7 Years Celebration
THE YEAR IN HEADLINES - PART 1
By Solver
July
2004
July
29 5TH TOURNAMENT RESULTS
The results of the 5th Apolyton CtP2 Tournament came in, with Toni getting
the impressive highest score of 32 620, and mnbryan37 managing to conquer
the world in 1000 BC.
July 31
BLENDING COMPLETE, SEAMLESS
"Like many [real-time strategy (RTS)] expansion packs, [this] offers new
buildings, units, campaigns, and "races" to play as. But unlike
other games, this one integrates almost seamlessly into the original,
making the player wonder just why this stuff wasn`t in the game the first
time around." - Jeff Buckland of Telefragged praises Rise of Nations:
Thrones and Patriots in his review with an overall score of 92%.
August
2004
August 5 GRAB ONTO
YOUR FUNNY BONE
"No one may be able to accurately answer which bone is connected to the
funny bone, but Rise of Nations fansite Rise of Nations Heaven has marked
the month of August, 2004 as reason to exercise it. A panel of judges will
review fan-created screenshots or series` of screenshots and its inserted
captions to determine the five funniest or amusing entries; in turn, those
selected will be entered into a random draw to win a developer Big Huge
Games-autographed copy of RoN expansion pack Thrones and Patriots."
August 6 PATCH SO
FAR, SO GOOD
"Not one `Exception Error` has resulted in at least one Rise of Nations
player`s upgrade to a pre-release version of Service Pack 2 for the
WindowsXP operating system. The observation was made on Rise of Nations
Universe`s forums by `[AoI]SarumanX`."
August 7 `COMPLETE` IS CONFIRMED
"Yesterday game developer Firaxis Games and publisher Atari made it
publicly known that on September 14 of this year Civilization fans will be
able to purchase all three III-related titles as part of one retail
package for a suggested retail price of $39.99US. Civilization III:
Complete will bring this to bear constituing the original CivIII and
expansion packs Play the World and Conquests released in 2001, 2002 and
2003 respectively."
August 10 FOURTH PATCH OUT -- FIRST FOR ADD-ON
NOTE
"The fourth patch for Rise of Nations, put together by developer Big Huge
Games (BHG), has gone live. A number of gameplay changes and balance fixes
constitute the revision. Speaking of Thrones and Patriots, its first patch
is currnetly in production."
August 11 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER REBORN
"Our weekly newsletter has been reborn this past weekend. Delivered every
Saturday, it contains all the news of the last week. The first issue of
the new newsletter was sent to over 41,000 civers."
August 13 NEW STUFF, SAME KARMA
GameShark.com's James Fudge awards Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots
4.5/5 sharks, saying: "[RoN] was near perfect to begin with and [this]
adds nicely to that perfection with new content including campaigns,
races, a handful of units and a government system. The expansion fits in
nicely with the original game and doesn`t do anything that would knock its
perfection off balance at all."
August 16 NEW CIV2 TOURNAMENT
"After.. years of absense, Civ2 Tournaments return to Apolyton. The single
player game availiable in the Hall of Fame entry of the tournament will
place you in charge of Greeks facing Russians, Japanese, Germans, Spanish,
Chinese and Mongols. The "vanilla" Civ2 2.42 version is required.
Tournament will run until September 14, 2004."
August 16 THREE YEARS OF MOBILITY
"Mobile games developer Com2uS has secured a license from game
developer Atari that will see mobile games based on Civilization III
created for and released on what GameSpot`s Benjamin Golze describes as
all major mobile devices and providers worldwide. The deal inked will be
in effect from now until 2007."
August 17 SUMMER LADDERS ESTABLISHED
"Two Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots ladders, a one-on-one and
two-on-two multiplayer pision, has been established by The European
Strategy Gamers League (ESGL) for the summer. As of this writing seven
users are registered to play in the first and four in the second
respectively."
August 16 THREE YEARS OF MOBILITY
"Mobile games developer Com2uS has secured a license from game
developer Atari that will see mobile games based on Civilization III
created for and released on what GameSpot`s Benjamin Golze describes as
all major mobile devices and providers worldwide. The deal inked will be
in effect from now until 2007."
August 18 TWEAK, TWEAK: EXPANSION PATCH POSTED
"On Tuesday Stardock Systems (SS) posted an update to its Galactic
Civilizations expansion pack Altarian Prophecy, bringing the current
version count to 1.51. The new version addresses issues encountered by
users and makes tweaks based on user feedback, the publishing company
explains in a statement. "
August 22 IRON CIVER: AQUALUNG71 THE FIRST WINNER
"Friends, PBEMers, fellow Apolytonites: Aqualung71 of the Egyptians
has claimed first blood in the Iron Civer Tournament by vanquishing his
opponents in Coliseum A. Our scribes have verified the legitamacy of his
victory. He may now retire to his gladiator quarters to contemplate his
choice of tribes for the final match. More details on the battleground
conditions will be soon to follow..."
August 23 OVERLAYING THE ADDICTION
"Eric J. Iannelli has written an essay for The Raw Story entitled
"Civilization and Its Discontents, or: The Search for Saltpeter". One of
the primary reasons for [the] delay [in this article`s completion] was,
paradoxically, the very reason for its impetus: that Sid Meier’s strategy
game Civilization, now in its third incarnation and scheduled to enter a
fourth in the near future, is a surreptitiously addictive time-waster of
colossal proportions, he overlays. [Civ] and its diabolical franchise are
the heroin of the video gaming world, voraciously consuming precious hours
and thoughts and energy..."
