December 2001
SHARK WORTHY
(9 December 2001, 23:18 EST/Civ3) Sharky Extreme's Dilip "Klashe" Trivedi is in friendly waters in his review of CivIII for the said site. While Trivdei admits that he is biased as an avid fan of previous titles in the Civilization series, he is adament in his objectivity that the latest incarnation of it from Firaxis Games is worth every one of the 9 out of a possible 10 fins he raised for it.
Below is a block quote from the SE staff member's fourth and final page:
Suffice it to say, there is truly no facet of CivIII that disappoints. There is no part of the game that drags on or is tedious. Every turn is as important and as fun as the last. It successfully is the total replacement to CivII. Once you play this game, you will not be able to revert back. [..]
It embeds itself into your soul, with its gameplay constantly on your mind, making you think of new playing strategies while you are at work, in your car, and in the bathroom. Civ 3 will ruin your life. Be sure to write Sid and thank him.
Thanks for the news tip goes to Blue's News. -DanQ
C198# THE NATURE OF SEQUELS
(9 December 2001, 21:31 EST/Misc) Father Beast writes this week's column.
198# THE NATURE OF SEQUELS
A really extensive review of some of the biggest games series
-MarkG
`MESMIRIZING` TO SAY THE LEAST
(9 December 2001, 1:40 EST/Civ3) The brief PC Mag review of CivIII by Richard Brown hit the World Wide Web on December 3rd. To say the least, he quickly found himself immersed in the game and was quite favourable in his analysis for the site. He concludes:
Civilization III is just as complex and addictive as its predecessors, if not more so. Certain issues remain unimproved, such as the tedious micromanagement of dozens of cities and units toward the end of the game. But thanks to general fine-tuning, this latest addition to the series will still keep you mesmerized until three in the morning.
Thanks to Purple for the news tip. -DanQ
MUTE THE MUSIC, WAIT FOR FIXES
(9 December 2001, 1:35 EST/Civ3) Christopher Lipski feels that he is in good company when he says that he is not fond of the musical accompiament in Civilization III in his review of the game for Gamer's Voice. More than that, he is sees much promise that fails to shine through as a result of various pointed letdowns along the way.
I think the frustrating interface followed by the steep learning curve are the things that will spoil CivIII for most players, Lipski offers in attempting to sum up his viewpoint. Very rare iron deposits in some games and the lack of a real editor will just add to this disappointment. My advice would be to wait until everything is fixed before picking it up (a patch is slated for release as soon as this weekend -- ed.). I am hoping that there will be extensive fixes rather than just a later add-on with a couple of new scenarios added.
To reflect his disappointment, this disheartened gamer slapped the game with a 3.5/5 final score. It should be noted that while this review was published on December 7th, the same day that CivIII's first patch started hitting download server, it is evident by the allusion to the patch in the future tense that it was written some time before that. -DanQ
CIV-VI IN TEN YEARS?
(9 December 2001, 1:27 EST/Civ3) With news still abuzz surrounding countless reviews of CivIII pouring onto the laps of fans and critics alike, plus the discussion surrounding the first patch that was recently released [see related stories below], it may be easier to forget that there are other events on the horizon. One story fitting this description is GamesDomain's firesite-style chat with the man behind the game himself, Sid Meier. The lucky interviewer this time around is an individual by the name of Mike Smith who, notably, is GD's regular action gaming columnist.
Some excerpts from the full interview:
GD: Which is your favorite civilization to play? Why?
SM: I like playing the English because you start with the Alphabet and Pottery as your special attributes, which lead to some interesting and fun strategies down the road.
GD: What made you decide to leave multiplayer support out of CivIII? Do you think this has disappointed fans?
SM: The single-player experience was always our main focus in the development of Civilization. We do want to offer multiplayer support for CivIII and we're working on some cool concepts that will take a fresh approach to the challenge of making multiplayer for a turn-based game fun. Once we have more details to report, we'll let you know.
GD: How do you see the Civ series progressing from here? Do you think you'll be writing CivVI ten years from now?
