March 2000
INTERVIEW WITH STEVE MARIOTTI
(31 March 2000, 23:12 EST/Misc) It has been one year since Activision's Civilization: Call To Power rocked the community, for better or for worse depending upon your point of view. Steve Mariotti, Lead Programmer for the game, is taking on the position again in the recently announced sequel. In this exclusive expose, Mariotti discusses his thoughts on the successes of CTP and what gamers can expect in CTP2.
This is the first installment in our "Up Close & Personal: Year 2000 Series". Comments/questions are welcomed here. -DanQ
CHART-TRAK: MARCH 25, 2000
(31 March 2000, 10:03 EST/Misc) 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/Misc) 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
CTP SALES STILL GOOD
(30 March 2000, 5:28 EST/CtPMac) 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
NEWS IN REALAUDIO©: MARCH 19-25, 2000
(29 March 2000, 23:46 EST/Misc) The audio broadcast of the March 19-25, 2000 newsletter is now available for broadcasting live, on demand, in RealAudio© format.
To listen, you will need the RealPlayer G2+ installed on your system; you can left-click on the file to have it stream through your player of choice (28.8K+ Internet connection recommended), or right-click to download the 2.9MB file to listen at your convenience at a later time. -DanQ
PC DATA: MARCH 12-18, 2000
(29 March 2000, 20:22 EST/Misc) For the week March 12-18, 2000, those listed below are the Top 10 Selling PC Computer Games based on sales data gathered by PCData from 17 retail chains, comprising more than 60% of the U.S. market. The top five titles remain unchanged from last week, but there was a shake-up in the lower half of the list. Anyone still have their Legos?
1) Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? | Disney Interactive
2) The Sims | Electronic Arts
3) Roller Coaster Tycoon | Hasbro Interactive
4) Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun Firestorm | Electronic Arts
5) Age of Empires II: Age of Kings | Microsoft
6) Lego Island | Lego Media
7) Roller Coaster Tycoon: Corkscrew Follies | Hasbro Interactive
8) Starcraft | Havas
9) Unreal Tournament | GT Interactive
10) Half-Life | Havas
PCData is based in Reston, VA.
-DanQ
BHG DELAYED CIV3
(29 March 2000, 13:27 EST/Civ3) 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
CTP2 RELEASED. WHAT DO YOU DO?
(28 March 2000, 17:40 EST/CtP2) Our new poll, based on a suggestion of Atahualpa is the following In this poll it is obviously that Activision would like to see a certain answer, and Dan and I another one... ;)
Your comments please? -MarkG
BORDERS&DIPLOMACY!
(28 March 2000, 17:14 EST/CtP2) Those are the two things from the CTP2 announcement that sound like music to your ears, according to our first poll at least. Here are the final results of the Feature you're most looking forward to? poll
| Game lasts from 4000BC to 2300AD |  16 / 3% |
| Improved diplomacy | 136 / 25% |
| Ministers and advisors | 16 / 3% |
| Same graphics engine with improvements | 9 / 1% |
| Borders | 160 / 30% |
| Historical timeline feature | 23 / 4% |
| Improved(more realistic, historically accurate) combat | 83 / 15% |
| City mayors | 16 / 3% |
| Improved interface and menus | 40 / 7% |
| More ways to win | 32 / 6% |
531 total votes
Comments on this thread please. -MarkG
DIARY #6
(28 March 2000, 13:30 EST/Dino) 
Firaxis posted the 6th Dinosaurs Diary. There is a mention on the genetics system, but the main part deals with the connection between the player and it's dino's. A special "King/Queen Dino" is one idea, but there is more! Read on and give your comments on the forums -MarkG
CIVILOPEDIA BACK IN BUSINESS
(28 March 2000, 10:27 EST/Civ3) The Civilization III Civilopedia has been re-launched, but this time as part of Gamers-Lounge.com; still affiliated with SNGaming, Dustin Bainbridge has given the Civilopedia some cosmetic changes and a promise to be better then ever. The site had been down for several weeks due to the unexpected closing of ZeroBearing.com, which had previously hosted SNG and the Civilopedia in turn.
Welcome back to the community! 
-DanQ
APOLYTON NEWS: MAR. 19-25, 2000
(28 March 2000, 9:33 EST/Misc) Another issue of "Apolyton News" has been compiled and published. You can now read up on what was making headlines in the Civilization world in the week past of March 19-25, 2000.
The audio version of the newsletter will be published ~24hrs. -DanQ
ATTN: POSITION OPENING AT ACS
(28 March 2000, 9:25 EST/About) The recent growth at Apolyton, speaking primarily to the still new Call To Power II and Dinosaurs sections, has been an exciting and busy time. Now that things are beginning to calm down a little for the moment, it has given us the opportunity to re-evaluate our game strategy. To keep up the level of content, updates and professional in all of the sections of our website, we have opened the following position we are hoping to fill to help us meet this need:
Title: Alternative Civs. Section Webmaster
Responsibilities: keeping news current (through the use of our newscript); creating/updating HTML pages on various games covered; pursuing possible additions/changes to the current Alt. Civ lineup
What are we looking for in someone to take this on?
1) Read, review, understand and agree to the conditions outlined in our Hosting page.
2) Answer the following questions in your application letter:
a) What is your history in playing "Civ" games?
b) What is your previous HTML/website management experience (please provide URLs of websites, and time and items worked on)?
c) In your own opinion, do you work better in a team or on your own? Would you feel comfortable and capable in working in either environment?
d) Why are you interesting in holding this position?
Please submit your application to me, DanQ, by Tuesday, April 4. We hope to reach a decision by that Friday, or the following Monday at the latest.
Thank you in advance to all of those who apply, and good luck! -DanQ
FIRAXIS, THIS IS THE ESSENTIAL CIV3!
(27 March 2000, 15:16 EST/Civ3) 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
FUTURE OF GAMING SITES
(27 March 2000, 9:33 EST/Misc) Since Apolyton easily falls under that category 
, an interesting read is an article simply entitled Future Of Gaming Sites at 3dgameforce.com, written by Brian Bugh.
According to him, the future looks bright.
"Gaming sites were created for a variety of reasons", Bugh writes. "Not only do they provide information, but they provide links that magazines have a hard time with. The closest a magazine can come to providing information about a specific company or specific person in the industry is limited by space in the magazine's pages. Sites are only limited by the amount of host space they have. They provide a closer link between the companies that make the products and the gamers that run them.
Sites not only give gamers a chance to see what companies are doing, but it gives companies a chance to see what their users are liking and disliking. When games get reviewed, it shows the company what they need to improve, and what the gamers like. Message boards on the sites, and reader mail provide even more information for the program creators. This is much harder to achieve with a printed magazine".
To read the entire article, click on the link above today. Thanks to our wonderful hosts, GameStats, for the reference to this column in their Daily News update. -DanQ
CTP REVIEW AT MAC GAME GATE
(27 March 2000, 4:32 EST/CtPMac) 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
SILVER CTRY. CONQUEST PREVIEW
(26 March 2000, 19:58 EST/Civ2) 
Scenario author Jesús Balsinde today is unveiling his latest creation for the CivII world: the Of Celts and Iberians -- Conquest of the Silver Country scenario.
