll begin to see that Activision simply didn't put enough care and time into C:CtP. Alpha Centauri is a perfect example of how to make a Civilization clone correctly. C:CtP is an example of how to lose sight of your goals amid a large budget and false pretenses."
The magazine is in the hands of subscribers now and soon available on the newsstands. MacHome posts their reviews on their website, so I expect to see both the SMAC and C:CtP reviews online after the magazine has been available for a while. An excerpt from the SMAC review is posted on the SMAC page. -macuser
SMAC FOR MAC REVIEW IN MACHOME (19 March 2000, 13:55 EST/SMAC) The April 2000 issue of MacHome magazine contains reviews of both Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (SMAC) and Civilization: Call to Power (C:CtP). They give a stellar 5 of 5 "Apples" rating to SMAC but hold back a little on C:CtP giving it 3.5 "Apples".
The reviewer, Alex Handy, writes the following of SMAC:
"Alpha Centauri is a flawless game. It's filled with the fruits of talent well spent. The in-game movies and storyline are top notch and bring a lot of extra oomph to the ideas and events of gameplay. And, oh, those voice-overs! Alpha Centuari is quite possibly the first game I've ever played that had excellent narration and acting straight on through from beginning to end. You can really tell that Firaxis, Alpha Centauri's developer, hired some real talent and instead of just using Joe from the mailroom. Overall, you can't get a better turn based empire-building strategy game than Alpha Centauri. It's the true heir to the Civilization throne."
Mr. Handy goes on like this for a FULL page! Ya' think he liked the game? ;)
The magazine is in the hands of subscribers now and soon available on the newsstands. MacHome posts their reviews on their website, so I expect to see both the SMAC and C:CtP reviews online after the magazine has been available for a while. An excerpt from the C:CtP review is posted on the CtP page. -macuser
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