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Date: Apr 15 1999 08:41:56 EDT
From: Apolyton Announcements (Apolyton Civilization Site)
Subject: Apolyton News 5-14/April/99 - HAC Award tonight!


Greetings everyone,

Back from my Easter vacation and ready to be a lot more active on the
site(Dan handled almost everything for the last 10 days). Expect some new
pages in the smac and ctp sections.

Important news of these days: we now have our own domain at apolyton.net
and we have merged our forums into one new set, using a new version of the
UBB script. The new forums are at

Also, read John Heinecke's interview on the first days of ctp and the
patch/demo plans at

Finally, dont forget to drop by from our irc channel tonight. H.A.C. is
giving out the first civ2 awards on #apolyton, irc.iol.ie at 4pm EDT(9pm
GMT)

Here are the rest of the news for period 5-14/Apr/99

----------------------------
**Civilization II Section

TEST OF TIME FEATURES
(April 7, 1999) MicroProse's upcoming and already anticipated CivII: ToT
will feature 3 complete "worlds": not scenarios, but worlds.
They include the 'original' Civ2 world (but enhanced), fantasy and an
analien solar system. Each world will have multiple linked maps, and the
game overall is expected to have an enlarged viewing area.
Our thanks, again, to Tom of Strategy Gaming for this info... we
appreciate it man!

CIV CAPTURES BRONZE
(April 7, 1999) Ultimate Games has posted what they consider to be the Top
50 Gaming Titles of all time. Of course, what list could be complete
without a mention of Civ? The 'classic' Civilization and its sequel,
Civilization II, are listed in third spot; SMAC is a distant 24th. In its
writeup, UG says:
"Two of the most absorbing games ever created. The breadth of scope that
was allowed for in Sid Meier's masterpiece allowed us to conceive, as the
title suggested, the whole of a civilisation and become engrossed for
hours trying to maintain it, enlarge it and make it more powerful. The
fact that the hideous graphics and an engine that really isn't getting any
younger doesn't stop these games from being amongst the best and most
playable out there this long after their original creation is a testament
to the true genius of the essence of the games.".
With Total Annihiliation winning Silver, who robbed Civ of the covetted #1
spot? Half-Life.

*Site Updates
10.Apr Column #36("Why I hate ratings"); By A. Livings


----------------------------
**Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri Section

Nothing Wrong With Ninth
-(14 April) Yes, SMAC is still on the Top Ten Selling Games listing
produced weekly by PC Data, which measures computer software (and
hardware) sales, and in this particular case is based on revenue. SMAC is
now at #9, down 3 positions from the previous week.

AlphaLeague Unveiled
-(11 April) The gang over at CivLeague, one of our hosted sites, proudly
launched its sister site AlphaLeague today. AlphaLeague is a free,
international organization devoted to fostering a friendly, yet
competitive environment for Alpha Centauri players. Check it out!

Contradicting Oneself
-(10 April) Submit for your approval... the fellows over at Gaming
Entertainment Monthly cited one of SMAC's "Cons" in their review of the
game as being that it had "too many units"! However, if you have a look a
few lines above at their "Pros" listing, what does the last line read?
"Many units". Huh? Perhaps they forgot to read it over before they posted
it. Then, having a look under the "Information" table to your left, the
second line catches your attention: "Demo? No". Ummmmmmm, guess they
haven't visited Apolyton recently. :-)
Anyway, they gave SMAC a 83% in the end.

Expansion Anyone?
-(8 April) Firaxis is testing the water to see if the temperature of
public interest is right for a possible SMAC expansion. Tim Train started
a thread in both our and the official SMAC forums today on this very
topic, spurring some immediate postive responses (and more to come, for
sure). The letter reads as follows:
"Hi all, I trust everyone is enjoying Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. Firaxis
is exploring the possibility of a new installment in the world of Alpha
Centauri-an expansion disk(SMACX, for lack of a better designation) that
adds some new twists and turns to the familiar surface of Planet. I'd love
to hear what people want to see in a SMAC expansion disk, so here's your
chance to put in your $0.02. A few guidelines:
*We're looking for new faction ideas, base facilities, Secret Projects,
unit components, native lifeforms, landmarks, orbital facilities-basically
anything.
*Preferably, ideas should fit into the existing parameters of the game. So
a base facility that increases nutrient resources collected would be
great, but 'add minefields to the game' would be more problematic, since
no code currently exists for such a feature.
Feel free to post responses or send them directly to me at
ttrain@firaxis.com ... thanks for your input and support!".

