# Anyone here play Avalon Hill's Civilization? (Computer game) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 31, 2010, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-play-avalon-hills-civilization-computer-game/534465 "2010-03-31T16:05:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-play-avalon-hills-civilization-computer-game/534465/1 "2010-03-31T16:05:16Z")
And if so, were you able to get it to work on a PC with a later version of Windows? I’ve tried it on XP and while it installed, it wouldn’t play. It would load then unload. I’d like to try it on Windows 7, but have a feeling that that won’t work either. FWIW, it’s a DOS-based game that for some reason has never been updated. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-play-avalon-hills-civilization-computer-game/534465/2 "2010-04-01T01:22:31Z")
It’s [supposed to work](http://www.dosbox.com/comp_list.php?showID=2154&letter=A) using [DosBox](http://www.dosbox.com/download.php?main=1). ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-play-avalon-hills-civilization-computer-game/534465/3 "2010-04-01T13:48:20Z")
Never heard of it. Cool, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-play-avalon-hills-civilization-computer-game/534465/4 "2010-04-01T17:30:02Z")
I’ve played the boardgame (actually, Advanced Civilization). Cool game but too long. I tried the compter version but gave up when the computer player eliminated the possibilty of me building a wilderness city (IIRC I had 12 guys in the territory and it move some guys in) brian ---
**Author:** ![MHaye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bbe5ce/32.png) [@MHaye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MHaye)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-play-avalon-hills-civilization-computer-game/534465/5 "2010-04-01T17:32:14Z")
I love the board game. Haven’t played it for ages, but it’s one of my favourites. I still have the original Hartland Trefoil game. I never did see the computer version, but would love to have been able to give it a go. Who published it? ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-play-avalon-hills-civilization-computer-game/534465/6 "2010-04-01T17:59:14Z")
> [@MHaye](#): > > I love the board game. Haven’t played it for ages, but it’s one of my favourites. I still have the original Hartland Trefoil game. > > I never did see the computer version, but would love to have been able to give it a go. Who published it? It was published by Avalon Hill. As a side rant, it also ultimately led to the closing of Avalon Hill, as the company unwisely began a legal dispute with Hasbro, then the publishers of a different computer game also titled Civilization, who decided to resolve the dispute by buying Avalon Hill and shutting it down (AH was a major player in the serious gamer community, but miniscule compared to the Hasboro juggernaut). Hasbro transferred a small number of game titles which fit into the existing Hasbro family board game line, licensed a couple of the most popular other games, and just dumped the rest, including a wide range of excellent games much liked by serious gamers. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![MHaye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bbe5ce/32.png) [@MHaye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MHaye)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-play-avalon-hills-civilization-computer-game/534465/7 "2010-04-01T18:27:46Z")
> [@Bookkeeper](#): > > It was published by Avalon Hill. Under licence from Hartland Trefoil. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-play-avalon-hills-civilization-computer-game/534465/8 "2010-04-01T19:58:25Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > I tried the compter version but gave up when the computer player eliminated the possibilty of me building a wilderness city (IIRC I had 12 guys in the territory and it move some guys in) Hmm, I built them all the time, but I guess they were out of range of other nations. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-play-avalon-hills-civilization-computer-game/534465/9 "2010-04-01T20:03:51Z")
> [@Bookkeeper](#): > > It was published by Avalon Hill. > > As a side rant, it also ultimately led to the closing of Avalon Hill, as the company unwisely began a legal dispute with Hasbro, then the publishers of a different computer game also titled Civilization, who decided to resolve the dispute by buying Avalon Hill and shutting it down (AH was a major player in the serious gamer community, but miniscule compared to the Hasboro juggernaut). Hasbro transferred a small number of game titles which fit into the existing Hasbro family board game line, licensed a couple of the most popular other games, and just dumped the rest, including a wide range of excellent games much liked by serious gamers. ☹ Wizards of the Coast have the rights to a lot of the others. Note I said _rights_-doesn’t mean they plan to update and release any of them anytime soon-I had an internet acquaintance almost get sued by them because he designed a computer version of Speed Circuit. ---
**Author:** ![Bartman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bartman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bartman)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2010, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-play-avalon-hills-civilization-computer-game/534465/10 "2010-04-02T00:22:45Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Wizards of the Coast have the rights to a lot of the others. Note I said _rights_-doesn’t mean they plan to update and release any of them anytime soon-I had an internet acquaintance almost get sued by them because he designed a computer version of Speed Circuit. Um, Wizards of the Coast are a subsidiary of Hasbro and have been since 1999. So any rights they have are still/also owned by Hasbro. ---
**Author:** ![Bartman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bartman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bartman)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2010, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-play-avalon-hills-civilization-computer-game/534465/11 "2010-04-02T00:26:02Z")
I used to have the AH Civilization video game (and several others like Kingmaker) but it really lost something in the translation. The barter stage in particular, never seemed to flow like it did in the board game. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2010, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-play-avalon-hills-civilization-computer-game/534465/12 "2010-04-02T02:52:48Z")
> [@Bartman](#): > > I used to have the AH Civilization video game (and several others like Kingmaker) but it really lost something in the translation. The barter stage in particular, never seemed to flow like it did in the board game. That’s what I was about to ask about 🙂 And since the bartering stage is about 50% of the appeal of the game… that’d be like playing Diplomacy against the computer, what’s the point ? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2010, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-play-avalon-hills-civilization-computer-game/534465/13 "2010-04-02T03:20:09Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > I tried the compter version but gave up when the computer player eliminated the possibilty of me building a wilderness city (IIRC I had 12 guys in the territory and it move some guys in) Oh, my goodness! That reminds of the time I angrilly smashed my laptop during a chess game when the computer DARED to take my pawn! That electronic BASTARD! I play the game (and _King’s Bounty_, which I won in a radio contest circa 1991 and which I have the manual tucked into a cabinet on my desk at all times) with DOSBox now and then. I try to get Military as early as possible. Crowd MY building projects, willya? ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2010, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-play-avalon-hills-civilization-computer-game/534465/14 "2010-04-02T11:44:21Z")
When I play with humans (granted, only twice), attacking other people doesn’t happen until at least mid game. The computer may have even used a boat. It was along time ago so I don’t rememebr the details, just that I thoght it was a jerk move. Brian ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2010, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-play-avalon-hills-civilization-computer-game/534465/15 "2010-04-02T13:51:27Z")
The thing about the computer game is that it tends to make jerk moves only if you have been making jerk moves. At least that’s what the manual says. I don’t know, I tend to play very defensively. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2010, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-play-avalon-hills-civilization-computer-game/534465/16 "2010-04-02T15:28:35Z")
When I use to play the tabletop game on a semi-regular basis, we were deliberately nice to each other, i.e. “Okay, I’ve got Epidemic. You’ve got Medicine, so you can absorb five hits…” i.e. parceling out secondary calamity effects to the players least affected by them. Crete could make sweet deals by taking Barbarian Hordes in trade. The computer being dickish, well… that’s actually more realistic. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-play-avalon-hills-civilization-computer-game/534465/17 "2010-04-02T19:12:16Z")
When I first started playing, I was super nice to the other players. We always played the same nations. I was Illyria, Mark was Africa, and Max was Italy. Inevitably, Africa would run out of room and have to get north of the sea through Italy, which pissed Italy off big time. They would have all sorts of wars. I just kept expanding, though. Tee hee!