I first want to thank the entire Civ community including all the many modders and artists out there for providing most of the graphics tiles. I basically used all the online resources, scenario/ modpacks/ etc, to pick out the best graphics for this mod, so I couldn't have done it without them.
But graphics really is just the shiny coat of paint here, as this was the result of many years of experience playing Civ of all versions, single player and multiplayer, and it was designed from the bottom up, enhanced and revamped, in order to provide a fuller, more balanced (especially in multiplayer) Civ 2 default format.
Here is a glimpse of Civ 2.5 in summary;
- All new enhanced graphics, for absolutely everything. Very few things in the entire game have remained the same, and as a result it looks like a far better game graphically.
- Most of the rules for gameplay and unit stats have been improved for depth and balance.
- About 10 additional units added, and all previous units have been reworked. New units meticulously designed to improve/diversify gameplay and array of military choices, such as anti-air ground units, defensive escort fighter airplanes in addition to regular fighters which have a range of 2 like bombers and can stack to defend them, elite amphibious units for all historical ages, two gradations of tanks, among others. One example of the improvements is how all units now have a visually implied stealth value which basically determines how well exposed their unit shield and health bars are to plain view on the map. Most units have shields out in the open and easily seen, but about 15 fall into the stealth category at some range of the spectrum, and their shields are either partially or totally obscured from plain sight. Missiles and submarines, for example, are considered almost 100% stealth units and only their health bars are visible at any given time, no shield color/ nationality can be seen. Barbarian leaders, spies and diplomats don't even have visible health bars, only the graphic of the figure can be seen onscreen, to accentuate their slippery and low profile nature.
- About 10 new technologies added in strategically important areas of the tech tree, and the entire tech tree has also been tweaked to improve gameplay.
- About 6 or so of the unrealistic 'magical' wonders which in the original version cheapened and dumbed down the game have been removed, such as Leonardo's Workshop and the Great Library.
- Slower, more realistic and more intense pace: 1/3 the normal science research rate, food boxes doubled for 2X slower growth, settlers cost 60 shields to slow expansion rate early on. City improvements and wonders roughly 1.5X more expensive, with military improvements costing about 2X more to better reflect real-world values, such as barracks, city walls, etc. Settler and engineer land-improvements generally take 2X longer to complete. Units have all been kept at the same general price range, to make the game more tactical and unit-centric, but some units have been made much more expensive, such as engineers, carriers and nukes.
- Simultaneous play: by altering a civ system file, it is possible for all players to move at the same time in peacetime, which greatly speeds up the game. But when war breaks out, one-turn-at-a-time gameplay resumes between the fighting units of each warring faction, via a simple honor code that has the person who declared war or attacked first move all their battle units first, then the 'defending' player moves all their battle units, global turn after global turn, until a truce is declared or one player annihilated. After declaring a truce opponents can move simultaneously again and the turn-based system is reset for them until someone again decides to declare war or attack first. Only those enganged in an 'Alliance' may move their pieces at the same time during wartime. If you are a peaceful nation that is moving your units while a warring nation is moving theirs, and they tell you in advance to wait to move units in a certain region of the map until they do so, you must wait until they clear you to proceed moving. In other words, the movements of warring nations take precedence over those of peaceful nations, in order to avoid simultaneous-movement unit jumbling/ confusion at crucial times/ map regions. Other than that all regular rules apply.
- Custom designed maps designed for realism and optimal gameplay, including: believable continents with geographically realistic mountain ranges, deserts, jungles, etc. ~70% planet surface ocean coverage (large oceans and smaller continents in 'Large' maps, 75x120 squares). Dynamic rivers which are traversable by land but simultaneously navigable by boat along certain stretches. Balanced starting positions with minimized available inhabitable land for increased value of buildable-land and stretches of perpetually unoccupied terrain (large deserts, long mountain ranges, etc) such as occurs in reality. Only half the regular amount of 'goodie' huts. Barbarian 'nations' evenly dispersed across the world, composed of small, tight clusters of size 1, 2 or 3 'red' cities in inhospitable terrain not fit to build regular cities on. Small islands and archipelagos throughout the world, which the map randomizer typically omits, and many other unique design features. Additionally, in order that I don't remember any specific map being played on, being the map creator, we always play 10 maps behind the current queue. Meaning, I have to design 11 maps before we can play on the first, 12 before we can play on the 2nd, etc (each map takes about 1 hour to design in a creatively random way, and it's extremely difficult to remember old maps and starting locations even after designing a few new ones, let alone 10.)
- Some random examples of the rules changes: no tech from conquest, spaceship components are much more expensive, monarchies can support 4 units rather than 3; triremes do not founder in deep waters as easily; the AI is always set to Aggressive/ Militaristic/ Expansionist and starts with more cities/ settlers than humans in order to make them more powerful/ challenging, harder to manipulate diplomatically, and more unpredictable and hostile (when applicable, depending on the game). All units now ignore zones of control, much like in Civ 3. Many other larger and smaller changes as well.
Overall, Civ 2.5 was designed with both realism and gameplay in mind, especially by slowing the pace down and allowing for a depth of play simply impossible with regular civ. It is the result of a huge concerted effort to make the game more balanced in all respects, to enhance the overall experience and to provide players, especially in MP, with a much broader array of choices and considerations, especially regarding units and battle.
Enjoy, and if you are interested in joining the Civ 2.5 MP group, please contact me at aux.account1@gmail.com, or if anything just to give me feedback, which is always appreciated. There are threads for this group, but they are spread out everywhere, so it's easier just to contact me directly. Civ on!
