Advice needed!! Which Civ-Game for Multiplayer?

[TheCabal]

Hello guys,

me and a friend are interested for a turn-based civ game. We are not pro's in civ games, but we know how to play them and what its all about.

But what we don't know is what Civ game will suit best for us for multiplayer. I hope you can give me some aid because most of you know what ya are talking about.

What we do know is that we don't even think about considering buying Civilization 4. Alpha Centauri is a very very good and complex one, but what about Civ2 and Civ3 (or the CTP series)? We like complex games with many possibilities (like covert actions which for example Civ4 hasn't much of). It should make fun too!

Hope for some answers (=help) from you! If you have questions for example for pin pointing the right game plz ask.

Greetings,
Cab

[LordShiva]

Civ2

SMAC is for hippies

[Ming]

For simple but fun MP, Civ II is probably the best. Some of us still play it, even though we also play Civ IV MP

[TheCabal]

Hello!

Thx for answers! So you both say Civ2. What are the reasons to go for Civ2 instead of going for the others? What do you mean by simple, some kind of easyness?

Greetings,
Cab

[binTravkin]

Simple means you can learn it fairly quickly and it's not hard just to play (like not needing to remember thousand and one thing just to manage your civ).

Civ3 is probably simpler than Civ2, though, but it's generally regarded as too dumbed-down, so if you liked SMAC, you'll like Civ2.

[Kloreep]

I would have said go for Civ4, but apparently that's out.

I'd frankly recommend against Civ3. The late game has some rather ridiculous gameplay features (look up extreme combat settling if you want to see the best example).

[Locutus]

I would say Civ4 as well, best Civ game to date regardless of what you want to do with it.

But other than that, if you're into complex games, the CtP series is more complex than the Civ series (and AC -- that's just Civ2 with a unit workshop and social engineering), and it has 'unconventional warfare' such as with priests, spies, laywers, terrorists, etc -- which isn't for everyone but I guess would qualify as the 'covert' stuff you say Civ4 lacks.

While CtP2 is the better game overall, the multiplayer aspect of it is fairly buggy, so if you're interested in this series I'd say try and get your hands on CtP1 if you can.

[TheCabal]

Hey thank you for your answers!

Well, tried CTPII playing with my friend with no luck... there is just one and only server... lobby works fine... joining doesnt work in created games... no matter who creates one =( ... so will have to check out Civ2 i think =) (and CTPI when i find it... has CTPI a better multiplayer code?)

(I love SMAC!) I will try to get the Civilization 2 Ultimate Collection (<= correct one?), its not that expensive and is full of stuff (manual.. ) that we dont find in todays games... (damn pdf...)

How does Multiplayer work in Civ2 Ultimate Collection/Multiplayer Gold? With direct IP simple host/join? Does it work easily or with problems?

greetz,
cab

[Ming]

Originally posted by TheCabal
How does Multiplayer work in Civ2 Ultimate Collection/Multiplayer Gold? With direct IP simple host/join? Does it work easily or with problems?

As long as everybody loaded the last patch, and you do a direct IP game, it works like a charm, with almost no problems. That's why I recommended it. Low machine requirements, simple, yet interesting. Hours of fun

[DrSpike]

Though it is undeniably a great game I'd advise against Civ2. The playerbase is just too small now, and (unlike when CTP and Civ3 came out) there is a now a solid MP alternative that is bug free with a large playerbase. I mean Civ4.

[LordShiva]

He just wants to play against his friend; playerbase is of no concern

[Grandpa Troll]

CTP is awesome, but when looking at CIV III Conquests the real problem I have is battle, you dont know how many or how much damage they sustained without reporting and trying to keep up is kind of a pain, but CIV IV and Warlords are really awesome, and as Ming has pointed out CIV II is probably the best bang for your buck if you have an older model machine.

The deal I enjoy about CIV IV is its pretty neat when you set up a PBEM game, the saves get sent automatically


One thing I never cared for about CTP was you invest in a bunch of units, you really only have one option to get any return on investment, that is to bring them into one of your cities and disband them and get a small portion of your production back toward whatever you are building. The other thing to do with them is to fortify them along possible enemy travel routes
, kind of like a poor mans Listening Post

Best of luck my friend and enjoy Civin

Gramps

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by LordShiva
He just wants to play against his friend; playerbase is of no concern

Maybe not initially, but it's still odd choosing Civ2 imo.

[Zoid]

Well, some people have old steam engines around and use them on occasion as well...

[rah]

Chalk up another Civ2 vote.
Stable, and it doesn't use a lot of resources. And it's cheap cheap cheap to buy.