Still Slipping
-(7 April) PCData reports that, for the week of 21/3/99 to 27/3/99, SMAC
slipped two more notches to #6 on their "Top Selling Games" Chart.
Stubborn as some may claim, SimCity 3000 held its ground and once again
got top spot for another week. We anticipate PCData will announce their
top-selling chart toppers for the month of March in the coming weeks.

*Site Updates
11 April 1999: Links page updated.
10 April 1999: Two more factions
6 April 1999: Files: new faction and updated utility.


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

*News

DEBUTS AT #4
(Apr. 14) CTP debuted at #4 on PCData for the period of March 28 to April
3, 1999. This is unquestionably very respectable, especially when
considering the fact that CTP was not commercially available until March
30 at the earliest; depending, of course, upon where you live in the
world. Keep in mind that this ranking is based on revenues; if you have a
look at units sold statistics for the same period, CTP comes in at #3.
This number amounted to, as submitted to us by John "Lt. John" Heinecke,
Activision's Assistant Product Manager, 15,000 copies. Yes (for those of
you interested in comparisons), SMAC is still on the chart -- it slipped
several more notches over the week before and is now resting in 9th
position.

LINUX VERSION GOES GOLD!
(Apr. 14) Loki Games announced that the Linux version of C:CTP has gone
gold. Nuff said, as Loki has on their official page :) Our thanks to John
Kramer for the note.

ANSWERS FROM THE TEAM
(Apr. 13) On behalf of the CTP team, John "Lt. John" Heinecke,
Activision's Associate Product Manager, has kindly taken the time to
answer our questions put to him in regards to what we all can expect down
the road in terms of patches, editors, and possibly a CTP 2!

MORE REVIEW WOES
(Apr. 13) Two more reviews of CTP are being less then enthusiastic about
it. GamesDomain's Lars Andersen was not totally negative however, citing
the game's longevitiy being set "once you get hooked", although he added
it is "a bit below Civ II's". Besides that, much of what he writes echoes
earlier reviewer's concerns. "This is a game that with the right support
and maybe an update of the unit abilities could be great, but it is not
currently on the same level as Civilization and Civilization 2 or maybe
even Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. For most games that sort of praise is out
of reach by miles and for Civ:CTP to have come as close as I believe it
did is no small feat and shows what a good game it could actually be". One
could take these comments as being, on the hole, indifferent. However, the
other review spoken of earlier, this one from Next Generation Online, was
not as understanding. It went as far as to issue this statement in their
bottom line: "Gamers hungry for a worthy sequel to Civ II will find it in
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri".

WORLD MAPS ARE HERE!
(Apr. 12) The much anticipated CTP World Maps are here, ready for
download! Here are the installation instructions:
To load these maps, copy the folders (renamed to whatever is appropriate)
to ctp_program/saves/single player. When you want to load them, simply
load a saved game as normal from the Single Player Shell or Options
screen. The number indicates which map it is (5 player or 6 player). The
continent indicates the start location (North America, Europe, etc). To
have 4 players or less, or more for that matter, you need only add/remove
Civs using the Map Editor [also available for download from aforementioned
link]. The game will start from Turn 1 as normal.

"TRULY WORTHY TITLE"
(Apr. 10) That's how GamesMania reviewer John-Paul Gionet described it in
his detailed look at CTP.
"Tons of new technologies and units, new interface and great challenge.
Low system requirements too.", he writes. "A truly worth title of the
Civilization name. There is enough that has changed to make it a new game,
but enough has stayed the same for it to be faithful to the Civilization
series.". Gionet further complemented his words with a supportive 90%
overall grade, and GM's Award of Excellence. (Thanks Mike for informing
us).
Coupled with that, GM is allowing visitors to rate CTP on a scale of 1 to
10. At the time of this article's posting, the public has given it an
emmulative 83% rating based on 28 votes tabulated so far.(Note: today,
April 15th, the rating is 9/10)

STATUS REPORT
(Apr. 9) John "Lt. John" Heinecke is busy these days covering for Peter
Karpas, who is currently on vacation. Despite his increased workload, he
was able to make the time to release a Status Report today. It discusses
how he and his team are coming along with everything from the patch to the
demo.

