July 2000
LOKI AT LINUXWORLD
(30 July 2000, 14:21 EST/SMACX) Loki Entertainment Software announced what their presence will be at this year's LinuxWorld Conference and Expo in San Jose California. The company will be showcasing a number of game properties ported to the Linux operating system Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri with the Alien Crossfire expansion pack.
The credit goes to Computer Games Online for scooping this story earlier today. -DanQ
SMAC FOR LINUX GOES GOLD
(30 July 2000, 9:30 EST/SMACX) Loki Entertainment announced on Friday that their port of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri and its expansion pack, Alien Crossfire, to the Linux platform has gone gold, referring to the time when a game is sent by the developers to the manufacturers for re-production and eventual distribution.
Weighing in at 24.5MB, the Linux demo of the game is available for download from a number of participating mirrors including FilePlanet and Tucows Linux. Furthermore, you can pre-order your copy directly from Loki at a cost of $49.95US. -DanQ
FALLING TO EIGHTEENTH
(30 July 2000, 9:10 EST/CtP) In the 395th installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Civilization: Call To Power has fallen one spot over last week and is currently in 18th on the chart.
To vote for CTP this and every week, click here! -DanQ
FORTIFIED IN ELEVENTH
(30 July 2000, 9:06 EST/Civ2ToT) In the 395th installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Civilization II: Test Of Time has held onto the 11th spot on the chart for the fourth week in a row.
To vote for ToT this and every week, click here! -DanQ
DOWN ANOTHER THREE NOTCHES
(30 July 2000, 9:06 EST/SMACX) In the 395th installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri/Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire is pushed down on the chart from 5th to 8th over its performance last week.
To vote for SMAC this and every week, click here! -DanQ
APOLYTON&FRIENDS NEWS JULY 11-20
(29 July 2000, 16:58 EST/Misc) The latest issue of our newsletter is here, for the period of July 11-20. The main headlines are:
- Firaxis 4 Years Contest!
- Call to Power Tournament
- Download the List
-MarkG
COLUMN #126; BY KENT WANG
(29 July 2000, 13:29 EST/Misc) Kent Wang divulges in his receipe on the elements needed for a truly addictive gaming experience in his latest contribution to The Column entitled "The Psychology Of Addiction".
Your comments/questions on this artlce are welcome in our forums. -DanQ
CHART-TRAK: JULY 22, 2000
(28 July 2000, 10:31 EST/Misc) Below are the Top Selling PC Games in the United Kingdom for the week ending July 22, 2000, according to Chart-Trak.
1) Icewind Dale | Interplay
2) Diablo II | Havas
3) The Sims | Electronic Arts
4) Earth 2150 | Mattel
5) Shogun: Total War | Electronic Arts -DanQ
PC DATA: JULY 9 - JULY 15, 2000
(28 July 2000, 10:30 EST/Misc) For the week July 9 - July 15, 2000, those listed below are the Top 10 Selling PC Computer Games based on sales data gathered by PCData based in Reston, Virgina. This chart is developed from data provided by 42 retail chains comprising more than 80% of the U.S. market.
1) Diablo II | Blizzard Entertainment
2) The Sims | Electronic Arts
3) Who Wants To Be A Millionaire 2nd Edition | Disney
4) RollerCoaster Tycoon | Hasbro Interactive
5) StarCraft | Blizzard Entertainment
6) Icewind Dale | Interplay Deus Ex | Eidos
7) RollerCoaster Tycoon: Corkscrew Follies | Hasbro Interactive
8) SimCity 3000 Unlimited | Electronic Arts
9) SimMania Pack | Electronic Arts
10) Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings | Microsoft -DanQ
2 YEARS OF APOLYTON SPECIAL FEATURE PART 2!!
(27 July 2000, 22:04 EST/About) Part 2 of our special feature is here. Check out our review of the last year, all the major news and of course our interviews with Big Huge Games and Firaxis! -MarkG
FIRAXIS CONTEST FOR UNDER 18
(27 July 2000, 16:28 EST/Misc) Dan Magaha posted on the forums the good news for under 18 fans
We've put up a parental consent form on the contest page for those of you who are under the age of 18. You can find it at:
http://www.firaxis.com/features/4years/contest.cfm
Just make sure the form is filled out by your parent or legal guardian and yourself, and enclose it with your entry.
