CTP-The True heir to civilization

[Sarxis]

Maybe CTP is the true heir- but AC is still better.

[Alex]

SMAC is better, it is my favorite TBS of all time.

But I have to say that CTP2 (never played the first) is not a bad game at all, provided you install the mods, of course. Some of its features, like PW, are actually very ingenious and are a nice improvement in the genre. I still play it from time to time, using the Apolyton Pack, and I have fun with it. Sure, it lacks that "magical touch" (or whatever you want to call it) with gave a lot of flavour both to Civ2 and SMAC -- and no, I wouldn't be able to define it, it is something you have to experience by yourself. CTP2 is sometimes very cold, devoid of any soul... it sometimes feels like a cheap rip-off, but I still think it is interesting and varied.

[FlameFlash]

I have both, play both... CtP here seems to have a stronger community spirit, but maybe I'm just biased since that's what brought me to 'poly in the first place.

SMAC/SMAX on the other hand is also a strong front around here... though I wonder what would happen if we happened to lose Googlie? You think somebody else would actually step up? I kind of doubt it, at least not to the level.

Part of the problem and good thing about SMAX PBEM is that it has that password protect... of course, if somebody drops out then you're probably screwed.

'poly community aside, I feel like SMAX has much more replayability than CtP ever could... even more than CivIII just because there are enough extra factions to play around with, and each have actual personalities as opposed to just bonuses and minuses or extra units.

I still start and have SP games of SMAX running on my computer, I can't even say that for CivIII now that I've played through it a couple of times.

[child of Thor]

well i guess Activision was making CTP(and CTP2) to actually be Civ2's heir, but to a large extent they messed up.
From playing both games alot you can see where they just fell short of becoming the all time classic that the Civ1+2 games are.
In Ctp1 the whole space based part of the game just doesn't feel properly finished or balanced, and as a result the late game is a huge let down.
In Ctp2 it just wasn't finished before it was released(A common trend that has gained momentum over the years). The AI in the released CTP2 is very poor, but it is a solid and fun game with the Mods you can download for free.
Activision as the publishers just made a mess by not making sure the game was finished, i guess relying on the success of the first game to sell CTP2 - a disaster all round, as the game has many qualities that IMHO could have made it the clear Civ heir and the best of the genre.
Still if Activision do release the source code(....and hell could just freeze over ) then we have the talent at Apolyton to make it the game of Civ most of us are still waiting to play.

[RGBVideo]

I'd advise you to move to Civ3

Do not try either Civ III or CtP I. They both suck. If you've got time and dedication to tweak and alter and play with game modifications, you may like CtPII more than SMAC, but it's still a matter of personal taste.