SM: That's a good question. If the fans still want more after Civ III, then we'll talk about giving them more! -DanQ
THAT`S THE WAY THEY LIKE IT
(9 December 2001, 1:18 EST/Civ3) There have been negative CivIII reviews mixed in with the positive, but the latter is definitely continuing its march at the end of the line as new articles are continuing to be pulished online praising the game from top to bottom. One of the latest is Tequila's over at GamersPress which phenomenally endorses the game with a final grade of 9/10.
While a consideration portion of the review is a block quote from Sid Meier taken directly from the game's official website, the GP staffer did have some pleasant parting words to his readers about the conclusion he had come to about this latest in the line of Civilization series titles.
For you strategy lovers this will probably be the best game you will play this year and for those of you who want to try a game with a little more depth than Quake, give CivIII a try and you wont be disappointed! -DanQ
THREE NORDIC CHEERS
(9 December 2001, 1:12 EST/Civ3) Nordic gaming site GameReactor has published their Civilization III review and, true to its positive spin, awarded the game an 88% score. The following is a short translation by Kristian Foshaug:
[I]n 1996, [MicroPROSE] released Civilization II, that confirmed the game status even further [from Civilization I]. But then the time passed on, and these wonders were forgotten and hidden by newer, more pulsating genres. But autumn 2001, another miracle happened. There were rumours that a new gamer-viagra had gone gold.
Thanks to Civilization Nation for the news tip. -DanQ
SERIES PROGRESSING WELL
(9 December 2001, 1:07 EST/Civ3) If you don't mind an almost complete lack of action, and a definite focus on strategy and planning three or four steps ahead, then this is your game.
The above is the final word disseminated by GameZone in their final take on CivIII. They marked the game according to gameplay, graphics, sound, difficulty and concept with some very high marks in each category respectively.
Fans of the series will really be pleased, as the legacy definitely lives on, with enough changes to improve the gameplay without radically altering it, staff reviewer Immortal concludes. If you're new to the series, and have the patience to try something different, or just have that whole world domination fetish thing going on, then by all means, give Civilization III a try.
The final score awarded: a 9.1/10. -DanQ
FROM THE DIGITAL CULTURE BEAT
(9 December 2001, 1:02 EST/Civ3) MindJack recently turned to Internet consultant and freelancer journalist David Brake for a review of Civilization III and gave it a 8 out of a possible 10 score. However, his article in question is not all positive and does not necessarily begin that way either.
[T]he new Civilization [CivIII] hasn't advanced as much as I might have hoped, Brake laments in his introductory paragraph.
Still, the game has its charm according to the MJ reviewer.
Overall, CivIII is a good 'tune-up' of a great game. If you didn't like Civilization before, the improvements that have been made probably aren't significant enough to change your mind. If you liked earlier versions of Civilization this one is definitely worth a look - for all of my criticisms I still found myself losing days to it, and the many improvements are definitely worthwhile. But if you were looking for a game that would take Civilization to a new level, hang on for Christmas 2002.
Thanks to the author himself for the news tip. -DanQ
UPDATED V1.16 PATCH RELEASED
(8 December 2001, 1:49 EST/Civ3) Firaxian Jeff Morris has sent Apolyton a new version of the v1.16 patch which should alleviate the compatability problem with those running CivIII on early versions of the Windows 2000 and Windows XP platform first reported upon yesterday. For those not using either of these platforms it is not necessary to download this version as it only works to resolve the said issue for Win2K/XP machines.
The updated patch is now available from both the North American Apolyton server and the one in Europe. Alternatively, you can also find it at GamePen. The patch size remains 7.4MB.
Our thanks to Jeff and the rest of the Civilization III team at Firaxis for responding to the said issue with the patch so quickly. Post your comments about this in the related forum thread. -DanQ
PATCH ISSUE ON WIN2K/XP
(7 December 2001, 20:13 EST/Civ3) Jeff Morris announced the discover of a big compatability issue with the new version and Win2k/XP machinesHe also added that Firaxis is already working on a solution, but if it is a significant change, it will need to be resubmitted to testing
Please report your experiences with the patch. -MarkG
CIV3 PATCH IS HERE!
