speculation on when the expansion pack will be released?

[monkspider]

Can the infinite wisdom of the Apolyton community speculate on when the Civ 3 XP will be released, based on past historical trends with AC and Civ 2, and perhaps computer games in general?
I know this may be a bit premature, but i'm really antsy to try out some new civs.

[Capt Dizle]

thats an easy question to answer

[asleepathewheel]

here is what I found:


SMAC Released: Jan 31, 1999
SMAC patch v. 3.0: march 22 1999
SMAC patch v. 4.0: july 14, 1999
SMAX Released: Oct 20, 1999 (gamespot says Oct 31, Apolyton 20)
SMAX V. 2.0: Dec. 13, 1999


Civilization II: feb 29, 1996
Civilization II: MGE: Dec 31, 1997
Civ II: fantastic worlds: nov. 31, 1997
Civ II: clash of civilizations:?



CivII: Test of time: July 31, 1999
patch 1.1 oct 7, 1999?


hope they're accurate and this helps.

from: gamespot.com, apolyton, and firaxis home page.

[Capt Dizle]

The sweet spot is always "in time for the Christmas season".

[asleepathewheel]

Originally posted by jimmytrick
The sweet spot is always "in time for the Christmas season".

Ah yes, but can Infogrames wait that long? I would think that they will release in June or July to give civIII sales a boost. Though they do have MOO III (don't they) among other titles coming out around that time, so who knows what will happen. they may sit on it till christmas

When was RoN coming out? maybe they will release then

[notyoueither]

My money is on another patch on or about May 31.

The clamouring is lesser now than before 1.17f so they do not need to rush. However, they are still tinkering with mechanics which leads me to conclude that we will see 1 or perhaps 2 more patches. Hey, they get us to play test; we end up with a better final product. Sounds fair to me. Better than the support CTP2 received after release.

Salve

[monkspider]

thanks on that little bit of research asleepathewheel

[asleepathewheel]

Originally posted by notyoueither
My money is on another patch on or about May 31.

The clamouring is lesser now than before 1.17f so they do not need to rush. However, they are still tinkering with mechanics which leads me to conclude that we will see 1 or perhaps 2 more patches. Hey, they get us to play test; we end up with a better final product. Sounds fair to me. Better than the support CTP2 received after release.

Salve

I definately prefer this method to what happened to CTP2

If you look here you will see that the first hint of SMAX came on April 8, 1999 from a developer, and then confirmation of the release date about a month ahead of the release, Oct 31, 1999.

I think (hope) that it would take less time with this xpack, as they are not trying to invent sci-fi things and querying gamers for ideas.

But, since they are still trying to fix the kinks in the system, who knows when it will happen. though it seems the editor is receiving a lot of attention now, but will that be released as a patch or as part of the xpack- I think that is the biggest question. If they release a better scenario editor for free as a patch, I don't think we will see an x-pack for a while.

of course, when such a thread as this appears, I imagine that TPTB just laugh

[asleepathewheel]

Originally posted by monkspider
thanks on that little bit of research asleepathewheel

your welcome

procrastination is a great tool to accomplish otherwise unneccessary tasks, such as reasearching those release dates. 11:00 sunday night. read your casebook! sigh

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by asleepathewheel
I think (hope) that it would take less time with this xpack, as they are not trying to invent sci-fi things and querying gamers for ideas.

But, since they are still trying to fix the kinks in the system, who knows when it will happen. though it seems the editor is receiving a lot of attention now, but will that be released as a patch or as part of the xpack- I think that is the biggest question. If they release a better scenario editor for free as a patch, I don't think we will see an x-pack for a while.

A better editor as part of a patch is not quite a given, but close. Too many people have this as the last big bone stuck in their craw (forgive the mixing). Also they can then observe what we (read Wes, and korn, and...) do with it. Might make for a better XP in the end.

Salve

[monkspider]

I predict that the XP will contain 8 new civs, bringing the number to a nice even 24, an expanded editor, multiplayer features some scenarios, and a new unit or two.

[Thrawn05]

Re: speculation on when the expansion pack will be released?

Originally posted by monkspider
Can the infinite wisdom of the Apolyton community speculate on when the Civ 3 XP will be released, based on past historical trends with AC and Civ 2, and perhaps computer games in general?
I know this may be a bit premature, but i'm really antsy to try out some new civs.

Somewhere on the high end of never.


Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if it released by this time next year.

[Thrawn05]

Originally posted by monkspider
and a new unit or two.

And watch, it would probably be a useless air or sea unit.