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Date: Apr 22 1999 07:08:55 EDT
From: Apolyton Announcements (Apolyton Civilization Site)
Subject: Apolyton News 15-21/April/99


Greetings everyone,

it's once again the never-on-a-specific-day-of-the-week-but-always-weekly
newsletter with everything that happened on our site in the period 15-21
of April

Main news: the first ctp patch is coming by the end of the month, we
opened our smac and ctp strategies pages, as well as the ctp modification
section, the "Story of CivII" is finally finished, and our hosted sites
got sub-domains under apolyton.net!

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

*News

INTERVIEW WITH DanQ
(April 17, 1999) More than two months have passed since Apolyton's very
own DanQ agreed to an interview conducted by a Russian gaming magazine.
Believed to have not been used and never before been published otherwise,
his answers are reproduced this week as the 37th Column.

MAC VERSION SELLING WELL
(April 16, 1999) PC Data announced the top sales listings for all
categories of software for the month of March. In the Macintosh Games
listing, Civilization 2 isn't just in the top 10, but went up from the 6th
to 5th position. For more on Civ2 Mac, see (what else?) our Civilization
II for Macintosh section.

MULTIPLAYER VERSION 1.3
(April 15, 1999) MicroProse Technical Support department released MGE and
UCC v1.3 on Monday. To make the process easier, MPS has incorporated this
update into one file for users of both products; it's 2MB, and you can
download it from us here, or by clicking on the link in the menu to your
right. Here are the Notes for this version, from the MPS ReadMe File:

-The Casualty Timeline is now available in both hotseat and single player
modes of play. In a hotseat game, this can be used to determine unit
losses at the start of a turn.
-Bribing of units in a democracy now functions correctly in all cases.
-The chat window and trading windows will now re-center when a player
executes the "Arrange Windows" command from the "View" pulldown. This
allows the these windows to be brought back into view when they "jump" off
the edge of the screen.
-In a hotseat game, attitude values for a human player towards other
players will NOT change while it is NOT that human's turn. They should be
adjusted manually in the "Foreign Minister" window.

ATTENTION NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE USERS: If you have a non-English version of
CivII multiplayer, do not download the file above, but rather the one
found here (also found in the menu to your right).
Behind the reasoning comes a little story. We [ACS] became aware of these
patches yesterday, but were uncertain in regards to the nature of part of
the contents of MPS' Tech Support section for CivII updates; that is,
there were two files available for download and we were unable to
concretely differentiate between the two, based on the descriptions
provided. As such, we held off posting it until we knew for certain and
contacted the source themselves. We thank Jonathan from MPS for his speedy
reply to our concern.
"There are actually other versions, localized and translated, that are
neither UCC or MGE", he wrote us. "The "all languages" patch [is for this
purpose]. If you have UCC or MGE, you need [this update]. Otherwise,
[install this one instead]".


*Site Updates
18.Apr Civ2 Story finished!
17.Apr Column #37; By DanQ ("Interview Gone Astray")


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

*News

A+ Grade From PC Format Magazine
--(21 April) PC Format magazine gave SMAC a 92% in their April '99 issue.
Thanks to fellow affiliate Angel Reckless of Caesar 3 Heaven for the note!
Comparatively, CTP was rated 85% in the recently released May '99 issue.

Alpha Centauri Nominated
--(20 April) The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) announced
the finalists for its second annual Interactive Achievement Awards. The
Academy will present the awards at the Variety Arts Theater the evening of
May 13, during the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. The 1999
Interactive Achievement Awards are presented with the support of Imagine
Media, Intel, Microsoft, and GamesBusiness.
Banjo-Kazooie, Grim Fandango, Half-Life, Metal Gear Solid, Sid Meier's
Alpha Centauri, Star Wars Rogue Squadron, and Zelda Ocarina of Time will
all contend for the award for Game of the Year.

"The Interactive Achievement Awards are now in their second year. The high
caliber of nominees, finalists, and sponsors shows the Awards program
enjoys widespread industry support," said Jim Charne, President and
Executive Director of the Academy. "Academy peer review committees who
conducted preliminary round judging faced an enormously difficult task of
determining finalists from among a strong field of nominees.
Peer committee members, all leaders in their respective areas of personal
computer, game console, and online, were up to the task. They have
selected a list of finalists that assures Academy members will be faced
with difficult voting decisions as they step up to determine recipients of
the 1999 Interactive Achievement Awards."

The Awards will be presented at a gala ceremony in Los Angeles on May 13,
1999, the first evening of E3 Expo.

