May 2001
SID MEIER`S SIMGOLF MOVIE
(31 May 2001, 21:51 EST/Misc) Gamespot recently posted a movie of Sid Meier's SimGolf. The movie shows a course being constructed in the game. There are three different ways to view the movie: a Zip file (21.1 MB), MPEG (22.6 MB) and streaming video. -Imran
NEW INFORMATION ON GREAT LEADERS FEATURE
(31 May 2001, 17:03 EST/Civ3) In our forums, Ralf has pointed out by listening to the E3 video preview that there is new information on the Great Leaders Feature in E3. Ralf states:
If a combat-unit survives a battle, theres a chance that his hit-point meter goes up. [...]
And if you/he continues to survive battles, then theres a possibility that he can become a great leader, that can lead armies in battles. (not 100% exact translation - the sound-uptake was weak).
This indicates that units that prove themselves on the battlefield become Great Leaders and that it doesn't happen by chance. Our thanks to Ralf for bringing this to our attention. Participate in the discussion over this new bit of information on the above linked thread. -Imran
E3 VIDEO DOWNLOAD
(31 May 2001, 14:11 EST/Civ3) To help meet the demand for and, hopefully, increase download reliability for those wishing to obtain a copy of the E3 video of the Civilization III demonstration held a couple of weeks ago in Los Angeles, Apolyton is proud to become the second mirror and third location from which to obtain the said file.
The video, encoded by BonusWeb's Lukáš Codr, is in AVI format and is 38.2MB in size. If your default media player launches and starts to open the file when you left-click on the link, right-click and choose "Save As". Given the size of the file, download resume programs such as GoZilla! and GetRight may come in handy. -DanQ
WHY NOT DURING 500-1000AD?
(31 May 2001, 4:58 EST/Civ2) Small number of votes for our "What is the earliest you have ever reached AC?" poll, due to having to be closed very early, but the results are interesting...| Civ2: What is the earliest you have ever reached AC? | | Option | Votes / Percentage | | Before AD500 |  12 / 17% | | Before AD1000 | 2 / 2% | | Before AD1500 | 8 / 11% | | Before AD1750 | 14 / 20% | | Before AD1900 | 17 / 25% | | You can reach AC? | 14 / 20% | | Total Votes: 67 | | View Comments | Forums Discussion |
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-MarkG
SID`S GOLF ON MISCELLANEOUS SECTION
(31 May 2001, 4:42 EST/About) After the discussion and the poll on the issue, we determined that the best solution regarding the coverage of Sid Meier's Sim Golf, was to cover it in the Miscellaneous Section| Would you like Apolyton to cover Sid Meier's SimGolf? | | Option | Votes / Percentage | | No, not at all | 80 / 45% | | Just news in the Miscellaneous section | 51 / 28% | | A small presentation on the Alt.Civs section | 12 / 6% | | Yes, the full thing(section, forums)! | 20 / 11% | | Dont know/Dont care | 13 / 7% | | Total Votes: 176 | | View Comments | Forums Discussion |
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The Other Games forum will continue to be the place for discussion on the upcoming Firaxis game. -MarkG
PUBLIC DEMAND: WINDOWED MODE
(31 May 2001, 4:30 EST/Civ3) Despite the fact that we probably wont get it(given that most games today come in full screen), the great majority of the people would welcome a windowed mode -MarkG
SETTLERS AND PUBLIC WORKS DIVIDE CIVERS
(31 May 2001, 4:15 EST/Civ3) It seems like the "settlers vs public works" issue has become a danger to the unit of the civ community... just look at the results! :)| Settlers vs Public Works | | Option | Votes / Percentage | | Settlers-type model | 151 / 51% | | Public Works-type model | 134 / 45% | | Dont know/Dont care | 7 / 2% | | Total Votes: 292 | | View Comments | Forums Discussion |
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Hopefully the improved new settlers-based model, which Firaxis has already said that civ3 will have, will be good enough to avoid "i told you so" comments... ;) -MarkG
IMPOSSIBLE? NOT EXACTLY...
(31 May 2001, 4:03 EST/CtP2) It's "ubb polls day" on Apolyton, which means closing all the polls we had on the ubb forums before the upgrade. CTP2 first...| CTP2: What difficulty level are you playing? | | Option | Votes / Percentage | | Beginner | 6 / 2% | | Easy | 10 / 4% | | Medium | 49 / 23% | | Hard | 53 / 25% | | Very Hard | 25 / 12% | | Impossible | 63 / 30% | | Total Votes: 206 | | View Comments | Forums Discussion |
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For a most recent ctp2 poll, check out Jonny's Favorite special unit poll. -MarkG
GD TEST DRIVES LATEST VERSION
(31 May 2001, 1:44 EST/Civ3) GamesDomain's Andrew S. Bub was one of those who saw CivIII in action behind closed doors at this year's E3 Expo. From what he has seen from the "E3 version", as he dubbed it in his preview of the game, it is shaping up to meet if not exceed expectations.
Civilization III adds just enough new gameplay to the series to make it interesting, but what Civ2 fans really want is a graphics and A.I. upgrade, the GD staffer concludes. Thankfully we're definitely getting that too.
GD has also stepped into the release date fever stating that CivIII is on track for an expected release this December. Until such a time as Firaxis Games or Infogrames makes an official announcement, such listings should be considered no more than speculation. -DanQ
EIGHTY-TWO TECHS?
(30 May 2001, 21:02 EST/Civ3) The extensive E3 video coverage of CivIII as captured by a Czechoslovakian journalist [see story below] is making more and more of a name for itself.
Ralf, one of many Civers who have undoubtedly downloaded the video and who is also one of Apolyton's forum users, has stated that based on the information in the video, the game will have 21 Ancient, 22 Middle-Age, 22 Industrial Age and last but not least 17 Modern Era technologies up for research for a grand total of 82.
Please note that this information has not yet been confirmed by Firaxis Games and, more importantly, take into consideration that CivIII is still in the development stages and that this technology breakdown and numbers within each category of the said breakdown are subject to change prior to the game's release. Thus, the specifics discussed relating to the E3 video whether it be about technologies or what have you should be considered at best preliminary. -DanQ
CIV3 PREVIEW ON ABOUT.COM
(30 May 2001, 20:29 EST/Civ3) Forum user Jer8m8 sends news that About.com Computer Strategy Games has a new preview of Civilization III up on their site. While most of it is old, it contains several very interesting items of note concerning game mechanics, including neat touches that we have not seen mentioned before. For example:
There will no be small wonders which are available to each civilization and are not exclusive to the first builder. These small wonders will be geared towards a civilization's playing style, though, and can not all be built without restriction. For example, to build a military academy, a player must have built barracks in at least five of his/her cities.
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Civilizations which began close together in the real world (e.g. Greeks and Romans), will be placed in close proximity in the game world. The game world will be more continental in nature, and civilizations which start the game on the same continent will share similar architectural styles and other features.
Civilization III will feature sixteen civilizations and five distinct cultures.
Wars will be devastating to the continent on which they occur. Among other things, trade will be disrupted and culture will suffer.
