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Date: Dec 18 1999 13:30:56 EST
From: "Apolyton Announcements (Apolyton Civilization Site)"
Subject: Apolyton News 12-17/December/99


Greetings everyone,
these are the news of the week(12-17/December)

The big news on Apolyton is already known to you from yesterday's short
announcement. The third part of the "Sweep of Time" trilogy will be a
dinosaurs game, and Firaxis gave out the first info about it yesterday. A
few hours later, we opened a section and a forum for the new game
().
Beyond that, some things are starting ot change on Apolyton, from the
front page, to the installation of a news script, to several other changes
that are coming soon. This was also a week of.. nice round numbers, as we
passed the 10 million mark in total hits since our begining 15 months ago,
and since this newsletter is now being
sent to more than 2000 people. A big thank you to all of you, for these
signs that our work is at least decent :)

As for the "Friends" part of the newsletter, there isn't one, as we got no
news from any other civ site. If you have a civ2, ctp or smac site and
want your news included here, mail Dustin Dunn at dustind@home.com


And now, in detail
=========The news from Apolyton=========
----------------------------
**Dinosaurs Section

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
[17 December 1999, 22:22 EST] We have obtained a copy of Firaxis'
()press release announcing Sid Meier's
Dinosaurs. While the PR offers no more specifics on the game than what is
to be found on its () official website, it
does add that Dinosaurs will be published by Electronic Arts while Hasbro
Interactive will be Sid Meier's Civilization III's publisher.

DINOSAURS SECTION!
[17 December 1999, 21:04 EST] Although we're not very sure about the
actual name yet, our Sid Meier's Dinosaurs section is up and running.
We've only got all the news we've posting these last couple of weeks and
some information from the official site, but it's something :)
About the name, the official site is not very clear about it and
()Gamespot
says that Firaxis will announce the official title sometime next year.

SID MEIER'S DINOSAURS!
[17 December 1999, 19:44 EST] Yeap, it is a dinosaurs game after all. Read
Sid's first diaries and a note from Mike Ely, on
() forum

CHECK BACK TOMORROW...
[16 December 1999, 20:39 EST] I think that now we can be 100% certain that
Firaxis will announce tomorrow the first details for Sid's next game. The
latest Firaxis newsletter has just arrived in our mailbox, and among other
things it says: "Something BIG is evolving at www.firaxis.com. Check back
tomorrow to get the full story!". Seems like we're at the end of the
evolving stage :)

DECEMBER 17TH!
[14 December 1999, 18:06 EST] It seems like the December 17th date on the
initial "egg" image on the Sid's Next Big Game page meant something. We
copy from a Firaxis press release sent to
( defined computer gaming for over a decade. Now Sid is unleashing his
latest masterpiece on an eager gaming public, and one word sums it up -
BIG. Sid's long awaited "Secret Project" is scheduled to be revealed on
December 17th and FIRAXIS Games is giving gamers some clues at
( Keep your eyes on that page!

THAT THING IS TURNING INTO AN EYE!
[14 December 1999, 7:21 EST] Yeap, one more change on Firaxis'
()Sid's Next Big Game page. What does
it look like? See on our right. Thanks to Zulu Elephant who saw it and
posted () about it

WHERE IS THIS GOING TO?
[13 December 1999, 17:18 EST] Firaxis continues to change the page for
()"Sid's Next Big Game". The egg has
goten smaller and people on the
() forums are guessing
that eventually it will change to an... eye. One way or another, I'm
geting tired... :) Thanks to Atahualpa for finding this out first.


----------------------------
**Civilization III Section

SUGGESTIONS FOR A CIV3 BETA TEST?
[16 December 1999, 14:26 EST] Rasputin00 started a thread about play
testing and suggested an open puclic beta test for civ3. Jeffrey Morris(of
Firaxis of course! :)) replied to the thread saying that he is currently
"investigating how to do an 'open' public beta right now for both Civ III
and Sid's game (versus a 'closed' or 'screened' public beta, like with
SMAC)". Adding that "There are a lot of things to figure out and prepare
for, so it's not set in stone yet. Personally, I think getting as many
eyes on our games as early as possible is the best way to ensure a hit
game. However, the logistics of making the volumous feedback this type of
testing would generate meaningful is a daunting task.". Give your thoughts
about this on the same
() thread in the
civ3-general forum.


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

JUST MADE IT
[15 December 1999, 17:17 EST] CheckOut's
()Strategy
Top 20 rounds out with Civilization II: Test of Time, just behind Age of
Empires' expansion pack The Rise of Rome. Given the competitive year 1999
has proven to be in the Strategy genre, this is an pleasantly unexpected
showing.