August 25 `GOLD EDITION` CONFIRMED FOR FALL
"The Gold Edition of Rise of Nations, which will bundle the original
RoN and expansion pack Thrones and Patriots together, has now been
confirmed by publisher Microsoft Game Studios. The availability date
points to this fall. An overview, key features, system requirements and
assorted screenshots are avilable for viewing."
August 30 4TH, 5TH & 6TH APOLYTON TOURNAMENT
RESULTS
"Better late than never. The results of the 4th, 5th and 6th
Tournaments are posted in our Hall of Fame. For the 4th Civ3 Tournament,
PFREMONT had the best score with 3846 points as well as the earliest
vistory (1850AD). In the 5th Civ3 Tournament, Eflin Soth had the best
score with 5404 points and Sirian the earliest vistory (1120AD). As for
the 6th Civ3 Tournament, AeroPrinz had the best score with 5166 points as
well as the earliest vistory (1275AD)!"
August 30 SEQUEL DEVELOPMENT COMMENCES
"Engine development for Galactic Civilizations II has begun according
to Stardock Systems President/Founder Brad "Frogboy" Wardell, who is
presumed to be taking the helm as Project Lead as he did on its immediate
predecessor. This sequel is for GalCiv on the Windows platform released
last year. "
September
2004
September 1
BEGRUDGING CAVEAT
"The August, 2004 issue of the APC or Australian Personal Computer
magazine featured a review of the Rise of Nations expansion pack Thrones
and Patriots. It is only now that an online version of the article appears
on the company`s website. A 4.5/5 possible stars are awarded to the work
with a notable caveat to observe. Quote: The fact that you have to pay an
extra $50[US] for an add-on to the existing game means that while this may
make [publisher] Microsoft [Game Studios] a little money, [T&P] won’t
attract an audience beyond existing hardcore [RoN] fans. This is a real
shame, because it vastly improves what was already an outstanding title,
and the latest inclusions really do add new dimensions to the game."
September 3 AUG04
TOURNAMENT MID-MONTH REPORT
"With 6 official results our August 2004 Civ2 Tournament is still running.
DaveV is leading the tournament with a both top-score (1864) and
earliest-victory (740 AD) game. "
September 4 THERE WILL
BE A SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION
"From common expression, to the title of a Celine Dion song and back again
The Courts of Candle`Bre Project Leader and Designer `Velociryx` has
completed and subsequently posted an update on the team`s efforts on the
named game. Art, sound, code, and writing -wise notes are provided."
September 4
TRANSLATION EFFORT BEGINS
"A German-language strategy guide for Civilization II is one project
that Apolyton Civilization Site (ACS) forum user `ramses II` has decided
to take on. Since Apolyton and its members are the source of all civ
knowledge, I`d like to translate some of the really very excellent
threads, he writes. It`s nearly impossible to name all the masters of civ
who share their experience with the common folks like me."
September 7
SECOND `FREECIV` 1.14.2 BETA OUT
"Yesterday the second Freeciv 1.14.2 beta was released on the
freeware game`s official website. Barring any reported bugs, it will be
released as 1.14.2 in a few days, writes Administrator Per I Mathisen.
Game balance adjustments, reputation recovery bug and a few other minor
bugfixes and what is described as important compile fixes for some
platforms are the changes to be found over version 1.14.1."
September 9
NOT ONE BUT TWO HAPPY FACES
"`[A]dam` gives it a 9/10, and `Joe` an 8.5/10. The "it" being
referred to is the first expansion pack for Rise of Nations, Thrones and
Patriots, which comes in their review of the title. [This is] the kind of
add-on that brooks no argument as to whether fans of the original should
get it immediatel, says the first author. Adds the second writer, [RoN:
T&P is] a sight for sore eyes. Concludes `[A]dam` in part: Deepening the
strategic possibilities is key to making a strategy title more fun, and
T&P goes the extra mile to make sure that it delivers a more engaging
experience than is possible without the expansion installed."
September 10
NEW `FC` RELEASE CANDIDATE OUT
" Long anticipated has been the release of version 1.14.2 of freeware
strategy title Freeciv. The modification list is the same as what was
disclosed in the candidate`s second beta which was released less than one
week ago."
September 10
UTILITY COMPANION COVERS MORE GROUND
"In early June, Master of Orion III fan `Bhruic` released version 0.4
of the "MoO3 Patcher" [see story]. On Tuesday of this past week he
followed up this work which, based on its more than 2,000 downloads from
the work`s official site alone, has struck a cord with the game`s
community looking for continued support and evolution in refining trouble
spots. Nearly as many downloads from the said location have now been
logged for the "MoO3 PatchPak" which, two days after its initial release,
was updated which constitutes the utility`s first `full` release according
to its author."
September 16
SEP04 TOURNAMENT: ZULU TO ALPHA
"Our Civ2 September tournament has begun. You are in command of the
Zulus in 4000 BC and your goal is to reach Alpha Centauri at the earliest
possible date and without the use of any wonders (except the Apollo of
course)"
September 16
WHERE THE A.I. STANDS
"Yesterday Rise of Nations fansite Rise of Nations Heaven (RoNH)
published their interview with Big Huge Games` (BHG) Pranas "Pancake"
Pauliukonis. He is the programmer responsible for the Artifical
Intelligence (AI) in the company`s games, including RoN. This comes in
follow up to the results of the site`s conversation Ike Ellis which was
also conducted during an on-site visit to the company`s head office this
past March [see related story]. Pauliukonis discusses how he got into the
gaming industry, his take on BHG as an employer and what group he credits
for what stands out with regards to how RoN`s AI took shape."
