October 2000
PC DOME PREVIEW
(31 October 2000, 23:15 EST/CtP2) PCDome posted a preview of CTPII in Hungarian on their website. If anyone speaks Hungarian and can translate it, please contact us.
Our thanks to Locutus who alerted us to this in our CTPII-General forum. -DanQ
NOT-BUYING ELEMENTS IN DINOSAURS
(31 October 2000, 16:58 EST/Dino) And here is the... most irrational :) poll we've ever had. The 5th Dinosaurs poll: What will make you not buy Dinosaurs? -MarkG
FORUM MEMBER STATS
(31 October 2000, 16:38 EST/About) People asked for them, so here are some statistics for our forum members
Active logins over the last
one month: 1015
two months: 1306
Unique logins in current(not archived/deleted) threads of forum
Civ3-general: 547
Civ2-general: 685
CtP2-general: 292
CtP-general: 455
AC-general: 465
OT: 464
Logins with last activity during
1998: 1
1999: 3087
2000: 4042
But let's give some more stats: the results from our Hitbox counters showed a record making increase in actual visitors:
54,000 monthly unique visitors in October from 42,000 in September
74,000 daily unique visitors in October from 57,000 in September
We leave the comments to you... :) -MarkG
BIG GOALS SOUND GOOD
(31 October 2000, 13:24 EST/Dino) | A head dino character, an alpha dino or King/Queen Dino |  42 / 11% | | Humanize the dinos(baby dinos) | 19 / 5% | | Emphasize the story of the dinos | 35 / 9% | | A vicious enemy(enviroment/enemy dino) | 30 / 8% | | A home(shaping an area to the player's liking) | 98 / 26% | | Expressive animation | 21 / 5% | | Big goals(something big to grasp for) | 128 / 34% |
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After a really long time, here are the results of our 4th Dinosaurs poll. For the numbers, it seems that the most interesting ideas is for the player to have "Big goals" to grasp for, and a "home" which he can shape to his liking....
Comments forum thread -MarkG
IGN PREVIEW UPDATED
(31 October 2000, 10:58 EST/CtP2) It's been a while coming, but IGN has updated their preview of CTPII. IGN's team has spent the weekend playing the beta, and on behalf of the team Stephen Butts relays their thoughts on the game.
... the main changes to the sequel are matters of utility. Still there have been some neat conceptual changes in this latest version, Butts writes.
After going through the issues of micromanagement, interface, the combat system, diplomacy, and AI, IGN concludes with this:
The game is due out shortly, so there probably won't be too many functional changes in the final version compared to the build we currently have. Still there are a few things that can still be improved with this game. Even so, Call to Power 2 is much improved over the previous game.
Our thanks to Imran for the news tip. -DanQ
CTP2PREVIEWS.DE
(31 October 2000, 9:28 EST/CtP2) Here are two previews and one interview I found in German sites: PowerPlay.de preview, 4Players.de preview and interview of Davis Parker, CTP2's Senior Producer.
If someone can read german and find something interesting, please let us know. And no, the domain does not exist... :)
If you're looking for a rough translation of these previews from German to English, you may want to give AltaVista's Babelfish service a try. -MarkG
CANALS: CHEAT MENU ONLY
(30 October 2000, 22:47 EST/CtP2) A plethora of information of CTPII has come out of discussions in our forums in recent weeks. The latest detail to surface comes from Pyaray in response to Dida's question regarding canal building within the game.
Nope, sorry [you cannot build canals] without using the cheat menu to just cut some ocean through the continents, Pyaray responded. -DanQ
HOW MANY CIVS IN A GAME?
(30 October 2000, 17:55 EST/Civ3)
For our 12th poll, we are asking a really hot question again, but with a bit different options: how many Civs should there be in one game? Vote now! -MarkG
RELATED THREADS
(30 October 2000, 17:47 EST/Civ3) In an excellent display of archiving methods :) DarkCloud created a list of threads in our Civ3-General forum separated according to their subject. It's a really huge list, check it out! -MarkG
AI, CUSTOMISABILITY, DIPLOMACY
(30 October 2000, 17:36 EST/Civ3) | Civ3: Which Aspect of Improvement Is Most Crucial? | | Option | Votes / Percentage | | AI | 123 / 33% | | Customisability | 44 / 12% | | Diplomacy | 39 / 10% | | End game | 7 / 1% | | Gameplay | 21 / 5% | | Government Model | 7 / 1% | | Graphics Engine (3d) | 7 / 1% | | Historical Accuracy/Realism | 22 / 6% | | How much the game costs... | 1 / 0% | | Map/Terrain | 5 / 1% | | Micromanagement | 14 / 3% | | Militaristic matters | 18 / 4% | | Multimedia | 1 / 0% | | Scenarios | 13
/ 3% | | Tech Tree | 6 / 1% | | Trade/Economics | 18 / 4% | | Transportation | 1 / 0% | | Types and number of Civs | 14 / 3% | | Wonders | 1 / 0% | | Total Votes: 362 |
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These are the three "hot" areas for civ3 according to our 11th poll. See the comments or check out the discussion in the forums... -MarkG
NO HOTSEAT/PBEM IN RELEASED GAME
(30 October 2000, 16:37 EST/CtP2) It seems like it's the day of negative news for ctp2. A new preview on Eurogamer notes that pbem and hotseat abilities will not be in the released game. This means that the ctp community, which generated over 15000 posts just for pbem games, will have wait for some patch... -MarkG
LIST OF CIVILIZATIONS
(30 October 2000, 16:27 EST/CtP2) From one of the screenshots of the GameSpot preview, we can see the civ list of CTP2. The observing eye of MidKnight Lament noticed that the only difference with CTP1 is the Jamaicans changed with the Polish. Cubans, Nicaraguans and Nigerians are still there... -MarkG
STILL 8 (LEGAL) CIVS...
(30 October 2000, 16:15 EST/CtP2) As Pyaray posted in the forums, in a reply to KaiserIsak, the official number of civs in a game will be the same with CTP1, eight.
Wow, I had no idea that this was a hot topic, Pyaray reacted in a forum thread on the subject. I'm afraid that decision was made long before I was brought in, and it's certainly too late to change it now. Basically, it's too late to change anything now. Any information about the game these days is pretty much set in stone. Changing design at this late of a date would be like shooting our own foot, as it would be too likely to generate bugs.
The argument: surely today's computers can take at least 16 civs, can't they? At least the good-old text-editing way to get up to 32 civs will hopefully still exist.... -MarkG
FRONT FORUMS PAGE CHANGES
(29 October 2000, 15:16 EST/About) Today marks the launch of a new, refined look for our front forums page. The moderators column is gone, and it's place on the right took a "bar" showing the current polls, your private message information, the latest news headlines of all sections and the "who's online" information.
Love it or hate it, let us know! -DanQ
MD: THE DAILY BUILD
(29 October 2000, 14:54 EST/Alt) Ron Hiler, the Lead Programmer on the Manifest Destiny project, has started to post weekly build updates in a thread in our Alt. Civs forum.
