TENTATIVE DATE PREMATURE (20 February 2001, 14:38 EST/Civ3) A few days ago we ran a news item about a report on The Adrenaline Vault's website that Civilization III is scheduled for a fourth quarter, 2001 release. This statement was in a press conference held by Infrogrames, CivIII's publisher, late last week. We contacted Firaxis Games' Kelley Gilmore, the company's Communications Manager, for confirmation.
We have not yet announced a release date for CivIII, Gilmore told us. You guys [Apolyton] will be among the first to know when we announce the date.
Once a date has been set and released by Firaxis, you'll find it listed here first. -DanQ
CIVILOPEDIA FORUMS UP (19 February 2001, 11:14 EST/Misc) Dustin Bainbridge, the owner/webmaster of the Civilization III Civilopedia, contacted us this morning with word that his site's forums are now operational.
Running on UltraBoard 2000 Standard Edition, available forums for discussion are: CivIII-General, Suggestions; Civilopedia-Feedback/Suggestions, News; Miscellaneous-General, Recreation/Creativity and Web Related. -DanQ
FIRST CIV3 PREVIEW (2 March 2001, 11:30 EST) Laura Stobart at ZDNet contacted us this morning to let us know of GameSpot UK's just posted two-page preview of Civilization III. This is the first known preview of the much talked about upcoming addition to the Civilization series.
And what a sequel it promises to be, writes the previewing team. Although few details are known about the core gameplay elements, several postings on the Firaxis website have provided an insight as to what new features players can expect.
The preview is built entirely on the information presented on the official Civ3 website which was updated just yesterday [see story below]. Eight screenshots accompany the text. In conclusion, GSpot UK's preview team comments on the game's anticipated release.
The last whisper heard from Hasbro, before being swallowed up by Infogrames, suggested a Christmas release was on the cards. Although the we are licking our lips in anticipation of such a timely release, Sid Meier's drive for perfection is likely to make an early 2002 launch more realistic.
And to be honest, we've waited this long, so another month or two shouldn't be a problem. -DanQ
IGN-PC PREVIEW (3 March 2001, 0:18 EST) GameSpot UK is not the only online gaming network to create a preview of Civilization III based on information obtainable from the official CivIII website in recent days [see story below].
IGN|PC has posted a similiarly-styled preview of the game with eleven screenshots, compiled by IGN staffer Steve Butts.
The one additional and distinguishing feature of this preview is a poll put to viewers asking what their favourite current Civ title is. At the time of the posting of this news item, CivII is in a commanding lead with 57.7% of the popular vote followed by Alpha Centauri at a distant 21.1%. Civ, the classic title that launched the franchise, stands in third at 14.7% while both the original and sequel Call To Power titles are tied for last at 3.1%. -DanQ
Apolyton News
18/Feb- 3/Mar/01
HOT CIV3 INFO!
CIV3 SITE UPDATED! (1 March 2001, 13:42 EST)
Dan Magaha kept his promise and the official civ3 site was updated today. Some most interesting quotes
- while we have kept the conversational interface for new users, we have also created a "bargaining table" for advanced users
- Want to offer a Peace Treaty to the Iroquois, but only if they will pay 5 gold per turn? Just make the demand.
- For example, your relations with the Zulus might include a peace treaty as well as a mutual protection pact, a right of passage agreement, and a trade embargo against the French.
- Units that have a speed advantage over their opponent will be able to retreat from combat
- We're not quite ready to show it off yet, but to answer your question, terrain features will definitely not be flat. You will also see combat benefits depending on the terrain you occupy when you attack or defend.
- We will definitely have a replay function similar to the replay system in Alpha Centauri. We're also considering adding some new features to it, but at this point, nothing has been finalized.
- Yes! You will be able to create your own custom civilization using our editing tools.
Lots of stuff to discuss, let's hope the next update doesnt take that long ;) -MarkG
CIV3 SITE TO BE UPDATED TOMORROW (28 February 2001, 19:10 EST) Yeah, we have a "release date"! :) After the 435th post regarding the lack of updates on the official civ3 site, Dan Magaha posted on our forums:
Barring any last-minute objections, there will be a site update sometime tomorrow. I'll try to get to answering questions more often, but dare I say there's a lot going on around here right now. Bear with us.
CIV ICQ ACTIVE LIST (1 March 2001, 19:33 EST) Pieter-Jan Schut, who goes by the nickname "AnArChY", informed us via email this afternoon that he has setup an ICQ Active list for all Civilization players out there.
The list ID# is 110102795. If you have any questions/difficulties with the list etc., contact Schut directly. -DanQ
BUG REPORT FROM U. OF T. (1 March 2001, 20:00 EST) A University of Toronto student has discovered an interesting bug in Alpha Centauri, one that is also present in the expansion Alien Crossfire. Andrew Krupowicz emailed us the following report:
I've noticed there's another bug in SMAC (which also happens in Alien Crossfire), which affects both single and multi-player games: you can control the allocation of workers in an opponent's bases!
All you need to do is infiltrate another faction (or become its pactmate). Then open up the base reports screen (F4) and click on the citizens (not the name of the base). Continue clicking until all the workers have turned into doctor or empath specialists.
Consequences
AI: I tried this against the computer and hypothesized that it would reset its citizens back to the original setting. It didn't.
The lack of workers started a nutrient shortage, so the AI put a few workers back to work, but not all. Production & Energy collection were therefore crippled.
Humans: A human opponent who doesn't get a nutrient shortage type message may have one base, or several bases, crippled for an extended period of time unless s/he personally investigates every base.
Countermeasures
Clearly this is a bug and not a game feature, so my hope in bringing this to the attention of the SMAC community is to make this another cheat that must be officially "outlawed" at the outset of multiplayer games.
Krupowicz told us that he originally posted a note about this bug in the alt.games.firaxis.alpha-centauri newsgroup. -DanQ
SMAC PBEM CHART 1/3/1 (1 March 2001, 18:06 EST) PBEM chart updated, here it is
NO. 30 IN SPM ISSUE 4 (28 February 2001, 19:12 EST) A supplement to Strategy Player's fourth issue was entitled "100 All-Time Strategy Games" written by Neil Armstrong. Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri was ranked thirteith in the countdown, just behind Diablo 2 and The Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall.
Sid Meier appears yet again in this top 100, with the strategically apt Alpha Centauri, Armstrong writes. You get into the action by controlling one of 14 factions, each with unique skills.
At the end of the supplement, the reader is informed that the folks at SPM are compiling their readers' Top 50 strategy games for a feature in an upcoming issue of the publication. Entry form included, SPM is sweetening the deal by holding a draw to give away the top ten strategy games selected by readers to five readers at random! -DanQ