(7 December 2001, 20:12 EST/Civ3) The first Civ3 Patch is a fact!Get it now! (mirrors: Apolyton (North America), Apolyton(Europe), GamePen) -MarkG
NPDI TOP10 18-24/NOV/2001
(6 December 2001, 20:03 EST/Misc) Best-selling games for the week of November 18-24, 2001 according to NPD Intellect: Survivor and Return to Castle Wolfenstein drop Civ3 to the 9th spot and Empire Earth completely of the top10.
Rank / Title / Publisher / Average price
1 / The Sims: Hot Date / Electronic Arts / $24
2 / Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone / Electronic Arts / $28
3 / Return to Castle Wolfenstein / Activision / $57
4 / Roller Coaster Tycoon / Infogrames / $17
5 / The Sims / Electronic Arts / $42
6 / Backyard Basketball / Infogrames / $19
7 / Survivor: The Interactive Game / Infogrames / $19
8 / Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon / Ubi Soft / $38
9 / Civilization III / Infogrames / $46
10 / Zoo Tycoon / Microsoft / $29
Sources: IGN, GameSpot. Thanks to Korn for the notification. -MarkG
CIV3 DATABASE MANAGER APPOINTED
(6 December 2001, 19:55 EST/About) We are glad to announce that Omnigod has returned to the Apolyton team.
Omnigod was our CtP2 Database Manager, and is now coming on the position of Civ3 Database Manager.
This means that the moderation of the Creation and Files forums will be done by him, as well as the managment of our (coming soon) file database. Any notes about new or updated files should be sent to him from now on.
Therefore... welcome back to Apolyton Omnigod! -MarkG
STORY CONTEST: NOV/19-25 RESULTS, NOV/26-DEC/1 VOTE
(6 December 2001, 4:05 EST/Civ3) The Nov 19-25 Story contest is over, here are the results:
1. (WINNER) World at War: The Iroquios Threat by Grundel
2. Fabula Romae by Barfus
3. UN poker by Pisthetaerus
4. Saga of the Great Underground Empire by Zorkk
5. A History of the Zulu People by General_BT
The vote for the Nov 26-Dec 1 Story contest has started! Vote now! -MarkG
FIRST PATCH FIXES/ADDITIONS LIST!
(5 December 2001, 16:25 EST/Civ3) After a little bit more one month, the first civ3 patch is done and set to be released in a couple of days. Here is the full list of changes, fixes and additions, as announced by Jeff Morris on our forums.
Read and discuss on the forums. -MarkG
MOO AND MOO3 ON CGW
(5 December 2001, 10:20 EST/MoO3) A big feature on MoO3 appears in the latest issue of Computer Gaming World magazine.
Quicksilver has posted two of the images included in the feature: a
Grendarl Digital Painting and a Sketch of a Raas and Trilarian in Battle.
To complete the coverage, Father Beast reports that the version with the CD contains a full version of the original Master of Orion! -MarkG
NPDI TOP20 OCTOBER/2001
(5 December 2001, 4:29 EST/Misc) Best-selling games for the month of October 2001 according to NPD Intellect:
Rank this month / Rank last month / Title / Publisher / Average price
1 / * / Dark Age of Camelot / Vivendi Universal / $39
2 / * / Command & Conquer Yuri's Revenge / Electronic Arts / $28
3 / 1 / The Sims / Electronic Arts / $40
4 / * / Civilization III / Infogrames / $49
5 / 5 / RollerCoaster Tycoon / Infogrames / $21
6 / 2 / Diablo II: Lord of Destruction / Vivendi Universal / $32
7 / 3 / Operation Flashpoint / Codemasters / $40
8 / 4 / The Sims: House Party / Electronic Arts / $29
9 / 7 / The Sims: Livin' Large / Electronic Arts / $28
10 / * / Asheron's Call Dark Majesty / Microsoft / $20
11 / * / SimCity 3000 Unlimited / Electronic Arts / $26
12 / * / Flight Simulator 2002 / Microsoft / $70
13 / 12 / Sim Theme Park / Electronic Arts / $19
14 / * / Zoo Tycoon / Microsoft / $26
15 / * / Stronghold / GodGames / $38
16 / * / Command & Conquer Red Alert 2 / Electronic Arts / $35
17 / 8 / Max Payne / GodGames / $46
18 / 6 / Madden NFL 2002 / Electronic Arts / $38
19 / 10 / Diablo II / Vivendi Universal / $34
20 / * / Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor / Ubi Soft / $48
We should note that Civ3 appeared on the 4th spot with just it's opening day!