"Phoenicians and Greeks have long told the world stories about the Iberian peninsula, a mysterious land of unimaginable wealth populated by proud Iberians and indomitable Celts. Until the 3rd century BC, foreigners have come to the peninsula in peace. All this is about to change. Armies from Carthage and Rome will enter Iberia with an unmistakable purpose. Will the brave Celts and Iberians be able to contain the imperialistic hunger of the most formidable war machines the world has known".
Balsinde promises that, quote, "this scenaro is going to be challenging and engrossing as like any other". According to trusted sources, Conquest Of Silver Country has been set for an imminent release.
If you are a CivII scenario/MOD/map author etc., contact us if you would like to arrange for a preview of your latest works in progress. -DanQ
CSC: CHANGE OF HANDS
(26 March 2000, 19:48 EST/About) Effectively immediately, the Civilization Scenario Collection, the collaboration of the former "Allard & Andrew's CivII Page" and the Spanish Civilization Site, is now under the able direction of Keven Chulski, aka DarthVeda. In the past nine months, the CSC has accumulated almost 44,500 hits and is presently home to more than 130 CivII scenarios ranging in theme from the Middle Ages to Fantasy.
DV takes over the reigns from Jesús Balsinde and Allard Höfelt, and in turn joins the extended Apolyton family by being the latest individual to manage one ACS' Hosted Sites. -DanQ
VOTE FOR CIVII TODAY
(26 March 2000, 16:05 EST/Civ2) GameSpot's Question of the Week asks "what game, of those selected by [GS] editors, do you play the most?" Almost 27,000 votes have been submitted to date, and Starcraft is currently leading Civilization II by 3%! Head over there now and place your vote accordingly to help narrow the gap --- time is running out! -DanQ
AL&PD: 137 LINKS&PRODUCTS, 325 REVIEWS
(26 March 2000, 7:48 EST/Misc) Addition of new Links(or Products) has definately decreased in the Apolyton Links&Products Directory. Still, your reviews keep adding up, and we want to thank you for that. With 137 items in AL&PD, we have 325 reviews! A bit more than 2 month ago, on Jaunary 17th, we had 100 links and 97 reviews. Keep it up guys! -MarkG
AC-MACINTOSH FORUM
(26 March 2000, 6:49 EST/About) A bit delayed announcement. If you visited the forums the last couple of days, you have probably noticed a new forum. It is the AC-Macintosh forum, for discussions related to (what else) the port of Alpha Centauri to the Mac. The moderator is Baston, the webmaster of our CTP for Mac subsection. Some PBEM games have already started to form, check them out!
-MarkG
SMAC-X FOR MAC SOON!
(26 March 2000, 6:19 EST/SMACX) Apsyr Media, published of Alpha Centarui for the Macintosh, announced the porting to the mac platform of the Alien Crossfire expansion pack. The port will be again be made by Westlake Interactive, while a release date is not known at the moment. You can pre-order SMAC-X for the Mac for $19.95 at http://www.aspyr.com and have the chance to win a copy of SMAC X autographed by Sid Meier or a SMAC X t-shirt(see recent news item).
In related news, another patch for SMAC for Mac is in development. "Many of these bug fixes will appear in the Mac versions before the PC version!" says Brad Oliver of Westlake(btw, check out his recent interview to us).
Thanks Ashman who posted about this in our new AC-Macintosh forum -MarkG
COLUMN #108; BY KORN469
(25 March 2000, 22:56 EST/Misc) This week's installment of the "The Column" comes from an author we first encountered just six weeks ago. korn469's second expose is solemnly entitled "Death of Game". He asserts that both Firaxis and Activision can learn from some invaluable lessons from MicroProse as what NOT to do in terms of product support. Comments? Questions? Head over to our forums to help get the discussion going.
Speaking of "The Column", we are running severely low on articles -- in fact, we have one more in the queue to be published. Follow this link to submit your written masterpiece today! -DanQ
IMPORTANT SDC #3 NEWS
(25 March 2000, 16:57 EST/HAC) We have made several key changes to the rules. To sum them up briefly, we have increased file size limits for the ToT platform and removed several rules that competitors felt were constricting. Please check the main Scenario Design Contest page (reachable at the top) for full details. Any questions should be directed to myself or Blackclove. -reismark
DOUBLE PRIDE, AGAIN
(25 March 2000, 16:54 EST/HAC) The latest endeavor into the Pride of the World database has emerged with these two sites: for January, Apolyton's own GameLeague; for February, David Ledgard's Historic CivII Scenarios. Congratulations to both! If you would like further information concerning the Pride of the World award, go here. -reismark
WE`RE NOT DEAD YET!
(25 March 2000, 16:51 EST/HAC) Au contraire, my friends. Hodadian Award Central has been dormant for a while (due to technical and real-life issues) but we are back and are ready to be better than ever! Our Director's e-mail has changed; please direct any further requests concerning HAC to either hac@apolyton.net or reismark@nycmail.com. Thanks!
As always,
Reismark -reismark
10 NEW FILES IN DATABASE
(25 March 2000, 16:30 EST/Civ2) Today's selection includes three mods, four maps and three patches. These files were the last from our backlog of more than 100 files that piled up last year, when nobody maintained the DB. Now we can finally get back to our original goal, entering all files from our huge archives.
Liortage
May 1940
Newtech
Spanish Map
Militarist Patch
Modern Ages
Kosovo
Maps of Complexitude
Mapcom
Mideast -Sven
SLOWLY SLIPPING
(25 March 2000, 14:39 EST/CtP) Global100, formerly World Charts, is reporting in their latest issue of 100 Most Popular Computer Games, that Civilization: Call To Power is slowly but steadily losing ground in the listing; last week it was in the 34th position, but over the past seven days has slid to #36.
Since this list, as all the others on G100, are generated by votes submitted to them by the public, you can help CTP stand its ground. Click here to vote for CTP this week (and every week, if you can remember)! -DanQ
REGAINING SOME GROUND
(25 March 2000, 14:35 EST/Civ2ToT) Global100, formerly World Charts, is reporting in their latest issue of 100 Most Popular Computer Games, that Civilization II: Test of Time has gained a notch, now sitting in at #19 in the listing. Hopefully this trend will continue in the weeks to come.
Since this list, as all the others on G100, are generated by votes submitted to them by the public, you can help ToT move on up! Click here to vote for ToT this week (and every week, if you can remember)! -DanQ
STILL SEVENTH IN G100 CHART
(25 March 2000, 14:23 EST/SMAC) Global100, formerly World Charts, is reporting in their latest issue of 100 Most Popular Computer Games, the duo of SMAC/SMAC-X is holdings its own at #7. Given that the game is based on an engine nearly 1 1/2 years old, coupled with the fact of some fierce competition in the market from both within and outside its genre, this is an impressive showing of solidarity to say the least.
Click here to vote for SMAC this week (and every week, if you can remember)!
-DanQ
STILL IN THE TOP TEN
(25 March 2000, 14:11 EST/SMAC) According to statistics gathered by online reseller Mac-O-Rama, the port of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, which was released on February 4th of this year, is still in the Top Ten Selling Games for the platform. The latest weekly installment of the list is for units sold during the period March 13-19, 2000 (see our Miscellaneous for a copy of it). -DanQ
M-O-R: MARCH 13-19, 2000
(25 March 2000, 13:52 EST/Misc) Last week we began to publish the top-selling PC games out of the United Kingdom from Chart-Trak; this week, we are expanding our coverage of game chart toppers yet again by emmulating the findings of Mac-O-Rama, an online Mac game reseller, that gathers statistics on what gamers on Apple's OS are playing.