September 16
DOWNLOAD DELIVERY OFFERINGS
"Last Friday IGN Entertainment announced the lauch of their new
service Direct2Drive (D2D). The digital retail store enables Internet
users to purchase and download some of today`s most popular PC games
directly to their hard drive, at any hour including Civilization III: Gold
Edition and Civilization III: Game of The Year. Atari, the game`s
publisher, is one of several companies who have contracted with IGN to
market their titles alongside Ubisoft, Sony Online Entertainment and
others. There are twenty-eight titles in all at present. The press release
explains the significane of D2D`s availability further."
September 16
RELEASED AS EXPECTED
"The new Civilization III bundle, Complete, was released this past
Tuesday as previously expected. This compilation includes CivIII`s
original release and its Conquests expansion pack which itself contains
the previous add-on Play the World within. "
September 16
IT`S NOT ABOUT THE MONEY
"An article focusing on the monetary fixation found in The Sims has
given a nod in the direction of Civilization III. Tech Central Station`s (TCS)
Douglas Kern writes in his article "The `Sim` of All Fears" published on
September 13 that the latter is perhaps the computer game with the fullest
understanding of such truth... wherein Philosophy and Theology are
necessary steps on the path of a civilization`[s] development. What truth
he is referring to is elaborated immediately thereafter in addition to
being noted before its inking. In CivIII, Temple and Cathedral
improvements exist in even the most secularized of civilizations,
imparting happiness and social stability. If the best computer strategy
game of all time can make room for the higher things, why can`t The Sims?
In other words, as Kern rhetorically asks of his readers earlier in the
piece, couldn`t [The Sims] also emphasize those qualities of life that
aren`t so easily budgeted? In his assessment, CivIII captures this quality
with precision."
September
20 WEBSITE OVERHAUL FOR `FREECIV`
"An already sizeable amount of Freeciv content has been ported over
to the new system driving the game`s official website, leading to the
launch of that new site today. Some material has yet to be moved over and
as such is still available for accessing via the old structure and
interface."
September
21 TRIAL OF `C3CO` A DOWNLOAD AWAY
"Last Thursday GameSpot (GS) made a trial version of Civilization
III: Complete available for download on-demand. The package, weighing in
at 1.06GB, allows users to play the game with all features enabled for a
maximum of sixty minutes. To access, one needs to be or subscribe to GS`
"Basic" subscription service."
September
21 BANKRUPTCY PROTECTION FOR `SF`
"Legal documents obtained by GameSpy (GS) from the Commercial
pision of Quebec`s Superior Court reveal that Strategy First (SF), the
game publisher behind Galactic Civilizations` North American release,
filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on August 18 of this year. The
company was unable to meet financial obligations that became due which, as
of May, owed $5,000,000 in claims. Once employing over 100 programmers,
GS` Rainier Van Autrijve notes, SF presently employees 16 inpiduals at
its Montreal headquarters which should more than double to 40 if it is
able to successfully restructure itself. Its biggest debt is $1.7US
million in outstanding royalties to game developers from across the
globe."
September 25 THERE IS A
SECOND EDITION
"For current and would-be players of Sid Meier`s Civilization: The
Boardgame note that a "2nd edition" has become available. To incorporate
the changes over the initial release, one just needs to access, download
and follow revised rules that are available from the website of Eagle
Games (EG), the company contracted to develop and market the title."
October
2004
October 2 GERMAN
`GOTY` ON MAC, BUT NO ADD-ONS
"A "Game of the Year" edition of Civilization III will soon be coming
to Macintosh platform near you. There is another key point to note: it
will be in German. CivIII fansite Civ3.de reports this past week that the
title will have the latest German patches for the original release
applied, but it will not include the expansion packs that rounded out the
PC variant."
October 3 C3SPDG:
THE MAP REVEALED
"The following report is filed by Apolyton Civilization Site News
Editor `Octavian X`:The quest of the great Viking nation to take to take
over the world in the 3rd Civ3 Single-Player Democracy Game (`SPDG`)
doesn`t look very good -- the Scanpanians are struggling through the
Middle Ages while their rivals enter the Modern one. The game lies dormant
now: the ferocity of the tenacious Berserker can only do so much against
the sheer firepower of the gun..."
October 6 FIRST
LOWDOWN ON SEQUEL
"The first known interview on Galactic Civilizations II was secured
by Homelan FED`s John "[JCal]" Callaham and the result of that discussion
is now available on the network`s website. Stardock Systems (SS) President
and Founder Brad Wardell details his company`s plan behind the upcoming
title for which he also serves as Project Lead. At the outset he answers
Callaham`s inquiries into the original GalCiv for the PC, the expansion
packs and SS` TotalGaming.net service."
October 8 6TH
TOURNAMENT RESULTS
The results of the 6th Apolyton CtP2 tournament are published, ETB getting
the highest score of 26 600, and Maquiladora managing the earliest
victory, Diplomatic, in 270 AD.
October 8 7TH
APOLYTON CTP2 SP TOURNAMENT
"With the last one just over, it`s time for a new CtP2 tournament.
This time we`re playing with Dale Kent`s World At War! mod. The map is one
with sort of a `twist`, but you`ll find out about that as you play. To
keep within the atmosphere of the mod, the theme of this tournament is A
Continent At War: you`re playing as Adolf Hitler, leader of the Fascist
goverment of Germany and your mission is to defeat the Nazi`s European
opponents."