Number Seven
--(20 April) For the week of April 4 - 10, PC Data reports that SMAC has
regained two positions on the Top 10 Selling Games to sit at #7. Recently
released rival (if one can call it that) Civ: CTP was #1 for that same
period.

MGON Review
--(18 April) Media & Games Online Network has a detailed 4-part SMAC
review.
In Part 1, reviewer Richard Grubb looks at SMAC's storyline and gives it a
98/100. "Alpha Centauri starts out like Civilization II and you must once
again expand, explore, and conquer all while trying to research new
technologies, develop your land, and build up a formidable army to conquer
or defend".
Part 2 discusses its gameplay, which was rated a decent 90/100. "Overall,
this is one of the few spots where Alpha Centauri doesn't make a large
improvement. However, the unit workshop is a major redeeming feature and
keeps the units from being a total loss".
SMAC's graphics make up Part 3 with a respectable 84/100. "The Graphics in
Alpha Centauri are a modest improvement over its predecessor". Reasons why
it was not higher, according to Grubb? "... thing that is lacking
improvement over Civ II is the combat sequences. After a third generation
Civilization game, the combat sequences should be a bit above laser bursts
and such".
Winding down with Part 4, SMAC's replay value is assessed at an excellent
94/100. "One of the best features of Alpha Centauri is its customizable
units, tiles, technologies, and factions".
The verdict? "While not proclaiming itself as a revolution in this genre,
but rather a evolution, Alpha Centauri enhances many old features of Civ
II but, unfortunately, doesn't enhance some others, mainly graphics, which
overall doesn't detract from gameplay as it is still addictive and fun".
In the end, MGON gives Firaxis' latest efforts a 92% overall rating.

Your Rating: 8.6927/SMACX Poll
--(18 April) After 1126 votes, our "Rate SMAC" poll is over with some
impressive numbers. 39% Of the people voted "10" and 30% "9". The average
is a little lower at 8.6927. See the results page for the exaxt gifures.
But now it is time for a new poll. We tried to sum up the suggestions for
SMACX, the expansion disk coming soon. Check it out and vote.

Nothing Wrong With Third!
--(16 April) PC Data released the software top selling lists for March. On
the Top Selling Software list, listing all kind of software titles, SMAC
went up from 12th to 11th position. In the Games listing, SMAC dropped to
the 3rd position, from the 2nd which is taken by HOMM3. SC3000 holds the
1st position for another month...

*Site Updates
Strategies pages and lots of files


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

*News
PATCH LIST
(Apr. 21) People have asked about it on the forums, Activision had it in
it's faq page. The list of things to be added or corrected in the patch.
To make your life easier, here's the list. The patch is coming by the end
of the month, only a week away.

(EIGHTY) FIVE ALIVE
(Apr. 21) Angel Reckless of Caesar 3 Heaven informed us that CTP received
a 85% rating in PC Format magazine's May '99 issue. A month earlier, SMAC
was similarly reviewed and was awarded a 92%.

NOT SO HAPPY PUPPY
(Apr. 20) From Happy Puppy comes another CTP review -- this one, a 7/10.
"Call to Power is pretty, but it lacks the depth of Civ2 and Firaxis'
excellent Alpha Centauri", reads "the bottom line". "The baby was thrown
out with the bathwater more often than not here, and the worst thing I can
say is that it has failed to grip me with that "one more turn, then
bedtime" factor that this kind of game absolutely needs to impress.
Call to Power would be an excellent game had CivII, and especially Alpha
Centauri, never been made. I do hope future Civ designers pay attention to
some of Activision's innovations, however".
In closing, HP stresses that CTP "isn't a bad Civilization, or game, but
it fails in comparison to its predecessor and rival".

NUMBER 1!
(Apr. 20) The week was a great one for the games we cover. PC Data
released the list of the top selling software in the US for the week of
April 4 - 10. Guess CTP's position in the Gaming category... #1!
Microprose's Falcon 4 followed. In addition, it was the eighth best seller
of all PC sofware titles during the same period.
SMAC is 7th on the former list, up two positions from the week before.

