Civ II:
Multiplayer Gold Edition for Macintosh, which was still
part of the second release, was introduced in 1999. The
reason MGE was produced for Mac was really to introduce
to Mac players to power of Multi-play and bring them up to
date from Civilization
I for Mac. MGE
offered a larger scenario text file, complete with
commands and the ability to interject popup windows, kill
units, create units and produce a story environment. Unique
to this development was the incorporation of playing
online which was meant to bring all platforms
together. The unfortunate disadvantage to MGE was the
loss of FW's excellent scenario creation tools that was
never available to the Mac version. To this day, I am
dismayed by the horrific decision to dismember the
one of the best parts of the game. MGE was different
however, in that it was not an add-on but a complete
playable version of Civilization II with a large
focus on playing both an epic empire or a scenario.
But MGE further continued to support players'
visions to develop their own specialized games which
has made the world of Civilization a huge success.
Players quickly found
however, that while more sophisticated scenarios were
possible it was unlikely that this would be an easy task for
the multiplay environment. Some scenarios still crash under
these conditions. This does not mean that there is anything
wrong with the game. Most games run fine and multiplay can
be a great experience. For some early Civilization II
players, this marked a wonderous time of
downloading games that could be played absolutely
free in a multiplay environment as opposed to the
Blizzard (TM) version of online play which required a
subscription to Battle.net (R).
In addition, MGE for Mac
included some scenarios from the Microprose staff as well as
a group of scenarios designated "Best of the Net" and a
"Best of the Net II." These are all excellent and play
wonderfully on MGE.
System Requirements
- Power PC running Mac OS 7.5.3 or higher
- Mac OS 8.0 compatible
- 10 MB RAM
- Color Monitor
- CDROM Drive
- Open Player Transport required for Multiplayer
Games (optional)
The game begins around 4000 B.C.
starting out with just a single unit and a small locality.
You have until 2200 A.D. to achieve your objective.
Your goal is to build your civilization
into the supreme force, either by defeating
every other civilization or by sending a spaceship to Alpha
Centauri.
A lot of challenges occur
throughout the game. Your cities must have access to
food, construction and trade resources, and later be
improved by irrigation, roads, mines, railroads, and
farmland in order to be competitive with other
civilizations. Each city only constructs one item at a
time - military units, buildings or Wonders of the World
(there are 28 of these across the different eras of the
game, and only one city can possess each one. Once a wonder
is built it cannot be built by anyone else. Also, wonders
offer special service or effects). The buildings also have
different effects - some improve defenses, while others
improve scientific research, trade or food
output.
There are over 100 scientific discoveries in
the game, and most require "prequisite knowledge" before
they can be discovered. Discoveries depends on your
scientific output, which must be traded off against
financial and military concerns.
Combat can occur any
time or anywhere such as in cities, in the
ocean or land terrain - forests and
mountains offer defensive advantages. Different
than the original Civilization, fights aren't always
won outright - a unit might survive but be damaged
(reducing its movement speed and attacking
abilities but only until it is healed).
If stacked units are in a square that come under
attack, the strongest unit fights - but unless it is a city
or Fortress, all units will be lost if the fight is
lost. If a city has no defensive units left, it is
vulnerable to capture. Special units have the ability
to cover all squares as if they were roads (roads provide
enhanced movement), others can see submarines, and air
units must refuel in a friendly city, etc.
There
are up to 7 Civilizations in a single game (including
your own), and good diplomatic relations can
be crucial. Sometimes you may want to trade knowledge
or military resources with a neighbor - or you may want to
spy on another nation by building embassies using your
Diplomat or Spy unit. Your reputation is affected if
you agree to peace treaties and reneg on
them. You will also meet barbarians which can act like a
civilization if they capture cities but are not a
civilization that you can have diplomacy with. Barbarians
will likely attempt to destroy you at every opportunity,
so a good rule is hunt them down and take them out
first.
Recommendation: If you want
to upload your game modpack files for the MAC
version to CPH then you can Contact
us!
Note: Go to the section at
the bottom of the page for some tools written to support Macintosh
players of MacSoft's release of Civilization II Multiplayer
Gold Edition.
Screenshots
Units
Civilization Advances
Terrain
Cheats
Documentation
Downloads
Civ
II File Typer
Adds Macintosh File and Creator information to scenario
and game files in place
File Size: 44
KB
Civ
II Scenario
Converter
Converts entire PC scenarios for use on the Macintosh.
Adds file info, translates images and sounds.
File Size: 55
KB
Civ
II Gold Rel PPC
Civ II Gold (1.1.1) carbonized for Mac OS X.
Unauthorized, unfinished, unsupported. :)
Files Size: 889
KB
Civ
II Gold 1.1.1
Update
Yes,
oddly enough, I did actually write this too... with a bit of
help from the folks at MindVision.
File Size: 1.3
MB
Modpacks
and Scenarios
=
News 
