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By Ginger_Ale at 2008-09-05 19:29
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 IGN has published the third segment in its four part series examining the leaders in Colonization, this time focusing on the French. In the game, the French colonists are led by Samuel Champlain and Louis de Frontenac, opposed by the King of France (the Valois and Bourbon lines were in power during the Age of Colonization). The preview contains some nice game art of the leaders and provides good historical background about the influential figures of the time.
Additionally, the official Colonization website has been published. At this point, however, it contains little more than early screenshots and an overview of the game and its features. Most likely there will be more updates in the future, so keep an eye out!
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By Ginger_Ale at 2008-09-04 21:03
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Take-Two Interactive, the current publisher of the Civilization series, released its third quarter financial results on Thursday for the three months leading up until July 31st. They were able to report a net income of about $52 million, in contrast to one year ago when they lost money. Of particular note is Take-Two's success overseas from the United States, as international sales provided almost half of their revenue. Here is a quote from the CNN Money news article:
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The results topped Wall Street's expectations, and the company raised its fiscal-year guidance while cutting its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings prediction, mostly because of a two-week delay in releasing its "Midnight Club: Los Angeles" game.
"Take-Two's exceptionally robust third-quarter results reflected our continuing efforts to build a diverse roster of outstanding entertainment software brands, supported by an increasingly productive and efficient business organization," said Chairman Strauss Zelnick.
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>> Read more about Take-Two's third quarter results
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By Ginger_Ale at 2008-09-03 17:16
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Another new hands-on preview for Colonization has been published by WorthPlaying. In contrast to many other gaming sites' previews, this one is very detailed and thorough, giving a good overview of the game from choosing the settings for the map to declaring independence. The only drawback is that there no new screenshots. Here the article describes the custom options available:
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A finicky or advanced player can use the Custom menu to set up the game in a way to suit his liking. You can set any of three winning conditions in your game (Europe, Independence or Time), set how many AI players you want competing with you in a one-player game, set parameters for the behavior of the AI, and even control parameters of the map generation algorithm. Perhaps most useful to a finicky player, you can also opt to start games with your civilization already developed to a particular point Â… say, ready to declare independence if you want an action game, or with your first colonies already founded if you dislike the early exploration phase of the game.
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By Ginger_Ale at 2008-09-02 08:33
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A mobile version of Civ4, Civilization IV: War of Two Cities, is now available for phones that run Windows Mobile and BlackBerry devices. A company that focuses on games for phones, Concrete Software today announced that the game had been ported to this new platform and can be bought from multiple wireless providers. Here is a description of the game:
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Sid Meier's Civilization IV: War of Two Cities takes classic aspects of Civilization and pulls them into a new strategic game, allowing players to engage in world domination via their mobile phone. Using technology development, army building and combat, players will nurture and expand an empire while progressing from the birth of civilization to modern times. Within this casual format, players will advance through the game revealing new features and strategies.
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We are certainly seeing the expansion of the Civilization series beyond its traditional role as just a PC game, making its way onto consoles and phones.
>> Click here to read the press release
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By Ginger_Ale at 2008-08-28 21:36
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IGN has released it second faction profile for the four civilizations in Civilization IV: Colonization, this time focusing on the English. As with the first preview, it covers the monarchs that pushed for British colonization of the New World, as well as two influential American leaders, George Washington and John Adams. This article also features some concept art for each of these three categories.
In other news, Firaxis has updated its official Colonization page, listing the release date as September 23rd. There is no mention of whether this applies to the United States or the whole world, or whether this is even the correct date. Gaming sites like Gamespot and IGN so far list the release date as September 22nd for the US and the 26th for the rest of the world.
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By Ginger_Ale at 2008-08-28 15:56
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 The Colonization information center has been updated to include details from all the most recent previews. Here is a list of the major changes:- Expanded civilization and leader trait information
- A table of known Founding Fathers and their benefits
- A new "Audio and Video" section with links to media
- Hyperlinks within the text for quick reference to the Gallery's screenshots
- An updated list of previews
>> View the Colonization Info Center
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By AlanH at 2008-08-28 14:23
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BtS SGOTM 08 - Wonder Crazy
Sign up here to join a Succession Team for the first Beyond the Sword SGOTM. Thanks for the game design, Gyathaar 
Following his recent honeymoon in the Far East, Gyathaar, aka Suryavarman II of the Khmer Empire, is just Crazy About Wonders. He has decreed that he will win a glorious victory and that his total Wonder points per turn played will then be the envy of the world.