Btw, anyone with a good idea for a photo? :) -MarkG
2 YEARS OF APOLYTON SPECIAL FEATURE PART 1!!
(26 July 2000, 19:17 EST/About) 
We are celebrating two years of Apolyton today with a special feature. Check out Part 1 today, and don't forget to answer our questions about Apolyton! -MarkG
SERVER SLOWDOWN
(25 July 2000, 19:54 EST/About) A not-so-pleasant issue to discuss, but we want to bring everyone up to speed:
GameStats' tech administration is aware of the server slowdown and occasional downtimes that some sites on the network have been experiencing over the past couple of days, including Apolyton. They are monitoring the situation closely and are working to isolate and resolve the problem.
Thank you for your patience. -DanQ
MORE TRADE TOOLS
(24 July 2000, 20:22 EST/Misc) On the fifth and final day of GameSpy Industries' Tools Of The Trade feature, Big Huge Games' Brian Reynolds talks about his computer system for play. For starters, he talks briefly about the make of his PC:
"Modified 'Build-your-own.' I go to gamepc.com, order individual parts, have them assemble it, test it, and then ship it to me. They do a great job with very little fuss".
Other than telling us it runs on an Intel Pentium III processor clocked at 550Mhz with 256MB RAM, he can't tell us anymore because he cannot find his specifications list.
"... I'd have to open the thing up to remember. Trust me, they're cool. I'm a committed tech-junkie and I tend to go through a lot of hardware. One of the best benefits of the job"!
And finally, the answer to perhaps one of the most burning questions that goes through the mind of every Netizen one time or another: Navigator or Internet Explorer?
"I'm a Netscape Communicator kind of a guy. I like e-mail integrated with the browser".
Our thanks to the article's author, John Keefer, for pointing it out to us. -DanQ
APOLYTON PACK WORKS ON LINUX
(24 July 2000, 19:16 EST/CtP) That's right! With very little effort, the Apolyton Pack can be used in the Linux version of CTP as well. Just download the pack in zip format(4.3MB) and check the notes by Weimer! -MarkG
A G100 NEAR SMASH
(23 July 2000, 16:22 EST/CtP) In the 394th installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Civilization: Call To Power is doing wonders: its entry into the Top 20 last week was no fluke as it climbs confidently again into the 17th spot on the countdown. Two weeks ago, it was sitting in 23rd. Sixty-seven weeks on the chart, CTP continues to draw attention!
To vote for CTP this and every week, click here! -DanQ
G100: NO COMPLAINTS HERE
(23 July 2000, 16:20 EST/Civ2ToT) In the 394th installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Civilization II: Test Of Time -- for the third week in a row -- has held on to 11th position admist some very heavy hitters. Fourty-nine weeks on the chart, CivII:ToT is showing no signs of letting down in tying its historial peak performance for the fourth time.
To vote for ToT this and every week, click here! -DanQ
DOWN AGAIN ON G100
(23 July 2000, 16:19 EST/SMACX) In the 394th installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri/Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire sheeds another notch to settle into 5th spot. Two weeks ago it regained itself a birth in the medal qualifying round in 3rd, and last week took 4th. Nonetheless, it has become a versatlie veteran on the countdown, seventy-four weeks running and most often showing a strong presence in the Top 10.
To vote for SMAC this and every week, click here! -DanQ
INBOX: JULY 23, 2000
(23 July 2000, 15:50 EST/About) Welcome to the premiere edition of Inbox, where I will select a few pieces of mail from the 7 days to comment on in this open venue. Let me assure you that under no circumstances will contact information ever be released, nor will any sensitive email messages enter into public domain. The purpose of this feature is to inform the reader, such as yourself, and not riddicule the inquirers.
Let's begin...
1) "How do I edit my profile? Thanks"
A common question. Let's review:
* Go to http://apolyton.net/forums
* Click on the "profile" text link in the upper right-hand corner of the screen
* Enter your username/password to login to your profile settings/make changes etc.
2. "Do you know where I can download CivI/CivII/..."
No. CivI, CivII, and most other games that we cover on Apolyton are commercially produced and copyright protected products. To obtain these titles in any fashion whereby you deny its developers/publishers etc. compensation for their work is against the law, and we will not be a party to it. Freeware titles, such as Freeciv on the other hand, are intended to be distributed free of charge.
3. "Why is my e-mail address banned? I wanted to post to the forum a query but i can't register".
Another common topic. See Section XIII of our Apolyton FAQ.
That's all for this week, folks! Keep On Civ'in! -DanQ
STICKY THREADS
(23 July 2000, 6:49 EST/About) Well, that's how the creator of this wonderfull hack calls it, so we'll call it that way too. The administrators and the moderators now have the posibility to "stuck" a thread to the top of the forum summary so that is always visible.
