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November 2001
NOT FLAWLESS, BUT SOLID
(30 November 2001, 22:34 EST/Civ3) A 8/10 final score is what Strategy Gaming Online's Christopher Johnson awarded CivIII in his review of the game posted on the said site today. Despite some flaws, he feels that it is a solid game for any and every strategy gamer to pick up and run with.
I had a lukewarm reaction to Civilization III the first time I played it, Johnson explains in his concluding paragraph. In many ways there are things in Alpha Centauri and Call to Power that are simply done better than in [CivIII]. This is not to say that [CivIII] is a bad game, but I just feel it could have done more to try and innovate a genre it helped create.
Accompanied by five screenshots, the following is the breakdown of the individual category scores he gave the game which led to the aforementioned overall score: 8/10 (Graphics), 7/10 (Sound), Interface (8.0); Solo Gameplay (8.5/10), Replay (8.5/10), and last but not least Learning Curve (7/10). -DanQ
ADDICTED SOMETHING BAD... OR GOOD
(30 November 2001, 22:27 EST/Civ3) JoyStick101.org's Jon Goodwin is looking for helps -- or perhaps not -- to combat his latest addiction, Civilization III. To start his saga, this gamer gives us a little background to his situation that so many others can undoubtedly relate to:
It’s 2:30 AM. My wife is sleeping and I know I have work in less than five hours. It’s at this point that I have the internal debate over whether I should stay up all night or not. Either way I’ll pay for this marathon session in the morning – but I’m betting that when noon roles around I’ll be spending my lunch hour in front of the computer screen playing [CivIII].
Goodwin discusses his friends' and acquaintence's attempts to assist him to get him into a gaming equivalent of detox, but this blurry-eyed gamer confesses that it has all been to no avail.
For me, it’s too late – I’m hooked. Just like when I discovered Alpha Centauri. What makes this type of game so entrancing is the open nature. You start by making your own rules. The planet size, the conditions of victory, even the terrain is up for grabs. This sense of openness only increases once the game starts. You can try to develop peacefully – or ravage your enemies as you see fit. Bicker over trading resources or technologies – you could literally spend years with this game without exploring every aspect of it.
At this very moment, Goodwin is continuing his search to hear of similar stories of gaming addiction. -DanQ
NEW UNITS!
(30 November 2001, 22:04 EST/Civ3) It's reality! The first custom units for civ3 are here!
Made by BlueO with the use of Flicster, here are
Attack Chopper - I think Civ3 is missing this vital modern unit. If the tank can be say to be modern era swordsman, then the chopper is modern era horseman. The chopper should be classified as a land unit with the ability to treat all terrain as roads. Its attack value should be 24 - same as modern tank, but the defense value is only 12 - slightly lower then the modern tank. Its movment speed is 3, so it doesn't move faster than a modern tank on the road. It so sweet, to fly through 9 tiles of rough terrains. Its too bad, the chopper can't fly across water, but on the other hand, the chopper can't realistically end its turn in water...
Air Transport - Another missing vital unit, the air transport. The air transport is a helicopter upgrade that has the maximum opertional range (eight). In addition, the air transport can carry more units... two, as well as vehicle units. I had hope to increase the range to 12, but 8 is the limit.
Download and comments on the forums -MarkG
CHIPS&BITS TOP10 24-30/NOV/2001
(30 November 2001, 21:38 EST/Misc) The top remains the same on Chips&Bits
SILENT HUNTER II PC is still in the #1 position. CIVILIZATION III PC is unchanged at #2. RETURN TO CASTLE WOLFENSTEIN PC has climbed to #3.
1. Silent Hunter II $39.95
2. Civilization III $44.95
3. Return to Castle Wolfenstein $49.95
4. Metal Gear Solid 2 PS2 $49.95
5. Empire Earth $39.95
6. Dark Age of Camelot $39.95
7. Ghost Recon (Tom Clancy's) $44.95
8. IL-2 Sturmovik $39.95
9. The Sims: Hot Date $29.95
10. Russo-German War $39.95
-MarkG
TRIVIA: ABSOLUTE LOVE HURTS
(30 November 2001, 0:36 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of the long-running CivTrivia series. Good luck to all participants!
Today's question:
What powerful man told the New York Times, in 1971: “Power is the great aphrodisiac”?
-- Charles De Gaulle
-- Henry Kissinger
-- Richard Nixon
-- Mao Zedong
While it is still early in the day, at the time of this posting Gramphos is in the lead with 2460 followed closely by PK with 2430 points. -DanQ
WHEN WILL THE GAME BE OVER
(29 November 2001, 21:38 EST/Civ3) Rorschach, a reviewer at GameOver (GO), has given CivIII a green light for purchase and awarded it a 92% final score in the latest in a string of reviews for the game that has been posted online.
Some game reviews are more difficult to write than others. The rare few, like this one, are almost intimidating because of the franchise that the game under review represents, the GO staffer begins. I found that playing Civilization III was, exactly contrary to Eddie Money’s hypothesis, like going home again. [CivIII] is more like its predecessors than unlike them. [..]
Games like Civilization provide for nearly infinite possibilities. This one’s going to stay on my hard drive for awhile, and will probably be the game that eats all my spare time, at least until Master of Orion 3 comes along. -DanQ
BUY IT IN A HEARTBEAT
(29 November 2001, 21:22 EST/Civ3) The tag-team review of CivIII over at Frictionless Insight resulted in both team members recommending that the game be purchased by all gamers.
This is simply a great game, summizes co-reviewer Enkindu. While it is easy enough to criticize minor points, Civilization III has that ineffable quality that is the need to play "just one more turn". No matter how far along a player may have progressed through history, it is necessary to play just a little longer to build one more city, complete a railroad, discover electricity or conquer another civilization.
[W]hile making no world-shattering departures from its predecessors, [this game] improves the game enough to be a wholly worthwhile purchase. Some changes are minor, some are deceptively simple but radically influence gameplay. All enhance the fun this series has always delivered.
While fellow reviewer Wrathful offers some stark criticisms, he concurs with Enkindu's conclusion.
One can make further niggling criticisms of the interface here and there, but the fact that such nuances are the sum total of my criticism suggests, to me at any rate, that Civilization III is a game that has achieved a benchmark-setting level of polish and perfection.
The thanks for the news tip goes to BluesNews. -DanQ
NOT WORTH PASSING GRADE, SAYS GF
(29 November 2001, 14:33 EST/Civ3) If there is one thing that can be said to be consistent about the opinions expressed and final scores given in reviews on CivIII, it's their inconsistency in terms of positive and negative reviews. One of the most damning of the latter was published today on GamesFirst where staff writer Paul Cockeram is less than impressed to say the least. While he gives high points for the addition of culture to the mix, he finds the new emphasis on resource discovery and historical accuracy elements to be worth nothing more than to be sent to the chopping block. On behalf of GF, this reviewer concludes:
Devotees of the Civilization industry will probably find enough new gizmos... to make buying this version worthwhile. Newcomers will probably find enough here to entertain them. But if you liked CivII just fine, or if you don’t need a turn-based conquer-and-rule-the-world fix right now, then it’s likely you’ll be better off waiting for Master of Orion III. Or even CivIV.
Cockeram awarded CivIII an abysmal 2/5 stars, one of the lowest known scores given to the game to date. -DanQ
MAC PORT NOW IN BETA STAGE
(29 November 2001, 14:23 EST/Civ3) The Mac port of CivIII hit beta according to a news release issued yesterday by Westlake Interactive, the company hired to produce the port by Firaxis Games.
The beta period for [the game] is very nearly over -- we've finished most of our testing at this point, said Westlake's Brad Oliver. At this point, we're waiting for the final patch code from Firaxis for the first CivIII PC patch so that we can integrate that into the initial Mac release. We've also added in a few bug fixes as well that have been passed back to the Firaxis guys.
As per the game's editor, Oliver confirmed that this was the next item on the agenda but added that it would probably not make it into the box for the port's scheduled February, 2002 launch date.
No timeline yet on when it'll be done, but it probably won't ship in the box. The editor will run under OSX and most likely OS 8/9 as well.
Thanks to CivFanatics for the news tip. -DanQ
NEW INFOGRAMES ANNOUNCEMENT ON TRANSLATION PROJECT
(29 November 2001, 11:58 EST/Civ3) Infogrames(IG) has released a new announcement on the issue of the German translation project. Here it is, translated by Lemming (many thanks!), in it's entirety (almost)
During the last days we've received numerous questions and complaints regarding the unofficial Civ3-Translation-project. So we will explain the reasons for our actions in the following statement:
Generally we would like to say that we welcome ideas and concepts coming from fans and/or members of our community. We have already supported various projects in the past and will continue to do so in the future. However, in some cases - like the current translation project - we are forced to refuse any support.
The game Civilization III is, like many products of all kind, protected by copyright. Firaxis, who (directed by Sid Meier) has invented and created the game, is actually holding the rights. Now if someone wants to change parts of the product or to use parts of the product in any other ways as intended, the involved group or person has to ask for a written permission from the copyright holder or his legal representation (in this case Infogrames). This procedure should be common knowledge after all. For example no private person has tried to translate the latest Harry Potter novel into German and put it onto the internet, just because the English version comes out first. The author or his publisher would try to stop that for understable reasons. So this is also true for Civilization III. Certainly the creators of the translation project tried to reach Infogrames per Email - but that is no privilege to start the project without an appropriate permission. Regrettably the response time of these emails (email-adresses) is much longer than we would like it to be. However you can also contact us everytime by phone or mail. Unfortunately the project group didnt use one of these possibilities.
Our contract with Firaxis says that we have to take immediate action in case of any copyright violation, so we had to take the necessary legal steps. Because the initiators of the project are actually part of the Civilization-Community, we decided not to react with an interim order but only with an injunction order (I hope i got this right). This is the most lenient action we could have taken to preserve our and Firaxis' claims. This injunction order was sent not only to the head of the fan-project but also to the operator of the website www.civ3.de, where we first read of the translation project. In both cases, Infogrames paid the costs which usually arise from an injunction order. We reached a settlement with the operator of the website, after he signed the injunction order and there are no further steps planned against him. Unfortunately the head of the project has only insufficiently signed the order and threatened multiple times to have a bad influence on the public mood in the forums, if we dont agree to his demands of taking back the injunction order. In his last Email he suggests to admit his own negligence if Infogrames publically apologizes for various points, which in the end have only arised because of his actions and not of ours, and if Infogrames considers hiring him as a community manager. But for us that's out of question not only because of what has happened in the last few days.
Finally we want to say that we are sorry for the fact that a project, that in the end was started to help other Civilization-fans had to go this way... Moreover we are hoping that the project leader reconsiders his point of view, so that we dont have to take any further legal actions.
In the last paragraph of the lengthy announcement, IG says that it's own translation of civ3 is almost finished, but does not give any possible release date for it.
What all this means for mod makers? Well, if you take it strictly and want to be safe, the next time you modify a text or graphic file of Civ3 you have to mail or better to write a letter or phone them AND then wait for their response before doing anything. On the other hand, one can argue that Infogrames wont care about rules modifications or graphic patches.
So, do you feel like taking risks in your life? :) Comment about this on the forums. -MarkG
STORIES SECTION AND CONTESTS
(29 November 2001, 9:11 EST/Civ3) Our Civ3 Stories section has just opened! In it, we will feature the best stories posted in the stories forum as you vote them every week.
Run by Anatolia and already on the second week, we are having a contest to choose the best story of the last 7 days. Winners earn a discount on the Apolyton Store.
So, do you have a story to tell? -MarkG
MORE STRATEGY FROM VELOCIRYX AND OTHERS
(29 November 2001, 8:00 EST/Civ3) Update on our strategy pages, with Velociryx's ultra-huge "part 2" as well as two more threads.
- Vel's Strategy Thread - Part Two by Velociryx (27-11-2001)
- Obtaining Scarce Resources by eMarkM (26-11-2001)
- Wonder Guide by Alex 14 (28-11-2001)
More on the Civ3-Strategy Forum. -MarkG
TRIVIA: HAPPINESS IS A WARM GUN
(29 November 2001, 0:24 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of the long-running CivTrivia series. Good luck to all participants!
Today's question:
What did Mao Zedong claim “grows out of the barrel of a gun”?
-- Patience
-- Political power
-- Revolution
-- Wisdom
Although it is still early in the day, at the time of this posting Gramphos is in the lead with 2450 points followed closely behind by PK with 2420 points. -DanQ
PRIMA SICS LAWYERS ON HG
(28 November 2001, 21:50 EST/Civ3) In another round of lawsuits relating to CivIII [see November 26th story below], Prima Games (PG) has forced Hurricane Gaming (HG) to remove a strategy guide for the game posted on the latter's website on November 10th on threat of legal action.
Prima, the company behind the official CivIII strategy guide, informed Hurricane via their parent company Random House Publishing that they had an exclusive agreement with Infogrames, CivIII's publishers, to produce and market a guide for the game. According to Doug Walsh, Hurricane Gaming's President/CEO, in an open letter explaining the sudden removal of the guide, written by Michael Lummis from their site, [t]he 32 page [document] which sold for $2.50[US] apparently contained too much helpful information and infringed on Prima's rights to the game.
In response to the notice, Hurricane Gaming executives made the difficult decision to remove their guide from their site as per Random House's request earlier today. While no official confirmation has been given by either side in the dispute, it is presumed that the lawsuit will not go ahead given Hurricane's prompt action in the plaintiff's favour. Despite the frustration behind the ordeal, Walsh used the opportunity to express a positive point about the incident.
Although this is an upsetting setback that greatly disappoints us, we also see this as confirmation that our content is of the highest quality.
To give a general idea as to how many copies of HG's CivIII guide were purchased and downloaded before its removal, the defendants reported that of the 500 daily visitor average to the site, less than 2% of that number had taken up on the opportunity to acquire the document in question. -DanQ
FIVE QUESTIONS WITH MEIER
(28 November 2001, 21:27 EST/Civ3) George Jones is one lucky individual -- he was given the opportunity to do what so many Civ fans have wanted the chance to do themselves for as long as they can remember: interview Sid Meier, the man with the vision behind the beloved and long-running gaming series. Jones had Meier's complete and undivided attention to address five questions on behalf of Gamers.com that were posted this morning.
While all the questions asked have been put forth in previous interviews, the brief article addresses some of the more popular ones including the game god's favourite games of all time (putting aside his own) and how Meier got into the gaming industry in the first place.
Gamers: When did you first realize that Civilization "had it"?
Sid: I knew we had created something special that I really enjoyed playing, but I had no idea it would be as big of a hit as it's been. It's amazing that ten years later people are still having fun with Civ.
The credit goes to BluesNews for scooping this story earlier today. -DanQ
EP STAFF MEMBER YEARLY PICK
(28 November 2001, 21:19 EST/Civ3) Greg Bemis, Co-ordinating Producer of TechTV's Extended Play web-based television show, was the sole member of the ET team to put in CivIII as his recommend title for 2001 in the site's annual staff recommendation showcase posted last Wednesday.
The Civ series has always been excellent, so it's hard to believe they actually improved on an already great design, Bemis praises. The scope of CivIII is so massive, beginners might feel a little intimidated, but those who stick with it will be rewarded with a game that's almost infinitely replayable. Fun, clever, and refined, CivIII proves that games are far more than kids' stuff. -DanQ
PCGAMES.DE FINAL SAY
(28 November 2001, 21:14 EST/Civ3) German gaming magazine PC Games has posted their review of CivIII on their online portal. Thanks to AltaVista's Babelfish service, we are able to provide a loose translation of selected quote below.
Civilization 3 is as attractive as Cher in the morning after the OSCAR award, says review staff member Jochen Gebauer. In the end, PCG inked their bottom line score as 85%.
