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Date: Jun 10 1999 19:02:14 EDT
From: Apolyton Announcements (Apolyton Civilization Site)
Subject: Apolyton&Friends News 4-9/Jun/99


Greetings everyone,
these are the news of last week(4-9/Jun).

The most important news are the release of the German CTP patch
() a new review of
Civ2:ToT, and our continuing "Power Up!" Contest, your chance to win a
copy of C:CTP or C:CTP's Strategy Guide.
The contest ends on the 15th, so if you haven't entered yet, you don't
have many days left!

In the "Friends" part of the newsletter, news from Civ2-Master Deity site,
Historical Civ2 Site, History of Civilization, Frank's Star Gate, Dan
717's Civ2 Page, MJ's Civilization Empire and Mr Temba's. If you have a
civ2, ctp or smac site and want your news included here, mail Dustin Dunn
at dustind@concentric.net

=========The news from Apolyton=========
----------------------------
**Civilization II Section

9 NEW FILES, 207 TOTAL!
(June 8, 1999) It's a dream come true. Actually, a part of it. As of
today, our civ2 file database, has over 200 files. We know it's not our
initial goal of having all the files in the database(the UCIVIIS archive
only has 900 files!), but
we want to believe we're getting there!
Today, our Civ2 Database Manager, Sven Muencheberg(whose work on the DB
has been tremendous), added 9 NEW(at least on Apolyton) modpacks: Death
Star Attack, Lord of the Rings, Marte, Naval Battle, Alternative WW79,
Canada, Soviets, Wu, New World 2.
If you want to help us on the database, or have a file to submit, contact
Sven at svenm@apolyton.net.

NOT TO GO OUT QUIETLY
(June 4, 1999) Are you sure this is the Kansas you thought you knew?
While we all await Sid Meier's Civilization III, on a preliminary timeline
for release next year, MicroProse "is putting the final chapter into place
for the legendary Civilization II line". This from GameCenter, which today
release its impressive preview of Civilization II: Test of Time. After
numerous add-ons that have been met with little more then a get-on-
with-it-or-come-off-of-it attitude from critics and fans abroad, all are
looking to gobble up some new goodies to add to CivII's gameplay. It looks
like they're getting it in spades.
"[The multiple worlds] add a great deal to the strategic considerations
players must make," said Alex De Lucia, lead designer of ToT. "Look out,
because the oceans, the sky, and the earth below are all in play, and
danger is no longer just on four sides."

The 5-page preview is well-rounded, in that it covers all aspects of this
summer-slatted title. To start with, the fantasy game included in Test of
Time will certainly keep you on your toes. There are four worlds you play
on--the air world, the sea world, the ground world, and the underground
world--and attacks may come from any of them. You can choose to play as
one of seven fantasy races as you juggle spell research along with the
creation of fantastic armies, while attempting to colonize and dominate
all four worlds.
Next, take a look at the built-in science fiction game set in the system
of Lalande 21185. This variant starts you out on a planet upon which
you've crash-landed. Once you civilize the planet, you'll move on to a
"world" made up of abandoned space stations. From there you'll colonize a
dead planet. Finally, you'll move on to a gas giant and attempt to
colonize it, with the ultimate goal of returning home by developing
Earthgate technology. Meanwhile, you also have to be careful with the
aliens and other humans. Any Diety superstars in the house? =-)
Moving right along in the line-up, the Midgard scenario is another fantasy
game, but instead of expanding your civilization and conquering your
rivals, you have to meet certain conditions to win. Volsang (evil dude) is
awakening after being frozen for thousands of years, and you have to win
the game before he awakens.

Mark Asher, who prepared this first-look for GC and all Civ enthusiasts
out there, is impressed with what he's seen in the product, currently in a
playable beta stage.
"The beta we played with was mostly complete and very stable; all that was
missing were some multimedia files and the manual".
Yes, CivII: ToT has the multi-player capabilities that first appeared in
Multiplayer Gold Edition last Christmas. Drawbacks? One word:
micromanagement.
"There are no building queues in Test of Time, but we do have a city
preferences text file that will automate the build sequence. This is
probably going to be an unsupported feature, though," De Lucia admitted.