CHECKOUT GIVES IT A "3"
[15 December 1999, 16:29 EST] A review for Civilization II: Test of Time
has popped up on
()CheckOut. Reviewer Jonathan Sutyak writes that while the appearance of ToT is
sweeter than previous versions of CivII, it only goes so far.
"...some [units] have so much more detail that they look completely
different. So the graphical improvements are a nice touch, but they are
not spectacular. The extension of the original game and the other two new
games do add some replay value but not enough to give the game a great
review. These [council, throne room, animated diplomacy screens] missing
items are not a big deal but it is still a disappoinment that they are not
here. However, there is one major item missing: the map editor".

NOMINATE TOT!
[14 December 1999, 4:35 EST] The Strategy Shrine site is organizing it's
annual ()TSS Strategy
Game Awards and accepting nominations. Send your nominations(for ToT of
course!) on this address: vegard.strategyshrine@gamereactor.net, but first
look at the categories!

4 NEW FILES FOR DOWNLOAD
(December 12, 1999) Sven Muencheberg, our forever zealous CivII File
Database Manager, has added an additional 4 files now available for
download. They are: Birdilization, Alternate Double Production 1+2, Units
Sharpened, and last but not least Of Future Fears.

THE COLUMN: SUBMIT AN ARTICLE


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

AWESOME AIPS!
[16 December 1999, 7:29 EST] It seems that ctp mod creators are following
the civ2 tradition, with their... awesome works! :) It would take a couple
of pages two include all the changes of the Awesome Aips mod, so better
take a look at the
()readme. There are
three versions for ctpers with
()no mods, for
those with ()CD's
mod and the ones with the
()Apolyton Pack. A
definitve download, just 285KB!

MEDIEVAL MOD V2.0
[15 December 1999, 7:53 EST] An update(without a lot of work behind it)
for Wes Whitaker's
()Medieval Mod.
Major 2.0 Changes: "adjusted the values of most pre-Genetic Age units.
added a new ship, new advance, new Spy, and included changes to many other
aspects of gameplay. Air combat has been modified". See first the
()v2 ReadMe

MOST DISAPPOINTING STAFF
[14 December 1999, 17:24 EST] The Gamespot staff disapointed me sadly
today, as I saw(source: ()Sidgames that they are
having a vote for the "most disappointing game of 1999" and included CTP!
I was negatively surprised when I saw that the visitor is given only 5
choices(does this mean that every other game released that year was
decent?). Which made me wonder how on earth a ctp fan like me can support
one of his favorite games. Votes against another game? What kind of fair
vote is that?
I was even more surprised when I found out that CTP was mentioned by
only 2 of the 7 gamespot staff members whose opinions appear on the
feature. One of them said that he played CTP once, during an evening, and
other said characterized Activision's try as "moderately successfull". If
that's how one of the 5 worst games of 1999 is chosen, I think I can do
the job of a gamespot reviewer! Where do I have to sign? :)
Anyway, I voted against Indiana Jones, and I think so should you :) I
mean, I played the demo for half an hour, couldn't get pass the first
stage, closed it and sat in front my computer thinking on what was wrong
with the game ;)
()Vote here

NOMINATE CTP!
[14 December 1999, 4:35 EST] The Strategy Shrine site is organizing it's
annual ()TSS Strategy
Game Awards and accepting nominations. Send your nominations(for CTP of
course!) on this address: vegard.strategyshrine@gamereactor.net, but first
look at the categories! And yes, a similar news item has been [in the civ2
section :)


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

NBM'S SMAC BOOK IS HERE
[17 December 1999, 22:13 EST] NBM Publishing out of New York, New York USA
has published "Power of Mind Words", a 48 full-colour comic book inspired
by a game none other than Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, just in time for the
Christmas season.
From NBM's website, you can
()read up on the novel, its
authors, and even enjoy a six-page preview of the book. It is currently
retailing for $8.95US which can be purchased online for your convenience.
Our thanks to Dennis Kalinichenko for letting us know of its release.

MAC PORT COMING DECEMBER 31(PROBABLY)
[16 December 1999, 13:28 EST] Westlake Interactive updated their
()Project Status. The
mac version of SMAC appears as "near beta", with an estimated release date
of December 31. Of course, the mac port of CTP is supposed to be coming
"any day now" for the last couple of weeks, according to the same page.
Anyway, keep your eye on that page. Btw, you can
()pre-porder it on Aspyr Media's site
for $49.95

DISAPPOINTMENT FROM PCDATA
[15 December 1999, 17:14 EST] SMAC-X is not in
()PCData's Top 20 Hit List for the month of November,
1999. Newer releases dominate the chart, such as Microsoft's Age of
Empires II: Age of Kings (#2), but others such as Maxis' SimCity 3000
remain strong in sales (#10).
Let's wait for December's numbers...