But graphics really is just the shiny coat of paint here, as this was the result of many years of experience playing Civ of all versions, single player and multiplayer, and it was designed from the bottom up, enhanced and revamped, in order to provide a fuller, more balanced (especially in multiplayer) Civ 2 default format.
Here is a glimpse of Civ 2.5 in summary;
- All new enhanced graphics, for absolutely everything. Very few things in the entire game have remained the same, and as a result it looks like a far better game graphically.
- Most of the rules for gameplay and unit stats have been improved for depth and balance.
- About 10 additional units added, and all previous units have been reworked. New units meticulously designed to improve/diversify gameplay and array of military choices, such as anti-air ground units, defensive escort fighter airplanes in addition to regular fighters which have a range of 2 like bombers and can stack to defend them, elite amphibious units for all historical ages, two gradations of tanks, among others. One example of the improvements is how all units now have a visually implied stealth value which basically determines how well exposed their unit shield and health bars are to plain view on the map. Most units have shields out in the open and easily seen, but about 15 fall into the stealth category at some range of the spectrum, and their shields are either partially or totally obscured from plain sight. Missiles and submarines, for example, are considered almost 100% stealth units and only their health bars are visible at any given time, no shield color/ nationality can be seen. Barbarian leaders, spies and diplomats don't even have visible health bars, only the graphic of the figure can be seen onscreen, to accentuate their slippery and low profile nature.
- About 10 new technologies added in strategically important areas of the tech tree, and the entire tech tree has also been tweaked to improve gameplay.
- About 6 or so of the unrealistic 'magical' wonders which in the original version cheapened and dumbed down the game have been removed, such as Leonardo's Workshop and the Great Library.
- Slower, more realistic and more intense pace: 1/3 the normal science research rate, food boxes doubled for 2X slower growth, settlers cost 60 shields to slow expansion rate early on. City improvements and wonders roughly 1.5X more expensive, with military improvements costing about 2X more to better reflect real-world values, such as barracks, city walls, etc. Settler and engineer land-improvements generally take 2X longer to complete. Units have all been kept at the same general price range, to make the game more tactical and unit-centric, but some units have been made much more expensive, such as engineers, carriers and nukes.
- Simultaneous play: by altering a civ system file, it is possible for all players to move at the same time in peacetime, which greatly speeds up the game. But when war breaks out, one-turn-at-a-time gameplay resumes between the fighting units of each warring faction, via a simple honor code that has the person who declared war or attacked first move all their battle units first, then the 'defending' player moves all their battle units, global turn after global turn, until a truce is declared or one player annihilated. After declaring a truce opponents can move simultaneously again and the turn-based system is reset for them until someone again decides to declare war or attack first. Only those enganged in an 'Alliance' may move their pieces at the same time during wartime. If you are a peaceful nation that is moving your units while a warring nation is moving theirs, and they tell you in advance to wait to move units in a certain region of the map until they do so, you must wait until they clear you to proceed moving. In other words, the movements of warring nations take precedence over those of peaceful nations, in order to avoid simultaneous-movement unit jumbling/ confusion at crucial times/ map regions. Other than that all regular rules apply.
- Custom designed maps designed for realism and optimal gameplay, including: believable continents with geographically realistic mountain ranges, deserts, jungles, etc. ~70% planet surface ocean coverage (large oceans and smaller continents in 'Large' maps, 75x120 squares). Dynamic rivers which are traversable by land but simultaneously navigable by boat along certain stretches. Balanced starting positions with minimized available inhabitable land for increased value of buildable-land and stretches of perpetually unoccupied terrain (large deserts, long mountain ranges, etc) such as occurs in reality. Only half the regular amount of 'goodie' huts. Barbarian 'nations' evenly dispersed across the world, composed of small, tight clusters of size 1, 2 or 3 'red' cities in inhospitable terrain not fit to build regular cities on. Small islands and archipelagos throughout the world, which the map randomizer typically omits, and many other unique design features. Additionally, in order that I don't remember any specific map being played on, being the map creator, we always play 10 maps behind the current queue. Meaning, I have to design 11 maps before we can play on the first, 12 before we can play on the 2nd, etc (each map takes about 1 hour to design in a creatively random way, and it's extremely difficult to remember old maps and starting locations even after designing a few new ones, let alone 10.)
- Some random examples of the rules changes: no tech from conquest, spaceship components are much more expensive, monarchies can support 4 units rather than 3; triremes do not founder in deep waters as easily; the AI is always set to Aggressive/ Militaristic/ Expansionist and starts with more cities/ settlers than humans in order to make them more powerful/ challenging, harder to manipulate diplomatically, and more unpredictable and hostile (when applicable, depending on the game). All units now ignore zones of control, much like in Civ 3. Many other larger and smaller changes as well.
Overall, Civ 2.5 was designed with both realism and gameplay in mind, especially by slowing the pace down and allowing for a depth of play simply impossible with regular civ. It is the result of a huge concerted effort to make the game more balanced in all respects, to enhance the overall experience and to provide players, especially in MP, with a much broader array of choices and considerations, especially regarding units and battle.
Enjoy, and if you are interested in joining the Civ 2.5 MP group, please contact me at aux.account1@gmail.com, or if anything just to give me feedback, which is always appreciated. There are threads for this group, but they are spread out everywhere, so it's easier just to contact me directly. Civ on!