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Civilization II/Gameplay: Difference between revisions
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The primary function of a city is production: food, military or other units, and/or structures (including facilities for increasing defensive strength of the units in the city). | The primary function of a city is production: food, military or other units, and/or structures (including facilities for increasing defensive strength of the units in the city). | ||
The secondary function of a city is acquiring and holding territory. By acquiring territory, you reduce your enemy's possibilities for production. Therefore, an unproductive city can be useful even if "loss-making", but a productive city will almost always be more useful. | The secondary function of a city is acquiring and holding territory. By acquiring territory, you reduce your enemy's possibilities for production and/or efficient movement. Therefore, an unproductive city can be useful even if "loss-making", but a productive city will almost always be more useful. | ||
The ideal city serves both functions. | The ideal city serves both functions. | ||
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Cities (except in Colonization) always produce three resources. These are usually named ''food'', ''shields'', and ''trade''. In SMAC, these are called ''nutrients'', ''minerals'', and ''energy'', respectively. In ''Civilization III'', "trade" was renamed "commerce". In ''Civilization II: Test of Time'', the names depend on the current game being played. Regardless of their names, they always serve the same functions. For consistency, we will refer to them as food, shields, and trade. | Cities (except in Colonization) always produce three resources. These are usually named ''food'', ''shields'', and ''trade''. In SMAC, these are called ''nutrients'', ''minerals'', and ''energy'', respectively. In ''Civilization III'', "trade" was renamed "commerce". In ''Civilization II: Test of Time'', the names depend on the current game being played. Regardless of their names, they always serve the same functions. For consistency, we will refer to them as food, shields, and trade. | ||
All games have cities, each populated by at least one "citizen" (which term here includes people such as slaves). They will work the surrounding terrain and produce goods. Each citizen may work one tile; the central city tile is always worked automatically when the city is created. For instance, a city with 6 citizens can work up to seven tiles: the center tile plus one tile per citizen. In most ''Civ'' games, citizens are restricted to the tiles they can work to a ''city radius''. However, any one tile on the map may only be worked by a single laborer within a single city: that is, if two cities have overlapping city radii, a laborer working a tile within the overlap within one city will prevent laborers from any other city from working the same tile location in the second city. Citizens can also be specialists and not work tiles; this will be discussed later. Civ cities contain | All games have cities, each populated by at least one "citizen" (which term here includes people such as slaves). They will work the surrounding terrain and produce goods. Each citizen may work one tile; the central city tile is always worked automatically when the city is created. For instance, a city with 6 citizens can work up to seven tiles: the center tile plus one tile per citizen. In most ''Civ'' games, citizens are restricted to the tiles they can work to a ''city radius''. However, any one tile on the map may only be worked by a single laborer within a single city: that is, if two cities have overlapping city radii, a laborer working a tile within the overlap within one city will prevent laborers from any other city from working the same tile location in the second city. Citizens can also be specialists and not work tiles; this will be discussed later. Civ cities contain 21 tiles, Colonization colonies contain 9 tiles. | ||
:Colonization allows citizens to do specific indoor work, in purpose-built or pre-existing buildings. Most of the high-value production comes from this work. | :Colonization allows citizens to do specific indoor work, in purpose-built or pre-existing buildings. Most of the high-value production comes from this work. | ||
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: In many ''Civ'' games, improvements and wonders may also affect how food is used to create new citizens. For example, many ''Civ'' games have the Granary (a city improvement) that only half-empties the food box upon creation of a new citizen, dramatically reducing the time required to refill it, and a wonder that gives Granaries to every friendly city. In ''Civilization III'', possession of the Longevity wonder will make your cities create two citizens instead of one when the food box fills. In other cases, a new citizen may not be created when the food box is full because of the city reaching a population limit. (The food box may nevertheless lose all or half its store, with no compensation.) | : In many ''Civ'' games, improvements and wonders may also affect how food is used to create new citizens. For example, many ''Civ'' games have the Granary (a city improvement) that only half-empties the food box upon creation of a new citizen, dramatically reducing the time required to refill it, and a wonder that gives Granaries to every friendly city. In ''Civilization III'', possession of the Longevity wonder will make your cities create two citizens instead of one when the food box fills. In other cases, a new citizen may not be created when the food box is full because of the city reaching a population limit. (The food box may nevertheless lose all or half its store, with no compensation.) | ||
