Citizens
have sought advice
from the gods of
Mount Olympus.
Zeus : Master
of Olympus
is a game by
and
 |
January 1, 2001 - February 10, 2001
 | | Enhancement Pack Follow-up
Following the Sierra email which stated that the Zeus Enhancement Pack would be available this Wednesday (Valentine's Day), there's been some debate on the official forum as to whether this can be entirely trusted. Here's what Kraken said on the matter:
When we are 100 percent confident in the worldwide release plan, we will post the information here.
And as soon as they post it there, we'll post it here  . |
 | | Adventure Editor Release Date
Cherub mouse forwarded me an email she received from Sierra concerning Zeus. Here's a little snippet which will be of interest to all:
ATTENTION, ZEUS PLAYERS: FREE ENHANCEMENT PACK COMING SOON!
Begin creating your own adventures with the free Enhancement Pack coming this Valentine's Day!
(Installation of Zeus is required) |
 | | New Section: Buildings
I've just added a buildings section to the site. Pics aren't there at the moment, but are well on the way. |
 | | More Adventure Editor News
No, not a release date, but Impressions's Kraken dropped into the ZH forums to share some information about what will be contained therein:
The Zeus Adventure Editor will allow you to create your own adventures...the terrain upon which they take place, the mission objectives, buildings allowed, events, gods/monsters/heroes appearing -- everything that you see in the adventures you're playing now. The Editor is the same complex and powerful tool that we used in creating Zeus. We're making it more user-friendly and generally transforming it from an internal tool to something that anyone can learn to use. The Editor will be a free download. A few weeks after it ships, you will see player-created adventures offered for downloads on fine websites like this one.
You bet they will ! |
 | | Walkers Page Added
Angel Jayhawk has been busy this weekend taking screenshots and doing clever things with them. You can see the fruits of his labours on the brand new Zeus Heaven Walkers Page.
What, are you still here  ? |
 | | Awardasaurus!
Do you think Zeus was the best PC game of last year? If so, then Daily Radar's Awardasaurus wants to hear from you! Once again, thanks to award-spotter extraordinaire Angel Thunder for letting me know about this. |
| | Best Strategy Game of 2000?
Thanks to Angel Thunder for pointing out to me that Zeus has been nominated as one of IGN PC's candidates for the title "Best Strategy Game of 2000". As always with awards like this, competition is pretty stiff, so you'd better get voting . |
 | | HeavenGames Launches Cossacks Heaven
HG are pleased to announce the opening of Cossacks Heaven. Here's what it's all about:
Cossacks Heaven will be dedicated to feature extensive coverage of European Wars: Cossacks, from basic information such as unit stats, to resources for players to get better at their game. The site includes a download section, powered by proprietary software developed by HeavenGames, for gamers to submit their own customized maps, "mod-packs", scenarios and campaigns. In addition, the site includes community-building features such as a player's list, clans directory, and forums.
Read the full press release here. |
| | Zeus Wallpapers
Impressions has updated the official site with a wallpaper page, in case you should want to Zeus-ify your desktop. |
 | | 7 Wonders of the World
Angel Jayhawk has just posted a few articles on the 7 wonders of the World. Why here at ZH? Here's what A.J. has to say about that:
As this list was originally devised by the ancient Greeks, what better place to have more information on the lot of them than Zeus Heaven. Actually there have been many lists drawn up by many a famous Greek, but the lists containing those monument we know best were been compiled by Antipater of Sidon and Phidon of Byzantium. |
 | | Raiding, Schmaiding
Kraken is busy on the official boards these days - yesterday the UK patch, today this post on raiding, and whether you will ever raid more than 16 units of any product:
No, you can get a lot more than 16. The amount you capture depends not only on the carrying capacity of your surviving raiders, but also on the target city's production of the commodity you're stealing. Generally, bigger cities yield more plunder.
