Don´t buy MGE!

[Lazlo]

It is so tempting, you can have CIV2, and Conflicts in Civilization AND Fantastic Worlds! Incredible, great bargain!
Well, no.

They have completely screwed up the diplomacy making it completely hostile. If you want to play single player, better drop the CD in the trash and the the classic edition.
You just can´t play the scenarios in the way they are supposed to be played. People who are supposed to be your allies instantly get hostile in just one turn and they will attack you as soon as they can, no matter what you do!


I hate all-war scenarios! This did not happen in the classic edition. Allies were allies.

After sending an e-mail to Microprose, they answered me that MGE is NOT civ2.
They told me that MGE does NOT include FW.
If you want to play FW, then you have to byt FW.

Can you think of such an absurd answer?

In the box they say:
" Includes:
- Civilization II
- Conflicts in Civilization
- CIV II Fantastic Worlds
"

In the back, you can read:
" We´ve also included full working versions of both of our add-ons: Conflicts in Civilization anf Fantastic Worlds".

What they told me was exactly the opposite.
I am extremely frustrated and I demand a patch.

Why did they included those scenarios if you can´t play them as they are supposed to be played?

I appreciate the collaboration of Smash, who has also problems with the MGE.

[Lazlo]

I have over here the original response from Microprose (I have found it inside one of my folders). Read it and make your own conclusions.


This is the letter I have sent to them:

" First of all, I will ask you to excuse my english since it is not my native
language. Now I will get directly to the problem.

I have bought CIV2 MGE principally because I was interested in all the
new scenarios and features included in this new edition. I wasnÝt looking up

to play multiplayer, just normal singleplayer.
I have already owned the old CIV2 and I when bought the MGE I was thinking
about getting the Conflics in Civilization and Fantastic Worlds packages in
only one buy.
After playing lots of the scenarios, I have realized that the AI was
extremely more aggressive than in standard CIV2, up to the point of
rendering some of the scenarios pointless. I have already make some
comparisions with the standard CIV2 and using the cheat menu.
In only one turn, the AI would change its attitude towards me from
"Enthusiastically" to "Hostile" (or from 0 to 100 in the attitude level). If

this a new "feature" of the game, why was it left undocumented? It would
have changed my decision about buying this game maybe...
As I told you before, I have already experimented with standard civ2 in same

situations, and this did not happen. I want you to know that this makes the
scenarios boring and even unplayabale as they should be, because you are
expected to cooperate with the AI.
I also want you to know that I am not the only experiencing this problem!
There are some threads dealing with this in the www.apolyton.net/forums
So, what should we do if we want standard civ2 BUT with the Fantastic world
feature? After all, that was the primary reason of why I have bought this
game.
As it is now, I am compelled to consider this a bug."

This is their answer:


"Hello,
Civ 2 Fantastic Worlds does not come with Civ II MGE, it is a separate
Scenario pack designed to be used with Civ II.


Your customer number is 472256

If you need further assistance, please call our technical support staff at
(410) 568-2377, or visit our web site at http://support.hasbro.com. Also
please be sure to include all previous replies when/if responding to this
message.

Best Regards,
Matt F. at Technical Support
hasbro_support@aqinc.com "

[War4ever]

thats why i only MP civ. Regular civ is boring and way to easy to beat unless you are tryingfor records or OCC ing or some other challenge.

MGE is good for one thing and one thing only MPing which is after 4years of civ2 the only thing left for me unfortunately

yes they ruined the diplomacy but then as you may guesss, diplomacy isn't my thing so i play mge even in SP

[Leonidas]

Lazlo:

Have you installed all the patches for the MGE?

Plus, the many excellent user scenarios on the web (most can be found through this site) are much better than the original game scenarios).

Try: 2194 days of War, Red Front v1.4, The English Civil War, etc.

------------------
Go tell the Spartans, passerby:
That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.

[Lazlo]

I have installed the patch vertion 1.3 and nothing have changed.

I have even tried with other scenarios.
The problem is not in the scenarios but in
the game engine.

[Smash]

I feel your pain.


That is a very piss poor response you got back.What the $%#@ are they saying it doesn't come with MGE?.Its not civ2?

Obviously,whoever answered you doesn't have a clue.Probably a office secretary.

I'm glad I didn't return my original copy as they suggested.

They consider civ2 and clones a game of the past with little or no interest.Boy! are they wrong

Future purchases will be very cautious.

[Steve Clark]

Are you back again whinning about MGE? Next thing you'll complain about is the AI cheating. I (and others) welcome tough diplomacy and AI cheating, it provides a little more of challenge than otherwise. BTW, it is a waste of time to deal with Microprose, as you have experienced.

[Smash]

how does it make the game harder?The ai can't fight worth a donut.I haven't lost a city to the ai in years.Barbs are another story.

all it does is make many scenarios into this:

ai attacks.
human wipes out ai

every game is like that.All the hours of scenario creation are wasted in MGE.


MGE for multiplay only

[Seeker]

Play the improved Red Front scenario. Don't be cheesy and look at the events, just play it.

You can do everything right and still be scrambling.

[Lazlo]

To Smash: I appreciate your response. It makes me feel I am not alone in this. Tank you!

To Steve Clark: Yes, I am again complaining with MGE (I have started a thread about this maybe 2 or 3 months ago).
You may (and others) welcome tough diplomacy but I (and others!) DON´T welcome it.
First of all: I don´t play scnearios with the mere intention of wiping out the AI. If, for example, I am playing a WWII scenario as a british I do not find very "historic" to have the US attack you in the back!
I do not play for points. Sometimes I even change civilizations when I am far beyond the others. My style of play is not conquer-the-world-before-you-can-even-blink, sorry.

Ok, you may then say to me: "fine, if you don´t like it, don´t play it". I don´t know if you realize that this kind of things did NOT happen in the old CIV 2. And in their box they say that it includes CIV2 with CoC and FW and then they tell me that is not true!


Microprose should at least release the binaries of the old FW game for we MGE possesors.

As Smash said before, MGE is for multiplay only. Scenarios are pointless with this diplomacy. Too bad in the box did NOT say that!

[Eyn]

and if you have the french version of MGE you can't have the option: "City 3 pts" it's in the cheat/edit city options but it simply doesn't work !

i and just see it's the same thing with the french version of Test Of Time !

[shamrock]

It doesn't make MGE scenarios worthless, just those that rely on diplomacy; plenty of scenarios are based on all out war!

It's not just the French version, Eyn. I've got the English version w/ the latest patch and I can't access the 3 point value either.

[Empress]

Oh my! I Love MPG edition! Although I suppose if you don't want to play multiplayer there is no reason to buy it.. but multiplayer adds a whole new diminsion to the game, making each game a new experience. In fact, I never play single player anymore.

[Xin Yu]

I have successfully negotiated with other civs in MPE. It seems that on turn one they look hostile, but if you wait a turn...

[Lazlo]

Careful. After making some inverstigations
it looks like the AI is only aggressive when you play single player. When in a multiplayer session (with actually at least two players!) the AI will be somewhat sweeter.
Yes, for multiplayer it may be great, but for single player it is a crap.
I am rendered to play only those scenarios that are an all-out war!