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October 2001
RELEASE PARTY TRANSCRIPT
(31 October 2001, 21:44 EST/Civ3) Totally uncut, all 8 pages of the 7 hours(!), here is the Civ3 Release Party transcript!
At a later news item we'll post the more juicy comments... :) -MarkG
CIV3 COPY TOOL!
(31 October 2001, 18:23 EST/Civ3) Gramphos (who doesn't even have the game yet!) is working on a tool that will automatically do the changes to the .BIC files necessary to add more units, techs, civs, wonders and so on.
Amazingly, a working version is already out, and indeed it seems to be working perfectly for all intents and purposes. You can download this and subsequent versions in Gramphos's thread on the subject, found right here on our forums. -Snapcase
TECH PROBLEMS NOTICE
(31 October 2001, 14:53 EST/About) Good afternoon, everyone. The following message is intended to address various technical issues on Apolyton that have surfaced over the past couple of weeks.
1. FORUM REGISTRATION
If you register for a new account on our forums and do not recieve a validation email in your Inbox *within 24hrs.*, please email us for assistance.
All you need to do is inform us that you fall under the conditions outlined above. For security purposes, please be sure to email us from the email account that you registered with.
2. PHP ERRORS
"Warning: Could not execute mail delivery program in /home/civilization-gamestats-com/Web/forums/register.php on line 456"
If, during your browsing of our forums, you come across an error message similar to the one above, please do not be alarmed but still email us with the details as to what occurred including time, location and what you were doing/attempting to do at the time the error occured.
3. FILE DATABASES
If you are receiving "500 Internal Error" messages when attempting to download file(s) from our file databases, please try again in several minutes. The problem is most likely due to a high-traffic period and should only be temporary. However, if this problem persists for *more than 24hrs.*, please email us with the details.
FILING GENERAL COMPLAINTS
If you wish to make a general complaint about one or more of the items above, please email us but direct it primarily to Tony Bolger, our hosts' (GameStats) Director of Technology.
We thank you for your patience, understanding and co-operation during this period. Rest assured that we are doing what we can to assist those experiencing difficulties in the areas listed above and in trying to resolve these problems as quickly and efficiently as possible. -DanQ
TRIVIA: COAL PORTER
(31 October 2001, 14:11 EST/Civ3) The official CivIII website has been updated yet again with the latest installment of CivTrivia over at Civ3.com. Today's question:
What was the coal tar distillate, initially called "coal oil", renamed by Abraham Gestner for U.S. markets, in 1855?
-- Creosote
-- Gasoline
-- Kerosene
-- Mineral oil
At present donnyb20, Gramphos, SerapisIV and PK are tied for a share of the top of the leaderboard with 1760 points apiece. Good luck to all participants! -DanQ
YOU DOITY CHEATIN`...
(31 October 2001, 14:11 EST/Civ3) The very first trainer for Civilization III has appeared on the net. If you really, really want to spoil your enjoyment of the game less than 48 hours after release, this little memory-patching trainer will give the player 10 000 gold to use as he wishes. Thanks to Blue's News for the link. -Snapcase
NEED MORE UNITS? HERE`S HOW
(31 October 2001, 7:02 EST/Civ3) It seems that due to time limitations the civ3 editor as released is not the full thing that everyone hoped(civers) or planned(firaxians). An obvious example is the fact that you can not add units but you can add goverments.
But one way(new version of the editor) or the other(hex editing ;)), things can or will be worked out. Jack Jackman aka Tulcas spent some time playing around with a bic(the single file format for either a map or a mod) file and came up with a file that gives you 32 more spots for units!
Of course you'll need some graphics for the new units, but it's a start on discovering what things can be done outside Firaxis' tool.
Check it out and download it in the Civ3-Creation forum. -MarkG
FIRST MAP: RING WORLD
(30 October 2001, 19:21 EST/Civ3)  The first civ3 map is here! It's not fan made actually, it's the work of Firaxian programmer Mike Breitkreutz.
Titled "Ring World", it's a large map with 12 civs and only one source of Uranium. The 16kb size of the zipped file give us the good news that at least maps will be really easy to distribute!
Get it now! Thanks Mike! -MarkG
WHATCHA GONNA GET?
(30 October 2001, 18:34 EST/Civ3) Voodoo Extreme's latest poll asks its visitors [w]hich one of these soon to be in stores strategy games are you most likely to pick up? Your options are, listed in their order, "Battle Realms", "CivIII", "Empire Earth", "All of them!", "None..." or "Myth III".
At the time of this writing, ~3860 ballots have been cast. CivIII is currently in the lead with 34% (1298 votes) followed closely by Empire Earth in 29% (1131 votes). VE also gives voters the option of leaving comments about the poll and the choices that they have made. If you have yet to let your voice be heard, do so today! -DanQ
GONE GOLD`S SHORT TAKE
(30 October 2001, 18:21 EST/Civ3) Gone Gold founder and owner Rich LaPorte has posted his "short take" on CivIII on his website. He introduced the game to his readers as perhaps one of the most anticipated games of the year has finally made it to store shelves.
It passed the "Gone Gold In-Store Lift Test" which measures how heavy the box is when you lift it in the store -- the heavier, the better (in other words, is the total volume of the box justified based on its contents). One of the areas LaPorte praises is one that is often overlooked in gaming reviews but one that is most important to consider when evaluating such a comprehensive title as Civ: the manual. He writes:
[It] does a very good job in helping new players get familiar with the game, as well as helping grizzled veterans of the series get right to what's new in this version of the game.
What about the game itself?
The funny thing about this game is that you either love this game or hate it. There doesn't seem to be an in-between. If you haven't liked the game in the past, this is not going to change your mind, LaPorte said bluntly. [T]he gameplay is very much like the original game, giving it a very familiar feel. Civ enthusiasts will be delighted, while others, who are not great supports of the series, may find it a bit too familiar. -DanQ
MAC PORT: MARK YOUR CALENDARS
(30 October 2001, 17:44 EST/Civ3) With the commercial release of Civilization III now in full swing, the question for Mac gamers is when they will be able to hook-up with their PC counterparts to get a piece of the action. In a jointly issued press release by both Infogrames Entertainment and Firaxis Games, the companies announced that the Mac port for the game will be released sometime in March, 2002.
This marks the first time that a release date for the port has been set. Both Infogrames and Firaxis also took the opportunity to announce that CivIII carries an ESRB rating of 'E' for 'Everyone'. -DanQ
OFFICIAL INFOGRAMES SUPPORT AND HINTLINE
(30 October 2001, 17:25 EST/Civ3) Civilization III publisher Infogrames has opened two new product pages to coincide with the release of the game. Firstly, there is the Support Page where you can get some basic troubleshooting suggestions if you experience non-compatability problems. The other page is a Hints Page where you can find a 99c/minute hintline number and insightful tips like:
There are several different types of terrain. These are listed on page 61 of your manual.
Thanks to art_vandelai for the link. Discuss the hints page in the strategies forum. -Snapcase
GAMESPOT REVIEW: 9.2/10
(30 October 2001, 16:56 EST/Civ3) The last of the "big four" PC Gaming sites, GameSpot, have posted their Review of Civilization III. Giving it a highly respectable score of 9.2/10, they're exceptionally impressed with the long-term appeal and the gameplay, with only interface problems and end-game micromanagement bringing the score down.
It is a paean to the principles of solid design, sleek interface, sharp artwork, unlimited replayability, open architecture, and epic storytelling. It is yet another example of Sid Meier and company's cunning insight into what makes games good. Civilization III is, in short, a triumphant proclamation that strategy gaming is alive and well and still able to keep you rooted in front of your computer for hours at a time.
Sounds mouth-watering as usual. Discuss the review in our forums. -Snapcase
INFO ON LE, TRANSLATIONS, DVD VERSION!
(30 October 2001, 12:24 EST/Civ3) Lately there have been lots of question on what exactly goes on with LE and Infogrames' decisions regarding it. Our spies managed to get some clarifications but also some possible news:
- DVD Version!
Alhough not a final decision, a DVD version is planned for the spring of 2002(probably in March or April). It could contain some of the elements of the LE(nothing specific if it will be in the LE tin) and probably things like scenarios, etc. This DVD version will be released world-wide, unlike....
