Why write about this now prehistoric game in the series of Sid Meier's classics, Civilization II? Some of us still have it and there just aren't enough sites dedicated to the hows and whys of playing this version made for the PS One. Actually, I think this may be the only in depth guide around.
If you have received this game as a gift or picked it up and have no clue as to how to play, this guide is meant for you. If you like sim games and games involving strategy, you will be hooked.
The point of Civilization II? You are a new civilization on this yet unexplored planet. All you know is what is around you and you have no knowledge of the entire map of the world or your neighbors. In the beginning, you have assumed the role of the leader of this band of settlers and it is your job to keep them safe, happy and to grow and expand your kingdom.
To do your job, you will need to plan your strategy. Although you don't have a clue as to where your neighbors, or most importantly - your enemies, you know one day you have a great chance of meeting another fledgling kingdom or band of lawless Barbarians who want to take you down or at least cut you down a peg or two.
How would you like to win the game? There are a few ways to become the winner.
- You could find and conquer all the other civilizations and be the last one standing.
- You can win the space race by being the first to send your colony to another planet.
- Or you could survive until your retirement in the year 2020 with the most points.
If you want to go the first route, you need to concentrate on your military strengths. Do all you can to develop scientific breakthroughs that will help you win the battles. Send out diplomats, explorers, and settlers all over the place so you can get the biggest map and scout out all the other colonies. When you have them where you want them, attack and conquer.
To win via space race, you have to be strong in all scientific advances to make sure you far surpass your rival civilizations in getting to the space race before you. You would be wise to spread your cities out within a reasonable space, but create many of them so you will be able to produce the income to build it first.
The last one is my favorite, surviving until the end. You may do this in one of many different ways. If you want to be a good guy, get along with your neighbors and form alliances early. Be sure to be fair, but sparingly when it comes to trading technology.
Once you have an alliance, don't break it. If your allies are being unreasonable, let them be the ones to break it. They will usually send in a diplomat or spy to steal from you giving you a chance to break the alliance without penalty to you. If you can manage to get along with your neighbors, do what you can to develop the land and new cities with flourishing populations that will further support new growth.
If you want to be a complete bad guy, buddy up to all the civilizations long enough to trade a few technologies with them and trade maps. If you feel you must, sign a peace treaty, but beware if you end up breaking it. If you decide to be ruthless in the beginning and stab everyone in the back, don't lose hope as you can try for the Eiffel Tower wonder which will improve how the rest of the world sees you. Or, you may decide to wipe out all but one civilization... or wipe out all the capital cities and all but the smallest city of each rival civilization.
As you can see, there are many options on how to play the game. You may go in with one idea in mind and completely change your mind in the middle. Whatever you do, don't panic when it seems too overwhelming - it's only a game and you can press reset.
First, a word on cheats! I do know of only one cheat that works on this game and I don't feel so bad in using it as the game is already slanted in favor of the other civilizations that get away with things you cannot do at all.
One example, when playing and it was only my third turn, I ran into another civilization that already had 7 cities [I found this out by trading technology and maps]. By my next turn, I sent in a diplomat to establish an embassy and it turns out this civilization already had 12 technologies and was already allied with 2 other civilizations. You cannot do this because your units cannot move far enough to run into all those civilizations in the first 3-4 turns. Clearly, this rival civilization had the upper hand with an option not available to you.
Another example, the units of the other civilizations can often move farther than your units to reach you faster than you will ever reach them.
If every AI civilization cheats and you play by the rules in the beginning of the game, you will find it a more interesting challenge. However, if you want to level the playing field by one upping the AI civs, there is a money code which will help you advance your civ faster than everyone around you. If you use this before getting allies, be warned they will not want you because you are a decadent empire and they are jealous. They will form alliances and pacts against you. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page, at the end of this article, for the cheat code.
Before getting into strategies, here are some of the basics on how to play.
The Game Pad:
- The X button will execute your orders and make your character move.
- The Triangle button will go to the map [which can also allow you to move your cursor to go to a specific place]. It also allows you to deactivate the unit and if need be, access the game menu [especially if you need to save the game so you can do something else.]
- The Square button can bring up the game menu as well as the unit option menu [the unit must be active at the time for this feature or you may move your cursor to that unit, click X to activate it, then bring up the option menu for that unit.]
- The Circle button gives more of a detailed explanation. If your cursor is on a tile without a unit, it will tell you what kind of terrain is on that tile, it's defense, food and trade potential. If you need more information on a Wonder or a scientific advance, press this button for this historical importance.
- R1,L1 buttons moves the turn to the next unit.
Setting Up Your Game
At the beginning, select New Game [or Beginner if you are intimidated]. If you choose Beginner, your choices are limited and you will automatically have the tutorial and advice turned on.
If you select New Game, you have a lot of variables you can control.
World Size -
- Small, for a short game
- Normal, for the basic, traditional game
- Large, for a more drawn out game
Game Level -
- Chieftain
- Warlord
- Prince
- King
- Emperor
- Deity
Number of Rival Civilizations 3-7
Barbarian Activities/Huts -
- Village Only
- Roving Bands
- Restless Tribes
- Raging Hordes
Gender - Male/Female
Kingdom -
- Romans
- Babylonians
- Germans
- Egyptians
- Americans
- Greeks
- Indians
- Russians
- Zulus
- French
- Aztecs
- Chinese
- English
- Mongols
- Celts
- Japanese
- Vikings
- Spanish
- Persians
- Carthaginians
- Sioux
City Style -
- Bronze Age
- Classical Forum
- Far East Pavillion
- Medieval Castle
The Game Screen
On the top, there is a grey bar with the year, your current tax rate, population, and money available. The tax rate is represented by 3 numbers which is the percent of income that goes to general taxes, science and luxury.