For the week of March 13-19, 2000:
1) Nightfall | Altor Systems
2) Unreal Tournament | MacSoft
3) Baldur's Gate | GraphSim
4) Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six | MacSoft
5) Allied General | Mindscape
6) iFlight for Mac | Aztech New Media
7) Total Annihilation Gold Edition | MacSoft
8) Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri | Aspyr Media
9) Myth: The Total Codex | Bungie Software
10) Quake 3 Arena | Activision
Mac Civer's will want to take note of the game in the #8 position this week. -DanQ
TRAIN TALKS TO GAMECENTER
(25 March 2000, 12:57 EST/Misc) Yesterday C|Net's GameCenter posted an interview they recently conducted with Tim Train; the two-page expose has Train answering questions about what's going on at Big Huge Games right now, where they are headed and, interestingly enough, why BHG has no intention to publish games for the console platforms anytime in the near future.
Some excerpts:
"GC: What are you working on right now?
T.T.: We're in "the good ol' days" phase of the company--where everything is new, fresh, and exciting, and there's enough work to occupy you 24/7. Dave Inscore [vice president of graphics] is setting up the Web site and jobs page, while Jason Coleman [vice president of software] is working on hardware, software, and anything technically related. Brian [Reynolds] and I are focused on finding the right publishing partner...
GC:How big do you want to get, and when do you think you'll hit that number?
T.T.: Our immediate goal is to staff a top-notch development team of around 30 people. We hope to have the 30th person hired about 12 to14 months from now. We're very focused on controlled growth...
GC: Is Big Huge going after the console market too?
T.T.: Unfortunately, the console systems lack the controller necessary to make strategy games work. The thumbstick is too imprecise to zero in on one unit, or one tile, and the lack of a keyboard means you can't use shortcuts--you're dependent on navigating through layers of menus with that darn thumbstick..." -DanQ
SMAC-X SHIRTS FOR SALE
(24 March 2000, 17:36 EST/SMACX) 
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
CHART-TRAK: MARCH 18, 2000
(24 March 2000, 9:46 EST/Misc) Chart-Trak has published the Top 5 Selling PC Games in the United Kingdom for the week ending March 18, 2000. There was absolutely no movement in the listing in comparison to last week's tally.
1) The Sims | EA
2) Championship Manager: Season 99/00 | Eidos
3) Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings | Microsoft
4) Half-Life: Generations | Havas
5) Delta Force 2 | NovaLogic -DanQ
PC DATA: MARCH 5-11, 2000
(24 March 2000, 9:41 EST/Misc) For the week March 5-11, 2000, those listed below are the Top 10 Selling PC Computer Games based on sales data gathered by PCData from 17 retail chains, comprising more than 60% of the U.S. market:
1) Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? | Disney Interactive
2) The Sims | Electronic Arts
3) Roller Coaster Tycoon | Hasbro Interactive
4) Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun Firestorm | Electronic Arts
5) Age of Empires II: Age of Kings | Microsoft
6) Roller Coaster Tycoon: Corkscrew Follies | Hasbro Interactive
7) Might & Magic VIII: Day Of The Destroyer | 3DO
8) Unreal Tournament | GT Interactive
9) Scooby Doo Mystery Of The Fun Park Phantom | Southpeak
10) Hoyle Board Games 2000 | Havas -DanQ
MESSAGE FROM SID!
(23 March 2000, 17:24 EST/Civ3) 
This is a really rare moment. A biblical(j/k) feeling inside me. Sid has spoken and we are bringing his message to you :)
With all the latest events it seems something like this was the best thing to do. Actually, the only thing that should be done.
Sid is making clear that he and Jeff Briggs are leading the development of Civ3. He publicly notes that ideas from the Civ3 List WILL be in the game(YEAH!). There are also hints on the improvments in the trade("corner the market"), combat("leaders", "armies"!) and diplomacy(based on smac) models, as well as the graphics engine. Check the whole thing here and post your comments on the forums. -MarkG
FIRAXIANS: CIVILIZATION 3
(23 March 2000, 16:55 EST/Civ3) 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
FIRAXIANS: DINOSAURS
(23 March 2000, 16:54 EST/Dino) 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
PROMOTIONS AND HIRINGS ON FIRAXIS
(23 March 2000, 16:51 EST/Misc) 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
FIRAXIS: LOOKING FOR A LEAD ARTIST?
(23 March 2000, 2:17 EST/Dino) 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 Inscore 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
REYNOLDS INTERVIEW ON DAILY RADAR
(23 March 2000, 2:05 EST/Misc) 
Brian Reynolds gave an interview on Daily Radar on... what else? His departure from Firaxis and the creation of BHG. Unfortuantely most of it already said. An interesting part is when Brian is asked the "Sid Meier's" part of the titles of all(and those in production) Firaxis games:
Q: By the way, can you give us any insight as to why Firaxis keeps doing that "Sid Meier's this" and "Sid Meier's that" thing?
A: You mean putting his name on the box? It must work from a marketing point of view. It was intended mainly as a stamp of approval thing. That is how we thought of it at the time. But I think even if Big Huge Games hadn't happened, it's something that would have been phased out anyway.
As well as if things will be similar on BHG:
Q: So, do you plan on having the first Big Huge Game be "Brian Reynolds's...." something? Or you could just use the byline you used on Alpha : "A Brian Reynolds Design."
A: Yes, it wouldn't be the other way. It would be after the title and just a byline. It might say, "a Brian Reynolds design," or it might say, "a Brian Reynolds Company Design." We haven't really discussed it yet.
There's more stuff in there, like that Brian, while in Firaxis, didnt exactly feel like... Riker of Star Trek: The Next Generation :) Do check out the full interview! Our thanks to yin for posting about it. -MarkG
LAST CHANCE TO VOTE FOR THE ESSENTIAL CIV3!!
(22 March 2000, 18:36 EST/Civ3) If you're bored from seeing me post about the Essential Civ3, well, this is it! Today is the last day of the vote, today is your last chance to give your message to Firaxis! Vote for the FIXES and the NEWS IDEAS that are essential for civ3 to be worth of the number... 3 :) -MarkG
NEWS IN REALAUDIO©: MARCH 12-18, 2000
(22 March 2000, 9:23 EST/Misc) The audio broadcast of the March 12-18, 2000 newsletter is now available for broadcasting live, on demand, in RealAudio© format.
To listen, you will need the RealPlayer G2+ installed on your system; you can left-click on the file to have it stream through your player of choice (28.8K+ Internet connection recommended), or right-click to download the 2.3MB file to listen at your convenience at a later time. -DanQ
ON BEHALF OF CIVIII CIVILOPEDIA
(21 March 2000, 23:14 EST/Civ3) The following is a press release sent to us today by Dustin Bainbridge, owner/webmaster of the Civilization III Civilopedia with an update on the progress of his website's return to the online community.