- LE not sold outside USA
And now for the bad news. LE will not be released outside the US. The reason? See below
- Difference in release dates between US/UK/Europe
It's simply due to "production, distribution and resources". Since the US market is more important, it had priority and even exclusivity(in the case of the LE)
- Translations
Depending on demand, there will be full translations in various languages probably around spring.
We'll bring your more details as they come availiable. -MarkG
BABEL/I CIV THEREFORE I AM T-SHIRT
(30 October 2001, 9:04 EST/About)  Celebrating the release of Civ3 we have created a new line of Apolyton products.
This time we use the famous "Tower of Babel" by Pieter Brueghel which was the inspiration for the look and feel of Civ3's graphics, and one of the most wanted quotes in our original poll, "I Civ Therefore I Am".
The line includes all kinds of products, from t-shirts to mugs to a wonderfull mousepad, as well as a stein which will of course be avaliable only for today and tomorrow(at the same reduced price as the other steins). -MarkG
DEMO SEED
(30 October 2001, 8:34 EST/Civ3) About two months ago, Kelley Gilmore of Firaxis confirmed the rumour that there would be no Demo of Civilization III. There was a certain amount of dissapointment at the time. However, new developments indicate that the rumour (and the confirmation) may have been substantially false. In this thread, two posters (StarBegotten and LTD) independently confirm that two of britain's largest gaming magazines, PC GAMER (UK) and PC Format (both published by Future Publishing) have advertised that their next issue will contain a Civ3 demo! Post-release promotional demos are not unheard of, so stay tuned. -Snapcase
NEW FORUMS
(30 October 2001, 8:26 EST/Civ3) If you havent noticed, yesterday we opened the following forums to manage the increasing civ3 traffic:
- Civ3-Strategy
Discussions on strategies for civ3(what a concept!), whether it is for random games or scenarios. Strategy discussions around a specific civilization should go to Civ3-Civilizations
- Civ3-Creation
Discussions around the modification of Civ3, the use of the editor, suggestions for new scenarios and cooperation in the creation of scenarios, historical discussions revolving the creation of scenarios/mods, etc. Strategies for scenarios belong to Civ3-Strategy
- Civ3-Help
Help requests and generally troubleshooting, bug reports, etc. It will also be the place for suggestions of patches, organized bughunts, etc. Questions like "the AI is killing what can i do, help!!" belong to Civ3-Strategy
- Civ3-Stories
The place to tell your stories of your games. Share your great achievements, posting screenshots and/or saved games!
The new forums, as well as the existing Civ3-forums will be moderated by Ming(see the announcement). Happy posting! -MarkG
GAMESPY REVIEW: 93/100
(30 October 2001, 3:55 EST/Civ3) Gamespy has just reviewed Civilization 3 and has given it a 93 out of a possible 100. Gamespy also gave a score of 94 to design and 89 in technical.
In fact, the entire game is just that, subtle and clever. Yes, there is still a bit of late game tedium, and the graphics won't knock your socks off, but graphics aren't what Civilization III is all about. The game, like its predecessors, is about addiction. Unfortunately, it does a great job of it. Now, if I could just get some sleep!
Thanks to tleilaxu for the tip in our Civ3 forums. -Imran
FORUM PEAK XI
(30 October 2001, 3:04 EST/About) Yeap, yesterday was a great day!
Concurrent forum users: 581 on 29-10-2001 at 15:34est
Daily unique visitors: 16,916 (yes, that 5,000 more than the previous record)!
Total monthly unique visitors for October: 201,312
Perhaps we could start some bets on today's records ;)
Once again, thank you for trust in us. -MarkG
AVAULT REVIEW: 4/5
(30 October 2001, 1:55 EST/Civ3) The Adrenaline Vault has just put up their review of Civilization 3 and have given it a total score of 4 out of 5 stars. Avault also gave Gameplay 4/5 stars, while giving Intelligence & Difficulty 4.5/5 stars (the rest of the breakdown can be found here. The reviewer also details the negative points about the game, but stated:
While I have dedicated several paragraphs to detailing what I found wrong with Civilization III, there is a lot here to like. When taken as a whole, the game is still very fun to play and quite addicting -- just not as much as some long time fans may have hoped.
There is also some new information about Civ3 such as:
Civilization III does include full-motion video clips when you build a Wonder, but these are much shorter than those in Civilization II and only run for a few seconds.
it no longer possible to trade food as it was in Civilization II, so starvation can occur often.
The review looks at the good and bad and recommends Civ3 to fans of the series and new TBSers. Our thanks to Mahdimeal, who posted the news in our Civ3 forums. -Imran
TRIVIA: PILLSBURY COW BOY
(30 October 2001, 0:56 EST/Civ3) The official CivIII website has been updated yet again with the latest installment of CivTrivia over at Civ3.com. Today's question:
What was Gail Borden, inventor of the gold-rush snack called the "meat biscuit", inspired to patent in 1855?
-- Bottled water
-- Beef jerky
-- Condensed milk
-- Spam
At present PK is in the lead with 1730 points. Good luck to all participants! -DanQ
STRATEGIES FROM FIRAXIS
(30 October 2001, 0:32 EST/Civ3) PC.IGN has posted development strategies straight from the Firaxis development team itself. It begins with a message from Sid Meier to IGN Civ fans, and Sid states (introducing those that are posting the strategies):
I present the varied and invaluable gaming strategies of Jeff Morris, Associate Producer, Rex Martin, Lead Play tester, Barry Caudill, Play tester, Ellie Crawley, Play tester and Jason Gleason, Play tester. These folks know Civ III, so take notes!
There are some good strategies there, so take a gander. -Imran
PC.IGN REVIEW: 9.3/10
(30 October 2001, 0:13 EST/Civ3) PC.IGN has given Civilization 3 a score of 9.3 in its review of the game. The reviewer seemed to be pretty impressed overall with the game, after weighing pros and cons, and stated:
To make a long story short, Civilization III is a worthy heir for the franchise and a definite must have for any strategy gamer who doesn't want us to make fun of them.
This review can be discussed on our forums. -Imran
MORE INFO, EDITOR SCREENS!
(29 October 2001, 19:35 EST/Civ3) More information from Jonah Falcon(if only other people who were lucky to get the game today shared so much info :)) and screenshots from the editor!
- How a city looks when it is unhappy: you see smoke plumes arising from the city on the civ map
- The color schemes are excellent - none of that SMAC murkiness. It's very very easy on the eye
- The manual has a section for Civ II players, describing the changes from civ2 to civ3
- The CivEdit Help File, is 4.13MB
- Apparantely maps as well as scenarios are single files with all their data. The Earth (Huge) is 412KB, while Earth (Standard) is 128KB.
- Availiable resolutions over 1024x768: 1792x1344, 1600x1200,1280x1024, 1152x864
- You can play without the CD after the game is loaded
-MarkG
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
(29 October 2001, 17:02 EST/Civ3) Jonah Falcon (yes he is one and the same with the Gamepen reviewer), has given us some first impressions on Civ3:
- Typical(full) installation: 700MB
- Intro video is exactly the same as the one posted on Gamespot
- Extremely windows friendly(we have been chating on icq for over 2 hours while he was playing civ3!)
- Excellent music, amazing world setup screen
- Manual is really big, do read it before starting a game
- Saved games start at 2.5MB!!!
- Interface is not 100% like civ2, you will need some time to learn it
- After more than 2 hours of playing along with icq chating and screenshot grabbing, civ3 did crash. Not a serious issue though due to very smooth autosave feature, which goes unnoticed
So, if you have civ3, can you stop for a moment to give us your first impressions? -MarkG
CIV3 IS HERE!
(29 October 2001, 14:38 EST/Civ3)  Aparrently EB has started selling the game today! manhattan82 got his copy only minutes ago!
But the first civer to get the LE is probably Jonah Falcon, who got his pre-ordered copy of the Limited Edition from EB as well. "The Tin is worth it's money!" he said to us.
The LE contains among other things the extra videos in a second cd and a thank-you note from Sid Meier and Jeff Brigss. On the right you can see a photo of the whole set taken by Jonah(many thanks!!)