Below the bar is the map of the world as you know it. There is much information for you to take in to figure out your specific strategy. Things from the terrain type and location of rivals can determine how well you will thrive.
When it is your turn, the units are activated one by one which is indicated by the grey box on the bottom right of the screen. Bring up the unit menu to give it direction.
The unit menu will pop up midway on the left side. When your turn is over and there are no more options available, the Game Menu will pop up midway on the left side. In the Game Options, you can switch it so when your turn is over the Game Menu does not pop up, but it automatically goes to the AI players.
The Game Menu
At the end of each turn, this box will pop up. Your choices include:
- Game -
- Game Options: In this panel you can change the music, map background, turn on or off the advice, throne room, council sessions, wonders videos and tutorials, as well as change the name of the leader.
- Save Game: Self explanatory.
- Load Game: Self explanatory.
- Retire: If you are just plain done with this game and want to record your score, it will save it into the Hall of Records.
- Quit: This option will NOT save your game, but bring you back to the opening screen.
- Kingdom -
- Tax Rate: Allows you to choose the tax your people pay. The general tax pays for improvements and maintenance. The science tax contributes to your scientific advances. The luxury tax allows the people extra comforts to make them happier.
- Throne Room: When the people love the job you do, they decide to add something to your throne room. You can see this throne room at any time, provided you did not turn off this option under Game Options.
- Find City: If you need to quickly locate a city on the map, bring up this option with all known cities and click on the city you want to find. It will bring your cursor to that spot instantly.
- Revolution: When you have discovered more than one form of government and figured out that the current government isn't working for you, press this button and prepare for the temporary anarchy to follow.
- Advisor -
- Consult High Council: Listen to the advice of your animated panel who will give you suggestions on what will help your kingdom advance. Get a load of your panelist who is an Elvis wannabe! The option to speak to them will be brought up to you every so often, but that can be turned off in Game Options.
- Defense Minister: Lets you know how many units you have active, fortified, or in production. Very helpful to know if you are planning a war or see that another kingdom is trying to encircle you.
- Foreign Minister: This allows you the chance to talk to the leaders of other kingdoms. You can be friendly and trade technology or give them money or technology in exchange for goodwill. You can also exchange maps which is a good strategic move to help you plan your kingdom and spot potential troublemakers. This panel also tells you your strength and trustworthiness as well as how the other kingdoms feel about you.
- Attitude Advisor: If you want your people to grow and cooperate, keep a check on this from time to time. Happy people grow and contribute to your success. Unhappy people can revolt, send your mayor fleeing, and halt production as well as slow down scientific progress.
- Trade Advisor: A basic cost analyst of your cities telling you how much money you are making and spending. You may have to find ways to cut spending or increase trade to get faster results.
- Science Advisor: Tells you what your scientists are working on, how many turns it will take to achieve it, and the advances you already have.
- World -
- Wonders Of The World: Shows which Wonders of the World have been developed, by which kingdom and the city it is located.
- Top 5 Cities: Shows the cities with the most improvements, happiness, and growth.
- Civilization Score: Your running total score based on how many people you have [and their happiness factor], Wonders, peace and dealings with Barbarians [and later points for a complete spaceship and future technology.]
- Demographics: Shows how you rank to the rest of the world. A very useful guide to stay competitive.
- Spaceship: Keeps tabs on all kingdoms building a spaceship.
- Civilopedia - I will only list these as the Civilopedia serves as the handy reference to all the below:
- Civilization Advances
- City Improvements
- Wonders of the World
- Military Units
- Government
- Terrain Types
- Credits
- Units - Tells which units you have and what they are doing. Click on a specific unit to activate and re-direct.
- Cities - Brings up the menu of all your cities. Click on the city you want to investigate. More on this later.
- End Turn - Self explanatory.
The Unit Menu
When it is your turn, the cursor will activate one unit at a time. On the bottom right of the screen is some useful information about the unit and the terrain it is on.
Certain units have no hit points and cannot engage in battle such as Settlers, Engineers, and Explorers, but other units will list the hit points and strength of the unit. The higher the number of hit points/strength of the unit, the better chance it has to defeat an enemy. Keep track of those numbers so you can prepare for replacements or backup help.
Your units carry your flag. If the flag is losing color, the unit needs to rest to recover. Send it to the nearest city to sleep.
This grey box also tells if that unit is doing something. It might be one of your troops who is fortified, or a Settler who is building a road or an Engineer changing terrain or if it moved already that turn. If you move your cursor over a busy worker, it will be disrupted and ready to follow your next command at the appropriate time.
When a unit is activated, click the Square button to bring up the list of options available for you to command that unit.
The City Screen
This is the heart of how your kingdom is doing. This screen tells you the city name, the year, population, how much money is in your treasury, the project your city is currently building, and improvements already in the city.
The bottom grey bar has the following:
Buy - When you have enough money in the treasury and you want to buy it now instead of waiting for your people to do it, this allows you to spend treasury money to finish the job.