Great stuff! Thanks Jer8m8 for the link. Discuss the new preview in the forum thread. -Snapcase
NEW CIV3 PREVIEW BY STRATOS GROUP
(30 May 2001, 13:54 EST/Civ3) The Stratos Group has just released a new Civ3 Preview, with in depth information about the interface and the game engine, in addition to the already known information about luxuries and culture. Most of the first part of the preview deals with how the game looks and plays. Stratos Group is the first preview that details the new interface:
Upon actually entering the game, the new maps and interface clearly catch the eye. Very streamlined and artistic, the interface is now much clearer, cleaner, and stylized. Gone are the square blocks of menus, and in is a contemporary flowing menu scheme highlighting curved charts, smooth text, and elegant design (our layout queen would be proud). Out are the blocky menus that continually popped up, and in are miniature heads of your advisors who give you constant feedback, merely by seeing their expression of their face.
Stratos Group also gushes about the new graphics and unit animations:
The new unit animations stand out particularly from everything else, as the details are breathtaking. No longer is there one attack animation, one defensive animation, and the like; now there will be multiple versions of the same unit attacking, fidgeting, or simply standing. Relieving the monotonous, repetitive animations of its predecessor, Civ III even includes such details as a cape flying in the wind, or a spear being broken. The new attention to detail is astounding. In all, having over 60 units, each with at least 170 frames of such detailed animation, is quite a task indeed, and the Civ III team looks to be pulling it off admirably.
The preview then discusses features in the game such as luxuries, resources, and culture, which make Civ3 a different game from the previous games in the series. Stratos Group says that Civilization 3 will come out in the fall and closes by saying:
With the game being about 85% complete, Civ III looks well on its way to being another of the best games of a year that is quickly looking to be the best in gaming history.
Thanks to OneFootInTheGrave for the heads up. Discussion on this preview can be found in our Civ3 forums. -Imran
NOMINATED: BEST STRATEGY GAME
(30 May 2001, 10:08 EST/Civ3) The nominees for the annual E3 Awards from E3Awards.com were announced yesterday. Civilization III was nominated along with five others in the Best Strategy Game category. Competition includes Ensemble Studios' Age of Mythology and Blizzard Entertainment's Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.
E3Awards.com covers games presented at this year's E3 Expo, held two weeks ago in Los Angeles, California, on all platforms. All titles in the Best Strategy Game category are for the PC. Winners will be announced on E3Awards.com on June 18, 2001. -DanQ
c168 WHY CIV-SPECIFIC UNITS ARE A GOOD IDEA
(30 May 2001, 7:55 EST/Misc) Delayed reporting of an on-time mailed Column....
Snapcase write the 168th article of the Column, titled:
WHY CIV-SPECIFIC UNITS ARE A GOOD IDEA
Do you agree or disagree with him? Speak up! -MarkG
10+ MINUTES OF E3 BOOTH FOOTAGE
(29 May 2001, 15:49 EST/Civ3) After the short piece of video the other week, we thought that was it for actual shakycam footage from the Firaxis booth at E3. How wrong we were! Czech gaming site BonusWeb has a humongous ten-minute AVI file of what must be most of the Civilization 3 presentation downloadable off their site! We will have a full commentary up as soon as possible.
After showing the Civilization III trailer, it is time for the rest of the video from the presentation. This video is showing Thomas Zahorik, senior producer of Civilization III (and a person with Czech ancestors, as well), during a presentation of the game behind the closed door on E3 expo in Los Angeles. As Thomas revealed, the “core” (e.g. the program part) of the game should be ready by now so the only things currently in progress are betatests and graphics conversions.
Be sure to follow all instructions carefully, as the english commentary is avaliable only on the right channel. Thanks to Blue's News and Matthias Besse for the link. Discuss this amazing piece of covert filming on our forums. -Snapcase
MORE ON DINOS` DEMISE
(29 May 2001, 15:21 EST/Dino) The Stratos Group has posted a report containing the outline and contents of the Q&A session that Sid Meier held during the E3 Conference, in conjunction with the main Trade Show. Although the game focuses largely on gaming trends in general and what makes a good game, there are several interesting tidbits for those who wonder what happened to Dinos.
[A]nother topic Sid discussed, [...] was when you have to kill a game. The game in question was tentatively named 'Dinosaurs.' The game was supposed to be a sim game where the player could create and control races of dinosaurs. The game idea sounded really plausible, but Sid just felt that they couldn't get the gameplay down. The game went through several radical design changes, from an RTS to a collectible card game theme, but in the end they had to close the project down. While the game concept sounded really intriguing, Sid's development team simply hadn't found the way yet to make a truly enjoyable game out of it. Rather than release a 'sub-par' game, they opted to put the game on permanent hold.
There is more to read, so head right over. Thanks to Blue's News for the link. -Snapcase
MORE ON COLONIES - DAN MAGAHA
(29 May 2001, 13:14 EST/Civ3) Dan Magaha, the Firaxis webmaster, has posted some more clarifying comments about the concept of colonies to compliment the ones in the same thread from earlier in the week. There's some clarification of the role of forts on colonies, on what colonies are best used for and the final answer to the settler/worker population point debate. Here's an excerpt:
As to the issue of why you would want to build colonies, I can think of two very good reasons right off the bat that I build colonies:
-- Colonies are considerably cheaper to build than cities, all in all.
-- Unlike cities, colonies don't need to be kepy happy, just defended. -Snapcase
CHIPS&BITS TOP 10: MAY 18-25
(29 May 2001, 12:17 EST/Misc) Tropico is still holding strong and continues its lock on the #1 position in Chips&Bits May 11-18 sales rankings. Myst III:Exile is right behind it, and Strategy First's little hyped game Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns continues to sell well and resides at #3.
TROPICO PC is still at #1 and is selling strong. MYST III: EXILE PC is new to the top 10 and at #2. KOHAN: IMMORTAL SOVEREIGNS PC, the sleeper of the quarter, is at #3.
1. Tropico IBM CD ROM ($39.95)
2. Myst III: Exile IBM CD ROM ($44.95)
3. Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns IBM CD ROM ($39.95)
4. Space Empires IV IBM CD ROM ($42.95)
5. Cossacks: European Wars IBM CD ROM ($42.95)
6. Steel Beasts IBM CD ROM ($42.95)
7. Black & White IBM CD ROM ($44.95)
8. Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons GAME BOY COLOR ($34.95)
9. Settlers IV IBM CD ROM (1 week special price) ($39.95)
10. Great Battles Series Collectors Edition Bundle CD ROM ($14.95) -Imran
CTP PBEM CHART 26/5/01
(29 May 2001, 8:45 EST/CtP) Klair goes up into the number one position and is followed by Rick_Elkins after MOBIUS loses twice in a row.
RANK NAME................... RATING WIN. LOSS NAT.TR
0001 KLAIR.................. 23.206 0027 0000 FRA...
0002 RICK_ELKINS............ 22.487 0023 0010 USA.NY
0003 MOBIUS................. 22.314 0033 0004 GBR.EN
0004 SWISSY................. 22.130 0021 0003 USA.IL
0005 BERXPERT............... 22.010 0044 0003 MEX...
0006 STAVROS................ 21.162 0081 0033 GER...
0007 DEVIL.................. 20.927 0005 0002 LAT...
0008 THEBIRDMAN............. 20.898 0086 0054 DEN...
0009 BILHQ.................. 20.788 0012 0004 INA...
0010 MAX_WEBSTER............ 20.624 0016 0011 CAN...
Full listings are available here. 44 players! -Snapcase
SUCCESSION GAME 3 SIGNUPS
(28 May 2001, 20:43 EST/CtP2) In the CtP2 Multiplaying forums, Skeeve has started a signup list for the third and newest Succession game. Skeeve, so far, has a list of 21 players who have been involved in prior succession games and wants to know if they are IN or OUT. Skeeve also gives the conditions this new game will be played under:
The plan thus far is to start an all-inclusive game in which all current participants are included. We are considering a Gigantic map, played on at least Very Hard, but possibly Impossible (hmm... sounds a bit paradoxical, doesn't it?).
