C I V I L I Z A T I O N 

			      (MicroProse)

				   by

			      Steve Bolton


    ( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )


	Sick of politians?  Do you think society is killing itself?  Reckon
  you can do better?  Than you need CIVILIZATION!

  To describe the game I'll quote from the manual.

		"Civilization  casts  you  in  the  role of the ruler of an
	entire  civilization through many generations, from the founding of
	the  world's  first  cities 6,000 years in the past to the imminent
	colonization  of space.  It combines the forces that shaped history
	and  the evolution of technology in a competitive environment.  You
	have  great  flexibility  in  your  plans  and  strategies,  but to
	survive,   you   must  successfully  respond  to  the  forces  that
	historically shaped the past."

	This  game  is  very  large and includes great depth.  There are so
  many  different  ways possible to play this game.  You can be as friendly
  or  as  aggressive  towards other civilizations as you feel.  There are a
  great  many  discoveries  to be, well, discovered; buildings to be built;
  inventions to invent and knowledge to be known.

	When  you  load  the  game  you are offered the choice of playing a
  random  world (with earth-like characteristics), customise your own world
  or  even  play on earth.  You then choose the level of difficulty, number
  of civilizations in the world and finally which civilization you which to
  take  charge of.  If you play on earth then the civilizations start in as
  historically locations as possible.

	Starting  the  game  you control a band of settlers only.  You then
  find a suitable location to build a city and the settlers then become the
  first  population  of  the  founded  city.  You only start out seeing the
  immediate  squares  around  the  settlers.   When you have developed more
  settlers  or military units and send them out you will uncover more land.
  And  thus the game progresses; sending out settlers, founding new cities,
  gaining  power.   When you encounter another civilization you may be able
  to  sign  a  peace  treay  with  them  and possible exchange tecnological
  knowledge.

	The  knowledge  of  certain technologies is something that you must
  set  parts of your population to research.  When the population in a city
  rises  you  may  be  allowed  to develop  specialists which can be either
  entertainers  (to  keep  people  happy),  taxmen  (to increase income) or
  scientists (to develope new technologies quicker).

	There  are different types of terrain (hills, plains, jungle, etc.)
  and  each  produces  certain  amounts  of food, resources or trade.  When
  settling  a  new city you must take into account the availability of food
  and  resources  in  the  adjacent  squares  otherwise  you'll find famine
  striking  the  city and/or production will stop.  Terrain can be modified
  by  irrigation, mining or roads to increase productivity and terrain also
  has  different defence factors.  If you build a city on a mountain square
  it'll  be  easier  to  defend  then  a city on a plain square.  All these
  things must be considered for a new city to prosper and grew strongly.

	By  building  caravans  you  can always set up trade routes between
  cities  (your  own  or  other civilizations').  This will increase income
  which  will  help to maintain various things you have built already.  You
  can  only  build  certain  items  once  you  have  acquired the necessary
  technology, so it is important to consult the Civilization Advances Chart
  located  in  the  back  of  the  manual  to  see which advance you should
  develop  before  you  can  build the item  you want.  As you play and you
  acquire  new  technologies  you are presented with information about that
  technology  which  includes  a  short  history.   There is also an online
  "Civilopedia"  which  can  be  used to access this information on all the
  advances  in  the  game.   In  this  way  you  can also learn a bit about
  history!

	Amoung  other  features  are  21 Wonders Of The World (7 ancient, 7
  middle  age,  7 modern), various government types and the ability to save
  several different games.

	The  graphics  and  sound  of the game aren't spectacular (sound is
  limited   to   various  tunes  which  play  when  you  encounter  another
  civilization  or  something  has  happened  at  one of your cities).  The
  graphics  are  functional  and the animation sequences and city views are
  satisfactory.   This  is  a  superb game for those interested in strategy
  rather than great arcade action.

	The  game  comes  on four disks in a handsomely presented box.  The
  manual  is  very  detailed and fairly long (130 pages).  Protection is of
  the  password  type  and generally you only get asked for a word from the
  manual once during a game.  Memory requirements are 1meg or 1.5meg if run
  from  a  hard  drive.   Compatable with A500, A600, A2000, A2500 & A3000.
  Installation  onto  hard  drive  is easy via the "install" icon provided.
  Price of around $89 (but look around, you can probably get it cheaper).

	So, can you "Build An Empire To Stand The Test Of Time"?



    ( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )|( 31 )