November 6, 1999 12:43 EST
More pages up
oday, I've been doing a bit more housekeeping here at PH.  I've added a reviews page to the links section so that you can see how the online gaming press has received Pharaoh.  I'll be updating it whenever a new review appears, so if you see or know of something that isn't there already, then I'd like to hear about it.

I've put a few more walkthroughs up.  We now have all the scenarios from the Pre-dynastic, Archaic, Old and Middle Kingdoms.  We're currently missing 3 scenarios from the New Kingdom, but I doubt you'll miss them - it'll take ages to get that far, so we've got plenty of time.   Trust me, they will be up soon.

There's also a new site tracker thingy on the left, just below the Sierra and Impressions logo.  Here's hoping it'll be less troublesome than the old one.

November 6, 1999 03:06 EST
Nearing 50k
ell, I said today would be a multi-update day, didn't I?  Wasn't expecting the next one to be so quick though.

I notice from the hit counter on the left hand side of the page that we're nearing 50k, something which should happen sometime today.  If you're the lucky person, then send me a screenshot of that lovely round number and I'll mention you on the news.

November 6, 1999 03:03 EST
Pharaoh1.com gets a new look
hen I logged on to the Web this morning and checked my email, there was another Pharaoh Newsletter waiting there for me to digest.  That one has now been added to the Newsletter Archive.

Some interesting things to come out of it:

• The official site has got a revamp, and now carries all sorts of information about the game, with the promise of more to come.

• The demo has been updated - perhaps this one won't crash as much as the old one did.  Good news for all you people who still haven't tried the game out:).

• You can win a Pharaoh t-shirt if you're quick enough.

Before I went to sleep yesterday, I uploaded the new-look buildings section to the site.  It's got all the buildings in there, and information about cost, fire risk etc, but there aren't any pics yet.  I'll get round to putting those in over the next few weeks.

I have a feeling that today might be a multi-update day, so check back later for any more news from your #1 Pharaoh news source:).

Oh, while I remember, Angel Draco is eagerly awaiting the arrival of some cities in his mailbox.  Send them to him and he can pop them in the downloads section (which will be upgraded sometime in the near future, whenever Angel Spineman can find some time in his busy schedule).

Angel Reckyamun

November 5, 1999 13:41 EST
Pharaoh review
here's a review of Pharaoh at Dailyradar.com.  This one was spotted by forumer Armed Hourglass.   Comments can be posted here.

As a follow-up to my news yesterday about Sierra.de giving away a 2-week holiday to Egypt, I've seen a similar announcement on Sierra.fr.  It also gives the French release date as Monday 8th November.

While we're on the subject of release dates, I saw over at ukgames.com that Pharaoh was slated for a November 5th release there (and therefore, one assumes, in the UK as a whole).  I should get an email from them when it's in stock, but I haven't received one yet.  Perhaps tomorrow (should have been today though).

In the forums, we have an interesting discussion going on about unemployment, and how high you should let it get.  If you want my opinion, then I reckon it's good to have about 7 or 8%, just in case you suddenly need to place a load of industries and want them working immediately.  Any higher than 10% though, and people will start complaining.

Tomorrow I might finish off the new buildings section, which will detail all the buildings you can construct in Pharaoh (no pics there yet, that will be done over the next few weeks...still, it's the information that counts, right?).  Today, I added the latest Pharaoh Newsletter to the Newsletter Archive.  Not much info in there, but always worth checking out.

Angel Reckyamun

November 4, 1999 16:25 EST
Fancy a trip to Egypt?
here's an offer, no?   Well, Sierra is offering a 14-day trip to Egypt for anyone who can call up a phone number...

Just 1 proviso - you have to live in Germany to take advantage of this offer (hmm...where am I right now?  Oh yes, I remember <g>.  Just have to find someone to take with me in case I win ;) ).   Here's the official blurb from Sierra's German Pharaoh site:

Gewinnen Sie eine 14tägige Traumreise für 2 Personen in das Land der Pharaonen!

Einfach anrufen unter:
0190 / 270 540* [(ems
und folgende Frage beantworten
Wie heißt der Vorgängertitel von Pharao?
*DM 1,21/min (nur innerhalb Deutschlands)
 
Wir verlosen zusätzlich 50 weitere Top-Titel (u.a. Homeworld, Gabriel Knight III, Pharao) und 10 Pharao T-Shirts.
Das Gewinnspiel läuft bis Ende Dezember. Der Rechtsweg ist ausgeschlossen.