October 9 FIRST
`FC` BETA 2.0.0 AVAILABLE
"The first beta release of Freeciv 2.0.0 has been released on the
freeware project`s official website. It can be downloaded in either GZ or
BZ2 archived format. As the first beta, we expect a fair number of bugs to
be reported, writes Administrator Jason Dorje Short. Those who take
advantage of this offer are asked to submit error reports to the team via
email with as much descriptive information as possible. "
October 9 HIDDEN
RUSSIAN BONUS DISCOVERED
"Rise of Nations Heaven forum user `Osson` has discovered a national
bonus for the Russian civilization in Rise of Nations that developer Big
Huge Games apparently disabled during playtest balancing. It`s the
Communist bonus which grants the nation a 100/100 buy/sell ratio at market
beginning in the Industrial Age. "
October 11 BRIGGS
GETS AWARD, GRACES COVER
"The Baltimore SmartCEO "CEO of the Year" is Firaxis Games Founder,
President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jeffrey L. Briggs. This award
comes in recognition of a unique and progressive approach to corporate
leadership and pioneering business model for an independent game
development company, reads Firaxis` press release. The announcement was
made last week at a celebration at Camden Yard’s spectacular Camden Club
in Baltimore, Maryland."
October 15 COMBINATION PORT FROM THE START
"For Macintosh gamers looking to get their hands on Rise of Nations
will now get even more than what they had originally anticipated. Apolyton
Civilization Site News Editor `Apocalypse` reports: Destineer [Studios`]
MacSoft unit announces [yester]day that... [they] will be releasing [RoN
as a Gold edition to include the critically acclaimed and recently
released Thrones and Patriots expansion pack."
October 15 MECHANICS ASIDE, GOOD SHOW
"An `Award of Excellence` is awarded by The Gamers Temple to Rise of
Nations following their encouraging review of this, developer Big Huge
Games` premiere title. Such a broad scope [of coverage] has been attempted
before in the game Empire Earth, but RoN has actually found a way to pull
it off and the result is a great real-time strategy game that should not
be missed by anyone with an interest in the genre, begins the uncredited
author in their introductory paragraph. After assigning a 95% grade, it is
concluded: [This] is a well-designed, well-executed paragon of strategy
gaming, although mouse-click maniacs may be disappointed that the game
requires more thought than the typical [real-time strategy game]."
October 15 MORE OF AN EXCEPTION THAN EVER
"To be Martin Kingsley is to be a non-fan of computer strategy, save
the Warcraft series as you harbour an obsession with orcs. Besides not
having a God-complex, you have patience but also happen to have a life,
and sitting around for hours on end dragging little men in kilts from one
end of the world to the other, while aesthetically appealing, is not
[your] idea of fun. This fact of your life, as a Martin Kingsley-type, has
been thrown off kilter at the hands of Rise of Nations. You couldn`t be
happier. [This i]s, essentially, Age of Empires squared... [with]
innovative real time/turn based style of gameplay. [..] [AoE] squared can
only be a good thing, right? Right."
October 15 INSATIABLY SATISFYING `DERIVATIVE`
"Last fall, Game Chronciles` John Carswell undertook an examination
of Rise of Nations and gave it an 8.5/10 `Overall` rating. Categorically
`Sound` bottomed out at 7/10 followed by `Graphics` at 8/10 whilst
`Gameplay` and `Value` tied one another with 9/10`s apiece. With
Civilization-guru, Brian Reynolds at the helm, there was never any doubt
that [RoN] would be a solid title. The question is whether it can rise
above the bevy of other [real-time strategy (RTS)] title[s] currently
clogging the market. Just by being able to create your empire around
valuable resources and militaristically advantageous areas, this reviewer
is convinced that this is something more than “just another RTS”. Another
one of the game`s main selling points in this assessment is its technology
tree, and the "Conquer the World" feature is described as refreshing."
October 23
FIRST `T&P` PATCH DRAWING NEAR
"The first Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots patch is nearing
completion according to developer Big Huge Games. The majority of the
testing has now been completed, and it should be ready to go live at some
point next week, the company writes on their website. At that time we will
also be announcing our future patch plans."
October 23
HOLD ON A MOMENT
"Although openly speculative, as GameSpot (GS) commentator Tor
Thorsen has already said, some console gamers are being to take SPOnG.com
to task for getting their hopes up that Civilization IV might be ported
over to the PlayStation2 or XBox. In a story by an unnamed staff member
earlier this week, it is written that [i]t will be interesting to see if,
and how, [CivIV] might establish itself [here]... or indeed [in] the next
generation of consoles. An uncredited Firaxis Games spokesperson contacted
GS rebukes the claim, noting [t]hat`s not something we`re considering
adding that they don`t know where they`re getting their information from."
October 23
CLOUD OF DOUBT LIFTING
"Bankruptcy protection is apparently no longer the sole focus of game
developer Strategy First. The company, which published Galactic
Civilizations for the PC in North America, contacted gaming site The
Wargamer this past Thursday to inform them of their upcoming line-up of
titles, eleven in all. It was just in August that the company filed for
the said protection citing a slew of unpaid bills as a result an extended
financial crunch, leaving the company`s long-term as well as immediate
future in serious doubt"
October 25
STREETS OF `SIM` TO `GALCIV` SPACE
"The Planet Screen in Galactic Civilizations II will be a radical
improvement over the rather limited and lame [one in its predecessor],
says Stardock Systems President and GalCiv II Project Lead Brad "Frogboy"
Wardell. The game developer has hired a former Maxis employee, Paul
Kerchen, to take the reigns of this particular effort and beyond. Wardell
explains the planned transformation further in a news post on the game`s
official website. [T]he planet quality will determine how much of a given
planet is useable. Players will have a topographical map of the planet in
which they can improve upon piece by piece, build factories, research
centers, etc. as well as take advantage of unique elements on a given
world (ruins, rare mineral deposits, etc.)."