Examples of the new hack are the "birthday chat" thread in the apolyton forum, the "list summary" thread in the civ3 list forum and the "overview" thread in the clash forum
Comments forum thread -MarkG
COLUMN #125; BY FATHER BEAST
(22 July 2000, 20:19 EST/Misc) Father Beast examines three key points that he feels are a must for inclusion in Civilization III in his article entitled "Civ To CivII: Lessons Of The Past For CivIII".
Comments/questions welcomed in our forums. -DanQ
PRIVATE MESSAGES
(22 July 2000, 15:36 EST/About) You can now send private messages to another registered member of the forums!
On new threads and on threads that get replies as of now, there will be a "private message" icon among the other icons for each poster(profile, email, etc). Clicking on it will send you to the "Send PM" screen.
On the front page you can see if you have new messages
Test it out now!
Comments forum thread -MarkG
WHO`S ONLINE?
(22 July 2000, 15:34 EST/About) We just installed the "Who's online" hack on the forums, which shows which users are online at that moment and on which part of the forums they are
A summary is shown on the front page of the forums as well as the forum summary pages, with the full details being at http://apolyton.net/cgi-bin/ubb/online.cgi
From the summary you can send private messages to the currently online apolytoners. What are privates messages? See the above news item!
Comments forum thread -MarkG
FC V1.11.4 IS OUT
(22 July 2000, 15:16 EST/Alt) A stable Freeciv v1.11.4 is now ready for download. Available in GZIP and BZIP2 formats, the file sizes are a moderate 3.42MB and 2.48MB respectively.
What has changed since v1.11? For a complete listing, call up the game's latest README file. To summarize, a few new features -- including the Nuclear Fallout disaster -- and a number of fixes have been incorporated into this latest release. -DanQ
EXPLANATIONS ON FIRAXIS` CONTEST
(21 July 2000, 20:33 EST/Misc) Quite a few questions came up on the forums about Firaxis' "4 Years of Fun" Contest and Dan Magaha stepped up to give some answers:
1) We are looking into allowing minors enter the contest. It's not that we don't love you guys, but the whole pesky "law" thing can get a bit touchy with minors sending us pictures that we then post on the Internet. I think we will be able to accommodate fans under 18 by coming up with a parental request form. I'll let you know as soon as we get it confirmed.
2) You do *not* have to be a U.S. resident to enter. In fact, we encourage our fans from across the globe to enter...
3) To the person who complained about us not even giving away a game, the whole idea here was to come up with prizes that weren't the run-of-the-mill "have a copy of our latest game". Many of you already own all of our games, and we thought we could come up with something more unique.
4) The grand prize is *not* "a t-shirt and your face in Civ III". It's a large, professionally framed full-colour base portrait rendering, a t-shirt, your choice of two books and two movies, and your face in Civ III. Not bad for sending in a photograph, I'd say.
Click on the graphic on the right to learn more about Firaxis's contest... -MarkG
REYNOLDS ON TRADE TOOLS
(19 July 2000, 22:33 EST/Misc) In the second part of GameSpy Industries' feature Tools of the Trade: Systems for Work, Big Huge Games' Brian Reynolds tells all about his personal computer systems and spending habits.
"I'm an unabashed laptop addict", Reynolds admits, "because I really like to be able to work at home as well as at the office (I have a full docking station at home).
For me a laptop isn't so much a 'laptop' as it is a 'portable hard drive' -- I like booting it up at home and having all my files in the right place, all my configurations right, all my e-mail records current, etc. I just yank it out of the dock at work, cart it home, boot it back up, and I'm off to the races". -DanQ
PARTY TIME!
(19 July 2000, 19:50 EST/About) Blow up the balloons and pass around the party hats! The staff and administration of Apolyton Civilization Site are very excited to be celebrating their 2nd birthday online, and in style! We would like to invite everyone to our week-long party wrapup on Saturday, July 29th @ 4PM EDT in the #apolyton channel on our IRC channel (irc.dreamnet.org). You can also access it via our JavaChat page.
Keep your browsers pointed here for more party favours appearing the days to come. -DanQ
PCDATA: JUNE`S TOP GAMES (PC)
(19 July 2000, 18:07 EST/Misc) PCData has released their Top 20 Selling PC Games listing for May, 2000, and below are the Top 10. For titles 11-20, check out Computer Games Online's article on the subject.
