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Date: Aug 26 1999 16:42:49 EDT
From: "Apolyton Announcements (Apolyton Civilization Site)"
Subject: Apolyton&Friends News 13-19/August/99


Greetings everyone,
delayed a week due to lack of time, these are the news of the week of
13-19/August.

On Apolyton, not any big news, beyond the continuing news on Civ2:ToT, the
"rain" of civ2 and ctp files, and the upgrade in the scripts of our file
databases to include ratings.
And not forget that we had

In the "Friends" part of the newsletter, news from History of
Civilization,Mike's Civ2 Scenarios, MJ's Civilization Empire and Mr
Temba's Civilization.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=========
----------------------------
**Civilization II Section

NAME THAT PRICE
(August 15, 1999) The response to our call for more information on ToT
availability has not gone unanswered! In fact, we have been overwhelmed
with the number of mails we have received in the past day on this very
subject. THANK YOU!
Here's a complete rundown of the new listings to be sent our way in the
past 24hrs.:
Mookie San has told us that "the best overall price seems to be at
Best Buy with this package: [the game for] $31.99 ($34.99 sale price less
$3 instant rebate) bundled w/ Official Strategy Guide $2.99, for combined
net of $34.98! That's 50% off the list prices for both (ToT $49.99/Guide
$19.99)". This was confirmed by a Tony out in California in a mail later
today. WOW! This is the best bargain we have heard so far, and the first
one regarding the Official Strategy Guide. Both Mookie San and Jody Cooper
got in touch to let us know that CompUSA is now offering ToT for $29.99US.
Earlier it had been reported in at $44.99US. Sounds like competition is
getting stiff to meet all of the demand! The Electronics Boutique in
London, Ontario, CA is selling the game for for $49.95CA, and for this you
can get a $10.00CA rebate. A good buy! Our thanks to Gordon Pinkney for
the tip.
South of the border in the Sunshine State, California, Roger Oepkes
has told us that the local Electronics Boutique in Escondido is selling
ToT for $44.99US. Hmmm...
Effectively immediately we are extending our coverage to include
information on Prima's Official Strategy Guide's pricing and availability
across the globe!
So, got news? {grin} Email Dan today.

(August 14, 1999) Fugi, one of the 3500 registered users on our forums,
has reported that ToT is available in Wisconsin State Wal-Mart's for
$47.21, which includes the states' 5% tax.
Keep those price/availability reports coming folks! Thanks again to all of
those who have contributed to this effort so far.

RATE THE FILES!
(August 18, 1999) Completing an effort which started several weeks ago,
today we upgraded the scripts of the civ2 db to include a feature that
gives you the ability to rate the files of the database. All thanks to
Thomas Mathison, who worked for three versions of our db scripts. So, go,
rate! :)

FILES OF THE WEEK
(August 16, 1999) New files continue to arrive in our mailboxes, so here
is a part of them, processed by Cam Hills: China, Desert 2, Europe PW,
Iceage, Indonesia, Islands 2, Med Sea PW, Persia, South West USA and
Western World. As usual, more are on the way, perhaps this week. Also, the
db now counts more than 35000 downloads of the nearly 280 files. Finally,
we have a new Database Helper, Giant Squid, you will be seeing the results
of his work pretty soon.

NOT HARD ENOUGH
(August 14, 1999) PC Gamer UK reviewer Julianne Bowman, in her account of
Test of Time, has stated that "the truly hardcore among Civ II players
will be disappointed that improvements weren't pushed a little harder". It
is because of this, in simplest terms, that she rated the game only a
7.5/10. Other excerpts:
"[ToT] falls into the add-ons category, but offers enough tweaks, bells
and whistles to satisfy the hordes waiting ravenously for next year's Civ
III.
The most ambitious change in Test of Time is the introduction of multi-map
gameplay. It's a great idea, and one which has huge potential to keep your
grey matter buzzing, especially in the more difficult play levels.
All these new settlings call for a good handful of new units and
technologies. While Test of Time doesn't fail to deliver, it also doesn't
try too hard to surprise. Most of the innovations are in the science
fiction and fantasy settings, where names and descriptions have been
altered, but functions remain the same.
Attention has been given, however, to improving many of the quirks that
left dedicated gamers screaming in frustration. And players can look
forward to much stronger AI, especially in the harder levels, where enemy
units seem to have picked up an almost fiendish level of cunning. But
where Test of Time really blossoms is the beefed-up graphics and sounds...
If you're counting your pennies closely and looking for the biggest return
on your investment, Test of Time may feel a little too repetative to get
your pulse racing. Completists, however, won't want to be without it.
After all, with Civ III on the horizon, Test of Time may be presenting
more than a hint of where the greatest turn-based strategy game of all
time may be headed".


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

7 NEW FILES
(August 17) Yeah, it took us a while, but we finally have new files for
you: Erik Mod 2.0, Really Play CTP..., PowerSlics 1.6, LW1 CD Mod Add-on,
Deutsches Mod v1.0, Unit Graphics for CD's Mod and Satelite Unit. We now
have 42 ctp files with almost 34000 downloads.