For Build Notes #533-600, click on the link above. Posted on October 20, the next installment will appear at this time next week. -DanQ
2 POLLS ON DEMO AND RELEASE
(29 October 2000, 14:46 EST/CtP2) The previous poll stayed a bit too long, so here are two new ctp2 polls, with some hot(i think) questions: When should a demo be released and Should CTP2 be delayed if needed?? -MarkG
AI-CITY LOGISTIC CONCERNS
(29 October 2000, 12:55 EST/CtP2) It's less than a month away from the much anticipated release of CTPII, and our forums are buzzing with activity. First questions, then answers, and then more questions are keeping Activision on their toes and at the forefront of the discussions. In the latest round of "question period", Pyaray takes on Ralf's concerns pertaining to AI (computer's) city logistics. He states:
I don't mind some minor AI-unit pathfinding problems -- I can live with that. I also don't mind some minor quirks and limitations in the diplomacy-area. Some can be patchable, and the rest I can live with. I just however *don't* want to relive above SMAC-experience [see forum thread] when it comes to bad AI-city logistics.
Can you guys [Activision] reassure me (and all the others in this forum) that CTP-2's AI city-logistics is stronger than in SMAC and Civ-2?
The answer:
It's very difficult to give an absolute answer on this for a few important reasons. The first being that how well the AI plays is a subjective thing. One person may think the AI is too hard while another thinks it's too easy. How well an AI player responds has a lot to do with the events that happen, and therefore how you play directly affects what the AI does, and your play style may be such that the AI doesn't know how to respond.
The next being since we don't have access to the AI for either SMAC or Civ2 we can't make a qualitative assesment of if ours is better. And my final reason is that I try very hard to not talk about competitors in any way. I prefer not to say anything about the competition, either positive or negative. Every now and then I will, but generally I avoid it. -DanQ
CHEAT MODE IN CTP2
(29 October 2000, 12:43 EST/CtP2) Did wants to know what features are available in cheat mode in CTPII. Pyaray responds within the hour(!):
There is very little you can't do from the cheat mode. However, I'm completely unfamiliar with the cheat mode from CTP1.
You can't rush buy as it were, but you can just build any improvement you want in any city. You can definately change tiles. You grant cities. You can set how much gold. I think you can get the map, but I'm not sure. You can certainly grant any advance. And no, you can't cheat in multiplayer.
Have a question for Activision in regards to cheating within CTPII? Ask away in the CTPII-General forum thread linked to above. -DanQ
INBOX: OCTOBER 29, 2000
(29 October 2000, 12:33 EST/About) Welcome to another installment of InBOX, a weekly feature here on ACS where we select three pieces of email from the past 7 days to comment on in this open venue. Letters are chosen based on their relevance to the community that this site serves, the site itself and the frequency in which the question(s) have been asked.
This week's theme: technical support.
1. I copy the data files of a szenario into the right dirctory of the Civ2 game. But when I select the szenario file (*.scn) to start the szenario, a window appears that this file doesn't contain a current szenario. This problem doesn't exist for all szenarios but for most of them. Perhaps it's a useful hint: I use the German version of Civ2.
Your using the German version of CivII may be the root of the problem, yes... what version of it are you running? Does the scenario you downloaded (which one, BTW?) include any documentation that may help to once and for all identify this problem and how to resolve it? If you can answer these questions for us in your original email or through follow-ups, we'll be better able to respond to your inquiry.
2. I recently find out about Apolyton, great site BTW, anyway since I only own the regular Civ2-game a lot of the scenario's don't work. So now my question is: what are the requirments MGE, 2.78, 2.62 and 2.42 written near all the scenarios and MOD Packs?
Thank you for your kind words about our site. To answer your questions. 2.42 refers to the last update available for the "original" Civilization II product release. The others correspond to the version number your game of CivII 'upgrades' (add-ons) to based on the latest add-on pack you have installed on your system.
3. I have a question about Civilization: Call To Power. When ever I bombard an enemy unit with a powerful weapon live a battle ship or stronger, the game shuts down. I don't think it is my computer because it a fairly recent and powerful computer and the same problem happens when my friends play the game on their computers. Any suggestions on how to solve this problem.
Have you installed the latest update for your (language) version of CTP? See our CTP files section to compare what patch(es) are current and what version you are running. To answer your second question, sometime next month according to the official CTPII site.
And so another week, another mailbag. Watch for another edition next Sunday! -DanQ
CTP2 VS. CIV2: `UNFAIR COMPARISON`
(29 October 2000, 12:23 EST/CtP2) That's what Pyaray, the latest member of Activision's CTPII team to join in our forum discussions, stated in response to Monkey's question as to how the sequel compares to the original and even MicroPROSE's Civilization II.
Civ2 didn't have nearly as many graphics as Call To Power 2, Pyaray explains. And graphics takes horsepower. Turns can take a long time if the enemy has a lot of units to move. I don't think I can give you any more of a satisfactory answer than that. I will say in my experience I haven't noticed autosave taking a significant amount of time, but I have never honestly clocked it or anything. Another thing I will say is that things are cached, the first time you access any screen it takes longer than all subsequent calls to it.
On a sidenote, Pyaray also commented on the possibility of a new graphics pack for CTPII after its commercial release.
I haven't been here at Activision long enough to be sure of how they do it, but my experience from other companies is that add on packs are almost always decided upon based on public response of the release. So I don't think anyone can answer that question right now. -DanQ
MOD., ANC., MID. AGE, FAN., FIC
(29 October 2000, 11:40 EST/CtP2) That's the order in which you voted each kind of scenario. The exact results are shown on the right, and you can also view the comments| CTP2: What kind of scenarios would you like? | | Option | Votes / Percentage | | Historical, Ancient | 37 / 20% | | Historical, Middle Ages | 29 / 15% | | Historical, Modern Times | 70 / 38% | | Fictional | 17 / 9% | | Fantasy | 31 / 16% | Total Votes: 184
View Comments |
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people left along with their vote, or check out the discussion on the forums. We should note that Activision was more or less following the "will of the public", with modern(WW2), ancient(Alexander) and fictional(nuclear) scenarios, but a problem has changed their decision. In the place of the WW2 scenario, which is promised to be released online after the release, there will be a fantasy(Samurai) scenario. -MarkG
APOLYTONER HOUSE TO BE BUILT
(29 October 2000, 0:34 EST/Misc) Lancer delivered the good news to us in the Apolyton forum early this morning:
My very deepest thanks to the owners of Apolyton, Markos and Dan, and to Narck, the 'Forum Helper' who has been w/ us since early on. Today we achieved our goal of $1530 to build 'The Apolytoners' House'. We would not be so far were it not for your ongoing efforts to bring the situation of Karen Mills to the attention of Apolytoners. In this you have succeeded beyond all my hopes. With the news stories and the sticky thread you have helped to alter the life of Karen and her family in a way that will finally bring them some security. Bravo!
