Microprose Civilization

Civilization Information

Frequently Asked Questions

The best place to look when you have questions is the FAQ, which is maintained by Dave Stanworth. I have a mirror copy of the hypertext and text versions for those of you in America. It should be up-to-date, but if you want to see the original (or you are in the UK), then take a look at Dave's copy in hypertext or text.

Macintosh Civilization Information

One of the main reasons I started The Civ Page was because the civ FAQ was heavily pc-biased, and there is some missing information that would be of use to Macintosh users. This information is contained on the Macintosh Civilization Page.

Windows/DOS Civilization Information

The Civ FAQ contains lots of stuff, but if it's not there, and it's not in this section, then don't ask me for it. If you know of something that you think should be here, let me know and I'll add it -- but don't ask me why your copy won't work, or where other cheat programs are. I don't really use DOS or Windoze, so I can't help you. If you need help, try the newsgroup comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic.

If you are looking to cheat or edit maps or saved games, here are some files that might help you out. If you know of any others that should be added, please let me know.

• CivCheat - [Description] [Zip File]
• CivEdit1 - [Description] [Zip File]
• CivEdit1.5 - [Description] [Zip File]
• CivEdit100 - [Zip File]
• Civ Map Edit - [Description] [Zip File]

Amiga Civilization

There are two version of Civ for the Amiga: the original one which works on all Amigas with at least 1 MB, and the AGA version, which has more colorful graphics and only works on the A1200 and the A4000. The only incompatibility is taht it doesn't seem to run under Kickstart 3.1 on an A3000 or CD32. There is an update patch available from Microprose for the original non-AGA version, but what it does is unkown. (Thanks to Neil Cafferkey for the information.)

Someone else has reported to me that you can press "alt-r" to give the computer players random personalities. Also, the shift "123456789T" from the first PC version also works.

More information can be found on the newsgroup comp.sys.amiga.games.

If you have some Amiga specific information you'd like to share, let me know and I'll add it here.

Super NES Civilization

Three or people have sent me information on it. I still don't know if it is available anywhere. Someone said they thought it was discontinued.

• The Basics

  • You start with two settlers and only basic technology.
  • You find clans(which look like log cabins) and either four LCAVs pour out and attack, or the clan gives you a technology you don't have, or the clan gives you a current technology fighting unit (early in the game it's usally an LCAV), or a city is built.
  • You make cities, roads, railroads, irrigation, etc. with settlers.
  • Cities can produce either units or city improvements (like a colossus or a grainary).
  • You must organize city resources to maximize trade, raw materials, and food.
  • If you city does not have enough food, people starve.
  • Cities are colored(different depending on which Civ you choose) a background color with little black lines forming a partial grid. Above this is a number signifying population.
  • The higher a city's population the the more resources you have to manage and the more people to use.
  • People can be farmers, wise men, business men, etc.
  • The higher a city's population, the faster it is to build things.
  • The game is ended when:
    1. Either you wipe out all other civilizations
    2. You reach the year 3000 A.D.
    3. You reach the moon.(maybe) [I assume Alpha Centauri like the computer verison. -ed]

• The Controls

  The UP, DOWN, LEFT, and RIGHT keys move a torch-like cursor like a mouse would. (A) acts like the enter key, (B) acts like escape (I may be saying it the wrong way). (X) and (Y) have no purpose. The &L& and &R& buttons also have no purpose.

Other Information

Lee Gordon has made a chart linking the advances in the game into a nice diagram. It's available in postscript format.

I've also been told there is a version for the Atari ST, but have no idea how you could find a copy.

Here's a nice cheat courtesy of Volker Landgraf:

I have read the www-Informations about Civilization and can tell you another nice trick (at least, it works on an Amiga, I don't know, if it works on PC):

You give your ships an infinite range, if you have two ships and one land-unit. The reason is because if you give the sentry-command to a ship and then move a land-unit onto it, the ship will be activated again and gets one movementpoint less than the original range.

Example:
You have 2 Frigates (4 MPs with Magellan) and any one land-unit on one of them. Move your first ship 3 steps and press "s", then move your second ship (the one with the land-unit) with max. 3 steps to a square next to your first ship. Press "u" to unload the 2nd ship. The land-unit will be activated (even though it has been moved onto this ship in the same term). Move the land-unit onto the 1st ship. This ship is activated and gets back 3 MPs. Give "s" to ship #2 and activate it again by unloading ship #1. Now both ships can be moved 2 more steps (you must keep your last MP to be able to give "s" to the ship). Repeat this procedure until you reach your final destination.

You can also use a similar trick for Carriers, but you cannot land and restart a plane in the same term. But with 15 planes (one place on the Carrier must remain vacant, of course) you can even go a nice distance.