October 25
CASUALLY, DOWNLOADABLE COOL
"Eight new so-called casual games are now available for download from
GreenAppleGames.com (GAG). In a press release posted on Onlypunjab.com,
Civilization III is accompanied by Scrabble, RollerCoaster Tycoon II and
others as titles offering addictive, coffee break style game play from the
Internet."
October 25
OFFICIAL `CIV4` CONFIRMATION
"The first albeit unofficial announcement of Civilization IV`s development
came out of the blue last December in a media interview with Firaxis Games
President and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Briggs, prompting an unnamed
spokesman from the game developer to confirm the truthfulness of the
initial mention just a few days later. The official announcement has now
been sealed under cicumstances that again caught Firaxis off-guard.
For a brief period of time in recent days, game publisher Atari listed
CivIV on their website; though since removed, its presence was noted by
some source although no visual evidence is known to have been presented.
Today Firaxis relayed to ComputerandVideoGames.com that they are indeed in
development on CivIV. CVG`s Stuart Bishop writes that [a]lthough [they
were] unable to speak further about [the game] at this time, the company
will reveal the first details to the public sometime in early 2005."
October 27
COMBO TITLE COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE
"The Gold Edition of Rise of Nations is now available for purchase as
confirmed in a press release posted on developer Big Huge Games` website
today. GE unites RoN and expansion pack Thrones and Patriots into one
package."
October 27
FRANCHISE SALES MEET, EXCEED 1,000,000
"The Rise of Nations franchise, which consists of the original RoN
and expansion pack Thrones and Patriots, has seen sales of its titles
reach and now surpass the one million mark worldwide. This news heads the
byline of the press release about the GE package combining the two into
one release ."
October 28
FALSE ALARM, REAL PENDING
"It was only a false alarm. Game developer Big Huge Games (BHG) has
apologized to Rise of Nations fans expecting the ability to acquire the
first patch for the game`s Thrones and Patriots expansion today. The
company published download instructions on their website, but the release
of the update is still pending. What has been posted and remains online,
however, is the patch change list outling the fixes that this... will
introduce. Once `Patch 1` is complete and begins its distributing, BHG
will not be putting down their toolkit for the title just yet."
November
2004
November 1 SOME
CAN PREVIEW SEQUEL WEBSITE
"If you purchased the Altarian Prophecy expansion pack for Galactic
Civilizations, you can logon onto the to-be-officially-launched Galactic
Civilizations II website. Project Lead Brad "Frogboy" Wardell, who is also
the Founder and President of developer Stardock Systems, made an
announcement to this effect earlier today. Logging in is not required to
view the site`s homepage, but to access any of the other services listed
-- and those that are not -- you need to login."
November 1 FIRST
`T&P` PATCH RELEASED
"It`s 10MB of bug fixes for Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots.
It`s the game`s first patch from developer Big Huge Games (BHG), and
earlier today it was released by the company. To update, players are
encouraged to use the autoinstaller by clicking on the "Check for Updates"
button from the main T&P menu or logging onto GameSpy Arcade through the
`Multiplayer Game` menu. GA is the official RoN multiplayer matchmaking
service from GameSpy Industries."
November 3
PRE-ORDER NOW, BETA SHORTLY
"Pre-orders for Galactic Civilizations II are now being accepted by
developer Stardock Systems (SS). Given the timeline for commercial release
is seen at present as being a year or more away, there is method to the
seeming madness beyond generating pre-sales."
November 6 THIRD
2.0.0 BETA FOR `FREECIV`
"The third 2.0.0 beta for Freeciv on both the Linux and Windows
platforms was released yesterday by the freeware title`s developers."
November 6
REDRESSING `OOS` ISSUES; PATCH
"The first Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots patch has brought along
with its assorted fixes some Out of Sync (OOS) issues for some players. A
feedback thread on fansite Rise of Nations Heaven`s forums is being
monitored by the Quality Assurance Manager at RoN developer Big Huge
Games. He is asking for five pieces of specific information in each report
of this problem in action."
November 7 6 NEW
FILES
"Over the past two months 6 new files have been posted, for the Civ3
players to use."
November 12
EXPANSION UPDATES, TIE-IN, STAND-ALONE
"Last Saturday the developer house behind Galactic Civilizations indicated
it would be updating its PC expansion pack Altarian Prophecy. The
announcement came on the game`s official website. [We] also plans to
update [AP] prior to Christmas with some goodies that tie into [GalCiv
II], writes Project Lead Brad and Stardock founder "Frogboy" Wardell. Our
goal is that each [GalCiv] game to stand on its own."
November 12
FURTHER EXPANSION PATCH EFFORTS
"Further patch efforts for Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots continue
at developer Big Huge Games. Community Relations Manager Graham "Thunder"
Somers has initiated discussion on fansite Rise of Nations Heaven`s forums
on game balance issues, and simultaneously invites pre-selected RoN clans
and players to participate in a playtest effort."
