ATTENTION NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE USERS: If you have a non-English version of CivII multiplayer, do not download the file above, but rather the one found here (also found in the menu to your right).
Behind the reasoning comes a little story. We [ACS] became aware of these patches yesterday, but were uncertain in regards to the nature of part of the contents of MPS' Tech Support section for CivII updates; that is, there were two files available for download and we were unable to concretely differentiate between the two, based on the descriptions provided. As such, we held off posting it until we knew for certain and contacted the source themselves. We thank Jonathan from MPS for his speedy reply to our concern.
"There are actually other versions, localized and translated, that are neither UCC or MGE", he wrote us. "The "all languages" patch [is for this purpose]. If you have UCC or MGE, you need [this update]. Otherwise, [install this one instead]".

NUMERO UNO
(April 27, 1999) For the week of April 11-17, 1999, Civilization II: Multiplayer Gold Edition was the number 1 selling PC game according to PCData. It bumped Activision's Civilization: Call To Power down to second spot during the same period. Searching for reason why perhaps? Hasbro is offering a $20US rebate off the purchase price, effectively cutting the cost in half.

MGE MAC PORT RELEASED
(March 30, 1999) Macsoft has released the long-awaited Macintosh version of Civilization II: Multiplayer Gold Edition. The game is expected to be available nationwide (United States) in April with a suggested retail price of $49.99. Read more from MacCentral.

ALL 82% OF IT
(March 30, 1999) Tom Cheng of Strategy Gaming Online sent us a mail regarding our article telling us why their final scores are, in fact, not based on averages.
"Our rating isn't about averages, because if it was, just about every turn-based game would never get above 8.0. Why? Because turn-based games aren't about graphics or audio, it's more about the gameplay therefore gameplay gets more consideration in the overall rating". That we can appreciate, and we thank him for the clarification.
(March 29, 1999) Strategy Gaming Online has given Civ II: Multiplayer Gold Edition an over 82% rating. The high point as the reviewer saw it? Gameplay (10/10). The lows? Three way tie at 6 marks a piece: interface, audio and graphics. Mutiplayer was 7. The overall average seemed a little high to DanQ based on those scores, so he calculated it himself and got 7: a 70% equivalent. Well, guess there are just some things that conventional mathematics just can't measure.

MULTIPLAYER FOR £14.99!
(March 19, 1999) GAME UK, the one of the bigest game retailers in the UK, now offers a special edition of Civ2:UCC(UCC is the European equivalent of MGE). The edition does not include the CiC and FW add-ons, and costs only £14.99! Our thanks to Derek Lande for the note.

PATCH ME UP!
(Feb.23) Just yesterday, MicroProse went and updated their Tech Support section with the release of a new patch for users of Multiplayer Gold Edition and Ultimate Civilization Collection. Surprised? So were we.
Nonetheless, we are proud to be one of the first mirror sites for the latest fix, as we were with v1.1 last month. To download, choose your product from the menu below and click to begin:

Again, MPS has made the patch easy-to-use by simply having to extract the archive and double-click on the file icon. We highly recommend that you take a look at the update notes, issued my MPS, at some point before installation.
Documented with is how they have listened to your requests so that now "when you are parleying with another human, you now have the option to hide the extra information about your units and cities from your opponent". As before, those with this patch installed cannot play against those who do not, and vice verse. Our thanks to Jeff for the apprisal.

NOT-SO-FAVOURABLE REVIEWS
(Feb. 13) GameSpot has given CivII: MGE a 7.3 (73% equivalent) rating. The breakdown of the rating shows gameplay scored high, with a 10/10, but its sound, value, and the reviewer's tilt dragged it down. The most damaging statement, in our opinion, appears in the first paragraph, and quote: "If this is the best MicroProse can muster at this time to compete with Alpha Centauri and the upcoming Call to Power, then I'm worried about MicroProse's Civ franchise". Ouch! Click here or here to read the full review.

(Feb. 3) Perhaps a little delayed, but we're starting to see some reviews of MGE. CGO gives it 3 stars(out of 5), while Gamecenter likes it better, giving 3 stars out of 4. Don't forget that if you want to write down your opinion on MGE and have it posted on our site, you can. We're always waiting for your articles.

