New (Sept. 2004) email exchange about Civ 2 strategies. Click here.
How I play Civ 2
I've revised this yet again (8/13/04). It was 42 pages in its original WordPerfect incarnation, and is now longer. The latest revision is largely to get it to work as an HTML file, to improve the headings, and to clarify some obscure points and clunky wording. There is little new information compared to the previous version, and I have omitted the "Unit Cost Effectiveness" tables because they were dumb. Click here to see all my secrets:
How I Play [203K]
The previous version is available (revised 6/4/04): How I Play as a Word document. This version includes the "Unit Cost Effectiveness" tables that I omitted from the latest version.
And click here to see a discussion and corrections to the above documents: Civ Fanatics Forum discussion
I've also responded to questions about "How I Play," so follow that link for some clarifications.
Simultaneous movement in Civ 2
Simultaneous movement speeds up a multiplayer game and rewards quick thinkers.
If you'd like to try it, edit your civ.ini file (should be in your windows directory) and add the
line Simultaneous=1. Then start up Civ 2 and when you get to the option "human players
move simultaneously, click it on.
My experience has been that I have to make this change to the civ.ini file every time I want to start a session, because the "1" keeps getting deleted. If anyone can explain how to avoid this, I'd like to know about it.
Drawbacks: The reputation of "sim" is that it causes computers to lock up more often. I've played many sim games without problem, and had lockups while playing turn-based. My feeling is that it probably does cause a few more lockups, but it's not a serious problem. However, computers do differ.
More important is that the host gets an advantage in war because he gets quicker response. This often means he gets to strike first in a tense tactical situation. This is a serious disadvantage, but it can be worked around by having all players leave the game and restart without simultaneous movement when war happens (though I've never heard of anyone doing this). At least, I think this is the only way to get out of simultaneous movement once you've started it. I do know that the option is not available during game play, unlike 2x production and movement.
Multiplayer Patch File
I used to provide the "1.3 patch," but since it's available from the Civilization Fanatics' website, I no longer see a reason to keep it here. See below for link.
Links to Civ2 sites
Here's the official description of the Civilization Fanatics' Center: A major fan site for the entire Civilization series. Contains complete Civ news coverage, war academy, downloads, multiplayer list, timelines, forums, and galleries.
Civilization Fanatics' Center
Another great site:
All the Civ links you'll ever need!