Civ/Printable version

Civ

The current, editable version of this book is available in Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection, at
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Civ

Permission is granted to copy, distribute, and/or modify this document under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License.

Civilization

This is a guide to the original computer game Civilization, designed by Sid Meier.

Table of Contents

• The Basics

Appendices

• Forms of Government
• Unit Index
• Patch History

CivNet

CivNet put simply is a Windows version of the original civilization with multiplayer support

this being said it did contain a few new features:

King Builder This feature included, allows for the player to create a visual representation of his/her alter ego.

Map Editor As with civilization 2 a map editor was included so that the player could design their own maps, quite a useful feature, one that was lacking in the original civilization

This being said, these extra features are no compensation for the flaws built into this game:

Response time using the interface is slow.

The multiplayer feature is wrought with with lag, sometimes it can take over 5 minutes for the information about each players turn to be sent, even on a DSL connection.

The ability to play a game with simultaneous movement was a good idea, although due to the amount of lag caused by bad programming, or dodgy transmission protocol, meant a player could be attacked by the AI whilst waiting for data to be received or transmitted...

in conclusion this was a cheap effort to use an old game (civilization 1) revamp it, and attempt to pass it off as somethin entirely new. considering that Civilization II had been released at around the same time, Microprose would have been far better off enabling the already programmed multiplayer support in Civilization II and forgetting CivNet.

Civilization II

This is a strategy guide for Civilization II, as well as its various expansion packs. They include:

• Civilization II: Conflicts in Civilization
• Civilization II: Fantastic Worlds
• Civilization II: Test of Time (PC only)

Table of Contents

• The Basics

Scenario Guides

Conflicts in Civilization Scenarios

• After the Apocalypse
• Age of Discovery
• The Age of Napoleon
• Alexander the Great
• Alien Invasion
• American Civil War
• The Crusades
• The Great War
• Jihad - The Rise of Islam
• The Mongol Horde
• The War for Independence
• World War - 1979

Fantastic Worlds Scenarios

• The Age of Reptiles
• Atlantis
• Ice Planet
• Mars Now!
• Master of Magic, Jr.
• Master of Orion, Jr.
• The Mythic History of Midgard
• The New World
• Samurai
• The World of Jules Verne
• X-COM: Assault

Appendices

• Forms of Government
• Unit Index
• Patch History
• Test of Time Extras

External links

• Freeciv, closely modelled on Civilization 2

Civilization III

This is a strategy guide for Civilization III and its expansion packs.

Table of Contents

• The Basics¹
• Civilization Traits
• Diplomacy

Appendices

• Forms of Government
• Unit Index
• Terrain Reference
• Patch History
• Conquests Extras

[1] Chapter common to more than one guide

External links

• "Must read" strategy discussions from the Apolyton.net website
• Game FAQs and guides from GameFAQs.com

Civilization IV

This is a strategy guide for Civilization IV and its expansion packs.

Table of Contents

• The Basics¹
• Leader Traits
• Diplomacy

Appendices

• Forms of Government
• Unit Index
• Terrain Reference
• Patch History
• Warlords Extras

[1] Chapter common to more than one guide

Modding

• Modding

Colonization

This game is a blend between the Civilization series and a trading simulation.

The game sees the player being sent as an envoy of one of the four major powers in a quest to "colonize" a new world (which may resemble America or may be "made-up").

Time

The epoch starts in 1492 and spans indefinitely until the player has completed his goals and claimed independence. The manual claims that the game terminates by 1850, regardless of whether the goal of independence has been won by that date or not. You must declare independence from your initial sponsoring country by 1800 in order to have any chance of winning the game.

Features

The game allows production, trading, and transport of sixteen commodities, in addition to the usual search, build, and grow methodology common to 4X games. The player can choose between four European powers as their home nation. England, France, Holland and Spain. Each power has a different motive for colonizing the New World and the player receives an advantage in a particular area depending on which is chosen.

Maximum number of colonies

The unstated limitation of 48 colonies may be quite vexing for builder types who wish to create an incredibly extensive empire in the New World. This limitation also allows the computer players to "catch up" somewhat from a dismal initial start. The computer players can keep building on territory that is unclaimed while the human player is limited to destroying/disbanding one settlement in order to build another elsewhere to take advantage of more useful/more advantageous terrain; but a disbanded colony may be one captured from an enemy then emptied of cargo and colonists, so the outlook is not all bad.

Movement automation

There are limited automation options for movement of materials and units, by "Trade Routes" and the "Go" command. Sending ships to and from Europe is fairly simple, but the program may cause cargo-swapping in mid-Atlantic and spoil an otherwise good plan. The primitiveness of these systems may have contributed to causing this otherwise fine variant of Civ to remain relatively unknown and unplayed by even devout Civ fans.

External links

• http://synapsa.infoland.int.pl/~taw/Colonization_tips.txt

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

This is a strategy guide for Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri and its expansion pack, Alien Crossfire. Occasionally the game and its expansion are seen in a composite package called Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri Planetary Pack; the software included in this package is identical to the original releases with all the patches applied.

As should be obvious, the guide still needs a lot of work. All SMACers are encouraged to help out. Of course, normal wiki etiquette applies: if you disagree with a non-factual statement, list your opinion along with it, and confer with others if you wish to make gargantuan changes. Have fun and welcome!

Table of Contents

• The Basics¹
• Understanding the game
• Understanding the Governor
• Working with Cities
• Understanding the Factions
  • The SMAC Factions
  • The Alien Crossfire Factions
• Strategy
  • Early Game
  • Middle Game
  • Endgame
• Diplomacy

Appendices

• Social Engineering
• Unit Construction
• Tech Tree
• Facility Index
• Secret Project Index
• Citizen Index
• Patch History

[1] Chapter common to more than one guide

Freeciv

Nothing much here yet.
The stated purpose of Freeciv (at one point) was to create a working clone of Civ II for the UNIX/Linux platform. It seems to have worked, and has been ported several times.

You could visit the manuals and HOWTOs at the Freeciv website.

Authors

Primary contributors

• Kef X-Schecter, alias "furrykef", created the book and some of its initial content, including compiling unit attributes and such.
• Chris Hartpence, alias Velociryx, wrote the definitive Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri FAQ on GameFAQs, which was so popular and in-depth it eventually appeared in printed form. Some of the material from his guide and his Apolyton message board posts appears here, in modified form or otherwise, with his explicit permission. (He also might write new content for the wikibook as well. :))