Versions and no limits patches

[Starlite]

I'm playing my first large-map game at King level, I've taken all but one enemy city, and I've run into an unexpected limit on the number of cities that can exist.

My first thought was to look for a patch to solve the problem, but that doesn't seem possible, as all the no-limits patches appear to address only population display and gold limits. Is that right, or is there a patch to allow more than 255 cities?

Second, the patches that do exist appear unlikely to work with my version of the game. I'm playing the original Civ2 with the 2.42 patch. Is there a no-limits patch for this version?

I'm also quite confused about the various versions of Civ2. I've seen the Ultimate Civ2 pack in stores (though not recently). Is it worth my while buying this version? What benefits will I get? Does this version remove dependency on 16-bit Windows and QuickTime 2.1.2?

Any help in clarifying these confusing issues would really be appreciated.

Paulius

PS: I looked for a FAQ to answer these questions and was surprised not to find one. Very strange.

[Lefty Scaevola]

The is no patch availeble for the 255 city limit, it turns up in many places in the civ.exe code for administrative purposes controling other fuctions (such as suport of units). The fixes Julius made in the no limits patches were in registers that did not control other fucntions.

[Starlite]

Thanks for the clarification, but what about my other questions: whether there's a no limits patch for Civ2 2.42? And, what advantages are there to a newer version of Civ2 (such as, the Ultimate Civ2)?

Thanks,

Paulius

[reds4ever]

the no limits pach lets you build much bigger worlds and the people and gold counters are allowed muck bigger values before they reset to zero. they are the only differnces the gameplay etc is exactly the same

[Cedric Greene]

There is not (currently) a "no-limits" patch for 2.42 but you can upgrade to MGE with my patch. Also it would take an amazing amount of programming skill to fix the 255 city limit, hopefully it will be addressed in Civ 3.

[Starlite]

Thanks to Cedric for explaining, and for the patch link.

I'm a little leery of upgrading to MGE because the AI is "extremely hostile." I reckon the AI's pretty hostile as it is (at least, in some ways). Any comments?

I'm still curious what Test of Time comprised, though. And what the advantage of the Ultimate Civ2 might be. Again, any comments?

I'm slowly cutting through the confusion, building up a coherent picture of the various Civ2 releases.

[Scouse Gits]

If you havbe not already seen it, Starlite, there is a short discussion of the various versions of Civ2 in the Great Library Index here http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...&threadid=2723

[Starlite]

Thanks for the link. Exactly what I was looking for...

EXCEPT... I'd actually seen this before, a while ago, but couldn't find it again (anyone heard of a FAQ?).

And it doesn't really say much about the various versions. Cedric's page describes much better what really goes into MGE. But there's no description on either site of the Ultimate editions.

Nor can I find any info about what Test of Time actually is (I thought it was a whole separate game that wasn't connected to Civ2 at all, much like Call to Power, but clearly that's wrong).

My involvement with Civ has been to spend endless hours on Civ then Civ2, download a few scenarios I haven't actually played (pre-Fantastic Worlds) and anticipate Civ3. This naturally leaves me a bit naive about the Civ community, but I've been very surprised at the lack of easy-to-find information about Civ2. This includes stuff about the various versions, but also reference information about the game itself.

On the plus side, if I ever finish my Civ2 reference booklet, it looks like I'll be able to make a contribution to the community.

Anyway, thanks for the info. If anyone can point me to a quick description of the Ultimate Civ2 editions or Test of Time, I'd appreciate it. Otherwise, I guess I'll stick with what I have now.

[Cedric Greene]

Ultimate Civ 2 IS MGE, it was released under different names in different areas, hopefully that will clear up some confusion

ToT is a graphically "advanced" version of Civ 2. It also includes extra modes of play such as extended and Midgard. From the little I have played the AI hostility seems more towards Civ II classic than MGE but I prefer the "crappier" graphics of MGE than ToT.... Also you can upgrade your version to Fantastic worlds with my (other) patch for your scenario playing needs

[Starlite]

Thanks again, Cedric.

So, the conclusion is, since your patches can upgrade me to either Fantastic Worlds or MGE, there's no need for me to purchase Ultimate Civ2, nor to worry about ToT. If I'm afraid of aggressive AI, I install the former patch, otherwise MGE. But there's only really a need to do this if I want to use any of the mods specific to FW or MGE.

Frankly, I reckon I can do without the nolimits patch (I guess it's sort of cheating, anyway), and I'm not big on mods (yet), so I'll stick with what I have.

(Only 30 more years and I should have my first King game ready for the Hall of Fame...)

Paulius

[Rasputin]

good to see a fellow aussie on here learning about this great game... the MP version is so much better i nthat you can paly agsint humans and get some interaction....