One of the few advantages of getting a game ported after the pc version is that, aside from most of the bugs being fixed, a lot of customization options may be available out there. This is the case for CivII.
However, until we start seeing an influx of Mac borne scenarios, we will have to use the PC made scenarios ( I will provide up to 5 MB of FTP space for scenarios, possibly more).
A full detailed instructions on how to use these can be downloaded here. It is very detailed, and I highly recommend that you get this and read it. It was written by Amandeep Jawa, one of the programmers for Mac Civ II.Here is also an online version. Here is a brief summary of what to do.
Make sure you make a copy of all the original files!
There are 3 types of files that you need to be concerned with:
Most of the modification of rules and game behaviors is done though the use of several text files.
Although the manual explains how to use the map editor, it has very little information on making the type of changes we refer to here. A very good source of information is the Civilization II Strategy guide, from Prima's Secrets of the Game Series (ISBN 0761501061). If you can't find it, you can order it from Amazon, do a search by ISBN number. Note that this is slanted to the PC version, so you need to observe the warning in the detailed instructions as well.
You only need to worry about this section if the PC pack uses any of these files.
GAME.TXT, LABELS.TCT, COUNCIL0.TXT, MENU.TXT, TUTORIAL.TXT, MAPMENU.TXT
If any of these files are modified, you should then read the detailed instructions for explicit instructions.
A good tool for modifying these is Bare Bones' software BBEdit Lite.
You will probably notice that the PC versions of mod packs use .gif files, while the Mac version uses .pict files. This is the easiest conversion. You must use a converter program that does not alter the color palette in any way. Amandeep recommends clip2gif (I, MacUser, have also used clip2gif successfully and the colors seem okay. - MacUser 2-Jan-2000), I personally have used GraphicConverter with no problems. The programers of Civ II have also written a small utility that can help you get around this problem. Quoting from the detailed instructions:
Once you have converted the art files, make sure they are renamed with the .PICT extension. For example, "CITIES.GIF" & "UNITS.GIF" would be renamed to "CITIES.PICT" & "UNITS.PICT". Note that capitalization is not important (Units.pict is equivalent to UNITS.PICT.) After converting & renaming all the art files, move them to the folder that contains the original file with the same name & replace the original file. Thus, "CITIES.PICT" & "UNITS.PICT" should replace the original ones in "Civilization II Files:Support".
Again quoting from the detailed instructions:
SOUND CHANGES
Many modification sets customize the sound effects for Civilization II by including replacement sound files. These modified Windows sound files must be converted before they are used for the MacOS version of Civilization II. The conversion is necessary because the sounds for the MacOS version are stored in AIFF files while on the Windows version the sounds are stored in WAV files.
To convert Windows sound files to the MacOS, use a sound converter program that can convert WAV files to AIFF files. Modern versions of QuickTime's MoviePlayer application can do this for you by opening the WAV file & then choosing "Export..." in the "File" menu. Make sure you rename all converted WAV files to AIFF files because Civilization II for the MacOS looks for sound files named with the AIFF extension. After converting & renaming all the sound files, move them to the "Civilization II Files:Civ2:Sound" folder & replace the original versions.
If someone knows of a program that will do a batch conversion, please let me know.