Did you get Civ3? Tell us where you found it at the Civ3-Release Info forum! -MarkG
TRIVIA: FAMOUS FIRSTS
(29 October 2001, 13:02 EST/Civ3) The official CivIII website has been updated yet again with the latest installment of CivTrivia over at Civ3.com. Today's question:
The first city subject to aerial attack, bombed by an unmanned balloon in 1849:
-- Budapest
-- Dresden
-- Venice
-- Vienna
At present donnyb20, Gramphos, SerapisIV and PK are tied for the lead with 1720 points apiece. Good luck to all participants! -DanQ
CGO EDITOR ON AI
(29 October 2001, 11:42 EST/Civ3) The guys at Computer Games Online are not rushing to post their Civ3 review, but they do post some comments on their forums. CGO Editor, Bob Mayer, says about the AI
The computer does a decent job of attacking in Civ III. Much better than in earlier games. When they declare war on you they tend to swarm you with lots of units. They'll mount pretty good invasions from the sea, too. Last night I was beating up on the Germans with my mighty French. My tanks, marines, and paratroopers, backed by jet fighters, bombers, and cruise missiles, were wreaking havoc on the few remaining German cities (fighting spearmen because I had taken all the resources the Germans needed for more advanced units). He had a galleon with a warrior and a swordsman I think, and it landed the troops behind my lines. They began destroying railroads and irrigation. Pain in the but until I killed 'em. On the attack, especially when not so terribly outclassed, the computer is good at keeping the pressure on you.
The entire combat system is so different from Civ II that it takes some time to figure out how to go about a war.
Thanks to Jonah Falcon for the news tip. -MarkG
INFLUX OF STRATEGY GUIDE INFO
(29 October 2001, 9:27 EST/Civ3) Andrew1999, as mentioned in the News Story below, has purchased the Prima Strategy Guide and embarked on the mission of posting as much info as possible. The growing results of his (and eventually others') endeavour are right here on our forums. Highlights include all the terrain stats, all the unit stats, dozens of snippets of great info straight from the guide, wonder descriptions, game mechanics and a whole lot more. Great work, Andrew, and all others who have the guide and are posting here! -Snapcase
AVAULT: OVERALL STRATEGIES
(29 October 2001, 0:50 EST/Civ3)  Just before it's review, Adrenaline Vault posted the Modern strategies of Jeff Morris for Civ3. Some interesting parts
While an optional advance, the Great Library wonder is a critical Wonder for my play style. It pretty much ensures that as long as I'm actively establishing contact with other civilizations, I won't fall too far behind in advance research until at least the late Middle Ages. Plus, it's nice being able to reallocate research gold into entertainment or the treasury
and...
By the time I get to the Modern Age, the stage is usually set for both my opponents and me. If you're not careful, pollution can be a very devastating handicap in this era. While I'm usually good about keeping production cities well staffed with workers to clean them up, I'll sometimes still find Ecology and Recycling worthwhile. I don't always go down this road, but if global warming is turning your grasslands into desert, it can be a lifesaver
Read the full article and discuss about it the forums -MarkG
CIV3 RELEASE PARTY!
(28 October 2001, 20:10 EST/Civ3) This Tuesday, October 30th, we're celebrating the release of civ3, with a traditional irc party in our chat room.
The... party will take place in our irc channel on DALnet, accessible via irc clients like mIRC, our java chat page or even DALnet's java chat.
To help you in the process of geting in the chat, connorkimbro has compiled an extensive FAQ
So, once again,
- the date and time: October 30th, 2001, at 14:00est(21:00gmt)
- the place: the apolyton irc channel
-MarkG
FORUM PEAK X
(28 October 2001, 19:11 EST/About) Are you tired of these news items? We're not! :D Anyway, we'll do you a favor and keep this short:
New forum peak: 340 concurent users on 28-10-2001 at 17:11
New unique visitors record: 10,810 on Friday, 26-10-2001
One more time, THANK YOU!
(Addition, 29 October 2001, 1:10 EST): Unique visitors record smashed, 11,540 different civers visited Apolyton on Sunday! -MarkG
SAVE $10US WITH EBWORLD
(28 October 2001, 16:03 EST/Civ3) Until December 31st, you can enjoy a $10US mail-in rebate when you purchase either the "Standard" or "Limited Edition" of CivIII through EBWorld.
To take advantage of this offer, simply print off the applicable rebate sheet accessible from this page on EB's website. The $10US will be mailed to you in 4-6 weeks. It will be sent in the form a coupon which you can use towards your next purchase of merchandise from EB.
Our thanks to Steven Shultz for the news tip. -DanQ
LAST 3 DAYS OFFER ON STEINS
(28 October 2001, 12:16 EST/About)  Our Apolyton Steins will be availiable for only 3 more days, and we're offerring them at reduced prices.
More specifically, we have have reduced the prices to almost our base cost, saving you more than half of the shipping cost(for the US)
So, if you thought about geting an Apolyton Stein, this is your last chance! -MarkG
C192# THE CIVILIZATION II ERA
(28 October 2001, 11:32 EST/Misc) 192. The last column before the release of Civ3!
The Civilization II Era
Just before Civ3 is out, Rasbelin summarizes the last 5 years
-MarkG
CLASH DEMO 5 IS HERE!
(28 October 2001, 9:26 EST/Alt) After a lot of work, the 5th Demo of the Clash of Civilizations is here!
Demo 5 features a new, detailed military model, pathfinding and improved movement AI, a new low-micromanagement economics model, new task force orders, and much more. But you'll have to play it to see the rest!
Demo 5 can of course be downloaded from the Clash of Civilizations site right here on Apolyton. -MarkG
TRIVIA: RIM WITH BRIMSTONE
(28 October 2001, 2:07 EST/Civ3) The official CivIII website has been updated yet again with the latest installment of CivTrivia over at Civ3.com. Today's question:
What bright idea did Charles Sauria and J.F. Kammerer come up with in 1830, using yellow phosphorus, sulfur and potassium chloride?
-- Dynamite
-- Gunpowder
-- Matches
-- Phosphorescent paint
At present SerapisIV and PK are tied for the lead with 1670 points apiece. Good luck to all participants! -DanQ
TRIVIA: ELI`S COMING
(27 October 2001, 21:32 EST/Civ3) The official CivIII website has been updated yet again with the latest installment of CivTrivia over at Civ3.com. Today's question:
What manufacturing tool did Eli Whitney invent, yet never bother to patent?
-- Milling machine
-- Power loom
-- Screw lathe
-- Spinning jenny
At present, donnyb20, Gramphos, SerapisIV and PK are tied for the lead with 1640 points apiece. Good luck to all participants! -DanQ
STRATEGY GUIDE OUT
(27 October 2001, 19:19 EST/Civ3) In our Civ3 forums, Andrew1999 (who interestingly registered in August 2001 ;)) has purchased the Civ3 Strategy Guide and answered questions by posters. Some choice new information:
The guide seems to imply that you can only modify the existing techs, units, buildings, etc. but I'm not sure that's right. Remember this guide was printed a little while ago, and we've seen things change recently like the Civ attributes. Anyway, you can edit the era of a tech, its prerequisites, whether it's required for that era (and some more flags it doesn't go into detail on.) You can also edit a lot of the little things, like the names of the eras.
Each civ is assigned to a global culture, which determines some graphical things. There is a game effect though: members of the same culture get along better in negotiations, so the Americans can negotiate with the Iroquois more easily than the Zulus
City walls only provide a defense bonus of 50%, and disappear once your city reaches size 7. Size 7-12 cities have an inherent defense bonus of 50%, and cities larger than 12 have an inherent bonus of 100%.
Thanks Andrew1999, for all your work. For any questions (and discussion) please go to the linked thread above. -Imran
AVAULT: MODERN ERA
(27 October 2001, 13:17 EST/Civ3)  Close to the end of it's feature, Adrenaline Vault posted the Modern strategies of Jeff Morris for Civ3. Some interesting parts
Nuclear Arms:
Nuclear submarines enabled by Fusion and Tactical Nuclear Missiles enabled by Space Flight create a pretty potent one-two punch. These vessels are invisible except to other submarines and AEGIS Cruisers, so you can safely moor them off the shore of your rival. While they can only carry one missile at a time, a small wolf pack of four submarines can absolutely decimate important enemy cities. ICBMs are even more devastating. Enabled by Satellites, they can deliver a nuclear payload to any location on the globe.