Sound like fun? Sign-up if you are interested. -DanQ
SAYING CHEESE WITH MEIER
(28 May 2001, 20:07 EST/Civ3) Were you one of the seventy or so lucky individuals who got their picture taken with Sid Meier at this year's E3 Expo?
If so, you can pick up your picture with the gaming legend electronically at Infogrames' website today. -DanQ
ACTIVISION: BOOTH RUNNER-UP
(27 May 2001, 2:20 EST/Misc) Activision Inc.'s E3 2001 Booth earned first runner-up in this year's E3 awards handed out by GameSpy.
In the Best E3 Booth category, the GameSpy staff who attended the annual trade show -- twenty in total -- had this to say:
On the whole, Activision's area was similar to most. But the Wolfenstein booth, with its massive castle fascade, took the cake. Nestled amongst the grey bricks of the structure were computers set up, allowing you to try out the World-War II Nazi-slaying shooter firsthand.
Then, to the side, A German half-track had pounded through the wall; bricks were everywhere, and stolen Nazi gold bars were scattered all about. To top it off were some army nurses who -- for reasons not even Eisenhower could explain -- for some reason wore pink bras underneath their open uniforms. The booth was high adventure at its finest.
Activision did not have any Civ-related titles to show off this year, but it has been a key player in recent releases within the series. The company was the publisher and developer behind Civilization: Call To Power and its sequel, Call To Power II. -DanQ
GSPY E3 AWARDS: EMPTY-HANDED
(27 May 2001, 2:15 EST/Misc) Sid Meier's SimGolf walked away empty-handed as GameSpy announced its own awards winners from the slew of games presented at this years convention. In the Best Sports Game category, the spoils went to NCAA Football 2002 who came in first and Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec, Amped, and Transworld Surfing which placed second, third, and fourth respectively.
As a matter of interest, the Best Game of the Show went to another title altogether: Republic. -DanQ
GSPY E3 AWARDS: EMPTY-HANDED
(27 May 2001, 2:11 EST/Civ3) As it did with IGN|PC's E2 2001 Awards [see story below], Civilization III walked away empty-handed as GameSpy announced its own awards winners from the slew of games presented at this years convention. In the Best Strategy Game category, the spoils went to Empire Earth who came in first and Warcraft III, Age of Mythology, Master of Orion 3 and Battle Realms which placed second, third, fourth and fifth respectively.
As a matter of interest, the Best Game of the Show went to another title altogether: Republic. -DanQ
GAMESPOT: TOP 20 @ E3-2K1
(27 May 2001, 0:11 EST/Civ3) Civilization III was named as one of GamesPot's Top 20 Games Of E3 2001. Gamespot seemed to be very excited about Firaxis' epic project. They opened by stating:
Though [CivIII] was not the most visually impressive game at the show, we couldn't help but get excited about the next installment in the highly acclaimed series. Not only does it mark Sid Meier's return to the series, but it also improves upon and enhances the gameplay of the previous games in the series by refining old features and intertwining them with entirely new ones.
The article talks excitedly about the new trade and resource model as well as the inclusion of culture in the game before ending with this sentiment:
It appears as though development of [CivIII] is coming along nicely. The new features seem to integrate very well with the older ones, which have also been changed around slightly, all in order to make [CivIII] play like a brand-new game. It's clear that Firaxis has put forth a strong effort to make Civilization III much more detailed than any other game in the Civilization series--and that says a lot.
Notably, Gamespot did not put Civilization III as one of the Top 3 Games Of E3 which, undoubtedly in most fans' eyes, is a glaring oversight. -DanQ
IGN`S E3 COVERAGE CONTINUES
(26 May 2001, 23:55 EST/Civ3) That's right, time for more information from the always reliable crew over at IGN|PC! In the second installment of their ongoing E3 Civ3 coverage, they continue supplying fans with great new information straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak. This time, the preview focuses on the relationship between trade and warfare, and explains the new combat system in greater detail.
Rather than paying a production upkeep for your units, you will pay gold instead. This frees up shields for production but puts a slightly higher strain on your economy. The solution to this lies in the game's new government, Nationalism. Available later in the game, Nationalism is analogous to the ideology of early nineteenth century Europe. Think Napoleon here. To switch to Nationalism your culture rating must be quite high. The benefit of Nationalism is that you can mobilize your economy for war or peace. Mobilizing for war halves the cost of all military units and improvements, but doubles all others. Once mobilized for war, you must select an enemy. You cannot switch out of a wartime economy until the war ends. Mobilizing for peace has the opposite effect, halving the cost of other improvements, but doubling your military expenditures.
Last but not least, don't forget to participate in IGN's poll on the page which asks which is favourite Civ series title. At the time of the posting of this article, Civilization II has a commanding lead with 56.6% of the vote. Alpha Centauri is in a distant second at 20% and Civilization I with 15.3% of ballots cast.
There is lots to feast your eyes on, including a list of some of the unique units, more info on map generators and scenario editors, info on luxuries and a whole host of other tidbits. Thanks to Blue's News for the info. Discuss the preview here. -DanQ
FIRAXIS E3-2K1 PHOTOS
(25 May 2001, 15:54 EST/Civ3) Firaxis Games has posted their E3 2001 Photo Album. The majority of this collection is comprised of pictures related to Civilization III including poster/banner shots, inside and outside the demonstration booth, Sid Meier addressing an eager crowd and even one of Firaxis' Jeffrey Morris in the company of two booth babes.
Our thanks to Thunderfall of the Civilization Fanatics Center for the news tip. -DanQ
FIRAXIS E3-2K1 PHOTOS: SIMGOLF
(25 May 2001, 15:52 EST/Misc) Firaxis Games has posted their E3 2001 Photo Album. Included in this collection of photographs are two of Sid Meier's SimGolf and even one of Firaxis' Jeffrey Morris in the company of two booth babes.
Our thanks to Thunderfall of the Civilization Fanatics Center for the news tip. -DanQ
SIMGOLF SCREENS FROM FIRAXIS
(25 May 2001, 15:48 EST/Misc) Firaxis Games has updated their screenshot gallery of Sid Meier's SimGolf with world premiere pictures of both the Links and Tropical golf courses.
SimGolf is set to be released this fall. -DanQ
DAN MAGAHA ON COLONIES
(25 May 2001, 9:56 EST/Civ3) Firaxis's self-confessed 'Web Wizard' Dan Magaha has supplemented our current knowledge of the concept of colonies by making some clarifying comments in our forums. He details how and when colonies can be built, and supplements with some very interesting insights into how the resource system will work.
The reason the goods need to be somehow connected to your capitol city is because it's a trade network. You can actually have many different subnetworks, for example, and each of them might be connected to the capitol in one way or another, but a crafty adversary could, for example, occupy your sole harbor city that links one subnet to another, effectively cutting off an entire continent's trade from the capitol city's continent. It gets somewhat confusing to explain, but it's great fun to actually destroy your opponents simply by manipulating their luxuries and resources.
There is six more points like this in what must rank as one of the most revealing direct developer responses in apolyton forum history. Head right over to check it out! -MarkG
FORUM NEWS
(25 May 2001, 6:39 EST/About) News from the forum front
- The Apolyton Forum FAQ, slightly updated(v2.2) was added to the faq pages
- 15 SMAC avatars were added, again thanks to provost harrisson and snapace. See the full list
- The custom avatar setting has changed. Users who have over 500 posts or are registered on Apolyton for over one year are able to use a custom avatar. Edit your options or Discuss/report bugs.