We still have some donations to come in yet, and these will be used for the many things needed to make "The Apolytoners' House" into Karen's home. Thanks [again] guys... -DanQ
COLUMN #138; BY FATHER BEAST
(28 October 2000, 23:45 EST/Misc) And so continues the rage about the future of the Turn-Based Strategy (TBS) genre. In the 138th installment of The Column, a long-standing feature here on Apolyton, Father Beast returns to voice his opinion on the calibre of the turn-based strategist in his article entitled "Turn-Based Strategy: The Thinking Person's Game".
Comments/questions are welcomed in our forums, or you may contact the author directly. Looking to write for The Column? You are most welcome to do so at anytime -- our Article Submission Form is always available to you. -DanQ
PROBLEMS IN CTP2? PYARY ANSWERS
(28 October 2000, 19:17 EST/CtP2) The newest addition to the list of Activisioners browsing our forums, Pyaray, gave answers to parts of the GameSpot preview where problems were noted(kindly gathered by Atahualpa). It's simply to much stuff to include in a news item, I'll just guote the last part of the post
I assure you all, we are very close. There are no major issues left as far as I know. Obviously there could be issues I'm unaware of, but the game is coming along very nicely. This team is very dedicated to delivering a quality product. I don't know what else I can say to try and address your concerns. If you have any other specific concerns, I would be happy to try and address them for you.
This sounds like an invitation for questions to me... ;) -MarkG
GAMESPOT FIVE-PAGE PREVIEW
(28 October 2000, 18:08 EST/CtP2) GameSpot posted probably the biggest of the close-to-release previews for CTPII. 5 Full pages and 22 screenshots give a good look on the beta version of the game. To start things off, previewer Mike Ryan says:
At its core, Call to Power II retains the same reengineered Civilization feel of its predecessor, mixing an empirecentric style of management with the basic look and feel of Sid Meier's turn-based classic. Long-time fans of the series will likely warm up to [CTPII] a lot more readily than they did to the original, while newcomers should easily fall under the sway of this very promising, very addictive game.
Some key excerpts...
On Diplomacy: Without a doubt, the biggest enhancement to be found in Call to Power II is the improved suite of diplomacy options. Basic negotiations revolve around familiar options... However, once you produce some diplomat units and establish embassies in foreign cities, you can access a number of new diplomatic options.
On Artifical Intelligence: During peacetime, you can count on rival nations to build up their military forces as needed to counter any moves you might make. During times of war, enemy armies are generally well organized, with long-range units such as archers and cannon effectively mixed in with frontline troops.
On Empire Management: On the empire management screen, for example, you can set the daily ration for your citizens, which affects their overall happiness but also determines the amount of food that is stored throughout the empire. You can also select the length of their workday, which predictably affects the amount of production available across the land.
On Units: Although you'll still see the same types of units from all empires early on in the game -- archers, hoplites, and so on -- later scientific developments open up all manner of possibilities. In fact, the game's developer seems particularly keen on submarines and naval units, with funky futuristic designs for sea units that pop up left and right once you reach the modern technological age.
Overall, GameSpot says, Call to Power II looks like a tremendous step forward for the franchise. The game still has some rough spots... Still, the game is in fine shape for a beta, and it seems to have the goods to take this series to the next level.
When asked to comment on GSpot's November 14th listed release date of the title, Pearson let us know that is was the right month, but the wrong date.
That date isn't official. Sorry I can't be more specific then that.
We will be updating our information and screenshots pages shortly to cover all these new data, geting you ready for our own preview of the game! Meanwhile, you can comment on the GameSpot preview on our CTP2 forum. -MarkG
GAMESTATS ON A RACE TO THE TOP!
(27 October 2000, 17:35 EST/About) We dont usually refer to such stuff, but it's not bad to say something good for yourself every now and then, is it? :D Anyway, over the last months the GameStats Network, which Apolyton is of course a proud member, has been moving up in the charts of 100hot.com. In the beggining of July GS was at the 58th spot, moving to the 47th during September, and hitting the 33rd place this week, in the games listing of 100hot.com! GS is now over such sites as Gamespot, GamesDomain, CG Online, Avault and many others... :)
100hot.com ranks sites by daily monitoring the Web-surfing patterns of more than 100,000 surfers worldwide. -MarkG
CGM STORY FULL TEXT
(26 October 2000, 16:44 EST/CtP2) As we reported some days ago, Computer Games Magazine included a two-page writeup on CTPII in their November, 2000 issue.
Thanks to joseph1944's patience, you can now read the full text of the article within the CTPII-General forum thread that first spoke of it which was, incidentally, started by no other than joseph1944 himself.
If you didn't read it a couple of months ago when it was posted on CGM's website, you are invited to do so -- please keep in mind that the information contained in it is a couple of months old. -DanQ
FORUM SHAKE-UP
(26 October 2000, 16:24 EST/About) It's Thursday afternoon: do you know where your forums are?
As per request, a seperate forum for Guns, Germs & Steel has been created, but the Alt. Civs discussion board lives on at this location.
Additionally, a private forum for the participants of the WorldMasters Diplomacy tournament has been created in response to growing demand. If you want to know who has authorization to participate in it and/or want to request your forum account's addition to the list, see this thread.
We are committed to strengthening the Civilization community, and changing with it. Not yet a member of our growing forum community? Then register today... it's free! -DanQ
PCDATA: OCTOBER 14, 2000
(26 October 2000, 16:10 EST/Misc) For the week ending October 14, 2000, the Top 10 Selling PC Computer Games based on sales data gathered by Reston, Virginia's PCData are listed below.
1) The Sims: Livin' Large | Electronic Arts
2) The Sims | Electronic Arts
3) RollerCoaster Tycoon | Hasbro Interactive
4) Age Of Empires II: The Conquerors | Microsoft
5) Baldur's Gate 2 | Interplay
6) Diablo II | Blizzard Entertainment
7) NHL Hockey 2001 | Electronic Arts
8) SimTheme Park | Electronic Arts
9) RollerCoaster Tycoon: Loony Landscapes | Hasbro Interactive
10) Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings | Microsoft
This chart is developed from data provided by 42 retail chains comprising more than 80% of the U.S. market. -DanQ
8 NEW FILES IN DATABASE
(26 October 2000, 16:03 EST/Civ2) Today we have five new files in the DB plus three older ones that were lost:
Here are our new entries:
Battle for the Americas
Map Edit
No Limits
North Western
Mercator
The three restored files:
Nordic Countries
Maps of Complexity
Promised Land
Please remember to send us your files, when you want add your file to the DB.
-Sven
GAMESDOMAIN SCREENS
(25 October 2000, 19:06 EST/CtP2) GamesDomain (US) has posted six screenshots from CTPII. While they are nothing that had not yet been released before, reporter Kevan Mander says that it is scheduled for release on November 24.