Source: Gamespot -MarkG
NPDI TOP10 11-17/NOV/2001
(5 December 2001, 4:26 EST/Misc) Best-selling games for the week of November 11-17, 2001 according to NPD Intellect:
Rank / Title / Publisher / Average price
1 / The Sims: Hot Date / Electronic Arts / $30
2 / Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone / Electronic Arts / $28
3 / Civilization III / Infogrames / $41
4 / Backyard Basketball / Infogrames / $18
5 / The Sims / Electronic Arts / $39
6 / Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon / Ubi Soft / $47
7 / Empire Earth / Vivendi Universal / $49
8 / RollerCoaster Tycoon / Infogrames / $19
9 / Backyard Football 2002 / Infogrames / $18
10 / Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds / LucasArts / $49
Source: Gamespot -MarkG
THE BEST OF THE BEST
(5 December 2001, 0:05 EST/Civ3) The Gamers Press' Tequila is laughing all the way to the bar in his review of CivIII, distinguishing it with the site's "Editor's Choice" award along with a 9/10 rating.
The overall score reflects a game that is well developed and delivered with a clean interface and great storyline that gives the player lots of options to explore without having to suffer with a myriad of bugs.
Our thanks to GP' Managing Editor Mike Askounes for the news tip. -DanQ
A DIFFERENT GAMESPOT REVIEW
(4 December 2001, 23:43 EST/Civ3) GameSpot AU is the first GameSpot portal to offer its own independent review of Civilization III other than the one first published by the one in the US. It is overwhelmingly positive as quickly demonstrated in the review's introduction.
With [CivIII], we have a true successor to the Civ line, and perhaps the greatest turn-based strategy game of all time.
James Cottee's two-page final look at the game resulted in a celebration of scores -- a 9.6/10.
With RTS games dominating the shelves, it may seem to some that the days of turn based strategy are numbered, Cottee concludes. But CivIII is a class apart, recapturing the spirit of the original and bringing it into the 21st century. People will be playing it a decade from now, because every new game is fresh, and every turn brings new conquests. CivIII is the classic desert island game: you could play it for the rest of your life. -DanQ
SPACE EMPIRES IV GOLD ANNOUNCED!
(4 December 2001, 3:19 EST/Misc) A new version of one of the best strategy games is here
Shrapnel Games announces Space Empires IV GOLD. Take your SEIV Experience to the next level!
Cary, NC, December 03, 2001
Shrapnel Games, and developer Malfador Machinations, announced today their newest game Space Empires IV GOLD. Additional details and ordering info are located at http://www.shrapnelgames.com.
Space Empires: IV is widely considered the grandest Space Empire Building 4X game of all time, the winner of numerous awards and accolades from the online and print media. Now take your SEIV experience to a whole new level with Space Empires IV GOLD! Simply put this is a must have for any fan of 4X games and includes the following new additions to the all-star original:
* Full TCP/IP Support.
* Drones fully implemented in code.
* New System Graphics and Types: stellar core fragments, organic infestations, comets, stars forming, spacial ruptures, red giants, and more!
* All sounds reworked from 8 bit to 16 bit 44.100 khz Stereo.
* Along with updated old sounds an entire new set of sound effects and a game option to choose either for game play.
* New 120+ page manual written by experienced computer game industry technical writer.
* Map Editor included on CD.
* 200 megs of user created "mods" for the game - new technologies, new components, new race styles, and more.
* Mod Selection utility on CD.
* Expanded info and support for SEIV PBW site (seiv.pbw.cc).
* PDF of original HTML manual included on CD.
* Additional features requested by modders - data file changes history, satellite and weapon platform range bonuses, more empire settings in the AI files, increased number of system types, control over number of starting AI players, more facility families, multiple bitmaps per vehicle size, and more.
* Improved AI tactics.
