NOTE: This is The Column, a regular feature on Apolyton where anyone can write about anything to do with Civilization or the gaming industry as a whole. If you feel like writing, please visit the article submission page.

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#159 CIVILIZATION II VERSUS CTP2, TOT, ALPHA CENTAURI, ETC... A really "old" civer returns to remind of one of the most important parts of civ games: creation #158 THREE POLLS FOR CIV THREE MarkG comments on the currently running civ3 polls #157 CIV3 MEETS CHAMPIONSHIP MANAGER! MarkG is combining two of his favorite games and creates a monster #156 CtP II PBEM - SHOULD WE GIVE UP? Solver is ready to forgive and forget... What about you? #155 THE INTERRELATIONSHIP OF WAR AND ECONOMICS A peacefull civer writes about the necessity of war... COLUMN ARCHIVE

Ok, I just registered a few days ago (even though I've been here quite a lot checking the forums for useful stuff) and I figured I could just as well try to help out poor MarkG by writing something for the column. :)

I thought I could share some of my thoughts about the Civ series and smac/x. I still remember when I played Civ for the first time. I found it installed on a computer where I'm currently working (though I wasn't working here back then) and I had heard and read that it was supposed to be a great game. Seeing how I like playing good computer games I figured I'd give it a try.

Now you might think that I got hooked right away, right?

Wrong actually..

Don't take me wrong; I ended up loving the game. I took me, however, some time to get used to it. Since it wasn't my computer I was playing at I didn't have a manual and I hadn't really played any games like Civ before that. (Plus my English wasn't all that good back then either :) ) I remember getting a chariot and not being able to understand what it was supposed to be. (Since I didn't know what the word 'chariot' meant) And it took me ages until I realized that the settler unit wasn't a smiling face.. I don't know why, but I always thought that it looked like that. Actually, when I come to think about it, it was probably at the time when I got CivNet I realized what it was supposed to look like.

When I finally got the hang of the game, I couldn't stop playing it. I played it over and over, by myself and with friends. To me it was the greatest game I'd ever played. When I heard about CivNet, and the possibility to be able to play my favorite game against my friends and not just against the computer, I of course had great expectations.

But it didn't live up to them though. At least not for me. Sure, it was fun to be able to play multiplayer. But that was about it. I missed the graphics from the original. (I actually thought that Civ looked much better than CivNet) And I didn't like how the Windows environment treated the game either.

So the CivNet box stayed on a shelf for most of the time and I continued playing the good old Civ. Sure, the graphics didn't feel as nice as they did when it was newer, (hmm.. have to admit that the gfx wasn't all that cool in the beginning either, but then what game back then had the same kind of gfx as they do today?) but I didn't mind. It was the game play and not the graphics that was/is the good part.

So, the years passed..

What about Civ2 then? Did I go and buy it? Of course. :)

Oh, and I played it a lot. I even listened to the music on the CD sometimes when I wasn't playing the game.

But.. Did it last me as long as the first one did?

Sadly, no. I really can't say why it didn't. I mean there's nothing in it that's not better than the original. Better graphics, sound, diplomatics, more units, more to do.. But something was lost. It didn't have that same golden feeling as the first one. Don't take me wrong now. I do like the game still. But it just wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. And I've actually played Civ more recently than I did Civ 2. Even though that game just lasted a few turns.. (nostalgia anyone?) :)

Then along came Alpha Centauri. Ah, yes. Sleep? What's that? This was the game I had been wanting after Civ.

Sure, it took me a while before I started playing Alpha Centauri too. Mostly because when I first saw a few screenshots I didn't think it looked very interesting. Just a lot of red/brown. (I should have remembered what I thought about the graphics in Civ) But when I finally gave it a serious chance, I was hooked.

To me, AC is so much more than Civ. I just love the game. I think the biggest reason why I enjoy it so much is the story. I'm a sucker for good sci-fi, and this was the first game that felt like the kind of sci-fi I would like to be real. Well maybe not all of it. (I could imagine nicer things than mind worms crawling around everywhere) ;) But to be able to travel to a distant planet and terraform it under such conditions.. (Need I add that I have read and enjoyed Kim Stanley Robinson's books about Mars?) I just want to go with those people on the Unity.. *dreams himself away*

The fact that Mr. Ely at Firaxis wrote that nice story about the Journey to Centauri didn't make things worse. (Well, maybe my sleep, due to too much time with the game) :) I just recently bought his book, and it'll be fun to see if he's managed to do a good job with it.

Oh well. I think I have to stop writing, even though I might not have said anything new, but at least it's a new article for the column, right?

It's a good thing Firaxis made this game.. :) Well, maybe not if you think about all the hours of lost sleep though.. ;)

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About the author: Yet another Swedish SMAC/X addict

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