However, this is an unofficial report to date. The official CTPII website, owned and operated by Activision Inc., narrows it down no farther than November, 2000. -DanQ
LATEST OFFICIAL SITE UPDATE
(25 October 2000, 18:31 EST/CtP2) Activision has once again updated the official CTPII website with another installment of their continuing Egyptian storyline. The new text is as follows:
Construction of the pyramids continues. The technical genius and awe-inspiring power these monuments display are a tribute to Egypt and the talent of our people. Nothing of this magnitude has ever been built by mankind, and I doubt anything will rival its grandeur in the future. Foreign visitors have come from far and wide to gaze with wonder at our architectural accomplishment.
The update also includes a screenshot of, appropriately, the Pyramid Wonder. -DanQ
BMP TO MAP CONVERSION UTILITY!
(25 October 2000, 15:49 EST/CtP2) A newly arrived at our forums Activisioner, Tony "neblig" Evans, gave some good news about map editing in CTP2:
You will be able to construct maps in any bitmap graphics editor (such as Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro) and then convert it to a text file which can be imported into the game and then saved as a CTP map. The color palette and the conversion utility will probably be released as a download on Apolyton after the game ships.
It may not be the best(integration into the map editor) way, but it will certainly help! -MarkG
NEW FORUMS AT CIVFANATICS
(25 October 2000, 15:41 EST/Misc) Apparently Apolyton is helping the spread of UBB forums in the civ community :)
After CivGaming.net, Civfanatics.com opened their new UBB-powered forums for Civ I, II and III today. Check them out! -MarkG
WHAT YOU SEND, I`LL DOUBLE IT!
(24 October 2000, 14:30 EST/Misc) Now that you got curious from the title, here is a note from Narck, our Forum Helper:
As you may have noticed before, there is a project going on in the Off Topic Forum to help build a house for a poor girl from the Philippines, Karen Mills. Many people have chipped in already, but more donations are still needed in order to get the total required amount to build the house for Karen. To make sure this goal is reached, one of the regular visitors of the forums, Zkribbler, has offered to match any donation received BEFORE or on Halloween, by Lancer, the project coordinator. Your help is requested, and now, thanks to Zkribbler's generosity, your donation will be doubled, if you can manage to get it to Lancer by Halloween.
Also, if you decide to assist in this project, keep in mind that he doesn't live in a big city, so mail will take longer to reach him. Please read the thread on this subject for more information.
Come on, act civilized! :) -MarkG
HOLDING ON: G100
(24 October 2000, 12:39 EST/SMACX) It's been on the chart for 88 weeks, and counting. In the 408th installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri/Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire holds onto 9th spot for a second week in a row.
To vote for SMAC this and every week, click here! -DanQ
STEADFAST HOLD: G100
(24 October 2000, 12:38 EST/Civ2ToT) It's been on the chart for 63 weeks, and counting. In the 408th installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Civilization II: Test Of Time remains steadfast in 14th for a second week in a row.
To vote for ToT this and every week, click here! -DanQ
CONTINUING DECLINE: G100
(24 October 2000, 12:36 EST/CtP) It's been on the chart for 81 weeks, and counting. In the 408th installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Civilization: Call To Power continues its decline falling another two spots into 31st position.
To vote for CTP this and every week, click here! -DanQ
FROM THE PAST: CHALK SHOW
(23 October 2000, 18:34 EST/SMAC) Talking a stroll down memory lane, we come across a previously unreported "review", of sorts, for SMAC. On March 18, 1999, Episode #60 of The Dave Chalk Computer Show featured SMAC in its Game Barn section. Here's what "reviewer" Mike Agerbo, Chalk's co-host on the show, had to say:
Mankind finally conquers the stars in the future and we land on that alien planet. What kind of colonists and leaders would we be?
That's the premise behind the new Sid Meier's game Alpha Centauri where you have to actually build up a new society from scratch. It's not as easy as it sounds, because there's eight different factions competing against you. The capitalist who want to stop at nothing to rape the environment, to build up the city, or even the environmentalist.
As you build up your different races and society, you have go out and explore the plant. You come across these different races and it's up
to you whether you want to conquer them or befriend them. What I like about this particular game is that it's almost infinitely re-playable.
With a 3-D world generator, it's different every single time. You can literally play for hours with this game. Play other people on the
Internet and build your dream society or have it all crumble down around you.
If you'd like to see and hear the description for yourself, check out the Show 60 page on Chalk's website. -DanQ
FORUM BACKUP NOTICE
(22 October 2000, 20:47 EST/About) Between 8:30-EST Monday, October 22, through to 5PM-EST Thursday, October 26, backups of our forums will be conducted and, as a result, you may experience slowdowns in browsing the forums or an inability to browse one or more of them entirely for a brief period of time. We will let you know when the backups have been successfully completed.
We apologize for any inconveniences this may cause over the next few days but, again, they will be brief, limited in scope and will help to ensure that in the unlikely event that our forums do experience technical difficulties, we will be able to restore them with the backup in a fraction of the time otherwise. -DanQ
INBOX: OCTOBER 22, 2000
(22 October 2000, 20:30 EST/About) Welcome to another installment of InBOX, a weekly feature here on ACS where we select three pieces of email from the past 7 days to comment on in this open venue. Letters are chosen based on their relevance to the community that this site serves, the site itself and the frequency in which the question(s) have been asked.
1. I have played CivII for ages but when I played CTP I couldn't play on Earth. Why is that? And can you play on Earth in CTPII?
This is because CTP (Call To Power) does not have a map of the World included in it -- you will need to download it from Activision's CTP website or from our files database.
To answer your second question, yes, Activision has stated that they will be including a World Map with each copy of CTPII they ship.
2. I'd like to contact someone from the team who's making Civilization III if you know how i can contact any of them please tell me and even if you don't, write me back so i'll know, thank you
If you post your questions/ideas in our CivIII General and Suggestions forums, the CivIII team is apt to read it: they frequent them on a regular basis.
3. Hi there, just a quick word to let you know that for some reason the 1.21 hack cannot be d/l from your website
A number of you have emailed us in the past week in this regard -- we thank you for letting us know, and are currently working on fixing the problem.
Another week, another mailbag. See you next Sunday! -DanQ
COLUMN #137; BY TIM BROMIGE
(21 October 2000, 23:42 EST/Misc) Tim Bromige examines the playing field of the turn-based strategy genre today in his article entitled "Is Turn-Based Strategy in Danger?".
This is Tim's second contribution to this long-running weekly series of ours; back in July he wrote a piece penned simply "Civilization III". Comments/questions are welcomed in our forums, or you may contact Bromige directly.
Speaking of columns, we are in need of more submissions! Head on over to our Article Submission page for more information on how you can contribute -- no previous published works necessary! -DanQ
ANOTHER FIVE FROM GSPY
(21 October 2000, 16:09 EST/CtP2) Five more screenshots from CTPII have surfaced on GameSpy, again posted by the site's Managing Editor John "Warrior" Keefer who kindly informed us of their availability.