UN Wonder:
Beyond being the gateway into nuclear war, the Fission advance also permits the construction of the United Nations. Once constructed, you are guaranteed a pole position in any Diplomatic victory race. If you're behind the eight ball, you can sometimes perform a miracle with the United Nations Wonder.
Read the full article and discuss about it the forums -MarkG
SOREN JOHNSON INTERVIEW ON AI
(26 October 2001, 20:42 EST/Misc) We are contuining our series of interviews around Civilization III, with Soren Johnson, the AI Programmer on Civ III.
It's a short one, with fewer than usual questions, but it's all about AI. The man behind Civilization III's AI talks about his creation, describes his behaviour and what you can do about it!
What are you waiting for then? Read Soren's interview!
-MarkG
CIV3-RELEASE INFO/AVAILABILITY FORUM
(26 October 2001, 19:43 EST/Civ3) With all the information that has been posted these days and the information that will be posted around the issue of the release of Civ3, we've decided to create a new forum.
The Civ3-Release Info/Availability forum will be the place to post information on when Civ3 will be/is/has been ;) released in your country and where it is available.
Please try to keep this forum as usefull to other civers who are trying to find out where and when they can get civ3(NO SPAM!). :) -MarkG
CHIPS&BITS TOP10 19-25/OCT/2001
(26 October 2001, 19:39 EST/Misc) The latest from Chips&Bits
DARK AGE OF CAMELOT PC is riding high at #1 despite the fact that we're sold out again :( POOL OF RADIANCE (2001) has dropped into the #2 spot. C & C RED ALERT 2: YURI'S REVENGE PC is in the #3 position.
1. Dark Age of Camelot $39.95
2. Pool of Radiance (2001) $44.95
3. C & C Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge IBM CD ROM$28.95
4. Stronghold $39.95
5. Russo-German War $39.95
6. Master of Orion II $9.95
7. Squad Battles: Vietnam $39.95
8. Operation Flashpoint $36.95
9. Devil May Cry PLAYSTATION 2 $49.95
10. Close Combat IV $19.95 -MarkG
TRIVIA: BEFORE COAL LITE
(26 October 2001, 19:08 EST/Civ3) The official CivIII website has been updated yet again with the latest installment of CivTrivia over at Civ3.com. Today's question:
How many hours during its 28-day maiden voyage could the first transatlantic steamship fire up its boiler, until it ran out of coal?
-- 5 hours
-- 85 hours
-- 185 hours
-- 285 hours
At present, donnyb20, Gramphos, SerapisIV and PK are tied for the lead with 1600 points apiece. Good luck to all participants! -DanQ
COTW: JAPANESE
(26 October 2001, 13:23 EST/Civ3)  The Japanese are the latest Civ of the Week
They are a Militaristic and Religious civilization, therefore, they start with The Wheel and Ceremonial Burial, and have significant bonuses to military activities and religious pursuits.
The Japanese unique unit is the Samurai. It has the stats of a Knight, but has better defence.
Discuss the Japanese in the forums -MarkG
PLAY CIVTRIVIA AND WIN CIV3!
(26 October 2001, 12:59 EST/Civ3) Firaxis having a contest giving you the chance to an autographed copy of Civ3
Simply participate in the CivTrivia game on October 30th and you could win a copy of Civ III autographed by Sid Meier and Jeff Briggs!
More details on civ3.com -MarkG
AVAULT: INDUSTRIAL ERA
(26 October 2001, 9:06 EST/Civ3)  Continuing it's feature, Adrenaline Vault posted the Industrial Era strategies of Jeff Morris for Civ3. Some interesting parts
Wonders:
The advances are expensive in this era, so the two free advances given with the construction of The Theory of Evolution are a treat. There is also the Hoover Dam Wonder, which bestows the relatively clean Hydro Plants continent wide. Espionage can enable the construction of the Intelligence Agency, which, not surprisingly, can change the tenor of a game dramatically.
Infantry and Artillery:
Since two fortified Infantry in a metropolis is a very tough nut to crack, you frequently need to reduce that city's ability to function rather than capture it. Artillery is an extremely useful unit toward that end. It doesn't require a resource, it has decent ranged fire, and when it hits a city, it can destroy an improvement, reduce the population, or damage units.
Read the full article and discuss about it the forums -MarkG
SOTW: RUSSIAN BATTLESHIP
(26 October 2001, 8:41 EST/Civ3)  The screenshot of the week on civ3.com features the really huge battleship.
Perhaps more importantly, the screen gives us an idea of the world map, with the scene taking place in the Mediteranean. This HAS to be the small map(100 x 100), cause Greece is not there! 
Check the comments on the forums. Thanks to Stuie for the news tip. -MarkG
FORUM PEAK IX
(25 October 2001, 23:27 EST/About) Almost 24hrs. ago, Apolyton set its eighth forum traffic peak. Late this afternoon, at 4:38PM (EST), that record was broken again... for the ninth time. At the said time, 333 visitors to Apolyton's forums were simultaneously online. The previous simultaneous user record was 318.
Today we also broke our daily unique visitors record, with Hitbox counting 10,584 different civers visiting our site. The previous record was 10,383 and was set on Monday.
On behalf of the Apolyton staff and administration, many thanks to each and everyone for their continued support of this site. -DanQ
MAYER`S TAKE ON FINAL CODE
(25 October 2001, 22:29 EST/Civ3) CGO's Bob Mayer posted the following on CGO's forums:
There is so much here that is different, within the overall paradigm, that I'm finding it to be an order of magnitude more entertaining than CivII. Culture, and national borders, make a HUGE difference for me.
The entire international relations dynamic is changed. In Civ/CivII, at the end of the game frequently there were only two or three civilizations left, whereas in Civ III it's not uncommon to reach the 21st century with all of the starting civs still going at some level. The AI civs fight each other regularly, and cooperate with you when it suits them. Diplomacy is much more rational, with many more options, so you can actually have an idea of what doing X to Y will affect.
In my estimation Civ III features a vastly improved mid game and an improved end game; only the early part is pretty much the same as Civ II with only a few minor improvements.
Thanks to CivFanatics for this news tip. -DanQ
TRIVIA: CRUSHED ROCK
(25 October 2001, 11:17 EST/Civ3) The official CivIII website has been updated yet again with the latest installment of CivTrivia over at Civ3.com. Today's question:
What engineer, famous for his road-building techniques, never used the surface that was ultimately named after him?
-- Alphonse Asphalt
-- Stephenson Cobble
-- Jules Concret
-- John McAdam
At present, donnyb20, Gramphos and SerapisIV are tied for the lead with 1560 points apiece. Good luck to all participants! -DanQ
AVAULT: MIDDLE AGES
(25 October 2001, 4:07 EST/Civ3)  Avault posted Jeff Morris' strategies on the Middle Ages. Here's an interesting excerpt:
You can now utilize naval trade routes in the exchange of resources after the required advances are researched of course, and the first naval units capable of bombardment are introduced, which is a critical breakthrough and another powerful benefit. For example, Frigates are a naval bombardment unit that now make it much less dangerous to attempt a D-Day, since you can be assured the foreign city you're storming has been blasted for a few turns. The Privateer is a weakened Frigate that can attack another nation's ships without triggering war. Primarily useful as an interceptor against naval landings, which become fairly prevalent during this time, Privateers can keep the other civilizations off balance and irritated.
8 Screens from Avault have been posted in our images pages, 6 advisors/interface and 2 in-game ones. -MarkG
NEW SCREENSHOTS FROM GAMETURBO
(25 October 2001, 3:50 EST/Civ3) On our Civ3 forums, Anatolia has pointed out a bevy of new screenshots posted by Gameturbo.com, a Korean site. These screenshots show the early part of the previewers game. Most of them are totally new, so check them out!
Our thanks, once again, to Anatolia. Discussion on the screens is to be found on the linked thread above. -Imran
FORUM PEAK VIII
(24 October 2001, 22:44 EST/About) Eight days ago, Apolyton set its seventh forum traffic peak. Late this afternoon, at 4:47PM (EST), that record was broken -- for the eighth time. At this said time, 318 visitors to Apolyton's forums were simultaneously online.
As for other traffic peaks, Monday, October 22, 2001 was the day Apolyton was visited by more than 10,000 people, seting a new high at 10,383. As for the monthly unique visitors figures, Apolyton has already matched the numbers of September (155,963) in the first three(!) weeks of October (155,942), daring us to hope to pass 200,000 unique visitors for the whole month.
