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`ACSR` TO BROADCAST INTO SEPTEMBER
(2 September 2003, 21:28 | Misc) Extensions for both the "ACSR Daily" and "ACSR Weekend" shows that constitute the regular programming on Apolyton Civilization Site Radio (ACSR) to continue broadcasting into September, 2003 have been awarded by the Apolyton CS administration. In years past, editions of both series and their predecessor equivalents were produced up to four months ending in late August or mid-September of a given year. The said extensions look to see "ACSR Daily" broadcasts up to and including at least September 30th and "ACSR Weekend" up to and including at least September 27th being made.
Both shows are produced and hosted by ACS` Dan `DanQ` Quick. - DanQ
SECOND PART OF PROFILE SERIAL ONLINE
(2 September 2003, 21:12 | GalCiv) A five-part series on Galactic Civilizations that goes over the creative concepts of the game, the making of both the OS/2 and Windows versions, how to survive in today`s commercial market, and what`s coming next is being written by Project Lead Brad "Frogboy" Wardell. The second part of it, entitled "The OS/2 Days", was posted on the game`s official website today.
What was compelling about doing [GalCiv] on OS/2 was that I could make the game be multithreaded. This meant that the game`s computer [artificial intelligence] could multitask within the rest of the game. So while the player was taking his turn, the computer players could be calculating theirs. So I began work in 1993 on it. [..] I bought the book "Teach Yourself C in 21 days" along with a "Programming for OS/2 Presentation Manager". That pretty much represented my entire "budget". [..] I made a decision that was to have long lasting effects: Instead of doing the game as "Brad Wardell" I did the game under "Stardock Systems". Stardock was the company I had started in my dorm room to build computers for faculty at Western Michigan University to help pay for school. My reason for doing this was part of my OS/2 fanaticism. [..]
[T]he game mechanics of [GalCiv 2] were pretty similar to the first one. The difference was really a matter of polish and overall quality. But compared to Galactic Civilizations 1 on Windows, it was downright primitive. GalCiv 2 had no space anomalies, no star bases, no concept of influence or culture, no advanced diplomacy, a primitive trade system, no space monsters, no random events other than the ethical dilemmas, and no United Planets. Anyone who thinks that [GalCiv] on Windows is basically just an update on the OS/2 version has clearly not played both.
As the excerpt above suggests, the piece goes over GalCiv`s OS/2 era from the steps that led to its development and the look and feel of the end result. - DanQ
`ACSR WEEKEND`: AUGUST 30TH, 2003
(1 September 2003, 12:55 | Misc) The August 30th, 2003 edition of "ACSR Weekend" is now available for broadcasting live on-demand.
Encoded in RealAudio format, total length is 2m:20s. - DanQ
DROPPING A FAVOURABLE NOD
(1 September 2003, 12:41 | RoN) GameSpyDaily staff writer `SheepCow`, in his daily editorial serial for August 30th, comments on his first hands-on experience with Rise of Nations.
I finally got around to playing [it] for more than [five] minutes yesterday and it`s actually one of the most enjoyable non-Command & Conquer real-time strategy titles I`ve played in a long time (ever since Age of Empires[,] in fact).
The title of `SheepCow``s commentaries are "`SheepCow``s Daily Droppings". - DanQ
LATEST BETA 3 PATCH: KNOWN ISSUES
(1 September 2003, 12:37 | RoN) Hot on the heel`s of the latest beta for Rise of Nations` third patch comes the first release document on its known technical issues. As of this writing, there are fifteen in all. The list is being overseen and kept up-to-date by game developer Big Huge Games as problems are resolved and new difficulties are reported and validated. - DanQ
FIRST BETA 3 `SMACKDOWN` CONCLUSION
(1 September 2003, 12:33 | RoN) The first "Rise of Nations Smackdown" for the said game`s third beta, hosted by fansite Rise of Nations Pantheon (RoNP) in conjunction with site host MrFitItOnline, has come to an end. `TuF_Astator` came out on top of the heat in this latest "Smackdown" competition on RoNP. - DanQ