JOLLTIN' JOE
(Apr. 9) Activision made an impressive update to their official CTP
website today. Now available in their Scenarios section are 21 Tips &
Tricks for the Map Editor based on the feedback they have been getting
from Civ'ers like you! An overwhelming number were answered by Joe Rumsey,
CTP programmer with whom a chat was held yesterday (yes, the transcript IS
coming).


SLIC LANGUAGE NOTES
(Apr. 9) CTP Programmer Joe Ramsey's tireless efforts have resulted in a
recent update to his SLIC scripting language documentation, posted today
by Activision's. SLIC is the event language used by CTP. SLIC can perform
actions on units, cities, locations, and other game objects. The tutorial
is written in SLIC, and all the messages that come down the left side of
the screen are processed by it. It's a C-like language, but on a smaller
scale.

POPULATION & PRODUCTION
(Apr. 8) Production Tester Ian Stevens talks about his maximizing
population and production strategy. It's one of the more detailed that
we've seen. In regards to positioning a city: "It's important that you
position each city on good terrain. The ideal area would include a good
amount of either Forest or Jungle tiles with rivers running through them.
As a rule, you want to stay away from Desert, Desert Hill, Glacier,
Plains, Polar Hill, Swamp, and Tundra tiles..." Next,
Stevens touches on 'slider manipulation': "Before you progress any turns,
it's important that you maximize your Workday (12 hours) and minimize your
Rations (5.0). Then, you should probably increase your Wages one notch (4)
to cover the unhappiness caused by the previous adjustments. ".
Last but not least, his take on how to improve your civilization's
production: "The first things you need to throw into any City's build
queue are military units. It is best to slate 5 Phalanx for production –
the units are strong, relatively quick in building, and are a good value.
It's also very important that you build Improvements and Wonders that
increase happiness. As you're researching advances and your population is
increasing, don't be shy about throwing every improvement available into
each city's build queue, along with every Wonder available in cities where
the highest population numbers exist (faster build times)". #7

UNOFFICIAL MINI-FAQ
(Apr. 8) The following is the start of an unofficial FAQ we're compiling.
Why post these now? They emmulate the ones that have received the foremost
attetion and interest, based on emails we have receieved and the posts by
users on our forums. Feel free to submit a as-of-yet unanswered yearning
question of yours to Dan, and we'll work on getting it answered ASAP.
1."When's the Map Editor coming out of beta, and what's caused the delay?"
Activision has stated that the full version of the Map Editor will be
available as soon as possible, but no definite timeline yet. On a related
note, the World MAPS will be out early next week however. The
aforementioned delay is a direct result of the CTP team's efforts to
improve on suggestions sent to them by beta users and other issues
pertaining to the game.
2."We need a patch! When can we expect it?"
Lt. John has said repeatedly that it will be at least two weeks for the
team to come out with a patch, this time period which not only involves
making the patch but also exactly what will be included in it.
3."Who do I submit bug reports to? What if I'm having problems with the
game crashing?"
If you have a bug report, send it to civilization@activision.com. If you
get a crash and have a saved game near the point of the crash, please zip
and email the save game to support@activision.com. That will help
Activision pin-point the problem. For both of these don't forget to
include your system specs and also for the latter, detail what you were
doing when the crash occurred (and how far away you were from crashing
after the save).

CHAT STUFF
(Apr. 8) Well, the headline is bound to attract some curious eyes... :)
Today's Designer Chat went very well -- neither Markos or Dan were able to
attend, but our recently appointed Chat Director Derek Lande was, as well
as Kelvar who organized the chat in the first place. We're currently going
through the entire transcript, but in the meantime you'll want to check
out yesterday's Chat Highlights with answers directly from the source:
Activision!

#30 ON U-GAMES
(Apr. 7) Today is DEFINATELY Activision's day. Not only was CTP given a
thumbs-up nod from an online gaming magazine this week [see article
below], but Ultimate Games has given it a placement on their Top 50 Games
of all-time listing... #30, in fact!
Being on this list is in itself an hour, but when you consider that CTP
has been out but a week: wowzers!

TWO THUMBS UP
(Apr. 7) Yesterday, we reported to you about one of the first known
reviews of CTP that was quite negative (yes, the wording in that article
has changed slightly since then :)). We received a couple of emails
informing us of a review posted last weekend by GameOver Online Magazine
(GOOM). The contrast between the two forementioned reviews is striking.
GameOver was positive to the point of being extremely enthusiastic and, in
fact, awarded it a 97% rating and a 10/10 overall impression by GOOM
reviewer Jove. Just for interest sake, that is the same percentage that
PCGamer gave CivII back in the summer of 1996. Coupled with this, GOOM has
decorated CTP with their Gamer's Choice Award distinction. Jove summarizes
his take on Activison's efforts: "Call To Power is everything the sequel
to Civilization 2 should be while not being repetitive. The entirely new
style of gameplay along with the amazingly fresh graphics and sound
create, in my opinion, the best turn based strategy game to come along
since Civ2 and definitely the best game this year".