They range in content from a pic of information on the Electricity advance from the built-in Great Library resource to researching a new technology with the assistance of the Science Advisor. -DanQ
CGM NOV. 2000 WRITE-UP
(21 October 2000, 14:48 EST/CtP2) Yesterday evening 'joseph1944', one of more than 7,000 registered users on our forums, started a thread in our CTPII General discussion board announcing that Computer Games Magazine has a two page article on CTPII in its November, 2000 issue.
It confirms that cities can be four squards in each direction, joseph1944 writes.
We'll discuss more of this article as information becomes available. -DanQ
CUT-AND-PASTE IN MAP EDITOR!
(21 October 2000, 4:36 EST/CtP2) Something greatly missing from map editors of civ games will be now in CTP2. St Swithin, posted on a thread about the scenario editor:
Well, CTP1's scenario editor worked the way you described: just click and plant, for units, cities, terrain improvements, etc. However, my opinion on CTP2's scenario editor is that it is vastly easier to use, has many, many more features than CTP1's, and combined with the easier AI tweaking capabilities, should make scenario creation much easier and much faster. For example, there is a cut-and-paste feature in the map editing mode. If you create a continent that you want to put in the upper left corner instead of the middle of the screen, just use the drag select, cut, then paste. There are WAY too many features to describe, but we tried to make sure that all useful features suggested by Apolyton, gamers, and team members were implemented.
There goes one of those simple things that we never understood why they weren't in civ games... -MarkG
LEAD PROGRAMMER LETTER
(20 October 2000, 23:24 EST/Civ3) Ralf informed our forum community in a thread on our CivIII General discussion board that Chris Pine, Firaxis' Lead Programmer on CivIII, responded to his inquiry regarding AI-problems in Civ-style games. Here was the response:
Thanks for your email!
Many of your suggestions (though I can't say which ones) are already in the game and we will certainly think about the others.
Just so you know, I think we've finally fixed both the ICS problem and the bigger-is-always-better problem.
Thanks for all of your input and for thinking about the game.
Thanks for telling us about it, Ralf, and thank you Chris for getting back to him on this. -DanQ
PCDATA: SEPTEMBER`S TOP PC GAMES
(20 October 2000, 23:14 EST/Misc) PCData has released their Top 20 Selling PC Games listing for September, 2000, and tabled below are the Top 10. For titles 11-20, check out Computer Gaming Online's article on the subject.
1) The Sims: Livin' Large | Electronic Arts
2) Age of Empires II: The Conquerors | Microsoft
3) The Sims | Electronic Arts
4) RollerCoaster Tycoon | Hasbro Interactive
5) Diablo II | Havas Interactive
6) Sim Theme Park | Microsoft
7) Madden NFL 2001 | Electronic Arts
8) Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, 2nd Edition | Disney
9) Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings | Microsoft
10) StarCraft | Havas Interactive
PCData, based in Reston, Virginia, developed this chart based on units sold by 42 retail chains, representing more than 80% of the U.S. market. -DanQ
PC DATA: OCTOBER 7, 2000
(20 October 2000, 23:13 EST/Misc) For the week ending October 7, 2000, those listed below are the Top 10 Selling PC Computer Games based on sales data gathered by PCData based in Reston, Virgina. This chart is developed from data provided by 42 retail chains comprising more than 80% of the U.S. market.
1) The Sims: Livin' Large | Electronic Arts
2) Roller Coaster Tycoon: Loony Landscapes | Hasbro Interactive
3) The Sims | Electronic Arts
4) Roller Coaster Tycoon | Hasbro Interactive
5) Baldur's Gate 2 | Interplay
6) Age of Empires II: The Conquerors | Microsoft
7) Diablo II | Havas Interactive
8) Age of Empires II | Microsoft
9) Sim Theme Park | Electronic Arts
10) Starcraft | Havas Interactive -DanQ
CHART-TRAK: OCTOBER 14, 2000
(20 October 2000, 23:12 EST/Misc) Below are the Top Selling PC Games in the U.K. for the week ending October 14, 2000, according to Chart-Trak.
1) Who Wants To Be A Millionaire | Eidos
2) Baldur's Gate 2 | Interplay
3) The Sims: Livin' It Up | Electronic Arts
4) Age of Empires II: The Conquerors | Microsoft
5) Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force | Activision -DanQ
8 MORE FILES IN DATABASE
(20 October 2000, 2:24 EST/Civ2) 
Does this sound familiar? Here are 8 more files "coming home"...
Maps
Frontier
Islandia
Modpacks
Canadaqc
Orbis Terrae
Patches
New Units
Rip Off Pack 2
Special
Interface Changer
Techtree
We are currently at 453 files with 109 reviews and a total of 114187 downloads. -MarkG
13 MORE FILES IN DATABASE
(19 October 2000, 3:12 EST/Civ2) 
Yeap, even more files in our database. Here are 13 more files waiting for you to download and review...
Maps
Spanish Map
Mapcom
Mideast
Narfton
Europe_s
Modpacks
Kosovo
Starwars
AHD
Death and Resurrection of an Empire
Harald Fairhair
Patches
Militarist Patch
Modern Ages
Hovercraft
We are currently at 445 files with 107 reviews and a total of 113553 downloads. -MarkG
ST SWITHIN POSTS
(19 October 2000, 2:40 EST/CtP2) It seems that things have goten very busy in the "CTP2 Labs" and posts from team members have become scarce. "St Swithin" gave answers to two threads though.
On the buttons on the radar map:
"There are filter buttons on the radar map for units, cities, borders, terrain (i.e. land/sea vs. all terrain types), and fuzzify(make units and cities stand out over terrain). You can also hide/show the radar map and the control panel."
On the text files related to AI:
"VERY user-friendly text files, outlining the order of items AI cities build, types of units, and strategies. It's all un-fuzzy (i.e. Boolean) now, which makes it much easier to see what's going on. However, don't mistake "easier" for "less complex" - the number of rules doesn't determine the complexity, it's how they interact."
Btw, a note on the release date: officially it's November(yes, this November). Now, be sure that a) it can change, b) a more exact date you see on some sites are most of the times just speculation. -MarkG
FIVE NEW SCREENS
(17 October 2000, 15:36 EST/CtP2) GameSpy Industries' Managing Editor John "Warrior" Keefer posted five new screens on the aforementioned gaming website.
Included in the lot is the main menu splash screen included in the game. Check it out! -DanQ
FALL BACK ON G100
(17 October 2000, 15:31 EST/SMACX) It's been on the chart for 87 weeks, and counting. In the 407th installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri/Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire falls back again to 9th spot after gaining a notch last week; two weeks ago, it had also taken up residence in 9th.
To vote for SMAC this and every week, click here! -DanQ
G100: BOUNCE BACK
(17 October 2000, 15:28 EST/Civ2ToT) It's been on the chart for 62 weeks, and counting. In the 407th installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Civilization II: Test Of Time bounces back into 14th position (as it was two weeks ago). Last week, it resided in 16th.
To vote for ToT this and every week, click here! -DanQ
TWO SPOTS DOWN ON G100
(17 October 2000, 15:25 EST/CtP) It's been on the chart for 80 weeks, and counting. In the 407th installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Civilization: Call To Power moves down to 29th from 27th spot.
