Chapter 20: CivNet
"Everybody Wants to Rule the World"-Tears For Fears, 1985The original Civilization, by MicroProse, revolutionized the computer gaming industry in 1991. It was the first computer strategy game which demanded a combination of the political interrelationships of military strength, science/technology, cultural, and economic exigencies. Highly addictive with a high replayability (since it could always be a different game), it was available on many platforms (which was rare for the time). It was the first true God game, taking off where Sim City (Maxis, 1987) left us.
Sid Meier's strategic game has won a handful of acknowledgments including winner of the Software Publishers Association's "Best Entertainment Program" and Computer Gaming World's "Overall Game of the Year" and "Hall of Fame" award. The premise to this God game is as follows. Choose a nomadic tribe, pick a suitable location, settle them, and try to create a civilization. In the process you develop new technologies, meet your neighbors (aggressive or passive local tribes), and eventually visit new lands. Your goal is to be the most dominant civilization in the world...all the way down the time-line to the space age. Opposed to fast-paced action/arcade games, or twitch games, Civilization is a true thinking game, utilizing the classic turn-based strategy/war game fashion. With every minor decision you choose your citizens' destinies. No two games ever play the same which makes for great re-playability-a feat many computer games cannot claim. The success of this game is second to none (almost one million copies sold), and all closet megalomaniacs alike (me, included) have never really shelved the game-in fact, it has been a current resident on my hard drive for some time. Until CivNet came along.
Over five years later the strategy game of all games has been upgraded to support the two newest aspects of modern computer gaming-multimedia technology (with Civilization II and Civ2000 in the works), and network multiplayer play (CivNet). MicroProse's Civilization II, also designed by Sid Meier, has received a massive facelift-SVGA high-res graphics, CD-quality audio, mini-movie animations, and a new multimedia "Wonders of the World" feature. Other improvements such as technology and city advancements, a new map editor, an expanded diplomatic system, and new pre-set scenarios are also in place. This brings us to the second, and more exciting, of the two sequels-CivNet.
CivNetCivNet plays similar to Civilization but besides solo play it now features head-to-head gaming via your modem. One problem with the original is that your computer opponent's actions were often predictable or, at times, unrealistic (this is common with most games that rely on AI). With CivNet, however, you can now challenge two to six real players through the Internet, a local network, or BBS. New options also include: a revamped Windows interface, turn-based or simultaneous play mode choice, a chat mode where you can talk to other players, a customizable online character, and a new map editor to create new worlds (and you can now view multiple maps simultaneously).
Getting Started
Like its predecessor, the goals of CivNet are the same. A discerning balance of the four main impulses of real civilization are your keys to success: exploration, economics, knowledge, and conquest. Your main objective is to survive while your secondary goal is to thrive. If you choose Earth as your planet you begin with a small band of colonists in the year 4,000 B.C. From there you develop towns, discover science and technologies, raise armies, send out diplomats and merchants and meet with other civilizations. Co-exist, interact (trade goods or exchange knowledge), or fight with others while you continue to expand into bigger cities. Where you choose to develop your civilization plays a key role in your success-various resources and land terrain will prove different benefits and obstacles.
Settlers in CivNet
Official Game Specs
Requirements to play CivNet are Windows 3.1 or greater, an IBM PC or compatible, 486 or Pentium processor, 8MB RAM, SVGA 256-color graphics, and a Microsoft-compatible mouse.A CD-ROM drive with MSCDEX 2.2 or later with 12MB of hard drive space is also required. CivNet supports an MPC Level 2 compliant system, CD Audio, and for modem multiplay: a 14.4 baud modem, IPX/SPX, NetBIOS, TCP/IP(Winsock), Win 95 Dial-Up Networking, Hotseat, and Game Connection. A standard PPP Internet with an Internet Service Provider connection is recommended.
First Things First
There is a patch for CivNet available on the Internet to fix minor bugs in the game. Before you do anything, get the file called civnetp3.zip which can be found at ftp://ftp.microprose.com/. This update is for all languages and replaces all previous versions including the older patch civnetv1.zip (December 1995). Additional information is provided for CivNet in general, including the official CivNet FAQ (http://www.microprose.com/civnet/civnet.faq.html), the Official CivNet Internet Info FAQ (http://www.microprose.com/civnet/civintfq.html), or the unofficial CivNet FAQ (http://www.iag.net/~jlehett/civtech.html).
Beginners, Solo Play, and the Manual
CivNet is a very challenging game, to say the least. It is an ambitious game to learn and a very tough game to master. If you're a newcomer to Civilization or this type of gaming genre then I suggest you load the Tutorial game (tutorial.sav) until you get in the swing of things. Follow along the Tutorial game with the Instruction Manual (pages 7 through 20). Having done that, you should still play a few times by yourself before tackling real-life opponents. Choose to be a Chieftain (the easiest difficulty level) with no more than three civilizations. Do yourself a favor-put a pot of coffee on (or grab a soda) and sit down and read this manual. I have to admit I haven't even broken the spine on most of the manuals I have for games. Let's face it-most of us tear open the wrapper of a CD-ROM, pop it into our beloved computers and learn how to play as we go along. That's half the fun, but this ain't no Doom-CivNet can be quite complicated and you may miss out on key points if you don't know how to properly build and defend, explore and conquer. The manual covers basic game setups, city concepts, managing your cities (resource development, protection), managing your trade, terrain and movement, mobile units and combat, natural disasters (yup, just as in SimCity!), diplomacy, and notes on winning the space race. Multiplayer info and setup, a reference guide, how to create new worlds, and a hearty appendix are also included here. If time isn't on your side to read the 200+ page manual, make sure you at least run and read the Tutorial and keep the handy additional Advances Chart and Player Aid card.