On behalf of the Apolyton staff and administration, many thanks to each and everyone for their continued support of this site. -DanQ
MISSED ESPIONAGE MISSIONS
(24 October 2001, 15:25 EST/Civ3) The list of espionage missions that are availiable to you was not the full one. Firaxian Mike Breitkreutz corrected the miss by posting the rest:
- Steal Tech (Attempt to steal an advance from an opposing civ)
- Investigate City (View what a city is currently producing and what they have already produced (in terms of improvements))
And here is the original list:
- Sabotage (sabotages the current project of an enemy city)
- Propaganda (attempts to convince an enemy city to join your Civilization)
- Steal Plans (reveals all troop locations of an enemy Civ for one turn)
- Steal World Map (reveals what an enemy knows about the world)
- Expose Enemy Spy (ferrets out opposing spies)
Thanks Mike! -MarkG
STRATEGY FEATURE ON AVAULT
(24 October 2001, 14:48 EST/Civ3) Avault is having a feature on civ3, with strategies from Jeff Morris.
The feature is supposed to run in the coming days until the release with one era every day, but the need of civers for information was underestimated. ;)
The result can be found on donarumo's thread... -MarkG
PC.IGN UPDATED PREVIEW
(24 October 2001, 0:12 EST/Civ3) PC.IGN has posted an updated preview for Civilization 3. This preview is the first look at the game from the advance copy sent by Firaxis. It includes a bunch of new information, including ALL the Unique Units. There is just TOO MUCH INFORMATION to post snippets from, so check out the preview.
The new screens have been added to our archive, 14 advisors/interface and 11 in-game ones.
Thanks to SerapisIV for alerting us to this. You can discuss this preview on our Civ3 forums. -Imran
TRIVIA: VERY OLD IRONSIDES
(24 October 2001, 0:03 EST/Civ3) The official CivIII website has been updated yet again with the latest installment of CivTrivia over at Civ3.com. Today's question:
What nation is credited with building the first ironclad warship, in 1596?
-- Britain
-- Japan
-- Korea
-- Portugal
At present, donnyb20, Gramphos, SerapisIV and PK are tied for the lead with 1470 points which, given this was the standing at the end of yesterday, indicates that neither of them have yet to play today's edition. Good luck to all participants! -DanQ
DATES FOR EUROPE, BRAZIL
(23 October 2001, 19:20 EST/Civ3) We had mentioned it in other news, but we might as well make a round-up again.
Infogrames is officially saying to us that the Pan-European release date of the standard edition of Civ3 is November 16th. More exact info from Apolytoners around Europe
UK: Faboba got a reply today from Amazon UK, and indeed they changed the release date to November 16th
Sweden: Gramphos reports that his local shop also mentions the same date.
Denmark: Mads Raven reports November 16th
Belgium: StratAll informs us of the update on Het ComputerWinkeltje computer/software store, which lists.... November 16th
Germany: The official german site of Infogrames announces the same date for the standard edition, as CyberShy reports
And for the other side of the Atlantic, Alexnm posted the news from two sites that Civ3 will be avaliable in Brazil on November 1st.
So it looks like that in one month Civ3 will have conquered the world! :) -MarkG
WESTLAKE HAS PLAYABLE OS X BUILD
(23 October 2001, 16:58 EST/Civ3) Westlake interactive, the developers in charge of porting Civilization III to the Macintosh, announced yesterday that the Mac port is now playable. This is significant step on the way to the full port.
Civilization III for Mac hit First Playable status late last week. Brad Oliver and John Butler are doing an amazing job on this very cool game. According to Oliver, "The port is coming along great, and we hope to have a few surprises for OS X users."
And I'm sure that they're looking forward to it, guys! Thanks to Blue's News for the tip. -Snapcase
NEW CHAT ROOM
(23 October 2001, 9:20 EST/About) We've installed a new chat system, which will be permanent if it doesn't kill the server at high peak hours :) The new system has the following benefits:
- Integration with the forums
- Use of the same username on the chat as in the Apolyton forums
- No mirc needed(for those who dont know how to use it)
- No java (for those who hate it)
- No problems with proxies and company firewalls ;)
You can connect to the chat room from the front forum page or from the "chat" links on any forum page. -MarkG
MULTIPLE CHOICE POLLS
(23 October 2001, 4:10 EST/About) A small but helpful in lots of occassions feature was added a few minutes ago in our forums. You now have the ability to make multiple choice polls, instead of a "one choice" poll.
It's a simple as selecting an option when you make your poll. See this thread as an example. -MarkG
NEW SCREENSHOTS AT GAMESPY
(23 October 2001, 1:24 EST/Civ3)  Gamespy Daily.com has just posted 8 new screenshots from a preview build of the game. There seem to be 4 gameplay screens, 2 city view screen, 1 throne room screens and 1 world selection screen. However, the most interesting is one of the new gameplay screens, where it seems you can pick what the city should build next simply from the box alerting you that that your city has built something, preventing zooming in on the city unnecessarily.
 We've added the screenshots that where missing to our archive, 3 interface and 3 in-game ones, for a total of 128 screenshots(not counting the units images).
Thanks to korn469 for the heads up. Discuss the news screens at the forums! -Imran
TRIVIA: CHICKEN FINGERS
(23 October 2001, 0:00 EST/Civ3) The official CivIII website has been updated yet again with the latest installment of CivTrivia over at Civ3.com. Today's question:
Who died of a cold after stuffing a chicken with snow, while experimenting with refrigeration?
-- Clarence Birdseye
-- Francis Bacon
-- Roald Amundsen
-- Leonardo da Vinci
At present, PK is alone in the lead with 1470 points but it is still early in the day. Good luck to all participants! -DanQ
THE BATTLE OF AUSTRALIA
(22 October 2001, 19:02 EST/Civ2)  LONG LIVE CIV2!
The Battle of Australia by Nick 'Case' Dowling
This scenario covers a hypothetical Japanese invasion of Australia in 1942.
Disccusion thread
A 376kb download. For FW! -MarkG
EVEN MORE SCREENSHOTS
(22 October 2001, 8:11 EST/Civ3) The venerable old stalwart of gaming sites, GamesDomain, has released a set of screenshots consisting of both old ones (old build, seen several times before) and new ones (beta build, many seen before but some not). The new ones I can immediately spot are a diplomacy screen, an early tutorial message, a foreign advisor screen and at least one (old-style) histograph.
This gaves us the opportunity to update again our images archive with
10 in-game and 18 diplomacy and advisors screenshots.
Thanks to Bleyn for the tip-off. -Snapcase
DOWNLOAD PROBLEM RESOLUTION
(22 October 2001, 1:07 EST/About) Good morning.
The problem with our file databases that extended throughout most of yesterday now apperas to be resolved. It was only a temporary circumstance. Nonetheless, we again apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding during the said period. -DanQ
TRIVIA: PM SYNDROME
(22 October 2001, 0:42 EST/Civ3) The official CivIII website has been updated yet again with the latest installment of CivTrivia over at Civ3.com. Today's question:
Who characterized his ascent to prime minister of Great Britain as: "I have climbed to the top of the greasy pole"?
-- Neville Chamberlain
-- Winston Churchill
-- Benjamin Disraeli
-- Harold Macmillan
At present, SerapisIV is alone in the lead with 1430 points but it is still early in the day. Good luck to all participants! -DanQ
PELIT PREVIEW TRANSLATION
(22 October 2001, 0:40 EST/Civ3) In late September we reported on a preview of CivIII in the Finnish magazine, Pelit (see the original story in the archives. On October 1st, Rasbelin generously sent in the complete translation of the article. We apologize for the delay in getting this posted.
You can download the document by clicking here (RTF format; 20KB). -DanQ
C191# THE ALLURE OF CIV
(21 October 2001, 15:56 EST/Misc) The Column moves on and is here for the 191st time!
THE ALLURE OF CIV
What's so cool about civ?
By Anunikoba.
-MarkG
IN-GAME VIDEOS DOWNLOAD
(21 October 2001, 10:53 EST/Civ3) This past GameSpot (US) posted four in-game videos of CivIII available for download from their website [see story below]. The files, each ~1 minute in length, shows various aspects of a "game in progress" including military combat and diplomatic discussions.