Change - Allows you to change the project your city is building. It tells you how many turns it will take for this city to finish the job. If a military unit is being considered, it tells the hit points and movement points of that unit before you buy it.
Resources - You have a lot of information here to consider. It shows you where your shields are located and extra trade and food resources. It also gives you access to control your people. By clicking on a shield area, it can change the rate of production of your city higher or lower.
If you have unhappy people, click on a shield which will make one an unemployed citizen who has become an entertainer. If you have more than 5 faces, you have the option to turn these unemployed citizens into tax collectors or scientists as well as entertainers.
To change the profession, move the cursor all the way to the top until it hits the faces above the bar and click on the face you want to change. One click will turn the entertainer to the tax collector. Two clicks will turn them into a scientist. There is a good benefit to having extra scientists or tax collectors.
If you need to raise a lot of money to finish a Wonder or to prepare for a war, you need many tax collectors to raise money quickly [and also be sure to raise the general tax level in the Game Menu.] This also helps your people build city improvements faster.
If you want to be the first in technology, create many scientists [and also increase the science tax in the Game Menu.] By doing this will decrease the amount of turns it takes to discover a technology.
If your people are unhappy, a good move is make entertainers. I wouldn't recommend doing this too long as it is unproductive for your growth. Be sure to raise the luxury tax in the Game Menu as it will generally make happier people in all cities.
Units - Tells you how many units that particular city is supporting and the status of the unit. From this screen you can also disband a troop or order them back home if the city is in revolt.
Happiness - Tells you about the degree of happiness of your people, if they are under martial law, or if you need to do something to make them happier depending on the city's access to resources.
Rename - Allows you to change the name of the city. A thing you may want to consider if you conquer a rival kingdom's city.
View - Take a look at your city on a closer level.
Exit - Gets you out of the city menu.
The Terrains
- Rivers - Rivers are like roads, but you cannot build one on a river until you discover Bridge Building. Moving across the river is 1/3 of a movement point. Building a city on or near a river is a good thing as the river can be irrigated to help your population grow faster. It is also an extra trade shield. When you get engineer units, they can turn rivers into grasslands, plains or hills.
- Oceans - While you cannot build on top of oceans, you can get extra shields/points if you are nearest the fish icon for food shields or the whales icon for an extra food and trade.
- Grassland - Prime real estate! It gives you 2 food shields, and by irrigating it gives you an extra food shield. By building a road, it gives you an extra trade point. Does not offer much in defense, but is ideal for growing large populations.
- Plains - Buffalo and wheat icons will give you an extra food. Settlers can build roads and irrigate the land.
- Forest - A pheasant icon gives you more food and a silk icon gives you more trade. The forest gives you an extra 50% defense bonus.
- Jungle - A gems icon gives you an extra trade. A fruit icon gives you an extra food. Settlers can turn it into grassland or build a road on it, but it cannot be irrigated until converted to grassland. A swamp increases your defense by 50%
- Swamps - A peat icon gives you extra trade. A spice icon gives you an extra food. Settlers can turn it into grassland or build a road on it, but cannot irrigate it while it is still a swamp. A swamp increases your defense by 50%
- Hills - Coal icons give you an extra trade and wine gives you an extra food. Hills increase your defense by 100%. Settlers can build a road, mine, or irrigate this tile. By mining a hill, it gives you 3 extra trade shields.
- Mountains - Gold and iron icons give you an extra trade. This tiles gives you a defense bonus of 200%. Settlers can build roads and mine this tile, but cannot irrigate it. Engineers can convert this tile to hills, plains and grassland. By mining a mountain, it gives you an extra trade.
- Tundra - If there is an ox or musk icon on the tundra, it gives you an extra food. If there is a fur icon, it gives you an extra trade. Settlers can build roads, mines, and irrigate this tile. Engineers can do this plus transform it into a desert, then to a plain, to grassland, and to a hill.
- Desert - Oasis icons give you more food, oil icons give you more trade. A settler may build a road, irrigate, or build a mine on this tile. Engineers can further develop it into plains, grassland, and hills.
- Glaciers - You cannot irrigate or get food production from these tiles and is not exactly a good defense tile either. They can be mined for one shield and useful if there is an oil or ivory icon for extra trade. Otherwise, it would be best to avoid them. They can be seen mostly on the very North and very South edges of the map. [Tip: If you live close to these strips, let your explorers go around the world as they are not limited movement by terrain. Also, if up to the task and you have the manpower, let a settler build a road on the North or South strip in case you need to get an easy route to your enemies who may also be connected to the strip.]
- Roads - Depending on the terrain and unit, it can take anywhere from 2-10 turns to create. It can create an extra shield/trade route in cities. It also allows your units faster movement by 1/3.
- Railroads - Can be built by either Settlers or Engineers. It is an extra shield/trade route for your city and has zero movement points, so as long as your unit is moving on the railroad, they can keep moving an unlimited time.
- Irrigation - Creates an extra food resource by the city which will help your population grow faster.
- Farmland - Can be done only on irrigated land. For a city to benefit, they must have a supermarket which is available when you discover refrigeration. This gives your already food producing irrigated tile yet another food resource causing your food supply a 50% gain.
Also, you will find huts which could be a good or bad thing. I personally like to take my chances and let an explorer seek them out. At worst, you will find a pack of Barbarians which will kill your unit and be let loose upon the rest of the world. At best you can find a new scientific advance or an advanced tribe with its own city that can add income and resources to your own civilization.