1) Diablo II | Havas Interactive
2) Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, 2nd Edition | Disney
3) The Sims | Electronic Arts
4) RollerCoaster Tycoon | Hasbro Interactive
5) Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption | Activision
6) Diablo II: Collector's Edition | Havas Interactive
7) SimCity 3000 Unlimited | Electronic Arts
8) Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings | Microsoft
9) RollerCoaster Tycoon: CorkScrew Follies | Hasbro Interactive
10) StarCraft | Havas Interactive -DanQ
PC DATA: JULY 2 - JULY 8, 2000
(19 July 2000, 18:03 EST/Misc) For the week July 2 - July 8, 2000, those listed below are the Top 10 Selling PC Computer Games based on sales data gathered by PCData based in Reston, Virgina. This chart is developed from data provided by 42 retail chains comprising more than 80% of the U.S. market.
1) Diablo II | Blizzard Entertainment
2) The Sims | Electronic Arts
3) Who Wants To Be A Millionaire 2nd Edition | Disney
4) Icewind Dale | Interplay
5) Roller Coaster Tycoon | Hasbro Interactive
6) Deus Ex | Eidos
7) StarCraft | Havas Interactive
8) SimCity 3000 Unlimited | Electronic Arts
9) Age of Empires II: Age Of Kings | Microsoft
10) Star Trek: Birth Of The Federation | Hasbro -DanQ
CHART-TRAK: JULY 15, 2000
(19 July 2000, 18:00 EST/Misc) Below are the Top Selling PC Games in the United Kingdom for the week ending July 15, 2000, according to Chart-Trak.
1) Diablo II | Havas
2) The Sims | Electronic Arts
3) Earth 2150 | Mattel
4) Shogun: Total War | Electronic Arts
5) Championship Manager: Season 99/00 | Eidos -DanQ
ZOCKS ON LINUX PORT
(18 July 2000, 19:35 EST/CtP) The German gaming-site Zocks completed their review of the Linux port of CTP and posted it on their website on July 14th.
The article is written in German, but for a rough translation into English, French, Italian, Spanish or Portuguese, you can follow this link which will point you to AltaVista's Babelfish service.
We thank Loki Entertainment, the company that produced the port, for learning of this review first. -DanQ
FREECIV BETA V1.11.2
(18 July 2000, 19:14 EST/Alt) Less than a month after the release of v1.11, the Freeciv team has released what they hope will be the first and only beta of v1.11.2.
For more information, logon to Freeciv's official website. -DanQ
LINUX.COM PREVIEW
(18 July 2000, 19:03 EST/SMAC) Linux.com has posted a preview of Loki Entertainment's upcoming port of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri.
Based on a beta version of the port, here are some excerpts on what Linux.com's Jeff Mrochuk had to say about it in the first-look writeup:
"Once you get a feel for the game, SMAC will be one of the most addictive games you've ever played.
No two games of SMAC will be alike. SMAC is turn-based, but you'll grow used to that relatively quickly, and after a while you won't even notice it. Beyond that, a new game is simple to start and SMAC's interface is quite easy and complete".
Besides its graphics, which Mrochuck says is the game's weakest point, he is very satisified with what he has seen to date.
"This game is a great addition to the Linux lineup and should be a hit among the community. I stress the addictiveness of this game, once you start you will not be able to stop".
This story was first reported by Loki Entertainment themselves on their company's website. -DanQ
FIRAXIS` FOUR YEARS OF FUN CONTEST!
(18 July 2000, 9:52 EST/Misc) A cool announcement form Firaxis:
We’re celebrating our fourth birthday here at FIRAXIS and as a special “thanks” to the fans who’ve been with us through four years of fun and four great games, we’re having a fun photo contest. The lucky Grand Prize winner will be immortalized in Civilization III by having their face appear somewhere in the game. That’s right...some clever person out there will live forever in what will be one of the greatest computer games ever made! For all of the contest details and rules go to our website at www.firaxis.com.
Enter the contest now! -MarkG
SCENARIO WORKSHOP
(18 July 2000, 7:34 EST/Civ2) A new civ2 site was born recently: The Civ II Scenario Workshop "is a free site that has the sole aim of helping people to make their scenarios fit their vision and to stretch the shackles of the Civilization II programming to new limits". The site is in "trial status" for now, which means that your help is needed to make it another usefull resource for the civ community. Visit it now! -MarkG
GAME-EXE FEATURE TRANSLATION
(16 July 2000, 16:14 EST/About) If you remember reading about the February, 1999 cover story in the Russian gaming magazine GameEXE that featured both the Civilization series and Apolyton, you will remember how the article was entirely in Russian and that we did not have a translation available for viewing. As of today, an English translation is available for not only the parts of the article that pertain to Apolyton, but rather of the entire article for your reading pleasure!
Head on over to our updated Recognition page for a link to download the 18K zipped file. Please recognize that while the translation is not perfect, it is an excellent representation of what the author wrote on the Civilization series a year and a half ago.