MGE MAP EDITOR FIX
(Jan. 23) Lots of people have found out that the map editor crashes after the installation of MGE's patch. Jeff posted a solution for the problem on our forums. Our thanks also to Jim Luchford who mailed us about it.

MGE/UCC PATCH RELEASED^*
(Jan. 6) The much talked about MGE/UCC patch has arrived! MPS released it today. No doubt MPS' servers are jammed with requests for it, but we're happy to be one of the first mirror sites for the patch! Both the US (MGE) and UK (UCC) versions are available for downloading below.
If you would like to have another look or didn't have the opportunity to do so before, you can view the MGE readme file here. Keep On Civ'in! :)

THE ONLY DIFFERENCE December 30, 1998
Sorry, the Wallflowers are not playing here (they were already booked :)). Perhaps you've heard the product titles CivII: Multiplayer Gold Edition and Ultimate Civ Classic Collection used interchangably. Confused? You're not alone. Getting to the heart of the matter, I [Dan] contacted William Denman at MicroProse to clarify the situation. His response? They're exactly the same! The title is known as MGE in North Amercia and UCCC in the U.K. Now there's one question remaining: why? It was a marketing decision. As Will reminded me, "...the original Civ II released in over a dozen languages."
Finally, we have received the good word that the German and French MGE patch versions are now in testing.

NT CORRECTION December 29, 1998
We would like to take this opportunity to thank Guy Gascoigne for pointing out an error in a news item we posted earlier this week. In our December 23rd article ""It's Alive"... Under WinNT", we mentioned that DirectX 3 support was present in WinNT Service Pack 4. This is, in fact, incorrect. As NT patches are cumulative, the fixes in SP's 1-3 are in SP4, plus the new ones exclusive to that update. The minimum SP required for any NT DirectX support is SP3. Sooner or later, Guy tells us, they [Microsoft] will provide support for an up-to-date DirectX version under NT, but at the monent this is scheduled for NT 5.0 (to be released sometime next year, at present).
In short, the fact is that both SP 3 and SP4 contain DirectX3 for NT. Again, we at Apolyton apologize for the error.

PATCH PROGRESS December 28, 1998
MicroProse representative William Denman informed me [Dan] today that more progress has been made with the MGE patch. The U.K. version is currently being tested as things wind down towards completion.
Denman also said that the AI's speed/intelligence during latter stages of the game has been greatly improved in the patch. He also confirmed that those without the patch installed will not be able to play against those who do to avoid 'loophole explotation'. It will be, reportedly, released in a matter of days.

MAC PORT NOT FORGOTTEN December 27, 1998
MacSoft, which ported the 'original' CivII to the Mac platform last August, is set to do the same with CivII: MGE next January. Since its announcement in a June 3^rd press release, the Mac flavoured version of the latest installment in the Civilization series has been equally (and eagerly) awaited by its faithful following as it was by Windows-based Civ'ers^*. During a visit to Macsoft's website earlier this week, the company had entered the home stretch of its development. In addition, a full preview has been promised and will be online soon. We'll keep you up-to-date with the latest developments as they are made available to us.   * MGE is not yet globally available for the Windows OS.

"IT'S ALIVE!"... UNDER WindowsNT December 23, 1998
We have received a report from Trey Morita that MGE works fine under WinNT 4 with Service Pack 3. Shortly thereafter, Timothy Trimble informed us that he successfully installed MGE also under NT but with SP4. He believes that because SP4 provides support for DirectX 3, it is the reason as to why it is working. Thanks, Trey & Tim, for the emails!

MGE PATCH UPDATE December 23, 1998
MGE Lead Designer and Programmer William Denman has informed us that the MGE patch is in the process of being approved. In the meantime, he sent us a copy of the 'Readme' file. Not only does it explain what fixes are included in the "first patch" (indicating that there will be others?), but it also includes a better explanation of how to setup one-on-one games through Dial-Up Networking.

ONE-ON-ONE POSSIBILITIES December 19, 1998
Since MGE's release, there has been heated debate over the different types of multiplayer capabilities available. One of the most notable is perhaps modem-to-modem, aka direct connection. Many have questioned how to do it, and some have come to the conclusion that it's simply not possible, and understandable so.
However, take a look at your "Readme.txt" file where you installed MGE (default is '/MicroProse Software/Civilization II Multiplayer Gold Edition'). In there look under the heading Setup Procedure For Direct Connect Multiplayer Games, or click the preceeding link to view.

