Mac game publisher MacSoft’s parent company Infogrames today announced the release of the PC version of Sid Meier’s Civilization III, the latest strategy game to wear the mantle of one of the most popular franchises in computer gaming. The company also gave some insight about when it expects the Mac version to be ready.
Developed by Alpha Centauri maker Firaxis Games, Sid Meier’s Civilization III takes gamers through time as they manage the development of an entire civilization. You determine how resources will be gathered and used; how technology will be developed, the course of your civilization’s culture; the methods of diplomacy it uses to interact with its neighbors; and how its military strength will be deployed to protect and expand your nation’s borders.
If you’re familiar with previous installments of the Civilization series, improvements you’ll find in Sid Meier’s Civilization III include new decision-making and strategy features; an expanded role for diplomacy; a new trade system that better reflects how trade is used in real life; new technologies, Wonders of the World, and Great Leaders; new concepts of culture which impact philosophy and arts; improved animations, art and sounds; a better interface and reporting screens; and more powerful customization tools.
The Macintosh conversion of Sid Meier’s Civilization III is currently in the works at Westlake Interactive, and while neither MacSoft nor Westlake have offered an official release date for Civ III for the Macintosh, Westlake recently updated its Project Status Web page with news that Civ III had reached “First Playable” status — an important development milestone indicating that the game was working, although certain features and functions may not be operational yet.
Westlake programmer Brad Oliver has been forthcoming about Civilization III’s Mac development status in recent missives posted to the Usenet discussion newsgroup comp.sys.mac.games.strategic, as well. Westlake handled the Mac conversion of Firaxis’ previous game, Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri, on behalf of Mac game publisher Aspyr Media.
“… while porting Alpha Centauri was at times like a stormy voyage on the S.S. Minnow, porting Civ3 has been like a trip on a large Caribbean cruise vessel in terms of how smooth the porting process has been going, due in no small part to the similarities between the two games,” noted Oliver.
Pressed for details about the game’s Mac development schedule, Oliver left it at “coming soon.” In its press release today, however, Infogrames indicated that the Mac version was expected to hit store shelves next March.
The PC version of Sid Meier’s Civilization III hits stores this week for a suggested retail price of US$49.99. If you’re interested in general information about the game, visit the official Civilization III Web site for more details.
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