Who is the mystery translator? It's not going to be a mystery for long: it was Nikita Filin of Oregon, USA. Thank you, Nikita! -DanQ
COLUMN #124; BY TIM BROMIGE
(15 July 2000, 23:30 EST/Misc) Tim Bromige gets right to his point: what was wrong in CivII can be fixed in CivIII, in his debut article entitled "Civilization III".
Comments/questions welcomed in our forums. -DanQ
FREECIV... IN CHINESE
(15 July 2000, 12:37 EST/Alt) As first reported by the official Freeciv website webmaster Martin Willemoes Hansen yesterday, Torben Rechter has undertaken the task of translating Freeciv into Chinese. If anyone is doing the exact same thing, Torben requests that you contact him directly.
His anticipated completion date is roughly two months from now. -DanQ
APOLYTON NEWS JULY 1-10
(14 July 2000, 17:02 EST/Misc) Yeap, this should be done 2 days ago, but I got busy with other things around the site... Anyway, the July 1-10 issue of our newsletter is posted and the main headlines are
- 8th Dino Diary
- FreeCiv for Windows
- M.A.D. in CTP2
The text version of the issue will be mailed later today. -MarkG
GAMECENTER PREVIEW
(13 July 2000, 23:46 EST/CtP2) GameCenter posted a brief preview of Call To Power II today. While the write-up talks in generalities, it reaffirms many of the points that have come out in previous previews. It also includes seven screenshots from the game.
Our thanks to Par4Gamma for the newstip. -DanQ
PC DATA: JUNE 25 - JULY 1, 2000
(13 July 2000, 16:01 EST/Misc) For the week June 25 - July 1, 2000, those listed below are the Top 10 Selling PC Computer Games based on sales data gathered by PCData based in Reston, Virgina. This chart is developed from data provided by 42 retail chains comprising more than 80% of the U.S. market.
1) Diablo II | Blizzard Entertainment
2) Diablo II Collector's Edition | Blizzard Entertainment
3) The Sims | Electronic Arts
4) Icewind Dale | Interplay
5) Who Wants To Be A Millionaire 2nd Edition | Disney
6) Roller Coaster Tycoon | Hasbro Interactive
7) Shogun: Total War | Electronic Arts
8) Deus Ex | Eidos
9) Roller Coaster Tycoon: Corkscrew Follies | Hasbro Interactive
10) StarCraft | Havas Interactive -DanQ
SCREEN MOD & EMPIRE SIZE MOD
(13 July 2000, 3:38 EST/CtP) One really interesting and one small but handy mods today from Martin the Dane:
Screen Mod
A few modified screens for city status and trade. These screens makes it easier to find what you are looking for as they increase the number of items displayed in some scroll-boxes. I found the standard 3 lines inadequate and a little irritating. I have modified the following screens: The City-Status-Window: now displaying 22 cities in stead of just 10. The Trade-Sell-Window, the Trade-Send-Window and the Trade-Send-City-Window: now displaying 10 goods not 3.
Empire Size Mod
This little mod contains a modified version of the city status messages, so that the the to-many-cities-threshold and penalty (for CD's mod) is now available in the right side pane of the help window. You can now see the maximum number of cities for any given government and the loss of happiness each city will recieve for each city in excess of that limit
Related Forum Thread
More files are on the way! -MarkG
APOLYTON&FRIENDS NEWS JUNE 21-30
(12 July 2000, 16:27 EST/Misc) The June 21-30 issue of our newsletter is posted! The main headlines are
- CTP2 Previewed
- Alt.Civs Attack
- GURPS Alpha Centauri
The text version of the issue will be mailed in a few minutes. The July 1-10 issue is also coming tonight. -MarkG
STUFF YOU CAN DO WITH SLIC TODAY
(12 July 2000, 16:04 EST/CtP) There have been many suggestions for additions in SLIC for CTP2, but some of things that are requested are actually doable with CTP1's SLIC. Here are some examples
Give gold or science units to Civs
Change Good at locations
Make Goods at locations
Kill Goods at locations
Check locations: For (Units, City, Goods, terrain type, Trade routes, and variables for location)
Set Units movement points left
Check out St Swithin's reply to Shavlor to see how all this can be done. -MarkG
DOWNLOAD THE LIST
(12 July 2000, 15:52 EST/Civ3) This has been for long time now availiable, but was "burried" in the news archive: you can download both versions of The List in doc format. There are now links to the two files in our main Civ3 page.
