Unique Features of the Games
| Each of these games has unique features which the other game does not come close to mirroring. This page will go into some of them and describe how each unique feature makes the game that much more interesting. |
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 Wonders of the World |
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| One of the more colorful aspects of Civilization II is the contruction of Wonders of the World. There are 28 wonders to be built, and each augments the builder's civilization in some fashion. Players of the earlier versions of Civilization will be interested to see how the existing wonders have been modified and to see the 7 new wonders and their effects. When a wonder is built by the player, a short movie clip about the wonder and its effects is shown. More than one wonder may be built in a city. Wonders are captured when the city that it they are located in is captured, and its effects immediately begin to benefit the conquering culture. However, if a city with a wonder is destroyed, the wonder is gone forever, along with its effects. |
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| Council of Advisors |
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| The Council of Advisors will ask the player to convene with them every so often, usually when the game performs an auto save. (The player may also request the Council's advice through menu options.) If the player chooses to join them, a screen with the five advisors (Trade, Military, Intelligence, Attitude, and Science) will appear. They are movies designed to give an opinion of how the player is progressing. Clicking on the button beneath the advisor will animate him/her and they will tell the player what they think. On occasion, the advisors will either agree or disagree with each other, which can be quite comical. For example, when the military advisor makes a plea that city walls be built, the trace advisor responds with, "Would that we could wall up your big mouth, PlateHead!" In another instance, the Science advisor says, "In all honesty, sir, we suck." The Intelligence advisor tends to be the most devious, while the Attitude advisor is always dressed like, and looks and sounds like, an Elvis impersonator. | |
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| Map Editor |
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| Civilization II has a built-in map editor. Nearly every aspect of the game can be altered here, from the shape and size of the land masses to the location of each civilization. The function is normally used to create individual scenarios, or just add some spice to an existing saved game. | |
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| Cheat Mode |
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| How often do you find a game with a way to cheat openly announced? Civilization II has included this cheat option to be used in conjunction with the map editor as a way to further enhance and create personal scenarios. However, it can also be used to swing the tide of a game in the player's favor. The game will remember that the cheat mode has been turned on and dock the score accordingly. | |
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| Civlization Regeneration |
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| When a civilization has been destroyed, the game will check to see if the situation is right to recreate a new civilization on a different section of the world. This new culture will carry the same color shield as the dead one (for example, the Germans and the French have the same color assigned to them, so one could replace the other if the first is destroyed). Whether a new culture will appear is based on several factors. Three cultures share the same color. If all three of those cultures have been destroyed, no new culture will be created - the color is gone from that game. This feature may be turned off when setting up a new game or when creating a scenario. |
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 The Orion System |
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| Part of the background of the game focuses on the legendary Orion culture, which fought the Antarans in a long, bloody war. The system, which is defended by the Orion Guardian, has a single Gaia-class planet in it as well as the starship Avenger. If the player has an open slot in his mercenary list, the famous Antaran hunter, Locknar, will enlist with the player. It is a good idea for the player to conquer the Guardian and colonize Orion before anyone else. This will enable the player to pick up a very powerful starship as well as jump forward in the technology race. If another race defeats the Guardian, the end may be near for the player. | |
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| Tactical Combat |
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| The default method to fight battles is to let the computer decide the winner, based on the strength of the opposing sides. The losing fleet is completely destroyed, and even the victorious fleet will not escape unscathed. In addition, starship design is also handled automatically. Each starship the player has available to build will automatically be upgraded as the game goes on, as well as automatically equipped in the shipyards. However, for the player who yearns to design their own starships and actually control their fleet during combat, the option of Tactical Combat is available. This option enables ship to ship combat to end in something other than total defeat. Ships have the chance to escape a battle which is going badly. As well, ships may be captured and scrapped and torn apart to get to any technological advances. This option also allows for planetary bombardment with biological weapons, if the player so desires. The game will take considerably longer, but for the player who wants to control every detail, this option is just the ticket. |
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| Mercenary Leaders |
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| Every so often, mercenary leaders will appear on the player's dorrstep, looking for work. Each leader has different abilities, and they all demand a fee as well as a low maintenance rate. The more experience or abilities a merc has, the higher their initial and maintenance prices will be. Every civilization has a chance to hire these mercenary leaders and use their talents. There is no binding reason to hire a merc leader, and there is no set length of contract, so letting one go is not a major decision. Leaders may be found stranded in star systems, and out of gratitude they will offer their services for free but still charge the maintenance fee. For leaders to put their talents to use, they must be assigned either to a fleet or to a star system (depending on their designation). Leaders may be killed off in battle, so a fleet or system which seems to be doomed should have their leaders reassigned to a safer locale. The more advanced and wealthy an empire, the more powerful and talented leaders show up looking for employment. |
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