So...it is worth getting?

[orange]

I'm thinking of getting CTPII, but I really don't know if it's worth the money. Should I wait until Civ 3 comes out, though that will be a while, and continue playing Civ 2 MPG...or shall I run out to the mall with cash in hand? Thanks in advance!

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Civilization Gaming Network Forums
~ The Apolyton Yearbook
~ The poster formerly known as "OrangeSfwr"

[Brasiduss]

In my opinion definitely. There really are things which are different in this one that make it a worthy investment. After putting in about 6 hours so far, i really think this is one that will stay on my hard drive a while.

If you want to know why i think this one is worth it then I'll give it a shot.

1. Diplomacy: I think this is the best part of the game, everything comes back to this as it should whether it is military, scientific, economic, or religious. in previous civ style games some of the thing you di had no real affect on the AI or how they regarded you. Here everything seems to make a difference in some way.

2. AI: This is a bit related to number one, but so far the AI seems to be a lot more human. they appear to hold more grudges, and make descions based on even the newest developments. For example i had about 10 samurai on the border between myself and the Irish. Between me and an irish city were 3 irish hoplites formed in an army. When I demanded in "equal standing" tone for them to give me one of their cities for a cease fire, they rejected, but once i destroyed those hoplites and put abou 6 sami's right next to that city...ohhhh they were willing to give that city up for a cease fire now, though this time i demanded in my angry voice. Things like that let me know the AI is considering everything.

Those are just a few things, i can think up more if you need more convincing.

[Mad-Kat]

I really think they've don a great job this time. This is the game CTP I wanted to be but tripped up. They seem to have listened to all ther gripes and request that I remember from CTP I and addressed them very well. I've not gotten into it deep enough to tell how good combat and AI are, but diplomacy, trading and city management are a dream to use. Read some of the posts and try and get a better feel from everyones views. I don't want to tell you it's worth getting on just my opinion, since I was a little forgiving of CTP I after some modification. My gut feeling say it's great from the little I've played. Hope that helps.

[Hypocrite]

Orange: can you tell me where can I get a multi-player patch for Civilization 2? Thanks in advance, YO.

BTW, after only an hour of play my opinion of the game is a positive one. Perhaps the main reason why my attitude doesn't come off as purely estatic has to do (more than likely) with the nature of anticipation- it's 90 percent of the fun. Now that I have the game, all that's left to do is play it. But since I've conjured up images and scenarios in my head since I started thinking about playing the game, reconciling myself to the real thing and simply enjoying it is more of a task than it should be.
heh
It's a good game, it's better programmed and designed than CTP1. I liked that game, despite my grumbling that it was but a Civ 2 clone only with updated graphics and a gameplay that lacked the time and effort put into the game it wanted to mimick. CTP2 is the game CTP1 should have been, it seems to me. The true test will come next week when 3 friends and I do a 2v2 grudge match (with possibly 2 AI's) on a LAN. I'll try to keep you all 'posted.'

My advice, as you requested, is to buy the game. It is certainly worth the price.

[DaddyCool]

I like it, I like it, I like it!

I *hated* the first one, played it like twice. But this one is good! Why? A few things:

Diplomacy! All the good things you've heard about it are true. I hope it becomes a new standard for these types of games. Think of what an AI can do to piss you off; trespass, build on your continent, etc. Well, when you do these things to them, it pisses them off. Maybe it did before, but, they were never so kind as to let me know.

Terrain! The tile graphics look really nice, but who cares! The landscapes are realistic. That is, continents have that continent shape, with vast deserts, mountain ranges (instead of just mountains), etc. It feels less random.

Battles! You can slow them down if you want to watch the blow-by-blow. And, there's always that satisfaction in seeing all your guys standing against one of theirs. Yeah baby! I know they sorta had this in the first one, but after seeing two tanks get butchered by about 6 spear chuckers, well, I just about chucked the game out the window. Admitedly, I haven't gotten far enough to see if this is okay now, but everyone's been saying it's been fixed.

Naming Armies! Yeah, this is a little thing, but I like it. I have my Praetorian Guard fortified in Rome, I got my First Legion in the west, keeping those pesky Americans in check, and my Second Legion in the north, because the Scotts have been getting kinda restless of late. Then there's the Desert Garison in the east. Haven't found anything down there yet, but who knows, right? Whatever, the boys in the Desert Garison remain vigilant (that's why I'm paying them).

Interface! More intuitive, lotsa hot-keys. I like the city manager. Yeah there's tabs, but there's a lot of info (which is a good thing!) and that seemed to me like the only sane way to do it. Population is actual people, instead of 1,2,3,etc, and your growth per turn is also in how many more people are coming. Again, a nice little touch.

The new city radius thing! It's cool for some reason, I haven't figured out why. But I like it. Maybe it's because I get to see my city radius swell, and it gives me pleasure on some Freudian level. I don't know.

Music! Usually I don't care, but I gotta say, it's good!

Those are just some things off the top of my head.

[Eternal]

Cool! And you can name armies? I am definitely getting this! Here comes the Third Shock Army, baby!

[Shaman]

I think this is by far the best strategy game I have ever played. Activision's programmers and QA did a very good job on it. There is a new interface and a lot of cool features.

One of the features that I really admire is borders. Yes, finally there is no confusion as to where is the border between your civ and the other ones. You get two kinds of borders:
1)total for your empire and
2)one for each city.

Drastically improved interface helps to manage everything that is going on with your civilization. Not that you could not do it in CTPI, but it just much easier. You have to love the city mayors!!! They can take care of your city the same way AI would have!!!
You can actually change their orientation such as Production, Growth, Defensive...

As to whether you should buy it or not that's actually for you to decide. In my opinion if you like strategy games and you liked CTPI, CTPII IS A MUST HAVE!

