Differences Page
 |
 |
|
| |
|---|---|
| Customization of Players' Race | |
 Choices include choosing the Race name, and the name and gender of your leader (yourself). No matter what race you choose, the other civilizations of that same color group will not appear. In addition, you have no control over your what color your race will be assigned. Customizing a race in this game only seems to affect appearances. |
 Race name and color are chosen, as well as a leader name, but not gender. The important choices revolve around changing racial attributes. Beneficial and malevolent attributes may be chosen in an array of possible combinations, within limitations. Unbalanced choices (either good or bad) affect the calculation of the final score. |
| Return to Comparisons Page | Return to Top of Page | |
| Random Events | |
| Random events are announced by travelers' reports. These can include anything from natural disasters (volcanoes, floods, earthquakes) to the warning of the threat of Barbarian hordes, both land and sea. The threat of many of the natural disaster events can be quelled by building certain improvements in cities, such as Temples, City Walls, and Aquaducts. Barbarian uprisings can only be handled by force, but as more of the map becomes civilized, Barbarians become more and more rare. Another random event, the Village Huts which are scattered over the map, can either do something beneficial to the race which enters the square, such as the birth of a new city or an addition to the military; or it can lead to an addition to your coffers; or it can release a Barbarian horde. |
Random events are announced over the Galactic News Network (GNN) by an impartial droid. These include localized events, such as the donation of money to a race or the strange destruction of a military vessel. Other events are galaxy-wide, such as marauding space monsters or space fluxes which immobilize interstellar travel for their duration. The "barbarians" of this game are the Antarans, a particularly nasty and exceedingly powerful group of aliens whose only interest is putting a thorn in the side of whichever race the computer feels is "leading" at any aprticular moment. The Antarans themselves announce their intent, especially if it is the human player they wish to knock down a peg or two. |
| Return to Comparisons Page | Return to Top of Page | |
| Human vs. Computer Diplomacy | |
| When you encounter other races, diplomacy takes place. The usual greetings or threats may be carried out by the computer AI towards the player, depending on each sides' position in the game. The exchange of information can take place here, as well as the cessation of hostilities or the evolution of a relationship from neutrality to alliance. The human may make demands of the computer which may or may not be met. The animated herald stands before a mosaic of its ruler, as well as an indication of the race's relative strength or weakness as compared to the human. The human player may request an audience with any computer race it has encountered at any time. Intelligence reports, usually gained through developing embassies with rival nations, can be very helpful during these negotiations. Relations may be affected by the construction of certain Wonders of the World. Espionage may be conducted through creating diplomat or spy units, which may attempt to subvert an enemy city, steal technology, or destroy a work in a rival city. They may also attempt to poison the water or plant a nuke, which is quite devious. |
Encroach too closely to another race, and a holo-represenation of their herald will appear for an audience. Diplomatic choices here are a little more advanced, including the handing over of star systems or the all-out surrender of the human to a computer opponent as well as the traditional cajole or threaten stances. Once a rival race has been contacted, relations may break off completely if circumstances put both the computer and the human player too far away for either of them to reach the other through space travel. In addition, contact with a race automatically assumes that an embassy has been established, enabling the player to look into the technological progress of the computer rivals, as well as their relations with other races in the game, if any. Espionage is also more advanced than in CIV2. Although spy units must be generated as in CIV2, the secret wars between agents of all sides wage constantly as each attempts to gain the knowledge of the enemy or sabotage its colonies. Certain racial advances and buildings may affect diplomacy, as well as certain racial attributes. |
| Return to Comparisons Page | Return to Top of Page | |
| Research and Development | |
| In CIV2, research is conducted along historical lines. In nearly every major advance, two basic advances are necessary, such as needing the advances of Iron Working and Invention in order to successfully research Gunpowder. Every race will have the same advances available to them; only the speed with which each race progresses varies. When all avenues of research have been exhausted, Future Technology advances, aimed at raising the player's score, become available.In MOO2, research is also conducted in a linear fashion. However, while every area of advancement is available to all, only certain avenues may be chosen per technology level. For instance, if a player chooses to research an advance in the Force Fields category, the following avenues are available: Class I Shield, ECM Jammer, and Mass Driver. Only one of these may be chosen for research. After it has been discovered, the options under the Force Fields category change. One race, the Psilons, have the inherent ability to follow every avenue within a category, and players who choose to customize a race may select this attribute as well. Avenues not pursued are still available to a race, but only through means other than research, including conquest, espionage, and intellectual exchange.
|
|
| Return to Comparisons Page | Return to Top of Page | |
Game Page | Comparisons | Differences | Uniqueness | Links
Return to Drax Home Page