November 12
IMPLEMENT EASILY, EFFECTIVELY
"A new version of a versatile tool for Rise of Nations and expansion Rise
of Nations: Thrones and Patriots players to more easily and effectively
implement game scripts has been released by its creator `Snakely`. Version
0.8 beta features nine key components and will feature an additional six
at least when fully complete. The Modification Pack (MOD Pack) is just
under 100KB in size; its official download source is fansite Rise of
Nations Heaven."
November 12 MOD
PACK GETS PRINT MENTION
"The elaborate "Rise and Rule" Modification (MOD) Pack for Civilization
III: Conquests is listed as one of PC GAMER`s "Mods of the Month". The
December, 2004 issue of the print publication reads: [a]s if there weren`t
already loads to do in [C3C, this] adds literally hundreds of new
technologies to research, plus hundreds more units and city improvements
to build. Developed by fan `Kal-El` and his team, the file weighs in at a
sizable 107MB."
November 17
ORIGINAL, EXPANSION SOLD TOGETHER
"To play Galactic Civilizations and its Altarian Prophecy expansion pack
will no longer require users to purchase each title separately. Galactic
Civilizations Deluxe combines both releases, and should be available in
North American retail stores soon if not already. The official
announcement to this effect was made on the official GalCiv website
administrated by developer Stardock Systems."
November 17
PROGRESS, BETA OF BALANCE PATCH
"The official Big Huge Games (BHG) website is thanking all players who
responded to their earlier request for balance playtesters for the next
Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots patch. Testing will conclude on
Friday of this week, at which time we`ll begin finalizing the patch with
feedback from these players and begin the testing process, the notice
reads."
November 25
C3SPDG: SPQR - GAMERS TAKE ON THE RISE OF ROME
"Octavian X reports: The Civilization 3 Single Player Democracy Game
(C3SPDG) has decided to move in yet another new direction. After the
failed Viking game and end of the Feudal experiment, the players have
taken on the Rise of Rome scenario designed by Firaxis for Civilization 3:
Conquests.
Paddy the Scot lead the effort to recreate the game, which now operates as
a democratic sucession game. The premise is simple: Willing players taken
turns as `Emperor of Rome.` Using the advice given to him by the Senate
(the rest of the players), he plays the save game for a period of five
turns, at which point he uploads the save and allows the next Emperor to
take over. See the the list of laws for more detailed information."
November 25
CIVILIZATION FRANCHISE SOLD!
"According to Reuters report (which since the initial posting has been
edited to include other financial information and exclude the juicy civ
part :))
[Chief Executive Bruno Bonnell] also said Infogrames [, owned by Atari,]
had recently sold the franchise for the game "Civilization", making a
capital gain of 15.5 million euros that should help its second-half
accounts.
Gamespot is more precise:
In its earnings statement, Infogrames said, "After the close of the first
half on September 30, 2004, the Group sold the rights to its Civilization
franchise for $22.3 million, generating a onetime gain of 15.5 million
euros." However, Infogrames did not identify which company bought the
rights to the game, only that it had been sold"
November 27
`CIV4` STILL A GO, NEW OWNER SILENT
"In follow-up to an earlier report regarding game publisher Atari`s sale
of the Civilization franchise to an undisclosed party, Shacknews is
pointing to a comment made in response to their own story about the deal.
[Civilization IV] is still in development here and is coming along as
scheduled, writes Firaxis Games Producer Dan Magaha. It`s looking great,
by the way. Firaxis is CivIV's development house."
November 27
MULTIPLE HIRES SOUGHT
"A number of jump opportunties at game developer Firaxis Games have opened
up. `Designer/Programmer`, `3D Animator`, `3D Graphics Programmer`,
`General Programmer` and `Experienced Scenario Designer` round out the
vacancies. Details on how to apply for each position are laid out on the
company`s website."
November 27
FOURTH 2.0.0 BETA FOR `FREECIV`
"The fourth 2.0.0 beta for Freeciv on both the Linux and Windows
platforms was released last week by the freeware title`s developers. Users
are asked to submit any and all bug reports to the email address supplied
on the game`s official website. We`ve fixed a huge number of bugs even
since the third beta, but many still remain, the team writes. A tentative
feature list of what the final 2.0.0 release will include is available for
viewing."
November 27
NOT QUITE ENOUGH
"Silent Storm and the Jagged Alliance series edge out Civilization III and
Galactic Civilizations in the galaxy-spanning, global settings and
close-up intensity departments, says Arstechnica`s `Carl`. GalCiv and
CivIII are described as both fine games, but because of the three areas
mentioned they are not quite as high quality as SS and JA. Carl`s article
is written in observance of the American Thanksgiving holiday this past
week entitled "Give [T]hanks for [G]ames". "
November 29
A `MUST-HAVE` THIS HOLIDAY SEASON
"The combination of Civilization III and expansion packs Play the World
and Conquests under one title, Civilization III: Complete, is one of
twenty-five "Must-Have PC Games" according to GameSpy (GS) in their
"Holiday Guide 2004"."
November 29
ATARI NAMES NEW PRESIDENT, C.E.O.
"The new President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of game
publisher Atari is James Caparro. He replaces Bruno Bonnell who remains
the Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of the company. A press release to
this effect was posted on the website of Infogrames Entertainment SA of
which Atari is a majority-owned subsidiary."