Gotta go, I need to win the first one...
[This message has been edited by Shaman (edited November 18, 2000).]
[This message has been edited by Shaman (edited November 18, 2000).]
[This message has been edited by Shaman (edited November 18, 2000).]

[Tuerkuem]

Ralf,
soooo, the more you hear about people really enjoying the game, the less likely you are to buy it?
Hmmm... If someone tells you it's rubbish, will you buy it then?

I actually enjoyed the original CTP despite it's bugs. I was also a CivII player, but got tired of the AI stupidity.
To me it sounds like CTP2 is worth a go, even for a hard-bitten cynic.
Cheers,
Turk

[Fluffygreycat]

The AI mayors are smarter than you might think, Ralf.

I've been using mayors in my first game, even though I ultimately will probably micromanage, because it saves time and I am trying to push through the ages to get a feel for the entire flow of the game.

I've been pleasantly surprised. They seem to build the "right" things, even tile improvements. [Two mayors on an island I had ignored for a while even build a neat little road between their two cities.] It takes some getting used to, though. One mayor built mines on a river/plains square, and I thought someone needed to get fired - but then I looked at the effect the available tile improvements for my tech level had on the available terrain, and it turned out it was the best thing to do. [I would have built farms - didn't have advanced farms yet. Net, mines were better - so the mayor taught me something.] Once in a while, they can annoy you by overemphasizing something - all of may mayors focusing on "offense" decided to simultaneously give me artillery, which leads to somewhat imbalance stacks, you know? But "bonehead subordinates" are sometimes part of life.

[Big Dave]

quote: Originally posted by Tuerkuem on 11-18-2000 08:38 PM Ralf, soooo, the more you hear about people really enjoying the game, the less likely you are to buy it? Hmmm... If someone tells you it's rubbish, will you buy it then? I actually enjoyed the original CTP despite it's bugs. I was also a CivII player, but got tired of the AI stupidity. To me it sounds like CTP2 is worth a go, even for a hard-bitten cynic. Cheers, Turk

No Turk, he's a sceptic. What I'm hearing from him is that he's not getting enough detail. AI has always been more like AS (Artificial Stuipidity) in these game, so he's perfectly justified in questioning this. Yes, it's good that people are enjoying this. I'm glad the game is doing well, I hope to see the hotseat and PBEM patches. I'm very glad that the AI is a worthy opponent, and that the new diplomacy system rocks. I've heard excellent things about the new trade system, too, but no details on it (I haven't read all of Mark's previews yet, had house guests this weekend).

But I would like to hear more details on how different portions of the game are working, more examples of diplomacy for example. I liked the tale of the Greeks and the Irish, I want to see if the diplomatic model is consistent or was that a fluke?
TIA,

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Big Dave

Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me!

[Ralf]

quote: Originally posted by Shaman on 11-18-2000 05:22 AM You have to love the city mayors!!! They can take care of your city the same way AI would have!!!

Considering the fact that AI:s in all previous Civ-games have had a history of notoriously weak unit- and city-building logistics - above statement really doesnt feel that reassuring.

quote: In my opinion if you like strategy games and you liked CTPI, CTPII IS A MUST HAVE!

The problem is that i *didnt* like CTP at all. It was a horrible game. CTP-2 must be VERY different in terms of game-mechanics and under-the-hood quality.

The more i read of these over-enthusiastic and totally non-critical "reviews", the more suspicious i get.

A demo would have helped.

[orange]

Thanks for the info guys! I'm gonna put it on my Christmas list

About the patch - I believe you can go to Microprose.com to get one. If not, go to MS Zone and ask around in the Civ chats. They're very helpful

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Civilization Gaming Network Forums
~ The Apolyton Yearbook
~ The poster formerly known as "OrangeSfwr"

[Cyrius]

WHOA! WARNING! Not all is peachy keen!

1. SPACE IS GONE. Most people don't seem to care, but if I'd have known this before I bought CTP2, I wouldn't have purchased it.

2. CITY MANAGEMENT IS GONE. You can't place workers anymore. Makes it hard to figure out if Tile Imps are doing any good. I have no idea how the comp determines what resources you get in a city. This causes a problem with making specialists too.

3. AI isn't that great. Example: Greek corracks (boats) unloaded 4 archers on my home continent/island. A while later, i asked them to leave. They agreed. They walked around a bit like they were trying, but they just got stuck somewhere inside my empire and fortified. Very annoying.\

4. Interface is rather confusing.

I don't use mayors, ever, since they always do stuff I can't stand, so I can't tell you how that works here.

Please remember this is not a new game, sequel, or even an expansion pack. It is a makeover. An extended patch with extra artwork. It works well and looks better, but really, is this worth 50 dollars? I'm not so sure.

[Savant]

What patch are you talking about? Is this a bug patch? I am waiting for my Amazon order to arrive any day now and was wondering if the game ia already patched? This seems like an impprtant piece of news!

What does the patch do or what is it for?

Any answers are appreciated.

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'Blood will run'

[MarkG]

quote: Originally posted by Cyrius on 11-19-2000 01:39 PM [quote]1. SPACE IS GONE. Most people don't seem to care, but if I'd have known this before I bought CTP2, I wouldn't have purchased it.

well, you should be checking this site...

quote: 2. CITY MANAGEMENT IS GONE. You can't place workers anymore. Makes it hard to figure out if Tile Imps are doing any good. I have no idea how the comp determines what resources you get in a city. This causes a problem with making specialists too.

all tiles in the city radius are worked at a percentage according to the city size. if you place a tile improvement in ANY tile in the city radius it will help. that's it

quote: I don't use mayors, ever, since they always do stuff I can't stand, so I can't tell you how that works here.

isnt it a bit unfair not to use a feature cause similar features in other games were not implemented in the best way??