* Shields - A city must | * Shields - A city must produce raw materials (shields), which can then be used to build things. (The Colonization equivalent is "hammers", produced from lumber.) Your city will ''always'' be working on one of three kinds of projects: | ||
** Unit - Build a unit, such as a military unit or Settler. | ** Unit - Build a unit, such as a military unit or Settler. | ||
** Improvement - An improvement to benefit the city, or a Wonder to benefit your entire civilization or even the entire world, but which is physically located in the city that built it. | ** Improvement - An improvement to benefit the city, or a Wonder to benefit much or all of your entire civilization or even the entire world, but which is physically located in the city that built it (and passes to a rival, unless destroyed, if the city is captured). | ||
** Capitalization (in some games, Wealth) - Shields are converted to gold for the player's treasury, usually with a heavy penalty (e.g., four shields is converted to one trade unit). Civ 2 does not have this penalty. Completed buildings may be "sold" on a 1:1 basis in most games. | ** Capitalization (in some games, Wealth) - Shields are converted to gold for the player's treasury, usually with a heavy penalty (e.g., four shields is converted to one trade unit). Civ 2 does not have this penalty. Completed buildings may be "sold" on a 1:1 basis in most games. | ||
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:Each turn, the trade resource is "spent" according to the rates you set on at least one of three things: | :Each turn, the trade resource is "spent" according to the rates you set on at least one of three things: | ||
** Tax - The trade goods become money in your civilization treasury. You can use it to rush-build, given the right conditions, or use it as part of a trade with another civilization, or even give it as a gift. Tax revenue is also used to pay required maintenance fees for improvements and wonders, as well as, in ''Civilization III'', support your units. | ** Tax - The trade goods become money in your civilization treasury. You can use it to rush-build, given the right conditions, or use it as part of a trade with another civilization, or even give it as a gift. Tax revenue is also used to pay required maintenance fees for improvements and wonders, as well as, in ''Civilization III'', support your units. | ||
** Science - The trade goods go toward scientific research, allowing you to research new technologies that can unlock new units, improvements, wonders, and unit abilities. Falling too far behind your competitors in the science race is one of the most reliable ways to lose the game. (As mentioned | ** Science - The trade goods go toward scientific research, allowing you to research new technologies that can unlock new units, improvements, wonders, and unit abilities. Falling too far behind your competitors in the science race is one of the most reliable ways to lose the game. (As mentioned below, the Colonization equivalent is the Liberty Bell, where the "new technologies", such as faster ships or greater production, are called "Founding Fathers".) | ||
** Luxury - The trade goods go toward entertaining the populace, keeping them happy or content, which increasingly becomes a factor the larger your city population becomes. In addition, in some games, the more cities you have, the sooner you have to deal with unhappy citizens. In many Civ games, luxury output first transforms content citizens to happy ones, then, if there are still unallocated luxury output and no content citizens, transforms unhappy citizens to content, then happy, citizens. Angry citizens and resisters are generally unaffected by luxuries. | ** Luxury - The trade goods go toward entertaining the populace, keeping them happy or content, which increasingly becomes a factor the larger your city population becomes. In addition, in some games, the more cities you have, the sooner you have to deal with unhappy citizens. In many Civ games, luxury output first transforms content citizens to happy ones, then, if there are still unallocated luxury output and no content citizens, transforms unhappy citizens to content, then happy, citizens. Angry citizens and resisters are generally unaffected by luxuries. | ||
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*Forests can be worked for lumber, tradeable as one of the 16 cargos but having prime value when converted by carpenters into ''hammers'' (the equivalent of Civ shields) for producing units, ships, wagon trains, and structures. | *Forests can be worked for lumber, tradeable as one of the 16 cargos but having prime value when converted by carpenters into ''hammers'' (the equivalent of Civ shields) for producing units, ships, wagon trains, and structures. | ||