Asher concludes that ToT "looks to be a very solid and engaging game". To
make any would-be long conclusions short, it's suffice to say that all
your personal relationships are likely to take a beating and morf into
long- distance ones all over again: CivII: Tot is set to be released this
August.
Now, be sure to check out our massive collection of ToT screenshots. All
of those dated today are courtesy GameCenter with the notable exception of
from_e3.jpg, which made its first apperance earlier on Strategy Gaming
Online.

*Site updates
8.June 7 New files in DB.
5.May Column #44; By Starchild
4.June 7 Existing files in DB.


----------------------------
**Alpha Centauri Section

4.0 Patch Exists
--(June 9 1999) Yes, Patch 4.0 exists and will soon be available. Some
will say that noone ever said it wont come, but with no news for a long
time, we started wondering. SMACers asked on the official forums and
Jeffrey Morris replied.
"Version 4 has been in test for about 2 weeks at EAHQ and points abroad.
English is looking good, though a few revisions have required
resubmissions. Translation strings for European versions are falling into
place, allowing us to make foreign language builds available to test. As
soon as they're all signed off, up they go."
When asked for a specific or not so specific date, he posted:
"I could guess, but that's worse that no information. If I learn more,
I'll post it, but I probably won't have any reliable date until it's
signed off."
Hold on to your browsers, then...


----------------------------
**Civilization: Call to Power Section

SLIPS ANOTHER TWO NOTCHES
(June 9) CTP has slid another two notches on PC Data's Top Selling US
Games listing, for the week of May 23rd to the 29th. New releases continue
to hammer CTP further down the chart. Both Star Wars titles (Phantom
Menace and Racer) remain in the #1 and #2 spots respectively for the
second time around. Alien Vs. Predator, from publisher Fox Interactive,
debuts at #5 which is where CTP was at only seven days ago. If recent
trends observed continue, CTP could be out of the Top Ten in a couple of
weeks time.

FABULOUS FIRST WEEK!
(June 8) Thanks to all who have entered our "POWER UP!" contest to date!
In its first week running, we've had over 60 entries. DanQ and MarkG have
been eagerly been archiving and checking them everyday since it was
launched. With one week to go, we hope to have well over 100 in total.
After the contest closes, we (ACS) will be doing some final minute
"marking" so we can get the winners announced and the prizes sent on their
way shortly thereafter. At the same time we will also post the correct
answers to the questions put to you in order to increase your chances of
winning, as long as you all promise not to bombard us with requests like
"what did I mark down for that question on my form?" :-)
There's T-Minus one week left to vie for a free copy of either CTP or the
Official Strategy Guide! So if you live in the continential US, Canada or
Mexico and have yet to enter, do so now!!

GERMAN PATCH IS OUT
(June 7) The first of the localized patches for C:CTP is here, and the
German civers are the lucky ones! The official page for the patch notes:
"German users who have modified their version of the game with the English
Beta Map Editor should reinstall before applying this update." French,
Italian, and Spanish versions of the first CTP Patch will follow soon.

FERTILITY GODDESS OR ICE QUEEN?
(June 4) In this week's Developer's Corner, Winnie Lee gives some
interesting ideas on what one can do with SLIC. The article exaplains how
you can have a unit change the terrain it moves on(!), and even how you
can make a civ2 settler unit(if I got right Winnie). It also describes how
to have the diplomacy screen open when you click on a foreign unit and
other "little slci secrets"...

WE DON'T HAVE YOUR ENTRY!
(June 4) Did you complet to the form to participate in the "POWER UP!"
Contest? No? What are thinking? Fill it out immediatelly!!

THE BAD, THE BAD AND THE MUCH BETTER
(June 4) If you thought we were done with ctp reviews you were wrong. The
big one is coming from US PC Gamer. In the July issue, Thomas Ruge reports
that CTP got a 65%. A couple of months ago the UK edition had given a beta
of CTP a 92%... It's known that it's two different magazines, but one
wonders... Coincidentally, StrategyXtreme gave it a 6.5. The reviewer
wrote "...they've tried to build upon the tried and true Sid Meier formula
with ideas of their own and the ideas while good are not brought to bear
very well in the overall gameplay". Finally, Rainbow-PCM have added a note
about the patch in their rather negative review of ctp. "This makes a
world of difference in game play and we think it vastly improves this fine
game". I wonder if the two other reviewers have tried the patch...