SUPER TROOPERS
(Apr. 7) For the second day in a row, CTP Desginer Brad Stantos shares
some his insider tips; today, he discusses modern conquest. Stantos
begins:
"Paratroopers have a very long range but remember that you can only launch
one from each city per turn, so you will need to spread them out. Plop
down a couple of settlers on islands if you need extra airbases near the
enemy coastline. Even a size 1 city will do". #5

OY: THAT'S GOTTA HURT
(Apr. 6) One of the first known reviews of CTP was posted today on C|Net's
GameCenter, and it's not pretty. The 3/5X's stinging like a sore thumb,
reviewer Martin E. Cirulis (who has reviewed some previous Civilization
titles for GC in the past) cites the game's downfalls as being
"information gaps in interface, uneven play balance, token historical
features, no autosave, and the AI being weak in some important areas".
Cirulis concludes:
"C:CTP has some good innovations to offer the Civ franchise, but once
again Activision has shot itself in the foot by releasing a game just a
bit too soon. Instead of a brave new frontier for the series, we have a
game whose many deficiencies and frustrations make it less enjoyable than
saving your money and digging out your old copy of Civ II".
In comparison, earlier this year he reviewed CivII: MGE and gave it a 4X
rating! We will just have to wait to see if other reviewers echo these
same sentiments. ?st.gc.fd.gca

DESIGNERS SPEAK... AGAIN!
(Apr. 5-6) UPDATE: Due to technical difficulties on EFNet, the chat has
been rescheduled for this Thursday, April 8th in OUR #civ chat room on
irc.iol.ie. Visit our Chat section for more information. So, did you miss
our "CTP Release Party Chat" last Tuesday? You will have the opportunity
to chat again, this time with CTP Lead Designer Will Westwater and
Programming Guru Joe Rumsey. They will be online for an IRC chat on the
date/time/place mentioned above.
If you are living in another timezone and would like the quickest and most
efficient way of calculating when to fit the chat into your daily
schedule, we highly recommend Xerox's TimeZone Converter script.

PATCH SUGGESTIONS
(Apr. 6) We have a started a thread in our CTP Help & Game Engine for you
to post your suggestions for a patch to Activision. All we ask is a) that
you keep it 'civil' and b) to please check to see if someone has posted
the same points before you (in which case, you omit that point). All you
have to do to start posting is register once on our forums, and that
process takes just a few minutes and is free!

NOT FOR GERMANS
(Apr. 6) Attention all users of the German version of CTP: the Map Editor
beta was not intended for you.
"The Beta Map editor is intended for use with the English version of
Civilization: Call to Power only. When the final version is released, it
will be localized into other languages", Activision writes. "If you simply
can't wait to try the Map Editor, the following tip has been submitted to
make it run with the German version (Thanks Lars3loff). Note that
Activision technical support will not help you with any problems that are
encountered in this process. It is highly recommeded that you backup all
files prior to attempting this hack".
We reproduce the steps here:
1.Rename the cctpbetamapeditor.exe into cctpbetamapeditor.zip
2.Unzip cctpbetamapeditor.zip
3.Rename the directory ../ctp_data/german/ into ../ctp_data/english
4.Copy all files in the correct directory structure & overwrite!
5.Open ../ctp_data/english/gamedata/strings.txt and delete the third line
(import "add_str.txt" # Addon: String additions should temporarily reside
here. Strings should be moved from here to where they belong. This file
should be gone by the time Activision releases CR.)
6.Now it should work.

STAGNATING GROWTH & TECH
(Apr. 6) Activision recently received an email asking how to stagnate
growth when creating scenarios, so that the technology remains the same
for a specific time period. Lead Designer Will Westwater answers by
suggesting these steps. "You can "stagnate" technology through three
routes. [First], edit the Advance.txt and make the cost (i.e. ADVANCE_COST
20) for new technologies astronomical. [Second], edit the govern.txt file
and reduce the amount of science generated by each government. To do this,
set KNOWLEDGE_COEF to 0000000.1, or some such small number. [Lastly], edit
the Advance.txt and remove unwanted technologies. Watch out though -- you
must change the index at the top of the file to reflect the new number of
Advances.
These files are found in ctp_data\default\gamedata. Beware, changing these
files changes the default game as well. You should make copies of your
files before you edit them so that you can revert without re-installing.
When we release the scenario support, this will become considerably
easier".

