The original, and to my knowledge the only, guide to OCC was written by Paul van den Belt. While his work is seminal, it was written at a time when Civ2 discovery was on going and OCC experience was scarce. Nowadays, Civ2 discovery has reached its peak and stabilized. Furthermore, there is a lot more experience playing OCC. Soon after playing OCC I realized some of the shortcomings of the guide, and started thinking about writing a new one.
Well I finally got a chance to do so. I am presenting my writing in this forum first for your comments and critique. Thanks.
After reading your Civ2OCC guide, I could then realize why my One City games in Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri couldn’t keep up in tech on any level above Citizen (including Specialist). I now prioritize Energy above all else, including even Minerals. Before, I prioritized Minerals to utilize the Project/Wonder Stacking Strat before doing the Super Scientific City Trick. Either way, this makes both INDUSTRY & ECONOMY as well as RESEARCH the most important aspects of such a challenge. (RESEARCH is always key to winning longer games anyway.)
This means that I now utilize the Free Market Economy for the extra Energy at every square. My initial plan was to use Sparse Cloud Cover & Strong Erosive Forces to stop the AI from getting too far ahead. (Everything else was a game-generated map using only the default settings.)
Instead, I even managed to get a bunch of very small islands as opposed to larger continents. I even somehow managed to get the island with The Borehole Cluster. (I’m still not sure of what the others got here exactly.)
The Borehole Cluster’s important because as long as you get the proper techs, a Borehole gives +6 Minerals and almost as much Energy when worked by a city. Like I said, a One City Challenge requires as much Energy and as many Minerals as possible. That’s why I now accept my ultimate fate on Chiron further, and use Boreholes to my advantage if possible. In the past, I’d only utilize Condensers if I couldn’t get enough Nutrients otherwise. (Boreholes & Rainfall Condensers are
both EXTREMELY ecologically destructive, so
please be wary of that.)
As always; I play it as the University thanks to their direct scientific bonuses, and the fact that they can utilize any Engineering system that is actually, ever useful. In some cases, that nation can even become truly (too) good. Other viable options are the Morgans, thanks to their direct economic bonuses; and the Peacekeepers due to, their bonuses that let one better develop the empire in peacetime. I have played the 1 City Challenge as all three countries; but always get the easiest time of things as the University, only because direct scientific bonuses are insanely powerful in this game.
After that comes the “pop-boom” tactic. Morgan had the disadvantage of not being able to use this trick in the early-to-mid game, thanks to not only having a low HAB Score; but never being able to have a Planned Economy as well. The Peacekeepers meanwhile, only have the more tolerable disadvantage of being unable to wage early-to-mid game wars very well. (Again; you can never, ever be a Police State.)
Undoubtedly; the University is therefore, the #1 choice for not only most regular games; but also the One City Challenge as well, thanks to having so few (problematic) disadvantages.
Once you can tackle Drone & population limit issues more easily, you’ll want to switch out of the Free Market Economy; & into the Planned one as soon as you can. This lets you finish the overall growth phase, where it otherwise would start. After all, a taller city will always produce more of what you otherwise need; will it not?
The best Future Society choices therefore, are Eudaemonic and Cybernetic. Eudaemonic will directly boost your overall infrastructure by an obscene amount; and Cybernetic will make you a lot better at managing those resources with care. With both Democratic Politics & the one Crèche, Knowledge Values are best. This lets you have at least +4 GROWTH regardless, and all the EFFICIENCY that you’ll ever need for a One City Challenge.
Like spaceships in Civ2, the best way to win is by Transcendence. Having only one city makes the Diplomatic Victory impossible. A Conquest Victory only works if the UN Charter can ever be revoked. That lets you Obliterate and Planet Bust to your heart’s content. An Economic Win would likely just be too taxing on your resource output unless you were playing as Morgan. It is still much harder to do even then; simply due to having only 1 city for the sake of cornering the world’s economy. The Transcendence Victory is also worth the most points. This works in a One City Challenge; since having so little land to work with reduces your Final Score greatly.
You and I can both agree that Iron Man should always be used. In this case, it even increases the Final Score (by double!) anyway, making it crucial for any attempt at getting an oodles high score; along with Abundant Native Life Forms.
I try to use planes sparingly due to how strong they are anyway. Even then, I typically only use them to conquer my greatest rivals in regular games; assuming that I remember to only ever launch them from an actual city.
A Military Victory in this game will require the Secret Project The Cloning Vats anyway. This lets you have both Power Values & the Thought Control Future Society with no outright penalty. Should you get The Living Refinery, then being a Police State won’t make much sense either. With The Ascetic Virtues; it will become, totally useless outright. In a One City game, you can never lose Base Energy to Inefficiency thanks to having only the HQ Base anyway. Then you could just have a Planned Economy to produce your well-trained, well-equipped forces a whole heck of a lot more quickly. Should you fail to acquire either The Virtue or The Refinery, then you could adopt the Police Stare without taking too much of a hit to your faction’s overall might.
And as always; The Merchant Exchange, The Theory Of Everything & The Supercollider are crucial to your success. The Virtual World and The Human Genome Project can help greatly. The Longevity Vaccine’s useful too; as can be The Pholus Mutagen, The Dream Twister & The Neural Amplifier. Always get The Weather Paradigm and/or The Empath Guild if you can. Don’t even think about letting the other nations get Clinical Immortality. The Space Elevator & The Universal Translator only become more ridiculous. (I guess The Self-Aware Colony can be nice too; but it’s not vital.)
The Network Backbone meanwhile, will let you have the Cybernetic Future without any penalty outright; making it perhaps the best choice for your Future Society overall. The Nano Factory is always good; but not crucial. You must get The Hunter-Seeker Algorithm at any and all costs!