Richard Arnesen, Director of Covert Operations for Shrapnel Games, said, "Space Empires: IV is a special game with a thriving and active community. It is because of this community that we are proud to announce Space Empires IV Gold, a game that adds a lot to the original hit as well as including the best that the diverse Space Empires: IV community has to offer. Any true fan of 4X games will have to get this title ASAP!"
Tim Brooks, President of Shrapnel Games, announced the rebate for current owners, saying, "We wanted to do something special for those who have been supporting the original Space Empires: IV. So we are happy to announce a rebate program for those who own the original. They can receive a check for $15.00 to offset the cost of the GOLD game. Details are available on our website."
Space Empires: IV Gold is available for pre-release ordering at Shrapnel Games' website at http://www.shrapnelgames.com
Source: Gamepen
-MarkG
NEW NVIDIA DRIVER FIXES SLOW SCROLL
(4 December 2001, 3:15 EST/Civ3) nVIDIA has released new drivers, which according to people on the forums solves the slow-scroll/slowdown problem on Windows 2000/XP.
Check it out and please report your experience. Thanks to everyone who send us the good news. -MarkG
FIRST PATCH RELEASE ON HORIZON
(4 December 2001, 1:34 EST/Civ3) Firaxis Games' Jeff Morris announced only hours ago in Apolyton's "CivIII General" forum that the game's first patch, v1.16f, is currently on track for release in less than a week.
Things are on target for a Friday QA sign-off, but let's say Saturday just to be safe. If nothing resets it by Wednesday, we'll release the readme.txt additions for you to digest. I think you'll be pleased.
Our thanks to Jeff for relaying this piece of news on behalf of the entire CivIII team at Firaxis. -DanQ
PERFECT 10/10 FROM DANES
(4 December 2001, 1:28 EST/Civ3) A perfect 10/10 score was awarded to CivIII by Danish strategy gaming site StrategiCentralen. The three page review was written and is available for reading in the country's native language.
Thanks to CivFanatics for the news tip. -DanQ
MICROBITTI`S POSITIVE SPIN
(4 December 2001, 1:25 EST/Civ3) Microbitti, credited as being Finland's largest computer magazine, has posted a CivIII review on their website. They awarded the game a superb 93/100 rating. The review is available in Finnish and can be read on the company's website.
Thanks to CivFanatics for the news tip. -DanQ
DEAFGAMERS REVIEW IS IN
(4 December 2001, 1:20 EST/Civ3) DeafGamers.com, a website dedicated to reviewing PC and console gaming titles with the deaf in mind, has recently been given what site owner and chief reviewer Carl Willetts cited as brilliant, a sentiment echoed in his full review of CivIII.
First, speaking specifically to the concerns of the deaf gamer community, Willetts was more than pleased with what he saw and gave the game a rosy endorsement in return.
Every piece of information is provided in text [and i]n fact no information is given verbally. The layout of the interface is superb. The font used within the game is clearly legible. All the information is provided in click-off dialogue boxes so you can read the information in your own time. It is fair to say that Firaxis has given the deaf gamer full access to all Civ III's delights which is brilliant.
Willetts awards the latest offering from Firaxis Games a sizzling 9.6/10 score, tieing Championship Manager: Season 01/02 and second only to Balduer's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn in terms of the highest score awarded to a PC title. He concludes:
CivIII is exactly what a reworked classic should be. It appeals to newbies and old hands alike. Sid has definitely got it right again and proved he is the premier games designer.
[Firaxis has] taken the bold step of changing key aspects of the gameplay and I am pleased to say that in my opinion these changes have enhanced the 'Civ' experience. Whether you've played the first two games in this most illustrious of series or not, Civilization III is a must buy.
Thanks to Carl Willetts himself for the news tip. -DanQ
BLITZ MOD V1.05C AVAILABLE
(4 December 2001, 0:55 EST/Civ3) Korn469, the author of the "Blitz MOD" for CivIII, has completed and released v1.05c of the work yesterday.
If you encounter any problems or bugs or if you have suggestions, please let me know, the author writes in a brief address. I will continue to update this mod with the intention of making it the best Modern Era combat MOD out [there]!