- The 1 thread/8 hours in the OT rule the old forums is now 2 threads/day.
- We're running a poll on which section's color scheme you would like to see as an option in the forums. Vote now! -MarkG
NEW TOT SCENARIO DESIGN TOOL
(24 May 2001, 7:29 EST/Civ2ToT) In our HS-Scenario League forums, Kull has brought to the forum's attention Angelo Scotto's new Event Creation tool (called CPSL). CPSL creates a bunch of new events that were impossible before in TOT. This tool will allow scenario designers to create more interesting and better scenarios, according to Kull.
CPSL is found on the Ancient Empires Tool Page -MarkG
`HIDDEN` GAMESPY SCREENSHOTS
(24 May 2001, 7:23 EST/Civ3) Al'Kimiya and The diplomat have found what appears to be several new screenshots "hidden" in the GameSpy preview, ie. the files were uploaded but for some reason never linked as thumbnails. This is fully understandable for what appears to be a work-in-progress science advisor screen (note the "T" placeholders in place of tech graphics and that the advisor graphics are the same as the domestic advisors'), but what's wrong with this nice in-game shot (including new units and graphics)? Discuss! -MarkG
SMAC PBEM CHART 20/MAY/01
(24 May 2001, 7:21 EST/SMAC) The new SMAC PBEM ratings are up with Big_Canuk continuing his run as #1. M@NI@C made a big jump, moving from 8th to 2nd, while Mark13 moved from 4th up one spot to 3rd.
POS....NAME............ RATING
001....BIG_CANUK...... 22.541
002....M@NI@C......... 21.922
003....MARK13......... 21.721
004....ISKANDER_REZA.. 21.717
005....STUNTMAN19..... 21.349
006....DILTHIUMDAD.... 21.242
007....CHOWLETT....... 21.242
008....GLOK........... 21.222
009....WHITEELEPHANTS. 21.002
010....REDFRED........ 21.000 -MarkG
ROBBED IN IGN E3-2K1 AWARDS
(23 May 2001, 23:51 EST/Civ3) The first known E3 2001 Awards have been issued by IGN|PC and Civilization III walks away with nothing to show for it.
First, the game did not make it into the Best PC Strategy Game of Show runner-up list; this may be attestable to the fact that the game was not being demonstrated publicly at the annual trade show bonanza. At the same time and, effectively adding insult to injury in the process, CivIII placed first runner-up to Electronic Arts' Medal of Honour: Allied Assault in the Best PC Presentation of Show category.
As more E3 award results become known, information on CivIII's performance or lack thereof will be posted here. -DanQ
IGN: BEST OF PC SPORTS @ E3-2K1
(23 May 2001, 23:45 EST/Misc) The first known E3 2001 Awards have been issued by IGN|PC and Sid Meier's SimGolf captured the award for Best PC Sports Game Of Show. No one seem more surprised to seeing a Meier title taking this category than IGN's staff.
If you had told us last year that Sid Meier would be walking off with a best of show in the sports arena, we'd have had you fired, IGN's editors joke. Taking a break from pirates and empire-builders, Sid will soon offer you the chance to build and tee off on your own golf course. The course design and course play options are intimately tied together here, making for a truly innovative experience.
The sole runner-up spot went to NHL 2002. -DanQ
MORE SIMGOLF FUNNIES
(23 May 2001, 23:37 EST/Misc) Scott Kurtz can't seem to get enough of writing comics inspired by the recent announcement and developments around Sid Meier's SimGolf. Hot on the heels of his inclusion of the game in the PvP environment [see below], he has included it in the storyline of the aforementioned comic's spin-off Planet Couch.
In this week's edition, the two main characters are informed that one of their friends created SimGolf characters of them in a demo copy of the game being shown off at this year's E3 Expo and "wowed" the crowd. For all the laughs, click here! -DanQ
LIGHT STYLE, SMAC AVATARS, 10000 LOGINS
(23 May 2001, 8:05 EST/About) Changes to our forums since the first news item regarding the new system.
A) In the options page of the control panel, you now have the ability to choose a "light" style for the forums. This affects the presentation of all forums pages, resulting to smaller in size pages and thus smaller loading times. For better results, you can turn off seeing other people's avatars from the same page.
B) If you dont have a speed issue, we have 35 smac avatars for you, thanks to Snapcase and Provost Harrisson. More smac avatars are actually coming, and we need some help for ctp1/2 ones
C) Yes, that happened before the upgrade, but we didnt report about it. We now have more than 10000 logins! A few statistics: 2687 logins were last used in 1999 and 2619 in 2000, leaving 4744 for 2001. Perhaps as a surprise to some, only 400 logins are disabled as double... ;) -MarkG
SLASHDOT REPORT
(22 May 2001, 16:41 EST/Civ3) A couple of days ago, Slashdot posted a news article about CivIII. Slashdot Hemo writes:
Having large portions of my life to the original, II, Railroad Tycoon and Alpha Centauri, I'm not sure if I should be joyful about this, or fearful of the time I'll lose.
Our thanks to the Civilization Fanatics Centre for the news tip. -DanQ
MEDIEVAL PACK II WONDER!
(22 May 2001, 5:09 EST/CtP2) Finally, Apolyton gets into a civ game :) Wes posted the GL entry for the Medieval Pack II Wonder. The wonder which gives +3 happiness to host empire has the Apolyton advance as a requirement
Here is the "historical" GL entry for the medpack wonder
The Medieval Pack II continues and expands upon the work accomplished in the Medieval Pack I. With Call-to-Power 2's release in November of 2000, we set upon gathering info on the game's performance, and thinking up new ideas for the game. After months of play-testing, correcting flaws and inadequacies in the shipped version, and writing code to implement all the new ideas and game concepts, the result is what you are now playing: The Medieval Pack II- A Call to Arms.
Stay tuned for the Medieval Pack II- Crusade, coming soon to a website near you. (And yes, I am a big Babylon 5 fan.)
Looks like Wes's remaining moding days are plenty :) -MarkG
FORUMS UPGRADED!!
(21 May 2001, 16:28 EST/About) Yes, it's true!
We have converted our forums to vBulletin, perhaps the most powerfull board system in it's category.
a quick list of the improvements over our previous board is the following
- 99 civ2 avatars to choose from (smac and ctp1/2 coming up)
- ubb code buttons
- smilies buttons
- ability to subscribe to posts and forums
- buddy lists
- members list
- your "last visited" info "moves" along with you
- spellchecker
- file attachements
- ability to create polls
- timezone choice
- "threads from last X" choice
- "X posts/page" choice
- advanced search
- calendar
- popup notification of new pm's
- "mail this page to a friend" feature
- altavista translation to all pages
- post preview
- thread ratings
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Oh, yes, all members have been converted, you still have the same username and password!
please use the Apolyton/Community forum for comments -DanQ
(MEDMOD) DIPLOMACY TIPS
(21 May 2001, 3:48 EST/CtP2) If you're lost trying to find a way to... communicate with the AI's in your games, in the Medieval Pack discussion thread Locutus gave some diplomacy tips. They will be more usefull in medmod games, but they are good for normal games as well.
In my experience, diplomacy in CtP2 requires more effort than in any previous Civ-game but it's much more interesting as well, esp. with the Diplomod (for me as a peaceful, diplomacy-minded player probably the single biggest asset of the entire MedMod). It's also very rewarding to see your efforts actually paying off in the form of a Diplomatic Victory with still 4 or 5 Civs in the game when you started out with 6.