Of course, the web edition of Version 1 is always in our civ3 section. The web edition of Version 2 is on it's way... :) -MarkG
MAP EDITOR GETS INTELLIGENT
(11 July 2000, 16:27 EST/CtP2) TheLimey started a thread about the map editor suggesting an "automated create coastline / continental shelf button.", and Mr Ogre responded with something better:
The new map editor is intelligent about beaches and shelves. If you paint water next to land, it puts beaches where you need 'em. Likewise with water next to deep water. No need for a "fix it" button, it happens as you paint.
It might sound as a minor thing, but it's those minor things that make the difference... -MarkG
CHART-TRAK: JULY 8, 2000
(11 July 2000, 14:40 EST/Misc) Below are the Top Selling PC Games in the U.K. for the week ending July 8, 2000, according to Chart-Trak. Havas Interactive's Diablo II held onto the number one spot once again, Vampire: Masquerade - Redemption climed up one spot to number three and Shogun: Total War took a tumble to number four.
1) Diablo II | Havas
2) The Sims | Electronic Arts
3) Vampire Masquerade: Redemption| Activision
4) Shogun: Total War | Electronic Arts
5) Earth 2150 | Mattel -DanQ
KYOKUJITSU PREVIEW
(11 July 2000, 14:04 EST/Civ2) 
DarthVeda sent us a preview of his upcoming work, Kyokujitsu, a new scenario for CivII.
"Kyokujitsu, my next scenario project, will document the rise and fall of the Japanese empire in the Pacific", DV tells us. "It will begin with the Second Sino-Japanese war (1937) and continue on until one side or another achieves victory. The Japanese player will have to conquer resources and utilize them effeciently if there is to be any hope of victory. This is my biggest scenario undertaking to date and I expect to be finished by late August".
To your right is your first look at of some of the new units you can expect to see in the scenario when it's released.
If you have an upcoming CivII creation that you would like to see featured here, please get in touch with us today. We are looking for the creation's name, description, a preview pic, and the anticipated release date to post. -DanQ
OPENVMS PORT: FREECIV
(10 July 2000, 17:42 EST/Alt) Speaking of ports for FreeCiv [see article below], an OpenVMS version has been compiled.
"Hopefully there will be a precompiled package for the next release of Freeciv", commented webmaster Martin Willemoes Hansen in the official announcement yesterday. -DanQ
FC WIN PORT IS HERE
(10 July 2000, 17:39 EST/Alt) The first in a string of reports coming from the official FreeCiv website today: its port to the Windows platform is finally complete.
As current as the Unix and variant ports (v1.11), the download is a mere 2.87MB. Supported are Windows95, 98, 2000, NT and even Windows with X. -DanQ
TOP AL&PD LINKS FOR JUNE
(10 July 2000, 12:18 EST/Misc) The only notable change in the charts of the Apolyton Links&Products Directory is the jump on the 6th position of our Civ3 section(thanks!). Meanwhile, our Civ2 section kept the 1st position while increasing the incredible difference from the Spanish Site from 0,2 to 0,3! :) Also, the Grosse deutsche Civ2-Seite got closer to the top, regaining the 3rd spot. Here's the full listing of our charts
Top 10 Links
1(1). 9.60(9.52) Apolyton Civilization Site: Civ2 Section
2(2). 9.57(9.50) The Spanish Civilization II Site
3(4). 9.41(9.23) Grosse deutsche Civ2-Seite
4(3). 9.18(9.25) Colonization Home Page
5(5). 9.00(9.00) Civilization II - One City Challenge Strategy Guide
6(-). 9.00(-) Apolyton Civilization Site: Civ3 Section
7(6). 9.00(8.92) Civilization II Scenario League
8(7). 8.69(8.60) Civilization II Historical Scenarios
9(9). 8.50(8.67) Civilization III Civilopedia
10(8). 8.43(8.50) CIV LAND
Top 5 Games
1(1). 10.00(10.00) Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri Planetary Pack
2(2). 10.00(10.00) Civilization II Gold(Mac)
3(3). 9.33(9.33) Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
4(4). 9.00(9.00) Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri(Mac)
5(5). 8.79(8.67) Civilization: Call to Power(PC)
Top 5 Books
1(1). 8.50(7.50) Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri : Power of the Mind Worms
2(4). 5.50(5.50) Civilization II: Test of Time: Prima's Official Strategy Guide
3(2). 4.50(4.50) Civilization: Call to Power Official Strategy Guide
4(3). 1.50(1.50) Civilization II Strategies & Secrets
Again, we ask for your ratings in order to collect as many opinions as possible. Currently, AL&PD has 158(148 last month) links and 512(446 last month) reviews. -MarkG
SENIOR PROGRAMMER FOR BHG
(10 July 2000, 10:26 EST/Misc) 
Surprise, surprise! Someone working for Firaxis left the company to join Big Huge Games! 
