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UP FOR A LITTLE DEATHMATCH?
(1 April 2003, 22:45 | RoN) The "Deathmatch" mode of play in Rise of Nations is a topic of discussion over in the MrFixItOnline `General` forum for the game. The issue arose in regards to the game`s second beta. Big Huge Games President Brian Reynolds works to filter out the speculation:
[It] is NOT the same as "Infinite Resources" which is also available as a custom setting. In Deathmatch I think you get about 10,000 of each resource to start; in Infinite you get, well, an infinite amount. Deathmatch is a reasonably serious undertaking since you do eventually have to come up with a reasonable economy. - DanQ
INCAN DOSSIER EN FRANÇAIS
(1 April 2003, 19:24 | RoN) Rise of Nations Alliance (RoNA), a French-language fansite dedicated to Rise of Nations, has added a new nation profile to their article collection: the Incas. Unique units, special powers and a general commentary make up the dossier. For a rough translation of the write-up, consult Google Translation Tools.
Other nations highlighted on RoNA to date in alphabetical order are the: Aztecs, Chinese, French, Germans, Japanese and Romans. - DanQ
SAVEGAME ANALYZER UPDATED
(1 April 2003, 19:07 | MoO3) On March 27th, a save-game analyzer for Master of Orion III -- created by `COeXe` -- was released [see story]. It is now available as version 0.9.
Kudos to Moo3Planet for the news tip. - DanQ
LOOK INTO IT OR REGRET IT
(1 April 2003, 18:35 | GalCiv) In the closing words of ELiTeD`s Caroline "-ViX-" Roberts, Galactic Civilizations is definitely worth looking into for all space based strategy fans. Further, in her brief review she adds:
GalCiv is presented in 2D, which not exactly stunning images, but it works here in this type of game. The overall game has been compared to Master of Orion [III], but is more of a Sid Meier`s Civilization.
One screenshot, originally published on the site last November, is aligned to the right of the text of the article`s first paragraph. Thanks to Blues News for the news tip. - DanQ
`MASTERMINDED ANOTHER HIT`: AVAULT
(1 April 2003, 09:20 | RoN) The Adrenaline Vault`s (AVault) Rob Beschizza previewed the second beta of Rise of Nations over three-pages with a half-dozen image galery accompanying the full-text. He begins by posing the following inquiry which he then works to answer himself:
Coming in May, [RoN is the brainchild of Firaxis alumni Brian Reynolds, who founded Big Huge Games in 2000 to develop it. But with countless real-time strategy titles on the market, some already combining real-time and turn-based play, is there room for another epic?
After a mostly factual account on the first page, Beschizza moves onto more subjective evaulations of the game that might appear to be little more than a variation of Age of Kings at first. The interface is easily understood and intersects neatly with the gameplay. [..] Military units gather themselves into appropriate formations when grouped and moved. [..] The (artifical intelligence) has already got the knack of this... [..] There were no noticeable pathfinding problems, and [RoN] features a number of anti-micromanagement measures... This AVault previewer also imparts his favour for a [p]articularly clever play on the strategic map and the game`s graphics which are impressive, blending two- and three-dimensional elements well enough to make it hard to tell which is which.
What of Beschizza`s overall thoughts? might Any real-time strategy release needs something to stand out from the competition, and [RoN] has more than hype on its side. [..] ...first impressions suggest Reynolds has masterminded another hit. - DanQ
1.01A.31 UPDATE
(1 April 2003, 03:51 | GalCiv | 12 comments) Late yesterday a second update for Galactic Civilizations was released:
New Features:
+ GalCiv AI tweaked so that it bargains more intelligently at lower levels
+ General difficulty level affects which random events will be used (i.e. no more getting clobbered by an advanced story arc when you`re just learning the game)
+ New Cut scene: When a player dies, you get a cut scene of ships conquering them.
+ New random event - population boom.
+ Social programs cost slightly less to maintain
+ Details screen now displays how much maint. completed projects use "(X)" by their names.
Bug Fixes:
+ Metaverse submissions should work for all players
The update is available through the Stardock Central. If you prefer a simple downloadable file, you can wait for a major patch. - MarkG