Thanks to CivFanatics for the news tip. -DanQ
WATCH A REVIEW THIS FRIDAY
(28 November 2001, 21:00 EST/Civ3) TechTV's Extended Play feature, a weekly Web-based television show produced weekly, will be reviewing Civilization III part of their show's November 30th installment live beginning at 9PM EST and will represent the only PC title being examined this time around. According to CivFanatics, the final score the game was awarded by the ET team gave it a respectable 4/5 (80%). As for how they came to this bottom line, you will need to catch the show this Friday evening.
Hosted by Adam Sessler and Kate Botello, the show markets itself as being your guide to games, gaming, and the gear that goes with it. If you are unable to catch the premiere broadcast, you can catch a re-run on Saturday, Sunday and the following Friday at various times via their website. -DanQ
NICE, BUT PREDECESSOR BETTER
(28 November 2001, 20:46 EST/Civ3) Intelligamer (IG) is the latest online gaming site to offer its final word on Civilization III. The game received a 4/5 star rating from reviewer Christian Schock.
I am sure I'll take some flack from people for my final rating of "only" four stars [to the game], the IG staff member writes in closing. Sure there are improvements but they are balanced, in my opinion, with important problems that make the game less enjoyable. The bottom line is that serious Civilization fans will buy [CivIII] no matter what I say and most likely enjoy playing it. But for my money, Civilization II is still the better game.
According to the site's rating guide, a 4/5 score equates to [a] fun, well designed game that will appeal to even those who don't normally play games of the genre. -DanQ
ANOTHER `CIVILIZED OUTING`
(28 November 2001, 20:32 EST/Civ3) CivIII has been well received by Luke Guttridge from the United Kingdom's Ferrago who personally dropped us a line to let us know of its posting.
The whole game is highly addictive from start to finish, and those who enjoy Sim games will find Civ a trickier initial proposition, but a subsequently far-deeper and more satisfying one, Guttridge concludes in awarding the game a 93% final score. [W]hilst Civ III may be something of a daunting prospect initially; it is however a hugely involving and vastly immersive game, that deserves a chance.
Epic, immersive, clever, addictive and ultimately brilliant. -DanQ
INFOGRAMES PR: THE DOMINATOR
(28 November 2001, 16:30 EST/Misc) Infogrames has sent out a press release, first distributed yesterday via their website and sent out to major gaming industry news centers, claims that the company is burning up the charts. From the PR:
"We’re thrilled with the performance of our PC titles thus far this season and believe that it’s only the beginning,” said Wim Stocks, Senior Vice President of Sales and Distribution for Infogrames, Inc. “These rankings are yet another indication that Infogrames has proven itself to be a leader across all genres, and we will continue to publish games that keep people of every age and experience level coming back for more.” [..]
Sid Meier’s Civilization III, the hotly anticipated third installment in the best-selling strategy franchise, moved to the #2 position on the PC charts after debuting in the #1 slot the week of October 28. -DanQ
TRIVIA: EXTREME CENSORSHIP
(28 November 2001, 16:20 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of the long-running CivTrivia series. Good luck to all participants!
Today's question:
What Middle Eastern leader was assassinated in 1981, thirty months
after signing a peace accord with Israel?
-- King Faisal
-- Reza Shah Pahlavi
-- Abdal Nasser
-- Anwar Sadat
At the time of this posting, PK is in the lead with 2420 points followed closely behind by radius with 2370 points. -DanQ
LEGAL ISSUE OVER TRANSLATION PROJECT CLOSES
(28 November 2001, 9:41 EST/Civ3) The legal issue that started when Infogrames sent a "cease and desist order"(we'll refer to it as c&do) to Kai Fiebach has now ended.
Kai was the head of a project created by civers to offer (for free) a German translation patch to german-speaking buyers of Civ3. Despite the fact that Kai informed Infogrames on their intention and offered the fans' help on the translation process, Infogrames responded with a c&do to him as well as the hosts of civ3.de which provided web space for the project(Infogrames released an announcement on the issue which you can read on our news item on Nov.26).
Today, Kai informed us that on advice of his lawyer he signed the c&do to avoid further legal problems. Infogrames in a show of good will decided to pay the fee($850) of their lawyers, although Kai had to pay the fee of his own lawyer(signing the c&do could mean that Kai would have to pay for Infogrames's fees as well). Also, the c&do to civ3.de hosts were replaced with a non-disclosure agreement between them and Infogrames, after the removal of the web pages of the project.
We should note that under the c&do, Kai Fiebach faces a $10,000 fine if he involves himself with modification of Civ3 in any way in the future.
Since civ3(like all civ games) is a highly modifiable game, the remaining big issue for the entire civ community is what Infogrames considers as an acceptable modification of the game. We will keep you updated on this critical matter as new information becomes availiable. -MarkG
TRIVIA: MAO MONEY
(27 November 2001, 16:33 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of the long-running CivTrivia series. Good luck to all participants!
Today's question:
What was China’s 1958 economic reform program, blamed for 20 million deaths in the ensuing famine?
-- Cultural Revolution
-- Four Modernizations
-- Great Leap Forward
-- Great Proletarian Revolution
At the time of this posting, PK is in the lead with 2420 points followed closely behind by Gramphos with 2400 points. -DanQ
TRAFFIC PEAK REPORT: NOV. 26
(27 November 2001, 6:04 EST/About) Yesterday was one more record braking day for Apolyton.
Forum users: 953 (registered and guests) users at 16:17est (previous record (936) on Nov. 12)
Daily unique visitors: 23,873 (previous record (23,840) on Nov. 5)
Also, the monthly unique figure are running close to 400,000 for the month of November(228,000 in October).
Finally, yesterday the Column was sent to over 8,000 subscribers for the first time
Many thanks for your continuing support! -MarkG
COMPUTER SWEDEN REVIEW
(26 November 2001, 19:55 EST/Civ3) One of Sweden's largest computer gaming magazines, Computer Sweden, has has posted their review of CivIII entitled "Civilization III -- Loved and Hated". Written in Swedish, below is a short excerpt translated by Hĺkan Eriksson:
[CivIII] is back like in it's palmy days. But shine even more if you could play it over the Internet..... brings me back to my old patterns. The first day I played until three o'clock in the morning.
Thanks to CivFanatics for the news tip. -DanQ
TRIVIA: DESTROYER OF WORLDS
(26 November 2001, 19:52 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of the long-running CivTrivia series. Good luck to all participants!
Today's question:
What was the code name of the A-bomb dropped on Hiroshima from the plane pilot Paul Tibbets named after his mother?
-- “Big Boy”
-- “Bad Boy”
-- “Little Boy”
-- “Sonny Boy”
At the time of this posting, Gramphos and PK have a share of the lead with 2400 followed by radius with 2390 points. -DanQ
PATCH (HOPEFULLY) SET FOR NEXT WEEK
(26 November 2001, 19:20 EST/Civ3) Jeff Morris posted the good news
Hey guys. I wanted to drop you a line about the upcoming patch. We've sent it off to testing and baring any unforeseen problems it should be available some time next week. That is not a promise that it WILL be available next week however, since any number of things can cause a reset. We're on v1.14f right now, it being the 7th patch we've submitted to testing, only to find showstoppers.
To avoid any unecessary... drama :) nothing is set in stone. Problems could be found, forcing one more round of programming and testing. Fellow Firaxian Dan Magaha supplemented the report by commenting that old save game files should be backwards compatible with the patch as will old BIC files. Many thanks to Jeff for the update. -MarkG
C196# WHAT MAKES A GOOD CAR
(26 November 2001, 19:08 EST/Misc) Now sent to over 8000 civers, the Column gets closer to #200!
WHAT MAKES A GOOD CAR
Not exactly a "if civ3 was a car" comparison
By Howling Chip
-MarkG
13 NEW, 3 UPDATED FILES
(26 November 2001, 9:19 EST/Civ3) Beware! Civ3 files flood :)
New files:
- FLIC Editor: Change unit graphics(!!) by Moeniir
- Civ3Breeed utility - Correct Starting Locations by Mortioso
- Civ3 Reference File by LoneWolf5050
- Map of France by LouLong
- A New Look at the World (map) by ThaddeusAlexander
- Copper, Zinc and Nickel Resources Mod by Cossack
- Kitaria - Large Size map by Accipiter
- More City Names mod by Sevorak
- A New Look at the World II (map) by ThaddeusAlexander
- 10 Man Island - 256x256 by OmniGod
- Dhaeman's Mod
- Map of Ireland by OmniGod
- Little graphic change to the mines by m_m_x
Updated files:
- Civ3CopyTool 0.73 by Gramphos
- Balancer mod 1.41 by monkspider
- Blitz mod by korn469
Our files forum now contain 60 files(more or less :)) -MarkG
STRATEGY SECTION UPDATE
(26 November 2001, 8:15 EST/Civ3) Additions to our Strategy section since it's opening last week:
- How science works and why there IS a 4 turn cap by regoarrarr (14-11-2001)
- Quantitative Analysis of Civ Traits by nato (20-11-2001)
- The economics of food velocity in a Despotism by absimiliard (20-11-2001)
- Surgical Wars by gachnar (15-11-2001)
- Tactics: invading AI continent in Modern Age by Out4Blood (13-11-2001)
- Combat System Explained by Valant (03-11-2001)
- Picking the right Civ! by SoulAssassin (11-11-2001)
- 3-Step approaching for beating Deity by randomturn (14-11-2001)
- Management by Corruption by Comrade Tribune (18-11-2001)
- A Strategic Analysis of the Special Units by RobC (16-11-2001)
If you have found a good strategy thread, please post a note about it. -MarkG
CHIPS&BITS TOP10 17-23/NOV/2001
(26 November 2001, 3:38 EST/Misc) Something in this world continues to be terribly wrong, as Civ3 is #2 on the Chips&Bits chart behind a game with boats :)
SILENT HUNTER II PC is still master of the waves at #1. CIVILIZATION III PC remains in the #2 spot. METAL GEAR SOLID 2 PS2 is selling well at #3.
1. Silent Hunter II $39.95
2. Civilization III $44.95
3. Metal Gear Solid 2 (PS 2) $49.95
4. Empire Earth $44.95
5. Dark Age of Camelot $39.95
6. Ghost Recon (Tom Clancy's) $47.95
7. Alien vs. Predator 2 $37.95
8. Need for Speed: Motor City $39.95
9. Return to Castle Wolfenstein $49.95
10. The Sims: Hot Date $29.95
-MarkG
INFOGRAMES ON GERMAN TRANSLATION FAN PROJECT
(26 November 2001, 3:31 EST/Civ3) On Thursday, Infogrames Germany posted the following announcement on it's website(infogrames.de):
With an injunction Infogrames has halted a translation of Civilization III by a fan group. The grounds for this action are, among other things, the infringement of the copyrights that belong to Firaxis and Sid Meier. On this point, Frank Holz, Marketing Director of Infogrames: "All content of computer games is subject to copyright. Infogrames at this time has no choice but to formally stop the translation project. In this regard we are obligated to Firaxis, and this also applies from a legal standpoint. Of course, however, we are stunned by the commitment with which this group of fans approached this translation. Because we want to support fan projects more in the future than before, we are now checking out in discussions with Firaxis what possibilities for cooperation in this regard exist. Yet it must be kept in mind that the German localization by Infogrames is already well apace and deals with the entire game, while the fan group, as clearly stated by project leader Kai Fiebach, is only translating parts of it"
"Legal actions first, discussions on cooperation afterwards? Doesnt sound like good marketing to me", MarkG said to himself...
Thanks to Gaius Marius for the translation. Check out the rather heated discussion on the forums. -MarkG
FAN SERVED CEASE AND DESIST ORDER
(25 November 2001, 14:41 EST/Civ3) A grassroots effort is gaining momentum this weekend in an attempt to help a fellow Civ fan after it came to light that Infogrames (IG) Germany served a private citizen with a cease and desist order for attempting to translate parts of the English (US) version of CivIII into German. Accompanying the order is a $500 bill for the lawyer fees for drawing up and issuing the order.
The defendant, Kai Fiebach, spearheaded a campaign with a group of other CivIII fans in attempt to translate various components of the game into German in response to the game's US release with a self-imposed deadline of this Christmas. With a slated release for March, 2002 in their home country, the team -- frustrated by the extended wait -- organized itself through a website in an attempt to provide a service that Infogrames would not be fulfilling until early next year.
In a cruel twist, it was Fieback who informed IG of his and his crew's project and even offered to join forces with the company's localization team if only the game would be released sooner. Sadly, the response was one alleging copyright infringement on the part of Fieback and his teammmates. The website offering the translation effort was taken down not long after this notice was received and the group has effectively been disbanded as a result.
The story was broken yesterday on Slashdot and has generated a firestorm of response by in large supportive of Fiebach. Our thanks to Thue, Honcho7, UberKruX and Joe Heller for alerting us to this development. -DanQ
TRIVIA: BEFORE METRIC
(25 November 2001, 13:24 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of the long-running CivTrivia series. Good luck to all participants!
Today's question:
What could be saved by "a pint of sweat", according to Gen. George Patton?
-- "A barrel of tears"
-- "A bucket of guts"
-- "A gallon of blood"
-- "A fifth of whiskey"
At the time of this posting, PK is in the lead with 2380 followed by Gramphos with 2360 points. -DanQ
GSPY GOTY 2001 AWARDS
(24 November 2001, 22:08 EST/Civ3) The 2001 edition of GameSpy's "Game of The Year Awards" is here and this time, the industry giant has opened up its voting booths on its website as opposed to simply utilizing their weekly mailing list to send out the numerous ballots. Civilization III is on the block for 'PC Strategy Game of The Year' alongside some other titles from this past year which include Cossacks and Stronghold.
The voting will continue up to and including December 23rd with results expected to be released shortly thereafter. -DanQ
POTENTIAL STOCKING STUFFER
(24 November 2001, 1:03 EST/Civ3) One of the thirty-five(!) PC strategy games being recommended by gaming network stalwart GameSpot (US) this holiday season is none other than the latest title from Firaxis Games, Civilization III.
[This game] is the follow-up to one of the most popular strategy games ever made, proclaim the GS staff. It's also 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.
The latest incarnation in the Civ series is in good company alongside the likes of -- in alphabetical order -- Black & White, Empire Earth, The Sims: Hot Date and Tropico. -DanQ
THE `GUARDIAN` APPROVES
(24 November 2001, 0:52 EST/Civ3) Another day, another review of CivIII in a notable European newspaper. Britain's well read Guardian included its review in its November 22nd edition and after weighing and citing the pros and cons of the game's varying elements, awarded it 4/5 stars.
The latest installment is, on the surface, similar to its forefathers. [..] None the less, initial impressions are slightly disappointing. Sure, the graphics have been tarted up a bit, but little else seems to have changed. However, start playing and the improvements become apparent.
The article concludes:
Unfortunately the style of CivIII means the same elements that appeal to the fans will put others off. For example, the extensive micro-management necessary even in the early stages can be overwhelming while those with slower PCs will face delays as opponents make their move. And disappointingly, there is no multiplayer included. Despite this Civilization III, with its subtle improvements, is a worthy update [to the series].
Thanks to both CivCenter and CivFanatics for the news tip. -DanQ
DAZZLING, SAYS ITALIAN GAME SITE
(24 November 2001, 0:45 EST/Civ3) Next Game.IT, a notable Italian gaming site, has made their final say on CivIII known to its readership. The two-page review, posted on Thursday, was written in Italian but a functional translation on a general level is possible thanks to the free services provided by AltaVista's reknowned Babelfish engine. What follows is a brief translation that was generated from a quote extracted from the full write-up:
The official heir of what the greatest game for PC of all the times is considered has arrived, new and dazzling but with those sapor of ancient that a lot appeals to to us.