There are two things that can hinder your terrain progress. Barbarians tend to pillage your improvements. If you see them approaching, be sure to kill them before they set foot near your land. If you allow them to stay awhile, it can take just a few turns before they undo all the hard work you have done.
Pollution is also a bad thing as it decreases your production levels. This usually happens when your population has grown too large and you do not have certain factors under control. First, be sure the corruption/waste levels are down. Also, improvements such as Sewer Systems, Recycling Plants, Hydro Plants, and Solar Plants will take care of the pollution in no time. Too many areas of pollution cause global warming.
A word of warning, you may be tempted to start a nuclear war with your annoying neighbors or the Barbarians, but unless you have a handful of Engineers on standby, you will be stuck with a massive pollution problem that can cause global warming which will undo a lot of the good terrain areas. Once lush grasslands and forests can become swamps or plains can dry up into deserts.
Scientific Advances
In order to get better units and city improvements, you need to decide what direction you want your kingdom to go.
Some advances will create better military units. Other advances will contribute to the welfare of your people or make your city safer. Some advances are necessary in order to develop a Wonder. If you are playing to the last year, you will have to try to get as many of them if possible. If you just want to get to the Space Race, you might want to lean heavy on getting scientific technologies and Wonders which will in turn help you create scientific technology faster.
These advances can be used to trade with other nations that have the ones you want or to get them to share their map with you. In the beginning, don't worry too much about trading this information as it will give you a good idea about everyone else, how they behave and where they are located. As you get close to your goal, you will want to keep these to yourself to save as your ace in the hole [for instance, if you are at war and being beaten to a pulp, but want it to stop, offer it in order to keep peace, as long as they haven't stolen it from you, yet.]
A quick, but risky way, to get technology is to either start a fight with a nation that has the technology and steal it when you capture the city OR send a diplomat/spy to buy off the city. If you do this to nations where you have a peace treaty, you will lose their trust and your reputation will be damaged.
All technology is based on earlier ones acquired. You cannot get technology unless you have the foundation for it. In other words, you cannot start out by researching Stealth when you haven't even mastered the Alphabet.
Here is a breakdown of technology to help you decide which ones you should choose for your scientists to research:
To further science - alphabet, astronomy, atomic theory, chemistry, computer, communism, democracy, economics, electronics, engineering, literacy, mathematics, miniturization, philosophy, physics, railroad, theory of gravity, university, writing.
To produce better ground troops - automobile, chivalry, combined arms, conscription, construction, electricity, espionage, geudalism, feudalism, fundamentalism, guerrilla warefare, gunpowder, horseback riding, iron working, labor union, leadership, magnetism, mobile warfare, monotheism, polytheism, railroad, steel, tactics, warrior code, the wheel.
To produce better sea units - advanced flight, amphibious warfare, automobile, combustion, electricity, feudalism, industrialization, magnetism, map making, navigation, searfaring, steam engine, steel.
To produce better air units - advanced flight, combined arms, feudalism, flight, radio, rocketry, stealth.
To help protect your city - construction, democracy, espionage, iron working, literacy, masonry, metallurgy, plastics, superconductor.
To keep your people happy and grow - alphabet, automobile, banking, bridge building, ceremonial burial, code of laws, corporation, currency, economics, electricity, engineering, enviornmentalism, explosives, genetic engineering, gunpowder, industrialization, literacy, masonry, mass production, medicine, miniturization, monotheism, mysticism, nuclear power, pottery, radio, railroad, recycling, refrigeration, sanitation, seafaring, steam engine, theology, trade, university, writing.
To get better government - communism, democracy, economics, espionage, fundamentalism, literacy, monarchy, the republic, trade.
To build a Wonder - astronomy, atomic theory, bronze working, communism, computer, democracy, economics, engineering, electricity, feudalism, industrialization, invention, literacy, map making, masonry, medicine, monotheism, mysticism, navigation, nuclear fission, pottery, space flight, steam engine, railroad, theology, theory of gravity, trade.
To try to get quicker scientific turn around on assignments, there are a number of things you can do.
- Grow a large population. The more people, the more money you have to fund a project.
- Be sure to get one city set up as your main science headquarters which should house the Wonders such as Copernicus' Observatory, Issac Newton's College and the SETI Program - all of which will give you the biggest edge in scientific advances. Try making this the largest city.
- When building a potential scientific city, spend the extra time to find and develop the land for maximum trade, food and protection shields.
- Like your capital, keep your scientific city [as well as any Wonders city,] as far out of reach from other civilizations. Build minor cities around them to guard them from direct attacks.
- Get as many cities as possible. Again, this creates more money for your project. It also helps you create caravans and freight which can travel to cities producing Wonders. The more caravans/freight going to a Wonders city, the quicker it can be built.
- Set the tax rate to a higher science rate.
- In a city with more than a 5, put someone to work as a scientist. The more the better.
- Trade early and often in the beginning and make yourself scarce when you get to monarchy.
- Protect your cities with diplomats and spies to keep others from stealing your technology. In your scientific city, have two spies/diplomats.
- Put a courthouse in a city with your Wonders to keep it relatively safe from bribery and corruption. Better yet, choose democracy or communism as your government.