I won't bother translating it, since it only applies to people living in Germany (and therefore, one would imagine, able to speak German).

I was wondering why some people called the game "Pharao".  Now I know...

Angel Reckyamun

November 4, 1999 14:00 EST
Up for a competition?
ur resident competition meister Dragon2 has already come up with a possible competition (informal):

I did Abydos at Hard difficulty in 225 months while making a lot of mistakes. Thinking it over, I suspect the time could be cut to 10 years. Here are some things I'd do better on a second try.

Anyway, I'm going to try again, and I'll post the game if I can get down to 12 years or less. I'll also post anyone else's efforts if you email me a zip file of the saved game and describe your strategy in this thread.

What are the best times that others have achieved? Any speculation on the fastest possible time?

Since this is a straightforward level to finish at Hard, I propose that as the standard difficulty.

That's an abridged version of his post.  To see the rest, which includes some useful hints for anyone who might be interested in having a go, click here.

I've received another report of Pharaoh being available in Canada.  Looks like you can get it pretty much all over North America if you can find the right store.  Now all we need to do is wait for it to appear over here in Europe.  Did someone say simultaneous release a few days ago?   Odd definition...

Angel Reckyamun

November 3, 1999 15:10 EST
Pharaoh Favourites?
ell, it didn't take long for these topics to turn up in the forum.  Only a few days after release and we already have threads asking which are your favourite scenarios, walkers and buildings.

Good news for potential Pharaoh fans who have Apple Macs today...here's a post from the Impressions Marketing Weasel in the official forum:

Good news there!  Also, just a note about Caesar3.com, which some people haven't been able to access for the past couple of days.  Don't worry - it hasn't been closed, it's just having a couple of tech problems.  All will be well soon.

Angel Reckyamun

November 2, 1999 17:14 EST
Pharaoh Chat Thursday
ust saw this on AVault:

Online Chat Announced as Pharaoh Arrives in Stores

Several key Impressions personnel will be participating in the chat, including Pharaoh designer Chris BeatriceArt Director Darrin Horbal, QA Manager Jon Payne and Producers Greg Sheppard and Ken Parker. Fans need to go to the official Pharaoh web site to use either the web interface or get information on accessing the chat with an IRC client.

There was nothing on the official site about this last time I checked, but I confirmed it through Itchy.  Great for US-based fans, but it looks like us Europeans will have to wait for something earlier in the future.  *sigh*  Hey Impressions, don't forget about us on the other side of the pond...

Angel Reckyamun

November 2, 1999 16:50 EST
Pharaoh hits Canada
e have reports of Pharaoh hitting parts of Canada (Ottawa, to be precise), and I also hear that it's landed in Impressions's home town of Cambridge, MA.  As I said yesterday, let me know if it appears in your area.   Please only mail me if you're outside the US - I think it's pretty clear that it's out in most places over there right now.  I'd be especially interested to hear of anyone in Europe, South America, the Far East or Australia who's seen it in stores.

People are already wondering about what the best configuration for a housing block will be.  The thread is here, and I've come up with a couple of potential ideas (here and here).

We have also received reports of manuals that are missing certain pages.  If you find yourself in such a situation, then you should take a look at this thread to see what you should do.

Angel Reckyamun

November 1, 1999 14:03 EST
Out everywhere by the 16th!
hat's the latest word we have from the Marketing Weasel regarding worldwide release dates.  That's not certain, since Impressions doesn't have control over distribution, but it's a date we can certainly work with.

I'd like to keep track of releases around the world, so if you manage to get your hands on Pharaoh, let us know in the forum, or tell me via email.

Meanwhile, in Angel Draco's ever-continuing quest to glean information about fire susceptibility, he has elicited a post from Impressions's Conan:

Angel Draco was asking about reasoning behind risk assignment. It comes down to what worked out best during our playtesting combined with what made the most sense logically.

For example, firehouses have a fire risk but no damage risk. They don't have a damage risk because then you'd need to build an Architect to service every firehouse.....
Firehouses have a (small) fire risk so that something will happen to them if they are left in the middle of nowhere with no employees.

More information can be found here.

Angel Reckyamun