News Archive - Oct 2004

A reminder that you have 2 more days to get your entries to me. So far we've had one entry - I'm sure more than one person has had a disaster that's worth a screenshot ...

More information can be found here.

The site may be temporarily and/or partially unavailble Friday the 29th of October. This is due to server maintenance, everything should be ready at 7:00PM EDT. Sorry for any inconvenience you may experience.

Also notice the new URL! From now on, Children of the Nile Heaven can be visisted at http://cotn.heavengames.com.

Tilted Mill and Myelin Media today announced that their first project has gone gold*! If everything goes well, Children of the Nile will be in stores in the United States from November 9th. Unfortunately, no official information has been released about a release date for the rest of the world.

Immortal Cities: Children of the Nile is the first and only strategy game where citizens, who behave like living, independent beings, are the primary resource.

In Immortal Cities, you assume the role of Pharaoh, divinely appointed by the gods to lead the people of ancient Egypt, uniting them as you elevate your status and strive to become a supreme and god-like ruler. You design and build glorious cities in which hundreds of seemingly real people live and work in an interconnected societal web, each facet of their lives played out in vivid detail. For more information, please take a look around the official site and if you want more detailed information, look around here.

*If the game has gone gold, it means that a so called master disc has been sent to the publisher, who then puts the game through a final round of quality assurance. If the last check-up is done and the result is satisfying, the copies that will be available for sale are made.

WorthPlaying.com have released an interview with Jeff Fiske. It's a very interesting article, it gives you a good idea what the game actually is about. And if you're still doubting if Children of the Nile is the game you want to buy next month:

Q : Ok, so what’s the One Big Reason that people should go out and try Children of the Nile?

It has been 4 years since our last city builder and we have moved the genre ahead in a huge leap. All the classic City Building elements are there, but your people seem real this time, making it much more fun and much cooler when you build a large living city.

The release of the game is coming closer but even after today we have not seen everything yet! The three new character we can meet are the ever important laborers, priests and the shipwright. The god we meet today is one you'd better keep an eye on when you get the game, the people will not be pleased if there is no room to worship Hathor after the harvest season. Last, one of the remaining songs from the soundtrack is available for download, it's called Festival Dance. Check out everything here.

Read the latest preview on Children of the Nile here at GameSpy. Here's something they have to say about it:

"...I've never experienced the feeling of having a truly living city before the way I did in just a few hours of Children of the Nile."

HomeLAN have published their latest preview of Children of the Nile, based on a beta build of the game, here. Also, two new videos from the bonus-disk have been released, the first, Movie 1, is a general introduction. In the second movie, Movie 6, Tony Leier talks about what you can expect from the Campaign and Scenarios in the game. Jeff Fiske goes into some detail about the underlying game structure and how the 3D engine enhances gameplay. You can download them from here, of course, if you want to see all 10 videos and much more bonus material, pre-order a copy of CotN at EB or GameStop now!

If you're still unsure about pre-ordering Children of the Nile to get the pre-order bonus disk, you better check out these two new videos here!

In the first video, Movie 2, Chris Beatrice and Jeff Fiske talk about how the people function in the game and describe how they are much more real and substantial than in previous city-building games. In the second video, Movie 10, Chris Beatrice discusses the prestige mechanic in Children of the Nile. Why prestige is important, how to gain it and how it affects your ability to build a large and thriving city.

Remember, the bonus disks are available only as long as supply lasts!

Children of the Nile is coming to the stores this November but if you pre-order the game now you will get an exclusive bonus disk to take home with you right away! Visit an EB or GameStop near you to receive this soon-to-be collectors item after you pre-ordered your copy of CotN or visit their online stores (EB and GameStop) and have the disk sent to you along with the game. Be quick! Disks available as long as supply lasts.

The features of the bonus CD:

10 in-depth movie tutorials with commentary by key members of the development team

Full Music Score written by composer Keith Zizza

Art Gallery of never before seen concept art

Exclusive Trailer

Exclusive 2005 Desktop Calendar

Exclusive Contest: Win a trip to the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas

If you are so unfortunate to not have access to either of these stores, you can drool over the new previews by GameSpot and IGN. Enjoy!

The October competition is being widened to include all the citybuilding games in the hopes of attracting more entries. The best entries will be added to our gallery.

So, what's the competition? It's for a screenshot, taken in normal gameplay, for the heading 'Worst Disaster'. Earthquake, fire, flood ... any shot that you think comes under that description can be entered. I realise that not all the games have the same disasters, but each has something that can come under that heading.

Contest Rules:

1. Your screenshot must be an image generated only by the core game (which does include the 'cheats').

2. Your screenshot must be saved in jpg, jpeg, or gif format.

3. Your screenshot must not be retouched using image-editing software.

4. Your screenshot must not contain content in violation of HeavenGames rules and guidelines.

5. Screenshots must be received by 31st October.

Screenshot Submissions:

1. You may enter a maximum of one screenshot for each of the CB games.

2. Submit your screenshot by attaching it to an email sent to [email]gillb@heavengames.com[/email]

It has been two weeks since the last update, so today we can welcome the perfumer and gardener to our city and they were so nice to bring along a humble villager as well. Along with 6 brand new screenshots, Amun The Creator has arrived. He's the god of the peasants.

"In the Field of Reeds" is one of the last pieces of music from the Children of the Nile soundtrack to be released, so, soon you will have heard them all! Check the update here.

Also don't forget to read a new design article by Tony Leier, which has been released at IGN.com. It explains the life and luxuries of being Pharaoh.

Today is the first day of October, so your September calendar wallpaper really needs to be updated! Get your October Children of the Nile calendar wallpaper here at the official CotN site.