Because of the intense and persistent demand for the file, we at Apolyton have decided to mirror their release. You can download movie 1/4 release (8MB; MPG format); 2/4 release (6.9MB; MPG format); 3/4 release (9.9MB; MPG format) and 4/4 release (10.1MB; MPG format) respectively from our servers effective immediately.
In doing so, ACS becomes on the third known and second mirror site from which to obtain these videos. It is hoped that this expanded accessibility to the intro video will increase download speeds and reliability for individuals wishing to obtain it regardless of their connection speed to the Internet. -DanQ
NEW CVG PREVIEW
(21 October 2001, 10:21 EST/Civ3) ComputerAndVideoGames.com posted a new preview of CivIII on their website on Friday. Written by staffer Martin Korda, he has quite a few positive points to make about the game as much as he has seen thus far.
From the brief time I had with the Civ III beta code, it was more than obvious that Firaxis has taken on board criticisms from Civ II and implemented them to create a truly sublime and totally immersive gaming experience, Korda said in his introduction. The graphics have also been spruced up and an excellent and superbly generic musical score helps build atmosphere to the slow and deliberate gameplay. Trade, diplomacy and most of all culture have all been hugely revamped and to a great extent, simplified. -DanQ
TRIVIA: BRITISH PEP TALKS
(21 October 2001, 10:09 EST/Civ3) The official CivIII website has been updated yet again with the latest installment of CivTrivia over at Civ3.com. Today's question:
Who died victorious in battle, after his famous reminder: "England expects every man will do his duty"?
-- Benedict Arnold
-- Duke of Wellington
-- Horatio Nelson
-- Richard the Lionhearted
At present, Gramphos and PK are in a share for the lead with 1390 points. Good luck to all participants! -DanQ
THE JOURNEY TO CIV3: THE COMIC
(20 October 2001, 18:39 EST/Misc) There arent many things that can describe the following.
Except that I hope stuff like that can be done in civ3 as well.
Apolyton proudly presents, Takeshi's THE JOURNEY TO CIV3!
(It goes without saying that we'd love to see more of this stuff either from Takeshi or you, yes, I'm talking about you next to the sexy foreign advisor!) -MarkG
TRIVIA: OLD YORK
(20 October 2001, 14:26 EST/Civ3) The official CivIII website has been updated yet again with the latest installment of CivTrivia over at Civ3.com. Today's question:
What English king died on Bosworth Field, losing the crown to usurper Henry Tudor?
-- John I
-- James II
-- Richard III
-- Henry VI
At present, donnyb20, Gramphos, SerapisIV and PK are in a share for the lead with 1370 points. Good luck to all participants! -DanQ
CHIPS&BITS TOP10 12-18/OCT/2001
(20 October 2001, 1:59 EST/Misc) Here's the latest that's moving online. POOL OF RADIANCE (2001) PC is still selling at #1. C & C RED ALERT 2: YURI'S REVENGE PC is in the #2 spot. DARK AGE OF CAMELOT PC (backordered 'til ± Tuesday) is on the board at #3.
1. Pool of Radiance (2001) $44.95
2. C & C Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge $29.95
3. Dark Age of Camelot $39.95
4. Russo-German War $39.95
5. Silent Hill 2 PS1 2$49.95
6. Operation Flashpoint $39.95
7. Squad Battles: Vietnam $39.95
8. Arcanum $39.95
9. Close Combat IV_$19.95
10. Sub Command $39.95 -MarkG
NEW VIDEO PREVIEW
(19 October 2001, 23:20 EST/Civ3) If you thought for a moment that the third and final day of GameSpot's (US) their CivIII feature would be a let down, think again. A new eight minute video features six full minutes of in-game coverage with the network's hardware editor Sam Parker.
Available in streaming media only, you have the choice of either Windows Media or RealPlayer technology at 56K, Cable and T1 speed choices respectively. -DanQ
ARE YOU EXCITED?
(19 October 2001, 23:17 EST/Civ3) Are you excited about the pending release of Civilization III? If so, let your voice be heard in the latest GameSpot (US) poll that asks you just that.
At the time of this writing, a slim majority of 53% of total respondents to date (669/1258) have answered in the affirmative. If you have yet to do so, cast your ballot today. -DanQ
CHAT THIS SUNDAY!
(19 October 2001, 14:53 EST/Misc) Last Sunday's chat went pretty well(the transcript will be posted asap), so it looks like we'll make it a regular feature.
Join us this Sunday, October 21st on 16:00est. Information on how to connect can be found on our chat page
http://apolyton.net/misc/chat/
The chat will most probably be hosted by connorkimbo, something which will be determined as soon as he knows about it :) -MarkG
DEV, ATCT, SOTW UPDATE!
(19 October 2001, 13:11 EST/Civ3)  Dan Magaha surpassed himself today bringing a bigger than usual update to the civ3 site.
Developer Update
Jeff Morris discusses the civ3 editor, of which we see a new screenshot with all the tabs. It is revelead that the rules editor and the map editor are one program. Jeff clearly states though that this is only the beginning, promising updates to the editing tools after the release after feedback from mod community.
Ask the Civ Team
List of Espionage actions you can make:
Sabotage (sabotages the current project of an enemy city)
Propaganda (attempts to convince an enemy city to join your Civilization)
Steal Plans (reveals all troop locations of an enemy Civ for one turn)
Steal World Map (reveals what an enemy knows about the world)
Expose Enemy Spy (ferrets out opposing spies)
 List of possible actions by Air units:
Bombing mission (bombards the selected square, damaging units, city improvements, and population)
Precision Bombing mission (targets a specific improvement in a city for destruction)
Recon mission (investigates the selected square)
Air Superiority mission (attacks enemy air units that enter the unit's defensive range)
Airdrop mission (Airlifts a single ground unit to another location)
Re-Base mission (Selects a new base of operations and relocates the unit to that base)
UK Release date:
Firaxis insists on it being 30/10 like the US. Now for some strange reason Infogrames PR dept. have told us that the Pan-European date is 17/11, including the UK. I guess the brits will found sooner or later :)
World maps:
Civ3 will have two of them: a "normal" sized map (100 x 100), and a "Huge" map (180 x 180).
And a promise for pacificists:
Unlike previous versions of Civ, you will probably not survive if you spend the entire game at war
Developer Update
A nice screen showing how an army looks like!
Discuss all of this on the forums -MarkG
COTW: ZULUS
(19 October 2001, 12:46 EST/Civ3)  The Zulus are the latest Civ of the Week.
With Shaka Zulu as their leader they are considered "a Militaristic and Expansionistic civilization, therefore, they start with Warrior Code and Pottery, and have significant bonuses to military pursuits and exploratory activities".
Their special unit is the Impi warrior which has a better move ability that then the Standard Spearman.
So, will you lead the Zulus? Discuss in the forums -MarkG
TRIVIA: LATITUDES & ATTITUDES
(19 October 2001, 9:00 EST/Civ3) The official CivIII website has been updated yet again with the latest installment of CivTrivia over at Civ3.com. Today's question:
What innovation earned John Harrison a 20,000-pound prize from the British Board of Longitude, in 1772?
-- Gyroscope
-- Marine chronometer
-- Nautical almanac
-- Sextant
At present, donnyb20, Gramphos, SerapisIV and PK are in a share for the lead with 1340 points. Good luck to all participants! -DanQ
IMAGES PAGES UPDATED
(19 October 2001, 6:55 EST/Civ3) Our images pages have been updated, with 33 images from Gamespot, CGO and Civ3.com, as well as with the work of Kyller and ixnay37.
So, check out
Advisors page 1
Advisors page 2
In-Games page 1
Leaders page 1
These 4 pages contain images that are as accurate to the final version as possible. -MarkG
CLASH DEMO 5 ONLY DAYS AWAY
(19 October 2001, 4:47 EST/Alt) The Clash of Civilization is reaching yet another milestone, with Demo5 being only a few days away from release.
Mark Everson is saying that it should be done by "next Monday", while plans for plans for demo 6 have already started. -MarkG
FIRAXIS TW2002 GAME REBANG
(19 October 2001, 2:53 EST/Alt) Dan Magaha has "rebanged" the Trade Wars 2002 game on the Firaxis server
Everything the same as before, but 7500 colonists / day, 25% port regen, and 4 ppl to a team.
