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LIFE GOES ON FOR CIV3 AND FIRAXIS (28 February 2000, 16:09 EST) We contacted Firaxis PR, Lindsay Riehl, about the departure of three more employees(one of them being Tim Train, Civ3's Producer) and here's what she had to say "We're always sad to lose members of our team but we wish them well. Over the last year Firaxis has steadily grown its design team, in fact we've almost doubled in size, and Sid and the Civ team remain focused on making the best Civilization game yet. We'll be keeping in touch on the game's progress and new developments at Firaxis Give your comments on the civ3-forum. More news about this in the Misc section -MarkG
TIM TRAIN INTERVIEW ON AVAULT (4 March 2000, 3:38 EST) JimMac reported to us that Tim Train was interviewed by Adrenalive Vault yesterday on (what else?) Big Huge Games. There is an interesting part of the "how did you come up with the name" story. Beyond that, it more or less the same of what we've heard so far, but with some intersting pieces here and there. Read on! -MarkG
Apolyton &Friends News
27/Feb-4/Mar 2000
BIG HUGE GAMES!
AND THE NAME IS... "BIG HUGE GAMES"!! (28 February 2000, 10:45 EST) We wondered what Brian was going to do after Firaxis. We thought Tim Train had become head of the Civ3 production. And we were watching the flow of news slowing down. Well, read this! BRIAN REYNOLDS AND FORMER FIRAXIS® STARS REBORN AS BIG HUGE GAMES
Hunt Valley, Maryland (February 29, 2000) Multimillion-selling game developers Brian Reynolds, Jason Coleman, Tim Train, and David Inscore have announced the formation of Big Huge Games™, Inc. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, Big Huge Games™ plans to create the next generation of real-time strategy games, with a definitive focus on cutting-edge technology and aimed at mass-market sales.
Big Huge Games™ is led by award-winning game designer Brian Reynolds, who has amassed an unbroken legacy of smash hits masterminding the design of Civilization II®, Colonization®, and Alpha Centauri™. Released last year, Alpha Centauri™ garnered Strategy Gaming Online’s™ Best Turn-Based Strategy award for 1999, and spent eight months atop the WorldCharts™ ranking of most-played game titles.
“Big Huge Games™ will emphasize excellence in all aspects of game development—game design, artwork, technology, and production values alike”, said Reynolds, who was recently honored as one of twenty-five “Game Gods” by PC Gamer® magazine, “Our name accurately describes the opportunity we see and the commitment we have to reach for the brass ring and create the best strategy games in the world!”
Joining Brian in Big Huge Games™ are longtime collaborators Jason Coleman, David Inscore, and Timothy Train. A master programmer, Jason Coleman engineered the Jackal development library that powers Gettysburg! ™ and Alpha Centauri™. David Inscore has created stunning visuals on several best-selling games, including Gettysburg! ™ and Alpha Centauri™. Timothy Train worked as Producer on Alpha Centauri™ and Producer/Designer on Alien Crossfire™, capping a nine-year career that began with the original Civilization®. Comments in the civ3 forum please(as we think it is the more affected game from this) -MarkG
NOTE FROM BRIAN: PUTING TBS EXPERIENCE INTO RTS (28 February 2000, 16:21 EST) As soon as we got the press release about Big Huge Games, we asked Brian and Tim to talk a bit more about it, and here is Brian's answer: "I know today's announcement comes as a big shock to everyone, but it's something we're really very excited about.
I did want to say a couple of things to those who have expressed shock and dismay that we are planning to move towards real-time strategy games-- First of all, we still think turn-based games are cool, we don't think the market for them is going to "dry up" or anything like that; and clearly some very big turn-based titles have been announced. But we also happen to be real-time strategy addicts, and we think we can harness that energy to do something really cool in that genre. We certainly understand that some of our turn-based fans may be disappointed to know that they won't be getting a new TBS from us in the near future, but we'd also like to point out that far from abandoning all the fun we've had with TBS games one of the reason we think that real-time games are ripe for us right now is that there are a lot of lessons real-time games can learn from the recent crop of turn-based games, and we think we have a chance to really make a mark on that genre. So please do stay tuned for future developments--it's going to be cool, and even real-time skeptics may be pleasantly surprised! Comments? In the forums of course! -MarkG
SG INTERVIEW WITH TIM TRAIN (3 March 2000, 9:39 EST) This morning SidGames posted an interview with Tim Train on his move to Big Huge Games. The 15-question feature was conducted a couple of days ago via telephone, and the transcript is now available on SG' website.
SG administrator Kunal Shah was most impressed with Train's answers.
"Tim opened almost all of his answers or at least somewhere in the sentence included the word "we"", Shah wrote in an editor's note at the end of the interview. "To me this signifies that he was well prepared for the spontaneous phone interview". -DanQ
BHG: FIRST PR, FIRST REFLECTIONS (28 February 2000, 19:05 EST) With the announcement of Big Huge Games coming into existence, made up of four former members of Firaxis Games still rippling through the strategy gaming community, those on both sides on the fence are commenting on what it means for fans.
