News: October 1999

October 31, 1999 16:29 EST
Walkthroughs

Angel Reckless Rodent didn’t waste a minute. As soon as he received the games he started working on the walk-throughs. You can find them in the extended walkthrough section.
Currently available are Pre Dynastic, Archaic, Old Kingdom and a sprinkling of Middle Kingdom scenarios.

Angel Jahakemhotep


October 30, 1999 16:29 EST
Are you ready to play the game?

Mithras tells us: It’s out!.He just received his copy of the Pharaoh full release. In this post he tells us a bit about the manual, the reference cards and a word or two on the movies. Mithras, I’m jealous…may you have many a sleepless night.

In the Game Help forum Dragon2 is wondering about the bullfighters. Alas, these have been removed from the final game, so load of bull to chase your enemies with… The Straw Production thread has gone back to being in-topic and Bradius is telling us how many farms he can fit inside the flood plain.

The most interesting thread is still Gustavia’s How will city design change. I expect this one to be around for a while, especially now that the full game is available.

Angel Jahakemhotep


October 29, 1999 14:40 EST
Weekend!

You will not believe how happy I am the weekend has come… Eventhough I need to do a bit of work I should have more time for a bit of gameplay and a bit more time on the forums. Let’s have a look at what’s happening…

The Game Help forum has some interesting threads. On eof them is about the weird and wonderful things that happen when you play the demo at full speed another is wondering about how the housing blocks are going to change from Caesar 3 to Pharaoh.

An interesting thought experiment was started by Innovandora, as she wonders how multi-playing could be implemented satisfactorily for a game like Pharaoh.

Angel Jahakemhotep


October 28, 1999 16:25 EST
Release date rumours

Innovandora has brought us some great news. She picked up a post by the Marketing Weasel, Alex Rodberg, in which he stated Pharaoh will hit the shops between the 4th and the 8th of November. On both sides of the Atlantic!
If you want to know more, click here.

There’s an Invitation on the Community forum, by Kiya, Steward to the Lady MRed. If you want to know more…have a look here.

A small message for the Lady herself, the palace is ready for re-modeling on the Community Forum.

Angel Jahakemhotep


October 26, 1999 15:11 EST
Pharaoh review

Yes, that is correct, a Pharaoh review. This one is courtesy of GameSpot UK and marks it for 9.7 out of 10. You can find the here.

Some one should tell them how to spell mastaba, though, this reads mustabah. I guess they didn’t spend enough time on the demo…

You can post your comments in the Community forum.

Angel Jahakemhotep


October 25, 1999 17:01 EST
Goodies to download

Our Angel of the Downloads, has put some nice goodies. The first is a background with the tantalising title Egyptian Nights. The other is the Colour Gradient tool used by many that haunt the Pharaoh forum. You can find the here.

The Test forum is currently hosting a Signature Showcase where you can display the hard work on you’ve done on your signature.
Yes. you are allowed to show off, and can do so here.

Angel Jahakemhotep


October 25, 1999 9:00 EST
Back among the sand dunes of Egypt

After a fairly quiet week in Rome I am greeted by a forum almost as quiet. Some things are happening, though.

Angel Draco is wondering about the fire risks in the Pharaoh game and whether the different regions or even areas of the map have different fire hazards. If you got any clues, you can share them here.

Silver, one of our Lone Star visitors, has made a start on map displays that will show up in HTML and won’t be needing Excel. You can find out more about them by following the link.
It looks like I need to spend some time on the map symbols as well. Or should I wait long enough, so they won’t be needed anymore… Questions, questions…

And last but not least, the news has been archived…and, no, I did that before I read the Caesar 3 news headline…

Angel Jahakemhotep


October 24, 1999 9:00 EST
Ooh, it’s gonna be good!

For the last couple of days, I’ve been doing some behind-the-scenes work on the site, getting it ready for when Pharaoh hits the shelves sometime in the next couple of weeks. Even if I do say so myself, it’s going to be really cool. For a taster of what our download section will be like, for example, you might want to take a surf over to Age of Kings Heaven and peek in the Blacksmith. It might take a couple of weeks, as Angel SpineMan, who will help us set things up, is really busy at the moment, but trust me…it’ll be well worth the wait.

There are a couple of other cool things I hope to have by then too – perhaps a download counter on the right hand side of this page and a few other things too.

