Civilization II In-Depth Guide
Copyright 2004 Aqueous Cross
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Civilization II In-Depth Guide
By Aqueous Cross
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Date Created: 10/11/03
Last Update: 19/01/04
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This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal,
private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed
publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other
web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited and is
also a violation of copyright.
All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their
respective trademark and copyright holders.
Version 1.00 (11/11/03) : Completed the guide with all basic information
Version 1.01 (16/11/03) : Changed email and a few other minor things
Version 1.02 (05/12/03) : Changed email adresses
Version 2.17 (19/01/04) : Changed the basic formatting of the guide and some
other minor details
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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1) Introduction
2) Diplomats & Spies in General
3) Spy/Diplomat Interaction
4) Misc. Strategy
5) Credits
====================
1) Introduction
====================
Sid Meier's Civilization II improves on a beloved classic. Civilization,
its predecessor, cast you as the ruler of an infant civilization,
struggling to survive and prosper in the earliest moments of history.
Eventually, growth and exploration brough you into competition with
ruthless, competent, but sometimes predictable computer opponents.
Civilization II adds depth to the diplomacy and smarts to the AI, as
well as tweaking features that millions of Civ players had come to know
too well. The result is the same compelling quality and fresh challenges
for the expert player - and a wide-open world to explore for the novice.
Both you and your opponents begin with a small band of settlers surrounded
by the hazards and delights of unexplored territory. Each decision you
make can have important ramifications later. Should you build a city on a
coast or inland? Should you concentrate on military production or
agrcultural improvement? Innovative displays make it easy to understand
the shifting situation and implement action. If you prove an able ruler,
your civilization grows larger and even more interesting to manage. The
inevitable contact with naighbouring civilizations opens new doors of
opportunity: treaties, embassies, sabotage, trade, and war.
====================
2) Diplomats & Spies
====================
You basically use spy's/diplomats for interaction with your rivals/allies.
Basically, Spies are upgraded Diplomats that have more functions and are
usually more effective than the poor Diplomat. If a Spy is a Veteran unit,
then it means that they are 50% more efficient at doing their job.
Below is a table which shows what happens to who when you tell them to
do what.
Table 1.1 - Diplomat and Spy Missions Analysis
ASSIGNED MISSION | COST | DIPLOMAT FATE | SPY FATE
Establish Embassy ---- Killed - Removed Killed - Removed
from the game from the game
Investigate City ---- Killed - Removed Possibly survive
from the game and moved to
closest friendly
city
Steal Technology ---- Killed - Removed Possibly survive
from the game and moved to
closest friendly
city
Industrial Sabotage ---- Killed - Removed Possibly survive
from the game and moved to
closest friendly
city
Poison Water Supply ---- N/A Possibly survive
and moved to
closest friendly
city
Plant Nuclear Device ---- N/A Possibly survive
and moved to
closest friendly
city
Incite A Revolt Yes Killed - Removed Possibly survive
from the game and moved to
closest friendly
city
Bribe Unit Yes Mission Success Mission Success
As you can see on the table, the Spy is alot more effective than the
Diplomat, meaning that the spy can be put to alot more uses.
The only times that Spy's are sure to be removed from the game are when
they establish embassy's in other cities, and the only times that they
have a 100% success rate is when they are ordered to Bribe Unit.
For Spy's all the other tasks have a probability of surviving or being
removed from the game. If they survive, then they will be moved to the
closest friendly city (be it yours or an ally's) and may gain the
Veteran status.
====================
3) Spy/Diplomat Interaction
====================
This section will describe all of the ways that you can interact with
rivals or allies.
ESTABLISH EMBASSY
This is considered a peaceful function of a Spy/Diplomat. When an embassy
is established in an enemy or rival city, you will be able to see vital
things such as: the amount of money in their treasury, their war or peace
status with other civilizations in the game, a list containing all of
the cities that they have build and captured, and the Advances that they
have researched. If a Spy/Diplomat establishes an embassy with a rival
civilization, then they are immediately removed from the game.
Use this wisely, it can help you plan on attacks and see how advanced a
rival is.
Diplomat Ability: Yes
Spy Ability: Yes
INVESTIGATE CITY
This is another one of these "peaceful" functions of a Spy/Diplomat.
This lets you look at the City Display of a Rivals City. When
a Diplomat does this job, it's instantly killed, if it's a Spy,
then the Spy stays in the game. This function can be pretty useful
sometimes when you are planning an attack on enemy. For example, say
you have two cities to attack, City1 and City2. You "assume" that
City1 has better defenses, since it's closer to you. However, use
the Investigate City and you may find that City2 has 7 fortified units,
while City1 has only 1 (and it's a Warrior). So, had you not used
the Spy to your advantage, you would have wasted a few units attacking
City2. Not the best example, but what the hell..