Solo playThe game is controlled mainly with a mouse, but there are hot-keys or short-cut keys for faster gameplay (e.g. "R" to build roads, "E" to end turn, or "Q" to quit, etc.). Get to know these as they will save you quite a bit of time and once you get the basics down you'll be well on your way.
Tips for Multiplayer Games
If you are experienced with TCP/IP games on the Internet then you are aware of the potential crashes, lags/hangs, and reboots you may have to face. This is the unfortunate reality about the current status of online games right now regardless of your operating system.
Multiplayer playOn top of this, I found CivNet to be a relatively slow game to play online against others. Most of the head-to-head strategy games on the market today use a real-time combat engine (such as Warcraft II and Command & Conquer) so you may get a little antsy at first, but here are ten things you can do to help make your multiplayer CivNet game flow more smoothly and swiftly.
- Get the patch.
- Turn off all other applications on your computer, shut down your browser, or close any FTP software you may be using.
- Play during off-peak hours-anywhere from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. (of course, these times vary according to the time zones of the players).
- Call your Internet Service Provider to get your IP address and if possible, "ping" times for your opponents (see #5).
- Each player should "ping" the other's player's IP addresses to make sure there isn't too long of a lag time (more than 400ms or 500ms lag time is not recommended). "Ping" refers to the time it takes for information to travel through the Internet connection from one computer to another. If using Windows 95 you can get a selection of ping software at http://www.windows95.com/apps/finger.html.
- Minimize the number of players in the game
- Try not to minimize the CivNet window; you can move it to the background, but closing and opening this window may cause the game to crash.
- Do NOT click on a city after you have clicked "end turn."
- Turn-based games will take longer to play than simultaneous games (and in simultaneous games the host will have an unnatural advantage in head-to-head combat).
- Be patient-multiplayer will be much longer to play than stand-alone games.
More help is offered at the MicroProse CivNet Technical Support page (http://www.microprose.com/civnet/civtech.html).
Code Outcome ScaleIt Increases your production ArmyInfo See information about the other races MoneyAndPower Self-explanatory AllSeeingEye Reveal the whole map! GetRichQuick Self-explanatory GetSmartQuick Self-explanatory MissileCrisis Creates the production of nuclear missiles SettlersHo! Creates settlers Nukestorms Causes Global Warming Automode The computer moves for you Armaggedon The best one, nukes the whole world! Finding Players
If you're looking to find players, or if you want others to know you're ready for a game, there are a few places on the Net you can go.Register and visit the Microprose CivNet Player Registry- they have a list of e-mail addresses of people interested in playing CivNet, divided into geographical area. To register, point your browser to http://www.holobyte.com/civnet/players/register.html or view the directory at http://www.holobyte.com/civnet/players/directory.html.
The CivNet challenge board (http://www.wizweb.com/arena/civnet/) allows you to post a challenge or check for your area code to find vying opponents. You may also visit and register at CivNet at ICV.Net. The purpose of the mailing list here is to get a group of people out together one night a week on the Internet to play an online game. This site is free and open to all who like to play the game online (http://www.icv.net/~williams/civnet/civnet.html).
Top 5 CivNet player cities
"Top 5 Cities in the world"Chat with others via IRC with #civnet http://www2.undernet.org:8080/~cs93jtl/IRC.html.
Links to Other CivNet Sources on the Net
Here are a few CivNet WWW pages around the Net that carry cool pictures, sounds, reviews, strategies, and more.Some of these sites are covered more in depth in Chapter 7.
MicroProse CivNet Page
http://www.microprose.com/civnet/ CivNet Pictures, Icons, and a Map
http://www.wam.umd.edu/~tjsjr/civpics.html CivNet Review - Coming Soon Magazine
http://www.megatoon.com/~t15/issue16/civnet.htm DM's CivNET Page
http://www.ncweb.com/users/dm/civnet.html RYYT's CivNET Page
http://www.ualberta.ca/~wtsang/civnet.html Games First!
http://cypher.turbonet.com/GAMES/1TITLE/C/CIV_NET/CIVNET.STM The Heggen Pages
http://www.teleport.com/~twisted/CivNET/ CivNet Challenge Board
http://www.wizweb.com/arena/civnet/ #CivNET's Homepage
http://www.radix.net/~mikes/civnet.html CivNet Player's List
http://www.zorda.com/playlst/civplay.htm The Civilization Page
http://www.lilback.com/civilization/
So whether you start off as Honest Abe, Elizabeth I, Ramses, Caesar, or one of your own creations, remember you now have to ability to change history, but it won't happen overnight. Take the time to learn CivNet, and be patient with the online multi-player lag times...don't forget-Rome wasn't built in a day!