Then there’s the walkthroughs, and buildings, and…woohoo!

Tzar Heaven today has yet another exclusive – the first peek at the game’s box art (which, of course, looks wonderful). Take a look while you still can!

This shamelessly self-congratulatory news post was brought to you by…

Angel Reckyamun


October 23, 1999 15:45 EST
“Cities – Classical” explained

Here’s something that’s been bugging me since the beta test started. In the “Options” menu, there’s a bit that says “Cities – Egyptians”. When you click it, it becomes “Cities – Classical”.

Having been wondering for a while about what it was, I was pleased to see that Itchy has been busy posting in the Community forum to give more information about it:

Moquel: On the options menu, you can choose Cities, and then you can choose Classical or Egyptic…
What is it? What does it do? Anybody out there who knows something about this strange phenomenon?

Itchy: Most Egyptian cities actually have names from the ancient Egyptian period that bare no resemblance to what they’re known as today. For example, Giza was called Rostjya by ancient Egyptians.

Moquel: Oh… so it has to do with the names, I see…
So if you have it on Classic you’ll se a different name when you start the city, than if you have it on egyptian…?

Itchy: Yes, although some cities have the same name regardless.

A most informative exchange, I’d say. To find out more and post your comments or questions about this, click here.

Angel Reckyamun


October 22, 1999 15:39 EST
Newsletter #3

T’was only a matter of time, I guess. Now that Pharaoh has gone gold, the latest Pharaoh Newsletter has landed in inboxes all around the world. It has been added to the Pharaoh Heaven Newsletter Archive, but here’s a snippet about release dates:

After tremendous toil and the loss of blood (those paper cuts will get you every time), sweat and even some tears, the mighty monument is complete. Pharaoh for the PC is complete, and there is much rejoicing. Expect to see it on the shelves of your local game store in the second week of November. By now, you know what to expect from Pharaoh: you’ll erect massive monuments that stand throughout the ages while leading your family to world-renown and building a kingdom unmatched in history. Here are the answers to a couple of questions that we haven’t yet addressed:

If you want to know what those question are that the newsletter addresses, then head to the newsletter archive to find out.

Angel Reckyamun


October 21, 1999 15:19 EST
Gone gold!

It’s the day so many of us have been waiting for – Pharaoh has gone gold! Here’s what they say on their official site:

Pharaoh Goes Gold!!
Get your crook and flail ready, your wait is almost over! Pharaoh has gone gold, and soon your dynasty will guide Egypt from a meager string of small settlements to an unmatched world power. Keep a watch on your local game store shelves for Pharaoh’s appearance.

Look out for it in a couple of weeks, I’d guess. Comments can be placed here.

Angel Reckyamun


October 21, 1999 15:02 EST
Obelix screenshot

On second thoughts, make that headline Obelisk Screenshot – I must have been reading too many Asterix books recently.

Anyway, whatever the headline, the fact remains that there is a new screenshot up at Pharaoh1.com today. This one shows what looks to be a small obelisk enclosed by some rather nice housing. Follow the link above to have a look, and then post your comments hereItchy has confirmed that this is an actual in-game screenshot rather than something created in the map editor.

I’ve updated the links page with another couple of sites that got sent my way:

I’m still looking for any others, so don’t forget to mail me the link if you’ve got one or know of one!

Angel Reckyamun


October 20, 1999 16:17 EST
Links page updated

Thanks to those of you who responded to yesterday’s request for fansite links. I’ve added the sites I received (those that I could get through to and check out, anyway) to the links page. The newer ones are:

If you know of any more, or you run one yourself, then drop me a line and I’ll put you in there. As is customary on the Internet, a link back to us in return would be appreciated.

I hope the changed to this page have gone down ok. I haven’t had any complaints in the Website Comments forum about it, but then I haven’t heard many people saying they’re good either. I’ll take that as a good sign, but don’t forget that the forum’s there if you want to say something about this site.

Angel Reckyamun


October 19, 1999 01:21 EST
Fansites wanted

I’ve been thinking that it’s time to update our links page with links to all the fansites out there. If you have such a fansite, and would like to be represented on the Pharaoh Heaven links page, then just send me an email, saying what the name of the site is, and what the url is. I’ll update the links page to include any url I’m sent in a little while, when time permits.