This function lets you see everything that is built in that particular
city, Diplomats are removed from the game when doing this, but Spys are
doing this job for you for free. Making this a good, decent, *function*.
Diplomat Ability: Yes
Spy Ability: Yes
STEAL TECHNOLOGY
Beware when using this function, it usually leads to war, but if you're on
multiplayer with some *really* nice people, then maybe it won't, the
decision of starting a war rests with the victim of who you stole to
Advance from.
This is one of the first *violent* functions of a Spy/Diplomat (it's not
exactly *violent*, but depending on the victims decisions, it could be)
so you should use this when you have a *very* flakey alliance with someone
who demands alot from you and doesn't bother sending a single troop down
when you're in trouble.
If you are using a Spy, you can select an Advance to choose, although this
may increase the risk of being caught by the rival civilization. If you are
using a Diplomat however, you can't select an Advance to steal. Only one
is stolen (at random) from the list. When a Spy escapes capture by the
rivals, the Spy is returned to the closest friendly city for recuperation
and is instantly promoted to Veteran status. If the Spy is captured,
needless to say, it is removed from the game. Using this function against
an ally can result in the collapse of a peace treaty, government,
reputation and ultimately leads to war. When you attempt to steal a
technology from a rival, you are warned that it might cause an incident,
there's are 95% chance that it does, if you're playing against the AI it
is.
Don't use this function recklessly as it can really be bad for you.
Diplomat Ability: Yes
Spy Ability: Yes
INDUSTRIAL SABOTAGE
Indutrial Sabotage is pretty similar to Steal Technology, except it's
different. If this function proves successful, Industrial Sabotage can
destroy the item that is currently under construction or an existing
building (City Improvement). If a Diplomat attempts this, then the item
destroyed is random. With Spys, you can choose which one recieves your
wrath of destruction, :P
If you choose which item to be destroyed (Spy only), then the chances of
the Spy being caught is much higher, methinks. If a Diplomat or Spy is
caught in the act of an Industrial Sabotage against an ally, then the AI
immediately considers it a treaty violation. This can have the same effects
as if you got caught in the middle of Steal Technology.
Diplomat Ability: Yes
Spy Ability: Yes
POISON WATER SUPPLY
The only purpose for this one is to reduce the target citys population by
1. If your Spy is caught, then it is considered an act of war.If the target
was an ally, then the treaty will be canceled, war could start and
(possibly) your government will collapse. Poisoning the water supply is
not a very effective strategy, my recommendation would be to use it on
small cities so that their production is limited, but, going into full-scale
war usually works better.
Diplomat Ability: No
Spy Ability: Yes
PLANT NUCLEAR DEVICE
Now, I'll warn you, if you get caught doing this in an AI game, it will
cause an international incident and all of the other civilizations will
immediately declare a state of war against you. To get this,
research Nuclear Fission and Rocketry and build the Manhattan Project.
Basically, this function tells your spy to rock up to a city, stick
a nuke in it and bail, the bail part doesn't work however, the Spy gets
killed. The effects of this are the same as a normal Nuclear blast
except that an SDI can't counter it.
Diplomat Ability: No
Spy Ability: Yes
BRIBE UNIT
A useful function from the Spy/Diplomat team is their ability to turn
enemy units over to your side. Below is the equation that determines how
much money you need to pay to successfully bribe a unit.
Cost of Bribe = (targets treasury + 750) / distance + 2
(where / is divide)
distance = if the enemy is a Barbarian, 16
Bribe Cost = Bribe Cost / 2, if the unit is a settler
(where / is divide)
There's no risk of war or anything like that when you turn enemy units,
Diplomats and Spy's are always successful, and if not, they still
survive (unless they get hacked to pieces by an enemy).
INCITE A REVOLT
This can be a useful function when it wants to be, Basically, it's like
paying an enemy city to turn to your side, to find out how much you pay,
look below:
Cost of Revolt = (Enemy Treasury + 900) / distance + 3) x City size
(Where / is divide)
distance = 32, if there is no palace
/ 2, if there is a Courthouse
If you can pay the cash, then this is an excellent function of a
Spy/Diplomat. This will cause an international incident as well, like
the Plnat Nuclear Device thing. You also get to steal ONE Civilization
Advance from the target.
====================
4) Misc. Strategy
====================
* You can prevent expulsion of Spys/Diplomats by having them travel in
pairs. When two Diplomats or Spys are in the same square, they can't
be expelled
===================
5) Credits
===================
CJayC: Creating & maintaining a great site everyone calls GameFAQ's
Amazing Games. Many Cheats. Such Wow.
