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- Player FAQ
-
- by Mike DelPrete
- 4/28/96
-
-
- Here we will discuss some common questions players of Civilization II have.
- If you have any questions, answers, or comments, send them my way at
- shivadeath@msn.com.
-
- Q: What is the best form of government?
- A: This is a hard question to answer, since it depends on what level of the
- game you are playing at, your strategy and goals in the game, and the size of
- your empire. The most useful forms of government are the two that are most
- commonly used, Fundamentalism and Democracy. Fundamentalism is good because
- you don't have to worry about unhappy citizens (very useful in harder games)
- or unit shield maintenance unless you have a lot of units. This keeps
- production up high and the folks at home happy. The down side is that science
- production is cut in half, so unless you have a lot of libraries and
- universities your scientific community will suffer. This government is best
- used when you are involved in a large war where defeating the enemy comes
- before anything else. The other government used the most is Democracy, which
- is for the more peaceful player who want to be on top with research and money.
- Using this method it is possible to have enough money to subvert enemy cities
- rather than attack them. This is much like the Republic except the
- restrictions on declaring war and senate interference are not as bad. These
- two governments are the extremes of all possibilities, and it is very possible
- to play with other types if it suits your needs.
-
- Q: How do I destroy a city that I own?
- A: Make all of the citizens in it entertainers if possible, sell everything so
- you get some cash, then wait until the population is one. At this point you
- should produce settlers or engineers and buy them. It will then ask you if
- you want to abandon the city, to which you reply yes. This can only work on
- smaller cities, and only on ones that will suffer hunger when no one makes
- food. For the next patch many users have suggested a "sack city" or "raze
- city" feature that would make it easy to eliminate cities you do not want.
- You can also try a more risky method if there is an enemy nearby: Abandon the
- city and let your foe take it. That will decrease the city size by one. Now
- take the city back, which will again lower the city size. If you do this long
- enough, even the largest city will eventually be destroyed. The bad side is
- that it takes a military gamble and every time the enemy takes your city they
- get one of your technologies.
-
- Q: Should I concentrate on building roads or irrigation first?
- A: Personally I try to build roads in a square first, then irrigate. I
- suggest this for two reasons. First, if something happens to your settler or
- you have to move him, if a road is built you can get back to the square
- easily. Second it boosts trade which helps a lot. It takes less time than
- irrigation, so I think that trade (money and science) is more important than
- city size, especially on Emperor and Deity level when larger cities are harder
- to control. The one exception to this is if the square is on a river, which
- for all purposes acts like a road. In that case I just make the irrigation
- then move on.
-
- Q: Everyone hates me! How do I improve my reputation?
-
- A: Well, the obvious answer is to build either the UN wonder or the Eiffel
- Tower wonder. The first will force all Civilization to declare peace with
- you, so reputation isn't important that much any more. The second will
- gradually improve your reputation, but is more of a long term rather than a
- short term solution. That may seem odd, but usually in Civilization you look
- for short term solutions to problems like that. You could also delve into the
- diplomatic system of Civilization, where every single turn you talk to every
- single Civilization and try to improve your standing with them. Possibilities
- are: trading technologies, sharing maps, giving them money, knowledge, or a
- unit, not demanding tribute or declaring war on them (duh), giving in to their
- demands, or declaring war against a common enemy. I did this once and succeed
- in ganging everyone up against the Mongols, which proved to be a big help.
-