*The Colonization equivalent of "science" is the ''Liberty Bell'' (produced to a limited degree by every colony but much more where a worker works in the Town Hall and still more if he's an Elder Statesman), which (in addition to an effect on the productivity of the colony that produced it) goes toward having successive "Founding Fathers" joining your Continental Congress and thereafter providing your empire with various benefits, some major and some minor. | *The Colonization equivalent of "science" is the ''Liberty Bell'' (produced to a limited degree by every colony but much more where a worker works in the Town Hall and still more if he's an Elder Statesman), which (in addition to an effect on the productivity of the colony that produced it) goes toward having successive "Founding Fathers" joining your Continental Congress and thereafter providing your empire with various benefits, some major and some minor. | ||
*An extra feature of production is the cross, produced to a limited degree by every colony but much more where a church is built and staffed and still more where a Firebrand Preacher is installed: crosses go towards encouraging fare-paying emigrants from the religious persecution of Europe. | *An extra feature of production is the cross, produced to a limited degree by every colony but much more where a church is built and staffed and still more where a Firebrand Preacher is installed: crosses go towards encouraging fare-paying emigrants from the religious persecution of Europe attracted to your religious freedom. | ||
=== Corruption and waste === | === Corruption and waste === | ||
Resource output can be lost through ''corruption'', although in many games there is no corruption of food. Corruption of shields is generally known as ''waste''. In many games, the amount of corruption is heavily dependent on the distance a city is from the civilization's capital city, as well as the overall number of cities controlled by a civilization. Some games may also have an upper limit on the amount of corruption a city can have, so that a city that suffers heavy corruption could still be productive. The amount of corruption | Resource output can be lost through ''corruption'', although in many games there is no corruption of food. Corruption of shields is generally known as ''waste''. In many games, the amount of corruption is heavily dependent on the distance a city is from the civilization's capital city, as well as the overall number of cities controlled by a civilization. Some games may also have an upper limit on the amount of corruption a city can have, so that a city that suffers heavy corruption could still be productive. The amount of corruption also depends on the presence of certain improvements that reduce corruption, the type of government, as well as whether a city is celebrating "We Love the King Day". | ||
Many games have a civilization | Many games have a civilization starting in a form of government with relatively high corruption, with scientific achievement allowing switching to a form of government with less corruption. In many games, there is also a form of government in which the distance factor is eliminated, while other forms of government eliminate corruption altogether. When switching between governments, it is typical that neither shields nor trade are produced, or conversely, cities in a state of anarchy suffer total shield and trade corruption. | ||
===Citizen happiness=== | ===Citizen happiness=== | ||
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* Angry | * Angry | ||
Unhappy citizens are created from numerous sources. One of the most common is unhappiness due to overpopulation, in which new citizens from city growth are created unhappy. This is generally dependent | Unhappy citizens are created from numerous sources. One of the most common is unhappiness due to overpopulation, in which new citizens from city growth are created unhappy. This is generally dependent on the difficulty setting in a game, with the highest difficulty level having its second and subsequent citizens in a city born unhappy. Other sources of unhappiness in many ''Civ'' games include having military units away from home, drafting citizens, or war weariness. | ||