ONE HOT ITEM!
Is it safe to assume that CivII: MGE has proven itself a Holiday Success? Although it is still too soon to tell, it has certainly gotten off on the right foot: EBWorld reports that it is one of the Top 5 PC Games in demand at their online establishment.
On a similar note, we have gotten word from Nicolas Holzapfel that MGE has finally been released in the U.K. at a retail price of £29.99 (EB and Virgin Megastore anyway). At the same time, Derek Lande has informed us that it will not be available in Ireland until after Christmas. We really appreciate these updates. If you have any MGE related news in terms of availability (or lack thereof) in your area, please email Dan.

Finally, we have gotten a number of emails regarding MGE's system requirements. They are as follows (minimum): * Pentium or later compatible; * Windows95 with DirectX; * 16MB RAM; 95MB HDD Space Free; 2X CD-ROM; Super VGA graphics for 640 x 480 x 256 colours. MPS recommends at least a: * Pentium 90Mhz compatible or higher; * 4X CD-ROM; * Win95-compatible sound card. For multiplayer capabilities, the following is required: * Null-modem serial cable (2 players); * 28.8kbps Win95 compatible modem (2 players); * Local area network with TCP/IP or IPX protocol (2+ players); * Internet play requirements 28.8kbps or faster connection (2+ players).

MGE REPORT SUBMITTED
(Dec.14) We would like to take this opportunity to thank, on behalf of ourselves and MicroProse, all those who submitted CivII: MGE bug reports in recent weeks. Dan submitted the completed report, three weeks in the works, to MicroProse earlier this evening.
Feel free to continue to submit bug reports to MicroProse, and to us either by email or on our forums. On a final note, a future publication of this report is now being taken into consideration.

OPERATORS STANDING BY
(Dec.12) No longer anonymous after 'going public' on our forums earlier today, Hasbro Interactive representative William Denman, who spearheaded Multiplayer Gold Edition's development, has informed us that they have setup a new email address, civ2@microprose.com, which you can use to get in touch with the crew directly. Feel free to get in touch with them with any comments/questions/criticisms you may have about MGE or any other CivII related product. They cannot promise a personal reply to everyone, but they are going to do their best. They wish to make it clear from the getgo that any flame will be ignored... as Will advises, quote, "chill baby".

Also along those lines comes word that they [MicroProse] are currently working on a complete, extensive overhaul of their CivII website. It is currently being tested on the company intranet and the 'Net launch' should take place sometime in the next couple of weeks.

MGE ON THE SPOT December 15, 1998
Our first feature review of CivII: MGE is now live! Jeff Olson, aka Saganaga, has kindly submitted his review to us. In the coming weeks, we hope to have the opportunity to post additional reviews of this latest addition to the Civilization franchise. We want to hear your take on MicroProse's latest efforts! If you have a review to submit, please address it to Markos.

CIV2:MGE IN STORES NOW! December 4, 1998
(2:30am) And a couple of hours after me posting a news item with that exact title you see below, Jeffrey Olson(Saganaga Canoer) and Eric Luttrell were buying their copies of Civ2:MGE from their local BestBuy stores at $19.99!! Yeap, it's out there! Check your local stores (BestBuy or not BestBuy, of course) and tell us if and where MGE can be found! Saganaga for example lives in Minnesota. Also, Derek Lande from Ireland has been told that MGE will be available in the GAME stores on Dec 11th(next Friday). See you on the battlefield!
(3:50am) Patrick Coville reports that MGE is available in Washington at Best Buy, Futureshop and Computer City for $19.99 and at Electronics etc. and EB (despite the page on the site) for $29.99. Check them out!

SQUISH THOSE BUGS!
(Dec.7) Not long after Civilization II: Multiplayer Gold Edition hit the shelves did the complaints of bugs start rolling in both on our forums and mailboxes. Due to such a strong outpouring of information, we have decided to compile a list of them! If you have a bug to report, please drop Dan a line and explain the problem as detailed as possible. He is constantly updating his list and will be passing it onto our anonymous source at MicroProse in one week's time. As mentioned in our exclusive MGE preview, MPS recognizes that there are some bugs and are already working on a patch.