- Should a poor kingdom that is technologically backwards develop a technology that would help you get to a Wonder or progress faster, offer them a chance to trade technology. Some will accept the offer, others will make you pay for the information and a few will blow you off altogether [especially if they have an aggression pact against you].
Wonders Of The World
Each phase of history has its own 7 Wonders of the World. By creating a Wonder in a city, you make the people happy. Any city connected to that city via road or railroad is also happy.
Some Wonders will help you grow faster. Others are just a good factor to keep people happy or to automatically build improvements in each city or to give you more protection from enemies while keeping tabs on everyone. You don't have to worry about getting all of them. Each Wonder gives you points towards your Civilization score, but if you want to take it easy and only concentrate on the Wonders that help you grow faster, you can always conquer the other cities that have the Wonder you want later.
- The Pyramids - You will need masonry. It will put a granary in each of your cities.
- Hanging Gardens - You will need pottery. It will make the people in your cities happier.
- Colossus - You will need bronze working. It will give you an extra trade shield in your city.
- Lighthouse - You will need map making. It keeps your ships from getting lost at sea.
- Great Library - You will need literacy. It will automatically give you scientific advances that two other kingdoms have. Electricity cancels this effect. [Philosophy also gives you a free advance if you discover it first.]
- Oracle - You will need mysticism. It increases the happiness factor in all cities with a temple.
- Great Wall - You will need masonry. It doubles your defense from Barbarians and forces other kingdoms to offer peace over war within reason. Metallurgy cancels this effect.
- Sun Tzu's War Academy - You will need feudalism. It turns new units into veterans which can withstand battles longer. Exsisting units become veterans upon their first fight.
- King Richard's Crusade - You will need engineering. Give an extra resource shield to that city.
- Marco Polo's Embassy - You will need trade. It allows you to have an embassy with all kingdoms.
- Michelangelo's Chapel - You will need theology. Installs a cathedral in all cites.
- Copernicus' Observatory - You will need astronomy. Increases that city's science input by 50%.
- Magellen's Exposition - You will need navigation. Gives your ships 2 extra movements.
- Shakespeare Theater - You will need medicine. Creates happy citizens.
- Leonardo's Workshop - You will need invention. Automatically upgrades units.
- J S Bach's Cathedral - You will need monotheism. It decreases unhappy citizens [up to 2 per city] on the same content.
- Issac Newton's College - You will need theory of gravity. Doubles that city's science output. [If you already have Copernicus' Observatory in that city, you are already up 50%, but add this to the city and you are at 150% capacity for scientific research.]
- Adam Smith's Trading Post - You will need economics. It pays for the expenses of that city up to 1 gold per turn. Put this in a city that seems to have a large expense to income ratio.
- Darwin's Voyage - You will need railroad. It gives you 2 free advances.
- Statue of Liberty - You will need democracy. It eliminates periods of unrest between government change and allows you to choose any government even if you haven't discovered it yet.
- Eiffel Tower - You will need the steam engine. It creates a favorable image with other kingdoms and they will forget past mistakes. This is your second and last chance to make things right.
- Women's Sufferage - You will need industrialization. Puts a police station in all cities and decreases unhappiness in cities by 1 when troops are away.
- Hoover Dam - You will need electronics. It gives all cities a hydro plant and nuclear plant.
- Manhattan Project - You will need nuclear fission. It allows any nation with the technology to start building nuclear weapons.
- United Nations - You will need communism. It gives you an embassy in all nations and will force your enemies to offer peace treaties with you, within reason.
- Apollo Program - You will need the space program. It allows all nations with the technology to build spaceships.
- SETI Program - You will need computers. It doubles the output of the science in that city. [If you have Copernicus' Observatory and Issac Newton's College in the same city that you build this, you have a 300% scientific boost. Just imagine how fast you will be in the technology field over other nations, especially if this is in your largest city!]
- Cure For Cancer - You will need genetic engineering. It creates one happy citizen in all cities. In demographics it will boost your lifespan to number one.
