So I've played most of the Civilization series. SMAC, III, IV, a bit of V. But I never really got much into Civ II.
Where exactly should I start? There seems to be a lot of options for playing Civ II. Vanilla, Vanilla + expansions, Multiplayer gold, Test of Time. Which one is the best to play, ToT looks pretty nice, are there any problems with it compared to vanilla civ II?
Also, what a about mods? Any essential bugfixes or patches, any good gameplay overhauls, or nice graphics mods? I'd like to know.
>>3216528
I've heard a few people recommend freeciv. Most of my experience with Civ2 is the PSX version though, so I've got no clue what the ToT version is like. I can't even really find what it does.
I've never played Test of Time so I can't comment on its quality. I've played the rest though and vanilla Civ II is probably the best place to get started. Multiplayer Gold sets all AI to be permanently hostile which isn't much fun and the two expansions are a mixed bag but fun to mess around with now and then.
>>3217935
Ho lee shit I totally forgot about freeciv. Is it a literal reskin of civ II but nicer looking and open source or is it a bit different mechanics/AI wise?
>>3218132
I heard about the multiplayer gold thing, yea. I mostly play SMAC so the main reason I'm even wanting to play civ II is because I'm looking for something more laid back and easy as kind of a break, hostile AI sounds like the opposite. What do the two expansions add exactly?
One of the charms of Civ II is the warm and cozy 90s FMVs which load up when you finish a wonder. Likewise the real actors, and the customized encyclopedia, and the music.
Free-civ seems to be open-source everything and would lose a lot of the charm.
>>3218289
I was playing multiplayer gold just to get a feel for things and I didn't see any 90's fmv's. I did hear some fucking great music though. That title music man.
>>3218240
If you're looking for a laid back break from SMAC than Civ II is perfect, it's super easy to break the system over your knee and get ludicrous scores to pimp your throne room out.
The first expansion, Conflicts in Civilization, just adds a bunch of scenarios; I honestly can't remember many of them asides from the historical ones and a teddy bear theme. Prefab missions aren't really where Civilization shines anyways.
Fantastic Worlds adds some more scenarios but they tend to be more varied, including Master of Orion, Master of Magic, and X-COM tributes, dinosaurs, and microorganisms. They also come with preset campaigns but you can start a regular game of Civ II using the new tech trees and races as well which is amusing every now and then. Just make sure to put the right disc in, Fantastic Worlds comes with a new soundtrack so regular Civ II will have gunfire and alien roars playing while you're building knights.
>>3218339
I've never really touched scenarios in my life, so vanilla civ II sounds decent enough.
Any good UI mods? One of my main gripes is the city screen and tech screen being fairly obtuse. The tech "tree" if that's even what it is and the tech selection menu is especially weird to look at.
Play Vanilla. Do not, under any circumstances, play MGE since the AI bug is game-breaking.
I'm not experienced in Freeciv but I have played the shit out of Civ 2 and can tell you it is definitely worth playing.
Test of Time is also fine but the enhancements are usually better off avoided.
the best scenarios for civilization 2 were made by a guy called Stephan Hartel, google them if you like the ancient middle east, alexander the great, the achemenid persian empire etc.
really excellent, today they would be sold as dlc for good money
>>3219283
I used to post in Civfanatics and Apolyton in the early 2000s, Civ II has a lot of great monds and scenarios.
In spite of that, I do think Civ IV with the Beyond the Sword expansion pack is the best one, after that one comes Civ 2.
as a kid in the 90s I made my own maps with the map editor looking at the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
>>3216528
