Test of Time 1&2

[KaesarSosei]

Hello,

My first post! I have just started playing Civ2: ToT and am very pleased with it. I was even thinking of getting Civ 3, but then I've noticed a lot of post saying its not as good! Is this true? (I'm going to put this into the Civ3 forum too).

If so, then is there any point in getting ToT2? I think the general consensus is that for single player normal games, ToT is the best (I don't like the extended game into space). I never see any distinction between ToT 1 and 2 though.

What are the main improvements in ToT2?

 

[Zelig]

There's no game called TOT2.

 

[KaesarSosei]

OK then, I've just realised that I was confusing Call to Power 2 with Test of Time 2 (which doesn't exist obviously).

So what I mean is, is Civ 2 ToT the best way to enjoy Civ2:

I normally play standard games
I don't like the extended game
I don't bother with other people's scenarios

Is there any other version of Civ that would suit these criteria better then?

Thanks

 

[Zelig]

Any other version of Civ2 would serve just as well for what you do, although they wouldn't look as graphically advanced.
(some people like them better because of the way they look, though)

 

[Ren]

I'd recommend you get Civ 2 MGE (Multiplayer Gold Edition) if possible. It serves everything you need, plus it runs quicker, plus it takes less hard drive, plus heaps more scenarios etc. work on it without modification. I think there may be a mod tool to convert TOT to MGE, I'm not sure though; I know there is one for converting Original, Fantastic Worlds and Multiplayer England Edition to MGE.

Civ 3 sux, put straight Ask just about anyone who still visits this Civ 2 section. I didn't like CTP either, didn't bother buying CTP 2.

 

[Zelig]

Originally posted by Ren
I think there may be a mod tool to convert TOT to MGE, I'm not sure though; I know there is one for converting Original, Fantastic Worlds and Multiplayer England Edition to MGE.

Yes, the same one works on TOT, that's what I used.

 

[johnnymiller]

How many different types of Civ are there???
I just play my good old version Civ 2:Test of Time and I've not found any reason to go looking for anything else.

 

[Mercator]

There's Civ2 "classic" the original release somewhere in 1996, after a while a patch was released, version 2.42, the last patch before the add-ons.

Then came a first add-on called "Civilization II Scenarios: Conflicts in Civilization" (CiC) which added scenarios and some better scenario support.
Then came "Fantastic Worlds" (FW), another add-on which improved scenario support, added scenario editors and more scenarios.

Then came the multiplayer version, available in several incarnations. Either as another add-on, a stand-alone game with multiplayer support (I think, not too sure about this one), or a stand-alone game including all the scenarios of the earlier add-ons as well: "Multiplayer Gold Edition" (MGE) or the "Ultimate Classic Collection" (UCC).

Finally, "Test of Time" (ToT), based on MGE, but with much extended scenario support (much better macro language), multiple maps, new (animated) graphics, and then some.
ToT clearly blows the rest out of the water, except there are two problems:
1. Many people don't like the graphics, this can obviously be ammended using mods, the animated sprites couldn't be changed until recently though. There's a (fairly basic) sprite editor available (see signature).
2. People with ToT are a minority, much more people have MGE (partly thanks to Cedric Greene). As a result the ToT multiplayer community is much smaller (if it exists at all) and there are far fewer scenarios (although there's been an excellent scenario converter available for some time).

 

[Mercator]

Oh yes... and then there's Civ1, CivNet (multiplayer Civ1), Civ3, Civilization: Call to Power (1 and 2), Alpha Centauri and numerous open-source projects on the Internet like Clash of Civilizations, FreeCiv and c-Evo.

 

[johnnymiller]

Blimey, thats a whole lot of Civ!
Thanks Mercator.