posted 04-02-99 03:35 AM ET        

THE EASTER BUNNY WONDER

This Wonder is not discovered but is triggered automatically by the fertile smells and sounds of a particularly lush spring (eco-damage, however, can cancel the event).

* Sometime at the turn of an unusually good spring, an enormous white bunny, filling approximately 1/4 the screen, will bounce across the terrain, squashing anything it lands on. The bonus?

* The bunny will drop city-sized Easter eggs behind him. These eggs truly add a new element to the game.

* Assuming your civilization has the manpower/technology to open one of these huge treasures before it rots, any number of things can happen.

* Some eggs contain a recipe for cooking wonderful Italian pasta dishes and Danish muffins.

* Others contain up-to-the minute stock quotes and the current value of your car.

* Still others tweak your hardware in the background to leave your system that fresh, just-booted feeling.

The news isn't always good, however:

* Some eggs release a hundred minature Brian Reynoldses that chant and carry posters saying, "You stole our game! Prepare to feel the pain!" After a few turns of chanting, these little demons begin dismantling your cities at will. A truly nasty occurence.

* Others--affectionally called the "Sunny SMAC Up"--cause your system simply to crash, set your BIOS back a random number of years, and display the message: "Enhancement Coming Soon!"

*CHRISTMAS THEME:

--Terraformers look like deer (and now when they spin in circles, they put on ice skates and whistle Christmas tunes).

--Planet Busters look like Santa Claus dropping big "gifts" from the sky!

--Scouts=Santa's elves.

--Instead of Minerals, you harvest Christmas cookies.

--Instead of Energy Credits, you produce Christmas gift certificates good at Lal's Audio and Deirdre's Holiday House of Porn.