Now that I’ve noticed what LNO was referring to, I’ll see about downloading a demo.
Hmmm…can’t find a demo, but I did peruse a hint book. Evidently B&W is mission-based and is unable to generate random maps. This is certainly not what I look for in a God Game, so I’ll see if the price will drop eventually. For $15 less, I decided to go Insane.
Jeff Olsen, you need to re-peruse that guide book and look up “Skirmish”. Its an option that randomly generates a skirmish (go figure!) between you and several computer rival gods.
Not that I have been scouring the internet for all available B&W info until my computer arrives from Dell and my B&W arrives from amazon…
Does ANYONE know where I could pick up a copy of Master of Magic? Or the original Populous?
Please?
(And be warned…Civ II is DAMN addictive. So is SimCity 3000, for that matter. Or the Sims.) 
I certainly don’t want to condone piracy, but I believe that Populous I is now abandonware. Of course, I have no idea what that means…
I did see something about a Skirmish in that book, but the book said it was a Deathmatch sort of thing. I’ll take another look, but I still plan to wait and see if the price will drop.
Falcon and anyone else who might be interested, another word for “abandonware” is “forsakenware”.
I’m not entirely sure if I can post this (I apologize in advance to the mods - feel free to be liberal in your deletion of any portion of this post), but a certain online bookstore has B&W for $5 less than any place I’ve seen it. I know, shipping is also $5, so that evens out the price.
However, if you have someone refer you to this certain online bookstore, you get $5 off, bringing the price down to $35, with $5 shipping. Which I’d be happy to do, if you so desire.
I would just like to add that Civ2 by far has given me the most bang for the buck of any game I have ever purchased.
I have spent more hours playing Civ2 than any other game. Heck, probably all my other games combined.
Civ II was great. One of the best games ever. I remember the night my dad stayed up until 4am playing it. Not that big a deal on its own, but the thing is, the next day was my sister’s wedding. Now that’s addictive.
I just cough acquired cough B&W and am anxiously waiting to go home and try it.
I’m sorry, if you were looking for it a few months ago I posted a link to a site that had Master of Magic (abandonkeep.com) but they have since been shut down. You can probably find it if you keep looking.
Here’s a site that has some links to sites that might have it…
I know this is pedantic, but:
Everyone seems to be conflating two very different types of games: God Games (like Populous) where your primary concern is smiting people, destroying armies by causing earthquakes and bludgeoning worshippers into submission.
and
Resource Management Games like Civilization, where you’ve got no god-like powers to wipe out the other guy’s armies and you’re primary concern is maximizing your wheat havests and making sure your grainries are full.
Sure there’s lots of cross-over between the two and the distinction isn’t always clear, but but a fan of one isn’t necessarily a fan of the other. Black and White makes a valient effort (that I’m not entirely happy with) to combine the two genres.
That said, I love Civ and CivII, but my favorite resource management game is Master of Magic (except for one design flaw, which when known, makes the game nearly un-loseable.
God-Games are less to my liking, but I have very fond memories of Populous (loved the Lego-world edition on the Amiga!), and Megalomania.
Fenris
Fenris, the term “God Game” doesn’t just apply to games where the player has godlike powers. The term itself came into use with the first “resource management game”, as you call them. It is the correct term for games which either have no ending, like the Sim line from Maxis, or a choice of multiple endings, like Master of Magic or Civilization.
Really? Huh. I really thought there was a difference. I stand corrected.
Is there a term to distinguish between Populous types games and Civilization type games? I think there’s a pretty clear distiction between them.
Fenris
To my knowledge, there’s yet to be any word to distinguish the two. Maybe we could create one? How about “God-like game” for Black & White, et cetera?