November 30
MULTIPLAYER MODE VULNERABLE: REPORT
"Two vulnerabilities in Master of Orion III have been discovered that
can be exploited by a remote attacker to crash the game in multiplayer
mode, initiating a Denial of Service (DoS). One of the two that player
Luigi Auriemma reports is in regards to nicknames where service on a game
server can be disrupted by sending long nicknames over multiple
connections. He says that MoO3 version 1.2.5 is affected, and others may
be also. As the profile on this at SecuriTeam.com (ST) notes, no fix has
yet been made or is available from developer Quicksilver Software (QS) or
publisher Atari (Infogrames). A link to a copy of the exploitable code is
provided on ST."
December
2004
December 1 EXPANSION TOP
`CIV` CLONE AROUND
"In their "Best Computer Games of 2004" article, Record-Searchlight
names the Rise of Nations expansion Thrones and Patriots as the `Best
Civilization Clone`. From the write-up: [RoN: T&P] takes top honors here.
Yes, it's an expansion pack, and you have to own a copy of the original
RoN] game, but, the trip through history is worth the effort."
December 1 SECOND ADD-ON
POSITIVELY RECEIVED
"In the December, 2004 issue of Computer Gaming World, the second
Galactic Civilizations expansion pack is positively received by a resident
reviewer. [Altarian Prophecy] adds some nice twists to the original game,
although not in the manner of most expansion packs, the write-up begins."
December 1 TIME
FLIES WHEN YOU`RE HAVING FUN
"In a section entitled "Sound Off" in the December, 2004 issue of Computer
Gaming World, the publication asks its readers to list the five PC games
they would have with them if they were stranded on a desert island.
Civilization III makes the top of the list -- or, at least, the first one
printed. [It] sucks up so much time in so little time that I’d be rescued
before I knew it, writes an unknown inpidual."
December3 CIV4 SCREENSHOTS AND INFO
"The folks over at PC Gamer (website) have an early Christmas present for
Civilization fans: the January 2005 issue of their magazine, which is
expected to be in the news stands in a week or two, will feature an
article called "The Top 10 Games of 2005". This feature includes a full
page with information and four screenshots of Civilization IV."
December4 SOREN ON CIV4: GOODBYE POLLUTION,
HELLO HEALTH
"More early Christmas presents for Civ fans: Soren Johnson, lead designer
for Civilization IV, has responded in our Civ4 forum to concerns by some
fans that the removal of "unfun game elements" would endanger game
balance. Soren had the following to say:
There seems to have been a lot of consternation about the "get rid of
unfun elements" quote. Perhaps I should clarify. We have identified the
game pieces of Civ which have caused the most user annoyances (pollution,
corruption, etc.). Instead of trying to band-aid these problems, we are
mostly tossing them out and implementing better systems that will require
less micro-management, provide better high-level control, and still create
interesting gameplay challenges. Pollution, for example, is being replaced
by a more comprehensive "Health" system which has a large variety of
positive and negative influences. There is no need to go into detail yet -
even though I am sure you can imagine some of the factors - the important
point is that we aren`t just chucking the whole thing.
The take-home here is that we understand that cleaning-up pollution is not
fun. We can fix that!"
December6 MOBILE CIV3 SCREENSHOTS
"A few months ago, the South Korea-based mobile games developer Com2uS
secured a license to create mobile games based on Civilization III.
Recently, Gamespot published four screenshots of the upcoming game, which
has as working title simply Civilization III. Although the website of
Com2uS still mentions that no release date has been set, Gamespot claims
it will be released in the first quarter of 2005."
December 11 FIFTH
2.0.0 BETA FOR `FREECIV`
"The fifth 2.0.0 beta for Freeciv on both the Linux and Windows platforms
was released yesterday by the freeware title`s developers. Users are asked
to submit any and all bug reports to the email address supplied on the
game`s official website. A tentative feature list of what the final 2.0.0
release will include is available for viewing. "
December 11 ON MACS
BY CHRISTMAS
"Minneapolis, Minnestoa-based Mac game publisher MacSoft (MC) announced
this past Thursday that it it set to ship its long-awaited conversion of
Microsft Game Studios` (MGS) PC strategy game Rise of Nations. MC`s
version of the title is called Rise of Nations: Gold Edition, combining
the original RoN with the more recently released Thrones and Patriots
expansion pack. Developed by Big Huge Games, [RoN] was originally
published for the Windows platform by MGS. Its Macintosh conversion was
done by Westlake Interactive."
December 11 TRAIN
ROLLS INTO `IMG` STATION
"Yesterday, an interview with Big Huge Games` (BHG) Vice President of
Development Tim Train recently conducted with InsideMacGames` Michael
Phillips went online. We`d like to think we hit a sweet spot where we
added a bunch of new things to the classic [real-time strategy] formula,
while retaining the cool aspects of the genre, the BHG representative said
when asked about what gives the company`s debut title Rise of Nations an
edge over its competition. Above all, the open-endedness of the "Conquer
the World" single-player campaign game gives players the endless
replayability they desire."
December 11
BRIDGING GAP WITH MINI-CAMPAIGN
"The release of Galactic Civilizations II is still some way off, but for
GalCiv fans with the game's second expansion pack Altarian Prophecy, a
mini-campaign to be available from developer Stardock Systems (SS) before
most begin their year-end holiday vacations should stave off some of the
anxiety from anticipation. "Prelude to War" will outline the back story
that will server as the basis for GalCiv II says Project Lead and Stardock
Founder/President Brad "Frogboy" Wardell in a news release last week."
December 19
MINI-CAMPAIGN BETA AVAILABLE
"This past week, Galactic Civilizations developer Stardock Systems (SS)
made a beta version of the promised "Prelude to War" mini-campaign
available for series players with the game`s second expansion pack
Altarian Prophecy installed. Free of charge, this release was set to be
fully complete and distributed on December 17th, but no confirmation has
yet come forth from SS."