To vote for CTP this and every week, click here! -DanQ
CC SITE RE-DESIGN
(17 October 2000, 15:19 EST/Misc) The CivCenter revealed an unexpected yet sleek website re-design today. The site's webmaster is currently experiencing some technical difficulties with its news script (archive is available), but the rest of the sections are up and running under the new design.
One of the sections even speaks specifically to the site re-design: the poll. CC's staff wants to know what you think of it, so let them know today! -DanQ
22 FILES RETURN
(16 October 2000, 19:07 EST/Civ2) 
Thanks to "self biased", 22 files(of those lost during the... summer tragedy) have returned to our database. These are
Maps
West America
Modpacks
Lance
The Fog of War
Ocean and Sea
End of the New Republic
The New World Order
Tet-a-Tκte, World War III
The Terran-Kilrathi Conflict
In the Beginning
The Arab-American War
Sea Quest
Magic vs. Steel
Operation Seel?e
The Wheel of Time
The Wild World
Liortage
May 1940
Newtech
The Battle for Middle Earth
Patches
Purdy Units
Ultimate Civ Sci-Fi units Collection
Special
Wonders of the World
We currently have 432 files with 104 reviews and a total of 112330 downloads. -MarkG
CIVGAMING.NET LAUNCHES
(15 October 2000, 21:35 EST/Misc) The Civilization Gaming Network opened its doors today, making it the newest member site of the online Civilization community.
Reismark, CGN's President, made the announcement in our Off-Topic forum this morning. -DanQ
AOW: TEMP DIFFICULTIES
(15 October 2000, 20:39 EST/About) If you are trying to access Art of War, one of our hosted sites, but have been unsuccessful, we apologize for any inconvenince it may have caused.
It is experiencing some technical difficulties, but should be resolved ~24hrs. We thank you for your patience. -DanQ
INBOX: OCTOBER 15, 2000
(15 October 2000, 20:31 EST/About) Welcome to another installment of InBOX, a weekly feature here on ACS where we select three pieces of email from the past 7 days to comment on in this open venue. Letters are chosen based on their relevance to the community that this site serves, the site itself and the frequency in which the question(s) have been asked.
1. I was curious if Apolyton had discontinued the newsletter? If not perhaps I have a problem with my account, for I have not received one in months.
No, it has not been discontinued -- it's just on a brief hiatus. Glad to know that there is still interest in it!
2. I tried to download a file but got a 404 error. What's wrong?
If it's a file linked to from our site, give us as many details as possible: the file's name, file type, which database it is in etc.
3. Your hosting program looks interesting, how do I apply?
First off, thank you for our interest in our Hosting program! For all the information you need to sign-up, check out our Hosting page.
Another week, another mailbag. See you next Sunday! -DanQ
THE APOLYTON YEARBOOK
(15 October 2000, 16:01 EST/About) It's always really great seeing someone give lots of his free time to do something nice for the whole community. Thanks to OrangeSfwr, here is the first Apolyton Yearbook! It's in Flash format and 765Kb big. Check it out! -MarkG
COLUMN #136; BY XUENAY
(14 October 2000, 23:48 EST/Misc) Xuenay takes aim at the Apolyton administration for their handling of forum post count situations in his article entitled "The Meaning Of The Post Count At Apolyton Forums".
Comments/questions welcomed in our forums. -DanQ
REYNOLDS KEYNOTE #2
(13 October 2000, 22:53 EST/Misc) From Big Huge Games' website News section:
On November 3rd, Brian will deliver a keynote address on "The Ancient Art of Game Balance" to the Australian Game Developers Conference in Melbourne, Australia. If you live down under, come join us for the occasion! Brian also looks forward to seeing the Southern Cross and a certain other bright southern star for the first time. -DanQ
JAPANESE SCENARIO REPLACES WW2
(13 October 2000, 11:40 EST/CtP2) Lt John made the announcement on the thread about the PCG-UK article:
One change since the article was written. The World War II scenario has been replaced with a Japanese Feudal Lord scenario. We hope to release the WW2 scenario online after the game ships.
Looking forward to seeing both... -MarkG
TEXT TWEAKABLE AI
(11 October 2000, 18:54 EST/CtP2) CTPII Designer W. Lee, aka St. Swithin on our forums, responded to a thread about AI in the game started by 'iron_man', whose discussion has been ongoing for a little more than a week now. Lee writes:
... the AI is totally tweakable via text files. I know this because I am doing it now. And I should also mention that the AI text files are about 10 orders of magnitude easier to use than in CTP1.
Oh yeah, one more thing: FLI rules are gone. No more scary, ambiguous, non-debuggable text files. -DanQ
SHOWMELINUX FEATURE
(11 October 2000, 18:28 EST/Alt) ShowMeLinux posted an article about Freeciv in the fourth installment of their series, Game Room.
"Freeciv compares very nicely [to the original Civ], thank you", writes author Allen Dante. "All of the keyboard shortcuts I was familiar with were there and for the person just starting out, they will find it easy to learn what they can do through the use of the menu system".
Dante compliments all aspects of the game, from multiplayer to graphics.
"The graphics are well done, more like the ones found in Civilization II than the original. Attention to detail was put into them..."
In closing, SML says that Freeciv "is a well done piece of software. Veterans will enjoy the ability to play a nice round in Linux and people who have never played before have a chance to see what they have been missing". -DanQ
PCDATA: SEPTEMBER 30, 2000
(11 October 2000, 18:16 EST/Misc) For the week ending September 30, 2000, the Top 10 Selling PC Computer Games based on sales data gathered by Reston, Virginia's PCData are listed below.
1) The Sims: Livin' Large | Electronic Arts
2) Baldur's Gate 2 | Interplay
3) The Sims | Electronic Arts
4) Age Of Empires II: The Conquerors | Microsoft
5) RollerCoaster Tycoon: Loony Landscapes | Hasbro Interactive
6) Diablo II | Blizzard Entertainment
7) Baldur's Gate 2 Collector's Edition | Interplay
8) RollerCoaster Tycoon | Hasbro Interactive
9) Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings | Microsoft
10) Who Wants To Be A Millionaire 2nd Edition | Disney
This chart is developed from data provided by 42 retail chains comprising more than 80% of the U.S. market. -DanQ
CHART-TRAK: OCTOBER 7, 2000
(11 October 2000, 18:14 EST/Misc) Below are the Top Selling PC Games in the United Kingdom for the week ending October 7, 2000, according to Chart-Trak.
1) Who Wants To Be A Millionaire | Eidos
2) Baldur's Gate 2 | Interplay
3) The Sims: Livin' It Up | Electronic Arts
4) Age of Empires II: The Conquerors | Microsoft
5) Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force | Activision -DanQ
PCG-UK ARTICLE
(10 October 2000, 23:07 EST/CtP2) Thanks to a tip, and some quick typing, from Blade Runner, we present to you a copy of an article that appeared in the August, 2000 issue of PC Gamer UK about CTPII. Some excerpts:
Activision's underlying philosophy behind the development of CTPII has been to refine rather than rebuild. They’ve attributed great importance to customer feedback – a commendable attitude – and introduced the changes that were most requested.