TECH TREE TUMBLE
(Dec.7) If you've had the opportunity to purchase and play with MGE for a while, you have likely entered negotations with other human players throughout the game. You may wonder why in some situations when you're talking to an opponent you see the entire technological tree when looking to exchange knowledge! Our anonymous MPS source has provided us with the following, logical reasoning:

    "If the list pertains to your advances on your machine, [MGE] shows exactly what you have, not the whole list. However, if on another machine, a list refers to your advances, [MGE] lists all of the advances. The design reasoning is that we do not want to give away to an opponent knowledge about 'where you are' in the research tree".

FIRST LOOK AT MGE Apolyton CS Exclusive
(Dec.4) We promised and we have delivered. On the day of Civilization II: Multiplayer Gold Edition's release, we are proud to present your first look at this long-awaited product (unless you have already raided your local computer store and purchased a copy :)). Apolyton's own Dan Quick took MGE for a test drive a couple of weeks ago and his preview begins here. Enjoy!

HOLD ON A BIT MORE... December 3, 1998
From what it seems, we'll have to wait a bit more MGE. Gamespot's list from December 4th to 11th doesn't include MGE, and EbWorld now says December 8th(from 4th). Chips&Bits has updated the date and now says Dec/98 from Nov/98. Meanwhile, Russel Waymire contacted Hastings and he was told that it was due in last tuesday(Nov.24) but that it is on backorder. Finally, 'My Wife Hates Civ' posted on the Civ2 General Forum that he called MPS and they said that it will be available Mid December. Oh well, at least there is an official response! Our thanks to Joel Siragher, Jeffrey Sisk, Jim Burck for continuously notifying us.

MGE IN A WEEK?
(Nov.27) The wait for the multiplayer version of civ2 continues. EbWorld's date has slipped from December 1st to 2nd and then to 4th in the last days. The listing on Mediascape.ca also says December 4th. Meanwhile, Gamespot's upcoming list from November 27th to December 4th doesn't include MGE. I don't think we will wait much longer... Our thanks to Joel Siragher and Rhett Strautins for informing us.

ZONE ROOMS FOR MGE
(Nov.21) The Zone(www.zone.com) has opened rooms for Civ2:MGE. This shows that the game is very near. Bill Cotter actually bumped into some Microprose guys who were testing the system! The Zone will be initially used for CivLeague's tournaments and ladder, until we have our own match making software. On another note, expect very soon a review of MGE right here on Apolyton!

WHAT TO BELIEVE?
(Nov.18) We've been keeping close tabs on the various release dates for CivII: MGE and here are the latest 'figures' from three of them: Ultimate Gaming Resource; Dracon and EBWorld report the date as December 1st.
If you're wondering which page to visit first (or perhaps if you should at all), take a close look at the one on UGR underneath the listing for MGE. This particular product has a release date for the fourth quarter of '99. Can it be true?

AT LONG LAST
    Apolyton CS Exclusive!
(Nov.17) Hallelujah! An anonymous MicroProse source informed Apolyton's very own Dan Quick that copies of Multiplayer Gold Edition, the long awaited CivII add-on that will feature true multiplayer capabilities for this strategy classic (it's not too soon to say that is it?), have been shipped to distributers today and will hit the shelves shortly, although no exact date could be given. The source also cited a reason for the delay, which resulted after MPS' purchase by Hasbro Interactive just this summer. More details will be released if and when they become available.

MORE ON MGE'S DATE...
(Nov.9) We should put a headline on this page: "news for the people by the people" :) since the last days all news come from our visitors... Benjamin Wilson reported that his local Babbages and CompUSA stores gave him the same date for Civ2:MGE, November 22th. A good sign, surely...

CHRISTMAS OR NEVER?
(Nov.7) I got two mails from Joel Siragher and Tad Cleveland concerning MGE. According to Joel, a Microprose employee told him this summer(which means, not very recently), that MGE will be ready by Christmas. On the other hand, Tad, a computer reseller, was told a few weeks by his sales representative from Ingram Micro(computer distributor) that MGE has been discontinued! With Microprose already pre-selling MGE, the listing in various internet stores and the recent preview by Gamepen I find it a bit hard to believe(not that I mean that Tad is lying of course). Stay tuned for more about it...