Angel Reckyamun


October 18, 1999 15:03 EST
Loads of news

We’ve got buckets and buckets of news for you today. First off, we have a little search engine up for you, courtesy of Beseen.com. I’ve been looking for one of those little beauties for this site for ages, preferably one that isn’t terribly complicated. Hopefully, I’ve found the right one here. It might not work properly for the first couple of days – Beseen.com send out a spider to take a look around the site and index the pages. It might also serve as a forum search (in fact, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t).

I’ll get all the things you people searched for every week or so, and I might post some of them up here. Not sure about that yet though.

A new poll is also gracing the navbar on the right. This one was suggested to me over ICQ yesterday by my friend Robert, so thanks for that. This’ll last 21 days, so you’ve got plenty of time to get voting. Who knows, perhaps we’ll see Pharaoh on the shelves by the time this poll comes to an end.

In a similar vein to this, I’ve changed the bit of blurb below the logo at the top to reflect the fact that Pharaoh will not definitely be a November release. No chance of it hitting the shelves in October now. Still, as I’ve said several times to people who have complained, that’s not bad – it shows that Impressions (interesting poll on their main page, by the way – perhaps preparing the ground for the next City-building game?) wants to iron out all the little bugs before release.   Congrats to Sierra and Havas Interactive for not rushing them to finish.

I have uploaded another Excel Spreadsheet from MRed94 to the strategy section. This one details how you might go about setting up a palace block, and is an adaptation of a formular developed by Cherub MartyParty of C3Heaven. It is in Excel 95 format, and I’ve converted the other one so it is as well.

Phew…nearly done with the news. Here comes the big item I promised yesterday on C3Heaven:

Do you want to work for Pharaoh Heaven? Do you want to be part of Heaven’s Gaming Sites? Then here’s your chance. I’m looking for someone who can work with graphics packages, primarily to cut units and buildings out of screenshots, and then make the background transparent. You can see the sort of things I’m after over at C3Heaven (buildings section), and here in the Pharaoh Heaven units section. The successful applicant will be ready to work very hard in the week or so after release to get all units and buildings done, and I won’t be impressed if there’s any slacking (sorry to be firm, but it’s necessary). If you’re interested, then please follow the following instructions:

  • Send me an email with “Cherub Application” in the subject line. Anything else will not be accepted.
  • Only 1 email per person. Multiple emails will be thrown out immediately.
  • Include in that email your name, age, country of residence, forum nickname (if applicable, so we know who you are – if you have been mature and helpful in the forums, that might count slightly in your favour), and the url of any pages that show your proficiency with transparent gif images. On no account should images be attached to the email. Once again, such mails which just clog up my inbox will be deleted straight away.

Applications which conform to the above guidelines will be reviewed by the Angels here at Pharaoh Heaven over the next week or two. We will then decide who we chose to become a PH Cherub, and will email them. Our decision is final, and any “please, please, please let me be a cherub” emails will be ignored. In fact, they will count against the applicant concerned. We want mature people (in terms of behaviour, not necessarily age) at HGS, and such emails do not display maturity. The deadline for applications is this Thursday, that’s 21st October, at 23:59 EST.

I look forward to receiving your applications. I’m sure we’ll find the person we’re looking for to take some of the load off the beleagured Angels here.

Angel Reckyamun
(Yes, I’m back :))


October 17, 1999 14:44 EST
Imperial Conquest

What’s that? I can hear you mumble.
Well, it’s a game and it is a featured part of Heaven. We even have a link to it on the main page.

(waiting for you to have a peek at the link…)

So you’re surprised? So was I. Imperial Conquest is “yet another name” for Tzar. Maybe you can still make a difference, so don’t hesitate to mail the address displayed on the Tzar news page.
You can even use this one: TalonSoft.

Back to Egypt.

In the Test forum, people are busy experimenting with their Egyptian signatures. Now all we need is a mini set of hieroglyphics…or a font…

The Community forum has some thoughts on the use of juggler booths, book recommendations, and a who’s who thread started by our new cherub Gustavia. No points as to who has taught her about these…

Angel Jahakemhotep


October 16, 1999 14:44 EST
More news from the temple

Somebody told me bells ring when an angel gets her wings, and something giggles when a cherub gets hers.
Now if I had to phrase that up I’d say the gods smile when a cherub gets her wings.
Guess what…the gods are smiling!