Updated fixes include a problem with upgrading units and generals now function as armies in order to upgrade to build them. The latter was done to allow the AI to use them effectively. A full list of the building, unit, and government changes as well as those items modified in previous versions are available for consultation at the aforementioned location. -DanQ
AVATARS ARE BACK
(3 December 2001, 8:07 EST/About) After having them disabled for the last couple of weeks due the server load, we have re-enabled avatars for all users.
The situation on the server will be monitored and we might have to disabled them again. If everything goes well over the next 48 hours they'll stay for good. Please report any issues you have with the change on the forums.
In other forum news, if you happened to be around earlier today and got a "forum closed" message, it was due to a regular backup process. Everything went fine and was over in around 10-12 minutes. -MarkG
EXPANSION PACK CIVS VOTE ENDS
(3 December 2001, 7:51 EST/Civ3) As Locutus decided to drop civ3 and return to ctp, the Expansion Pack Civs vote has ended after 277 votes and 38267 points. Here are the top 16| # | Civilizations | | Points | Votes | % |
|---|
| 1. | Spanish | | 3131 | 181 | 8,2% |
| 2. | Mongols | | 2831 | 167 | 7,4% |
| 3. | Arab | | 2665 | 160 | 7,0% |
| 4. | Inca | | 2533 | 163 | 6,6% |
| 5. | Vikings | | 2368 | 147 | 6,2% |
| 6. | Turks/Ottomans | | 2304 | 149 | 6,0% |
| 7. | Phoenicians/Carthaginians | | 1489 | 100 | 3,9% |
| 8. | Maya | | 1314 | 95 | 3,4% |
| 9. | Celts | | 1291 | 88 | 3,4% |
| 10. | Portuguese | | 1228 | 82 | 3,2% |
| 11. | Dutch | | 1178 | 86 | 3,1% |
| 12. | Hebrew/Israelis | | 1108 | 78 | 2,9% |
| 13. | Ethiopians/Aksumites | | 956 | 62 | 2,5% |
| 14. | Poles | | 943 | 59 | 2,5% |
| 15. | Koreans | | 799 | 48 | 2,1% |
| 16. | Khmer | | 662 | 44 | 1,7% |
Locutus has also left his position of project leader for the Apolyton ExtraCivs Pack, the effort to create a pack with the most wanted (and not included already) civs. However, work on the project will continue.
Thank you for your work on civ3 Locutus! -MarkG
NEW DATA DUMP
(3 December 2001, 7:21 EST/MoO3) Master Marcus brought us the good news once again.
Check out Orion Sector for the new planetary pollution dump, and 3 known engines now added to the dumps: Sector Gov't and reserves ( note the text about a surprise attack sim ΰ la Pearl Harbor ), "The Speech" ( I don't corner that yet- Storm, Sencho, is that similar or related to the Events ?), and spying generator.
Give you comments on the forums. -MarkG
FULL TECHTV REVIEW AVAILABLE
(3 December 2001, 2:00 EST/Civ3) At the end of last week, TechTV broadcast to the world for the first time its review of Civilization III. An archived version of the video, as well as a text transcript of what reviewer Andrew Bub had to say, is now available on the site for access at one's liesure. As eluded to prior to the broadcast [see earlier story], the site awarded the game 4/5 possible stars.
It would be a mistake to call "[CivIII]" a mere update to CivII, Bub remarks. Behind the familiarity (and it is familiar enough to easily pick up if you've played the previous games) there are a remarkable number of compelling and often brilliant changes. The changes ensure that even CivII and SMAC veterans will have to change their playing style and bump the difficulty down a couple notches.
The individual category rankings are as follows: Graphics (4/5), Sound (4/5), Playability (4/5), and Gameplay (5/5). -DanQ
AYE, IT BE GOOD MATEY
(3 December 2001, 1:53 EST/Civ3) The Riddler has thrown his hat into the CivIII review ring; no, this is not a reference to the criminal of the same name of Batman fame but rather the one over at GameAddicts (GA).
With a flare worthy of a pirate, the GA staffer awards the game a 8/10 score accompanied by the following concluding paragraph:
Is the game good? Aye. Is it worthy of its name? Aye. Should you buy it? Aye. Right now, the only things that are preventing me from giving Civilization III a perfect score are annoying little problems that can be solved with a simple patch. So do yourself a favor, and pick up this great strategy game.