If the number of unhappy people exceeds the number of happy people in a city, the city will fall into ''civil disorder''. Content citizens and specialists do not enter the equation. When a city is in civil disorder, no goods are produced other than food. In some games, you cannot rush-build during disorder as well. In many games, there are city improvements that are dangerous to have in a city under civil disorder, such as nuclear power plants and their risks of meltdown. Prolonged civil disorder in a city, or multiple cities under civil order, may lead the citizens to destroying certain city improvements (but never wonders), or, in the worst case, revolt, sending your government to anarchy. This is especially true of representative governments such as Democracy in many ''Civ'' games, where having two cities in civil disorder, or one city for more than one turn, will lead to a revolution. | If the number of unhappy people exceeds the number of happy people in a city, the city will fall into ''civil disorder''. Content citizens and specialists do not enter the equation. When a city is in civil disorder, no goods are produced other than food. In some games, you cannot rush-build during disorder as well. In many games, there are city improvements that are dangerous to have in a city under civil disorder, such as nuclear power plants and their risks of meltdown. Prolonged civil disorder in a city, or multiple cities under civil order, may lead the citizens to destroying certain city improvements (but never wonders), or, in the worst case, revolt, sending your government to anarchy. This is especially true of representative governments such as Democracy in many ''Civ'' games, where having two cities in civil disorder, or one city for more than one turn, will lead to a revolution. | ||
A city may also turn some or all of its citizens | A city may also turn some or all of its citizens into ''specialists''. In some games, this ability is restricted to cities above a certain size. Specialists are always considered content, and do not work a tile in the city radius, but instead produce other effects. Many ''Civ'' games have at least three kinds of specialists: ''taxmen'', who create additional gold for a player's treasury; ''scientists'', who contribute to research; and ''entertainers'', who create luxuries that can content unhappy citizens or turn content citizens happy. | ||
Angry citizens usually appear only after capturing an enemy city, being loyal to their mother country. Angry citizens refuse to work for the new regime, and thus do not contribute anything to the city, and cannot be converted to a specialist, and in some games, rush-building is impossible while an angry citizen exists. Many strategies of dealing with angry citizens include starvation and the garrisoning of strong defensive troops. ''Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri'' does not have angry citizens, having Drones (unhappy citizens) serve both roles. | Angry citizens usually appear only after capturing an enemy city, being loyal to their mother country. Angry citizens refuse to work for the new regime, and thus do not contribute anything to the city, and cannot be converted to a specialist, and in some games, rush-building is impossible while an angry citizen exists. Many strategies of dealing with angry citizens include starvation and the garrisoning of strong defensive troops. ''Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri'' does not have angry citizens, having Drones (unhappy citizens) serve both roles. | ||
In many games, there is an additional incentive for having happy citizens, as, with the exception of angry citizens, there is no production bonus or penalty associated with the mood of a citizen and its association with the tile they work on. This incentive is called ''"We Love the King Day"'' (although in many cases "King" is substituted for a title based on the government, EG. in Communism it's "Comrade"). This occurs when there are no angry or unhappy citizens, | In many games, there is an additional incentive for having happy citizens, as, with the exception of angry citizens, there is no production bonus or penalty associated with the mood of a citizen and its association with the tile they work on. This incentive is called ''"We Love the King Day"'' (although in many cases "King" is substituted for a title based on the government, EG. in Communism it's "Comrade"). This occurs when there are no angry or unhappy citizens, there are more happy citizens than content citizens, and the city is growing. "We Love the King Day" generally brings reduced corruption and waste to a city, and may bring forth additional production through production bonuses or the elimination of production penalties, depending on the type of government. In some games, and under representative governments, a city may even spontaneously grow in size. In a histographic game, happy citizens contribute more to the score than content citizens. | ||
:Colonization has a similar productivity loss when the number of Loyalists in a colony exceeds a fixed number (which varies with the "Degree of Difficulty"). The solution is to increase production of Liberty Bells so as to increase the proportion of citizens who are of the Rebel persuasion instead. | :Colonization has a similar productivity loss when the number of Loyalists in a colony exceeds a fixed number (which varies with the "Degree of Difficulty"). The solution is to increase production of Liberty Bells so as to increase the proportion of citizens who are of the Rebel persuasion instead. | ||