Full credit for this news tip goes to Voyager's Site. -DanQ
IT`S GOT WHOOP, SAYS VDX
(24 November 2001, 0:32 EST/Civ3) Voodoo Extreme decrees that CivIII sure knows how to open a can of whoop-you-know-what in its high praising review of the game posted this past Thursday. Indeed, reviewer Manveer "Eidolon" Heir's lone concern is the pending departure of his loved ones for the prolonged lack of attention he has subjected them too. To quote part of the introduction:
The Civilization series is only one of the greatest games of all time and Sid Meier is the man responsible for games such as Railroad Tycoon, Alpha Centuari, and Pirates! Could this game possibly be bad? It’s possible but it sure as hell didn’t turn out that way. Civilization III is one of the finest turn-based strategy games ever created –- period.
As the review progresses, Heir cites one downside to the game that has been brought to attention by fellow fans and critics alike.
Normally, this portion of the review would be reserved for discussing the flaws of the game, but CivIII has no real flaws. My only real major gripe is that there is no multiplayer – I would have loved to play with my friends for days on end trying to create the best civilization, but it was just not to be, I guess. -DanQ
CIV OF THE WEEK: AMERICANS
(24 November 2001, 0:26 EST/Civ3) The official CivIII website was updated on Friday with a discussion on the last of the sixteen civilizations that were included in the game: the Americans, led by former President Abraham Lincoln. Their special unit? The F-15 bomber.
[T]he F-15 was the first military aircraft with a genuine "look-down/shoot-down" capability, the product of pulse-Doppler radars that could detect fast-moving targets against cluttered radar reflections from the ground, the description on the site reads. The F-15 is an upgraded version of the standard jet fighter. Both require oil and aluminum to build, but the F-15 has a more powerful bombard strength and twice the rate of fire, making it a much more powerful unit for bombing runs.
With this posting, the detailed discussions on the 'real-life' histories of the numerous civilizations represented in the game is complete as is the "Civ of The Week" feature. -DanQ
TRIVIA: PICTURESQUE SPEECH
(24 November 2001, 0:20 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of the long-running CivTrivia series. Good luck to all participants!
Today's question:
What premier proudly pronounced, in 1934: “We have buried the putrid corpse of liberty”?
-- Adolf Hitler
-- Benito Mussolini
-- Joseph Stalin
-- Josip Broz Tito
At the time of this posting, Gramphos and PK are tied for the lead with 2330 points apiece followed by radius with 2250 points but it is still early in the day. -DanQ
GS INSTANT POLL: THANKFULNESS
(23 November 2001, 21:14 EST/Civ3) In the spirit of Thanksgivving festivities in the United States, the familiar GameSpot "Instant Poll" wants to know which from a list of gaming titles released this year gamers are most thankful for. The options are: Aliens vs. Predator 2, Civilization III, Dark Age of Camelot, Flight Simulator 2002,
Return to Castle Wolfenstein, The Sims: Hot Date and Wizardry 8.
At the time of this posting, CivIII is in second with 22% of the popular vote trailing Return to Castle Wolfenstein noticeably which has received 34% of the ballots cast. -DanQ
TRIVIA: CZECHS AND IMBALANCES
(23 November 2001, 21:01 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of the long-running CivTrivia series. Good luck to all participants!
Today's question:
Who reassured Britain that the Munich Pact meant “peace in our time”?
-- Neville Chamberlain
-- Winston Churchill
-- Adolf Hitler
-- Franklin D. Roosevelt
At the time of this posting, Gramphos and PK are tied for the lead with 2330 points apiece followed by radius with 2250 points. -DanQ
NPDI TOP10 4-10/NOV/2001
(22 November 2001, 11:29 EST/Misc) Gamespot reports: Infogrames Entertainment took four of the top five spots on NPD Intelect's latest weekly list of best-selling games, boosted by sub-$20 prices on three of its four top sellers. The publisher's family-friendly game division, Humongous Entertainment, took the lead with Backyard Basketball, its latest cartoon-style sports game.
Best-selling games for the week of November 4-10, 2001:
Rank / Title / Publisher / Average price
1 / Backyard Basketball / Infogrames / $17
2 / Civilization III/ Infogrames / $48
3 / The Sims / Electronic Arts / $41
4 / Backyard Football 2002 / Infogrames / $17
5 / Roller Coaster Tycoon / Infogrames / $19
6 / Bob the Builder: Can We Fix It / THQ / $17
7 / Zoo Tycoon / Microsoft / $29
8 / Aliens vs. Predator 2 / Vivendi Universal / $40
9 / Dark Age of Camelot / Vivendi Universal / $39
10 / The Sims: House Party / Electronic Arts / $28
In the previous week Civ3 was holding the top 2 spots on the chat with the Standard and Limited editions. -MarkG
15000 LOGINS
(22 November 2001, 3:59 EST/About) We only needed 3 days to go from 13000 to 14000 logins, but it took 11 days to reach 15000. That's a little bit beow 100 registrations per day.
As for other traffic related news, our music station has hit #1 in the Games and #37 in the Pop/Rock category, in just it's 3rd day.
As always, many thanks for your support!
-MarkG
TRIVIA: REMEMBER THE ARIZONA
(22 November 2001, 0:39 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of the long-running CivTrivia series. Good luck to all participants!
Today's question:
What World War II battle sank four Japanese aircraft carriers, turning the tide for the Allies?
-- Java Sea
Marianas
Midway
Solomon Islands
At the time of this posting, Gramphos and PK are tied for the lead with 2310 points apiece but it is still early in the day. -DanQ
REVIEW FROM BRAZIL
(21 November 2001, 23:43 EST/Civ3) Civ fan Mauricio Gibrin sent in word that the Brazilian website Portal Terra has posted a review of CivIII in Portuguese, giving it a perfect 5/5 "pac man" score.
With the assistance of Babelfish, AltaVista's free online translation service, what follows are notable excerpts from what PT staff writer Mad Hab had to say about the game.
The effort of the Firaxis producer was considerable -- Civ III bring an enormous amount of new developments in relation to the other games of the series. [..]
Exactly thus, [Civ III] obtains to capture the attention of the player with constant and diversified challenges, and will make many fans of the strategy games to promise to diverse same times itself that they will only play ' plus a turn '... -DanQ
INVASION OF HISTORY CHANNEL
(21 November 2001, 23:32 EST/Civ3) The advertising campaign for CivIII is realizing new areas of coverage everyday from print ads in non-gaming magazines [see story below] to full-blown television spots on stations such as The History Channel. The following communique was published recently on the events in question from 'History Guy'
At around 9:12 this evening, as I sat and watched Egypt: Beyond the Pyramids on History Channel, on popped a commercial for Civ3! Looked really good, and they had leader animations for Cleopatra, Caesar, Gandhi, Lincoln, and Joan, as well as catapults firing, warriors with clubs, panzers blowing things up, wonders etc. Anyway, it looked real good.
'madrigal61' on CivFanatics also submitted a report as follows:
I was watching a special about Ancient Egypt on the History Channel last night. What blew me away is that CIV3 was extensively advertised during the two hour special. It had Cleopatra and Joan of Arc talking in the diplomacy screen... It was the first time I've seen a game advertised on TV. :)
Given these reports, it is most likely that as a result CivIII is first Civ game to be advertized on TV. -DanQ
WALKER, ON GAMESPOTTING
(21 November 2001, 23:29 EST/Civ3) GameSpot (US) PC News Editor Trey Walker has devoted the November 16th edition of his piece of "GameSpotting", a weekly write-up by the network editorial staff on what's going on in the world of gaming, to CivIII as a follow-up on what he discussed about the game before [see story below].
Apparently, his 'non-violent' experiment went awry.
It didn't take long for me to learn that the transition from a peaceful democratic society to a heartless aggressor can be rocky, Walker admits. Unfortunately for me, while I had been spending the last thousand years building churches, my neighbors had been drafting soldiers and stockpiling ammunition, perhaps foreseeing what was to come.
On the brighter side of things, I learned a valuable lesson: If you plan to start a war in Civilization III, start it before 2030.
Accompanying Walker's write-up is a poll based on the content of his article. It asks whether or not the respondent has ever regretted attacking on of their closet alies -- in the game, of course. At the time of this posting, 44% of ballots cast are in favour of the only when I have lost option followed closely behind by a straight-forward affirmative response with 40% of the popular vote. -DanQ
USERFRIENDLY ON CIV3 (AGAIN)
(21 November 2001, 21:18 EST/Civ3) It seems like Illiad is being inspired by our forums! Just a couple of days ago you might had noticed a certain forum thread on civ3's music.
If that's the case then yesterday's UserFriendly comic should be very faimliar... :)
Many thanks to star mouse for the report. -MarkG
PC GAMER REVIEW: 92%
(21 November 2001, 21:12 EST/Civ3) BLackraven42 reports that the December, 2001 "holiday" issue of PC Gamer has a two-page review of CivIII.
[A]lthough it has been [an extremely long wait], the end result makes it worthwhile: Civilization III is a fantastic game that takes the core gameplay of CivII and pushes it in new, exciting directions, begins PCG reviewer William Harms. [W]hat makes CivIII such a great game is that, just like CivII, it beldns a simple start with a vast array of options and pulls them together into a detailed, compelling, and seamless gaming experience. [..]
It's not a revolutionary leap forward, but it's still an absolute to joy to play.
The final rating was 92%. -MarkG
TRIVIA: PARTY HEARTY
(21 November 2001, 17:34 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of the long-running CivTrivia series. Good luck to all participants!
Today's question:
What political party did Chiang Kai-shek lead to fleeting victory in China?
-- Boxers
-- Communist Party
-- May Fourth Movement
-- Kuomintang
At the time of this posting, Gramphos and PK are tied for the lead with 2310 points apiece. -DanQ
FILES: 1 NEW, 2 UPDATED
(21 November 2001, 9:28 EST/Civ3) What's in our Files forum:
- NEW Copper, Zinc and Nickel Resources Mod by Cossack
And updates on
- Civ3CopyTool v0.65 by Gramphos
- Save Game Editor v1.01 by jimmyh
If you want to post a new file, please follow the instructions on the forum. -MarkG
C195# CIV III AND MOO3, PART II: TBS HAS A FUTURE
(20 November 2001, 20:35 EST/Misc) Closing to 8000 subscribers, the Column is here one more time.
195# CIV III AND MOO3, PART II: TBS HAS A FUTURE
We're here to stay!
by Master Marcus. -MarkG
NEW SCIENTIST COVERAGE
(20 November 2001, 18:16 EST/Civ3) While New Scientist Magazine does not cover games in terms of content, it does carry a half-page ad for CivIII in its latest issue. Gerry Quinn describes how Infogrames attempts to "civililize" readers of the publication in the following post copied from the PC.Strategic newsgroup:
[Giant letters] IN YOUR WORLD
[Large letters] IS PROFIT THE PRIORITY?
The text, in its entirety, reads:
Civ III requires the careful and efficient utilisation of natural resources, which can yield significant income and strategic advantage. To succeed you must master production, which if uncontrolled can be catastrophic, resulting in pollution, causing Global Warming and climate change. Crucial economic and environmental decisions will be yours in Civ III - the game that tests your worldly judgement.
That's it folks. No screenshots. No mention of cities, armies or technologies. Maybe it's a subtle ploy to inveigle hippie types into the joys of world domination! Although why they think a science magazine has a readership so environmentally obsessed I don't know. If I saw an ad like that for a game I didn't know anything about, it would turn me right off it...
Thanks to CivFanatics for the news tip. -DanQ
AVERAGE, WITH SILVER LINING
(20 November 2001, 17:58 EST/Civ3) Russian gaming network FreeLancer has offered up their review of CivIII. Writer Yuri Bushin gives his opinion on the game's high and lows and both sides seem to influence equally as the final score he awards is a 7.4/10. He says that while the game is a logicial and well-executed progression in the series, there is not much it offers in terms of new elements beyond cosmetic changes such as graphics.
The main advantage of the game is that it did not get worse then the previous game in the series, says a relieved Bushin. [However], Civilization belongs to the kind of games, which right after seeing the light of the day, become exhausted. In such games one can make something better, rebuild something, but cannot make radical changes in general. It is the decoration that is being changed not the action itself.
He elaboartes on his criticisms by saying that he was expecting more from this title.
The game has almost returned to its creator, but there are no cardinal novelties that have become so attractive to many gamers since release of Alpha Centauri.
Still, the FL review welcomes any opportunity to endorse or recommend the game in any fashion.
[I]n spite of all drawbacks and critics by Civilization fans, the game is pretty good; moreover, there are no alternatives to it! It was unique and it is still that way [as] there are no plans for the sequel to Alpha Centauri. This game is definitely worth of buying!
Thanks to BluesNews for bringing this news to light. -DanQ
TRIVIA: CONTROL TO MAJOR TOM
(20 November 2001, 17:38 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of the long-running CivTrivia series. Good luck to all participants!
Today's question:
Who took just eight days to complete the first solo flight around the world, in 1933?
-- Amelia Earhart
-- Howard Hughes
-- Charles Lindbergh
-- Wiley Post
At the time of this posting, PK is in the lead with 2280 followed closely behind by Gramphos with 2280 points. -DanQ
GAMEPEN: EDITOR`S CHOICE
(20 November 2001, 17:32 EST/Civ3) Brian Rubin has completed his CivIII review for GamePen. At the conclusion of his four-page final look, the GP staffer awards the game 4.5/5 stars and in turn gives it a "GamePen Editor's Choice 2001" seal of approval.
Suffice it to say, Civilization III is a fantastic game, that, while not without it’s small share of problems, will undoubtedly delight old and new fans alike.
This is a game I could easily recommend to anyone, and will undoubtedly do so if asked. Now, you can stop reading this, go outside (you know, that place where the sun is), and find a place to buy this game.
Thanks to GamePen Senior Staff Writer Jonah Falcon for the news tip. -DanQ
ACS STORE: LOWER INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING RATES
(20 November 2001, 7:59 EST/About)  Many of you have complained about the shipping costs of our store for countries outside the US.
Well, we are very glad to announce to you that international shipping rates have been lowered for the holidays. New rates as follows:
Canada - $4.30 for the first item and $1.65 for each additional item.
All Other International Destinations - $7.00 for the first item and $4.00 for each additional item.
We're looking forward to your feedback. If you order something, dont forget to send us a photo for our album! -MarkG
APOLYTON MUSIC STATION
(20 November 2001, 7:32 EST/Misc) Making use of cool mp3.com feature, we have opened the Apolyton Music Station!
The responsible for the original idea and the list compilation was Paris of Top40-Charts.com
This means that you can now listen to cool music while browsing Apolyton! You can make suggestions for songs you'd like to see in our program on the forums. -MarkG
A NEW LOOK AT THE WORLD
(20 November 2001, 6:39 EST/Civ3)  New file of the day: a different World map by ThaddeusAlexander. The huge-sized map is aimed for fun games not realistic ones, according to the creator.
In other files news, ancient one more update of his "unofficial patch". -MarkG
TRIVIA POINT MISHAP
(19 November 2001, 21:34 EST/Civ3) If you played today's edition of CivIII and answered the question correctly, you may have noticed that you received 0 points for your efforts. Dan Magaha, Firaxis Games' webmaster, addressed the issue in Apolyton's forums today.
Apparently the firm that developed the question put "zero" down as the difficulty level, and that's what determines the point value. No way to correct it now without cheating somebody out of some points, so it'll just go as a freebie. -DanQ
`FATHER`S` LATEST IS PERFECT
(19 November 2001, 20:14 EST/Civ3) The Danish newspaper Politiken gave Civilization III 5 out of 5 possilble stars in their November 8th issue. Their review was accompanied by an article on Sid Meier calling him the father of computergaming.
Thanks to CivCenter for the news tip. -DanQ
TRIVIA: FAMOUS FIRSTS
(19 November 2001, 20:11 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of the long-running CivTrivia series. Good luck to all participants!
