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GamesDomain recently scored an interview with Sid Meier of Civilization III fame. With the game doing very well after its release on the PC side, eager Mac strategy gamers will be happy to know Westlake Interactive is making good progress on the Mac port in time for a release early next year by MacSoft.

In the Q&A, Meier discusses some of the many changes made to this third in the extremely popular Civ series. He also comments on the seeming lack of turn-based games in the market, and their decision to focus exclusively on the single player game at this point. Here's a clip in which Meier gives a concise summary of the new features of Civilization III:

We made a bunch of great changes in Civ III (including greatly expanded diplomacy, new concept of culture, enhanced trade system, more powerful combat and beautifully detailed art, animations and sound). I think the cultural component is one of the most exciting design advances in Civ III and perhaps the one that's most challenging to long-time Civ fans. Culture is the general social cohesion of your Civ, the impact of your nation's philosophy and arts on the world and your influence over the lands that surround your cities. Culture's effects are most visible in the expansion of borders, but it also affects how other Civs interact with you in diplomatic sessions, and can be a major factor when dealing with conquered cities.

One of our goals in developing the culture system was to provide a powerful alternative to war and conquest. Like diplomacy and trade, culture is intertwined so closely with the other major game systems that ignoring it will have dire consequences.

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Sid Meier Interview at Games Domain

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