MAPPING WORK AND PLAY (4 February 2001, 0:18 EST) When he's not busy uploading files and adding new entries into our CTPII Files Database, OmniGod takes some time out of his day to work on some of his own creations. Yesterday he tantilized visitors to our forums with a spectacular preview of his latest and last World map for the game. OG says that while the work on this project is time consuming, he wants to be as accurate as possible. The map is based on the lakes, rivers, geology and topography provided by Cornell, he explains. Even if you're not a CTPII enthusiast, you'll want to check it out! NO MENTION IN SGO 2000 AWARDS (3 February 2001, 23:10 EST) In announcing their "Best And Worst Strategy Games 2000", Strategy Gaming Online looked clear past CTPII and awarded the best turn-based strategy game award for the first year of the twenty-first century to Space Empires IV. The best strategy title overall last year, according to SGO's editors, was Shogun. G100: HITTING A SLUMP (28 January 2001, 14:02 EST) In the 421st installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Call To Power II hits a slump sliding from 14th to 17th position this week. To vote for CTP2 this and every week, click here! REVUE FRANÇAISE À LA VUE (4 February 2001, 0:13 EST) A critique of Activion's follow-up title to C:CTP en français comes from Quebec PC. If French is not one of your spoken tounges, then with the assistance of AltaVista's reknowned Babelfish translation service, you should be able to make some headway in understanding the reviewer's standpoint. With a final rating of 70%, it's clear that while QPC felt the game had potential it disappointed gamers in certain respects. G100: IMPROVED PERFORMANCE (28 January 2001, 14:06 EST) In the 421st installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri/Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire improves its performance by snatching 9th spot over its 10th place showing last week. To vote for SMAC this and every week, click here! MGE AND TOT: ETOYS SALE (31 January 2001, 18:24 EST) EToys.com is having a sale on all remaining copies of CivII: Multiplayer Gold Edition and CivII: Test Of Time in stock. With a 55% off sticker price ($8.99US each), they're bound to go like hotcakes! Kudos to CivFanatics for reporting on this earlier today. CHAN KUO PREVIEW (29 January 2001, 21:03 EST) Interested in a sneak peek at Prometeus' "Chan Kuo" scenario? Then look no further than our forums where the author himself posted an exclusive screenshot of the terrain file from the upcoming work. No release date has yet been announced other than it will be soon. G100: SOARING UPWARDS (28 January 2001, 14:05 EST) In the 421st installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Civilization II: Test Of Time soars from 15th to 11th spot this week. To vote for ToT this and every week, click here!

Apolyton News 28/Jan-3/Feb 2001

THE DAY OF DALE
(29 January 2001, 7:38 EST) It's "Dale Day" for our CTP2 file database :)

new: Withdraw Script
(Withdraw rules and implementation for AI's)
new: Famous People of History Script
(Remember, those key advances are a little more critical now. Your progress through these paths is shown to you in the form of Famous People of History (and a few groups/organisations), hence the name)
updated: AI Diplomacy Mod
(New diplomacy models for AI to AI and AI to HUMAN interaction. Version 3.1)

Also from Blue Orange
updated: Alternate Science Mod (version 1.03)

THE MUSHROOM, OP. 2: BETTER, NOT GREAT
(3 February 2001, 23:59 EST) Chad Hauser, a staff writer for The Mushroom, gives CTPII 6.5 mushrooms out of a possible 10 in the end. Hauser expresses that it is his opinion that Activision's sequel to Civilization: Call To Power is simply not up to snuff.

Some games are simply evolutions of a genre and not amazing new leaps. this doesn't necessarily make them any worse of a game. Call to Power II, by Activision is just such a game.

Furthermore, Hauser muses, the rulebook for CTP2 is fairly dry and straightforward, but not painfully so, and is devoted mostly to the different menus and controls. In fact it is almost a must read because of the sheer variety of these controls and the benefits you can get from manipulating them. It contains no story and very little humor.

This reviewer is satisfied with the game's graphics, which he lauds in his paragraph about it as well as the cinematics included, and finds that the gameplay is CTPII's shining beacon in its cloud of fog.

Overall CTP2 is a great step in the growth of the historical empire builder, and should give hours of amusement to an experienced player, Hauser pens in his conclusion. I do wish I would have gotten to play a multiplayer game, but the simple amount of time that a game of this nature takes prevented that.

Now, but one question remains: why are there two reviews?

There was an interesting mix up at Activision, the site's editor writes, and we were sent two copies of [CTPII]. [So] I sent them to our two strategy game gurus.

THE MUSHROOM, OP. 1: SCRAPING PASS
(3 February 2001, 23:55 EST) CTPII has seen bad press since it was released last December, yet one of the most damning to come from the critics corner was just posted in recent days. The Mushroom's Patrick Hargis slams the C:CTP sequel and, for reasons that seem to combine perhaps both genorosity and apathy, slap it with a 5 mushroom passing grade.

Call to Power II is a game trying very hard to be just like that strategy game you saw for the first time ten years ago that looked so confusing and complicated, Hargis writes. Essentially, [CTPII] is trying to be what Civilization and Civilization II were, except with more stuff. Not better stuff, more stuff.

The trick to making a good Civ-game lies in balancing that complication with playability; giving the player just the right amount of control as not to make him/her feel either not in control or simply bored [CivII] found this balance; [CTPII] did not.

Hargis does go on to say in his conclusion that the game has good points, though, really, but only if it's your the first Civilization series title you try. Otherwise, he warns, it comes across as being horribly mediocre.

Just go play [CivII] or Alpha Centauri or something that has Sid Meier in the title, he adds spiteingly.

Now, but one question remains: why are there two reviews?

There was an interesting mix up at Activision, the site's editor writes, and we were sent two copies of [CTPII]. [So] I sent them to our two strategy game gurus.

WE WANTED PBEM...
(29 January 2001, 7:16 EST) Results of your ctp2 pbem poll....

CTP2: Do you want PBEM to be added? Option Votes / Percentage I never play multiplayer, I dont care 41 / 19% I only play Internet/LAN, PBEM isnt important 45 / 21% It is good, but doesnt matter a lot 32 / 14% I miss it, played some PBEM in CTP1 13 / 6% I will get the PBEM patch for CTP2 ASAP, and start playing a lot 59 / 27% Lack of PBEM will make me not buy CTP2 24 / 11% Total Votes: 214| View Comments Forums Discussion