"As some of you may already know, or have seen, the Civilization III Civilopedia has not been online due to a change in servers. Well, we are planning on coming back sometime this weekend, *hopefully*, but if not then, then in the middle of the week after that. As you may recall, the Civilization III Civilopedia was hosted by SNGaming.com who was hosted by Zerobearing.com. Zerobearing.com was no longer able to host any of its sites, so SNGaming.com was forced to be shut down temporarily. Some news articles were lost because we were unable to recover our news script in time. All articles prior to the news poster are in tact, so all articles after December 1999 are no more. I will attempt to get these back up. I'd like to thank you for your patience during this time, and hope you come back as you did before. We'll let you know when we're back online". -DanQ
IDEAS FOR MP SCREENS WANTED
(21 March 2000, 15:44 EST/Civ3) As you can also read in the Dinodaurs section, Jeff Morris of Firaxis posted in our Civ3 forum(as well as the Dino one) asking for comments and ideas on the multiplayer setup screens. A sign that some things like that will be common in the two games? We'll have to wait and see. For the time being go post your ideas! -MarkG
IDEAS FOR MP SCREENS WANTED
(21 March 2000, 15:43 EST/Dino) Jeff Morris of Firaxis posted in our Dinosaurs forum asking for comments and ideas on the multiplayer setup screens. Give yours now! -MarkG
APOLYTON NEWS: MAR. 12-18, 2000
(21 March 2000, 10:14 EST/Misc) Another issue of "Apolyton News" has been compiled and published. You can now read up on what was making headlines in the Civilization world in the week past of March 12-18, 2000.
The audio version of the newsletter will be published ~24hrs. -DanQ
APOLYTON INTERVIEW PHIL SULAK
(21 March 2000, 7:19 EST/CtPMac) 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.
http://apolyton.net/misc/interviews/mac_attack-sulak.shtml -Baston
GAMESTATS LOOKING FOR NEWSIES
(20 March 2000, 23:42 EST/Misc) 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
NORDICUS` TRADE GOODS!
(20 March 2000, 20:10 EST/CtP) Another great piece of CTP modification is finally here. Nordicus' New Trade Goods mods(for a Non-CD(original) install as well as for use with the Apolyton Pack) adds 33(yes thirty three) new trade goods! And it's just 700k... For full details check the readme
-MarkG
EC3 VOTE ENDS IN TWO DAYS
(20 March 2000, 19:39 EST/Civ3) Unless there is a huge demand to extend the deadline even more, the Essential Civ3 vote will end on March 22nd. If you haven't voted so far, do vote NOW! -MarkG
17 SCENARIOS FOR CIV II ADDED TO MAC PAGE
(19 March 2000, 23:44 EST/Civ2Mac) In response to numerous questions about scenarios for the original, single-player Civ II, I have posted 17 scenarios on the Mac Scenario Page. (Thanks to "EricTheRed" for sending them to me!) If you have any problems getting these to work, be sure and send me an e-mail or post on the Mac Forum By the way, be sure and read the thread about playing PC scenarios and modpacks on the Mac WITHOUT conversions! -macuser
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
COLUMN #107; BY GLAK
(18 March 2000, 22:33 EST/Misc) Alert from Glak: why he believes that the style of Civ games is not strategy at all.
This is the theme portrayed in his article entited "Strategy Or Simulation", and is the 107th installment of "The Column". Your comments/questions are welcomed here in our forums.
On a related note, effective immediately "The Column" is returning to its original format of being published once as opposed to twice weekly. -DanQ
"MAC ATTACK": CIV INVADES APPLE OS
(18 March 2000, 15:54 EST/Misc) Gaming on the Macintosh platform, until recently, has been somewhat of an enigma. With more titles being ported to appease the growing numbers of Mac gamers, we were given the opportunity to two prominent figures responsible for bringing Civ to the Mac, Phil Sulak (VP & CTP Port Developer, Westlake Interactive) and Brad Oliver (SMAC Port Project Leader).
Click here for the interviews, and here to comment on the feature publicly. -DanQ
BHG: OFFICIAL WEBSITE LAUNCH
(17 March 2000, 16:21 EST/Misc) Big Huge Games has given birth to its official website at bighugegames.com.
From the Team page which profiles the five current members of the company, to the Jobs section where you can read up on all of the latest employment opportunities with BHG, the site is off to a happy and healthy start. -DanQ
PC DATA: FEBRUARY 27 - MARCH 4, 2000
(17 March 2000, 16:02 EST/Misc) The Top 10 Selling PC Games for the week February 27 - March 4, 2000, as compiled through statistics gathered by PCData, are listed below:
1) Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? | Disney Interactive
2) The Sims | Electronic Arts
3) Roller Coaster Tycoon | Hasbro Interactive
4) Age of Empires II: Age of Kings | Microsoft
5) Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Gold Edition | Red Storm
6) Roller Coaster Tycoon: Corkscrew Follies | Hasbro Interactive
7) Might & Magic VIII: Day Of The Destroyer | 3DO
8) Nox 2 | Electronic Arts
9) Starcraft | Havas
10) Unreal Tournament | GT Interactive
List based on units sold by 17 retail chains, representing more than 60 percent of the U.S. market. -DanQ
PC DATA: TOP 20, FEB. 2000
(17 March 2000, 11:15 EST/Misc) The following are the Top Selling PC Games for February, 2000 according to statistics gathered by PCData:
1. The Sims | Electronic Arts
2. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire | Disney
3. RollerCoaster Tycoon | Hasbro Interactive)
4. Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings | Microsoft
5. Centipede | Hasbro Interactive
6. RollerCoaster Tycoon: Corkscrew Follies | Hasbro Interactive
7. StarCraft | Havas Interactive
8. Half-Life | Havas Interactive
9. Rainbow Six Gold Edition | Red Storm Entertainment
10. Final Fantasy VIII | Electronic Arts
11. SimCity 3000 | Electronic Arts
12. Parker Brothers Classic Card Games | Hasbro Interactive
13. Unreal Tournament | GT Interactive
14. Hoyle Board Games 2000 | Havas Interactive
15. Quake III Arena | Activision
16. Deer Hunter III | GT Interactive
17. Cabela's Big Game Hunter III | Activision
18. Frogger | Hasbro Interactive
19. Lemmings Paintball | Psygnosis
20. Milton Bradley Classic Games | Hasbro Interactive -DanQ
MAC GAMERS LEDGE DEAL ENDS TODAY
(17 March 2000, 5:35 EST/CtPMac) Macgamersledge are ending their Call to Power deal today, so if you havent got it yet and are looking for a good deal (Just $35) head over to them:
http://www.macgamersledge.com/NEWS.chtml#0316-7 -Baston
INFO&ART FROM DIARY #5
(16 March 2000, 12:23 EST/Dino) 
The Information and Art pages have been updated with latest content from the 5th Diary. Check it out! -MarkG
NEWS IN REALAUDIO©: MAR. 5 - MAR. 11, 2000
(16 March 2000, 11:17 EST/Misc) The audio broadcast of the Mar. 5 - Mar. 11, 2000 newsletter is now available for listening in RealAudio© format.
Although this edition is a few seconds shy of 15 minutes in length, roughly half the playing time of the first installment, it introduces Apolyton News' theme song (yes, it is something you may have heard before , as well as a generalized introduction as to the purpose of the feature.