In other modification news, Harlan is back and ready to continue his work on the next version of his Alexander the Great scenario! -MarkG
C167# CTP2 - FOUR OPINIONS
(20 May 2001, 18:43 EST/Misc) Solver is presenting the four most common opinions of civers towards the CTP1/2 series, in our 167th edition of the column. The title? What else?
CTP2 - FOUR OPINIONS... -MarkG
PVP (TRIES TO) TALK TO MEIER
(20 May 2001, 15:39 EST/Misc) Francis Ottoman and Brent Sienna, two of the characters of the popular PvP comic, got a chance to visit this year's E3 Expo via their creator, Scott Kurtz, and GameSpy.
One of their adventures was attending a conference being held by Sid Meier and subsequently having the opportunity to ask the gaming legend a question. However, the question that was asked was one that was not welcome; for the "full report", click the link to the comic. -DanQ
MGE BETTER THAN TOT (OK, SLIGHTLY)!
(20 May 2001, 10:10 EST/Civ2) Running for a long tiem but with low number of votes, the "MGE vs TOT" poll ended with a small lead of MGE. -MarkG
PC.IGN PREVIEW UPDATED
(20 May 2001, 9:33 EST/Civ3) PC.IGN has updated their Civ3 preview based on some E3 information and an interview with Jeff Briggs and Jeff Morris. They focus on culture and the new diplomacy model and say basically nothing new on those aspects. However they do say some new things about how the game is being developed:
"Sid plays the game once or twice a week right now." So begins my conversation with Jeff Briggs, President of Firaxis. But although Sid Meier isn't actually coding this game, it's still his baby. He and Jeff sat down at the beginning of the development process to come up with ways to enlarge and improve the existing game.
As it stands, the game is "damn close" to the original spec. A few details have changed, but the basic concepts are still solid. The addition of culture as a resource, an improved diplomacy system and a new system of resources will enlarge the game but Jeff Briggs is quick to point out that they're taking a slightly different approach to this game. Civ II was about "more, more, more" while Civ III will be much more refined. The game is "a little more conservative in terms of risk" according to Jeff Morris, but given the highs and lows of the risks of Call to Power, this is a good thing.
This is just the beginning, however, for IGN's preview:
We've still got a ton of things to cover -- the formation of armies, mobilizing your economy for war or peace, trading and the interface. I've only scratched the surface of my interview with the two Jeffs. Rest assured that once E3 is over, I'll be back to fill you in on all the other details.
We're looking forward to it! Thanks to Alex for the newstip. -MarkG
INSIDE THE FIRAXIS E3 BOOTH
(19 May 2001, 18:00 EST/Civ3) Obviously the foreigners are more interested in Civ3 than the Americans themselves! Belgian gaming site De Spelletjesgarnaal became the first site to carry actual pictures and footage from the Civ3 booth at E3 today when it posted a diary of E3 material, as reported by kolpo on the forums. Included is a picture of the Civ3 booth (nice!) and a brief MPEG file showing part of the accompanying presentation, with full sound.
Kull, webmaster of Kull's Ancient Empires has put up a page with all the pictures as well as a real player version of the footage for faster download. Apolyton thanks him for his efforts. -MarkG
SMAC FORUMS WARS PROPOSED
(19 May 2001, 17:57 EST/SMAC) Googlie has started a thread in our SMAC forums proposing a cross forum SMAC tournament. Googlie, taking an idea originally proposed by Keygen, suggested that Apolyton SMACers compete against CGN and ACOL SMACers for forum bragging rights. Each forum would have two players representing them for a total of six players.
Word is being awaited from the other two forums to see if they will accept. GO APOLYTON! :). -MarkG
SG: TWO OFFICIAL SITES?
(19 May 2001, 14:25 EST/Misc) Not only is there an official SimGolf site on Firaxis, there is also now one over at Electronic Arts.
The latter carries a link to the GameSpot preview [see earlier story] and on-site screenshots -- 5 in total -- and product info. The former on the other hand, and as reported earlier, has a Q&A with Sid Meier.
Which will reign as the official site, or will they share the title? Time will tell. -DanQ
FIRST HANDS-ON PREVIEW
(19 May 2001, 14:18 EST/Civ3) GameSpot has posted the first known real hands-on preview of CivIII. That's right, as the first company to do so, GameSpot gives an account of the game in action.
Civilization III is the next installment in Sid Meier's extremely well known empire-building simulation, writes Giancarlo Varanini, the GSpot staffer who wrote an earlier article on the game [see story below]. Firaxis showed an early version of it behind closed doors at E3, and most of the core features appear to be functional already. Some of these features are new to the series.
They have seen many of the now-famous new features in action, among others the culture system and the diplomatic negotiation screen, described in detail in the article. The main new feature not previously reported (except briefly in the Swedish Preview below) is the introduction of trade embargoes.
There's another interesting aspect about trade and diplomacy that hasn't been mentioned previously and that's ability to set up trade embargoes on other civilizations, preventing them from securing resources for making their civilians happy and for making specific units.
Thank you to the Civilization Fanatics' Center for the link. -DanQ
SIMGOLF PREVIEW ON GSPY
(19 May 2001, 14:03 EST/Misc) GameSpy has posted a new preview of Sid Meier's SimGolf, containing mostly the same info as the other recent ones did. However, there is as always some fun new info to feast your eyes at.
Each golfer will be fully customizable in appearance, including face, skins, and commentary. You can go in and edit what each player says when encountering certain events, like hitting a sand trap, making a great drive, or getting thirsty.
This opens the possibility of custom player packs that can be traded and shared online. The exmple that Firaxis showed [GameSpy staffer Jamie Madigan] included a Star Trek pack that had Captain James T. Kirk and Science Officer Spock hitting the greens together, star trek uniforms and all.
The entire preview is brimming with details, including a picture of the games' Director of Development Mike Gibson. Head right on over to the preview and check it out! -DanQ
CIVS INCLUDED?
(19 May 2001, 13:57 EST/Civ3) What civilizations are going to be included in CivIII? It's a question on many people's mind but, for several people, it is a mission to find out. In a forum thread on the subject started by user "paiktis22" on May 13th, the thread has swelled to more than 90 replies and dozens of versions of the list being updated at least several times a day.
As of the time of this posting, the following civs have been 100% confirmed for inclusion in the game (in alphabetical order): Americans, Chinese, Egyptians, English, French, Germans, Indians, Iroquois, Mongols, Romans, Russians, and Zulus. "High probabilitiy" status has been 'assigned' to the Greeks at present and there is evidence to suggest the existence of the Aztecs, Babylonians, Persians and the Spainsh. Moreover, there is speculation that the Japanese, Vikings and even Israelis -- the latter never before included in any Civilization title -- might make an appearance.
Join in the discussion today! -DanQ
SP ISSUE 9 PREVIEW
(19 May 2001, 13:28 EST/Civ3) Strategy Player, a magazine publication devoted solely to PC strategy gamers out of the United Kingdom, has a two-page preview of CivIII in their ninth issue. Most of the two page spread is devoted to screenshots, but a modest-sized write-up does accompany it.
It's been a long time coming, but the trickle of ifnormation on the most awaited strategy game of all time is turning into a, well, slightly bigger trickle, writes excited SP Editor-In-Chief Geoff Spick.