The combat model has been modified by adding a class system to the military units, which should banish those bad memories of your stealth fighter being taken out by a couple of archers. A further pleasing addition to the combat system is the ability to retreat from any engagement which you initiated.
... the emphasis is on tweaking in rather than invention. One such tweak is that all stealth subversive and trade units will be able to see each other -– unlike in CTP. This will mean that the presence of just one of these in a city will be sufficient defence against the other players.
So we’ve got minor improvements to the graphics and major tweaks to the interface, play balance, diplomacy and combat. Games of this kind have always been more about substance than form – so, providing the tweaks works well, there’s every reason to get excited, despite the lack of the licence. -DanQ
FROM ADMIN: SERVER OUTAGE
(9 October 2000, 22:03 EST/About) In the early hours of the morning (EST) yesterday, the server that hosts Apolyton CS and numerous other sites on GameStats went down completely.
A team of technicans at WorldCHAT, who host and own GS, spent the better part of yesterday working on isolating the problem and restoring functionality. This was accomplished a little more than 24hrs. later. We thank you for your patience and understanding during our recent downtime. -DanQ
FROM NINTH TO EIGHTH
(9 October 2000, 21:26 EST/SMACX) In the 406th installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri/Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire goes up to 8th position from 9th spot.
To vote for SMAC this and every week, click here! -DanQ
UP TWO NOTCHES
(9 October 2000, 21:25 EST/Civ2ToT) In the 406th installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Civilization II: Test Of Time now finds itself in 16th -- last week, it was 14th.
To vote for ToT this and every week, click here! -DanQ
SIX SPOTS UP
(9 October 2000, 21:23 EST/CtP) In the 406th installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Civilization: Call To Power moves from 33rd to 27th this week.
To vote for CTP this and every week, click here! -DanQ
WEEKLY GAMING HOURS
(9 October 2000, 20:42 EST/Misc) Strategy Gaming Online wants to know how long you spend playing computer games in a given week, as demonstrated by the latest poll posted on their website.
1? 2? 15? 30 or more? Admit it! And then ask yourself: how much of that time is spent playing Civ... -DanQ
THE APOLYTONERS HOUSE
(9 October 2000, 11:52 EST/Misc) Please check out a charity project hosted on the Apolyton Off Topic Forum, involved in providing assistance to a poor girl from the Phillippines, Karen Mills. Apolytoners are trying to raise money to build a house for Karen and her mother, and your help is needed. Please check the thread in the Off Topic for full details...
-MarkG
NEWSLETTER HIATUS
(8 October 2000, 13:54 EST/Misc) Our weekly newsletter is not dead, but rather on a prolonged hiatus. We have received several email messages from subscribers in the past few days inquiring as to its status, and we thank them for their concern.
Rest assured that the newsletter has not been discontinued. If it were to be, however, a formal annuncement would be made on the site.
Every issue missed will start to be mailed(e-mail version), posted(web version) and recorded(audio version) in the coming days.... -DanQ
INBOX: OCTOBER 8, 2000
(8 October 2000, 0:29 EST/About) InBOX is back, and better than ever! InBOX is a new weekly feature here on ACS where we select three pieces of email from the past 7 days to comment on in this open venue. Letters are chosen based on their relevance to the community that this site serves, the site itself and the frequency in which the question(s) have been asked.
1. I was wondering if there was a way to download a version or demo of any type of Civilization (1, 2, 3, Test of Time or any of the other ones for PC)?
First off, to clarify: "Test of Time" was (is?) the last in a series of expansion packs for CivII and is thus not a separate game, although with the cumulative modifications it carries it could very well be classified as such.
To answer your question at hand, the simple answer is no. No demo -- playable or otherwise -- was developed by MicroPROSE for CivI or CivII. As CivIII is still in its early (pre-alpha) stages, it is much too soon to know if a demo will be developed let alone a possible release date for it. This is a decision that both MicroPROSE and Firaxis Games will decide amongst themselves most likely after the game is commercially released.
2. I am new to this game and was wondering if you can play Alpha [Centauri] online? Anywhere? It seems like Alpha would be a 'kick' to play with others.
Absolutely there is! Check out our affiliate GameLeague, gameleague.megaultra.com, and find out what they're up to. Happy SMACking!
3. Hi. My ISP has been changed, but the address to which [I] want my e-mail sent has not. Do I need to change my profile, or not?
I take it you are referring to your account on our forums, correct? If so, no -- you do not need to change your profile if, after having switched to a new ISP (Internet Service Provider), the email address 'assigned' to your account remains active and in your possession.
Another week, another mailbag. See you next Sunday! -DanQ
MAC PORT: PUBLISHER DECISION
(7 October 2000, 23:22 EST/Civ3) The question as to the likelihood of a Mac port for CivIII was raised on our forums yesterday by an inquisitive Civer. The answer came early this afternoon from Firaxis Games' Jeffrey Morris:
We wouldn't do it in-house, so it's up to the publisher (as usual). There was a Mac version of [Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri] but not one of [Sid Meier's Gettysburg!], so who knows. -DanQ
COLUMN #135; BY DAVEP
(7 October 2000, 23:08 EST/Misc) DaveV can count to four reasons as to why he is still playing CivII more than four years after its original release in his article entitled "Why I'm Still Playing Civilization II".
Comments/questions are welcomed in our forums, or by contacting the author directly. -DanQ
MAPEDIT SURFACES
(7 October 2000, 12:32 EST/Civ2) Just this morning Mercator, of Mercator's Civilization, announced in our forums of the long-awaited availability of MapEdit, a custom map-editing tool for CivII that has been under development since March. Included with MapEdit is Harlan Thompson's European Map Maker, a gigantic bitmap with detailed terrain information on the aforementioned continent.
While ME is currently only available for download from MC, watch for its addition to our files database in the coming weeks. Please note that this MapEdit is not be confused with Boutell.com Inc.'s MapEdit which is a piece of commercial software used by website developers to create imagemaps. -DanQ
ALPHA-HQ SHUT DOWN
(7 October 2000, 12:06 EST/SMAC) In somewhat dated news, Electronic Arts has shutdown AlphaHQ which had been the official online matchmaker for Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. Its hayday was shortly after SMAC was released nearing two years ago. Rumor had it that it was being investigated for a possible security breach, the details of which we may now never know.
If you are a SMAC player who had been relying on this service for your matchups for multiplayer games and are still looking for worthy competitors, you may want to give our affiliate GameLeague a try. -DanQ
PORTRAIT AND SITE UPDATE
(6 October 2000, 0:23 EST/Civ3) -sm.jpg)
On Tuesday Firaxis' web wizard, Dan Magaha, updated our forum dwellers on the status of the official CivIII website:
I'm sure you can all understand that there is a great deal of discussion and coordination that has to happen before we can open the site. There are a lot of people involved (including many folks from Hasbro) who are just making sure everything is copacetic before we go public with the site.