To listen, you will need either the RealPlayer G2+ or Windows Media Player installed on your system, you can left-click on the file to have it stream through your player of choice (28.8K+ Internet connection recommended) or right-click to download the 1.8MB file to listen at your convenience at a later time. -DanQ
BIGHUGEGAMES.COM SURFACING
(16 March 2000, 11:00 EST/Misc) A couple of days ago we reported on the initial construction of bighugegames.com, the official website of the Big Huge Games company founded by ex-Firaxian Brian Reynolds in February.
Now the website is sporting what is to be some of its inital offerings.
With Hugo Rane pointing out the changes in our forums earlier today, we see the menu options around the BHG logo reading News, About Big Huge, The Team, Jobs, and Contact Info in a clockwise rotation. The links from all of these direct you to this temporary page which indicates that the website is presently undergoing testing and will be unveiled shortly. -DanQ
HI-RES VERSION 2 PREVIEW
(16 March 2000, 10:17 EST/Civ2) 
In the second edition of our continuing feature in profiling up-and-coming creations for CivII (see Feb. 29 article for the first one), today you are being treated to a preview of the some of the units, resource icons, and city artwork you will see [at right] in Tim Smith's sequel to the "Hi-Res" graphics patch, "Hi-Res Version 2".
"The original HiRes replaced the graphics for all units and city improvements, as well as some of the terrain", Smith says. "For the new release, I improved the weaker units from version 1, and went on to replace all of the graphics for resource icons, cities, all terrain (including coastlines), and more. The new work is in the same "photo-realistic" style of the original HiRes patch.
As in v1, I am including some additional "spare" unit graphics, you'll find examples of these in the bottom row".
"Hi-Res Version 2" is anticipated to be released sometime in the next few weeks. -DanQ
APOLYTON NEWS: MAR. 5-11, 2000
(15 March 2000, 22:10 EST/Misc) Another issue of "Apolyton News" has been compiled and published! Read up on what made headlines in the Civilization world in the past week, March 5-11, 2000.
With a technical glitch with the news script, the regular text version is unavailable this week and thus we are re-directing our newsletter subscribers to the Web link above; the audio version of the newsletter will be published ~24hrs as usual. -DanQ
OVERLOOKED REVIEW OF TOT
(15 March 2000, 15:20 EST/Civ2ToT) Every once in a while you stumble across of a review you missed, even that the mainstream missed, and this is the case with WarGamer's review of Civilization II: Test of Time.
Written by Mike Dorn (is that you Worf? ), the article is critical on the bang ToT delivers for the buck.
"Despite my enjoyment of Civilization II, the newcomer Test of Time faces a higher bar. Any sequel coming out as a full price addition deserves close scrutiny, especially if based on a three-year-old game system.
In my estimation, Test of Time does not deliver the goods. Not for the full price being asked. If you can find Test of Time with the price suitably adjusted in the future, it may be worth it –- if you are a true Civilization II fan".
The only bright light ToT delivers, accroding to Dorn, is the much acclaimed "World of Midguard" scenario by Mich Uhl.
"My compliments go to Mick Uhl", Dorn writes. "His "World of Midgard" scenario and the way he handled scripting quests as a fully functional portion of the game are the true gems that redeem Test of Time".
In conclusion, Dorn states that "the whole feel of Test of Time is that it just isn’t that substantial an offering and doesn’t represent much of a jump forward from Civilization II Multiplayer Gold Edition (unless you can’t live without the new graphics). The "World of Midgard" scenario alone is worth recommending Test of Time, but only once you can find it at a discounted price. At full price, it looks like trying to cash in one last time on the Civilization II name, with a haphazard effort".
No final grading/score was given. -DanQ
DOUGLAS KAUFMAN JOINS BHG!
(14 March 2000, 13:27 EST/Misc) 
It seems like BHG will be the future home of yet another Firaxian! Read on
AWARD-WINNING VETERAN GAME DESIGNER DOUGLAS KAUFMAN JOINS BIG HUGE GAMES
Hunt Valley, Maryland (March 14, 2000) Award-winning game designer and industry veteran Douglas Kaufman has joined Big Huge Games to help create the next generation of real-time strategy games. A longtime collaborator of Big Huge Games co-founder Brian Reynolds, Kaufman has been in the games industry for over 20 years, and has garnered acclaim in virtually every genre of interactive entertainment. A partial list of his credits includes Command, Darklands, Dragonsphere, Colonization, and Civilization II®. Most recently, Kaufman was a driving creative force behind Alpha Centauri and Alien Crossfire.
"I'm really excited to have Doug on board with Big Huge Games", said Reynolds. "He and I have a special synergy together that helps create the incredibly addictive quality of our games. He's proven his ability to know what makes a compelling gaming experience, and will play a key role in making sure Big Huge's games will be as fun as they are realistic and visually stunning.
Kaufman's career began with the publication of his first game, Ace of Aces with Al Leonardi while he was still in college getting his bachelor's degree in General Dramatics. He then moved to West End Games, where he designed several pen-and-paper titles set in the Star
Wars universe. Kaufman also worked on games like Arabian Nights, Kings & Things, and the classic role-playing game Paranoia. In 1990, he moved to Microprose® Software. There, he spearheaded the design on several coin-op and adventure titles before joining Reynolds to create 1993's breakthrough hit Colonization. The duo followed up that success with two more smash titles: Civilization II (1996) and Alpha Centauri(1999).
Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, Big Huge Games is creating the next generation of real-time strategy games, with a definitive focus on cutting-edge technology and aimed at mass-market sales. Big Huge Games was formed in February of 2000 by Brian Reynolds, Jason Coleman, Tim Train, and David Inscore.
Would we become boring if we ask "What will happen now to Civ3 and Dino"? Anyway, most probably in some relation to all the recent incidents, Firaxis remade a call for job openings on their official site last week. -MarkG
BIGHUGEGAMES.COM IS ALIVE
(14 March 2000, 11:49 EST/Misc) 
We had seen the registration of the domain, now a "coming soon" page is up at www.bighugegames.com. Make a bookmark for future use... -MarkG
LINUX PORT: T-MINUS ONE MONTH
(13 March 2000, 22:21 EST/SMAC) John "Warrior" Keefer, GameSpy's Managing News Editor, had the chance to personally talk to Loki Entertainment Inc.'s President Scott Draeker prior to the opening ceremonies at this year's much anticipated Game Developer's Conference.
In their discussions, Draeker mentioned that the previously announced Linux port of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri was set to be released in just a month.
For more from the GDC, keep your eyes peeled on GameSpy's website. -DanQ
HASBRO: PAYING DOWN THE DEBT
(13 March 2000, 21:21 EST/Misc) From Computer Games Online:
Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE:HAS) announced that it successfully priced a public offering of $750 million of long-term debt on Friday. The offering is the company's first long-term debt issue since 1998. The $750 million offering was comprised of $550 million of three-year notes and $200 million of six-year notes.
The net proceeds from the sale of the notes will be used primarily to pay down short-term commercial debts in connection with the acquisition of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and repurchases of shares of Hasbro common stock. -DanQ
CHART-TRAK: MARCH 4, 2000
(13 March 2000, 21:19 EST/Misc) Beginning this week, we hope to bring you the top-selling PC titles out of the United Kingdom, courtesy of Chart Trak, to help give a better representation of what is being scooped up by gamers from across the globe at any given time.