Military Units
| Unit |
Cost |
Attack |
Defense |
Moves |
H.P. |
F.P. |
Prerequistes |
Obsolete |
| AEGIS Cruiser |
100 |
8 |
8 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
Rocketry |
|
| Alpine Troops |
50 |
5 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
Tactics |
|
| Archers |
30 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Warrior Code |
Gunpowder |
| Armor |
80 |
10 |
5 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
Mobile
Warfare |
|
| Artillery |
50 |
10 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
Machine Tools |
Robotics |
| Battleship |
160 |
12 |
12 |
4 |
4 |
2 |
Automobile |
|
| Bomber |
120 |
12 |
1 |
8 |
2 |
2 |
Advanced
Flight |
Stealth |
| Cannon |
40 |
8 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
Metallurgy |
Machine
Tools |
| Caravan |
50 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Trade |
Corporation |
| Caravel |
40 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
Navigation |
Magnetism |
| Carrier |
160 |
1 |
9 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
Advanced
Flight |
|
| Catapult |
40 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Mathematics |
Metallurgy |
| Cavalry |
60 |
8 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
Tactics |
Mobile
Warfare |
| Chariot |
30 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
The Wheel |
Polytheism |
| Crusaders |
40 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
Monotheism |
Leadership |
| Cruise Missle |
60 |
20 |
0 |
12 |
1 |
3 |
Rocketry |
|
| Cruiser |
80 |
6 |
6 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
Steel |
Super-
conductor |
| Destroyer |
60 |
4 |
4 |
6 |
3 |
1 |
Electricity |
|
| Diplomat |
30 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
Writing |
Espionage |
| Dragoons |
50 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
Leadership |
Tactics |
| Elephants |
40 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
Polytheism |
Monotheism |
| Engineers |
40 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
Explosives |
|
| Explorers |
30 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Seafaring |
Guerrilla
Warfare |
| Fanatics |
20 |
4 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
Fundamentalist
Government |
|
| Fighter |
60 |
4 |
2 |
10 |
2 |
2 |
Flight |
Stealth |
| Freight |
50 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
Corporation |
|
| Frigate |
50 |
4 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
Magnetism |
Electricity |
| Galleon |
40 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
Magnetism |
Industrialization |
| Helicopter |
100 |
10 |
3 |
6 |
2 |
2 |
Combined
Arms |
|
| Horsemen |
20 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
Horseback
Riding |
Chivalry |
| Howitzer |
70 |
12 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
Robotics |
|
| Ironclad |
60 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
Steam Engine |
Electricity |
| Knights |
40 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
Chivalry |
Leadership |
| Legion |
40 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Iron
Working |
Gunpowder |
| Marines |
60 |
8 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
Amphibious
Warfare |
|
| Mech. Infantry |
50 |
6 |
6 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
Labor
Union |
|
| Musketeer |
30 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
Gunpowder |
Conscription |
| Nuclear Missle |
160 |
99 |
0 |
16 |
1 |
1 |
Rocketry |
|
| Paratroopers |
60 |
6 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
Combined
Arms |
|
| Partisans |
50 |
4 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
Guerrilla
Warfare |
|
| Phalanx |
20 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Bronze
Working |
Feudalism |
| Pikemen |
20 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Feudalism |
Gunpowder |
| Riflemen |
40 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
Conscription |
|
| Settlers |
40 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
|
Explosives |
| Spy |
30 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
Espionage |
|
Stealth
Bomber |
160 |
14 |
3 |
12 |
2 |
2 |
Stealth |
|
Stealth
Fighter |
80 |
8 |
3 |
14 |
2 |
2 |
Stealth |
|
| Submarine |
60 |
10 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
Combustion |
|
| Transport |
50 |
0 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
Industrialization |
|
| Trieme |
40 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
Map Making |
Navigation |
| Warriors |
10 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
Feudalism |
At the beginning of each game, the only units available to every kingdom are the settlers and the warriors. Only scientific breakthroughs will give you the technology needed to build better units.
If your city is only collecting 1 gold per turn, it will take 10 turns before your city will get its own warrior to protect it.
Through terrain improvements and altering taxes, you can raise money faster to get more units working to build your empire faster.
You would be wise to make sure after you found each city the first thing you create is at least one fighting unit. If a Barbarian approaches your city and you have no one defending it, they will blackmail you into paying them and if you don't pay the fee, they will take it over.
One of the Wonders you may want to consider getting is Leonardo's Workshop. When you complete this wonder, all your units are automatically upgraded when you have the technology in place. This will save you money so you don't have to replace outdated units.
Another good Wonder would be Sun Tzu's War Academy which will create veteran units and move the status of existing units to veteran upon the first battle. Veterans can take a lot more abuse than new units.
Explorers and Horsemen are best units to expand your map. Explorers are not limited by terrain like most units and you gave move it three spaces. They will let you expand your map quickly. Horsemen are better prepared to deal with potential harmful situations such as huts that can have Barbarians or a hostile kingdom. Besides, horsemen can move two spaces and most other beginning fighting units move one space.
You will want Barracks and a City Wall in each city before trouble starts. City Walls give your city extra protection from blows on the outside. Barracks give your troops a place to recover quickly. To boost your empire's protection level, invest in The Great Wall which will give you more strength against Barbarians and cause other rivals to accept your peace offer/cease fire. Without the Great Wall, they will show you no mercy, especially above the Prince level of the game. You can get this when you discover Masonry.
The Great Wall is obsolete when Magnetism is discovered. It would be wonderful if you have Marco Polo's embassy as your Wonder as you can easily check on your enemies. You can get this if you discover Trade.
When Communism is discovered, it will give you the chance to get the United Nations which will force other empires to accept your peace treaties/cease fire.
Depending on your location and resources, you want to seriously consider your protection needs. A city with at least 3 troops present and fortified can keep trouble from getting out of control by martial law. If you are on an island and other kingdoms have a bit of distance from you, you will want to arm the coastal areas more than the inland. Coastal areas will also benefit by reinforcement with a Coastal Fortress.
Island nations will want to be quick about developing technology to travel by air and sea. Wonders such as Magellan's Exposition can increase your ship's movement by 2. The Lighthouse will keep your ships from getting lost at sea.
If you are stuck on the same continent with one or more rival empires, you will want to make sure your cities all have diplomats [and spies later] to avert any attempts of them trying to sabotage your city, steal your technology, or bribe them away from you. To make your city less prone to go over to another kingdom, put a courthouse in your city, keep corruption/waste to a minimum. Adopt Democracy, the Republic or Communism as your form of government. And keep your people happy as a city in revolt can be easy for an enemy to buy off.
If you want to keep the peace, make friends and try to ally with your closest neighbors in the beginning. With allies, your troops can go near their cities and their troops can go near yours without it being considered a threat. However, watch out if an ally has a diplomat or a spy near your city! They are probably about to turn on you.