TODAY'S MGE DATES
(Nov.5) News from three sources. Mediascape(a computer shop) shows MGE coming at November 13th. Until now they listed it as "Ultimate Civ2" with date "None"... The page was updated October 31th. Also, yesterday Thomas Breivik(a.k.a. Coug) was told on his local EB store that they had just received a fax saying December(no exact date). Finally, Gamespot's release dates page was updated today, listing games that are going to be released between November 6th and 13th. MGE is not in that list. Logical conclusion? I don't have one...

BACK TO 11TH!
(Oct.24) Ok, you can say that you're used to see the MGE date on EBWorld moving forward, but how about backwards? EbWorld now shows November 11th as the release date of Civ2: MGE! It seems to me that we'are getting close... Our thanks to Mike for sending us a note.

GAMESPOT'S MGE DATE
(Oct.21) You're going to tell me it's not true, but I'm posting it. Gamespot, on it's release dates page, shows that Civilization II - Multiplayer Edition is going to be released on October 30. Yeah, in nine days... The interesting part is that Gamespot only shows release dates for games that are going to be released in the next 2-3 weeks. Also, the type of MGE according to Gamespot is "online". Of course, Microprose's site has no info about it... Should we believe it?

THIS IS A BIT PARANOID...
(14.Oct) Chips&Bits shows that Multiplayer Civilization 2: Gold Edition(MGE for short) will be out on October '98, for $27.99. Ok, you can say that this is normal, since various sites give about the same dates(October, November, or generally fall). The strange part is that they list Civilization 2: Test of Time(TOT for short) for a November '98 release!! The only logical explanation is that they mean '99...

NEW DATE: NOVEMBER 11TH, 17TH, *TH...
(5.Oct) EBWorld should start paying me for sending them visitors. :) Anyway, they now have November 11th as the release date of Civ2:MGE. The last change was 20 days ago when it changed from September 16th to October 30th. Speaking of release dates, SMAC is officially delayed, however a demo will be released in November.
(10.Oct) November 11th? Check again... The date has changed to November 17th. Our thanks to Jeffrey Sisk for the note.

MGE PRICE CHANGES
(29.Sep) This time it wasn't the date that changed on EBWorld's page for Civ2:MGE but the price. MGE is now listed for $29.99, dropping from $44.99. A most certainly good move from Microprose(if of course it stays unchaged). The date is still 30/10.

ONE MORE TIME...
(13.Sep) Ok, I'm used to it now. EBWorld has changed the MGE release date one more time to October 30. This probably means that we are going for a November release, about the same time SMAC is going out and month earlier that Civ:CTP. Things are going to be tough for MGE...

IT'S MY FATE!
(2.Sep) Whenever I post something about MGE's release date on EBWorld.com, it changes! :) They now say it's going be out on September 26. The good thing is that it only went back 10 days, so we can say that 16/9 was an aproximate date, and this is more accurate. Also these are the requirements according to EBWorld's page about MGE: Pentium 90, Win 95, 16MB of Ram, 2x CD-ROM.

NO NEWS=GOOD NEWS?
(1.Sep) EBWorld.com still says 16/9 for the release of MGE. The date has been there for about a month, so can we say this is the one? Or is it just that work is frozen in Microprose's offices? Only time can tell....
On another note, I wish that the guy who every week sends us fake mails that MGE is going to be released on Thursday, would stop. Thank you :)

HASBRO MAKES PLANS
(18.Aug) Gamespot News spoke with Tom Dusenberry, CEO of Hasbro Interactive and has some interesting news. We copy the most important parts.
About Avalon Hill: Hasbro's acquisition of Avalon Hill mainly involved trademarks, current and previous designs, and other tangible assets. In that sense, since Monarch Avalon(the parent company of Avalon Hill) was still responsible for the AH employees and not Hasbro, the design staff was laid off completely.
On Microprose: Hasbro Interactive fully intends on publishing everything currently in development at MicroProse and will retain MP's full research and development staff, although consolidation will occur in the marketing, management, and media departments.
So, MGE is coming, but of course we don't know exactly when. Since the development team doesn't change there will probably not be a delay due to the purchase by Hasbro. While waiting :) go read the full article from Gamespot.

EBWORLD CHANGES MGE DATE
(8.Aug) Rich Barrette notified us that EbWorld have changed the release date of Civ2:MGE. The release date is now September 16th(anyone betting this is the one?). If you're a release dates addict read our first article on 'The Column'.