Spick discusses the changes in the use of the settler who, of course, is primarily charged with the duty of founding cities while workers are handed the former's previous task of land improvements surrounding cities. He also talks briefly about the addition and importance of borders and how trade and passage agreements will limit movement within them. As SP's editor puts it:
If someone does come stomping over the boundary you can threaten them in several ways before having ot enter into moral conflict. [Also,] no longer will a rival be able to set up a city in the middle of your land.
Over the next couple of concluding paragraphs Spick asserts his approval of CivIII's new City Display and City Management Screens. In closing, Spick comments on the game's playing environment and how he expects things to pan out leading up to its relaese.
[T]he signs are good that this will be a big leap forward for Civ games and will demonstrate just how far ahead of the competition Sid Meier really is. Anyone who thinks he may be losing the plot will have to think again on the evidence of the imagery.
Strategy Player, launched last September, is published monthly by Paragon Publishing. -DanQ
SIMGOLF SCREENS ON AVAULT
(18 May 2001, 16:45 EST/Misc) A follow-up to an earlier story: more news on the SimGolf front from The Adrenaline Vault.
The gaming portal has posted the first two screenshots of the game. -DanQ
PC.IGN PREVIEW: SIMGOLF
(18 May 2001, 16:14 EST/Misc) PC.IGN has put up an E3 preview of Sid Meier's SimGolf. PC.IGN reveals a few more facts about the game that had been unknown before, such as the number of different locations. Staffer Vincent Lopez writes:
Like other games with the Sim label, this is about creating an environment, in this case a golf course. You'll pick from 16 different locations, from the British Isles to Hawaii, and it will be up to you to create the land, deal with natural environmental problems like, say, lava, and create a tourist locale like no other.
PC.IGN also exposes some of the things you can (and must) add to your golf course:
Hotels, ball washers, an airstrip, snack bars and full-on resorts are just some of the additions you can make after you've sand trapped and water bunked your way through the design of a course. You'll also have to hire maintenance staff to keep the greens green and the water blue, not to mention the snack bar stocked.
In addition, the preview mentions the effect that personalities of the golfers will have on the game, and that you must please them first to have a successful golf course:
Each golfer will have his or her own personality and needs, and whether or not they return and spend more money on your course depends on whether you give them the services they desire -- in this case, a course that's the right level of difficulty, and a set of services that makes them feel like the upper-class SUV driving CEO they are. You'll be able to track their happiness and moods throughout the game, so if they've got problems, you'll be able to instantly change things to make for a more suitable golfing experience.
Sid Meier's SimGolf should his store shelves this fall. -DanQ
AVAULT ON SIMGOLF
(18 May 2001, 16:09 EST/Misc) The Adrenaline Vault has just put a short preview of Sid Meier's SimGolf on their website. The story goes further in detail on some of the features that will be included in the game than previous previews:
In addition to building an entire golf resort from the ground-up, users will be able to create beautiful, challenging and extreme golf courses in a multitude of environments including woodlands, desert and tropical areas. Some of the features for advanced users include fine-tuning the abilities of a golf pro, hosting and competing in major tournaments, and dabbling in the personal lives of club members.
Modifications to both the course and the resort in response to the needs and interests of Sim guests will be crucial to success. Consumers will be able to share their courses, stories, customized golfers and snapshots of their greatest golf moments with other SimGolf users from around the world via the SimGolf website. -DanQ
SWEDISH PREVIEW
(18 May 2001, 16:06 EST/Civ3) Another preview, different language. This one, in Swedish, comes from site Torget Spel Förhandstitt, posted just yesterday. Written by staffer Anders Thörnström, included are nine screenshots, young and old yet all previously released. For a complete translation of the article, visit thus forum thread (thanks, Henrik, for this!)
Full credit goes to Martin Sellgren of CivCenter for breaking this story first. -DanQ
LINUX PORT GETS AWARD
(17 May 2001, 22:01 EST/CtP) According to the homepage of Loki Entertainment Software, the Linux port of C:CTP won the annual Jolt-Award from PC Magazin in Germany.
Congratulations to Sam Lantinga and Matt Carlson for their innovative and still-honored work on this first commercial Linux game, the site's news item reads. -DanQ
SHORT MEIER INTERVIEW @ E3
(17 May 2001, 20:43 EST/Misc) E3Daily has posted a "30 second interview" with Firaxis Games' Sid Meier who serves as Chairman and Director of Creative Development.
Show Daily: How many E3s have you attended?
Sid Meier: Five.
SD: What is your most memorable moment from past shows?
SM: Getting the "first look" at the PlayStation 2.
SD: What’s missing from E3?
SM: Kids — it would be great to include them in the show!
SD: Where are you headed first?
SM: My first stop will be the Microsoft booth to see my buddy Bruce Shelley.
Our appreciation is extended once again to the Civilization Fanatics Center's Thunderfall for dropping us a line about this. -DanQ
LIMBER UP WITH SIMGOLF
(17 May 2001, 19:37 EST/Misc) It's tee time. Limber up for a round with Sid Meier's SimGolf is the title of a brief news article posted today by GameSpot UK. Staffer John Houlihan provides the reader with a brief summary overview of the game alongside five previously released screenshots.
Your task is to design a suitably challenging course in a variety of environments, which include desert, tropical and er British Isles settings, and once you've established the perfect blend of greens, rough and fairways, you'll have to expand your resort with everything from luxury hotels to airstrips, Houlihan writes in the story's penultimate sentence. -DanQ
GSPY TALKS TO WARDELL
(17 May 2001, 19:22 EST/Alt) GameSpy Industries' staffer Prophet sat down and had a lengthy conversation with Stardock Systems CEO Brad Wardell about Galactic Civilizations, his company's upcoming 4X turn-based strategy game.
Prophet talks to the man at the helm of GalCiv's development on a range of topics from the original series' popularity through multiplayer components as well as when players can expect the beta and for the game to pop-up on Stardock's immensely popular Drengin Network. -DanQ
COMING TO THE MAC: OFFICIAL
(17 May 2001, 19:13 EST/Civ3) One of InsideMacGames' news postings yesterday morning was a report on the official announcement that Civilization III will be ported to the Mac. The press release was issued by Infogrames on May 14th.
The company that will be doing the porting is MacSoft, the same outfit that ported Civilization II and its expansion packs to the said platform in the past. MacSoft today is a division of Infogrames as is MicroPROSE, the company where the original Civilization, CivII and its related expansion packs were developed. Dustin Bainbridge, owner and webmaster of the Civilopedia, was the first to post about this breaking story.
On a follow-up note to this story, Infogrames too lists CivIII for the Macintosh as one of its upcoming titles. -DanQ
AVAULT`S PROGRESS REPORT
(17 May 2001, 19:04 EST/Civ3) More gaming networks are checking up on the CivIII team over at Firaxis. David Lapard, a staff member at the Adrenaline Vault, has posted a progress report on the game from this year's E3 Exposition being held in Los Angeles, California.
AVault names Firaxis' public relations department as the source for the following statement:
As with all Firaxis games fun is first so we are keeping some stuff and discarding others. So while the game is playing well and really fun we are still not ready to put it to bed. It is still changing regularly even though we reach new milestones every day. Most recently we have gotten the incredible new map generation system working beautifully and the terrain looking better than any we have ever seen.
We are also happy with the way the diplomacy and trade systems are working. E3 will be the first public showing of the game so people will be seeing everything for the first time. We have refined and improved the light-hearted elements of Civilization and the depth of Civilization II -- then added many new features we have gathered from years of player feedback to make Civilization III the best Civilization experience ever. -DanQ
RELEASE DATE TBA, SAYS IG
(17 May 2001, 18:58 EST/Civ3) With the start of the annual E3 Expo comes growing volumes and variety of release dates for titles up for show at this year's event including CivIII.