Raiding also yields less plunder as the difficulty level setting increases. |
| | UK Patch Available
Kraken just posted the following message to the official forum:
Zeus UK patch 1.01 is now available for download right here. This patch is for the UK version of Zeus only. It updates the UK game executable to full compatibility with all other language versions. This means an end to the infamous Horse Ranch bug, among others.
It's only 472k in size, so it won't take too heavy a toll on the modem. |
 | | Sanctuary Stipulations
Vriesea has started a great thread about Sanctuaries, how they work, and how best to speed up their construction. View it here.
It's prompted me to start a page on which you can find the most useful forum threads. Feel free to take a peek and drop me a line if there are any more which you think should be added. |
 | | Kraken on in-game movies
Zeus Producer Kraken posted this message to the official forums regarding in-game movies in Zeus (and the lack of them):
Movie-type animations suck down a LOT of art and sound personnel time -- the Zeus intro took several person-months to create, for example. All projects have finite budgets and timelines for art, sound, programming, etc. Creating movies either (a) reduces the time available for making in-game graphics, or (b) inflates the project budget.
Most people enjoy cutscenes the first few times they're shown, but subsequently click through them or turn them off. Zeus' designer chose to concentrate our art budget on in-game graphics, which is why the game itself has so many splendid animations. How many players still watch the Zeus intro every time you start up the game?
Some of you might have gladly sacrificed a font or two and some custom building animations in favor of victory movies. It's a matter of personal opinion. My point is simply that cutscenes impose tradeoffs. |
| | D-I-Y Blocks
Just a quick note today to the effect that you too can create housing blocks like those in the forum thread I posted about yesterday - click here to take a look at the utility people use to make them (first made by Crassus Pauper, adapted to ZH by Angel Jayhawk). |
| | Blocks, Blocks and more Blocks
There's a very interesting thread in the Zeus Game Help forum right now, detailing some of the housing blocks people use in Zeus. Whether you've just picked up the game or have been playing it for a while, this thread and the blocks contained therein will undoubtably be of use to you.
Click here to view current blocks or to submit your own. |
| | More Map Editor
Kraken hit the official forums (ouch!) to release some more details about the upcoming Zeus Adventure Editor:
The Zeus Adventure Editor will be the same tool that we used to create the adventures we shipped with Zeus. The required production time involves interface cleanup, documentation, bug fixing and testing, with a bit of new implementation thrown in as well. |
| | Adventure Editor on the Way!
Thanks to Sigbjørn Koksæter and PCD for alerting me via email and the forums that an Adventure Editor for Zeus is on the way. Impressions's Kraken posted to the official forums with the following news:
The Zeus Adventure Editor is in production and will be available as a free download. I cannot specify a publication date at this time, but we will of course announce it prominently when it's ready.
Also, UK Zeusers should look out for a cure to the problem of horse infertility, which should be available in the near future. |
 | | Zeus Autorun Problems
More from David Masters this morning, which will be of use to those of you who are experiencing problems with Windows's Autorun feature and Zeus:
1) disable the autorun feature in Win95/98, by taking the following steps:
a) Start | Settings | Control Panel | System
b) Device Manager tab, double-click the CD-ROM folder to expand it, or click on the cross in front of it
c) find your CD-ROM drive (it should be the only drive listed in this folder) and click on it to highlight it, then click the Properties button at the bottom
d) Settings tab, uncheck the "Auto Insert Notification" check box.
e) Click OK, then click OK again.
f) Close Control Panel, and then restart the computer.
or
2) Hold down your Shift key while inserting the CD - this bypasses Windows' autorun feature (you need to hold it down until the drive light has gone out). |
| | Zeus Tech FAQ
I'm sure this has been up for a little while now, but I've only just found it, thanks to the delights of a serious system crash which incapacitated this computer for several days over Xmas...
Anyway, Impressions have posted a technical FAQ on their site - essential reading if you can't get Zeus to run.
Can I also take thing opportunity to wish all of our readers a happy and prosperous new year :). |
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