Also on this issue: Steve Mariotti Interview , Dino Diary #6 , Mac SMAC-X Soon
BHG DELAYED CIV3
(29 March 2000, 13:27 EST) The departure of several Firaxians to create Big Huge Games lead to the delay of Civ3 says gaming site MCV. Is that news? Well, not exactly, since this is something that has passed from everyone's mind. Still, this is the first time we have a source on it. According to MCV's news article, "Civilization III will not ship until 2001, Hasbro confirmed today".
On a side note, while the only official statement we had so far was from last June by Brian Reynolds that "We don't have any firm plans yet as far as release date, so don't take seriously anything you see that's more specific than my original prediction of "early in the third millenium". ;-)", MCV notes that "At last year's E3, Hasbro Interactive said it expected to ship Civilization III in late 2000 or early 2001"
Two other interesting things mentioned in this article: The Firaxis-Hasbro agreement for Civ3 has actually been a... handshake, but a contract is expected to be signed soon. Also, Jason Coleman and Doug Kaufman were offered Brian's position of Lead Designer for Civ3 before leaving Firaxis for BHG! (Why does this not sound good to my ears?) Anyway, check the article for the full details. Credit goes to Darkstar for finding it. -MarkG

CTP SALES STILL GOOD
(30 March 2000, 5:28 EST) Browsing through various sites earlier this morning i noticed that Call to Power is once again selling well. Specifically though this is through Mac-o-rama (where i tend to buy most of my games) but the indications are good. For $39.00 you can buy your copy of this 7th place best selling game from the online store.

http://www.mac-o-rama.com -Baston

CTP REVIEW AT MAC GAME GATE
(27 March 2000, 4:32 EST) Rob Mallows has posted his review of Civilisation Call to Power on Mac Game Gate's website. He rates it at 3.5 out of 5, and speaks favourably of the game. Check out his review at: http://www.macgamegate.com/
reviews/reviews/CTP/ -Baston

Apolyton
&Friends
News

26-31/Mar
2000


ESSENTIAL CIV3
FIRAXIS, THIS IS THE ESSENTIAL CIV3!
(27 March 2000, 15:16 EST) After lot's of discussion and voting, this is the Essential Civ3 List: the fixes that need be done and the new ideas that must be in Civ3 in order to deserve the number "3" in it's title. The number next to each item is the votes it got in the final vote:

Fixes
1. Trade - 105
2. Diplomacy - 86
3. Make It Harder For Civs To Last - 73
4. Comprehensive Scenario Editor - 72
5. Improved Road & Rail Rules - 72

New Ideas
1. Rise and fall of Empires - 75
2. Domestic Politics - 63
3. New Modes of Victory - 52
4. Energy - 48
5. Stacking - 46 TIE
5. Religion - 46 TIE

others receiving votes

Fixes
6. Bring Back News Reports - 52
7. No more Instant City Conversions - 52
8. Amazing City Veiw - 42
9. Faster Smoother Graphics/Interface - 35
10. Multiplayer Startup Option - 26

New Ideas
7. Open Source AI - 44
8. Expanding City Radius - 43
9. Detailed Replay - 41
10. Hex Based Map - 40
11. Simultaneous Turns of Play - 36
11. Different Levels of Cities - 36
13. Recruitment System - 29
14. Automatic Patrolling - 23
15. Tourism - 20

The "official" letter to Firaxis will be sent in the coming days.
(Note: it's pretty encouranging to see that the first two fixes(trade and diplomacy) were already mentioned in Sid's recent message as things where there is going to be lots of imporevment) -MarkG


CHART-TRAK: MARCH 25, 2000
(31 March 2000, 10:03 EST) Chart-Trak has published the Top 5 Selling PC Games in the United Kingdom for the week ending March 25, 2000. The Sims is still riding high, and Formula 1 2000 -- another entry from Electronic Arts -- enters the chart out of nowhere in the #2 spot, knocking Half-Life violently off the listing.

1) The Sims | EA
2) Formula 1 2000 | EA
3) Championship Manager: Season 99/00 | Eidos
4) Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings | Microsoft
5) Delta Force 2 | NovaLogic -DanQ

FROM CIV FANATICS CENTER
(31 March 2000, 9:58 EST) The following announcement is brought to you on behalf of Thunderfall, webmaster of the Civilization Fanatics Center through Apolyton's Community Service initiative:

"My fellow CivII fanatics, I am very happy to bring you this exciting news: Civilization Fanatics Center is now hosted by Strategy Gaming Online! My site's new address is civ.strategy-gaming.com; please update your bookmarks and/or links to my site.

Since web space is no longer a problem, you can expect to see a
comprehensive download section (maps, scenarios, mod-packs, etc) on my site. This task will not be easy, so if you could email me your work or suggest some good downloads, it would be greatly appreciated. My email address is thunderfall@strategy-gaming.com.

I would like to thank you all for your support and compliments over the past two years. It has been a very fun experience. You are always welcomed to visit Civilization Fanatics Center". -DanQ


Also on this issue:  Steve Mariotti Interview , Dino Diary #6 , Mac SMAC-X Soon

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