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But the best was Civ II because you could create long (north to south) thin (west to east) worlds that made for a really competitive solo game vs multiple compu

But the best was Civ II because you could create long (north to south) thin (west to east) worlds that made for a really competitive solo game vs multiple computer opponents. Those were the days. Later versions removed this, the series best feature.

BirAdam 4y ago
So, I do plan to cover later versions as well :-)
chongli 4y ago
The best was Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri (SMAC). That game shed the constraints of historical figures and created an incredible sandbox for exploring the many philosophies of government and society. It wrapped all of it in a rich and complex world with rival factions based on founder ideologies. It tied everything together with a wealth of quotes from real historical figures and fictitious quotes from the faction leaders serving as a commentary on historical thought. The last one is especially important. Philosophy isn’t just a bunch of stuff written by long dead thinkers, it’s an ongoing conversation. SMAC takes this conversation and continues it, extrapolating into the future with fictional technologies, and turns it into a cohesive narrative about the future of humanity and what a trans-human society might even look like. It’s such a fantastic game!
- senectus1 4y ago
  I still break this out for nerve stapling every now and again ;-)
  - animal531 4y ago
    You son of a! I really like how there are so many viable strategies in the game. I personally love rushing to jets/coptors, or sometimes I'll just build defenses against water before I start nuking everyone. Another favourite is doing Gaia with max capturing, those native lifeforms can be deadly.
animal531 4y ago
My strategy in the originals were to create an ever expanding ring of units, with no gaps anywhere, but of course that no longer worked in the later versions.
karmakurtisaani 4y ago
Civ 2 is one of my all time favourites and I still play it every once in a while. The most recent interesting way to play it was to go for only coastal cities, get republic as soon as possible and go for maximizing science, money and population at the cost of production. Just buy all the improvements and military you need. Never thought of this long/thin variation, care to elaborate a bit?
- Nomentatus 4y ago
  Right, I should said more, so now I have, as a reply to my comment. Thanks.
Nomentatus 4y ago
I should have said more - by making a very tall, thin cylinder world you have to fight your way past some civilizations before you get to those furthest from you, and they'll have developed quite a bit before you conront them, or even find out much about them. So there's a lot more suspense. The drawback to CIV back then seemed to me that often you could tell far too early that you were going to win (or lose) for sure; not much suspense. The early game of quick primitive development yielded to a middle game; but often the game was obviously over, for all practical purposes. Not so with a tall thin world. Lots of good wars at the end with modern armies and units. Great fun.

BirAdam 4y ago

So, I do plan to cover later versions as well :-)

chongli 4y ago

The best was Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri (SMAC). That game shed the constraints of historical figures and created an incredible sandbox for exploring the many philosophies of government and society. It wrapped all of it in a rich and complex world with rival factions based on founder ideologies. It tied everything together with a wealth of quotes from real historical figures and fictitious quotes from the faction leaders serving as a commentary on historical thought. The last one is especially important. Philosophy isn’t just a bunch of stuff written by long dead thinkers, it’s an ongoing conversation. SMAC takes this conversation and continues it, extrapolating into the future with fictional technologies, and turns it into a cohesive narrative about the future of humanity and what a trans-human society might even look like. It’s such a fantastic game!

senectus1 4y ago
I still break this out for nerve stapling every now and again ;-)
- animal531 4y ago
  You son of a! I really like how there are so many viable strategies in the game. I personally love rushing to jets/coptors, or sometimes I'll just build defenses against water before I start nuking everyone. Another favourite is doing Gaia with max capturing, those native lifeforms can be deadly.

animal531 4y ago

My strategy in the originals were to create an ever expanding ring of units, with no gaps anywhere, but of course that no longer worked in the later versions.

karmakurtisaani 4y ago

Civ 2 is one of my all time favourites and I still play it every once in a while. The most recent interesting way to play it was to go for only coastal cities, get republic as soon as possible and go for maximizing science, money and population at the cost of production. Just buy all the improvements and military you need. Never thought of this long/thin variation, care to elaborate a bit?

Nomentatus 4y ago
Right, I should said more, so now I have, as a reply to my comment. Thanks.

Nomentatus 4y ago

I should have said more - by making a very tall, thin cylinder world you have to fight your way past some civilizations before you get to those furthest from you, and they'll have developed quite a bit before you conront them, or even find out much about them. So there's a lot more suspense. The drawback to CIV back then seemed to me that often you could tell far too early that you were going to win (or lose) for sure; not much suspense. The early game of quick primitive development yielded to a middle game; but often the game was obviously over, for all practical purposes. Not so with a tall thin world. Lots of good wars at the end with modern armies and units. Great fun.