SO MUCH FOR THE AFTERGLOW
(Apr. 6) Sorry, no Goo Goos here, but you can read up on Brad Stanos'
Designer nuke strategy! "Used correctly, the Nuke/Paratrooper combination
can be a devastatingly effective weapon in the late game." There's still 3
more days of strategies left to be revealed, so in the meantime keep those
sunglasses handy! :-)

LINUX BETA UPDATE & FORUM
(Apr. 6) Loki Entertainment has released "Beta 3" and has notified their
testers via email how to retrieve the patch. They have put back up the bug
report form and are eager to hear users' responses. Also, Network and
Internet play also work, but not yet with the Windows version. Visit
Loki's CTP Beta Site for more information, and as well on their forum
hosted by Natas.

LINUX PRE-ORDERING
(Apr. 6) US and international orders can now pre-order the English,
French, German, Spanish and Italian versions of Civ:CTP on Loki
Entertainment's website.

KLONDIKE DEJA VU
(Apr. 5) Designer Strategy #4 has arrived, this one also courtesy of James
Farley. ""Then I go for Agricultural Revolution..." He passes along his
tips on what units to build and which advances to research to prepare your
civilization for the Modern Age.

*Site Updates
12.Apr World Maps have arrived; also, new custom Civ
12.Apr Designers Chat Transcript now online
10.Apr New Custom Civilizations, Utility & first Guide
6.Apr First custom civilizations up


----------------------------
**Hodadian Award Central(hosted site)

VOTE CLOSED, RESULTS THURSDAY
(APR.12)Voting in the 1999 Hodadian Awards for CivII is now closed. The
H.A.C. Development and Search Teams would like to thank everyone who voted
during the 7-week eligibility period. The winners will be announced in an
IRC chat on Thursday, April 15th. The chat will take place in Apolyton's
chat room on the irc.iol.ie server, #apolyton, from 4-5 p.m. EDST. The
results will be available on this site and on H.A.C.'s message board in
the Apolyton forums. Hope to see all Apolytoners at the show!
Keep your eyes here... we've got some big developments coming soon!


----------------------------
**CivLeague (hosted site)

AlphaLeague up!
-(11 April) AlphaLeague is up! Well some of it at least. Continuing our
proud tradition of releasing things as soon as possible with very few
features. I don't know if that's good or not...
Anyway, go forth and enjoy.

Logo poll
(9 April) The poll for the new AlphaLeague poll is up. Just log into your
account. We are also currently developing a version of CivLeague for CTP,
called PowerLeague. And we need your help to develop a logo. The same
procedures and restrictions for the AlphaLeague contest will apply.

Excuses, excuses
-(9 April) I had so many big things planned for last weekend: opening
AlphaLeague, putting up the contest, all sorts of fun. But my ISP changed
passwords on me! I couldn't contact them for a whole week. I'll try to do
all of what I was supposed to do last week this weekend. Wish me luck.


----------------------------
**Scenario League (hosted site)

Contest #2's Theme Is "Earth: 3000"
(April 07) SLeague and HAC are co-hosting the second scenario design
competition and we have settled on a topic theme after reviewing the
voting. The contest challenges you to create a believable future world
using Civ2.

El Khan Resigns as Editor-in-Chief
(April 07) To the surprise of the rest of the staff, our despotic leader
El Khan has chosen to resign, citing lack of time. Blackclove will take
over as Editor and continue to keep the site up to date. All submissions
should now be directed to Blackclove.

--New Content
--14 April, 1999
+We have two much-requested tips on advanced tech tree design, mostly
covering how to do multiple tech trees.
--6-7 April, 1999
+We have the results of the contest survey and have selected a topic.
+New round of four scenarios are up for reviewing on the downloads page.
+Review of Fantasy Scenario:
Underdark (#2)
+Reviews of Historical Scenarios:
Europe: 1939
The Dutch Republic (#2)


That was for this week ladies and gentleman
Hope to see you tonight on irc!

Markos Giannopoulos
Apolyton Civilization