Brian Reynolds talked to GameSpy's Managing News Editor John Keefer about what he and his team have in store at BHG. In addition, Reynolds revealed the source of the company's name.
"The real credit goes to David Inscore", he said. "The name sounded kind of cool and shows that we are not taking ourselves too seriously. It has 'Games' in it and it says what we do. It also describes what our dream is of what we want to do: make really cool and really successful games. All the factors are in there".
We reported earlier on Reynolds' thoughts with fans on the company's decision to focus on RTS titles over TBS', the sentiments of which were reflected in his interview with Keefer. At present, the topic of who their publishing partner will be is up in the air.
"We'll talk more among ourselves and see what rises to the top", he said. "Anything is possible".
Also according to Reynolds, BHG has no plans to have a display at the Game Developer's Conference in San Jose, CA on March 8-12, because they are too busy with other matters. However, participation at this year's E3 conference in May is not yet out of the question.
What is Firaxis' reaction the announcement? We at Apolyton had the opportunity to talk to PR Directory Lindsay Riehl about it (see our CivIII section), and Keefer got in touch with Communications Manager Kelly Gilmore.
"Tim [Train] was the producer on Civ3 and he was in charge of keeping in touch with the fans", she said. "We are looking for another producer to fill that role. But Jeff and Sid are very involved with the project. It's not like Tim left and there is no one to carry on".
MISCELLANEOUS
FEBRUARY TOP LINKS&PRODUCTS (2 March 2000, 3:34 EST) This should be posted yesterday, but here goes. These are the top links and products listed in AL&PD(Apolyton Links&Prodcuts Directory), as rated by you!
Again, we ask for you ratings, to collect as many opinions as possible. Comments on the forums please... -MarkG
PC DATA: FEBRUARY 13-19, 2000 (2 March 2000, 10:02 EST)The Top Ten Selling PC Games for the week February 13-19, 2000 has been released. Look who's still the newest king of the hill:
1) The Sims | Electronic Arts 2) Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? |Disney Interactive 3) Roller Coaster Tycoon | Hasbro Interactive 4) Age of Empires II: Age of Kings | Microsoft 5) Nox | Electronic Arts 6) Roller Coaster Tycoon: Corkscrew Follies | Hasbro Interactive 7) Quake III: Arena | Activision 8) Starcraft | Havas Interactive 9) Rainbow Six: Gold Edition | Red Storm Entertainment 10) SimCity 3000 | Electronic Arts
The data to compose this chart has been compiled by PCData. -DanQ
PCDATA: FEBRUARY 6-12, 2000 (27 February 2000, 14:42 EST/Misc) Below are the Top Selling Computer Games for the period February 6-12, 2000 according to PCData: 1. The Sims | Electronic Arts 2. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire | Disney 3. MP Roller Coaster Tycoon | Hasbro Interactive 4. Microsoft Age Of Empires II: Age of Kings | Microsoft 5. Half-Life | Havas Interactive 6. MP Roller Coaster Tycoon Corkscrew Follies | Hasbro Interactive 7. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Gold Edition | Red Storm Entertainment, Inc. 8. Frogger | Hasbro Interactive 9. Deer Hunter III | GT Interactive 10. Hoyle Board Games 2000 | Havas Interactive -DanQ
CIVILIZATION II
NEWBORN CIVER! (29 February 2000, 19:30 EST) In not very civ2 related news, John Possidente, long-time civ2 development team member, and for some months now frequent poster in our Civ2-ToT forum, announced today the birth of his first child! While there not many famale civers, we hope he raises her the right way: with hundreds of hours of civ! Our congratulations to John and his wife! -MarkG
PREVIEW: DARK AGE SCENARIO (29 February 2000, 9:42 EST) This morning Harlan Thompson contacted us to let us know of the progress of his upcoming "Dark Age" scenario -- instead of telling us in so many words, he showed us. To your right are three of the units you can expect to play once the scenario is completed.
"I'm pretty excited about these units I've made for my upcoming Dark Ages scenario, and I wanted to let other people get a sneek peek of them", Harlan said in his email. "I think they bring some of that CTP/Age of Empires look to Civ2, as some of them are from those sources".
If you are a CivII scenario/MOD/map author etc., contact us if you would like to arrange for a preview of your latest works in progress. -DanQ
OTHER SITES
Civilization Fanatics Center (15 February 2000) Site redesigned, Civilization III section added. http://members.xoom.com/wilsong/
MJ's Civilization Empire (19 February 2000) - My new Borg faction is ready for download. It's an alien faction, be sure to backup any Borg faction that you already have. The TLC faction should be done in a few days, and the 8472 faction will be ready a little later.
- SMAC2 version 2 is coming soon. It will correct some bugs with the SMAC2 modpack and include more new units.
- I need help: I'm planning on creating a water based alien faction for either my SMACX2 modpack, or as a separate downloadable faction, and I need some good base images for this faction. http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/ Chateau/2658/CivEmpire
instead of telling us in so many words, he showed us. To your right are three of the units you can expect to play once the scenario is completed.