Also the Ferrengi are back, but I made them pretty weak (halved their movement chance, reduced their rob/steal to 10%, turned off the aggressive flag, 365 days until full strength).
Tournament game is open for regs for the next 15 days, then the game will close. 30 days until inactives are deleted.
If you are blown up ten times you're out. Yes, this includes podding.
With the 4ppl/team rule, there will be at least two teams, and there is a vote for the leaders of the teams. Dont forget to sign-up for the game! -MarkG
12000 LOGINS
(19 October 2001, 2:29 EST/About) If this isnt a perfect example of acceleration, I dont know what is :)
9000 December 19, 2000
10000 May 23, 2001
11000 August 15, 2001
12000 October 19, 20001
2 Months for 1000 logins, how many weeks for the next 1000? -MarkG
GAMESPOT FEATURE, PART II
(18 October 2001, 23:01 EST/Civ3) The second of a three-day marathon over at GameSpot (US) has resulted in a four-page preview, seven new screenshots to devour and four new movies. A few of the new pieces of information:
* Settlers and workers also no longer require food support and are simply supported like normal units. Settlers captured by the enemy become two worker units to reflect the concept of nationality.
* Related diplomatic changes include the need to pay money to establish embassies, as well as the elimination of diplomats and spies in favor of an intelligence agency improvement that enables spying activities.
* There are 10 small wonders and 24 great wonders. Wall Street, a small Wonder, lets you earn interest on your treasury balance each turn.
We at Apolyton are in the process of attempting to obtain the said movie files from GameSpot's FTP server, however, frequent busy signals and slow/unreliable download speeds are hindering our efforts to provide a mirror for them here. We thank you for your patience in advance.
Thanks to CivFanatics for the news tip. -DanQ
IMPRESSIVE SCREENS RELEASED
(18 October 2001, 22:41 EST/Civ3) Games Press has provided CivFanatics with thirteen new screenshots from a recent but not the final build of CivIII.
Some of the screens include one that shows half a dozen fearsome tanks on the main map, a polluted size 24 city building, a modern armor and a fully built spaceship. All are in 1024x768 resolution. -DanQ
GSPOT (US) ASKS: PLAYED CIV?
(18 October 2001, 10:04 EST/Misc) GameSpot US wants to know if you have ever played a game in the Civilization series via their 'instant poll they have setup on their website. The ballot choices? A simple "yes" or "no". At the time of this posting, 1670 of the 2728 (61%) respondents thus far answered in the affirmative. If you have yet to vote, your window of opportunity to do so is still wide open.
Thanks to Anunikoba for the news tip. -DanQ
C190# THIS WONDERFULL CONCEPT OF FAITH
(18 October 2001, 5:24 EST/Misc) The last article created lots of discussion and feedback, so we're posting a extra column in response.
190# THIS WONDERFULL CONCEPT OF FAITH
Response to #189
There will be a regular issue over the weekend as usual... -MarkG
TRIVIA: PLANTAGENET, ANGEVIN...
(18 October 2001, 0:03 EST/Civ3) The official CivIII website has been updated yet again with the latest installment of CivTrivia over at Civ3.com. Today's question:
Who was the first Plantagenet to occupy England’s throne?
-- William I
-- Henry II
-- Richard III
-- Edward IV
At present, donnyb20, Gramphos, SerapisIV and PK are in a share for the lead with 1300 points (none of them has yet had the opportunity to play today's edition). Good luck to all participants! -DanQ
FORUM PEAK VII
(17 October 2001, 23:37 EST/About) Two forum records in less than a week has in itself become a record. Yesterday at 4:07PM (EST), 310 visitors to Apolyton's forums were simultaneously online. The previous record, set just three days earlier on October 13th, was 309. While the current record is not as a steep a leap as was the previous record setting (October 8th saw 283 simultaneous visitors), it continues to show that the forums are buzzing with the imminent release of Civilization III still on schedule to hit store shelves and shipping vans in less than two weeks.
What does this number mean? It refers to at any given time that data was being sent to/from the server, whereas the actual number of people reading threads etc. in the forum is apt to be higher. 11,900+ logins, 29,100+ threads and 528,900+ posts later, the forums continue to gain in momentum.
On behalf of the Apolyton staff and administration, many thanks to each and everyone for their continued support of this site. -DanQ
TOT ON MAGAZINE COVER CD
(17 October 2001, 21:00 EST/Civ2ToT) Attention all readers from Australia and New Zealand. The November edition of PC User (PCU) magazine has made in full Civilization II: Test of Time available on their cover CD. The issue is on sale now at newsagents across the said countries and the cover price is only $7.50A.
For more information on this release, consult this document on PCU's website. Our thanks to Jel for the news tip. -DanQ
GAMESPOT: MEIER AND BRIGGS
(17 October 2001, 20:41 EST/Civ3) GameSpot US (GS) has posted what they have classified as an "exclusive" interview with Sid Meier and Jeff Briggs on Civilization III. The three-page, fourteen question sit-down with the big names behind the Civ legend ranges in subject from the general, e.g. what has been most changed from CivII, to the more specific such as how the trade system's new strategy resources work.
An interesting question that had not yet surfaced in other interviews to date is how CivIII should be compared to Activision's foray into the series with the two Call To Power titles.
It's up to the players to compare the games, answered Briggs. We feel that Civilization III builds on the legacy of our legendary game series and delivers the greatest Civ experience ever.
In closing, Briggs commented that [we at Firaxis] very proud of CivIII and we hope everyone has as much fun playing it as we did making it.
This interview is just the beginning as GS begins a special three-day coverage on the game. In addition to the said sit-down, with the site calls "Q[uestion] & A[nswer]", there are also nine new screenshots to feast your eyes on. -DanQ
INFORMATION ON FORCED LABOR
(17 October 2001, 2:21 EST/Civ3) In our Civ3 forums, Dan Magaha elucidated on Falconius' query about Forced Labor.
Forced labor means you can hurry production by forcing your citizens to engage in brutal, backbreaking labor. The unfortunate side effect of this is that some of your citizens will die, and the ones that don't will hold a grudge against you for a long time because of it....
So you can choose what method a government can use to hurry production (if any): paying money or "sacrificing" citizens, and you can set how many shields equal the life of one citizen, for the purposes of rushing a building or unit.
This means you can be absolutely brutal to your population to rush build something, but at a price of resentment from that population. Very cool feature! -Imran
ESPIONAGE EXPLAINED
(17 October 2001, 2:15 EST/Civ3) In our Civ 3 forums, Mike Breitkreutz explained in a bit more detail how espionage is supposed to work in Civ3.
Diplomats and spies are indeed gone but you can still perform espionage missions. The experience levels for diplomats and spies pertain to bonuses/penalties for diplomatic and spy missions. Thus, if your diplomats are highly experienced, diplomatic missions will be more likely to succeed. Likewise, if your spies are inexperienced, spy missions will be more likely to fail.
Espionage missions are now abstracted, with the removal of diplomat or spy units. -Imran
TRIVIA: BONAPARTE ONE-STEP
(17 October 2001, 0:13 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of CivTrivia. Today's question:
What prompted Napoleon to remark: "From the sublime to the ridiculous is but a step"?
-- Defeat at Waterloo
-- Congress of Vienna
-- Exile to Saint Helena
-- Retreat from Moscow
At present, PK is alone in the lead with 1300 points but it is still early in the day. Good luck to all participants! -DanQ
SGO POLL: WILL YOU BUY IT?
(16 October 2001, 18:27 EST/Civ3) Strategy Gaming Online, the hosts of CivFanatics who we thank for this news tip, is running a poll asking the gaming public as to whether or not they plan to purchase Civilization III either as a pre-order or once upon its commercial release.
Over the 533 respondents who have cast their ballot at the time of this writing, the combined "yes, one the first day! [its released]" and "I've already pre-ordered the Limited Edition!" responses command a hefty lead with 64.3% of the vote. 21.2% stated that they are waiting for the reviews to come in first before deciding whether or not to buy while 14.4% have already decided to pass on the game.