Infogrames, the publishers of the game, have created a corporate-style website for CivIII which lists its release date as "TBD" ("To Be Determined") in the US, likely meaning that other country release dates will be decided thereafter.
The site also includes nine in-game screenshots, all of which have been used in varying capacities by several gaming networks in recent previews that have sprung up. Infogrames' Jayson Hill is listed as the contact individual. -DanQ
PRESENTATION & AUTOGRAPHING
(17 May 2001, 18:51 EST/Civ3) Infogrames, publishers of CivIII, has unveiled their E3 2001 website which includes an itinerary of their presentation schedule from May 17th-May 19th at the Los Angeles Convention Center at the said event. Each day there is listed a video presentation of CivIII -- in fact, it is being shown three times a day this Thursday, Friday and four times on Saturday.
Friday holds the highlight of Infogrames' presentation for fans as Sid Meier will be signing autographs for those who drop by the booth, #624, from 4:30-5:30PM local (California) time along with the ongoing run video presentation. If you live in and around the Los Angeles area and are looking for a chance to see CivIII and meet Meier at the same time, this is your opportunity!
Kudos to Thunderfall of the Civilization Fanatics Center for unearthing this news. -DanQ
COMING TO A MAC NEAR YOU?
(17 May 2001, 16:42 EST/Civ3) According to the Mac Game Database, MacSoft will be porting CivIII over the to the Mac platform. However, no such information is listed on MacSoft's officail website or Firaxis Games' for that matter in any capacity.
Our thanks to Henrik/A> for posting about this in our forums. -DanQ
GAMESPOT E3 PRESHOW REPORT
(17 May 2001, 15:46 EST/Civ3) Hot on the heels of yesterday's preview [see story below], GameSpot's Giancarlo Varanini has written a brief E3 preshow report on the game. For starts, Varanini clarifies exactly what is going on behind and in front of closed doors and offers his own explanation as to why.
Firaxis will be showcasing the latest game in the Civilization series, but the demonstration of the game will only take place behind closed doors rather then on the show floor--more than likely because many of the game's features are still in the early stages of development.
In addition to a paragraph touching briefly on the new culture system, the GameSpot staffer quickly mentions strategic resources.
Scattered across various parts of the map, strategic resources are crucial for building specific types of units. The constant interaction between civilizations [as a result of civilizations having to find and acquire the appropraite resources to build things, i.e. units, by trade or force] is also a strong indication of how much effort Firaxis has put into making Civilization III's diplomatic features a little more flexible than they were in previous games. -DanQ
GAMESPY PREVIEW FROM E3
(17 May 2001, 12:06 EST/Civ3) From the floor of this year's E3 Expo comes the latest CivIII preview, and the first known one from the said event. GameSpy Industries' Tom Ham reports from the Los Angeles Convention Center about the game with the byline building upon the Civilization franchise, Firaxis looks to take the series to new heights with its third incarnation. Firaxis CEO Jeff Briggs, in a good-sized selection of new quotes, fuses the discussion together.
The first page, accompanied by several screenshots new and old, introduces the history of the development of the game and the footsteps in which CivIII is following. The second page discusses the diplomacy model which includes an additional set of screenshots including a leader portrait of Queen Elizabeth I of England [see at right].
The game interface has been totally streamlined to give players more of a view of the playing field and less clutter on screen, Ham writes. Players can know at any given time the status of their people, the rate of production of goods and technologies, and how their governments are running. Just as in the old games, research is critical and required to win the game.
As far as the multiplayer system goes, Firaxis would only confirm that it exists but would not comment on it to any further extent. While Ham is convinced that the team is right on track to release CivIII this fall, Firaxis has not yet announced a date so any such statements should be treated as speculation only.
Our thanks to GameSpy's Managing Director, Warrior, for the newstip. Discuss this latest preview in our CivIII forum. -DanQ
NEWS IN REALAUDIO©: APR. 1-APR. 7, 2001
(16 May 2001, 23:59 EST/Misc) The audio broadcast of the April 1st - April 7th, 2001 newsletter is now available for broadcasting live on demand in RealAudio© format. Total running time for this week's installment is 8m:50s.
To listen, you will need the RealPlayer G2+ installed on your system. You can left-click on the link to the broadcast to have it stream through your player of choice (28.8K+ Internet connection recommended), or right-click to download the 1.1MB file to listen at your convenience at a later time. -DanQ
NEWS IN REALAUDIO©: MAR. 25-MAR. 31, 2001
(16 May 2001, 23:58 EST/Misc) The audio broadcast of the March 25th - March 31st, 2001 newsletter is now available for broadcasting live on demand in RealAudio© format. Total running time for this week's installment is 8m:22s.
To listen, you will need the RealPlayer G2+ installed on your system. You can left-click on the link to the broadcast to have it stream through your player of choice (28.8K+ Internet connection recommended), or right-click to download the 1.0MB file to listen at your convenience at a later time. -DanQ
GAMESPOT PREVIEW UPDATE
(16 May 2001, 10:07 EST/Civ3) GameSpot has posted a new preview of Civilization III, in preparation for E3. Although all of the screenshots and much of the info is old, there is a multitude of new information and many interesting Jeff Briggs quotes.
"Suppose I have four elephants and my friend the Egyptian has no elephants--they want the elephants because they make people happy, [...] The whole luxury slider aspect to the game has been consumed by this trade system."
New info is also available on culture, on the interface and on leaders, including the tantalisising prospect of non-combat leaders... Thanks to SerapisIV for the heads-up. Post your thoughts in the forum thread. -MarkG
NUMBER OF CIVS STILL IN THE AIR
(16 May 2001, 9:25 EST/Civ3) One of the most heavily debated topics concerning the upcoming release of Civilization III has been the suggestion made in several magazine previews that there will be no more than seven or possibly eight sides ('civilisations') in a single game. Finally, Firaxis has responded to the ever more desperate queries. Programmer Mike Breitkreutz has posted the following piece of information in our Civ3-General/Suggestions forum(geting this way in the "CoFwhtFPtiANI"):
FIRAXIS has made no official announcement concerning the number of civs that may or may not be in the game.
Many thanks to Mike, at least for giving some hope to (a big) part of the community... If you wish to discuss what, if anything, is implied as a subtext in this simple sentence, go to the relevant thread. -MarkG
CHEAT THREATENS FUTURE OF GAME
(15 May 2001, 15:51 EST/CtP) A shocking and potentially game breaking cheat which has plagued the game of CtP in recent weeks has been taken up for discussion in the CtP-Multiplaying forum. quinns, who posted about it, described it in the thread.
There is a bug in CTP, that some of you may already know about, that gives someone "in the know" a substantial advantage in Call to Power. It is the "Rush-Buy/Remove From Queue Trick" that lets you rush buy units for one-third their cost.
Want to read more and discuss how to prevent it from happening? Post in the relevant thread. -MarkG
ONE CITY CHALLENGE SCENARIO
(15 May 2001, 9:43 EST/CtP2) One City Challenge has comes to CTP2. Do you think you can conquer the world with one city?
Creator Immortal Wombat says:
The human gets a settler, the AI gets as many as it can build - try to win. I forgot to include a readme file with the scenario, but it is just like other scenarios, unzip into the scenarios directory. (With Winzip for best results).
