Gotta tell this to people who'll understand...

[Chronicles]

When Civilization Chronicles came out I bought it. I owned every game in it, except for the expansions of Civ II and TOT. However, a year later - mind you, this is four years back - I misplaced the disc that contained Civ I plus Civ II and expansions etc. I have searched for it, I don't know, ten times over the years and I could never find it.

Today I decided to search for it again, and miracelously I found it! It was in a cd holder behind another disc. I'm thrilled but none of my friends would understand, so I figured, let's post it in a place where people actually still play civ II!

[Chronicles]

... and it runs perfectly on Windows 7 64 Bit. Firaxis should make this more easily available for all those having problems to get the game to run!

EDIT: Oops, judged too early. Can't get past main menu. Loading up Windows XP.

[Valka D'Ur]

Congratulations! And yes, I do understand perfectly - I've had the same anxiety when I thought I'd lost my disc. Like you, I later found it and was so relieved!

[Chronicles]

Thanks

[Catfish]

Originally Posted by Chronicles

... and it runs perfectly on Windows 7 64 Bit. Firaxis should make this more easily available for all those having problems to get the game to run!

EDIT: Oops, judged too early. Can't get past main menu. Loading up Windows XP.

As far as I'm aware, Chronicles contains unpatched versions of MGE and ToT. They should both run fine on Win7 64-bit once you've installed the official patches, MastermindX's 64-bit compatibility patch and the Indeo video codecs.

[Chronicles]

@ Catfish:

Thanks! I got them running now, but only through Mastermind's patch; I wasn't aware the versions are unpatched.

Another question: is the patch that adjusts the AI attitude worth it? There has got to be a reason why it was changed from normal to agressive right? Is the patch withouth problems for the game?

[Prof. Garfield]

I don't know how well the patch works, but I went to some pretty great lengths to be able to play classic in order to avoid the hostile AI.

The usual theory about the switch is that it was done to make the game more difficult. I suppose in some sense it actually does that, but the main effect is to reduce the role of diplomacy in the game and the rewards for "good behaviour." I think the application of the "hostile AI" in classic was better -- you are hated if you are supreme and it is after 1750.

[Chronicles]

Hmm, it is interesting because I read several interviews with Sid Meier in which he talked about how he liked the peaceful approach. These interviews were given around the time CivIII came out and there were actually more ways of winning the game peacefully besides Space Ship. Still, in every game warfare seems one of the most efficient paths to take. And with the increased aggresiveness in CivII MGM and TOT (though I don't think he was involved in TOT) is contrary to a peaceful approach. In CivI the AI didn't tend to like you either (granted, because they always fortify next to your cities, you are often the first to declare war!).

[Catfish]

Originally Posted by Chronicles

Another question: is the patch that adjusts the AI attitude worth it? [snip] Is the patch withouth problems for the game?

I can't answer these, either. It requires someone familiar with the standard single-player games in classic and MGE or ToT. Best bet would be to back up your original civ2.exe file and try it out.

Originally Posted by Prof. Garfield

The usual theory about the switch is that it was done to make the game more difficult. I suppose in some sense it actually does that, but the main effect is to reduce the role of diplomacy in the game and the rewards for "good behaviour."

Yes, I can't think of a single person who thinks it was a good decision. You've just removed one dimension of the game that makes it interesting.

Originally Posted by Chronicles

Hmm, it is interesting because I read several interviews with Sid Meier in which he talked about how he liked the peaceful approach. These interviews were given around the time CivIII came out and there were actually more ways of winning the game peacefully besides Space Ship. Still, in every game warfare seems one of the most efficient paths to take. And with the increased aggresiveness in CivII MGM and TOT (though I don't think he was involved in TOT) is contrary to a peaceful approach. In CivI the AI didn't tend to like you either (granted, because they always fortify next to your cities, you are often the first to declare war!).

Despite the title, Sid Meier didn't design Civ2. The only credit he receives, along with Bruce Shelley, is for the original design, ie, Civ1. Civ2 was Brian Reynolds' project. I've got no idea how much involvement, if any, Brian had with later versions. ToT inherited its AI from MGE.

[ZanzibarZim]

I totally get it. I just started playing Civ2 again after a 5+ year hiatus. I had searched for the disks from time to time but couldn't find them.

Then a couple of months ago I was looking for my DOOM2 disks, which I found, and also discovered my Civ2 disks. I even found my original Civ2 guide book. Which is good because after 5+ years my Civ2 knowledge was pretty rusty.

Unforch, I was totally unable to boot up Doom2 on my laptop and my old Pentium died long ago. On the other hand, I wonder if that 486 might work? A plus to that strategy is that I'm certain that Civ1 is on that computer. How awesome would THAT be?

[Catfish]

If you can install Doom 2 on one of your old machines, get the doom2.wad file. That's all you need from the original game to run it with the Doomsday Engine.

[Chronicles]

Originally Posted by ZanzibarZim

I totally get it. I just started playing Civ2 again after a 5+ year hiatus. I had searched for the disks from time to time but couldn't find them.

Then a couple of months ago I was looking for my DOOM2 disks, which I found, and also discovered my Civ2 disks. I even found my original Civ2 guide book. Which is good because after 5+ years my Civ2 knowledge was pretty rusty.

Unforch, I was totally unable to boot up Doom2 on my laptop and my old Pentium died long ago. On the other hand, I wonder if that 486 might work? A plus to that strategy is that I'm certain that Civ1 is on that computer. How awesome would THAT be?

Lol! CivI works on dosbox, if you have the dos version. The winversion is difficult to get running in my experience on modern pc's, though on a 486 it should work.

Btw, how awesome is that, you still have a 486. If I ever get a bigger place I'm gonna buy one just for my old games.

[Chronicles]

Originally Posted by Catfish

If you can install Doom 2 on one of your old machines, get the doom2.wad file. That's all you need from the original game to run it with the Doomsday Engine.

Wow thats awesome!