Civ2 help: Editing rules.txt and research is impossible?!

[haraza]

(Posted in the other Civ 2 room as well, maybe more relevant here)

Hi all, I haven't been to Apolyton for a very long time (4 yrs), and I decided to get back into Civ2. I don't have the original CD anymore, but I still had the folder within the D Drive, and the data in it.

Before changing the rules.txt, I copied and pasted the entire Civ2 folder into my desktop. I changed the following:

"1st Population til unhappy in Chieftain mode": 10
Tireme Sinking chance: 1 in 3

Research priorities for AI civs:

Democracy 2, 0
Monarchy 2,
Communism 2,0
Fundamentalism 2,0
Republic 2,0

When I played a new game on a large map, lets say the "Alphabet" takes 20 turns to research with Rome at 1 Pop (4000BC).

When I build a warrior and enter a hut before the 20 huts are up, something odd happens. I can get "scrolls of ancient wisdom", which gives me a free tech, but my research time for Alphabet suddenly increases to 30 turns.

I use the "save/load" method to enter huts with free techs, but every free tech I get increases my Research time for "Alphabet" by 10 turns and so on. This shouldn't even happen because my population is slowly increasing, and research should go faster for the SAME technological item.

You get my point? I look at Science Advisor, and the point bar is very dense, as if it was Future Technology or something.

Even when I delete this folder and replace it with the untouched copy from my desktop, the same problem still occurs. What can I do to stop this from happening?

Thank you in advance, and I apologize for my ignorance.

PS: I didn't change the "Tech strength" or whatever it was called, I left it at a value of 10.

[haraza]

Monarchy 2,0 I meant.

[AGRICOLA]

Your version of CIV II is ok.

The number of flasks needed to research a tech increases with the number of techs you have.

Consequently, if you are researching tech A and need X flasks to discover it, the number of flasks needed to discover A will increase whenever you obtain an additional tech or techs from goody huts, trading techs or stealing techs.

[haraza]

Thanks, but the number of turns which the SAME tech increases is ridiculous.

Alphabet usually takes 20 turns for me with Rome, 1 pop. But if I use the "save/load" method and obtain 5 "Scrolls of Ancient Wisdom", Alphabet will increase to 70 or so turns. It is impossible for me to research Alphabet unless I don't go into any goodie huts and wait for that long time.

There is definitely something going wrong, and even when I replaced the entire files, this problem still exists.

[AGRICOLA]

I understand your complaint. However, that is exactly the way that the program is supposed to work.

Think of it as divine retribution ( Sid Meier's Revenge? ) for cheating by using SAVE/LOAD to get the goody hut results that you want. IIRC, they closed the loophole in CIV III so that SAVE/LOAD no longer worked.

Look at the bright side: you now have techs that normally would not be discovered for hundreds of years.

[haraza]

Hmm, are you sure?? Prior to changing the rules.txt file, I could easily reach the Middle Ages in around 1000BC or so.

But after changing the file and then replacing with the original, the whole game feels alot harder, and I take a much longer time to research stuff (30+ turns for one tech is stupid) even in Chieftain and a small map. I swear something has gone different.

Thank you for responding though, I have doubts on whether to continue playing Civ2, or to buy the actual CD off Ebay and reinstall formally...

[AGRICOLA]

I would suggest that you buy both a new CIV II and a Test of Time, burn a copy of both CD's, store the originals with the family heirlooms and play the games using the copies.

If you haven't played CIV II for 4 years, I think that you will be pleased by the number of increasingly sophisticated and very interesting scenarios that have been developed in that time, especially for TOT.

P.S. AFAIK, the only way to slow/speed up research is to change the tech paradigm in rules. The normal CIV II value is 10.

[Arthedain]

Originally posted by AGRICOLA
I would suggest that you buy both a new CIV II and a Test of Time, burn a copy of both CD's, store the originals with the family heirlooms and play the games using the copies.

You only need a copy of one of them. I can use my burned cpy of civ2 to play both MGE and ToT.

[haraza]

Agricola, thank you for your reply.

Yes, I was considering reducing the "Tech Paradigm" to a value between 5-8. But in doing so, the CPU opponents will also gain this advantage.

That's why I wanted to edit the AI tech preferences so they are least likely to research the Government advances like Monarchy, Democracy and Fundamentalism. Then I can take over them easily.

I in fact have bought Civ3 back in 2002 when it was first released, but I found several flaws in it, and the game was very slow, city corruption was extreme even in Democracy (despite having a Small Palace). So I uninstalled it after several games and haven't played it since.

I might consider downloading various "interesting" scenarios, being that I am usually cheap to start a new game whenever my settlers start off at a barren/plains location. And I will consider purchasing Civ2: Test of Time...

Thank you again for dealing with my annoyance.

[AGRICOLA]

Originally posted by haraza

I in fact have bought Civ3 back in 2002 when it was first released, but I found several flaws in it, and the game was very slow, city corruption was extreme even in Democracy (despite having a Small Palace). So I uninstalled it after several games and haven't played it since.

That sounds exactly like the comments posted by many others, myself included, over the last 5 years.