My son who is 10 (I am 50) brought this home two months ago(early April 2003). From the opening video roll and the music score my pulse quickened and I was badly hooked.
Now....... The lawn is a mess, the Garden has been given up on, I haven't checked my email in a month, utility bills are on second notice because I have a mail stack almost two feet tall (checking mail cuts into my playing time). I regularly get by on three hours sleep lately (one night I played until 4am and only quit then because my carpool buddy was in the driveway-And I work in heavy construction...Yikes...). I go to bed worrying about my tenous position on some resource or other and I wake up furious about Cleopatra (the *****) still tromping through my territory with her settlers. "Rest assured Ceasar, my troops will leave shortly" Yeah, right. I plan my revenge all day at work and grit my teeth and mutter obscenities at the computer screen while consciously having to force myself to relax my death grip on that poor mouse all night until exhaustion forces me to reluctantly do the unwelcome inevitable (left click 'save file').
The bad news is that I've been taking quite a thrashing at the hands of the cgc (computer generated civilizations). The good news is that I am becoming much better and now I pretty much rock at Warlord level. The bad news is that I have virtually abandoned the rest of my life ( I have, however, been forced into negotiating some quality time with my girlfriend- A diplomacy win I feel). The good news is that I have lost 20 pounds on my new CivIII diet (play all day, forget to eat). The bad news is that every cow I see makes me want to holler "Cows!...... get 'em!" The good news is that my son and I are learning a lot about the role of technology in human history and laughing our asses off together while discussing our inept playing style. The bad news is that I AM addicted. The good news is that I am having a fabulous time.................My hats off to Sid and crew
Ive got a while to go myself, being a sprightly twenty-three!
I'm just wondering if there is a relation to the type of work one does and their need to play CIV3 to nourish the mind. For me, it's an excape from the nasties you deal with at work (when I had work).
I just don't remember. What I do remember is that my uncle gave me a copy, I played it for a while, then I was discusted with the graphics. I ended up adding techs, creating better art for the terrain, units, ect. Now, I program for fun. 
Go figure. Civ2 may not have been my start with programming (I started when I was 5 
), but it sure sparked a large interest in me. Maybe if I get better at 3D art (right now I'm using the x file format), then I possibly will be able to make better art than I can now. So, has anyone elses lives been impacted so much by Civilization. 