SECOND RUNNER-UP
[15 December 1999, 17:00 EST] It was a close race, but GameSpy awarded
their ()Strategy Game Of
The Year Award to Homeworld over Alpha Centauri, which placed second
runner-up behind Age of Empires II: Age of Kings. Despite any initial
disappointment, SMAC fans can take pride in "their" game making it as far
in the judging as it did.
Our thanks to John Keefer III for the note.

SIXTH ON CHECKOUT'S TOP CHART
[15 December 1999, 16:48 EST]
()CheckOut
has awarded Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri the #6 spot on their Strategy Top
20 listing. It was beaten out by Force 21, Homeworld, Starcraft, Command &
Conquer: Tiberian Sun, and Age of Empires II: Age of Kings (five through
one respectively). SMAC failed, however, to place in CheckOut's Top 100
Gaming listing from across all genres in the PC gaming industry.
Sid Meier's Gettysburg! also placed on the listing at #11.

SMAC NOMINATED, BUT NOT ENOUGH
[14 December 1999, 4:38 EST] The Strategy Shrine site is organizing it's
annual ()TSS Strategy
Game Awards and accepting nominations. SMAC is so far the only civ game
released this year that was nominated in some of the categories. SMACers
should leave the nasty anti-ctp remarks for a while :) and nominate SMAC
for the remaining categories. Send your nominations on this address:
vegard.strategyshrine@gamereactor.net!

Fan Response To GameSpy Article
[December 12 1999] GameSpy has [several letters it has received in
response to John Keefer II's profile on Firaxis, [less than a week ago.
The criticism has been sharp, and there are definitely differing opinions
on Firaxis' company practices. The letters, and Keefer's responses to
them, make up a good chunk of the second page of GameSpy's weekly Mailbag
feature. One user, referring to themself only as "Shining1", went as far
to say that he didn't know what to make of "that Firaxis propoganda
article".
"It's obvious that there's a large customer base out there that's highly
dissatisfied with Firaxis' business practices. Hopefully, Firaxis has
listened to these and will rectify any problems like this in the future.
It'd be a shame to see such a talented group of game developers lose touch
with the very people they're trying to reach", writes Keefer in his
followup to one of the letters.

PCGamer's SMAC-X Strategy Guide
[December 12 1999] On page 91 of PCGamer's (PCG) January 2000 issue begins
the gaming magazine's 2 1/2 page guide for Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire,
with input from Firaxis' Tim Train. The sections covered include how to
play against the Progenitor factions, such as discovering Progenitor Psych
technology as quickly as possible, to playing as one of the Progenitors.
The guide also offers tips and hints for the builder and conqueror in all
of us.
As the article's tagline puts it, PCGamer has got some strategies to
turn this snarling bit pull into a whimpering puppy". Imagery aside, look
for PCG at your local newsstands.

MacDonald: "Caught In The Crossfire"
[December 12 1999] The January 2000 issue of PCGamer has a lot of
interesting tidbits and insight into Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire. T. Liam
MacDonald, who writes the regularly featured "Extended Play" column for
the magazine, devoted 3/4 of his monthly space to the expansion pack. Here
are some excerpts:
"Alien Crossfire adds far too many new technologies, projects,
facilities, and unit elements to detail here... This really is a great
improvement to Alpha Centauri, expanding upon core concepts without
radically changing the tone of gameplay or creating new missions that are
simply more dificult... The only people likely to be disappointed are
those who were hoping for a new tile set or location: everything takes
place on Planet".
The only comment of MacDonald's that is apt to stir some grumbles is his
reference to SMAC-X's faction editor, which many fans consider to be a
grossly overrated add-in, as "very accessible".

SMAC-X Demo On PCGamer CD
[December 12 1999] So, have you not had the time to download, install or
play the smash hit Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire demo? Yes, it's a
substantial download, and yes it is incredibly addicting. So how can you
get hooked on the game without purchasing it, or waiting to download the
demo? Simple: get it on a gaming magazine CD. PCGamer is the latest to
offer this luxury to its readers. You'll find it on the CD-ROM Edition of
their January 2000 issue.
Happy SMACking!