ONLY FOR CREATORS
(August 18) 4 Addition in the Modification page today: the EasyMod Uility
and a total of 6 units graphics in 3 files. Beyond that, all the files opf
the page have been added to the Database so that you can rate them and
check how many times they have been downloaded. Our DB now has 59 files,
if you have a ctp file that we don't have, please mail us at
markg@apolyton.net

TWO THUMBS SIDEWAYS
(August 15) Omar Al-Samarrai is disappointed. The MPOG reviewer for CTP,
he sites that while the game "has all the right ingredients to be an
all-time 'great', it fails in many important areas". As a result, he gave
the game a barely-passing 60% grade of approval. Some excerpts:
"All the animations in the game are stunning, providing well-drawn people
and backdrops each of which maintain fluid movement throughout. The other
game movies are known as 'Wonder Movies.' These clips add immensely to the
title and without them would make for very stagnant game.
It provides a hugely in-depth and well-balanced technology tree.The game
isn't progressed through time but through advancements; this has a major
advantage in that you are able to get the technological edge against an
opponent if you are more proficient in your strategy. The technology tree
does contain a large variety of units and technologies, which only become
available as you research different branches. Disappointingly, you are
often streamed into a pre-scripted branch according to early advancements
you choose to research.
One of the better aspects to the game is the addition of alternative
warfare, as most modern governments know all too clearly, war doesn't have
to include tanks and heavy artillery, neither does it have to include
sophisticated alien technologies.
Despite this if I were to give you one piece of advice relating to the
purchase of this software, it would be to wait just a little longer and
see what the imminent 'New' Civilisation titles will be like. If you
really can't wait and are literally pinning after 2 years since the last
Civilization installment, then I will say in 1 to 2 more patches time this
game could be well worth the money".

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


INTERVIEW WITH DanQ -- *LIVE*
--(August 13 1999) Yes, you read it right! Check our our official Press
Release for more information on how to tune in and participate.

File Ratings!
--(August 13 1999) Following the CTP DB, our SMAC Files Database, has been
upgraded to include a "visitors ratings" feature. You can now rate the
files of the database fron 1 to 10. The results of the searches can now be
sorted by the average rating of the files, and we have quick links to "top
rated" listings. Finally, the scripts has a feature to disallow multiple
votes on one file, so be sure that the ratings reflect the opinions of
many people.


----------------------------
**Spanish Civ II Site(hosted site)

--Aug 17- Links page updated (one new link)


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

--Aug 18- New scenario in Fantasy: Dungeon, by Blackclove(Scenario #5 in
this section, #88 in the site) Two hundred and seventeen people visited
this site yesterday!

--Aug 15- New scenario in Fantasy: Sword of Shannara, by Michael Jeszenka
(Scenario #4 in this section, #87 in the site)


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

Current Tourney Status
--(August 15) First of all a BIG thanks goes out to carnide for running
the tournament when it tourned out I could not make it! When all of the
results are reported I will work out a good time for the second round with
the winners. The non-winners (and others who want some fun) will also be
able to play able to play at that time for fun. So please hurry up and get
those games done and send me a note. So far I have 0/3 reports in.

Tourney Bugs
--(August 14) The Tourney today had some bugs. So we have delayed it one
day to 1:00 EDT Sunday August the 15th. The games will use the same map,
but it will be in map format instead of scenario format and will have the
bugs taken out. When the improved map is uploaded the download like will
apear on the tournament page.


=========Apolyton's Friends News=========
--------------------------
History of Civilization

08/17/99- New item - "Face To Face" - in "Historian's Workshop" section of
the site. First of all - for Multi-players. But for everyone - too.


--------------------------
Mike's Civ2 Scenarios

8/16/99 - As many of you have probably noticed, there has been several
broken links, too many for me to fix. There is a reason. I am only allowed
a certain amount of webspace for this site and I am nearing the limit. But
this does not stop the flow of scenarios that the authors want on my
website. As a solution I just had the download linked to other civ2 sites
that host the same scenario. Recently, too major civ2 sites (Allard's
website and the Spanish civ2 site) have merged together and changed
address. So any scenario I had linked to either of those sites will have a
broken link. :-( So if there is a scenario you can't download and you are
really interested it, just go to my links section and find a site that has
it. I highly recommend either Mr. Temba's website or the Civilization
Scenario Collection website. The broken links will either eventually be
fixed, or the scenarios will not be hosted by my website anymore.

- The newest add on to civ2, Test of Time, is out and I plan to buy it in
a few days. Henceforth I will stop making civ2 scenarios with Fantastic
Worlds and this website will focus mostly on the new add on. So there
might be some major changes going on. I'm thinking about keeping this civ2
site but just moving it to one of those free sites.

- So whats new this update? Two very good scenarios. Ancient Empires: End
of the Bronze Age by Kull, and Cold War X by Prushka. The link to John
Petroski's WW2 scenario is fixed. Meanwhile, my new scenario, the Second
Reich, is in the playtesting stage. Unfortunately, my playtesters haven't
been sending me any comments... This means the scenario is going to be
delayed even more, or I'll have to release it without it being playtested.
But right now you can go to the preview page and get some new information
about a few more wonders that are involved.


--------------------------
MJ's Civilization Empire
Alpha Centauri Section:
8/16/1999 - SMAC2 Factions temporarily offline.

8/15/1999 - SMACX2 Mod Pack planned!!!
- That's right, with SMAC2 not yet even finished, and SMACX(Alien
Crossfire)not even out yet, I now plan a Modification of Alien Crossfire.
The Mod will include all the factions in SMAC2, with some modifications to
some of the factions as a result of SMACX's enhance abilities. And it
will also include new factions. Construction will began as soon as I
finish SMAC2, and of course when Alien Crossfire is released!!

- More scenarios coming, I'll post them in a day or so.

- Oh, sorry about some missing pages. A server error cleared out a few of
my files. They should all be back now, but a few downloads may be
missing. Please report any missing zip files to me please.


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

08/17/99- Jim Winchell is the first to win the Prince of Darkness
Challenge! Also the rules for the One City Challenge have been decided on
and now are posted there. Surveys updated. Also added the new test of time
survey to the right here.

08/15/99- El Dorado Sounds have been uploaded to the Best on Net, a new
scenario for playtesting, The Homeric Age, Version 3.0 by Allard Hofelt.
Links Updated.


That was all for this week ladies and gentlemen,

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