Please also keep in mind that as this will be a "preview site", we will be doing our best to address your questions and tell you what we can of the game, but it is not going to be the be-all, end-all of Civ sites by any means.
Just bear with us, the first step is always the hardest =)
At the same time, Magaha shared exclusively with our visitors a picture of all the members of Firaxis and Hasbro Interactive's CivIII team taken just the day before; to view, click on the thumbnail image to your right or right here (39K). -DanQ
LITTLE BIG HUGE INTERVIEW
(6 October 2000, 0:15 EST/Misc) Bright and early this morning GameStats, our hosts and with whom we are proud to be affiliated, have conducted an interview with Brian Reynolds, Big Huge Games' President and Co-Founder.
In the brief three-question discussion, one of GS' Senior Editors, SawdEye, asks Reynolds about his favourite part about working at BH, for a hint about the comapny's first game and to name a unique charactertistic that others may not know about him. -DanQ
CHART-TRAK: SEPTEMBER 30, 2000
(5 October 2000, 23:00 EST/Misc) Below are the Top Selling PC Games in the U.K. for the week ending September 30, 2000, according to Chart-Trak.
1) Baldur's Gate 2 | Interplay
2) Age of Empires II: The Conquerors | Microsoft
3) The Sims: Livin' It Up | Electronic Arts
4) Who Wants To Be A Millionaire | Eidos
5) Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force | Activision -DanQ
PC DATA: SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2000
(5 October 2000, 22:55 EST/Misc) For the week September 17-23, 2000, those listed below are the Top 10 Selling PC Computer Games based on sales data gathered by PCData based in Reston, Virgina. This chart is developed from data provided by 42 retail chains comprising more than 80% of the U.S. market.
1) The Sims: Livin' Large | Electronic Arts
2) The Sims | Electronic Arts
3) Age of Empires II: The Conquerors | Microsoft
4) Diablo II | Havas Interactive
5) Baldur's Gate 2 | Interplay
6) Microsoft Plus Game Pack | Microsoft
7) Roller Coaster Tycoon | Hasbro Interactive
8) Roller Coaster Tycoon Loony Landscapes | Hasbro Interactive
9) Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Covert Ops | Red Storm
10) Sim Theme Park | Electronic Arts -DanQ
TRADE ADVISORS SPEAK
(5 October 2000, 0:29 EST/CtP2) In the latest in a continuing string of updates to the official Call To Power II website, Activision added to its Egyptian storyline surrounding the kingdom's trade advisors and releasing a new screenshot in the process.
In order to build my armies quickly, I need income. My trade advisors have informed me that distant lands will pay rich amounts of gold for the spices that are native to Egypt. I have commissioned my advisor to assemble great caravans so that we may deliver our goods to our neighboring states, will my mayors prepare bazaars in their cities to increase the flow of gold from commerce. -DanQ
REYNOLDS FROM KOREA
(5 October 2000, 0:23 EST/Misc) On October 6th, Big Huge Games' Brian Reynolds will address the World Cyber Games Forum in Seoul, South Korea, on the subject of game design and game balance.
Other celebrity speakers will include Bruce Shelley of Ensemble Studios. More information to come as it becomes available. -DanQ
BHG TEAM ADDITION: ROB CLOUTIER
(5 October 2000, 0:21 EST/Misc) 
Big Huge Games says hello to Rob Cloutier, the company's new Senior Technical Artist. His move to the company was announced on its corporate website a couple of days ago. Most recently, he had been a member of MicroPROSE's Art Department.
Cloutier's bio:
[Rob] has remained active in the 3D scene for over 9 years. Rob is a frequent contributing author for Design4 magazine, a leading publication for 3D Studio MAX users. His most recent article, detailing many hidden features, tips and tricks within 3D Studio MAX Release 3 was featured in the August 2000 issue. Rob has also co-published a models disk, 3D History Volume I: The Twentieth Century that is available through Digimation. Rob adds a vast amount of technical knowledge to the Big Huge art department where he plans continually to share his wealth of knowledge and skill in 3D Studio MAX.
After graduating from Boston University in 1989 with a dual major in Computer Science and History, Rob spent three years as a programmer with the Pentagon and two years as a technical writer for the US State Department. His first foray into computer graphics began at Philip's Studio Interactive where he served as a character animator on their children's product line. He then moved on to Microprose Software/Hasbro Interactive where he was involved in the such titles as European Air War™, Tank Platoon II™, Civilization® II: The Test of Time and Gunship!™. Rob also served as the Microprose in house 3D Max trainer, conducting classes and sharing his knowledge with the rest of the art department. -DanQ
CIVGAMING.NET COMING
(2 October 2000, 21:29 EST/Misc) CivGaming.Net is set to launch this quarter, and at present you can browse the forums that were opened up at the aforementioned URL. For specific details as to what the site will cover, check this thread on our forums.
"When the site opens, we will cover the Civ games, the Call To Power games, the Alpha Centauri games, and Dinos", says Reismark, the site's owner and operator. "It will expand over the first year to include Colonization".
Stay tuned as the site unfolds in the coming weeks! -DanQ
UNIT MANAGER: CYCLING
(2 October 2000, 20:09 EST/CtP2) Talk about a devotion to the fans: Mr. Ogre answers your questions about Call To Power II even on Sundays!
VinceP asks in our forums: "Is there going to be a way of cycling through a specific class of units?" The answer:
The Unit Manager lists all units individually, and can be sorted by any of its fields (of which type is one, of course). So you can see all your units of one type together, and double clicking on one will select it and take you to it on the map. You can also disband units directly from the window, and the list shows the city the unit is in, if any, so you can also sort by city to make sure something else is there without having to exit the window. -DanQ
JUMP BACK TO NINTH ON G100
(2 October 2000, 10:50 EST/SMACX) In the 405th installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri/Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire jumps back from #11 to #9 (two weeks ago, it had also occupied the #9 position).
To vote for SMAC this and every week, click here! -DanQ
G100: FALL TO FOURTEENTH
(2 October 2000, 10:48 EST/Civ2ToT) In the 405th installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Civilization II: Test Of Time loses more ground as it falls to #14 -- it had held onto 13th spot for the past two weeks.
To vote for ToT this and every week, click here! -DanQ
THIRTY-THIRD ON G100
(2 October 2000, 10:47 EST/CtP) In the 405th installment of the Top 100 PC Games, published every week by Global 100, Civilization: Call To Power continues its decline into 33rd spot; last week, it was situated in 28th.
To vote for CTP this and every week, click here! -DanQ
INBOX RETURNS NEXT SUNDAY
(2 October 2000, 10:44 EST/About) Inbox -- a bi-weekly feature here on Apolyton that highlighted three email inquiries submitted to the ACS administration over the past seven days, and answered here in this public medium -- returns next Sunday. With its October 8th installment, it has been scheduled to run every weekend this month (as well as November 5th). -DanQ
