Computing your score

[art vandelay]

I understand that in conquest games, the earlier you conquer the world, the higher your score. How are conquest end-dates factored into your final score?

 

[Peaster]

Unfortunately, there are several different "score"s in Civ2 and I am not sure which you mean...

1) Your main score (visible in the "World" menu while playing, and updated constantly) is not directly affected by the conquest date.

2) But sometimes the game gives you a "Bonus score" at the end. I don't know how that is computed, but I think the date is part of it. Most experienced players do not seem to care much about this score.

3) On this website, there is also a "Game of the Month" competition, with another score system. It is based on the score in (1) above and on the number of turns you needed to win (by conquest or landing). I think the formula is given there.

 

[art vandelay]

The score I speak of is the Civilization score displayed on the last screen following a completed game and recorded in the Hall of Fame. I use the score as an index of my progress in learning the game.

According to the manual, points are awarded as follows:

Each happy citizen: +2
Each content citizen: +1
Each Wonder of the World that you possess: +20
Each turn of world peace (no wars or combat): +3
Each futuristic advance: +5
Each map square currently polluted: -10
Barbarian activity level: -50 to +50

The manual also states:

The basic scoring goal—a challenging one—is to score 1,000 points or more. Of
course, there are ways to score even higher, but they involve winning the game before time runs out.

If you conquer the world before the last year of the game (2020 AD), Civilization II calculates an alternate score, based on the number of rivals you’ve squelched and the speed with which you moved. You can earn up to 1,000 points for conquered cultures, and nearly as much for speed. Civilization II compares this alternate score to your running total and awards you the higher point value of the two.

The number of rivals beaten is easy to determine, but the manual doesn’t give details as to how the “speed” of conquest factors into your score.

Here are a couple of sample scores from my Hall of Fame:

To 1915 AD
Population 44,280,000
171%, Score: 1320

To 1870 AD
Population 22,020,000
168%, Score 1298

The scores are fairly close, yet the population in the first game is more than double that of the second game. The second game ended 45 years (turns) earlier. I generally play the game the same way, so it seems that the 45-year (turn) difference was a major factor in computing the score.

Can anyone shed some light on how the conquest speed is factored into your score?

 

[Peaster]

The part about "Each happy citizen: +2 ... " is what I called your type 1 score. You can check it any time by hitting F9. You can often increase it dramaticly by setting your luxury bar to maximum (just before your game ends, for example).

The "alternate score" is what I called type 2. I vaguely recall a thread about that from a year or two ago, but don't recall the content very well. I don't THINK anyone in that thread knew exactly how it is computed. But yes, it seems to use the final date, and probably the number of civs and the playing level. I don't think many advanced players pay much attention to it, and I doubt it has been studied much.

If you are very curious, you might try the "Great Library" in the forums of the other Civ2 website, Apolyton. It is an organized collection of answers to questions like yours.