Today's question:
Umberto Nobile was the first to pilot an airship across this, in 1926:
-- Alps
-- Atlantic Ocean
-- North Pole
-- South Pole
At the time of this posting, Gramphons and PK have a tie for the lead with 2280 points apiece. -DanQ
APOLYTON ASH GREY HOODED SWEATSHIRTS
(19 November 2001, 7:07 EST/About) A new line of products have been added to our storeThe new sweatshirts come at a price of $27.99 and will be availiable until January 1, 2002. Our two more offers are still going on, check them out! -MarkG
13 NEW FILES!
(19 November 2001, 4:25 EST/Civ3) 13 New or updated files of the weekend:
- Animated Leader Head - Bill Clinton by thecrazyroach
- Wonder Screen Editor by thomsonlau
- EraSplash screens by BeBro
- Map Making Utility by LookANinja
- Animated Leader Head - Tony Blair by thecrazyroach
- build queue with easy to understand info by Nemo
- Save Game Editor v1.0 by jimmyh
- Real World Map by Selanne
- Raised land by Sn00py
- World Map by GeorgeG
- Blitz Mod by korn469
- Balancer Mod 1.32 by monkspider
- Unofficial patch 1.35 by ancient
-MarkG
REVIEWS: APOLYTON DAY 5
(18 November 2001, 20:08 EST/Civ3)  The last of MarkG's "first impressions" has just been posted. The full review should be done in a few days...
So, check out Apolyton Review: "Day 5". -MarkG
CIV OF THE WEEK: GERMANS
(18 November 2001, 19:24 EST/Civ3) The Germans are the "Civ of The Week" over at the official CivIII website. Led by Otto Von Bismark, the people's unique unit is the Panzer or, in native German, Panzerkampfwagen (which translated into English means 'armoured fighting vehicle').
Despite the role of the central role of the Holy Roman Empire, the subsequent history of Germany is marked by the rise and fall of feuding principalities, the site describes the nation. It would be a thousand years before Germany was reunified under a single ruler.
In Civilization III, the Germans are considered a Scientific and Militaristic civilization, therefore, they start with Warrior Code and Bronze Working, and have significant bonuses to scientific pursuits and military activities.
Next week, the dossier of the game's one civilization yet to be profiled will be unveiled: the Americans. -DanQ
TRIVIA: FAMOUS FIRSTS
(18 November 2001, 12:06 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of the long-running CivTrivia series. Good luck to all participants!
Today's question:
The first “limited-access” highway, with entrances and exits in place of intersections:
-- Bronx River Parkway
-- New Jersey Turnpike
-- Pennsylvania Turnpike
-- Merritt Turnpike
At the time of this posting, PK is in the lead with 2280 points followed closely by Gramphos with 2250 points. -DanQ
CHIPS&BITS TOP10 10-16/NOV/2001
(17 November 2001, 13:03 EST/Misc) The latest slaes charts from Chips&Bits.
SILENT HUNTER II PC is still hangin in there at #1. CIVILIZATION III PC hasn't budged from #2. METAL GEAR SOLID 2 PS2 is just in and at #3.
1. Silent Hunter II IBM CD ROM $39.95
2. Civilization III IBM CD ROM $44.95
3. Metal Gear Solid 2 PS 2 $49.95
4. Empire Earth IBM CD ROM $44.95
5. Dark Age of Camelot IBM CD ROM$39.95
6. Alien vs. Predator 2 IBM CD ROM $37.95
7. Need for Speed: Motor City IBM CD ROM $39.95
8. Civilization III Collector's Edition IBM CD ROM $59.95
9. Stronghold IBM CD ROM $39.95
10. Asheron's Call: Dark Majesty IBM CD ROM$24.95
This is the secord sales report from separate sources in which Civ3 holds 2 positions in the top10, with it's Standard and Limited Editions. -MarkG
TRIVIA: HISTORY`S BLOODIEST BATTLE
(17 November 2001, 0:38 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of the long-running CivTrivia series. Good luck to all participants!
Today's question:
What World War I battle lasted 140 days and cost 1.3 million lives?
-- Gallipoli
-- Passchendaele
-- The Somme
-- Ypres
At the time of this posting, PK and Gramphos are both in the lead with 2240 points apiece followed closely by radius with 2160 points. It is still early in the day so these positions are in no means guaranteed by the end of today's trivia edition. -DanQ
WHAT`S YOUR FINAL VERDICT
(16 November 2001, 20:06 EST/Civ3) Strategy Gaming Online wants to know what you think of CivIII in their latest instant poll. At the time of this writing, 41.6% of the 646 respondents to date have decreed that it could be better, but still better than most games.
24.6% say they are disappointed, which is currently the second most popular response, followed closely in the third by those on the opposite end of the scale in saying that it is the best computer gaming title yet -- their number is currently at 23.8% of ballots cast. Rounding out the poll options is the assertation that CivII and Alpha Centauri were better, presently with 9.9% of the vote. -DanQ
NAY A FLAW, SAYS AFTONBLADET
(16 November 2001, 19:54 EST/Civ3) The largest newspaper in Sweden, Aftonbladet, has given CivIII a perfect 5.5 score.
A fantastic journey through histroy -- [this game] has all the things Civilization II had and more. If you're going to buy one game this year, buy Civilization III!
Thanks to CivCenter for the news tip. -DanQ
MAKING THE LIST, CHECKING IT TWICE
(16 November 2001, 19:47 EST/Civ3) Gaming industry giant and stalwart GameSpy has been releasing various instalments of their Holiday Buyer's Guide 2001 over the past couple of weeks and the long awaited PC write-up is finally here to round out the extensive series of guides. As expected, Civilization III is on the list but is not as high up as you might expect.
Yes, the classic is back, the GameSpy staff write. All the turn-based strategic gameplay we loved, plus new enhancements to keep us hooked. [..] [CivIII] is a joy to play for hardcore and casual strategy fans alike.
The latest title from Firaxis Games finished a decent 6th out of 15th titles behind the following listed in reverse ranking order: Battle Realms, Operation Flashpoint, Aliens vs. Predator 2, Max Payne and in the number one spot Return to Castle Wolfenstein. -DanQ
STRATEGY SECTION OPENS
(16 November 2001, 8:29 EST/Civ3) We have just opened our strategy pages. In it you'll find some of the first great strategies that have been posted in the Civ3-Strategy forum.
We also need your suggestions of more posts that are worthy of being included in the strategy section. If you have seen a post or generally a thread that has helped you become a better player, please post about it.
In our strategy section you can also find a search box to find even more strategies from the forum. -MarkG
GEORGE BUSH / MOOD SHIELDED HEADS
(16 November 2001, 5:52 EST/Civ3) Files updates of the last 24 hours
Animated Leader Head - George W Bush
By thecrazyroach. Add George W Bush as your American leader animated head!
Mood Sheilded Population Heads
By Rickk. Extremely unhappy people are maked with a very angry black smiley face sheild. Unhappy people have a red frowny face.
Content people have a white face (with slight smile, to match most of the content faces). And Happy people have a golden 'toothy' face.
Also, monkspider and ancient have updated their mods. -MarkG
1ST CIV3 TOURNAMENT!
(16 November 2001, 4:04 EST/Civ3) Continuing our civ2 tradition, we are starting the 1st Apolyton Civ3 Tournament. The idea is the same: everyone plays the saved game which starts 4000bc. At the end of the tournament(November 30), the winner is determined by the highest civ3 score.
The details of the game
 Theme: Ancients Civs
Size: Standard Map
Ocean coverage: 60%
Land form: Pangaea
Climate: Normal
Temperature: Temperate
Age: 4 billion years
Barbarians: Restless
Civilization: Babylonians
Level: Regent
Opponents: 7 (Romans, Egyptians, Greeks, Aztecs, Persians, Chinese, Zulu)
Victory types allowed: All
- Download the tournament game
- Submit your (zipped) saved game by attaching it on this thread -MarkG
TRIVIA: SERBIAN TERRORISM
(16 November 2001, 0:22 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of the long-running CivTrivia series. Good luck to all participants!
Today's question:
What Austrian archduke’s 1914 assassination set off World War I?
-- Albert Francis
-- Francis Ferdinand
-- Ferdinand Frederick
-- Frederick Albert
At the time of this posting, PK is in the lead with 2240 points followed closely by Gramphos with 2210. It is still early in the day so these positions are in no means guaranteed by the end of today's trivia edition. -DanQ
IMPROVED AND MORE ADDICTIVE
(15 November 2001, 20:32 EST/Civ3) What makes CivIII a sweet success is its improvements and increased addictiveness over previous incarnations in the series; this is according to Gamitopia's review of the game, penned by staff member Lucas Pawelczyk.
Overall Civilization III is a game that is for sure to please Civilization fans, especially those looking for some updated and improved gameplay, he concludes on behalf of GT. If you haven't played any of the Civilization games yet then this game is definitely something you should look into. Just make sure you are ready for a few days without sleep.
The final assessment for the game came in at an impressive 93% approval rating. The only cons Pawelczyk cites are two in total: first, what he perceives to be lackluster graphics and the obvious downfall of the lack of multiplayer support. -DanQ
NOT SO HOT, SAYS GAMEPRO
(15 November 2001, 20:23 EST/Civ3) Not everyone was entirely satisfied with what they saw in Civilization III, and one such reviewer that felt this way made what even he admitted to be a difficult decision: the guts to say so.
Star Dingo, reviewer for GamePro, awarded the game only 3.5 out of a possible 5 stars. He begins dispensing his take on the latest title in the Civilization series with the following snippy remark:
What do you do to improve on a game millions perceive as holy without pissing off its disciples? Civilization III’s answer: You don’t really have to do a damn thing.
Dingo expresses his underlying view throughout his write-up that the game plays off of the popularity of the series without adding much of anything beyond cosmetic changes which he characterizes as being standard at that. It is this, Dingo says, that makes it little more than a decent facelift and a gameplay balance patch. Nonetheless, he concludes, it is a half-decent tile.
[CivIII] is a rich, timeless, and time-sucking strategy game—if you thought it felt more like a math test than a video game back in 1991, then 10 years’ time probably won’t have changed your mind. It's still just [Civ], holy and true. -DanQ
CIV3 RELEASED IN EUROPE
(15 November 2001, 19:03 EST/Civ3) Civers from at least UK and Italy report the release of Civ3 in Europe!
Check out the Release Info forum for details. -MarkG
AN ACE IN THE HOLE
(15 November 2001, 11:30 EST/Civ3) There has been a score of positive CivIII reviews published in recent weeks but none has yet to award it that elusive and exclusive club known as the "ace", the 'perfect' score... until now. HappyHippo.com was more than pleased to do so in their review of the game written by site staffer MarkusJ. Overall rating: 5/5 stars.
Quote from the review's closing paragraph:
It is always difficult to make a good successor to a game that was a huge success. However, I think that Sid Meier and his team succeeded at this not only once but twice -- Civilization III is even better than Civilization II was. The game has (among other things) gained the good innovations of Alpha Centauri, and some annoying unnecessary overhead has been removed from the game. -DanQ
IN ONE WORD, IT`S `FUN`
(15 November 2001, 11:16 EST/Civ3) On Monday, GameVisions' John "Award" Del Percio gave CivIII what is undoubtedly one one if not the highest score he has ever awarded to a title that he has reviewed: a whopping 98%, which equates to being 'fun' according to the site's grading system. The four-page, twenty-four screenshot final look at the game is not surprisingly quite favourable to the efforts of Firaxis Games in their lastest work.
What can I say except "bravo!", Del Percio exuberantly concludes. It's yet another perfect game from Firaxis, and one that will most decidedly make you lose at least a month's worth of sleep in a very rapid fashion. [..]
Civilization III is most definitely the finest turn-based strategy game to grace the PC, and will likely remain that way for some time.
Finally, the GV staffer closes with the following announcement:
I'm proud to nominate [CivIII for the categories of Best Game and Best Strategy in the 2001 Top Pupil Awards!
Time will tell as to what awards, including GV', the latest incarnation in the Civilization series will win. -DanQ
PCG: IMPRESSED, HIGH GRADE
(15 November 2001, 11:05 EST/Civ3) PCGamer (US), the world's largest computer gaming print publication, reviewed CivIII in its December issue and awarded it a 92% final score.
[The game is] a detailed, compelling, and seamless gaming experience [and] [t]his is one game that you can't afford to miss, concludes the PCG staff.
Thanks to CivCenter for the news tip. -DanQ
TRIVIA: DON`T HOLD YOUR BREATH
(15 November 2001, 10:39 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of the long-running CivTrivia series. Good luck to all participants!
Today's question:
What did the Confederates christen all of the submersible crafts they used to deploy mines, during the U.S. Civil War?
-- David
-- Namor
-- Nautilus
-- Turtle
At the time of this posting, PK is in the lead with 2210 points followed closely by Gramphos with 2170. It is still early in the day so these positions are in no means guaranteed by the end of today's trivia edition. -DanQ
SIMGOLF DEMO RELEASED
(15 November 2001, 6:20 EST/Misc)  Firaxis released a demo of the upcoming Sid Meier's SimGolf (and it's certainly "Sid Meier's", since Sid is listed on the credits as both the designer and one of the two programmers!).
The 39MB download allows you to get a taste from the game. I couldnt play it for a long time(my employer assumes that i'm working ;)), but here are some screens
Many thanks to kolpo for the news tip. If you download the demo, please post your impressions on the forum. EA lists "Early 2002" on the official site as the release date. -MarkG
CIV3 IN BOTH #1 AND #2 SALES POSITIONS!
(15 November 2001, 6:12 EST/Misc) Gamespot reports: Infogrames' latest turn-based strategy game, Sid Meier's Civilization III, took the two top spots in NPD Intelect's latest weekly list of best-selling games
Best-selling games for the week of October 28-November 3, 2001:
Rank / Title / Publisher / Average price
1 / Civilization III / Infogrames / $49
2 / Civilization III Collectors Edition / Infogrames / $60
3 / Zoo Tycoon / Microsoft / $23
4 / The Sims / Electronic Arts / $40
5 / Dark Age of Camelot / Vivendi Universal / $38
6 / Stronghold / GodGames / $34
7 / Command & Conquer Yuri's Revenge / Electronic Arts / $27
8 / Flight Simulator 2002 / Microsoft / $70
9 / Aliens Versus Predator 2 / Vivendi Universal / $44
10 / Asheron's Call Dark Majesty / Microsoft / $20
The chart is based on retails sales in the US.
Related forum thread -MarkG
CIVSTATS, EARTH, TALIBAN, CITIZENS!!
(15 November 2001, 6:04 EST/Civ3) 4 More files in our files forum:
CivStats
Microsoft Excel 2000 file containing: Enhanced tech tree, Terrain and resource data, Unit stats, Improvement/Wonder stats
Earth Map
New map of earth. Lots of screenshots linked in the thread
Taliban
A militaristic/religious civ lead by Osama Bin Laden, leader head graphics included!!
Citizens w/ Mood Badges
The original Civ 3 heads with an added badge (color-coded smiley faces - e.g., a small blue frown = unhappy) indicating their mood.
Also, ancient's mod is now in v1.25 -MarkG
EXTRACIVS UNIQUE UNITS?
(14 November 2001, 18:50 EST/Civ3) Contuining the preparations for the "Apolyton ExtraCivs Pack", Locutus has started five polls on the unique units of some of the civs
- Mongols
- Arabs
- Chinese
- Germans
- Spanish
Your vote counts, participate now! -MarkG
FURY OVER LE CONTENTS
(14 November 2001, 15:25 EST/Civ3) Some Civ fans are not pleased with the contents of the Limited Edition of CivIII, which has a slightly higher unit price than the "standard" version, and they're looking for answers. One such disgruntled individual, who goes by the moniker LaRusso, started a thread on the subject in Apolyton's forums demanding an explanation. In particular, he is furious over the lack of 'Designer Notes' in the tin.
