[Civ2] Civ2 w/ SMAC game engine - MY thoughts

[Jarek Noschese]

Say... I've heard of the Civ2 w/ SMAC game engine mod, & I was wondering THIS: is there ANY way to MOD Civ2 so that it has the option for more balanced starting locations, or even the inclusion of military strength, wonders of the world (secret projects in SMAC) and land area in the "power" calculation, like Alpha Centauri does? Because I was playing Alpha Centauri just recently, and WASN'T able to find my opponent as easily as I thought w/ the "look first" and "do or die" options turned on in the game rules, even w/ only 30%-50% water, and Citizen level**. Civ2 however, has NO such functions (w/ the exceptions of NO restarting eliminated players, like Alpha Centauri's "do or die" option & Large Land Mass/Continental Land Form), which makes the early to mid game (ancient world to industrial revolution) NEAR UNBEARABLE, even on Chieftain, and the late game (modern era) WAY too easy, even on Deity*.

*I'm able to win w/o cheating up until Prince, w/ SOME experience at King level. I've attempted REGULAR games on Deity, but ALL of them have ended in SOLID failure w/o turning on the Cheat mode. I've played some scenarios on Emperor & Deity as well, but even THOSE haven't always gone as well as I would've liked.

**For Alpha Centauri, I've been able to win via World Domination as the Spartans on Talent with a Tiny map (Weak erosive forces, 30%-50% ocean coverage and Sparse cloud cover), but I'm having QUITE a lot of trouble w/ this on Librarian. I've ALSO done the tutorials in order to get a BASIC feel for the game. The native life forms have ALSO given me a bit of trouble, but OH WELL.

 

[Prof. Garfield]

The only calculation I can think of that depends on the power rating is the science cost (the cost is modified by how far you are ahead of your "key civ", which is chosen based on your power rating). The tribute calculation (how much to pay and if demanded) depends on current military size from what I remember, but I haven't looked that up in a while. You can find it here: http://www.sethos.gmxhome.de/ go to Book of Diplomacy, Diplomacy and Tributes.

Check out the old succession games in the Stories and Tales forum, they might be helpful in improving your game. Try this one for a start: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/deity-level-succession-game.400687/