ONE GAME, ONE YEAR
(Apr. 18) The latest CTP review comes from Media & Games Online Network.
One of the most detailed we've seen, it is broken down into 5 parts. A
summary from each follows.
CTP's Interface is explored in Part One. Reviewer Richard Grubb writes,
"the large amount of information has been organized nicely into easy to
find tabs and buttons". Furthermore, "... the way Call To Power informs
you of emptied queues and such, the lack of a auto management option isn't
missed that much but still would have been a nice feature". MGON gave CTP
a 96/100 in this category.
Moving right along, Part Two puts its Graphics under the microscope. An
awesome 98/100 was awarded for them, as Grubb is simply taken aback by
them. "Activision has done a wonderful job creating the units and
tilesets. The units in the game are fully animated and rendered in 16-bit
color, which lets you lose that feeling of playing on a game board, as
previous Civilization games felt like at times". On the same page, CTP's
sound is given a spectacular perfect score (100/100)! "... unlike Alpha
Centauri, Call To Power's sounds were first rate and weren't a remix of
the same old sounds. Activision has done an outstanding job and raises the
bar to a new level for Civilization-based games". Very favourable words!
The ball continues to roll in Part Three. Gameplay is given a 96/100
rating, another of CTP's high points according to Grubb. CTP "suffers from
a few minor gameplay issues that can be easily fixed with a patch" and is
"clearly a solid game". Parts Four and Five examine CTP's new Units (such
as the Slaver, Eco Ranger & Cyber Ninja) and Wonders (including the
Dinosaur Park, Forbidden City & Nanite Defuser) respectively.
All of this amounts to a commendable 96% overall score! This is 4% higher
than MGON gave to SMAC a couple of weeks earlier, which was also reviewed
by Grubb. Also on this page, CTP's Replay Value was rated a 98/100.
In his summation, he reflects that "Call To Power spices up game play with
many new units, advances, and wonders. Combined with an easy to use
interface and gorgeous graphics, CTP is the best Civilization based game
to come out since Civilization II".
The icing on the cake is unmistakingly the following statement: "In my
book, if I could only play one game this year, CTP would be [it]".

YOU BOUGHT IT, NOW RATE IT!
(Apr. 18) Our fifth CTP poll ended, showing that you did decide to buy it.
After 2301 votes(!), the results were: 19% pre-ordered it, 45% bought it
on the first day of it's release(!), 10% is waiting for the reviews, 3% is
waiting for players' comments, while another 8% is waiting for both.
Finally, 8% will not buy it just now, due to an unknown game called SMAC
:) and a 3% says that CTP sucks.
Now, it's time for you to rate CTP on our new poll. Go ahead!

CTP GRADED C+
(Apr. 17) GameSpot has given CTP a 67% review with a good, bad, and ugly
tilt.
The good came first. "Call to Power's graphics are beautiful, far superior
to any previous Civ game and even to Alpha Centauri. The animations are
wonderfully detailed, and the sound effects are first class".
Next, the bad in the eyes of the reviewer is discussed. "CTP's many
innovations, while welcome in theory, are often poorly thought out or
poorly implemented".
Finally, it turns ugly. "... despite the fact that it is a solid game and
despite the fact that it takes the Civilization premise in an interesting
new direction, Call to Power leaves a lot to be desired".
You can read the full review here and judge its take for yourself.

*Site Updates
21.Apr New Excell sheet for goverments in Modification, Ancient Civs mod,
Texts Mod and new Leader Pics in Downloads.
20.Apr Modification section opens
18.Apr Units and Screenshots pages moved under Features. Strategies Page;
New poll; First MOD file

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

AWARD RESULTS & TRANSCRIPT AVAILABLE APR.16
You may now view the results of the 1999 Hodadian Awards by following the
Vote link. Thanks to everyone for their support, especially those who
voted and those who helped bring the awards and this site to life! We have
also taken a transcript of Thursday's chat, led by myself, Markos, Dan,
and St. Leo. You may access this by clicking here.


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

BioBilly banned
--(April 17) BioBilly has been banned from CivLeague for making false
reports. All scores changes caused by his reports have been reversed.

civleague.apolyton.net
--(April 17) Please update your bookmarks to this URL:
civleague.apolyton.net.

----------------------------
**AlphaLeague (hosted site)

Login and News
--(April 20) You can now login and view news from (and only from) the
AlphLeague home page. This should make the site easier for you to
navigate.

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

SLeague Voted "Most Innovative Web Site" by HAC
--(April 18) Thank you to everyone who got out and voted for "The Sleeg"
in the recent Hodadian Awards Center balloting. El Khan and I were pleased
to hear that our baby had won. A complete transcript of the awards
ceremony is now available over at HAC.

Contest Staff Change: Allard New Referee
--(April 18) Due to other duties, Andrew Hoekzema has been unable to
continue in his position as referee. Allard Hofelt has generously agreed
to take his place. #cont2

That was all(only 16K) for this week ladies and gentlemen
Until next time

Markos Giannopoulos
Apolyton Civilization