Dan Magaha, Firaxian Web Wizard and forum regular, responded that the decisions as to what accompanies the game in the final packaging is up to the publisher -- in this case, Infogrames -- and not them.
To be honest, I don't know much about the LE or its contents, other than the tin, manual, and fold-out tech tree, because I've actually seen them, Magaha explains. We haven't even gotten our copies here yet, so I really don't know what else is or isn't in the box. Typically, though, the packaging and contents of game boxes are driven by the publisher, but I don't really know what happened in this case. -DanQ
ANCIENT`S MOD 1.2
(14 November 2001, 7:45 EST/Civ3) The third file of the day is one more mod, this time by Ancient.
Ancient's Unoficial Civ3 Patch v1.2 adds Fascism and Fundamentalism, two new technologies, introduces "Rate Caps", reduces corruption and much more.
Our files forum now contains 31 files. -MarkG
BALANCER MOD 1.0
(14 November 2001, 5:04 EST/Civ3) Monkspider released v1.0 of his Balancer Mod.
The changes includes the addition of Fascism, as well as changes in the other goverments, various changes on units and wonders, and many more.
Full details in the forums. -MarkG
ALPHA CENTAURI MAP
(14 November 2001, 3:35 EST/Civ3) RangerOne314 has creatred on more map, a 100x100 conversion of the Alpha Centauri (you know, from SMAC, remember that game? :)). Check it out!
In other "files news", Gramphos released v0.62 of Civ3CopyTool. -MarkG
TRIVIA: SITTING ON HANDS
(13 November 2001, 22:12 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of the long-running CivTrivia series. Good luck to all participants!
Today's question:
What revolutionary told Mexicans: “It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees!”
-- Pancho Villa
-- Miguel Hidalgo
-- Benito Juarez
-- Emiliano Zapata
At the time of this posting, Gramphos and PK are tied for the lead with 2140 points but it is still early in the day. -DanQ
MAKING THE GRADE, `A` STYLE
(13 November 2001, 17:46 EST/Civ3) The Entertainment Depot has given CivIII a most favourable 9/10 final score in their final take on the game. In what staff writer Nick Stewart has called a "must buy", all levels of gameplay were given solid green lights of approval.
With vast improvements in almost every possible area, Sid Meier’s long-running series has definitely found a worthy heir within Civilization III. [..] [It] is just as good as any of its classic predecessors, becoming a classic all its own. Close the blinds and prepare your favorite source of caffeine: those sleepless nights full of “just one more turn” Civilization games are back.
For the record, four different distinct areas of the game were looked at: Gameplay, Graphics, Sound and Control. Stewart awarded CivIII a 9.5/10, 8/10, 8/10 and 9/10 in the categories respectively. Thanks to BluesNews for the news tip. -DanQ
TFHG PLEASED AS PUNCH
(13 November 2001, 17:37 EST/Civ3) Yet another overwhelmingly positive review of CivIII has surfaced over at TFHGaming.com.
[The game] is highly recommended because of its ability to satisfy our rigorous testing and expectations, as well as dishing out tons of lost hours of sleep, affirms reviewer Roy Rossi.
Rossi praised the efforts of the producing team at Firaxis Games for knowing what to keep and what to cut from previous incarnations in the series.
Taking the elements that have kept Civilization II at the top of the greatest games of all time lists, the Firaxis team focused in on keeping the things that worked and reworking the things that could be improved. [..] Civilization III is a monument to good, solid game design. Firaxis gave everything from the city interface, advisor screens, and unit controls a bright, intuitive, easy-to-read-and-digest new look.
Sid Meier and the Firaxis team have again created the epitome of excellent strategy gaming. It's a must-buy for any strategy fan, war gamer, or micromanagement aficionado.
BluesNews gets the nod for this news tip. -DanQ
92% SCORE FROM ACTIONTRIP
(13 November 2001, 17:01 EST/Civ3) ActionTrip's Branislav "Bane" Babovic is unquestionably happy with what he has seen in Civilization III. In his review of the game posted yesterday on the site, he awarded it a 92% final score. The angle of his write-up is consistent with what one would except to accompany such a high rating.
Civilization III is, simply put, a fantastic game which preserved all the good qualities of its predecessors and introduced many innovative features. Once you install the game, you can expect to have many a sleepless night before you finally win and dominate your opponents.
Aside from some units not balanced realistically in his view, Babovic echoes may of his fellow reviewer's sentiments that the game is a complete success.
Apart from some minor bugs and several strange solutions [CivIII] has to offer infinite possibilities and extreme replay value.
The thanks for the news tip goes to BluesNews. -DanQ
FINLAND`S ONE WEEK ADVANCE
(13 November 2001, 16:54 EST/Civ3) According to a report filed today by Rasbelin, Finland has received an almost one week "advance" on Civilization III's availability. The game was released to the delight of Finnish fans last Friday, November 9th, while the rest of Europe anxiously awaits its November 15th availiability date.
That said, Rasbelin notes that not all computer realtors in Finland have the game available on store shelves yet, but that by the release date for the rest of the European continent it will be obtainable in all corners of the country.
The availability is better in the larger cities, Rasbelin added, but that's also varieing from retailer to retailer.
In terms of price, it is reported that Verkkokauppa.com has CivIII lists at the lowest price at 232-295 FIM which is equivalent to the neighbourhood of $36-44US. There is, however, an apparently large backlog for copies from the online realtor. Other notable chains with the item in stock at the time of this writing include Bulldog Netstore (255 FIM) and PC SuperStore (295 FIM).
In conclusion, Rasbelin writes that [t]he version sold here is partially localised. It's a four language Scandinavian distribution (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian and Finnish). The localised parts of it are the Quick Start manual, the backside of the game's box and the Quick Start program for Windows Autorun.
We also received an earlier report of the game's availablity in Finland from Patrik Laiho -- thank you as well, Patrik, for the news tip. -DanQ
TRAFFIC PEAK REPORT: NOV. 12
(13 November 2001, 16:43 EST/About) Yesterday -- Monday, November 12th -- 936 simultaneous users were recorded as visiting the Apolyton forums at 4:27PM EST.
This set a new traffic peak record for the forums, shattering the most previous one set on November 7th. Earlier on Monday several other traffic peaks were attained but were soon outmatched by even higher records with the one stated above still standing by the end of the day (EST). Please note that the number quoted above can, and in all likelihood is, higher than this indicates as this number only takes into account active connections between user and the server (e.g. users reading a thread that finished loading the minute before would not be counted in this number).
On behalf of the Apolyton staff and administration, thanks to each and every one of our user base for logging on. We hope you will continue to visit us on a regular basis for a long time to come. Keep On Civ'in! -DanQ
DOWNTIME PRELIMINARY REPORT
(13 November 2001, 16:19 EST/About) Service to the server that hosts Apolyton, GameStats.com and the rest of the GameStats News Network was restored around 5:50PM EST this evening after a crash earlier in the day. The cause of the downtime is not known at this time nor is the length of time that it was down -- based on various processes of elimination, it could have been as much as three hours.
More information on this downtime will be reported as it becomes available. On behalf of the Apolyton staff and administration, we thank you for your patience and understanding. We are aware that the server time is behind by two hours (EST) at present and have further notified our hosts' Technical Department accordingly so as to have it re-set at the earliest opportunity. -DanQ
TRIVIA: PRESS AND STATE
(13 November 2001, 11:55 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of the long-running CivTrivia series. Good luck to all participants!
Today's question:
Who sent Frederic Remington to Cuba, saying: “You furnish the pictures and I’ll furnish the war”?
-- Max Amann
-- William Randolph Hearst
-- Henry Luce
-- Adolph Ochs
At the time of this posting, PK is alone in the lead with 2140 points but it is still early in the day. -DanQ
TRAFFIC PEAK XV, XVI, XVII ETC.
(12 November 2001, 21:06 EST/About) The forum traffic peak records have been and are continuing to be beaten at such a phenomenal rate in recent weeks, especially over the last seven days, that our current method of counting them -- each new record being an increment of one for the record books -- appears to longer be adequate (at least for now).
On Wednesday, November 7th, 738 simultaneous users were recorded as visiting the Apolyton forums at 7:49PM EST. This record's life snuffed out the most previous one by no more than 24hrs. and from most recent observations Monday, November 12th has brought about at least four new records according to various reports filed by several forum users.
Please note that the number quoted above can, and in all likelihood is, higher than this indicates as this number only takes into account active connections between user and the server (e.g. users reading a thread that finished loading the minute before would not be counted in this number).
On behalf of the Apolyton staff and administration, thanks to each and every one of our user base for visiting us. We hope you will continue to visit us on a regular basis for a long time to come. Keep On Civ'in! -DanQ
STRATEGY GUIDE ONLINE AVAILABLE
(12 November 2001, 20:49 EST/Civ3) A 32-page strategy guide for Civilization III in Adobe Acrobat format has been compiled by HurricaneGaming.com and is available for purchase from their website. The cost, $2.50US, is payable only by PayPal and instantly downloadable upon completion of purchase. Written by Michael Lummis, a substantive sample of the full version of the guide can be found here to tempt your palate.
Civilization III is the next stage of evolution in the genre of turn-based empire strategies, begins the introduction flagged by the clever byline "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Conquering the World... But Were Afraid to Ask". For players who are new to the series and for those who have scooped up all of the true Civ games and Civ knock-offs, this title will present many challenges on the road ahead.
To his credit, Lummis -- for whom we thank for this news tip -- has authored several other strategy guides for computer games including Max Payne, Black & White and Serious Sam. On a related note, the latter is available as a free download from HG. -DanQ
HOMELAN INTERVIEWS BRIGGS
(12 November 2001, 20:36 EST/Civ3) HomeLAN recently conducted and posted an interview with Firaxis Games President/CEO Jeff Briggs.
Some of the more interesting excerpts follow, including Briggs' answer on what the status of the game's multiplayer components are at and why it was not included in the initial release:
HL: It's been a little while since Civilization II was released and in that time the general strategy gaming market has changed considerably. Do you feel that the game will still retain its audience in the face of all of the other turn based and especially the real time strategy games out in the market?
JB: CivIII is a game that will appeal to all types of gamers…from veteran civ players to people new to the gaming experience. Our goal is for everyone to enjoy the game. I think CivIII will affirm the genre, showing that turn-based games are as fun and exciting as any game out there. Turn-based games give players the ability to model systems (and open them up for experimentation) in greater detail. There is something inherently clear and fun about turns - almost every card and board game in existence is turn-based and people have been enjoying them for centuries.
HL: The game does not include multiplayer in its release. Why was this decision made?
JG: The single-player experience has always been our main focus in the development of Civilization III, but we're working on some cool multiplayer concepts that will take a new approach to the challenge of making multiplayer for a turn-based game fun. Once we have more details to report we'll let you know.
Our thanks to John Callaham himself for the news tip. -DanQ
MAKING A `BETTER PERSON`
(12 November 2001, 20:25 EST/Civ3) Trey Walker, GameSpot's (US) PC News Editor, has devoted his November 9th edition of "GameSpotting" to how CivIII has made him a better person.
Just last week I was talking about how games bring out the worst in me, but along comes Civilization III to help me see the light, Walker says. [The game] somehow makes the nonviolent approach just as appealing as war. It's great fun to see your cities' influence expand as you build temples, palaces, wonders, and other cultural nonsense.
I've managed to impress my people through nonviolence. Where I used to build barracks and walls, I'm building libraries and temples. The production capacity I used to devote to military units I now devote to the arts. On the surface it looks like [CivIII] is making me into a better person.
Along with his article, Walker and the rest of the GameSpot (US) editorial staff wants to know: can a game make a player a better person? At the time of this writing, 61% answered in the affirmative (1592/2593 ballots cast). -DanQ
IS, MEIER AND THE TALIBAN
(12 November 2001, 20:17 EST/Misc) Sid Meier, who he and the rest of the Firaxis team recently completed and released Civilization III, was the insipiration for an article written by the Ink Syndicate. Te humourous analysis on how to defeat the Taliban in the wake of recent terrorist attacks against the United States is at the core of the article.
Below are some of the highlights of what is said:
If push comes to shove, there's nothing saying President Bush can't revert the U.S. to a monarchy for a few years. [..] If he is short on funding, Bush might also consider selling off a university or two.
Thanks to CivFanatics for the news tip. -DanQ
GAMESDOMAIN REVIEW GIVES 4/5
(12 November 2001, 19:48 EST/Civ3) Gamesdomain, in the latest Civ3 review gives the game 4 out of 5 stars. They say that it still has that addictive, draw you in gameplay, but they feel that they've already played this game 10 years ago. While they feel the game isn't revolutionary enough, they still can't turn away from the game, and thus give it 4 stars. -Imran
WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE EXTRACIVS PACK?
(12 November 2001, 19:18 EST/Civ3) If the answers is "nothing", Locutus is here to help you:
Over the last few months many people have voted for civs that are still missing from Civ3 and should be in an expansion pack. Now Civ3 is finally here, why wait 6 months for Firaxis to release an expansion pack if we can make one ourselves? So that's exactly what we've set out to do in the Civ3-Civilizations Forum: to make the Apolyton ExtraCivs Pack (working title, might still change). In the spirit of the Expansion Pack Civs (XPC) poll, the Pack will contain those civs which are most popular among Apolytoners, with properties that Apolytoners want to see. To figure out what Apolytoners want, we're discussing options in the aforementioned forum (the main discussion takes place in this thread ) and voting in polls to actually make decisions. The type of decisions that are going to be made are the following:
1) Which of the existing Civs should be removed or replaced? Are the Zulus and Iroquois important enough to deserve a place in Civ3? Are the Americans old enough? Should it be English or British?
2) Which new civs should be added? Although this decision will mainly be based on the XPC poll (which is still open for voting), there are some issues to resolve: should various South East Asian or (West) African civs be merged? Should we use Phoenicia or Carthage?
3) Should the properties of existing civs be changed? Should the Chinese Rider be renamed or even replaced? Is it okay that Emerita Augusta (Merida) is missing from the Roman city list? That Genghis Khan is a Chinese general?
4) What properties should the new civs have? Should Isabella or Ferdinand be the Spanish leader? Should the Turks get a Janissary or a Bombard as Unique Unit? What should be the capital of the Vikings? Who should be the generals of the Mongols?
5) Technical issues: should the leader faces be Civ3-style animations or 'real' portraits? Should the Unique Units be animated or unanimated, 2D or 3D?
Also, to actually implement the Pack, a lot of graphics might be required. So we're very much in need of graphics people: anyone who wants to design units or leader faces for this Pack is encouraged to contact me, the 'project leader', via forums/PM/email/ICQ/whatever.
I welcome everyone on Apolyton to participate in the discussions and vote in the polls: the more people participate, the better the Pack will be! -MarkG
C194# CIVILIZATION III, A SHOE TOO BIG?
(12 November 2001, 19:11 EST/Misc) With a delay due to civ3 addiction, the Column is here and mailed to over 7500 people!
194# CIVILIZATION III, A SHOE TOO BIG?
The realistic faction speaks
By Shadowstrike. Please note that this was written before the release of Civ3.
-MarkG
REVIEWS: APOLYTON DAY 4
(12 November 2001, 17:20 EST/Civ3)  Too much civ3 has slowed down the projected rate of posting our "daily impressions" :)
So, here is "Day 4" with the ending of the first game.
Check back tomorrow(hopefully) for "day 5". Until, please give us your feedback.
-MarkG
LONG WINDED CHANGES MOD
(12 November 2001, 9:10 EST/Civ3) Plutarck posted version 0.1 of his Long Winded Changes mod.
