Path: menudo.uh.edu!menudo.uh.edu!usenet From: jgrimm@ws022.torreypinesca.ncr.com (Jeffrey Grimmett) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews Subject: REVIEW: Civilization Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.games Date: 17 Dec 1992 15:33:17 GMT Organization: The Amiga Online Review Column - ed. Daniel Barrett Lines: 202 Sender: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu (comp.sys.amiga.reviews moderator) Distribution: world Message-ID: <1gq6jtINNd03@menudo.uh.edu> Reply-To: jgrimm@ws022.torreypinesca.ncr.com (Jeffrey Grimmett) NNTP-Posting-Host: karazm.math.uh.edu Keywords: game, simulation, conquest, strategy, commercial PRODUCT NAME Civilization BRIEF DESCRIPTION Civilization is a simulation game that should satisfy the cravings of the power-hungry. In it, you command the resources and people of an entire civilization. You guide the development of cities, the direction of research, diplomatic ties with other civilizations, and, (oh, joy!) the military forces of your people. The object is to be the most civilized society on the planet at the end of a preset amount of time. AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION Name: MicroProse Software Address: 180 Lakefront Drive Hunt Valley, MD 21030 USA Telephone: (301) 771-1151 LIST PRICE $59.95 (US dollars) SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS Runs on 68000 and 68030 Amigas under AmigaDOS 1.3 and 2.0. Some installation problems under 2.0 -- see "INSTALLATION" below. COPY PROTECTION "Look up the word in the manual" protection. Hard drive installable. See more information under "INSTALLATION" below. MACHINE USED FOR TESTING Amiga 3000/16, 105 MB hard drive, 4 MB FAST RAM, 2 MB CHIP RAM, AmigaDOS 2.0x. INSTALLATION Civilization is easy to install -- if you use AmigaDOS 1.3. Otherwise, it is a bear. While it is hard drive installable, the installation software does not quite understand the new method of naming partitions under AmigaDOS 2.0+, and as a result you may have difficulties if you have non-standard partition names, as I do. Fortunately, I had similar problems with Railroad Tycoon not recognizing my GAMES: partition a while back, so by now I had renamed it to DH1:. This got around 1 problem, but because of the large number of partitions and logical assignments I had made, DH1: did not show up on the list of available devices. No matter what I tried, Civilization tried to install itself into PIPE:. Amusing ONLY the first time. After copying the contents of the 6 game disks into the proper places, I started it up. Well, yet another problem. All six disk names had to be Assigned to the game directory on the hard drive. I added lines to the User-Startup file and rebooted... and it worked! Off to pillage! So far, the best overall installation program is still DiskMaster (grin). STARTING UP Uh, not so fast. Which is exactly what happens. When Civilization is first started, it gives you a list of choices on how to start the game. Among other options, you can create a random world, load a saved game, or start a new game on Planet Earth. Most folks are going to jump right into the random game (well, I always do!), which presents a slightly cheesy intro sequence as it generates a new world. This DOES take quite a long time! Around 10 minutes on my 16 MHz 030, heaven knows how long it would take on a slower machine. Once this task is complete, you can choose your civilization, your leader's name, and the number of computer opponents. Also, at this point you can choose your level of play. I recommend the lowest possible until you get used to it :-) OK, CAN WE GO OUT AND PILLAGE *NOW*? Sure! OK, well, it probably wouldn't be prudent to start pillaging right away, as all you start out with is one (or two) settlers (the Civil Engineers) and the yen to settle down. Finding a good place to establish a city is important, as the better sites support themselves better later on in the game. You start with few skills, so one of the first things to do is to (a) defend your city and (b) get started on research for bigger and better things. Your armed forces, for instance, rely on different factors (bronze, ironworking, etc) to become more effective. Military improvements are handled the same way as domestic ones are. Domestic improvements take many forms. One of the earliest is the granary, so you can store surplus food. You'll need it. You can also divert resources into building "wonders" like the Pharos Lighthouse. Each Wonder has different effects on yourself or your rivals. There are dozens of things to keep an eye on. For instance, you can be all-powerful militarily but have the most unruly population possible. Balance is important, especially in later stages as your government progresses from Despotism to Democracy. Like it or not, meeting other civilizations is inevitable. You have a few options, fairly obvious. You can diplomatically handle them, or sic your goons on them and (yes!) pillage! However, your enemies may have friends who might want to speak to you about your, um, demeanor. All through this, you still continue growing. When it is time, you can build more settlers to go out and establish new cities and roads to connect it all. Roads are very important for getting supplies and armies from point a to point b. Additionally, a strong shipping and naval presence gives you that much more flexibility. SAVE THE PLANET! Notice I haven't mentioned copy protection? Well, during the first 50 turns of the game, you are not bothered with such things. However, at the end of turn 50, you are required to do a fairly cumbersome look-it-up-in-the-manual exercise. This would not be so bad, but you also cannot save a game until then, either. However, this is the only time you have to look something up (other than reference), so I guess it isn't as bad as some I've encountered. BUGS (what? More bugs?!) Yep, more bugs. At least on my 3000, Civilization has a tendency to lock up solid when listing out possible improvements for a city. Other bugs took the game out at seemingly random times. However, it could hardly be random, as IF I saved a game before a crash, and resumed, the crash would occur at the same exact place. I found no pattern to this, so my best advice would be to hope that the scenario you choose will last out the full 2000 or so turns it is supposed to. Additionally, a semi-random bug at times would trash the display, although not enough to stop play. MANUAL As with the majority of past MicroProse offerings, the manual is more than thorough, and contains a full reference on all factors involved in the game. I wish the folks that put the manual together had written the software :-) Along with the manual, the game itself offers a form of hypertext Civilopedia that is actually quite good. Any game elements I needed help with could be found in the online documentation. Nice! FINAL IMPRESSIONS, CAVEATS, ETC. First of all, I want to state up front that not everyone is likely to suffer the same deadly crashes I did. I've noticed that a lot of applications that refuse to function well on my 3000 work very well on my 2500, and both with the same operating system. I only wish I could have tested it on my 2500, but as Civilization does not multitask well, I couldn't (the A2500 is a BBS machine). That being said... if you're into this kind of game, if you liked Railroad Tychoon and Sim City, you're bound to like Civilization. If you've spent cumulative days in front of Sim City, and still go back for more, this game is a must-have. If, however, you are the type of gamer accustomed to the raw fury of BLAZEMONGER and are just merely curious about Civilization, I'd suggest you spend your money on something else, as it won't really be worth the price to you. I personally am very happy with this game, when and if it actually works. The frustration factor is overly elevated, however, because of the many bugs in this program. I certainly hope MicroProse gets their collective act together before too long, as this is just ridiculous! ###############@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@*********************** Jeff Grimmett [SuperBitMap BBS] @ fido!1:202/1401.0 [619-460-7290] jeff_grimmett@f1401.n202.z1.fidonet.org @ jgrimm@TorreyPinesCA.ncr.com The opinions expressed in this message are thoughtful, reasoned, and logical. It goes without saying that they are not those of my employer. ******************************************************************************* --- Daniel Barrett, Moderator, comp.sys.amiga.reviews Send reviews to: amiga-reviews-submissions@math.uh.edu Request information: amiga-reviews-requests@math.uh.edu General discussion: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu