Civilization II

Civilization II , also shortened Civ II , or Civ 2 , is a Strategy game with the turn by turn developed and published by MicroProse, and originally conceived for Ordinateur. Brian Reynolds is the principal author, but Douglas Caspian-Kaufman and Jeff Briggs also took part in its realization. Although belonging to the series of plays Civilization , neither Sid Meier, the creator of the series, nor Bruce Shelley, which assisted it during the development of the first shutter, Civilization , was implied in the development of Civilization II .

The first version of Civilization II left the February 29th 1996, but was then only available in English and for PC/Windows. Arousing the interest of players through the whole World, the play was initially translated into several Langue S. the version French E was marketed in 1997.

Collecting a success always growing near the public, Civilization II was then carried with the PlayStation and the Mac, and respectively published by Activision and Mac Play on this news Plate-forme S. the play was in parallel enriched by several official extensions and by many corrective.

Finally, in 2002, Civilization II was the subject of an important handing-over on level by Atari, current owner of the Franchise. This Mise up to date visa mainly to ensure the compatibility play with the operating systems that Microsoft had published meanwhile, in particular Windows Me and Windows XP.

Description

Civilization II place the player with the head of a Nation Virtual it, in competition with a maximum of six others Civilization S which coexist all on the same chart, controlled by the computer, whose behavior is flexible via levels of difficulty, or by other human players in the versions multijoueurs of the play. As a Head of State, it will have to make thrive its Empire on the economic levels, scientific, Politique S, Militaire S and diplomatic, and in each one of these fields, it will be brought to take a certain number of decisions which will often influence the end result of the part.

In Civilization II , victory perhaps reached in two manners, relatively innovative concept at the time. Thus, the military victory is obtained when all the competitor empires were conquered or destroyed, while the scientific victory is obtained by reaching the technological threshold necessary to the manufacture of a Space shuttle and while being the first to use it to achieve the ultimate goal, the system of Centauri Alpha, which inspired besides Sid Meier in the development of a continuation of the play, Alpha Centauri . If none of these objectives is filled before the deadline, civilization entering the most points gains the part, the points being calculated starting from various national achievements, such as the total population or the number of wonder S.

A play personnalisable

If the lifespan of Civilization II were particularly long, it is mainly thanks to the possibility that it offers to the player to personalize certain aspects of the play to its own way, in order to be able to diversify and define with a highher degree of accuracy the environment of its parts. One can for example imagine to limit and look further into the play at the only period of the Moyen-âge, by replacing all the elements “out-context” by more suitable elements: the Obusier could be replaced by the Trébuchet, and so on.

Thus, some file S of the play describe in particular the names or appearances of the Civilization S, of the Technologie S, the military units, the improvements of the cities or the wonders of the world. These files can be published via simple text editors or images and make it possible to describe the context in which the parts will proceed. The whole of these modifications is usually called a MOD and its utility is particularly proven when designing Scénario S, which they are historical or fictitious.

In its not modified version, that one calls also vanilla , the universe implemented by Civilization II more or less recalls the evolution of the Homme, since his appearance on Ground, until our days.

Civilizations

In a typical part, the player incarnates a famous leader, man or woman, one of 21 civilizations which are proposed to him:

Technologies

The “technology with a future” is different from other technologies insofar as each civilization can launch out to its research an unlimited number of times - with the proviso of controlling the prérequis of them - enabling him successively to discover the “technology with a future 1”, the “technology with a future 2”, and so on. Each one of these discoveries brings to the civilization which is the author of the additional points for the final classification. This also guarantees that a civilization will always have an objective of research during a part.

Units

Improvements of the city

Wonders of the world

Successor of Civilization

Civilization II resembles the first Civilization , but strongly extends it with a certain number of innovations: units, Civilization S, discovered, wonders of the world, grounds laying out of additional and visible natural resources in isometric Prospect. Civilization II is adapted to the operating systems like Windows and Mac OS, with windows and a improved graphic Mode.

A certain number of new concepts were developed, such as the points of life of the units and the Firepower. Thus, a phalange will have evil to destroy a armoured, which was possible in the previous model. An automatic mode also allows the colonists and the Engineer S to improve the occupied ground. The legions are more expensive, but have better potentials of attacks and of Défense. The firepower of the cruise missiles was reduced, while the defensive force of the furtive bombers was increased.

The aspect Diplomatique of the play was largely widened since the first grinding of the series. Indeed, the simple contacts and discussions do not require any more the presence of diplomatic units . The latter now has a related role, but quite as important, to carry out “missions”. Among the possibilities one finds the contamination networks of drinking water, the establishment of Ambassade S, the Corruption of units and the Sabotage.

The Gold edition makes it possible to play Scénario S following: Antiquity, First World War, Second world war and… war of the sexes.

Associated plays

Civilization II was a real success and is always marketed. Its longevity is due in particular to the number of mods and Scénario S suggested by the fans. The play inspired a certain number of other plays, like Call to Power of Activision and the other plays of Firaxis: Alpha Centauri , Civilization III , Civilization IV . More recently, the Communauté of the free software developed a free version Multiplate-form called Freeciv which makes it possible to play indifferently according to the rules of Civilization or of Civilization II .

After the diffusion of the version basic, other versions were prepared. The version Fantastic Worlds adds many technical possibilities to the editor of scenario, which made it possible to widen the experiment of play beyond the traditional play. It was from now on easier to incorporate graphic , personalized events and objectives. Nevertheless, the play still did not have a shutter Multijoueur like the first version of the play with CivNet . This gap was corrected with the version Multiplayer Gold Edition , which makes it possible to play by email, in network IPX/SPX or TCP/IP like by Internet. The shutter multijouor allows also certain freedoms with respect to the traditional play, like the options Doubler the productivity of the boxes or Doubler the coefficients of movement . In 1999, the play Civilization II was altered in a version Esthétique lies more interesting: Test off Time , of the even editor, in Interactive collaboration with Hasbro. While taking again the broad outlines of the initial version, two Interface S of play and Ville are from now on available. The movements, orientations and attacks of the units as well as the special resources (Iron, Corn, etc) are animated. Even if, overall, the play adopts a less utility appearance, certain facets present in the initial version disappeared, by name the throne room, the Animation S of wonders and the the Council of Ministers. The play requires from now on obligatorily the insertion of the disc of the play, that it is that of the original version, Multiplayer Gold Edition or Test off Time . A new sound screen was also developed for this version.

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