According to the creator changes include re-balancing naval and ground units, reducing coruptions, the addition of the idea of "negative" culture and much more. -MarkG
SNOOPY`S NEW GRAPHICS (FINAL)
(12 November 2001, 9:01 EST/Civ3) Snoopy's exceptional work on the terrain graphics is more or less complete. Here is a 3.5mb file that will totally change the appearance of your civ3 games.
Separate files for mountains, rivers, water, etc are availiable as well. -MarkG
IMPROVED MAPS: EARTH & NORTH AMERICA
(12 November 2001, 5:43 EST/Civ3) RangerOne314 and satyajedi have created new versions of two of the most wanted maps:
- Huge Map of Earth contains lots of changes in many parts of the map for a more accurate result.
- NorthAmerica v2.0 100x100 W/Resources is exactly that. Realistic resources and better rivers have been added.
Do you have a file? Post it in the Civ3-Creation forum! -MarkG
CIV2 CITIZENS
(12 November 2001, 5:38 EST/Civ3) The latest mod to change the city citizens graphics comes from Wolfshanze.
The good thing is that you can distinguish the happy from the unhappy citizens easier, but nationality coloring is lost.
Download and comment in the forums. -MarkG
CIV3COPYTOOL V0.61
(12 November 2001, 5:34 EST/Civ3) New version for Gramphos' Civ3CopyTool.
In Version 0.61 units can be imported and exported together with one civ to make your modification life easier.
You will need VB runtime to use the utility. -MarkG
TRIVIA: GOOD FENCES
(11 November 2001, 22:17 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of the long-running CivTrivia series. Good luck to all participants!
Today's question:
What nation did Porfirio Diaz lament was “so far from God and so close to the United States”?
-- Canada
-- Cuba
-- Mexico
-- Panama
At the time of this posting, Gramphos and PK share the lead with 2090 points apiece but it is still early in the day and neither of the co-leaders may have as of yet had the opportunity to play today's edition. -DanQ
FILE DATABASES NOTICE
(11 November 2001, 14:45 EST/About) Dear Apolyton CS visitors,
In an ongoing effort to improve the quality and reliability of the services that we offer, several file databases that we operate will be undergoing a considerable re-organization in the coming weeks. It is not the method in which we manage the databases, i.e. the database interface, that is being reordered but rather where the actual content of these databases are being stored.
In the early days of Apolyton, files over 1MB in size were required to be stored on and served off of a secondary "Download" server (download.gamestats.com) as required by our hosts then and now, the GameStats News Network. In April of this year this directive was terminated as a new network server was purchased, set up and launched. Much has happened since this time and a critical item that was then placed on our long-term "to-do" list here at ACS was to move all of our database content off of the "Download" server and onto the server that hosts the rest of the site. We are pleased to announce that this process is commencing effective today.
Because of the move, you may experience difficulty in accessing particular parts of certain databases that we house. However, we are committed to improving the quality and diversity of services that we provide and this is one in a number of ongoing steps to aid us in keeping our promise. Please note that only the following databases are/will be affected by this process:
* Civilization II
* Call To Power
* Alpha Centauri
While we do not know exactly how long this procedure is going to take, we are hoping to have it completed in 3-4 weeks time. As the work progresses, you should begin to observe a noticeable increase in both the speed and reliability in access to the contents of our file databases listed above. We thank you for your patience and understanding during our re-organization efforts.
Yours truly,
Daniel Quick
Co-Owner/Administrator
Apolyton Civilization Site
http://apolyton.net. -DanQ
MEIER TO SPEAK AT D.I.C.E. SUMMIT
(11 November 2001, 14:10 EST/Dino) Sid Meier, Chairman & Director of Creative Development at Firaxis Games, will be speaking at the 2002 D.I.C.E. Summit being held from February 28th -- March 1st next year at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vagas, Nevada. D.I.C.E. is short for Design, Innovate, Create and Entertain.
According to the summit's itinerary, Meier is set to deliver a speech to attendees entitled "The DINO Project: Three Glorious Failures". From the D.I.C.E. website:
Game designer Sid Meier discusses and shows his prototypes of three different approaches to creating the ultimate dinosaur game. "Sometimes we learn more from a game that doesn't quite work than from one that does", Sid claims.
Other notable speakers include Maxis' Chief Designer Will Wright and Bruce Shelley, Senior Designer at Ensemble Studios. It is hoped that the transcript of Meier's and other speakers' discussions will be released to the public after the conference is completed. Attendence cost is $500US for Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) members and $950US for non-AIAS members; online registration is available.
Thanks to CapTVK for the news tip. -DanQ
BTC PUBLISHES REPORT ON LE
(11 November 2001, 11:48 EST/Civ3) The "Biscuit Tin Coalition", a group lobbying Infogrames to make the Limited Edition version of CivIII available outside North American markets, has published a report based on their investigation into the shipments.
On Friday the group held an online rally for joint action for a worldwide release of LE spearheaded by organizer Rasbelin. Today is the much anticipated 'Day 2' for the team, and you can find more information about it and the group's objectives and efforts to date by logging onto their official website. -DanQ
TRIVIA: RULES IN A KNIFE FIGHT?
(11 November 2001, 11:29 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of the long-running CivTrivia series. Good luck to all participants!
Today's question:
Who warned his former business partners: “You have undertaken to cheat me. I won’t sue you, for the law is too slow. I’ll ruin you.”?
-- Andrew Carnegie
-- Henry Ford
-- John D. Rockefeller
-- Cornelius Vanderbilt
At the time of this posting, Gramphos and PK share the lead with 2090 points apiece. -DanQ
SMILEY PEOPLE
(11 November 2001, 5:31 EST/Civ3) Che Palle is back with a really fun mod! If you dont take yourself seriously, you have to check out the Smiley People mod.
What it does is replace the citizens graphics with some rather interesting "smiley people". Nationality colors are included. Try it, just for the fun of it! :)
-MarkG
LABELS ON STRATEGIC RESOURCES
(11 November 2001, 4:45 EST/Civ3) When a game uses common file formats, modding becomes a game. Innocence altered the graphics of the strategic resources to have small labels appearing over them. This way they are much easier to locate. And it's only 8k! -MarkG
REVIEWS: APOLYTON DAY 3 / YIN, INVICTUS, M. MARCUS
(10 November 2001, 20:45 EST/Civ3)  Sorry for not posting this yesterday various things(both real life and apolyton) didnt allow me to.
So here is MarkG's
- First impressions: Day 3
And also reviews from:
- Invictus
- Master Marcus
- Yin
Dont forget to give us your feddback on our reviews section. -MarkG
WIN A COPY FROM GD-UK
(10 November 2001, 18:38 EST/Civ3) By answering one simple question and having the luck of the draw on your side, you could be one of five lucky gamers to win a copy of Civilization III from GamesDomain UK in their latest network competition.
The contest is open to residents of the United Kingdom only. If you meet this requirement and are under 18, you are requested to ask a parent for permission before entering. Contest end date is December 31st, 2001. For more information, consult the full contest rules posted on GamesDomain's website. To all participants -- good luck! -DanQ
LOST HOURS: DEF. OF THEIR NAME
(10 November 2001, 18:33 EST/Civ3) In what reviewer Rob "Dingo" Mineault calls the game that is the definition of his articles' title, Corona's Lost Hours feature has given a near perfect grade to CivIII.
This new version of the game takes the basic concepts and game play elements of the original and improves upon them, creating a faithful and damnably-addicting reinvention that proves to be more intuitive and balanced than ever before, Mineault praises. Good news for gamers, bad news for gamers’ loved ones.
The bottom line is that anyone who enjoyed the earlier versions of this game should run, not walk, to their nearest software retailer and pick this thing up. For those who have never played the Civ series, now is a good time to start.
LH is apart of Coming Attractions, an affiliate of IGN.com. Our thanks to Billy Hollis for the news tip. -DanQ
14000 LOGINS
(10 November 2001, 17:37 EST/About) It took us a bit over 3 days to go from 13000 to 14000 logins and it would have been faster if it werent for those "little" problems with the forums ;)
So how long before 15K? Post your guesses! -MarkG
CHIPS&BITS TOP10 3-9/NOV/2001
(10 November 2001, 17:10 EST/Misc) Civ3 dropped to the second spot!
Here's the latest that's moving online. SILENT HUNTER II PC is just in and has sent last weeks #1 to the bottom. CIVILIZATION III PC has dropped to #2. ALIEN VS. PREDATOR 2 PC remains spooky at #3.
1. Silent Hunter II $39.95
2. Civilization III $44.95
3. Alien vs. Predator 2 $37.95
4. Need for Speed: Motor City $39.95
5. Dark Age of Camelot $39.95
6. Asheron's Call: Dark Majesty $24.95
7. Stronghold $39.95
8. MS Flight Sim 2002 Professional Edition $64.95
9. Dragon Warrior 7 PS1 $46.95
10. Legacy of Kain: Sould Reaver 2 PLAYSTATION 2 $49.95 -MarkG
FREE SHIPPING NOW UNTIL DECEMBER 3
(10 November 2001, 14:44 EST/About) We are now extending the offer of free US shipping for Apolyton merchandise to December 3, 2001!
As previously announced, the offers is for orders over $50 shipped to US adresses.
Comment on this
-MarkG
CIV1 CITIZENS
(10 November 2001, 14:26 EST/Civ3) Hardjoy has created a nice graphic patch with replaces civ3's citizens with the ones from civ1.
The civ1 citizens are easier to distinguid(imho) but you loose the important info of nationality(if you havent noticed, when you capture a city and have mixed nationalities, you can tell who is what from parts of their clothes colored with the color of their original nation)
More details on the related forum thread. Perhaps you can help hardjoy? -MarkG
FAQ: STATUS & AVAILIABILITY OF THE FORUMS
(10 November 2001, 4:37 EST/About) We have posted an announcement, in the form of a faq, to explain the situation with our forums the last few days.
Please read and give us your feedback. -MarkG
INFOGRAMES Q1 PROFITS UP 60%
(9 November 2001, 23:24 EST/Misc) Europe's Infogrames Entertainment said on Wednesday its first quarter sales rose 60 percent to 136.6 million euros from 85.6 million in the three months to September 30, 2000.
The quarter was boosted by a first-time contribution from Hasbro Interactive, bought last December, which generated turnover of 39.7 million euros in the quarter, 36.4 million of which was in the United States, the company said in an announcement in Les Echos daily. The company also stressed its U.S. unit had returned to profitability, tallying a net profit of $552,000 versus a loss of $32.7 million in the same period a year ago. Sales were $81.67 million, up from $39.57 million previously.
[ Source: The Adrenaline Vault ] -DanQ
UGO ADS STATUS
(9 November 2001, 23:05 EST/About) On Thursday of this past week, United Gamers Online -- or UGO for short as they are more commonly known -- commenced an extensive server move of their network, a process anticipated to take up to 24hrs. to complete. While the downtime was planned, it has now been more than 48hrs. and there is no word on when service will be restored. Among those systems affected include sites hosted on UGO's servers, such as GamePen, and the UGO ad server which runs ads on all pages of Apolyton. GameStats (GS), Apolyton's hosts, are an affiliate of UGO and run these ads as well as do other GS affiliates.
As a result, you may have noticed a blank, white space on various parts of pages on Apolyton and other sites on the GameStats network where the UGO ads usually are. While UGO's server move remains ongoing, the ad spaces will not load and attempted connections to them will time out. This is increasing the page loading time exponentially but please note that you can press the "Stop" button on your preferred browser at anytime and that only the UGO ad is not appearing. As soon as service is restored to the UGO servers, ads will again begin to be served in the said areas of the site. -DanQ
DRUNKGAMERS SAYS IT BOMBS
(9 November 2001, 22:56 EST/Civ3) The first largely negative and indeed vicious attack on CivIII from those in the industry to date comes from reviewer "buzby" over at DrunkGamers.com; in his final assessment of the game, he begins it with the blunt byline same s***, different decade. While no final score was given, based on the content and attitude of the review, one can quickly assess that had one been explicitly given it would have not been a passing grade.
Most recently, I wrote in an episode of Drunk Tank that Civilization III was going to be the best game coming out in Q4 2001, buzby begins. Let me personally apologize if that caused anyone to spend any of their money on this game. What a disappointment.
It adds nothing new. It's essentially the same game I played in 1993 but with better graphics.
Of all of his criticims, buzby was most critical on the exclusion of multiplayer components in the game. His closing remarks were that if one had yet to play a game in the Civilization series, to go out and buy CivIII today -- otherwise, the DG staffer claims that one's best bet is to skip over from playing it completely.
Check out Libertarian's "review of the review" ;) Thanks to CivCenter for the news tip. -DanQ
TRIVIA: SENT TO LIE ABROAD
(9 November 2001, 22:42 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of the long-running CivTrivia series. Good luck to all participants!
Today's question:
What U.S. politician summed up the life of a diplomat as: “Protocol, alcohol, and Geritol”?
-- Adlai Stevenson
-- Averell Harriman
-- Henry Cabot Lodge
-- Joseph P. Kennedy
At the time of this posting, Gramphos and PK share the lead with 1990 points apiece; given that this was their score at the end of yesterday, this indicates that neither of these players has yet had the opportunity to take today's edition but the day is still young. -DanQ
CIV3.COM UPDATED
(9 November 2001, 15:07 EST/Civ3)  Big updated on Civ3.com tody
New Civ of the week: The French are the latest civ, only the Americans and the Germans left. The French are Industrious and Commercial civilization, therefore, they start with Alphabet and Masonry, and have significant bonuses to commercial pursuits and building activities. Their unique unit is the Musketeer, a Musketman with better attack.
Contest winners: Luis André Silva Saro of Lisbon from Portugal and Priyadi Iman Nurcahyo of Indonesia will receive a copy of Civilization III signed by Sid Meier and Jeff Briggs!
Screenshot of the week: the defeated leaders give you your thoughts in one of the end screens.
Ask the Civ Team: Lots of questions answered on this week's feature. Most important news: A feature for colorblind people is being worked on for the first patch and corruption is probably going to be toned down as well. -MarkG
FEATURE REQUESTS/BUGS CONTACT
(9 November 2001, 9:06 EST/Civ3) Earlier reports on where to direct feature requests, technical questions etc. to Firaxis was listed as to contact "askthecivteam@firaxis.com". Firaxis is asking that people direct such inquiries via the feedback form on their website. If you have sent such correspondence already through the former method, please re-send it through the latter.
We, at Apolyton, apologize for any inconvenience in our directing you to "askthecivteam@firaxis.com" on previous occasions. News stories with this incorrect direction will be modified accordingly over the next several days. -DanQ
FORUMS RESTORED
(9 November 2001, 9:15 EST/About) Our server problems have been corrected and our forums are now open again.
We again apologize for the inconvenience. -MarkG
INVISIBLE DREAM REVIEW
(9 November 2001, 0:35 EST/Civ3) Invisible Dream has posted their two-page, twelve-screenshot review of Civilization III. Staff reviewer Ryan 'TheMystic' Lord awarded the game a 90% final score.
When it comes to gameplay, Civilization III really shines, Lord writes about... the gameplay. Since I picked up my copy, I've spent three different sessions sitting on my butt packing on an additional pound or two for over a span of six hours or more per sitting.
The only flaws with gameplay that I observed involved diplomacy. It's a real chore in [CivIII] to get or scare other civilizations into giving you what you want.
In conclusion, Lord feels that the latest offering from Sid Meier and company at Firaxis has earned its namesake.
All-in-all Civilization III is a great sequel to an exceptional series. It's pulled me back into the Civilization universe and I have a feeling I'll be spending a lot more time in the future trying to out do my previous attempts at global domination. In other words, if you like turn based thinker games whatsoever, go out and pick up a copy! Chances are you'll be happy that you did, even if you already played the hell out of the original two.