The map, I drew out, so that the 7 enemy civs are around your island, in the central lake. Be warned, SLIC is used to prevent you building settlers, and the AI will really hate you.
related forum thread -MarkG
GD`S GERYK POOS MEIER
(14 May 2001, 19:39 EST/Civ3) GamesDomain's Bruce Geryk, longtime contributor the gaming portal's in-house content, shuns Sid Meier and Civilization III in the same breath in his preview to this year's E3 Expo.
There really isn't much more to say about this than the title, Geryk snips. Apparently, Sid Meier has come out of retirement to make one final game that will essentially make all other computer games obsolete. I mean computer strategy games.
The GD staffer goes on to comment that he is more favourable to the Master of Orion series of which the third incarnation is also being shown off at this year's E3.
Geryk's personal feelings aside, his reference to Meier being recently "retired" may be difficult to back-up. Up until recently, Sid Meier's Dinsoaurs was in development concurrently with CivIII and now it appears that Sid Meier's SimGolf is now on the table on the heels of an official announcement last week.
The E3 Expo, an annual event showing off the latest in computer gaming technology and development, is being held from May 17th-May 19th in Los Angeles, California. -DanQ
WARDELL ON GALCIV
(14 May 2001, 19:27 EST/Alt) Gamers Pulse's T. Robert “Carpe M’Karzi” Szekely takes a first look and interview of Galactic Civilizations to the Web today. The bulk of the article is questions posted to answered by GalCiv designer Brad Wardell.
Over the past couple of years we’ve seen an increasing movement away from strategy games that try to provide a rich experience for single players, Wardell said when asked why a comeback for GalCiv and why now. All the newer strategy games have eliminated features that would make the single player experience better in favor of multiplayer play. [The game] is being designed as being the ultimate in single player strategy gaming.
Historically GalCiv has been a game for the OS/2 platform, but this time around its make its grand entrance into the Windows market. From a question around this through the combat system, unit obsolescence, and what Wardell sees the game as bringing to the world of gaming, Szekely gets to the sticky questions of project progress.
The GalCiv designer dropped a bombsell when he announced that it would be late 2002 or perhaps even 2003 before the game hit the shelves. That said, he was eager to state what has already been accomplished.
You can play the game now basically but the artwork and implementation of the artwork is far from done. A lot of work is being focused on the Artificial Intelligence. [T]he AI already will build ships, conquer planets, attack enemies, declare war, etc. -DanQ
CENTAURI DAWN DEADLINE PASSED
(14 May 2001, 18:45 EST/Misc) The deadline for the Centauri Dawn contest passed yesterday. While reciving the "amazing" number of 2 entries ;) on first look they were worth it! The entries have now been sent to our judges for evaluation.
Results should be announced soon. The entries and their reviews will be posted on the SMAC Section. -MarkG
GAMESPOT-UK PREVIEW
(14 May 2001, 16:02 EST/Civ3) It's a four-page, nineteen-screenshot preview fest of CivIII over at GameSpot UK today. While the content is word for word as to what was written in PC Gameplay preview earlier this month [see story below], it is worth another look over on the odd chance that you missed picking up something earlier.
Written by Jon Evans, Firaxis Games' President Jeff Briggs talked at length with GSpot UK about how the game is progressing having the preview in effect doubling as an interview in nature. From the two nuclear weapons that will be making an apperance during gameplay, through new victory conditions and the significant changes being made to the trade and diplomacy systems.
In the article's concluding paragraph, Evans states that there is much more that could be discussed but cannot be done so publicly at this point.
[W]ith the game's release not planned until the end of the year there's still plenty of time for us to bring you more exclusive details over the next few months.
Last but not least, GSpot UK states that CivIII is set for a spring, 2002 release which coincides with several earlier reports. Still, no release date has been confirmed by Firaxis to date and thus such statements should be considered at best an educated guess.
Our thanks to Kevin Yang for the newstip. -DanQ
NEW LEADER SCREENS
(14 May 2001, 15:59 EST/Civ3) FGN online has posted a news item which includes several new Civ3 Screenshots. Although most of them are just clearer versions of some of the magazine shots we have seen before, there are two new leader portraits- one which looks like a Native American of some sort and the other which might be the Mongol leader. Thanks to fluxcapacitor for the link. Discuss the pictures on the forums. -MarkG
YOUR EARLIEST ALPHA CENTAURI?
(14 May 2001, 10:43 EST/Civ2) The latest in our series of polls is one about Alpha Centauri and your personal record... -MarkG
MAPS OR SCENARIOS?
(14 May 2001, 10:32 EST/Misc) The other poll from the recent... explosion of polls on our forums is one for all civers regardless of their favorite game:You need to be a registered member in order to be able to vote. -MarkG
SIMGOLF COVERAGE ON APOLYTON?
(14 May 2001, 10:13 EST/About) If you've been to our forums the last couple of days, you've probably seen it. If not, here it is: our "Would you like Apolyton to cover Sid Meier's SimGolf?" poll!
The first 100 votes were not very encouranging :) -MarkG
THE PILLAGING DEBATE
(13 May 2001, 22:22 EST/Civ3) Russell, one of Apolyton's forum users, wants to see some action on the pillaging front. He took up the reigns of this cause by starting a discussion thread about it yesterday.
Tell me how one scrawny little soldier with a sword and an attack of 1 mess up a road or an irrigation unit just like that, Russell argues. Pillaging should take a number of turns, that number being based on how powerful that unit is [and] it gives us a chance to send some units out to stop it.
Earlier today, his gripe was noticed by Dan Magaha, Firaxis Games' webmaster, and posted this thoughts on the matter.
Someone once said that it is always easier to destroy than to create. I find myself making frequent use of pillaging when playing Civ III because it allows me to slowly strangle my opponent's cities without attempting risky frontal assaults.
At the same time, Magaha notes the downside to this.
[W]hen I eventually "liberate" the enemy city, I usually inherit little more than a pile of smoking rubble. It's a trade-off; do you want to risk losing a bunch of valuable military units to capture a big and well-developed city, or do you follow the "scorched earth" policy and spend a lot of money rebuilding later? It all depends.
The debate rages on in the forums. -DanQ
C#166: MEMO TO ISABELLA, QUEEN OF SPAIN
(13 May 2001, 20:08 EST/Misc) The Column continues this week, with yet another great article:
Raingoon's MEMO TO ISABELLA, QUEEN OF SPAIN is a memo that only a civer would sent...
The issue is: will the memo reach it's target? :) -MarkG
SMAC PBEM CHART 13/2/1
(13 May 2001, 19:55 EST/SMAC) The new SMAC PBEM ratings are up with Big_Canuk is first with Solver not far behind. It gets VERY close in the 6 to 9 rankings, where each player has 21.000 points. This should get very exciting to see who breaks out of that pack. Keygen looks to be making a move up the charts as he is leading in 2 current games and 2nd in another.
POS....NAME............ RATING
001....BIG_CANUK...... 21.881
002....SOLVER......... 21.614
003....STUNTMAN19..... 21.349
004....MARK13......... 21.308
005....WHITEELEPHANTS. 21.002
006....REDFRED........ 21.000
007....DILTHIUMDAD.... 21.000
008....M@NI@C......... 21.000
009....VIRIATO........ 21.000
010....REGGY.......... 20.741
-MarkG
TOP CIV2 FILES FOR MARCH/APRIL 2001
(13 May 2001, 19:41 EST/Civ2) Some major changes in positions this month, with Lord of the Rings back on top.<