This time it was Jason Bestimt who joined BHG as Senior Programmer. Jason had be working on both Dinosaurs and Civilization 3 up to now.
Comments forum thread -MarkG
FIVE SPOTS UP
(9 July 2000, 13:36 EST/CtP) In the 392nd installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Civilization: Call To Power has shot up the list five incredible positions to 23rd on the listing. For the past two weeks, it had stalled at #28. This is the game's 65th week on the world-reknowned chart.
To vote for CTP this and every week, click here! -DanQ
TIES PERSONAL BEST
(9 July 2000, 13:35 EST/Civ2ToT) In the 392nd installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Civilization II: Test Of Time has tied its personal best re-entering into the #11 spot for the 2nd time in its 47 weeks on the chart. Last week, it was in 14th standing.
To vote for ToT this and every week, click here! -DanQ
TAKES THE BRONZE
(9 July 2000, 13:34 EST/SMACX) In the 392nd installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri/Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire climbs into the broze medal winning position at #3, 72 weeks into its run on the chart. For the past two weeks, it had resided resiliently in 4th.
To vote for SMAC this and every week, click here! -DanQ
CTP TOURNAMENT @ GAMELEAGUE
(9 July 2000, 3:32 EST/CtP) I'll just quote the GameLeague news article
In just the last five days there have been 32 Call to Power games reported on the Call to Power ladder. Since so much interest has been shown in the game during the last five days we will have our first Call to Power tourney starting Wednesday July 19th. Players will have one week to play each game and there will be three to four players per game. Signups will start Wednesday July 11th. If are not already playing Call to Power this is a great time to start.
Head over to GAMELEAGUE now! -MarkG
SLIC2 MOD FUNCTION
(8 July 2000, 21:12 EST/CtP2) Bless Activision's heart: Joe Rumsey, more commonly known as Mr. Ogre in our forums, has released some details on "mod" functions that he's added into the functionality of SLIC2 in Call To Power II.
"I only have them hooked up to a handful of systems right now, but they're very easy for me to add", Rumsey explains, "and I will definitely be doing more. SLIC2 has true functions, so what I've done is made some predefined functions that the game will call to modify various calculations.
A problem with these things is that many systems are order dependent, so I just have to choose one spot in the sequence to check for a SLIC function. But I think that'll be a pretty minor complaint It'll generally be after everything in the game runs".
In the thread, Mr. Ogre also lists and explains an example of the code in action. Who says weekends don't produce big news items? 
-DanQ
COLUMN #123; BY THELIMEY
(8 July 2000, 20:41 EST/Misc) In the third and final installment of this article, "TPOD & ROACSG: The Physics Of Suggestion", TheLimey evaluates Firaxis' and Activision's response to Civer input-suggestions on upcoming titles.
Comments/questions welcomed in our forums. -DanQ
M.A.D.!!
(8 July 2000, 9:34 EST/CtP2) That's right! CTP2 is going to model Mutually Assured Destruction! Here's what Mr. Ogre announced on our forums
We now have a system for targeting and then auto-launching nukes when you get nuked in the main game. I had said we weren't doing anything new for nukes, but I was wrong, we are, it's in and working.
There's still a whole lot more in that monster Nuke thread that we're not doing, but this one "little" thing is pretty cool.
If only we had one of those alpha(?) builds to see this in action... :) -MarkG
PC DATA: JULY 18-24, 2000
(6 July 2000, 21:21 EST/Misc) For the week June 18 - June 24, 2000, those listed below are the Top 10 Selling PC Computer Games based on sales data gathered by PCData based in Reston, Virgina. This chart is developed from data provided by 42 retail chains comprising more than 80% of the U.S. market.
The onslaught of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire titles from Disney put a dent in the best-selling run Electronic Arts' The Sims has enjoyed. Last week, however, The Sims emerged as the sales leader.
1) The Sims | Electronic Arts
2) Who Wants To Be A Millionaire 2nd Edition | Disney
3) Roller Coaster Tycoon | Hasbro Interactive
4) Shogun: Total War | Electronic Arts
5) Vampire: The Masquerade -- Redemption | Activision
6) Deus Ex | Eidos
7) Roller Coaster Tycoon: Corkscrew Follies | Hasbro Interactive
8) SimCity 3000 Unlimited | Electronic Arts
9) StarCraft | Havas Interactive
10) Age of Empires II: Age of Kings | Microsoft -DanQ
FIFTH BEST ALL-TIME GAME SERIES
(6 July 2000, 10:09 EST/Misc) According to Daily Radar's 100 Greatest Games Of All Time feature, Civilization II and Alpha Centauri are equals and together make up the fifth best game series of all time.