From our reporter at the Great Temple of Karnak.
On this gloriously sunny day the crowds have gathered on the main square where only days ago a new angel was invested. The angels of the four corners of the world have gathered on the dais.

A small cherub walks into the crowd and take the hand of a high-born lady standing amidst the masses. She leads her friend up to the angels and golden light and mirth peels down from the skies.

“Behold, our youngest”

“Behold Cherub Gustavia”

You can congratulate her on her newly elevated status in the Community forum.

Angel Jahakemhotep


October 15, 1999 16:44 EST
Cheating already?

There’s a post in the Game Help forum that suggests a way to “cheat” in the demo. If you want to know how, just follow the link.

The suggestions here may actually help you with the straw problem some of us are experiencing.

In the Community forum we are talking music, sacrificing cats, and “stupid questions”.

One last thing… You might remember the posts on the Caesar 3 forum where Tim the Great was asking for question to pose to me in an interview? Well, he’s had his questions, his interview and is now   offering to send you the results.

Angel Jahakemhotep


October 14, 1999 15:16 EST
News, news and…more news

First of all a bit of news for those of you wondering about the music of Pharaoh. One guess as to what can be found on the Impressions website?
Right. Music from the game. It’s a tune called Sekhmet, after the lion headed goddess of war. Definitely the kind of music I’d want to send my troops to war with.
Images of rolling sands and marching troops…

MRed hits the news headlines for the second time in two days. Angel Reckyamen, formerly known as Angel Reckless Rodent has added a nice spreadsheet sent to him by MRed. It details a possible configuration for housing in the third scenario.
The spreadsheet, together with Angel Reckyamen’s walkthrough, can be found here.

GameStats is hosting another contest. This one concerns the recently released Age of Kings and offers you a chance to win a nice big tome with helpful information.
Want to know more, just click on the image.
If you want to know more about Age of Kings, there is no better place than our sister site Age of Kings Heaven.

Last but not least we have a link to another preview, one with lots of pictures. You can post your comments here.

Angel Jahakemhotep


October 13, 1999 14:40 EST
Newsflash

Idon’t seem to have time for much more these days….

The biggest news we have, a I think we should award her the perseverance trophy for it, is that MRed94 has actually managed to build the mastaba. She didn’t give up even after 17 freezes of the demo.
I just know, she’s going to love the real game when it arrives.
You can tell her how well she did in the Community forum

In true forum style a post that started out talking about cats in Egypt has digressed in to the realm of: “What have you pinned to your monitor?” If you want to share it, you can do so here.

Angel Jahakemhotep


October 12, 1999 15:14 EST
News from up high

The crowds have gathered on the plaza surrounding the Great Temple of Pharaoh Heaven. Restless they move about wondering what he event will be.
A small cherub has been seen entering the Temple earlier.

Then horns blare and the angels step out onto the dais. In their midst the former cherub is tentatively flapping his new wings. The angels step forward and raises his hands.
“Friends, it has happened. Cherub ET Flavius has accepted our request to join the host of Pharaoh Heaven.

The crowd goes wild.

You can congratulate him in the forums. Either in the Game Help forum or in the Community forum.

Angel Jahakemhotep


October 11, 1999 14:32 EST
Mastabas and Residences

After working my way through the Game Help forum for a few days, it seems a good idea to put up this little headline. The objectives of the third scenario are get a monument rating of 9 and build 3 residences.
Note: that “residence” is a fairly developed level of housing, requiring beer and linen and not just means: three houses.

Angel Jahakemhotep


October 10, 1999 16:00 EST
Mummy is the Word

Draco informs us that tonight till midnight there will be no less than two shows on Discovery Channel in the USA about Mummies! I sure hope there will be instructions on how to ward them off because the site is crawling with them! Meanwhile, Cherub Et Flavius sets up his own Tech Forum for the Pharaoh. Be sure to congratulate him. Good going CET.

Angel Alexandertut I


October 9, 1999 16:00 EST
Too Much of a Good Thing

At times success may force you to close down something. That is what has just happened to Jayhawk’s thread ‘In the Court of Tut-Ankh-Amun’. Fortunately, there is now a new thread set up by mouse to continue the sagas.

Angel Alexandertut I


October 8, 1999 16:00 EST
Food Aplenty…Not

Do you have granaries so full it would make the seven fat years look like kid’s play and still you hear stomachs growling? Or they are filled beyond biblical proportions and suddenly a lean year sets in…for what seems a century? Then you need to go here.