Suryavarman II is Expansive and Creative, with the Ballista Elephant to assist in acquiring Wonders he can't build himself, and the Baray to allow him to build the Hanging Gardens.
This will be a Normal speed, Monarch difficulty game on a Standard map. All victory conditions are enabled.
Click the starting position image to see a larger version.
The game will start in two weeks, on Friday, September 12th, so sign up NOW for a Wonderland experience!
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By Thunderfall at 2008-08-27 23:51
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The latest official Spore video features the Civilization stage of Spore and Civ3/Civ4/Spore designer Soren Johnson, telling about diplomacy, warfare and alliances.
YouTube - Low Resolution | QuickTime - High Resolution
By the way, you can discuss Spore in the Spore forum we created recently.
Thanks to ColdFever of civilized.de for the info.
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By Denniz at 2008-08-25 17:28
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 The Civilization IV Hall of Fame has been updated. 191 games were accepted since the previous update.
Congratulations to kovacsflo for the highest score of the update with a Huge Immortal Domination game for 560,407 points.
Dracandross was the most active player during this update, submitting 21 games.
Only 6 players were brave enough to take on Deity this update. bestje submitted a 300 BC Tiny Deity Religious game for 37940 points.
Ironhead submitted a 1642 AD Huge Deity Space Colony game for 333651 points.
Oni of Chaos submitted a 3085 BC Duel Deity Conquest game for 22982 points.
ozbenno submitted a 1858 AD Small Deity Conquest game for 25554 points and a 175 AD Tiny Deity Religious game for 50921 points.
Pious_Pete submitted a 1695 AD Tiny Deity Cultural game for 29719 points, a 1705 AD Tiny Deity Cultural game for 24977 points, a 1800 AD Tiny Deity Cultural game for 14078 points and a 1725 AD Tiny Deity Cultural game for 24351 points.
Sun Tzu Wu submitted a 950 BC Small Deity Domination game for 250756 points. G-Major 32 - Large, Quick, Monarch, Diplomatic
1st Fluroscent 1070 AD - 28520 pts
2nd AAA 1070 AD - 27276 pts
3rd Dracandross 1200 AD
G-Minor 51 - Std, Warlord, Marathon, Cultural with China
1st HolyHandGrenade 1065 AD
2nd Htadus 1090 AD
3rd killercane 1135 AD
>> Civ IV HOF
>> Full Update Details
>> Discussion Thread
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By Ginger_Ale at 2008-08-22 19:18
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Gamespy has followed Gamespot and IGN's suit in posting a detailed hands-on preview for Civilization IV: Colonization. Their two page article, released yesterday, praises the game's "commodity-based strategizing" and "a nice sense of tension in the endgame."
It claimed there were "lots and lots of micromanagement necessary to win," something that they elaborate on later in the preview, especially focusing on relations with the natives and other European powers. Here they describe the delicate nature of revolting:
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Trigger revolution too early and you won't be prepared for the King's counterattack. Trigger it too late and the King's forces will have built up to the point where there's no way to defeat them before 300 turns have elapsed. Have too many "goods parties" to protest rising taxes and your markets for those products in Europe get shut down. Have too few and the taxes cripple your ability to make money.
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IGN has published a fact sheet on the Dutch that contains a great deal of historical information about one of the four civilizations in Colonization. They wrote that they will preview the three remaining countries, one each week, as the release date grows nearer.
This article covers mostly Peter Stuyvesant and Adriaen van der Donck, the two Dutch leaders in the game, as well as some Dutch history from that time period. It is a good read for those seeking some context and historical background to Colonization.
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By Ginger_Ale at 2008-08-21 08:29
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Another new preview for Colonization has been released on Gamespot, similar to the other detailed hands-on previews by sites like IGN. It contains a few new screenshots in addition to summary and experiences from the game. Here is its conclusion:
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If you're looking for a challenging Civ experience, Colonization is it. Management plays a much greater role than combat, and you can't simply fight your way to victory from the very beginning. We'll have more on Colonization soon as we examine multiplayer, community, and mod tools heading toward the September 22 scheduled release date; that is, if we can pry ourselves away from the extremely addictive single-player mode. Just one more turn? Yeah right.