If you have yet to do so, add your voice to the vote today! -DanQ
TRIVIA: I SAY THEE NEIGH
(16 October 2001, 18:20 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of CivTrivia. Today's question:
Holy Roman emperor Charles V quipped he spoke Italian to women, French to men and Spanish to God... What language did he reserve for his horse?
-- Arabic
-- Basque
-- English
-- German
At present donnyb20, Gramphos, SerapisIV and PK are tied for the lead with 1270 points apiece. Good luck to all participants! -DanQ
CIV3 SCENARIO HAVEN ON APOLYTON!
(16 October 2001, 17:01 EST/About) Apolyton Civilization Site is proud to announce the inclusion of one more site to it's family of civ sites.
The Civ3 Scenario Haven, created by veteran scenario maker Harlan Thompson, will feature maps and resources for use in scenario creation.
Haven opens with over 150 images of real maps which have probably helped Harlan to make some of his famous civ2 and ctp maps ;)
So, without further delay, welcome to Apolyton Harlan!
Forum discussion -MarkG
NEW COOL STUFF
(16 October 2001, 16:29 EST/MoO3) Quicksilver keeps puting nice things on their site:
The Art Über Boss has decided to release some very special sneak peeks at the Orion Guardian (last seen in MOO2) as well as a Grendarl diplomacy shot and -- MOO3 Desktop Icons! The following shots of the Orion Guardian are the only ones you will see before the game is shipped. Then, you will only see it in the intro movie for MOO3. The icons are for Windows desktops (sorry Mac folks) and are in one 24k .zip file. If you enjoy these icons, we may decide to make more in the future. No guarantees though, as these were made on a lark and free time is few and far between.
Grendarl Diplomacy Shot
Orion Guardian 3D Render 1 (no textures)
Orion Guardian 3D Render 2 (no textures)
Orion Guardian 3D Render 3 (no textures)
MOO3 Desktop Icons for Windows* (24k .zip file)
Thanks to Master Marcus for posting about this in the forums. -MarkG
STAR TREK DS9: A TOTAL CONVERSION
(16 October 2001, 16:08 EST/SMAC) Tres announced on the forums that his latest project is nearly finished. It's the german version of his "Star Trek - Deep Space Nine total conversion".
Give your vote right now so that he translates it to english! -MarkG
EDITOR SCREENSHOT!
(16 October 2001, 9:47 EST/Civ3) The title would normally be "CGO Preview", but it's one already published on the magazine weeks ago and there isnt anything new. Except from.... a screenshot of the editor!
For the Windows look it seems that it is an external program. The "tabs" are the following:
Miscellaneous Rules
Races
Technologies
Terraforming improvements
Terrain Types
Unit Actions
Building Types
Citizen Types
Culture
Difficulty Levels
Eras
Espionage Missions
Experience Level
But there is more as it seems that we see the Goverment tab.
Firaxian Mike Breitkreutz had a couple of comments. First:
The editor screenshot is old. It looks basically the same but a lot of the terminology has been changed and some items have been added/removed. The Great Persons Mood Modifiers are not referring to the citizens. This was a concept we were toying with that has since been removed.
And second:
[R]ules.txt is also gone. We decided to remove the text file in exchange for faster load times.... Everything that was in rules.txt is now in the editor. Anything you could do in the civ3 rules.txt file, you can do in the editor.
We're sure you want to comment in the forums as well :) -MarkG
MEIER INTERVIEW ON EB
(16 October 2001, 1:58 EST/Civ3) Sid Meier gave an interview to EBGames on Civ3.
An interesting part was when he talked about the balanced stategies that a player must develop
Obviously, in the effort to reach a "Domination" or "Military" victory, your success in combat will determine whether you win or not. But being overly aggressive – as opposed to judiciously aggressive – can mean that you will lose the UN vote, the culmination of a Diplomatic victory. And while a campaign of military conquest can be great fun, it could backfire when cities that have been conquered are re-absorbed by another Civilization with a much higher culture rating, a few turns later. So, in the end, while effective combat is a vital element of the game, it is not the sole consideration
He also described the governors feature
Once a player activates the Governor menu in the City Management screen, they can direct that Governor to follow selected instructions for his city (as well as instruct the Governors in all cities, or even just those on the adjacent landmass). A player can also direct that a Governor NOT do certain things. For even "finer" control, players can also determine the frequency with which the Governor will produce certain types of units (naval, artillery air, defensive, offensive, worker, etc.) and certain types of improvements/wonders (those which increase happiness, wealth, growth, science, etc.).
Sid also mentioned a more specific release date for SimGolf, saying that it should be out in stores by February 2002.
Thanks to ERear2121 for the news tip. -MarkG
CHIPS&BITS TOP10 5-11/OCT/2001
(15 October 2001, 17:09 EST/Misc) Chips&Bits has started publishing their weekly Top10 again. Here is the most recent one
Here's the latest that's moving online. POOL OF RADIANCE (2001) PC is still selling at #1. RUSSO-GERMAN WAR PC is in the #2 position. SILENT HILL 2 PS2 has taken up the #3 spot.
1. Pool of Radiance (2001) $44.95
2. Russo-German War $39.95
3. Silent Hill 2 PS2 $49.95
4. Operation Flashpoint $39.95
5. Sub Command $39.95
6. Squad Battles: Vietnam $39.95
7. Arcanum $39.95
8. C&C Red Alert 2 $39.95
9. Close Combat IV $19.95
10. Railroad Tycoon 2 Platinum $19.95
The chart is based on the sales during that period on Chips&Bits. -MarkG
TRIVIA: WHAT`S IN A NAME?
(15 October 2001, 10:44 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of CivTrivia. Today's question:
What nation endured kings called “Charles the Mad,” “Philip the Tall” and “Louis the Fat”?
-- France
-- Hungary
-- Italy
-- Spain
At present donnyb20, Gramphos, SerapisIV and PK are tied for the lead with 1230 points apiece. Good luck to all participants! -DanQ
INTRO VIDEO DOWNLOAD
(14 October 2001, 21:25 EST/Civ3) On Friday, GameSpot (US) posted the introductory video to CivIII available for download from their website [see story below]. The 1 minute, 44 second movie file -- which is launched when you start-up the game, in effect an equivalent to a theme song on a television series -- has been enthusiastically consumed already to date.
Because of the intense and persistent demand for the file, we at Apolyton have decided to mirror this release (18.2MB; MPG format) effective immediately. In doing so, ACS becomes on the third known and second mirror site from which to obtain this release. It is hoped that this expanded accessibility to the intro video will increase download speeds and reliability for individuals wishing to obtain it regardless of their connection speed to the Internet. -DanQ
FIRST GAME REPORT
(14 October 2001, 19:18 EST/Civ3) The first CivIII in-game report from Computer Game Online's (CGO) Bob Mayer, one of the chosen few who at the moment have received a copy of the game from Infogrames, has been written and posted on the site's forum.
I played my first actual game of Civ III last night, though I wasn't able to print out the 250 page manual, so I don't have a great grasp on all the rules yet, Mayer wrote. Got my butt kicked on the lowest difficulty level. It's not revolutionary. It's not supposed to be. It's Civ. Bigger, better, better looking, but Civ. And from my experience, so far, it nails that pretty damn well.
For the full write-up, head on over to CGO. Thanks to CivFanatics for word of this. -DanQ
ANGST TECH DOES SIMGOLF
(14 October 2001, 19:06 EST/Misc) Angst Technology, an online comic by Barry T. Smith which appears on GameSpy.com, has published a "tribute" strip to Sid Meier's SimGolf featuring two of AT's most popular characters, Dante and Yaz.
Angst Technology is the name of a computer game company, is how Smith describes the strip in general. A small start up, the employees are all drawn together with the vision of creating truly kick ass games. The only thing stopping them is their vastly diverse opinions about what a kick ass game is.
The strip has been running since last August and runs seven days a week. -DanQ
TRIVIA: NAPIER WIT
(14 October 2001, 19:00 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of CivTrivia. Today's question:
The mechanical device, called “Napier’s bones” in 1623, was a type of:
-- Artificial hand
-- Calculator
-- Gambling device
-- Knitting machine
At present, Gramphos, SerapisIV and PK are tied for the lead with 1210 points apiece. Good luck to all participants! -DanQ
INTRO VIDEO PUBLISHED
(14 October 2001, 11:50 EST/Civ3) Gamespot has published the Civ3 introduction video.
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