----------------------------
**Alternative Civilizations Section

ANCIENT PROPHECY DEAD?
(Jun. 9) The site is alive, but there is no update since October(!) and
our contacts in Synesthetix are not answering. It seems like a good try
for a new civ-game has failed. It's kind of sad, as Ancient Prophecy had
some really good ideas...

OFFICIAL CLASH SITE ON APOLYTON
(Jun. 9) As the forum for Clash of Civilizations is nearing its' 1000th
post, after one month of operation, we're happy to announce the hosting of
the official site too! The site is currently being redesigned and will
hopefully "open its doors" on its' new home in a couple weeks.


----------------------------
**Allard's&Andrew's Site(hosted site)

6/6/99: A big update today! Five new scenarios today! Four of them by
Stefan Härtel (Quest for Asia: Alexander the Great, Darius the Great, The
Persian Empire and The Third Punic War: The fall of Carthage).
Also a scenario by Nick Clark: War of the Roses.
What more? Well, there are also new suggestions on the Civilization III
suggestions page, and new Tropical Terrain by Stefan de Jonge (Dragoon)
have been added.

Tribe play heats up!
--(June 06) More and more tribes are signing up playing in the tribes
system. The system now boasts 13 tribes, but there is still room for you
and your friends. Join or start a tribe today.

Tournament Results
--(June 05) The tournament has ended. The top four players were: Kaak,
cajuntech, dcemmitt, ventje.
To see the complete bracket vist the tournament page.

=========Apolyton's Friends News=========
--------------------------
Civ2- Master Deity

- New Site, Excite Community for top level Civ2 players
- Has some info on how to play at Deity level and how to join the weekly
Thursday night game

--------------------------
Historical Civ2 Site

06/06/99
- serious update to the links page. I think I have most of the sites now,
and because I won't need to update this page so often I can concentrate on
descriptions.

05-06-99
- Oops! Missed one. Also minor link problems fixed.
- found two new (for me) civ2 programmes to add to the utilities page.

04-06-99
- Finished the index for the 28 Post-1945 scenarios. This is completely up
to date as far as I know.
- Added two new WW2 scenarios to the index: 2194 days of war, and Der
Anstieg und der Fall des Dritten Reich.
- In response to several queries regarding my Cuban Missile Crisis and US
Civil War scenarios, these are currently unavailable, although the links
are still up to minimize my effort for when they are restored. The reason
being that having lost the original .zip files stored on the GeoCities
server, I thought I'd iron out a couple of bugs in the Civil War game and
"finish" it.

--------------------------
History of Civilization

06/08/99
- I'm here again... Tomorrow this site will celebrate its birthday and
I've decided to continue its life.
- Competition #3 is closed. At long last! Look at its results (link at the
first site page). My congratulations!

--------------------------
Frank's Star Gate

06/07/99
- Now available for download! The new Tiny Global World War 2 for
Multiplayer, designed for fast enjoyable world war 2 games for up to five
players.

--------------------------
Dan 717's Civ2 Page

06/07/99
- Sorry for the lack of news, but my internet server was down for a week!
Well, anyways the only notable news regards this site. I have been
vigorously working on the PYON (Play Your Own Nation) Scenarios Page,
hopefully it will be up and running by the next few weeks!!:)
That's all...

--------------------------
MJ's Civilization Empire
6/08/99
- SMAC2 mod section is online!!! It's unfinished, but more info will be
added to the section at a regular basis.

6/07/99
- The new SMAC2 mod section, is almost ready. I still have some technical
problems to deal with before I can completely post it.

--------------------------
Mr Temba's

06/08/99
- Added a Link to Carl's Scenarios for Civilization II, a page with some
great graphics! Also uploaded the tropical terrain mod to Scenario
Supplies which has been organized to suit your needs better. Also the Link
to The Fall of Rome was fixed so v 1.2 actually works now!

06/07/99
- An updated version of Clouds by Giant Squid has been added to the
Homeless Scenarios. Also I have added Aztecs by Giant Squid and Sky to the
Homeless Scenarios section.

06/05/99
- Surveys Updated, Links page Updated.

06/04/99
- Added an updated version of The Fall of Rome by Mark L.
- Enemy of God News -- I have the first half ready for playtesting, if you
are interested contact me at mrtemba@yahoo.com


That was all for this week ladies and gentlemen,

Until next time
Markos Giannopoulos - markg@apolyton.net
Apolyton Civilization Site - apolyton.net