-DanQ
SECOND TO DATE IN GSPY FAN AWARDS
(3 December 2001, 1:49 EST/Civ3) After the first two weeks of fan voting on GameSpy.com's "Best of 2001 Awards", CivIII stands in second behind Black & White in the 'PC Strategy Game of The Year' category.
The former has garnered 4,321 votes (19.2% of total) while the former has captured 3,350 votes (14.9% of total) to date. Empire Earth is a running third spot with 10.8% of the total voting base or 2,447 votes. Voting continues on GameSpy's website up to and including December 23rd with the final results being announced shortly thereafter. -DanQ
CIVTRIVIA OVER
(3 December 2001, 1:42 EST/Civ3) After a long and successful run, the "CivTriva" feature over at the official CivIII website has come to a close. The Leaderboard was hotly contested throughout the duration of the competition as is evident by the strength of the scores and the tight race that ensued [see related stories below and in news archives].
In the end, Gramphos beat out PK by only 10 points with the competitors earning 2490 and 2480 points respectively. Below is the final 'Top 10' scoreboard with the point totals listed being out of a possible 2510.
1. Gramphos -- 2490pts
2. PK -- 2480pts
3. radius -- 2410pts
4. GS -- 2380pts
5. Locutus -- 2330pts
6. SkankyBurns -- 2320pts
7. StefanBaert -- 2320pts
8. kebzero -- 2260pts
9. jnewsom_gnr -- 2220pts
10. auburn -- 2200pts -DanQ
ACSR RETURNING AFTER HIATUS
(3 December 2001, 1:27 EST/About) After a two months hiatus, Apolyton Civilization Site Radio (ACSR) will be returning to the digital airwaves in January, 2002.
While the exact details are still being worked out, the station's flagship show ACSR Daily will return and ACSR Weekly will become a compilation of seven days' worth of ACSR Daily broadcasts played in succession so as to ensure that each day's news will be heard as was originally broadcast and to speed up the process in which the weekly shows are published.
To ensure long-term sustainability, committed volunteers are needed to assist in the production and promotion of shows. If you are interested in helping out and are available to do so in some capacity, please contact ACSR's station manager for more details as soon as possible. -DanQ
C197# THE FIRST ONLINE RELEASE
(2 December 2001, 22:00 EST/Misc) For one more weekend, the Column is here!
197# THE FIRST ONLINE RELEASE
It's a new internet age and Civ3 is the first civ game of it, says Rasbelin
The column now reaches 8200 civers every week. -MarkG
2ND APOLYTON TOURNAMENT!
(2 December 2001, 21:17 EST/Civ3) 
The 2nd tournament has just started, here are the details of the game
Theme: The other 8 civs
Size: Standard Map
Ocean coverage: 60%
Land form: Archipelago
Climate: Normal
Temperature: Temperate
Age: 3 billion years
Barbarians: Raging
Civilization: English
Level: Monarch
Opponents: 7 (Americans, Germans, Iroquois, Japanese, French, Russians, Indians)
Huts: Removed
Victory types allowed: All
- Download the tournament game
- Submit your (zipped) saved game by attaching it on this thread
The results of the 1st tournament will be posted asap. -MarkG
TRANSLATION PROJECT: LAST RESPONSE & ROUNDUP
(2 December 2001, 21:10 EST/Civ3) The last part in the story of the German translation project was played out on Thursday and Friday as Kai Fiebach responded to the Infogrames annoument issued earlier on Thursday, and finally asked to end the situation.
We are posting the bigest parts of the messages, in our full report on the issue. In it, you'll find all the related news items, telling the story from the start, as well as our own small note on how we saw things... -MarkG
TRIVIA: DESERT TOPPING
(1 December 2001, 1:10 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of the long-running CivTrivia series. Good luck to all participants!
Today's question:
What links Port Said to Port Tawfiq?
-- The Persian Gulf
-- The Red Sea
-- The Suez Canal
-- The Straight of Hormuz
While it is still early in the day, at the time of this posting Gramphos is in the lead with 2480 followed closely by PK with 2450 points. -DanQ