Eventually, the site is going to be full of cool, lush and somewhat mysterious screenshots like the one on the left. I guess the site will ‘ripen’ much like the crop depicted.

Angel Alexandertut I


October 7, 1999 16:00 EST
A Peek into the Future

Lots of plans are being worked out for when Pharaoh will be released. When is that I hear you shout in unison? Well, latest guesstimate would be the beginning of November. From what I hear about the preparations I can tell you that once the game is released our site content will rival the Pyramids themselves in stature.

Want to just test the waters of the Nile? Need to know how you make those cute smiley faces? Snicker over here.

Angel Alexandertut I


October 6, 1999 16:00 EST
A Massive Preview is Out!

Sorry about yesterday’s update, ISP decided it didn’t like my login yesterday. Hey, did you notice that the fruitcake updating over at HGS Main is really quite normal now? I’m not sure I like the change though.

Anyway, there is a revealing preview with screenshots and a list of the new features such as “idiot-proof map and scenario editor.” I wouldn’t be so sure about that feature since I have not been able to test it yet :-). I really love the way you can see a water gradient and the reflections of ships, it adds so much depth…er, literally too! Although off battling Teutons in the Black Forrest, Angel RR reported in and quickly set up a forum thread to discuss the preview. Vent your opinion by clicking on this.

Also, Cherub mouse has been very efficient setting up a Test Forum. Well, done nefermouster! Why not scurry over and twitch noses with her?

Angel Alexandertut I


October 4, 1999 00:00 EST
The Witching Hour Commenceth!

Angel Alexander I here. Despite all the warnings I have shown up at the site where strange things haunt an austere land. I promise not to wander off into the uncharted regions of the windswept land of Fori.

Right, enough nonsense. Now what is this I hear about complaints concerning the lack of a save button on the demo? That’s usually the case with a demo, right? Well, I know that may sound a little easy to all of you who are just dying to play and, indeed, replay the demo. Not to worry, I fully remember the time when I was waiting for any snippet of info about my favourite game and had no hopes of a beta and a demo was far off. I sympathize, I really do. My best advice to you is to remember that it is a demo and to just enjoy it. The real thing can’t be far behind.

Angel Alexandertut I


October 3, 1999 15:42 EST
Egypt comes to Boston

Angel Zen, you know, the angel that slaves away in the forum dungeons, mailed me an interesting link the other day. It seems Boston is going Pharaoh with exhibitions, opera and ballet. If you want to know more, follow the link.

Angel Dracoenkhamen informed me that the current issue of PCGamer is also carrying the Pharaoh demo. So if you don’t want to spend hours next to the phone, you can buy the magazine.

Tomorrow will see you in the capable hands of Angel Alexander I as I’ll be off to Rome again. Oh, Alex…don’t wander off too far into the uncharted depths of the Pharaoh forums…

Angel Jahakemhotep


October 2, 1999 17:02 EST
Units on display

Now everybody, including yours truly, has got it’s grubby hands, paws or talons on the demo, we can do some updates in one or two of our sections. I finished the demo in a couple of hours and spent some time creating the cast of characters for the Unit’s page.

Another place to download the demo was pointed out to me by on eof our fans. It can also be found at GameSpot. According to their statistics, it takes: 14.4Kbps – 10 hrs  28.8Kbps – 5 hrs    56Kbps – 156 mins.

Angel Jahakemhotep


October 2, 1999 03:29 EST
Download the demo [update 2]

CNet has the demo. So all would be Pharaoh that haven’t got it yet, should go and have a look. The demo is 50Mb big. The actual download page actual download page can be found here.

Angel Jahakemhotep


October 1, 1999 14:22 EST
Download the demo [update]

I was over a the official website and read the following.

The Noon demo download availability has been postponed According to C/Net, it will be up around 7pm EST (4pm PST).

and

Around 7pm EST. They post demos at 4pm Pacific. You should be able to find it at Gamecenter.com and Download.com – Weasel

I guess this means a few more hours of patience…in the mean time you can read this C-Net preview

For those of us in Holland. Today I picked up the November issue of PC Zone at the railway kiosk.
I can play. I can play! I can play!

Over at Caesar III Heaven we are having a bit of a party…Wendoolicus has organised a Reunion, but everyone is welcome to browse over and have a good time.

Angel Jahakemhotep