Thanks to BluesNews for the news tip. -DanQ
TRIVIA: OH GENERAL, MY GENERAL
(9 November 2001, 0:26 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of the long-running CivTrivia series. Good luck to all participants!
Today's question:
Who did “Light-Horse Harry” Lee eulogize as “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen”?
-- George Washington
-- Napoleon Bonaparte
-- Robert E. Lee
-- Jubilation T. Cornpone
At the time of this posting, Gramphos is alone in the lead with 1990 points but it is still early in the day. -DanQ
REVIEWS: APOLYTON DAY 2 / PAUL SCH.
(8 November 2001, 19:48 EST/Civ3) Today's update on our reviews pages:
- MarkG's second day impressions
- Review by Paul Sch.
Got a review of civ3? Mail it to us! -MarkG
FORUMS NOT AVAILIABLE
(8 November 2001, 18:20 EST/About) Due to a technical diffulty, our forums are currently not operational.
We hope to have them restored later today/early tomorrow.
We apologise for the inconvenience, thank you for your patience.
PS. if you get 404 (not found) errors on the forums pages it is because they have been moved to avoid excessive refreshing. -MarkG
SOREN JOHNSON AI CHAT TRANSCRIPT
(8 November 2001, 18:11 EST/Civ3) As promised, here is the transcript of yesterday's chat on the Civ3 AI with Soren Johnson.
Many thanks to Soren and everyone who participated in the chat, as well as the Firaxians who dropped by.
A "best parts" summary will be posted tomorrow. -MarkG
RED/GREEN PATCH REQUEST
(8 November 2001, 13:11 EST/Civ3) 'JKJones' has started a campaign via Apolyton's Civilization III forums to get Firaxis Games' attention to address the concerns of those with red/green colour blindness and to release a patch to resolve the issue as they did with Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri shortly after its release.
If you would like add your support the campaign, please do so in the forum thread linked to above and additionally via email -- you can reach the CivIII team at Firaxis directly via the feedback form on the company's official website. -DanQ
TRIVIA: POOR OLD CHARLIE
(8 November 2001, 11:26 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of the long-running CivTrivia series. Good luck to all participants!
Today's question:
What city boasted the first underground railway system, in 1863?
-- London
-- New York City
-- Paris
-- Vienna
At the time of this posting, Gramphos and PK are tied for a share of the lead with 1970 points apiece. -DanQ
EUROPE/AMERICA/TECH TREE/CITYSTATE/CAMELOT
(8 November 2001, 5:30 EST/Civ3) 5 New files of the last 48 hours:
Map of Europe
100x100 by RangerOne314
Map of North America
100x100 by RangerOne314
Tech Tree in PDF
by Hipshot
CityState mod
New CityState goverment with its own unique city improvement: The Forum
Camelot Civ
King Arthur is here! By tmarcl
If you have a file of your own(final version) and want to post it on our site, make a new thread in the Creation forum and attach it. It will be moved to the Files forum. -MarkG
TRADE WARS: WAR OF THE WORLDS
(8 November 2001, 5:17 EST/Alt) Aeturneus has started a new Trade Wars 2002 game on his server!
Address: halcyon.ath.cx
Port: 2002
Initial Turns per day 1000, fighters 250, credits 3,000, holds 20.
No startup planet.
Inactive players will be deleted after 30 days.
Maximum players 200, sectors 5000, ports 4000, planets 1500.
The Maximum number of Planets per sector: 5, Traders on a Corp: 5, Ships per FedSpace Sector: 5.
More details at the forums. -MarkG
TRAFFIC PEAK XIII... AND XIV
(7 November 2001, 22:32 EST/About) The forum traffic peak record has been broken again... twice over. Yesterday at 1:15PM EST, 713 simultaneous users were recorded as visiting the Apolyton forums. This record's life would last barely a quarter of a day at at 7:47PM EST on Teusday, November 6th, 723 simultaneous users were recorded as logging onto the forums. Note that this number can, and in all likelihood is, higher than this as this number only takes into account active connections between user and the server (e.g. users reading a thread that finished loading the minute before would not be counted in this number).
On behalf of the Apolyton staff and administration, thanks to each and every one of our user base for visiting us. We hope you will continue to visit us on a regular basis for a long time to come. Keep On Civ'in! -DanQ
REVIEWS: APOLYTON DAY 1 / KORN469
(7 November 2001, 20:21 EST/Civ3) Today we start our journey to Civ3, with the MarkG's first impressions.
However there are people who have the game for many more days and have a better view of it. Korn469 is one of them and has provided us with a splendid review!
If you have civ3 and feel you've seen enough to judge the game, please mail us your review! -MarkG
GEEK TESTED, GEEK APPROVED
(7 November 2001, 17:27 EST/Civ3) Geekrated.com (GR), a new portal for geeks, posted their unconvential review of CivIII yesterday. The first half is very much in a 'storyboard' format and serves as an entertaining lead-in to the opinions delivered by GR's resident PC expert Gran_Masta_Cplusplus.
CivIII, the strategy game that will sell millions of copies, is amazing, GMC writes. If you liked CivI or CivII you will love this version. On the surface much is the same as CivII, but a few minor additions and tweaks rocket this game from good to great. The just one more turn factor will kill your social life. Crack ain’t got nothing on this baby!
GR awarded the game 4.5 out of a possible 5 stars. Thanks to Hamlance for the news tip. -DanQ
TRIVIA: GC`S GREATER GLORY
(7 November 2001, 13:45 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of the long-running CivTrivia series. Good luck to all participants!
Today's question:
Who led armies to liberate what are now Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and Venezuela?
-- Simon Bolivar
-- Antonio Narino
-- Jose de San Martin
-- Juan Valdez
At the time of this posting, PK is alone in the lead with 1960 points. -DanQ
OPEN LETTER FROM ACS ADMIN
(6 November 2001, 18:45 EST/About) Good evening, everyone.
There has been much concern, and discussion associated with that concern, in relation to the speed, reliability and accessibility of Apolyton's forums. This is in relation to the prolonged, high-peak demand for access to this area and indeed all of the site. As a bit of background to put it into practical terms, our traffic today is triple what it was six weeks ago and double its level of one month ago. Not only are the problems itself an ongoing concern but also about what we, in the Apolyton staff and administration, are doing to combat server slowdowns et. al.
Several temporary measures have been implemented in the forums to keep them in operational order. These include: a) closing the Off-Topic forum, b) disabling the Search function and c) disallowing guest (non-registered user) access to the CivIII forums.
Our aim in this regard is to keep the flow of access and the ability to post at normal levels -- please note that the three measures listed above are not necessarily in force 24hrs./day. We apologize for any inconvenience these measures may be causing but in addition to recognizing that they are temporary, note that they are necessary and were instituted only after other and less extensive measures were considered and in many cased tested. The GameStats administration shares our and your concerns and has been and will continue to investigate the matter on an ongoing basis.
For more information, please consult the various threads in the "Apolyton/Community" forum as well a notice posted in the 'About' section of our website on October 31st.
On behalf of the Apolyton staff and administration, we thank you for your ongoing feedback and support. Your continued patience is also greatly appreciated. We are working in conjunction with GameStats to resolve these growing pains as quickly and thoroughly as possible.
Yours truly,
Daniel Quick
Co-Owner Administrator
Apolyton Civilization Site
http://apolyton.net -DanQ
POLY IN CIV3!
(6 November 2001, 18:16 EST/About)  You may have seen the easter egg new item over in the Civ3 section... Here's another. Many people were hoping for a mention of the site or the forums somewhere in the game. Well, here it is! The last greek city is... Apolyton! Now you can make that Forum Invasion you've always dreamed about...
Thanks to CyberShy for noticing this- apparently he's having a huge greek menace on his hands. -Snapcase
ALLOUTGAMES.COM: FANTASTICALLY ADDICTIVE
(6 November 2001, 10:23 EST/Civ3) Gaming site ALLOUTGAMES.COM has posted a long(ish) one page review of the game, and the reviewer is customarily enthusiastic. "Noman" gives it no less than 94%, and comments thus:
The bottom line is that this is a fantastically addictive game, and will perhaps do for gaming what The Sims did, which is bring many of the average PC users into gaming.
We certainly hope so! Thanks to Blue's News for the link. -Snapcase
FREE SHIPPING FOR US ORDERS!
(6 November 2001, 6:46 EST/About) The offers in our Apolyton Store just keep coming. Until November 18, you can forget about shipping costs if your order is over $50.
The details:
1) Buy $50 or more and recieve FREE US Priority Mail shipping
2) This offer is valid for orders shipped to US adresses only
3) Offer valid between November 6, 2001 and November 18, 2001.
-MarkG
SPAIN/USABILITY/PRE-PATCH/ELVIS
(6 November 2001, 5:28 EST/Civ3) Even without being able to make scenarios, the modification community is here!
Spain
Spain is finally in!
Usability Pack 1.0
Usefull info in your "what do you want to build next" menu
Pre-Patch mod 1.5
Various rules changes including "Army Corps of Engineers"
Elvis 2.0
Final version. Elvis all the way!
Speaking of modification news, check out the Open letter to Firaxis from the scenario community. -MarkG
FIRST STRATEGIES FROM VELOCIRYX
(6 November 2001, 5:12 EST/Civ3) If there's one man you should ask for some strategy tips, that's certainly Velociryx(if you've played smac and havent read his strategy guide you should be ashamed! :D)
Vel has now got civ3 and announces he's "hopelessly addicted". Of course the next thing to do is to share some of his first notes on the game:
Warfare: Should be entered into very carefully, and with only limited (probably resource or choke point driven) objectives in mind. Don't think that you'll be able to sweep in and wipe a civ out in a single war. Probably not gonna happen (unless you catch them with like two cities in the REALLY early game or something). The game mechanics will put a choker chain on you. So...pick one or two cities, blitz in and take them, and then plan on suing for peace
Civ expansion: If you find you're not alone on the continent, aggressively expand in the direction of your rival to cut him off. You can backfill later, and if you do this, vary your build order in those border towns to: Warrior, Temple, Worker, Walls. (and no settlers from these unless you've just got some kickin' food tiles). That way, you can protect and improve those towns, build their culture quickly to prevent them from being absorbed by your rival, and improve your chances of absorbing his towns as you backfill and consolidate your position.
So Vel, when should we expect to see your Civ3 strategy guide? :) -MarkG
M3DIA ONLINE ON CIV SERIES
(6 November 2001, 4:53 EST/Misc) Civ3 is the hotest game around these days, as the gaming community realises again the greatness of Civ :)
From m3diaonline's editorial:
Civilization is a peerless game, equivalent to a nice icecream or good music. Nothing beats the feeling of playing that game. I for one began playing the game even before I was able to speak English, therefore I can thank Civilization for a lot of my English knowledge. Civilization is infact a part of my childhood, making that game very special to me. Oh dear! Tears welling up.
Thanks to Peter Wilkinson for the news tip. -MarkG
13000 LOGINS
(6 November 2001, 4:41 EST/About) 13060 Logins and counting! With almost 700 new registrations in the last 6 days the 14K will not be far away.
Additionally, as of yesterday, our newsletter has over 7000 subscibers! -MarkG
TRAFFIC PEAK XII
(6 November 2001, 0:28 EST/About) The forum traffic peak record has been shattered again. Yesterday at 12:09PM EST, 684 simultaneous users were recorded as visiting the Apolyton forums. Note that this number can, and in all likelihood is, higher than this as this number only takes into account active connections between user and the server (e.g. users reading a thread that finished loading the minute before would not be counted in this number).
In addition, according to our HitBox counter, a new unique visitors record was established on Monday: 23,840, 1,608 of which were recorded at 3PM EST alone (also a record (per hour)). Lastly, the daily total pageviews record was crushed again: the total for yesterday was 175,347.
On behalf of the Apolyton staff and administration, thanks to each and every one of our user base for visiting us. We hope you will continue to visit us on a regular basis for a long time to come. Keep On Civ'in! -DanQ
TRIVIA: DISAPPEARING ACT
(6 November 2001, 0:15 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of the long-running CivTrivia series. Good luck to all participants!
Today's question:
What nation was divided between Austria, Prussia and Russia in 1795?
-- Czechoslovakia
-- Germany
-- Hungary
-- Poland
At the time of this posting, PK is alone in the lead with 1910 points but it is still early in the day. -DanQ
EASTER EGG FOUND!
(6 November 2001, 0:00 EST/Civ3) For all of those with a copy of CivIII in their hands and are in the mood for some comedy, "Civ style", look no further than '/Art/Movies' directory of where you installed the game on your computer; in it, there is a security briefing video available for viewing at one's leisure. One of three files in the directory, it's appropriately called 'security_briefing.bic'.
IBNobody, one of Apolyton's forum users, made the discovery and shared his revelation in the forums. When asked where the video comes into play in the game, Firaxis' Dan Magaha responded that it doesn't -- it's an easter egg, a term commonly used to describe a 'bonus' feature cleverly hidden in or with a computer game. -DanQ
SPM PREVIEW: `GREAT POTENTIAL`
(5 November 2001, 23:42 EST/Civ3) Strategy Player Magazine (SPM), based in the United Kingdom and owned and operated by Paragon Publishing Ltd., released its CivIII preview a couple months ago in its 15th issue as their lead cover story. Following a detailed four-page write-up on the extensive history of the Civilization series, Acting Editor Mike O'Sullivan laid out his preview of the game. He liked what he saw.
There is definitely more here than ever before, and the sense of being immersed in the game is stronger than ever, O'Sullivan writes. What is most impressive about the build we saw was the way in which the game will appeal to existing Civ fans through the new options and improved gameplay, which make it deeper than ever before, but how it will also prove popular with those completely new to the game. You really don't need to have played previous Civ games to enjoy this, and it is going to entice a host of new players as well as giivng the millions of fans more excuses to while the hours away playing this. And while them away you will.
Three pages and ten screenshots later, SPM's Editor was easily drawn to the conclusion that based on the early build he sampled, it is poised for a smash success.
[Y]ou can rest assured that the game is going to be bigger and better than ever before, with improved graphics, sound, interface, playability, lastability -- basically, the game has the potential to be very special indeed. Let's hope that it is.
Strategy Player's 16th issue promises to feature a massive review of the game. It goes on sale November 22nd. -DanQ
C193# THE ULTIMATE GAME
(5 November 2001, 19:49 EST/Misc) The Rusty Gamer returns to the Column.
THE ULTIMATE GAME?
Is there such thing?
Give your response! -MarkG
STEINS FOR TWO MORE MONTHS
(5 November 2001, 18:40 EST/About)  We're happy to announce that the availiability of our Apolyton Steins have been extended to January 1st, 2002
To make it even better, we're keeping our offer of reduced prices for them,giving away more than half the shipping cost!
Apolyton Steins, the best way to drink your, eeeer, milk ;) -MarkG
MAP OF ITALY
(5 November 2001, 17:51 EST/Civ3) Italy gets to be the first country to have it's own civ3 map :) thanks to Zach Wilson, who interned this past summer at Firaxis and has since departed company.
Created with more value given on playability rather than real-world accuracy, the map will work best for a quick 4 civs game.
Download and comment! -MarkG
COMBAT CALCULATOR
(5 November 2001, 17:36 EST/Civ3) Xerxes314 has created an online combat calculator. Just choose the two units and it will give you your chances for victory.
Thanks to Valant for posting about it. -MarkG
CIV3 ON USER FRIENDLY
(5 November 2001, 17:12 EST/Misc) The best game of 2001 will certainly influence lots of people. Why not a online comic?
Civ3 appears today on one of the coolest comics you can find on the net, User Friendly.