----------------------------
**About Section

2000 NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBERS
[17 December 1999, 23:19 EST] We are proud to report that Apolyton's
Newsletter, "Apolyton Announcements", has surpassed the 2000-subscriber
mark. It was only on January 12th, 1999, that the newsletter recorded its
1000 subscriber.
"Apolyton Announcements" culminates a week of Civilization-related news,
available free of charge sent via electronic mail. For more information,
and how to subscribe, visit any one of Apolyton's
( of weeks now -- that is, when we would learn what Sid's latest project was
all about", commented excited ACS Co-Owner/Webmaster Dan Quick. "We, like
most other Civ fans online, have been glued to Firaxis' website since it
announced "Sid's Next Big Thing". While there is still much to learn about
what this game has in store, including the prominent question of whether
the game will be set in a TB [Turn-Based] or RT [Real-Time] environment,
it is already catching the intention of gamers within the community".
Apolyton, to date, has covered only TBS games in the time-honoured
tradition of the Civilization series. Despite the possiblity of Dinosaurs
evolving into an RTS, Quick said that Firaxis' confirmation that the game
would make up the third and final title in the company's 'Sweep of Time'
trilogy affirmed it a place in Apolyton's lineup.
"Civilization fans are expecting the game to a TBS, and understandably
so. However, this will likely not be a determining factor on the game's
success in the long run. Firaxis has proven themselves worthy of producing
quality titles under both banners".
While some still stand by the contention that deep divisions remain
embedded in the Civilization community with purely "SMAC" [Sid Meier's
Alpha Centauri] fans and "C:CTP" [Civilization: Call To Power] fans
strongly advocating one game over the other, Quick believes that
Dinosaurs, or whatever the game's final tile is, will be judged on its own
merits.
"Dinosaurs is shaping up to be a whole new ball game, as is Sid Meier's
Civilization III. After witnessing the positive reception given Sid
Meier's Alien Crossfire [SMAC expansion pack], Civilization fans will have
much to celebrate well into the new century".
While unconfirmed in any official capacity, Apolyton is touting its
Dinosaurs section, accessible from , as the first
fansite for the game on the Internet. Its layout is somewhat different
than the other sections the site already has, and Quick promised that it
is a "definite preview of things to come".
Apolyton has also setup a
()forum for the game, also being proclaimed the first of its kind
online, for fans to discuss the upcoming title.

10 MILLION PAGEVIEWS!
[15 December 1999, 17:22 EST] This past week Apolyton CS surpassed 10
million pageviews(hits that is ) since its creation in July, 1998.
On behalf of the Apolyton CS administration, we thank you for your
loyalty and patronage over the past 16 months. We look forward to many
more!

ANCHOR FORUM HACK
[14 December 1999, 18:43 EST] A new hack was added in our forum scripts.
It's called the "anchor hack" and allows a user to be:
-jumped to the right message/location in the thread when he has edited/[a
message
-jumped to the right page AND the right location/message when he has
edited/[a message that's in a second or x-th page of a multipaged thread.
-jumped to his new topic instead of the forum-index page when his has [a
topic
Hope you'll find it usefull

NEWS FRONT PAGE LAYOUT, NEWS SCRIPT
[14 December 1999, 8:17 EST] You obviously noticed it, but Apolyton's
"face" for the last 15 months is history as of yesterday. We're preparing
to welcome the new millenium with a new one! :)
We've also installed a cgi script to speed up the process of news
posting and save time. More improvements and greater "facial" changes are
planned, just wait and see!

NARCK THE FORUM HELPER
[14 December 1999, 8:15 EST] After helping out in various occasions, we
decided to give him a proper title and put his name on the team page, as
we should. He wanted to be named Forum Elf, but I think we saved him from
several jokes not agreeing :) Narck has been keeping the forums'
()Age Faq and
()Birthday Calendar,
and is currently running the "Winter Apolytoner" and "Forum Titles"
votes(which you should check if you haven't so far).


----------------------------
**Civilization Scenario Collection(hosted site)

[Dec 13] Updated scenario in Fantasy: Dungeon version 3.1 by Blackclove

Updated Allflags, new Regional flags in Misc. Icons.


----------------------------
**GameLeague(hosted site)

Bracket Changed 12.15
The Dream Team Toureny second round bracket has been changed. Players are
now sorted by time zone.

Anouther Round of Dreams 12.14
The bracket has been updated and the second round of play in the Dream
Team Tourney is ready to start. Contact players just as you did in the
first round. We would REALLY like to have both games reported by the 24th,
but with the tourney this Saturday and last miniute shopping to do, it
might not be possible. So, just report the games as soon as you can, and
try to finish them. Have Fun!

Swiss Blitz 12.13
Check out the Swiss Blitz tourney we're going to hold this Saturday.
Winner gets 150 ladder points. The tourney page offers details about this
and other tourneys.

More Info 12.13
The info section has doubled in size. We have added a lot more stuff and
answered many more questions. Make sure to check it out beofre playing any
more games.


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

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS....
[16 December 1999, 19:19 EST] Yes, friends, the Christmas season
approaches, and with it much to come from HAC! We have found one Agent for
our Hodadian Awards for 2000; we seek two more. More Pride of the World
awards are on the way. And best of all, we will celebrate Christmas (and
HAC's first birthday) by opening the Third Scenario Design Contest. We
look to the future... stay tuned to this station for more :)



That was all for this week ladies and gentlemen,

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