Civilization "quick start" shortcuts

darkpanda

Dark Prince
Joined
Oct 28, 2007
Messages
823
Did anyone know that CIV possesses shortcut keys to skip the main menu?

When the opening credits are rolling pressing one of the following keys will directly trigger the related menu item:
  • N = start a new game
  • L = load a saved game
  • E = start an Earth game
  • C = start a custom map game

I just discovered this while browsing through CIV's disassembly, and never knew it existed... This is for CIV 474.01 by the way, so I am not sure whether it applies to other versions.

Also, you still have to "suffer" the randomized-pixel-fade-in CIVILIZATION title when pressing the key, so the time benefit is not really significant...
 
I have CivDOS v.05 (pretty sure), although it's been awhile since I last played it (I prefer Civ3).

I knew about those hotkeys, because they're all highlighted in the 'start game' menu -- at some point I must have tried pressing the appropriate button to see what happened, and it worked the way I thought it would, so I just did that from then on (usually either 'E' for the Earth-map, or 'L' to carry on with my previous game).

I don't remember ever trying to use them to skip the opening credits, though -- I always did that by hitting the spacebar, to jump to the start game menu. I guess I just assumed that I couldn't do things until the game asked me what I wanted to do.

I usually hit space again to skip the game-intro animation, as well (it ran so slowly on my machine: "In the beginning <15-second pause> the Earth was without form, <15-second pause> and void <15-second pause> ..." :sleep: ).
 
Yeah, I use the shortcuts every time I play. I've played for so long that I can't remember when I didn't know about it. :)
 
I usually hit space again to skip the game-intro animation, as well (it ran so slowly on my machine: "In the beginning <15-second pause> the Earth was without form, <15-second pause> and void <15-second pause> ..." :sleep: ).

LOL -- that's of course hilarious and I know exactly what you mean. One of the distinct memories I recalled, after not playing the game for maybe 10 years, was "Oh yeah, I remember how long it takes, and how many times I end up pressing, the enter key, before it registers...."
 
An interesting side note is that even the designers knew that they should better not raise any false hopes about these shortcuts. This is from the Technical Supplement:

"7. Credits Screen Shortcut Keys: While the credits screens are being displayed, you may press shortcut keys to immediately choose which type of game you wish to play. Press one of the following keys to immediately start the correct game.
New Game: N key
Load Saved Game: L key
Earth: E key
Custom World: C key
Any other key takes you to the game choice menu.

If you select Start New Game, EARTH, or Custom World, the computer will create a new world. During this time the Evolution sequence will be displayed (In the beginning ...). If you press a key during the Evolution sequence, the sequence will be terminated AS SOON AS THE NEW WORLD HAS BEEN COMPLETED. This may take some time, especially on slower computers."

Looking at this 20 years later is good fun, of course, but it also shows how concise and descriptive the documentation was at that time.
 
An interesting side note is that even the designers knew that they should better not raise any false hopes about these shortcuts. This is from the Technical Supplement:

"7. Credits Screen Shortcut Keys: While the credits screens are being displayed, you may press shortcut keys to immediately choose which type of game you wish to play. Press one of the following keys to immediately start the correct game.
New Game: N key
Load Saved Game: L key
Earth: E key
Custom World: C key
Any other key takes you to the game choice menu.

If you select Start New Game, EARTH, or Custom World, the computer will create a new world. During this time the Evolution sequence will be displayed (In the beginning ...). If you press a key during the Evolution sequence, the sequence will be terminated AS SOON AS THE NEW WORLD HAS BEEN COMPLETED. This may take some time, especially on slower computers."

Looking at this 20 years later is good fun, of course, but it also shows how concise and descriptive the documentation was at that time.

I agree with you! The documentation is very exhaustive and interesting to read.
I knew about this feature for ages.
 
So I have a question... Why does the creation process take a long time on our fast computers of today? I know we are emulating dos, but shouldn't it be faster?
 
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