Comment about it on our forums. Thanks to Jeje2 and Bleyn for the link. -MarkG
CHIPS&BITS TOP10 26/OCT-2/NOV/2001
(5 November 2001, 16:22 EST/Misc) The first information on the amount of civ3's sales that we recieve is from Chips&Bits
CIVILIZATION III PC has just been released has captured #1 spot and from the first looks it promises to be one of the best games of 2001. NEED FOR SPEED: MOTOR CITY ONLINE PC is brand new and is at #2. ALIEN VS. PREDATOR 2 PC is new too and a very spooky game at #3.
1. Civilization III $44.95
2. Need for Speed: Motor City Online $39.95
3. Alien vs. Predator 2 $37.95
4. Dark Age of Camelot $39.95
5. MS Flight Sim 2002 Professional Edition $64.95
6. Pool of Radiance (2001) $44.95
7. Stronghold $39.95
8. NBA Live 2002 PLAYSTATION 2 $49.95
9. Russo-German War $39.95
10. Squad Battles: Vietnam $39.95 -MarkG
TRIVIA: NAME THAT CIV
(5 November 2001, 0:12 EST/Civ3) Civ3.com, the official CivIII website, has been updated yet again with the latest installment of the long-running CivTrivia series. Good luck to all participants!
Today's question:
They were ruled by Babur, Humayun and Akbar in the 16th century:
-- Mughals
-- Mongols
-- Moors
-- Moroccans
At present Gramphos and PK are tied for the lead with 1870 points apiece; however, it is still early in the day and neither of them have yet had the opportunity to play today's edition. -DanQ
FASCIST PATCH
(4 November 2001, 20:39 EST/Civ3) Are you missing fascism? Wrong question :)
Would like more realism in your civ game? Probably that's a better question....
Anyway, Wolfshanze has added Fascism in Civ3, as a new goverment (requires espionage after Nationalism). No extra tech, units or other changes.
Download and comment in the forums -MarkG
ELVIS IS HERE/COPYTOOL/WORLD MAP
(4 November 2001, 7:04 EST/Civ3) New files of the last 24 hours :)
- Che Palle has brought back Elvis as the domestic advisor!
- Gramphos released a new version of his Civ3CopyTool utility. The new version extends the number of civs that you can choose from to 21.
- AlmightyBob and Pyrodrew have improved the converted civ2 world map with resources and more. -MarkG
BIC FORMAT ANALYZED
(4 November 2001, 6:48 EST/Civ3) Not waiting for Firaxis to give more info on the file formats used by civ3 ;) Gramphos and Mercator got into the bic file format and posted a thorough analysis of it!
Or at least a large part of it, but we doubt the rest will take much longer. -MarkG
ROCK ON, SAYS SLASHDOT
(4 November 2001, 2:03 EST/Civ3) Reknowned geek powerhouse Slashdot has posted a review of CivIII written by "ruebarb". What did he sacrific to play the game? Sleep. Was it worth it? He truly believes it.
First off, this game is a major change in structure and feel to the Civ. series [and] quite honestly, this is probably a good thing, [R]uebarb begins. All too often, updates or sequels to a game system are one or two more bells and whistles that justify a $49.95 price tag.
A few issues aside, it is clear that [R]uebarb would definitely recommend this title to others including some high praise and advice for his fellow Linux users who undoubtedly makeup a high percentage of Slashdot's visitor base.
[I]t's been a long time since I've been pleased with a game like this. This is the game you feel like telling the /. community [it] is worth buying a copy of [Microsoft] Win98 for. -DanQ
GOOD, BUT RESERVING JUDGMENT
(4 November 2001, 1:53 EST/Civ3) Kurt Squire, co-founder of JoyStick101.org, has admitted that he is a little freaked out after purchasing and subsequently playing CivIII for the first time... for ~8-10 hours.
For now, I'm reserving judgement on the game, but suffice it to say that it's basically a good game, Squire writes in his compilation of his first impressions on the game. [I would] probably [give it] anywhere from a 7/10 to a 10/10.
[I]t's different -- far more different than I anticipated. I was expecting pretty much a cosmetic make-over with the "culture" bit thrown in, but the new gameplay mechanisms create a different different gameplay -- I'm finding many of my old tried-and-true strategies don't work.
After identifying eight changes he noticed from previous installments in the Civilization franchise, and an additional four on gameply differences alone, Squire wraps up by saying that he feels that it is going to be a while yet before judgment can be passed on whether or not CivIII will become to be recognized as a classic.
Kudos to Firaxis for trying something different with one of the most successful franchises in gaming. Will it live up to the legacy of the original Civ or CivII? [..] At first glance, this sequel loooks like a worthy successor.
Thanks to CivFanatics for the news tip. -DanQ
TRIVIA: RICHARD`S ELECTROSHOCK
(4 November 2001, 1:34 EST/Civ3) The official CivIII website has been updated yet again with the latest installment of CivTrivia over at Civ3.com. Today's question:
Ben Franklin installed a lightning rod on his house in 1749, because he believed lightning was drawn to:
-- Tall objects
-- Dense objects
-- Metal objects
-- Pointed objects
At present PK is in the lead with 1870 points but it is still early in the day. Good luck to all participants! -DanQ
GOVERNORS: BE QUIET, SPEAK UP
(3 November 2001, 17:35 EST/Civ3) One of the flurry of discussions ongoing in our CivIII forums is regarding the use (or lack thereof) of city governors. According to this thread, started today by Apolyton forum user "Kc7mxo", there is a definite strong love and hate take on them.
Firaxian Soren Johnson, the game's Lead Programmer, commented on some of the criticisms that have expressed about the governors.
One of our design goals when we started to remake CivIII was to reduce the number of pop-ups to an absolute minimum to make the game flow better. However, we have definetly heard that many of you are upset that you are not prompted when: a) your city goes into Civil Disorder and b) your city finishes a military unit.
We will be addressing both of these issues in the patch (most likely as a pref). Hope you can bear with us until then. -DanQ
RAILROADS: FOOD, NOT SHIELDS
(3 November 2001, 16:59 EST/Civ3) If there was any outstanding confusion as to whether or not railroads cause an increase in food or shield production, CivIII's Lead Programmer Soren Johnson cleared it up: the correct answer is the former.
[There] is a mistake in the Civilopedia, Johnson said in Apolyton's forums today. Railroads increase the output of irrigation or mines, depending on which exists. -DanQ
WONDER SCREENS WITH INFO
(3 November 2001, 7:07 EST/Civ3)  Wouldnt you like to have more info show up when you finish a wonder?
Che Palle has felt your pain and modified the pcx wonder images
The number in the circle on the bottom right is the culture points, and the highlighted (if applicable) letters on the bottom left indicate what type of cultures benefit from possible Golden Ages because of this wonder. The text inside the window obviously tells you what the Wonder does and when (if) it expires.
I also added a modified Wonder Screen that has two legends, one that explains the meaning of the letters: C E I M R S (Commercial, Expansionist, Industrious, Militaristic, Religious, Scientific) and the other that tells you what traits the different civs have.
It's a 2MB download, dont forget to backup your files before you do anything! -MarkG
TRAFFIC PEAK XII
(3 November 2001, 6:33 EST/About) Blah blah, new records, blah :)
- Concurrent forum users: 639 on 02-11-2001 at 16:08est(previous was 581)
- Daily unique visitors: 19,935 again yesterday(6 day in a row with a new record Oct 28: 11540, Oct 29: 16916, Oct 30: 17617, Oct 31: 17739, Nov 1: 18963)
- Total monthly unique visitors for October: 228,247(final number. November so far: 34,247)
- New registrations: 351 in the last 3 days (13K logins wont be long away)
Once again, many thanks! -MarkG
SGO: GOING TO BUY IT OR WHAT?
(3 November 2001, 1:12 EST/Civ3) Strategy Gaming Online wants to know whether or not you'll be purchasing CivIII in their latest poll.
At the time of this posting, 1668 ballots had been already cast. The most popular response to date is "yes, on the first day!" with 46.1% of the popular vote followed in second by 24.3% of respondents to answered "maybe after the reading the reviews". Only 12.7% indicated that they had no intention to purchase the game at all at this point. -DanQ
TRIVIA: RICH CORINTHIAN PLASTIC
(3 November 2001, 0:57 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 part of a Rolls-Royce became the first commercial product made from Bakelite?
-- Dashboard
-- Gas cap
-- Gearshift knob
-- Hood ornament
At present Gramphos, SerapisIV and PK are tied for the lead with 1820 points apiece but, as it is still early in the day, neither have yet had the opportunity to play today's edition. Good luck to all participants! -DanQ
SNOOPY`S NEW GRAPHICS
(2 November 2001, 20:31 EST/Civ3) With the terrain files being in PCX format, changing them is rather easy. All it takes is the ability to creates omething beautifull instead of something ugly :)
Sn00py has done this with his altered terrain graphics:
- Blue Water
- Raised Land
- Rocky mountains
Since you need to overwrite the default files to use these, be sure to keep a backup! -MarkG
21 CIVS!
(2 November 2001, 20:13 EST/Civ3) Gramphos has been doing some very interesting stuff with his CopyTool utility, but now it's starting to get crazy :)
He has now managed to have 21 civs to choose from in a game! See his thread for the proof :)
Gramphos says the maximum choices you can put is probably 32(enough to add those expansion pack civs on our own :)). He also promises to publish a new version of his utility shortly. -MarkG
COTW: ENGLISH, SOTW: SPACESHIP
(2 November 2001, 19:00 EST/Civ3)  This week's update for civ3.com features the English as the civ of the week.
Lead by Elziabeth, they are an Expansionistic and Commercial civilization, therefore, they start with Alphabet and Pottery, and have significant bonuses to exploratory activities and commercial pursuits. Their unique unit is the Man O' War, a frigate with better attack and bombard abilities.
There is also a new screenshot in today's update, a nice shot from the spaceship. -MarkG
CAMPAIGN FOR LE INTL. AVAILABILITY
(2 November 2001, 10:54 EST/Civ3) Rasmus Anderssén, also known as "Rasbelin" on Apolyton's forums, has started a campaign to press Infogrames to make the Limited Edition version of CivIII available internationally. The company announced a while back that LE would be limited to 75,000 but only recently announced an additional restriction on its availability: geography. It will only be shipped to addresses in Canada and the United States. Since that announcement, it has caused a firestorm response from angry Civ fans.
A quote from Anderssén's letter that he sent to Infogrames' (US) sales department earlier this week:
Many of the "true" Civilization fans have been waiting for the release for years. But what happens just before release? Surprise, surprise! Infogrames thinks that some American kids deserves more than the "Civers" living in United Kingdom, Germany, France, South Korea, Japan, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark; the list is long as Santa Claus' beard.
Is this what the gaming industry calls "listening to the players"? Apparently it's true in your case.
Anderssén, who hails from Finland, is asking for Civers support in his fight to change IG' mind regardless of their geographical location via Apolyton's forums. He is addressing responses to his campaign on a daily basis as well as posting briefings on his communique progress (or lack thereof) with not only IG but also online realtors such as Amazon.com. For more information on the lobbying effort, logon to the group's official website. -DanQ
FILES FORUM
(2 November 2001, 9:45 EST/Civ3) Today we opened our Civ3-Files forum, which will be our central for civ3 files until we have a more "classic" file database.
So until then, this seting allows the following
- Files are posted instantly and directly by the creator
- Much larger descriptions and more screenshots can be posted by the creator
- People can give direct feedback on the file
- Files can be rated with the "Rate this thread" option and you can use the "sort by" feature to list the files according to that. For that purpose, (texts) ratings now appear on the light forum styles again
Notes:
- The max size of attachments has been increased to 500k. If you wont to post something larger you will still have to mail it to us or upload it on a free web space server.
- Unless we have a made an error, you can not start a new thread on the Civ3-Files forum. Since we want to be sure that only new and definite releases are included here, you will have to start the thread in the Creation forum and it will be moved there.
There are already 6 files in the forum. We're looking forward to your feedback! -MarkG
TRIVIA: EDSEL LEFT THE BUILDING
(2 November 2001, 9:12 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 first “economy” car marketed by Henry Ford?
-- Model A
-- Model K
-- Model N
-- Model T
At present SerapisIV and PK are tied for the lead with 1820 points but it is still early in the day. Good luck to all participants! -DanQ
AI CHAT WITH SOREN JOHNSON ON NOV.7
(1 November 2001, 21:18 EST/Civ3) Were you unable to make the "CivIII Release Party" chat on Tuesday or not get to stay as long as you would have liked? Were you able to make it and can't getting enough chatting fever? Apolyton has the remedy you've been frantically searching for.
On Wednesday, November 7, 2001, we're having a chat with Firaxian Soren Johnson, the man behind CivIII's AI on just that -- CivIII's AI.  The chat begins at 14:00EST.
To participate, logon to Apolyton's Chat page or connect to it via mIRC. For instructions on the latter, consult this page. -DanQ
XP+NVIDIA+SLOW SCROLL=SOLVED?
(1 November 2001, 18:57 EST/Civ3) What was posted by various people is now confirmed by Jeff Morris
On XP machines with Nvidia hardware (geforce family of graphics cards), we've identified that the new Nvidia detonator drivers are causing the problem. In XP it's relatively easy to roll back to the original drivers.
* Right-click on desktop and select properties.
* Select the Settings tab, then Advanced.
* Select the adapter tab, then Properties.
* Select the Driver tab, then Roll Back Driver.
This is not a great solution, but one that will address the problem until we can find a solution by working with Nvidia.
If you're in this situation please post your feedback -MarkG
CIV2 HUGE EARTH MAP CONVERTED
(1 November 2001, 18:47 EST/Civ3) Unsatisfied by the quality of the included world maps, AlmightyBob converted the civ 2 huge earth map for civ3.
Check it out in the civ3-creation forum -MarkG
HACKED EDITOR!
(1 November 2001, 18:25 EST/Civ3) The action on the Civ3-Creation is geting really hot! Donarumo has hacked the civ3 editor to "reveal" the add and delete buttons!
Of course, as Mike Breitkreutz(who has worked on editor among other things) clarified, the functionality to do these things already exist in the program, but were "hided" since there were both bugs as well as issues with the animation format(see the log of our release party).
More details at the related forum thread. -MarkG
MSNBC ON CIV3
(1 November 2001, 18:17 EST/Civ3) PC Games arent dead, says MSNBC, despite what all the hype about the new consoles that are coming out these days.
And the proof according to reporter Dean Takahashi is (what else) Civ3.
You can learn things like why it’s not such a good idea to start a war that’s going to last 124 years. (In Civ3, your population becomes increasingly restless, requiring combinations of martial law crackdowns and entertainment.)
Thanks to Adrock25 for posting about it. -MarkG
TRIVIA: CURIOUSER, CURIOUSER...
(1 November 2001, 11:14 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 did Victorian Britons typically answer their telephones?
-- Are you there?
-- Can we talk?
-- Can you hear me?
-- Who is this
At present PK is alone in the lead with 1790 points but it is still early in the day. Good luck to all participants! -DanQ
GAMEPRO: SUPERFICIAL IMPROVEMENTS
(1 November 2001, 9:37 EST/Civ3) Multiplatform gaming site GamePro has posted a brief Civ3 review by one "Star Dingo", rating the game as no better than average. Although the review itself seems to heap praise over the game with the only complaint being the lack of radical change, the game only recieves a mix of 3.5s and 4s, with comments like this:
It’s hard to knock one of the best, most addictive strategy games ever made—but Civ II owners may wonder why they’re paying fifty bucks for what's essentially a decent facelift and a gameplay balance patch.
Oh well. Each to their own, I suppose. -Snapcase
RELEASE PARTY - THE BEST PARTS
(1 November 2001, 4:50 EST/Civ3) We know many find it tiring to read hundreds of kbs of log files, so here are the juicy parts
CIV3 RELEASE PARTY - the best parts
Read and discuss in the forums -MarkG
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