Civilization Characters

[Ali Ardavan]

There are 3 characteristic traits in Civ2 and three levels for each trait:
1. Aggressive, , Rational
2. Expansionist, , Perfectionist
3. Militaristic, , Civilized
(The middle level of each trait has no name)

This allows 3x3x3=27 unique characteristics. The 21 civilizations in Civ2 each have a fixed characteristic that does not change from game to game. Except for Egyptian and Chinese, both of whom are simply Civilized, the characteristic is unique to the civ.

A while back I made a chart of these just for the fun of it. I thought others may find this useful as well.

 

[Peaster]

Do these character traits affect game play? I have heard other players complain about being stuck on the same continent with the Mongols, or whatever, but I haven't really noticed the difference myself.

 

[la fayette]

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2370
This the demonstration of the influence of "Civilized/Militaristic" on starting techs by my friends Scouse Gits.
I guess there are many other features governing decision making by the AI (such as Expansionist civs building more cities than Perfectionist Civs), but I don't remember any thorough study of those features.

 

[ElephantU]

I believe there is influence on starting techs, choice of research, preference for tech trade/exchange, likelyhood of belligerence during negotiations, rate of new city growth versus existing city development, building military units versus others, choice of wonders, and adjustment of T/L/S sliders. That is mostly based on "feel" during a lot of OCC games where I keep close track of what the AI is doing. There are probably some influences on military tactics as well, but I don't see that as much (a game with a major war is rare and a "failure" of diplomatic peacekeeping...).

 

[Ali Ardavan]

Do these character traits affect game play? I have heard other players complain about being stuck on the same continent with the Mongols, or whatever, but I haven't really noticed the difference myself.

Very much so, as ElephantU points out in brief.

As la fayette pointed out the Civ- -Mil affects starting techs. Civ- -Mil also affects the value AI puts on pursuing a tech whether through research or through trade. Take a look at the Rules.txt file. There are two numbers listed before each tech. The comments right above the list will tell you that the first number represents how much value the AI places on that tech. The second number is a modifier of the first one based on Civ- -Mil. This is (one of?) the mechanism through which the AI decides which tech to pursue next or which two to ask for during negotiations.

Expansionist civs expand more rapidly than neutral ones which expand more rapidly than the perfectionist ones. This is useful info when you are trying to decide which rival to conquer first.

Civilized and Perfectionist Civs are the best trading partners. Perfectionists make larger cities by not trying to expand all the time and Civilized ones pursue civil techs and civil improvements which facilitate larger cities.

Rational civs are easier to make peace (or ally) with. Aggressive ones often want something just to talk to you. I am not sure how else this trait comes into play.

 

[Jacen_Fel]

Well according to the Civ2 Manual that I re-read to find out stuff I had missed from reading it years ago the traits effect computer players as follows: (Yea this is for you people that never bought the game and hence don't have the comprehensive manual, or else are too lazy to read it ).

Aggressive Leaders are more likely to lean toward war or demand high payments for peace.
Rational Leaders are more likely to offer peace and might only be bluffing when asking for payment.

Computer players moods depend on the leader's personality and how your two civilizations compare to each other and to the rest of the world. You might pick up clues about a rival's mood from the body language of the emissary.


Also of interest computers are more demanding and antagonistic if you are the largest, most powerful and richest civilization. Unless of course they are particuarly pathetic then their tendcy to belligerence might be overridden.