In times of peace, you will want to just keep a few units fortified in your city to keep the peace and Barbarians at bay. In times of war or if your goal is to start them, plan on creating troops with serious attack and fire power.
The Manhattan Project will allow you to create nuclear weapons. This should be one of the last things you need to consider. Yes, it is worth points, but it isn't that urgent. The other Wonders will help you build a strong military force, so if your plan is to conquer the entire world, concentrate on those wonders.
In early times of war, use the cannon and the chariot for maximum damage. City walls are your best boosting defense. It is even better when you have the Great Wall.
During the middle times, your best units include diplomats, cavalry/dragoons, and rifelmen. These units kind of suck, but at least the diplomats can give you an edge by establishing embassies [unless you have Marco Polo's Embassy then it is done for you.] The diplomat can also bribe other units and cities, steal technology, or spy on a city. If it spies on a city or steals technology, the unit will need to be replaced. Cavalry and riflemen are about the strongest units you will have until you reach modern times.
In times of war during modern era, my personal preference for fighting is the spy, howitzer and the stealth fighter. If you can manage to build a road to potential enemies before a war, it makes it easier for you to bring your troops to their front door [conversely, they can do the same to you.]
Your spy fortified in a city can protect it from espionage attempts. It doesn't always work, but you have a 75% chance of being safe.
One spy can move three times. If not captured, it can be reused. Your spy can get free information on the city you plan to attack which can help you plan how many troops you want to bring to that area.
Your spy can poison the water supply which will decrease the population causing immediate unhappiness and can even cause a revolt [during a revolt, they cannot create new fighting units.]
Have your spy steal technology to advance your cause or if you have enough money and it is not a democracy, bribe the town to your side and you get one free technology advance if they have it.
Your spy can also destroy city improvements. Try and get the spy to destroy the city wall to give your troops an easier access in destroying the city.
If you really want world domination quickly and prepared for the backlash, your spy can plant a nuclear device. You must already have nuclear capabilities to do this. A few words of warning. If caught, all nations will declare war on you - no exceptions! If you had allies, they are now against you. If successful and it went undiscovered, you will have wiped out the entire fighting force of the city and can easily march in and take over. However, you will have a massive clean up on your hands. No one really wins a nuclear war! The backlash can destroy all the progress you made.
A howitzer ignores city walls and packs such a punch that it almost guarantees to kill off one troop in the city per move. A howitzer can have up to two hits on the city per turn.
The stealth fighter does major damage to a city that does not have a SAM missle battery. It doesn't just attack once per turn like the bomber, but you can keep firing at the city until you run out of fuel or there are no more troops left in the city or you just get too weak from being used too much.
The most important thing you can do to keep safe is to keep the peace.
Government Systems
- Anarchy - complete chaos. No taxes collected. No improvements built. Easy to be taken over by a rival.
- Despotism - not much better than anarchy, but at least you have basic security. There is a high level of waste and corruption and you can easily be taken over by a rival with money. It produces less trade and production shields causing improvements to take longer. Tax can only go to a maximum of 60%
- Monarchy - a moderate amount of waste and corruption and tax rates can be set up to 70%. If you want to go to war with others, this is the best government. Unlike the republic or democracy, you don't have to answer to anyone to continue a war you wish to wage. And with these two and communism, it doesn't take away the extra manpower you create to fight the wars or improve the terrain.
- Communism - since the state pays for all improvements and science advances, it creates a stable atmosphere if you want scientific improvement. It also gives you the flexibility in war time without having to consult someone first. The tax rate is up to 80%. Corruption and waste levels very low. Citizens are less likely to revolt.
- Fundamentalism - perfect if you are a hothead! If you just want to fight dirty, the cities will support up to 10 units for free and the fanatics work for free. Tax can be up to 80%, but your science is decreased in half.
- The Republic - creates a stable government with low waste and corruption.
- Democracy - most stable form of government with zero corruption and waste. You can set any tax up to 100%.
My Strategy Tips
I always play this as a Diety, 7 rivals and raging hordes of Barbarians on a normal size world. You start out with 2 settlers and if you luck out you may start with several technological advances [although luck of the draw may leave you with the basics to help you build roads and create irrigation].
And yes, I do use the cheat, but only once. Why? Because the other rivals have a stronger advantage than you do in the beginning. If you start out in any business venture, you always go in with some cash, so why not with starting up a large empire? I wouldn't do the cheat more than once as the game tends to get really boring if you have all of the advantages and no one else can possibly catch up. I only use this fund to get major World Wonders or in case of Barbarian attack. The cities fund the rest of their expenses without the cheat.
Expand! From the moment you get started, have your settler start your capitol city. If you even try to prep your land with irrigation and roads before you build your first city, your neighbors could have already taken most of the good land and have several thriving cities. Make the tax for Luxuries and General Tax a higher level. Your city will grow faster and will generate more money.