Unlike PCData, the US-based company that tracks game and other computer-related purchases in his country, CT published on the Top 5 selling titles as opposed to a Top 10.
Below is the listing for the week ending March 4, 2000. Synopsis: it seems that The Sims have made themselves at home in Europe, too.
1. The Sims | EA
2. Championship Manager: Season 99/00 | Eidos
3. Final Fantasy 8 | Eidos
4. Delta Force 2 | NovaLogic
5. Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings | Microsoft -DanQ
EC3: CLOSE TO 80 VOTES, WE NEED MORE!
(13 March 2000, 16:09 EST/Civ3) 4 Days since the beginning of phase 3, there are 79 replies in the Fixes thread and 76 in the New Ideas one. It is quite possible that the deadline will be expanded, but you should go and vote now! -MarkG
ALL QUIET IN THE CTP2 FRONT
(13 March 2000, 16:06 EST/CtP2) It is quiet obvious just by checking the CTP2 main page and the forums, no? We will propably have to deal with it for a while as the news from Activision are that the first public unveiling of CTPII will be at E3 during May 11-13. Don't worry though, we are working on a secret plan to kidnap Lt John and interrogate him... -MarkG
MAC SUPPORT ADDED
(13 March 2000, 3:25 EST/CtPMaps) MAC users are now able to use these maps. You can find the instructions here.
Thanks go to TheThirdJesus and Baston for their help and testing.
-skorpion59
STILL IN THE TOP 100
(12 March 2000, 15:47 EST/CtP) It's been a while since we checked in with World Charts' Top 100 Games listing and, when we did earlier today, we were met with its new look as apart of Global 100, formerly WC. Civilization: Call To Power has been met with its (and some may say more than its) fair share of criticism from analysts, reviews and fans alike, but it must still be doing something right.
In the latest issue of the chart, #375(!), CTP is in the Number 41 position, just behind Wheel Of Time. The current #1 title is Heroes Of Might and Magic 3. Do you see something wrong with this picture? Go vote for CTP for next and each and every week! -DanQ
ROUNDING OUT THE TOP 20
(12 March 2000, 15:42 EST/Civ2ToT) It may just be an another expansion for the series to some, but still to many others Civilization II: Test of Time is a worthy title that deserves its due recognition. It's been a while since we checked in with World Charts' Top 100 Games listing and, when we did earlier today, we were met with its new look as apart of Global 100, formerly WC.
In the latest issue of the chart, #375(!), the aforementioned title still has a piece of the voter pie with a decent showing in the Number 20 position, just behind Pharoah. The current #1 title is Heroes Of Might and Magic 3. Do you see something wrong with this picture? Go vote for CivII: ToT for next and each and every week! -DanQ
HOLDING ITS OWN IN THE TOP 10
(12 March 2000, 15:35 EST/SMACX) Support for SMAC, and the Alien Crossfire expansion pack, is still going strong. It's been a while since we checked in with World Charts' Top 100 Games listing and, when we did earlier today, we were met with its new look as apart of Global 100, formerly WC.
In the latest issue of the chart, #375(!), the aforementioned duo is holding its own at Number 7, just behind The Sims. The current #1 title is Heroes Of Might and Magic 3. Do you see something wrong with this picture? Go vote for SMAC for next and each and every week! -DanQ
NO. 5, AND STILL VERY MUCH ALIVE
(12 March 2000, 15:23 EST/Civ2) Civilization II earned an Honourable Mention for coming in fifth in PC Gamer Reader's ALL TIME Top 50 listing. Given the game was released four years ago, and the number of titles that have come and gone since then, this is a very respectable showing indeed.
"Sid Meier's turn-based classic of historial empire-building seems sure to be a permanent fixture in our readers' Top 5, so endearing and enduring in its appeal", reads the write-up PCG staff wrote in response to CivII's placing.
And according to Daniel Jackson of Naugatuck, CT, whose comments were one of three to be selected for the game's blurb, his wife "thinks Sid Meier is the antichrist".
Poor Sid. -DanQ
SIXTEEN: PCG READER AWARDS
(12 March 2000, 15:13 EST/SMAC) According to PC Gamer Reader's ALL TIME Top 50 chart, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri came in at #16. The following is the comment from one of the fans who voted for the title included in the blurb for SMAC, quote:
"Not since Civilization has a strategy game sucked this much time from me. My neighbour and I played it for 16 hours straight". -DanQ
SMAC UNITS SOLD: 224,939
(12 March 2000, 14:59 EST/SMAC) In their April 2000 issue, PCGamer includes a listing of their Editor's Choice Award recipients of the past year and the number of units that they sold.
According to the article, in reading over the titles "you'll notice quite a few that barley paid the pizza bills of the development team, much less made their companies any money".
Not only is it clear that Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri did not fall under that category, but the game was only one of two to rack up more than 200,000 units sold with a final total of 224,939; that is just behind Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear at 240,503, and well ahead of third place Madden NFL 2000 at 155,071. -DanQ
COLUMN #106; BY SIROTNIKOV
(11 March 2000, 21:56 EST/Misc) The 106th installment of The Column features a first-time writer for the series, Sirotnikov, as he dispenses his advice on how to make CivIII and CTPII better than their predecessors in this article entitled "A Little Advice For CivIII and CTPII".
Comments? Questions? Post them publicly in our forums. -DanQ
LOW PRICES FOR CIV FOR MAC AT MACSOFT
(11 March 2000, 11:22 EST/Civ2Mac) This is somewhat old news, but have you checked out the MacSoft/GT Interactive store at GT Store: MacSoft lately? The price of Civilization II for Macintosh and Civilization II Multiplayer Gold Ed. for Macintosh (MPG) has dropped dramatically! The original Civ II is selling for $9.99 (US) and MPG for $19.99! Hopefully, the local computer superstores (read as CompUSA and Micro Center) will soon follow suit. They are still selling for Civ II for $32.99 and MPG for 49.99!
The MacSoft store also has a software bundle, "Mac Strategy Pack," containing Civ II, Deadlock: Planetary Conquest, Master of Orrin II: Battle at Antares and Star Control 3 for $29.99. The downside to the bundle is that the manuals are on the respective CDs rather than as hardcopy books. However, if you're like me and half regret sending in my old Civ II CD for the rebate, this is a good way to get copy. Actually, you might find this locally. I picked up the Pack at Micro Center for the same price.
Now is a GREAT time to buy MPG for yourself or for a friend, or both! :) -macuser
A HOUSE DIVIDED
(10 March 2000, 7:57 EST/Civ2Mac) Michael Witry's new alternate-timeline, post Civil War scenario has just been posted on the Mac Scenario page. It includes the gif files for PC users as well as the pict files for Macs. Note: in order to get the sound files, you have to send Mike a review and comments about the scenario! :) -macuser
EMAIL BAN CLARIFICATION
(10 March 2000, 0:18 EST/About) It has come to our attention that we are apparently not as clear as to the nature of the email service bans on our forums as we thought. This ban has nothing to do with individual users for any reason (but if it did, trust us, you would be notified directly).
It is unfortunate but a fact that we have had people deliberately abuse the availability of free email services to enter into bogus forum profiles to carry out disruptive actions. For legitimate users of these services, we do make exceptions in cases where the situation warrants and when people request nicely.