According to the writeup on the placement:
"High Point: [CivII] is pretty much the high point of strategy gaming in general, but [SMAC] is just as good.
Low Point: All of the games suffer from a weak endgame. If you're good, you know you're going to win late in the game but have four more hours of playin' to do".
Who did CivII/SMAC lose out to in the running? Quake/Doom series (4th), Zelda series (3rd), Metal Gear franchise (2nd), and Super Mario Bros (1st).
Our thanks to Firaxis Games who scooped this story first. -DanQ
ONEPAUL ON VACATION
(6 July 2000, 8:49 EST/Alt) OnePaul, the webmaster for this section, is on vacation for the summer and cannot be reached until the end of August. Until he returns, contact DanQ with your questions/comments about our Alternative Civs coverage. -DanQ
CHART-TRAK: JULY 1, 2000
(5 July 2000, 22:01 EST/Misc) Below are the Top Selling PC Games in the U.K. for the week ending July 1, 2000, according to Chart-Trak. Havas Interactive's Diablo II debuted at number one this week. Shogun: Total War took a tumble to number three, while The Sims held on tight to number two.
1) Diablo II | Havas
2) The Sims | Electronic Arts
3) Shogun: Total War | Electronic Arts
4) Ground Control | Havas Interactive
5) Championship Manager: Season 99/00 | Eidos -DanQ
CUSTOMIZATION QUESTION
(4 July 2000, 20:35 EST/Civ3) Drew Heard over at the Civilization Creators website asked Firaxian Chris Pine, Lead Programmer on the Civilization III team, if there would be an obtainable level of customization in the game.
"Yes, there will be customization", Pine responded. "We continue to try to put every file in a common format. In fact, we're trying to make the game more customizable than in Civilization II or Alpha Centauri".
Keep your browsers pointed here for more details on this issue as it becomes available. -DanQ
LONG TIME NO DIARY
(3 July 2000, 17:58 EST/Dino) Long time no diary. Today, Firaxis posted the long awaited Dino Diary #8.
To start things off, Mike Ely -- who wrote the previous installment -- talked about the crew going to see Disney's Dino movie at the end of May when it debuted on the big screen. In addition to talking about the visual effects, Ely gave the team's take on the talking dinosaurs, quote:
"We won't weigh in on the debate of whether Disney should have made the dinos talk or not, but we will promise no talking dinos in our game. And no Jar-Jar either".
And now, onto the game:
"The clearest path to fun with this dino game of ours is to have lots of dinos, lots of different combos, lovingly crafted and shaped by the player, battling it out for world domination".
You'll find more discussion on this in the Diary itself.
Finally, pages 5-8 dealt with a conversation Sid had with a "store person" in Atlanta in mid-May, while visiting the city for the annual E3 conference, and the aftermath in how he and his wife got to see Disney's aforementioned movie before its official release! -DanQ
THIRD WEEK THIRTY-SECOND
(2 July 2000, 13:34 EST/CtP) In the 391st installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Civilization: Call To Power holds steady for the third week in a row at #32.
To vote for CTP this and every week, click here! -DanQ
CAN`T STOP FALLING
(2 July 2000, 13:33 EST/Civ2ToT) In the 391st installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Civilization II: Test Of Time falls once again to the 14th spot in the listing. Last week, it was in 12th.
To vote for ToT this and every week, click here! -DanQ
HONOURABLE POSITION
(2 July 2000, 13:32 EST/SMACX) In the 391st installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri/Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire hangs onto the #4 position on the chart for the third week in a row!
To vote for SMAC this and every week, click here! -DanQ
NEWS IN REALAUDIO©: JUNE 11-20, 2000
(2 July 2000, 13:28 EST/Misc) The audio broadcast of the June 11-20, 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 2.1MB file to listen at your convenience at a later time. -DanQ
COLUMN #122; BY THELIMEY
(1 July 2000, 11:52 EST/Misc) In his article's second installment, TheLimey picks apart the pieces of Civilization: Call To Power -- "The Physics Of Development & Release Of A Civ-Style Game: The Rise & Fall".
Comments/questions are welcomed in our forums. Watch for Part III, sub-titled "The Physics Of Suggestion", in two weeks time... -DanQ
ANNOUNCEMENT FROM DANQ
(1 July 2000, 10:41 EST/About) "I am now at liberty, and am pleased to announce, that I have been named the new Director of Operations of the GameStats News Network.
However, I am maintaining my position as Co-Owner/Administrator at Apolyton". -DanQ