If you are a Diety, you can use your other settler to wander off to create a second city. Try to space your town at least 8-12 paces apart. If your cities grow really large your resource spaces will overlap causing hunger in the cities sharing resources. Try to aim for 5-10 cities. Have them encircle your capital city. You will want to try to make your first city the largest and home to all the Wonders. If you have 5-10 other cities surrounding it, this will make it harder for your enemies to take over your palace. It also makes it easier to keep your other cities happier if they are all connected near to the Wonders. Try to aim for a pattern like this:
| |
|
City 1 |
|
|
| |
City 5 |
|
City 10 |
|
| City 7 |
|
Capital City |
|
City 8 |
| |
City 9 |
|
City 6 |
|
| City 3 |
|
City 4 |
|
City 2 |
In this manner, all of your cities will be able to create a direct route to the Capital City. They can also create direct roads to neighboring cities which will help when you need to create Wonders if you do not use the cheat.
Let them create at least one unit to guard your city. If one of your neighbors happen upon your new city and you have no one to guard them they will not have mercy on you. Barbarians will always insist on a bribe for them to leave you alone. Other civilizations may request a bribe or may just attack you without cause.
Create a new unit to explore your territory. This comes in handy, especially if you have your Science tax set low. Your unit can try to find huts which can be a good or a bad thing, but it is worth it to take a chance. You can always create a new unit to explore in this early stage of the game. It is in your civilization's best interest to find these huts as it may have money, a new technology, or a new city that wants to join yours, or a new unit.
Finding free money is always a good perk at the early stage of the game, but is so awesome to get the technology because with a low Science tax it can take up to 50 turns [sometimes more] for you to come up with just one. Technology can be a good bargaining chip to use with other civilizations and can be the key to getting an ally or at least map information. If you get map information from other civilizations, it can show you some of the hut locations.
If the hut is far away from your cities, the units you find in the hut will not belong to any city and therefore does not add to your civilization's expenses. If you happen to have diplomats early on in the game, use them with a military unit and explore in other territories to find settlers and other units close to their cities. If you have the money to bribe them, they will also belong to no city and will be free to work your evil agendas without tax money.
It is equally great to find an advanced civilization that wants to join you. It creates a new city and adds to your tax base to help you grow faster.
When you set up your basic cities, it is time for each of them to create one settler to develop the land to help you grow faster. Have the settlers create roads and irrigate the land so you can connect to your other cities. The more people you can develop, the more money you can make without cheats.
As soon as you have units to protect your city and at least one settler to help you grow, it is time to get developed. Get the barracks and city wall to protect you from enemies. As soon as you get the chance, try to discover Masonry to get the Great Wall and Literacy to get the Great Library. Even if you don't get the other early wonders, these two alone will get you very far. Try to be the first to discover Philosophy and you will get a free technology discovery.
At least if you have the Great Wall, other civilizations are not as likely to pick on you without cause. Without it, they will automatically assume you are weak and want to start a fight unless you bend to their wishes.
With the Great Library you can focus more on growing your civilization while the other ones are creating technology. When two other empires discover something, you get it automatically. Before anyone discovers Electricity, you could have a huge empire.
When you have the roads connected and irrigation going and find the population is creating a good size income, it is time to change your government. You do not want to remain a despot regime. I prefer to stay in the Monarchy phase for the majority of the game.
With the Republic your citizens tend to become crabby when you have your units too far from the city and makes fighting a war next to impossible. They also tend to decide you cannot afford so many settlers and cuts your ability to grow your towns.
I like the Democracy, but not until I am closer to the Space Race. Unless you have the Statue of Liberty and the United Nations, they tend to vote against your decision to continue a war on some deserving nation.
If you choose Fundamentalism, you will not make very good progress in science. If you choose Communism, your people will not populate as quickly. While changing governments, you will be in anarchy and no advances or building will take place. If you stay a Despot, you will get very little respect from the other empires and it will be very easy for them to conquer you. Stick with the Monarchy for awhile.
When your cities are getting caught up with all the possible growth, create new units. Try to make each city have 3 of the strongest units available to you at the time, even if you have to retire an old unit. Three units in each town will cut down on unrest. You should also have a diplomat in each city to cut down on espionage attempts.
Other Wonders you should really get include Lighthouse [to not get lost at sea], Marco Polo's Embassy [so you can keep an eye on your rivals], Copernicus' Observatory [to increase your science output], Magellen's Exposition [to improve your movement on the sea], Leonardo's Workshop [to give you automatic upgrades on your units], Issac Newton's College [increases your science output further], Darwin's Voyage [for two free technologies], Statue of Liberty [for a more stable transition between governments], Hoover Dam [cuts your expenses on power plants and their upgrades], United Nations [to keep an eye on your rivals], SETI Program [for the love of science]. and Cure For Cancer [to make a happier population that lives longer making more citizens.]
If you play it right, try to scope out the nature of your rivals and don't rub them the wrong way. As long as you stay out of their territory and are willing to trade technology or give them one or two, they are most likely willing to give you a map and may even want to ally with you. Be very careful of choosing your allies. If your ally is aggressive, you may be pulled into wars all the time. If they are expansionists, they may try to creep into your territory and live among you which could cramp your plans. If no one is willing to share maps, use your explorers to scope out the world, but be careful to keep them at least 3 spaces from territories where you have a peace agreement.
If you expand your cities correctly and have your settlers develop the land around them, you can change the tax structure to suit your needs. A luxury tax will keep the people happy and grow faster. An income tax will mean more money for your expansion. A science tax will help you develop technology faster to get you to the Space Race first.
Civilization II Cheat code for more money: Go into a city screen under Rename. Delete the city name and press and hold R1 and enter _CasH. While still holding the R1 button, also press the up button at the same time press End and quickly release so the town name will revert back to what it was.