In other words, if the use of one of these services is your only accessible means to electronic mail, you will be granted an exemption to the rule to allow you to register and participate on our forums. Just email us with the details of your situation, and we will do our best to respond to your concerns in short order. -DanQ
PC DATA: FEBRUARY 20-26, 2000
(10 March 2000, 0:02 EST/Misc) The Top 10 Selling PC Games list for the week ending February 26, 2000 has been released by PCData.
The top third of the list is an exact duplicate of last week, while the bottom third is of a total different assortment of titles.
In any event, it seems you just gotta love The Sims.
1) The Sims | Electronic Arts
2) Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? |Disney Interactive
3) Roller Coaster Tycoon | Hasbro Interactive
4) Nox | Electronic Arts
5) Age of Empires II: Age of Kings | Microsoft
6) Roller Coaster Tycoon: Corkscrew Follies | Hasbro Interactive
7) Half-Life | Havas Interactive
8) PBA Bowling 2 | Bethesda
9) Hoyle Board Games 2000 | Havas Interactive
10) Unreal Tournament | GT Interactive -DanQ
ESSENTIAL CIV3 LIST: VOTE NOW!
(9 March 2000, 17:44 EST/Civ3) As we had posted, phase 2 of the Essential Civ3 List ended yesterday midnight and the voting begun(final phase 3) today. Please take the time and vote your choices for the 5 Fixes as well as the 5 New Ideas that definately need to be in Civ3. -MarkG
15 NEW FILES IN THE DATABASE!
(9 March 2000, 14:55 EST/Civ2) Who said there are no innovations for Civ 2 anymore? Today we have the first posting of oversized maps, which are much larger than the previous maximum size. These maps have Cinemascope format! Up to 230 squares wide and 140 squares high. Go to the 'Oversized Maps' thread to learn more about this new trick.
In addition to six of these big maps we have a selection of some very fine modpacks, among them the gigantic 'Sacrificial Blood' (10 MB) plus some patches and more maps. Here are the newcomers:
Atlantic
Sacrificial Blood
Big Ancient West Map
Big Dark Ages Europe I
Big Dark Ages Europe II
Big Eurasia
Big Greater Europe
Big Pacific
New York State
Government Patch
Nanotechnology Patch
Paraguay
The High King of Britain
Magical History
Solar System Battle -Sven
1,2,3,4...50 MAPS FOR CTP!
(9 March 2000, 2:21 EST/CtP) I think yesterday was a great day for CTP. Don Blevens' CTP site, call CtP Maps opened right here on Apolyton. Containing "only" 50 maps for CtP, this site in an answer to lots of questions and lots of criticism. Some will argue that things should have been easier and that Activision didnt do it's job perfect, but I say that I dont care cause in the end we(the community) did and have now availiable these maps, and will have mamny more in the future. Just like we did with the mods.
Enough with my morning rants(add 7 hours for Greek time). We will slowly start to host Don's maps in our CTP file database, but you should know from now on that for ctp maps, you just have to type ctpmaps.apolyton.net! -MarkG
WELCOME TO CTPMAPS
(9 March 2000, 0:51 EST/CtPMaps) What is CtPMaps and what can it do for you? As the name implies, this site is about CtP Maps, in particular, Civ2 converted maps. There has been a general lack of maps for CtP as well as a fair amount of confusion regarding making/using them. I hope to fix that with this site. While you will find only 50 maps now, many more will become available in the months to come, as well as new sizes for existing maps. You can either use the basic map to build your own or I will customize one for you. Send me your needs and I will be happy to put it at the top of my ToDo list.
Also, I would like to thank DanQ and MarkG for making this possible and for all their valuable help. -skorpion59
APOLYTON NETWORK IS GROWING
(8 March 2000, 23:58 EST/About) Effective today, CTPMaps, owned and maintained by Don Blevens, is the newest member of ACS' prestigious Hosted Sites.
Click here to read the full press release. -DanQ
TIM TRAIN: ONE BIG HUGE INTERVIEW
(8 March 2000, 23:30 EST/Misc) In one of his first interviews since becoming a founding member of Big Huge Games, Tim tackles some of the big questions about why he left Firaxis, why now, and what he sees his role as being at BHG both in terms of contributions to the company and the gaming community.
We would like to thank Timothy not only for taking the time out of his busy schedule to talk to us, but also the timely manner in which he responded to our questions.
We welcome your thoughts in our forums. -DanQ
FRONT PAGE: ORDER OF SECTIONS CHANGED
(8 March 2000, 18:51 EST/About) With the new sections for Dinos and CTP2 that recently opened on our site, the order of the various sections became a little confusing(or so we felt). Thus, the order has be changed. We now separate our sections to "Current Games"(for already released games), "Game to Come"(for not released games), "Other"(obvious meaning) and "Oldies"(for old games with no news and changes anymore. It includes only Civ1 and we hope we wont have to move any other section in that category for a long time!). We expect your feedback on the forums -MarkG
EC3 LIST PHASE 2 ENDS TONIGHT
(8 March 2000, 12:43 EST/Civ3) You heard it. Today is the last day to get in the final drafts! If you have made a suggestion for a new idea or a fix for Civ3, you have up to 11:59 EST on Wednesday March 8, 2000 (23:59 Apolyton time) to post your final draft in the forums. Tomorrow phase 3 will begin with the voting threads. -MarkG
SMAC MAC PATCH: ACS DOWNLOAD
(7 March 2000, 10:23 EST/SMAC) As promised, you can now download the SMAC Mac Patch v1.4.1 patch directly from Apolyton (391K).
This patch was released by Westlake Interactive on March 2. -DanQ
NOT TO BE HAD: CGO AWARDS
(7 March 2000, 9:36 EST/SMACX) It wasn't meant to be.
Computer Games Online yesterday announced their Best Of The Year Awards for 1999. The only Civ-related nominee was Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire for Add-On Of The Year. But it, alongside Baldur’s Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast, lost out to Heroes of Might and Magic III: Armageddon’s Blade for the title. -DanQ
SMAC FOR MAC 1.4.1 UPDATE
(7 March 2000, 8:50 EST/SMAC) This one slipped through our "civ news sensors" :) On March 2, Westlake posted the latest 1.4.1 update for SMAC for Macintosh. The page on Westlake states that the update "fixes numerous bugs and adds some new options, including lower memory requirements, better file type recognition, and fixing several graphical glitches. A full list of changes is included with the update, in the "Version History" document." In the coming hours(or days ;)) we will be hosting the update right here on Apolyton. -MarkG
WHEN DID EVERYTHING HAPPEN?
(7 March 2000, 2:44 EST/Civ3) Yin had a pretty good idea. We have the tech tree, which is more or less accurate, but when exactly did all of this happen? When exactly did the first bank open? Same for wonders, when was Colossus built? Something like this(another list! :)) could be usefull to Firaxis, but also to civers a "historical accuracy test" for all civ games! After the end of doing this list, I wonder which game is closer: civ2 or ctp? ;) Anyway, go the forum thread and fill in the blanks! -MarkG
GAME YOU SPENT THE MOST TIME ON?