December 19 ADD-ON
BRINGS `VARIETY AND DEPTH`
"The `Best Expansion Pack` of the year from GameSpot (GS) has been awarded
to the add-on for Rise of Nations, Thrones and Patriots. It beat out Call
of Duty: United Offensive, IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles - Ace, Star
Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Athena
Sword. The announcement comes as apart of the gaming network`s "Best and
Worst of 2004" feature. This [is] so good that it highlights the
deficiencies in the original game, even while it`s elevating the gameplay
to whole new levels. [..] [This] is a highly enjoyable experience and an
excellent [addition] to an already outstanding game."
December20 SECOND `T&P` PATCH BETA
AVAILABILITY
"Those Rise of Nations players looking for an update on the progress
of the second patch for the game`s expansion pack, Thrones and Patriots,
received such an update today from developer Big Huge Games. [The second
patch] is now in testing at [publisher] Microsoft [Game Studios (MGS)],
the company writes. Th[is] open beta will run until [this patch] is
through testing... We encourage players who have been experiencing a
higher number of out of syncs in multiplayer games recently to install the
beta patch."
December24 `CIV4` DEVELOPER REDESIGNS
WEBSITE
"For the first time since 2001, game developer Firaxis Games has
redesigned its website. A mix of new and old sections are present
including employee biographies, "Ask Sid" feature and a "Behind the
Scenes" area."
December24 DEVELOPER LAUNCHES `CIV4`
SECTION
" On Wednesday, Firaxis Games launched a section on their newly
re-designed website for Civilization IV, one of two titles it currently
has under development. The fourth 'direct' incarnation of the series -- in
other words, not considering the Call to Power series from Activision --
is described as follows: [CivIV] takes the game to a whole new level with
stunning 3D graphics, advanced multiplayer gameplay, full player-created
scenario (mods) support, and cool new civilizations, technologies, and
units!"
December 24 SEQUEL`S NAME AND CONSTRUCT
"Not only does the Galactic Civilizations sequel for the PC have a
full name, but developer Stardock Systems also revealed yesterday how the
original will have its own charms that will remain unique. First, Galciv
II`s full title is Galactic Civilizations II: Dreadlords. SS President,
Founder and GalCiv Project Lead Brad "Frogboy" Wardell speaks to the next
points. Galciv II isn`t like most game sequels these days. We didn`t just
take GalCiv, throw a 3D engine on it, tweak up a few things and call it a
day. Instead, we`ve gone back to the drawing board and rethought how the
game should work. And for that reason, we think most people will also want
to have [GalCiv]... because GalCiv II is less a sequel than a game in the
same genre."
December29 SUMMARY OF `CIV4` PREVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
"The January, 2005 issue of PC Gamer (PCG) contains a much anticipated
half-page preview of Civilization IV. Apolyton Civilization Site forum
user `JonahFalcon` summarized the most important points in his assessment:
a) Being made directly by Sid Meier
b) Being made from scratch, from the ground up
c) Lush 3D zoomable graphics
d) XML data files will allow complete modding on all levels, including
A[rtifical] I[ntelligence]
e) Flexible tech trees allow different paths to later, more advanced techs
-- no more single paths
f) Advanced multiplayer -- ranging from quick games to advanced games that
can last for months"
December30 TRAINS TALKS TO CALLAHAM
"In mid-December, Big Huge Games (BHG) Executive Producer Tim Train spoke
to HomeLAN Fed`s (HL) John "[JCal]" Callaham about the games of and the
gaming industry in the past year, and what he is looking forward most to
in 2005. He cites three events that for him will significantly shape the
industry over the next few years. They are: the working conditions at
developer/publisher Electronic Arts, the launch of Halo 2 and the
distribution model for Half-Life 2 adopted by developer Valve. Outside
games that he himself has worked on, Train specifically mentions Call of
Duty as his favourite game of 2004. What does he predict the industry will
have in store for those who `live` in it one way or another?"
December 30 WARDELL`S LOOKING FORWARD TO
`CIV4`
"Published on Christmas Eve, Stardock Systems Founder and President Brad
Wardell spoke with HomeLAN Fed`s (HL) John "[JCal]" Callaham about the
games of and the gaming industry in the past year, and what he is looking
forward most to in 2005. I think 2004 was the year that the PC industry
officially became treated as the second class citizen compared to the
console game industry. That is, that the industry collectively concluded
that non-MMORPGs [(Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games)] would
largely target consoles, Wardell says in response to Callaham`s question
about the most significant thing that happened in 2004 in the video and PC
game industry. "
December 31 CLASH DEMO V8 RELEASED!
"Mark Everson, Clash of Civilizations project lead, reports: Clash of
Civilizations Demo 8 is ready for your download and comments! Your ideas
and playtesting are critical in helping the team avoid bad design
decisions, and to give us the feedback we need to put out a Great product!
The main new features of this demo include a government/social model, a
new AI and a set of new scenarios to test both the features of the game
and your own capabilities as ruler of your Clash empire. There are
countless smaller new and improved features as well."
December 31 WANTING CIV4, MORE CIV ALL
AROUND
"The co-founder of United Kingdom-based software developer and publisher
Slitherine Software has told HomeLAN Fed`s (HL) John "[JCal]" Callaham
about the games of and the gaming industry in the past year, and what he
is looking forward most to in 2005. Iain McNeil is a self-professed big
strateg
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