Nov. 3rd release? On a Sunday?

[DFW Razorback]

Anyone care to guess as to when PTW might actually show up in stores? Best Buy seems to be either Tuesdays or Fridays for new games.

[WarpStorm]

Well, since it hasn't gone gold yet (or it did in stealth mode) and it realistically won't be in stores for 2 weeks after that, I'll guess November 12th.

[alva]

yeah, I was wondering why it hadn't gone gold by now. hmm, that makes it another month for us europeans

(not to say that by then my holiday will be over )

[The Pioneer]

We always get them later , I wonder if they are going to publish the english version in Germany, as they did with the Civ3.

So long...

[kring]

Jeff Morris just mentioned early November in a HomeLAN Fed interview; the same answer Sid gave on TechTV.

At the bottom of this interview with Jeff Morris of Firaxis, he said early November is the current release date for Play the World.

HomeLAN - When and how did plans begin to develop for the Civilization III expansion?


Jeff Morris - We began work on Civ III:PTW earlier this year with two main goals in mind: create a fun and innovative multiplayer system and offer the single player fans another layer of compelling civs, units, leaders, map features, city improvements, wonder, interface controls and game editing tools.



HomeLAN - How hard was it to put in multiplayer elements in a game that was initially designed for single player?


Jeff Morris - It was a major challenge trying to find a way to make multiplayer in a turn-based game fun, dynamic and fast paced. Not to mention that player expectations were quite high because they’ve been enjoying the single player experience with this classic game for over a decade.



HomeLAN - What multiplayer modes will be put in Play the World and how many players will it support?


Jeff Morris - We’re very excited to introduce the new Turnless mode, a truly innovative approach to turn-based multiplayer that offers a quicker game experience with all the depth and strategy of Civ. We’ve also included new fast-paced multiplayer games like Elimination, Domination, Regicide and Capture the Flag so players can enjoy a Civ game over lunch. And for those who want the more traditional Civ experience we offer simultaneous and turn-based modes as well as Hotseat and PBEM. They all support up to eight players.




HomeLAN - One of the multiplayer modes is being called a ''turnless'' mode. Is this mode similar to a real-time strategy multiplayer game?


Jeff Morris - Our new Turnless mode is as close as a player can get to a real-time experience in a turn-based game. When playing Turnless, you never have to wait for another player to end their turn. If they don’t make a move within a certain time, they simply lose it. To prevent a single unit from being moved over and over, all units and cities operate on an individual turn clock. Once a unit moves (or a city produces something) you can’t move them again for a set amount of time. It takes Civ multiplayer to a whole new level of fun.




HomeLAN - Will there be support for people to create their own multiplayer scenarios in Play The World?


Jeff Morris - Yes! All scenario editor features can be used in both single and multiplayer scenarios.



HomeLAN - Has it been a different experience creating and playtesting this type of multiplayer game for Firaxis' development team?


Jeff Morris - Creating a multiplayer game from a single player game is never easy, but fortunately we (Firaxis) have worked on a number of multiplayer games before (like Gettysburg and Alpha Centauri) and those experiences helped shorten the development cycle significantly. Testing multiplayer games is also a very challenging task. It’s very hard for programmers to duplicate a bug from testing that occurs after 4 hours and with 8 players. There are a number of good techniques available however, and we took advantage of all of them. One is to run the game in dev-studio, so that any problems can be fixed in the code immediately. Another is using a public beta team that can dedicate enough human hours to exhaust all the game possibilities (turnless, simultaneous, turn-based, Space Race victory, etc..).



HomeLAN - What new civilizations will be put into Play The World?


Jeff Morris - We’ve added 8 new civs to PTW: Spanish, Arabs, Carthaginians, Celts, Koreans, Mongols, Ottomans, and Vikings (now there are 24 in all!)




HomeLAN - What other new gameplay contents and elements will be in the expansion?


Jeff Morris - Lots! This is a packed expansion for players looking for multiplayer options as well as some great new single player features. Along with the 8 new civs we’ve added 8 new leaders and civ-specific units, new map features like outposts, airfields and radar towers, new wonder (the Internet), new city improvements (civil defense, stock exchange, commercial dock), new guerilla and medieval infantry units, new interface controls like auto bombard, rally points, stacked movement, a streamlined espionage interface and enhanced editor support with unit packs and terrain sets that help players construct a scenario from any time period. For full details visit our website at www.civ3.com.



HomeLAN - What is the current status of Play the World and when will it be released?


Jeff Morris - We’re in the final testing stages and it’s slated to hit the store shelves in early November.



HomeLAN - Finally, there have been a lot of rumors recently about Firaxis' next projects. Can you give us any hints about what the company has planned next?


Jeff Morris - We have lots of exciting plans moving forward, but aren’t ready to talk about any of them yet. Stay tuned for more information soon!

HomeLAN Fed Link

[asleepathewheel]

I hope that it comes out on a friday. That way I wouldn't feel too guilty about playing it non stop for 2 days.

[dnassman]

But us Aussies will have to wait probably til December before we see it. Pretty f..... if you ask me.

[asleepathewheel]

Originally posted by dnassman
But us Aussies will have to wait probably til December before we see it. Pretty f..... if you ask me.

Can't you get it shipped there sooner from someone in the states?

[Cesa]

Does anyone know if it's released later in all of europe, or just in the contries that translates the games? I never understood why things (games, movies etc.) have to be released later in europe than US...at least in the contries that doesn't have to translate it.

[Zero]

wait but US release is still scheduled to be at 10/22/02 right?

[dnassman]

Problem is Aussie dollar isn't very strong against the US and then shipping costs in US dollars too. This turns out to be very expensive.

My issue is that it should be released everywhere at the same time. At least all English speaking nations if they haven't translated it yet.

[Carver]

But Once and Again is being released on DVD in early November and I think I should only get one of them.