(7 March 2000, 2:36 EST/Civ2) Gamespot.com is having an interesting poll this week: What game have you spent the most time playing?. For all of us of course, the answer is civ2. Right now Starcraft(bleah!) is leading with 27% with Civ2 at 21%. Vote NOW! Thanks to Pythagoras for posting about it. -MarkG
NEWS IN REALAUDIO©: FEB. 27 - MAR. 4, 2000
(6 March 2000, 9:52 EST/Misc) The audio version of the Feb. 27 - Mar. 4, 2000 newsletter is now available for listening in RealAudio© format.
To listen, you will need either the RealPlayer G2+ or Windows Media Player installed on your system, you can left-click on the file to have it stream through your player of choice (28.8K+ Internet connection recommended) or right-click to download the 2.7MB file to listen at your convenience at a later time. -DanQ
APOLYTON NEWS: FEB. 27-MAR. 4, 2000
(5 March 2000, 21:19 EST/Misc) The latest issue of "Apolyton News" has been compiled and published. Read up on what made headlines in the Civilization world in the past week, February 27 - March 4, 2000.
Both the text and Web versions are presently available for viewing; the audio version of the newsletter will be published ~24hrs. -DanQ
FIRST STAGE OF EC3 LIST COMPLETE!
(5 March 2000, 9:22 EST/Civ3) The first stage of the creation of the Essential Civ3 list is complete. 22 Fixes and 39 News Ideas have been suggested and discussed. In phase 2, which ends on Tuesday, March 7, all originators of ideas or fixes are sending their finalized drafts. These drafts will be voted on phase 3, and sent to Firaxis if chosen. Keep your eyes on the List forum for new updates on this process. -MarkG
CTP TOURNAMENT
(5 March 2000, 4:29 EST/CtPMac) Terje Skaaland e-mailed me a couple of days ago to say he was starting a Call to Power tournament soon. The link seems to be up and running and the format looks good. However there still seem to be some PC to Mac PBeM gaming issues that are as yet unresolved so be aware of this if you are thinking of joining.
http://home.c2i.net/w-298441/ -Baston
C#105: PORTRAIT OF A WEBMASTER
(5 March 2000, 4:12 EST/Misc) Dan was accepting questions about this article for the last 10 days, and the outcome is Column #105: Potrait Of A Webmaster. We're looking forward to your comments. And yes, this column was posted at least 4 hours and 12 minutes later than it should :) -MarkG
TIM TRAIN INTERVIEW ON AVAULT
(4 March 2000, 3:38 EST/Misc) JimMac reported to us that Tim Train was interviewed by Adrenalive Vault yesterday on (what else?) Big Huge Games. There is an interesting part of the "how did you come up with the name" story. Beyond that, it more or less the same of what we've heard so far, but with some intersting pieces here and there. Read on! -MarkG
SMACX STORY: THE LOST EPISODE!
(4 March 2000, 3:11 EST/SMACX) Replying to questions on the never posted 9th episode of the SMACX story, as well as the complete disappearence of the both the smac and smacx stories from the official site, Firaxis webmaster Dan Magaha announced that the 9th episode has just been posted.
Dan also noted that there is a plan to post both stories on firaxis.com in the near future. Funny thing is, we're planning on doing the same thing, especially since we have the first 6 smacx episodes in our Centaurian Tales subsection. I hope we're faster than Firaxis :)
Anyway, definately check out the last episode! -MarkG
SG INTERVIEW WITH TIM TRAIN
(3 March 2000, 9:39 EST/Misc) This morning SidGames posted an interview with Tim Train on his move to Big Huge Games. The 15-question feature was conducted a couple of days ago via telephone, and the transcript is now available on SG' website.
SG administrator Kunal Shah was most impressed with Train's answers.
"Tim opened almost all of his answers or at least somewhere in the sentence included the word "we"", Shah wrote in an editor's note at the end of the interview. "To me this signifies that he was well prepared for the spontaneous phone interview". -DanQ
PC DATA: FEBRUARY 13-19, 2000
(2 March 2000, 10:02 EST/Misc) The Top Ten Selling PC Games for the week February 13-19, 2000 has been released. Look who's still the newest king of the hill:
1) The Sims | Electronic Arts
2) Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? |Disney Interactive
3) Roller Coaster Tycoon | Hasbro Interactive
4) Age of Empires II: Age of Kings | Microsoft
5) Nox | Electronic Arts
6) Roller Coaster Tycoon: Corkscrew Follies | Hasbro Interactive
7) Quake III: Arena | Activision
8) Starcraft | Havas Interactive
9) Rainbow Six: Gold Edition | Red Storm Entertainment
10) SimCity 3000 | Electronic Arts
The data to compose this chart has been compiled by PCData. -DanQ
WINNER: TBS GAME OF THE YEAR
(2 March 2000, 9:42 EST/SMAC) All is not disappointment in SMAC's battle for recognition in this year's multitude of award gallas. Yesterday C|Net's GameCenter unveiled the 1999 Reader's Choice Awards, and SMAC was crowned TBS Game Of The Year with an astonishing 72 percent of the GC reader vote.
Why did this happen? Feature editor Bill McClendon offered his opinion:
"Seven distinct factions, along with the build-it-yourself tech trees, give players a variety of options. In addition, the balanced and dynamic gameplay makes each game's outcome uncertain".
The RTS Game Of The Year went to, not surprisingly, Age of Empires II: Age of Kings, and Unreal Tournament was anointed Game Of The Year. -DanQ
FEBRUARY TOP LINKS&PRODUCTS
(2 March 2000, 3:34 EST/Misc) This should be posted yesterday, but here goes. These are the top links and products listed in AL&PD(Apolyton Links&Prodcuts Directory), as rated by you!
Top 10 Links
1(3). 9.62 Apolyton Civilization Site: Civ2 Section
2(2). 9.36 Grosse deutsche Civ2-Seite
3(1). 9.33 Apolyton Civilization Site: CTP Section
4(4). 9.29 Civilization II Scenario League
5(5). 9.00 The Spanish Civilization II Site
6(7). 9.00 Civilization Scenario Collection
7(9). 8.67 Civilization II Fanatics' Center
8(-). 8.67 Platehead's Civilization II Site
9(10). 8.67 Alpha Centauri Nexus @ SidGames.Com
10(8). 8.56 The Mod Asylum
Top 5 Games
1(1). 9.5 Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
2(-). 9.00 Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri Mac
3(2). 8.33 Civilization: Call to Power(Linux)
4(3). 7.86 Civilization: Call to Power
5(5). 7.10 Civilization: Call to Power(Mac)
Top 5 Books
1(1). 7.50 Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri : Power of the Mind Worms
2(4). 4.50 Civilization: Call to Power Official Strategy Guide
3(3). 1.50 Civilization II Strategies & Secrets
4(4). 1.00 Civilization II: Test of Time: Prima's Official Strategy Guide
Again, we ask for you ratings, to collect as many opinions as possible. Comments on the forums please... -MarkG
5 NEW FACTIONS
(1 March 2000, 19:31 EST/SMAC) After a really long time, 5 new files: The Ancients League(Leader: Commander Dimitri), The Catholic Church(Leader: John Paul III), The Energists(Leader: Prime Pulse), Kaman Ra(Leader: Amon Ra) and Feminine Union(Leader: Britney Spears!). Check them out! -MarkG
