# Playing Civ II game for 10 years! **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 14, 2012, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-civ-ii-game-for-10-years/625124 "2012-06-14T12:41:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-civ-ii-game-for-10-years/625124/21 "2012-06-14T21:19:57Z")
I’ve had a lot of problems getting most of my games to work in Win7. They worked fine in Win XP, but when I tell the Win 7 computer to run in XP mode, it crosses its arms, sticks out its tongue, and says “not GONNA”. I’ve been thinking of buying Civ II for the PS2, because I DO still have a working PS2. My Win XP gave up the ghost about a year and a half ago. ---
**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:** [June 14, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-civ-ii-game-for-10-years/625124/22 "2012-06-14T21:30:47Z")
> [@MJinks](#): > > I’ve pretty much given up trying to get old games to work now though. It’s too much work for not much reward. I’ll just wait for them to appear on GoG instead. The easiest answer is often to run a virtual Win98 machine using VMware (or equivalent). DOS games, games requiring old drivers or codecs to run etc…, no problem. [QUOTE=appleciders] Your basic game of Civ II is only about 500 turns to get to 2000 A.D., if memory serves. So he’s been playing for about five times longer than an average game won by a space-race. [/QUOTE] That’s the thing I’m the most puzzled about: how come neither of his AI opponents have gone for Alpha Centauri by now ? I don’t remember if you could disable victory conditions back in Civ II… ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-civ-ii-game-for-10-years/625124/23 "2012-06-14T21:34:11Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > ] > That’s the thing I’m the most puzzled about: how come neither of his AI opponents have gone for Alpha Centauri by now ? I don’t remember if you could disable victory conditions back in Civ II… They have. The game has been won, a decade ago, by someone, either through a diplomatic victory (UN) or a space race. He claims to not remember who. But the game allows you to keep playing if you want, ad infinitum. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-civ-ii-game-for-10-years/625124/24 "2012-06-14T21:38:28Z")
There’s a dedicated subreddit for what they’re calling [The Eternal War](http://www.reddit.com/r/theeternalwar). The guy’s uploaded a copy of the saved game and people have been giving it a go to try and end the war. Looks like a few people have even succeeded. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-civ-ii-game-for-10-years/625124/25 "2012-06-15T07:06:12Z")
Fun story and that screenshot brings back the memories. I remember those spies were ridiculously overpowered and they featured prominently in my late game military strategy. And those ski units; forget what they were called; they were cool but never seemed that useful. Perhaps they become important if you have huge amounts of pollution. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-civ-ii-game-for-10-years/625124/26 "2012-06-15T07:10:22Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > They have. The game has been won, a decade ago, by someone, either through a diplomatic victory (UN) or a space race. He claims to not remember who. But the game allows you to keep playing if you want, ad infinitum. “Just…one…more…turn…” ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-civ-ii-game-for-10-years/625124/27 "2012-06-15T11:43:47Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > “Just…one…more…turn…” The drones needed him, and looked up to him. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-civ-ii-game-for-10-years/625124/28 "2012-06-15T14:47:35Z")
A little while back I was moving stuff between hard drives and making the “What’s worth saving” decisions when I came across my old Civ2 “mods” folder. My collected or hand-drawn unit graphics, stat modifications, I even amended the Civilopedia to reflect my new units/technologies despite me being the only one who’d ever see it. I haven’t played Civ2 in years but I still couldn’t let that folder go. ---
**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:** [June 15, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-civ-ii-game-for-10-years/625124/29 "2012-06-15T17:11:16Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > They have. The game has been won, a decade ago, by someone, either through a diplomatic victory (UN) or a space race. He claims to not remember who. But the game allows you to keep playing if you want, ad infinitum. Right, I knew that :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Peanut\_Gallery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/838e76/32.png) [@Peanut\_Gallery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanut_Gallery)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-civ-ii-game-for-10-years/625124/30 "2012-06-16T16:18:50Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > (I still have old machines which I could have used but to drag them out and set them up…well not worth the effort). OK I realize this could hijack the thread, but since you specifically made that comment, and also because I found this link surfing from that Civ2 thread on reddit … check this dude’s collection out…[link](http://pseudomacro.wordpress.com/2012/04/29/petes-collection/) ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2012, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-civ-ii-game-for-10-years/625124/31 "2012-06-17T11:12:01Z")
I still play Civ II regularly. It’s the only game I play with any sort of frequency really. I find it’s easy to have a quick game while doing other things. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-civ-ii-game-for-10-years/625124/32 "2012-06-18T19:26:07Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > What I can’t fathom is how he can build up that much experience at the game, and still not be able to break the stalemate. It sounds to me like he’s allowed himself to simply become a copy of the AI, using the same futile and obsolete strategies over and over without ever learning from them. Although, I guess those futile strategies have become pretty ingrained habit, after 10 years. Yeah, it’s pretty clear that there’s a stalemate because he’s not interested in breaking it. It’s exceedingly unlikely that no player is actually capable of winning, since even a small victory is going to start generating an increasing advantage as the game goes on. If he’s not winning, it’s because he isn’t trying. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-civ-ii-game-for-10-years/625124/33 "2012-06-18T20:37:01Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Yeah, it’s pretty clear that there’s a stalemate because he’s not interested in breaking it. If you read some of the posts, he admits it’s because he was using engineers to try to clean up some of the pollution at the same time. > [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > It’s exceedingly unlikely that no player is actually capable of winning, since even a small victory is going to start generating an increasing advantage as the game goes on. It’s even more unlikely that no player is capable of winning, considering that a player has already won using that saved game. He disbanded a bunch of engineers, sold off a bunch of useless improvements (e.g. libraries, universities and courthouses) and started churning out howitzers. It took him almost 60 more turns, though. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2012, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-civ-ii-game-for-10-years/625124/34 "2012-06-19T16:49:42Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > It’s even more unlikely that no player is capable of winning, considering that a player has already won using that saved game. Well, true. But I meant “no player in that game”, like one of the computers or the human. It’s theoretically possible that the particular human playing this game wasn’t skilled enough to win, but the chance that he’s exactly skilled enough to maintain a steady state is very unlikely. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2012, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-civ-ii-game-for-10-years/625124/35 "2012-06-19T19:41:59Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Well, true. But I meant “no player in that game”, like one of the computers or the human. It’s theoretically possible that the particular human playing this game wasn’t skilled enough to win, but the chance that he’s exactly skilled enough to maintain a steady state is very unlikely. It’s not too far-fetched if you consider a human playing against two extremely defensive AI players (e.g. they destroy any units you send out but they never attack). ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-civ-ii-game-for-10-years/625124/36 "2012-06-19T20:28:04Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > I find it fascinating that his ultimate plan for world peace is to wipe out the Vikings. As a Packer fan, that’s part of my ultimate plan, as well…though I’d then move on to obliterating the Bears and Cowboys. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-civ-ii-game-for-10-years/625124/37 "2012-06-20T00:22:55Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > It’s not too far-fetched if you consider a human playing against two extremely defensive AI players (e.g. they destroy any units you send out but they never attack). I’ve played Civ II. The AIs aren’t that defensive (or particularly hard to outsmart) 🙂 But, yes, there could be such a game. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-civ-ii-game-for-10-years/625124/38 "2012-06-20T13:58:15Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > I’ve played Civ II. The AIs aren’t that defensive (or particularly hard to outsmart) 🙂 Don’t get me wrong – I’ve never had a stalemate situation in Civ II, either (and I used to play it a lot). But I’ve been in winning situations and losing situations (particularly at the highest difficulty level), so it’s not inconceivable for me to imagine an equilibrium. I’d probably quit playing long before that point, though; I like to win. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-civ-ii-game-for-10-years/625124.md?page=1)