By Kent Wang
September 12, 1998

note: This is The Column, a part of Apolyton where Markos and Dan write whatever we want . Well, not just Dan and me. The Column is open to everyone. If you feel like writing submit your article to us.

Why have we been playing Civ2 for years now? Sure the non-linear, different-everytime single-player mode is cool, but that's not enough to explain why people, you and me, with average attention spans will keep playing the same game for over 2 years. Let me tell you why I keep playing: change.

Let's face it; if things don't change, they get boring. That's where modpacks come in. Modpacks, if well designed, can immerse you in a totally different world. Regular Civ puts us in a "lead a civilization thru the past and the future" environment. But the Star Wars modpack can put us in command of the Rebel Alliance. All at the price of what? Nothing. Before, we had to go out and buy a whole new game. Plus we had to learn new controls, rules, etc. A modpack lets us lead Skywalker and friends to victory, all in the comfort of Civ.

There are two ways to extend a game's replayability: modpacking and multiplayer. Multiplayer lets us face new players, inducing change. Modpacks introduces new units, buildings, etc. Also inducing change.

The goal of the gamemaker is to make the game as replayable as possible. Multiplayer has already been perfected. What the gamemakers need to concentrate on now is modpacking. Civ2 was modpackable, but it wasn't easy. Especially with all those hard-coded advances. CTP, SMAC, or whatever need to work on this aspect. Include a (free) visual development program, like Fantastic Worlds. Extend the possibilities of, well, extension.

Another very important aspect of modification is scenario making. CiC's events.txt was good, but once again not enough. These days, games are starting to use special pseudo-programming languages for their scenarios. This is progress. If you've taken a look at StarCraft's triggers, you would be very impressed. Unfortunately, they still leave much to be desired. I strongly suggest that full attention is given to this area.

However, some people might feel adding all this expandibility would delay the release of the game. Damn right it will. If I had my way, the programmers would spend more time working on extensions than the game itself. However, this is naive and unreasonable. Programmers have deadlines to meet; they can't spend so much time perfecting a product. My proposal: patches. Come out with the non-extendable game first, then work on extending it. When you're done, send out the changes as a patch. This would make things so much simpler. It would also give a chance for modpack makers to get a feel for the game before starting on their modpacks. The gamers who just want to play would be happy too. Activision, Firaxis, Hasbro, if you're reading this, please take this into consideration.

Kent Wang (aka Kwang) is the co-owner and programmer of CivLeague and technical advisor to Apolyton Civ2.

The opinions expressed on this page do not necessarily express Apolyton CS or GameStats.
It is just the personal opinions of the writer.