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Gamespot has a page of release dates, which seems to indicate the game will come out September 22nd in North America and September 26th across the rest of the world. We'll keep an eye out for an official announcement.
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By Ginger_Ale at 2008-08-21 08:28
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TheEscapist has published an interview with Sid Meier entitled "Just Your Average Gaming God," covering some broader aspects of video game making as well as details specific to the Civilization series. It's worth a read and gives good insight into what Sid Meier is thinking about for the future of Firaxis. Here he talks about the balance between remakes and original titles:
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So I think both answers are right, there needs to be innovation and new ideas, but once an idea's out there, there's a lot you need to build on. I think Civilization is a good example. We're now up to Civilization IV and each of those games has brought something new that appealed to the audience that was designed to appeal to the audience of the preceding game. A good balance of both those things is really what's good for the consumer, and also good for the industry. [...] It's the same thing here; we can take some risks with some ideas we have because we have our track record.
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By woodelf at 2008-08-21 06:59
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Sorry about the lack of updates. It isnÂ't because of a lack of quality work or quantity for that matter. A simply astounding number of top notch work this time around. No thumbnail or collage, but if someone wants to throw an 800x600 pic together IÂ'll add it.
UNITSGRAPHICS MODPACKSAUDIO & VIDEOCUSTOM CIVS Â- BtS modularMODPACKS Â- BtS- Better BTS AI 0.3 by jdog5000, Yakk, glider1
- Fury Road 0.7 by davidlallen
- Thomas War v2.0 by tsentom1
- BUG Mod 3.0 by BUG Team
- BAT Mod 1.0 by BUG Team
- XXL World by Nevermind
- overlord2 by keldath
- Gross national Happiness 1.0 by cephalo
- Dales Combat Mod v1.7 by Dale
- Revolution 1.62 by jdog5000
- MOO2Civ Patch 4b by NCCSavage, deanej, Deon, OrionVeteran, JEELEN
- RhyeÂ's and Fall RAND by Rhye
- Barbarian Alliance by Fierabras
- Rise of Mankind v2.2 by Zappara
- Rise of Mankind v2.2 Extra Civ addon pack v1.1 by Zappara
- Total War 0.96 by jojoweb
- The WoC Core by The WoC Team
- Just Another Religion Mod - Modular by Refar, JustATourist
- Merged Mod 0.80 by Ninja2, Wolfshanze, Dale, moctezuma, the Better AI team, Solver, GIR
MODULESSCENARIO - BtSMAPSCRIPTMAPSXML MODCOMPSHYBRID MODCOMPSSDK MODCOMPREFERENCE
Thanks to all of the modders and please continue to announce your new and updated files.
Note: If you would like your new or updated Civ4 file(s) included in this weekly announcement, please visit this thread for details.
>> Civilization IV Downloads
>> Civ4 - Creation & Customization Forums
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By Ginger_Ale at 2008-08-19 19:37
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Over the past few days, an additional two previews have been released for Colonization. The first, available at JeuxVideo, is written in French only. However, it contains some new screenshots that are worth a look (see below). A second preview was released by PALGN, where they had these comments to make:
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The city management screens provide one of the more obvious points of difference. The left hand side of the screen is dedicated to a variety of specialist slots - furriers, blacksmiths, ministers of religion and rum distillers, to name just a few. As the game progresses, you can plug specialists into these slots, which will generally increase a city's production of a particular resource or item. These can then be traded between your cities, with the native population or sent home on a trader's ship. In our short time with the game, it quickly became apparent that one of the keys to success is a vibrant economy that makes the most of every resource at your disposal.
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In total, 26 new screenshots have been added to the gallery from various sources. They include images of the Civilopedia, various advisor screens, the leaders and their traits, as well as other gameplay scenes. Here are some thumbnails:
>> View the remaining screenshots in the Colonization gallery
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By Ginger_Ale at 2008-08-18 20:57
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After a few extensions of negotiations between Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive, both video game publishers, to agree to a deal in which EA would acquire Take-Two, EA has now decided not to pursue it further, according to a Bloomberg news article. Electronic Arts stated that, since they would not gain the benefits of the holiday selling season, their bid would no longer yield satisfactory results.
Their latest offer had been $25.74 per share, something rejected by Take-Two's board. This means that there is still potential for Take-Two to remain independent. Take-Two is, of course, the current publisher for the Civilization series.
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