The Civ2 game that lasts 10 years and counting . . .

[Syt]

http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/uxpil/ive_been_playing_the_same_game_of_civilization_ii/

I've been playing the same game of Civ II for 10 years. Though long outdated, I grew fascinated with this particular game because by the time Civ III was released, I was already well into the distant future. I then thought that it might be interesting to see just how far into the future I could get and see what the ramifications would be. Naturally I play other games and have a life, but I often return to this game when I'm not doing anything and carry on. The results are as follows.

    The world is a hellish nightmare of suffering and devastation.

    There are 3 remaining super nations in the year 3991 A.D, each competing for the scant resources left on the planet after dozens of nuclear wars have rendered vast swaths of the world uninhabitable wastelands.

-The ice caps have melted over 20 times (somehow) due primarily to the many nuclear wars. As a result, every inch of land in the world that isn't a mountain is inundated swamp land, useless to farming. Most of which is irradiated anyway.

-As a result, big cities are a thing of the distant past. Roughly 90% of the worlds population (at it's peak 2000 years ago) has died either from nuclear annihilation or famine caused by the global warming that has left absolutely zero arable land to farm. Engineers (late game worker units) are always busy continuously building roads so that new armies can reach the front lines. Roads that are destroyed the very next turn when the enemy goes. So there isn't any time to clear swamps or clean up the nuclear fallout.

-Only 3 super massive nations are left. The Celts (me), The Vikings, And the Americans. Between the three of us, we have conquered all the other nations that have ever existed and assimilated them into our respective empires.

-You've heard of the 100 year war? Try the 1700 year war. The three remaining nations have been locked in an eternal death struggle for almost 2000 years. Peace seems to be impossible. Every time a cease fire is signed, the Vikings will surprise attack me or the Americans the very next turn, often with nuclear weapons. Even when the U.N forces a peace treaty. So I can only assume that peace will come only when they're wiped out. It is this that perpetuates the war ad infinitum. Have any of you old Civ II players out there ever had this problem in the post-late game?

-Because of SDI, ICBMS are usually only used against armies outside of cities. Instead, cities are constantly attacked by spies who plant nuclear devices which then detonate (something I greatly miss from later civ games). Usually the down side to this is that every nation in the world declares war on you. But this is already the case so its no longer a deterrent to anyone. My self included.

-The only governments left are two theocracies and myself, a communist state. I wanted to stay a democracy, but the Senate would always over-rule me when I wanted to declare war before the Vikings did. This would delay my attack and render my turn and often my plans useless. And of course the Vikings would then break the cease fire like clockwork the very next turn. Something I also miss in later civ games is a little internal politics. Anyway, I was forced to do away with democracy roughly a thousand years ago because it was endangering my empire. But of course the people hate me now and every few years since then, there are massive guerrilla (late game barbarians) uprisings in the heart of my empire that I have to deal with which saps resources from the war effort.

-The military stalemate is air tight. The post-late game in civ II is perfectly balanced because all remaining nations already have all the technologies so there is no advantage. And there are so many units at once on the map that you could lose 20 tank units and not have your lines dented because you have a constant stream moving to the front. This also means that cities are not only tiny towns full of starving people, but that you can never improve the city. "So you want a granary so you can eat? Sorry; I have to build another tank instead. Maybe next time."

-My goal for the next few years is to try and end the war and thus use the engineers to clear swamps and fallout so that farming may resume. I want to rebuild the world. But I'm not sure how. If any of you old Civ II players have any advice, I'm listening.

Edit: -Wow guys. Thanks for all your support. I had no idea this post would get this kind of response. -I'll be sure to keep you guys updated on my efforts. Whether here on Reddit, or a blog, or both. -Turns out a whole subreddit has been dedicated to ending this war.

Screenshots:
http://imgur.com/a/rAnZs

[Grey Fox]

Nice.

I've never played Civ II enough to have any experience on what to do to break the stalemate but most in the reddit thread seems to think changing to fundamentalism is the first step.

Someone propose to find a spot away from everything build 1 farm there.

[Barrister]

I think following that link gave me a trojan.

For the first time ever Government IT were helpful and quickly took care of the problem though.   

[garbon]

For the first time ever Government IT were helpful and quickly took care of the problem though.   

I think your statement could have been broader and I made a correction.

[Fireblade]

I think following that link gave me a trojan.

For the first time ever Government IT were helpful and quickly took care of the problem though.   

Not sure if serious..

[Barrister]

I think following that link gave me a trojan.

For the first time ever Government IT were helpful and quickly took care of the problem though.   

Not sure if serious..

Serious.  I was shocked - absolutely shocked.  They knew what they were talking about and cleaned up the problem within a few minutes.  Unheard of when asking for IT support within GOA.

[11B4V]

http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/uxpil/ive_been_playing_the_same_game_of_civilization_ii/

Fucking awesome.

[Josephus]

I think following that link gave me a trojan.

thanks for the heads up.

[Tonitrus]

So basically, this guy sucks at Civ2?

[Fireblade]

I think following that link gave me a trojan.

For the first time ever Government IT were helpful and quickly took care of the problem though.   

Not sure if serious..

Serious.  I was shocked - absolutely shocked.  They knew what they were talking about and cleaned up the problem within a few minutes.  Unheard of when asking for IT support within GOA.

Good for your IT department, but Reddit isn't infected. Maybe you shouldn't be downloading porn on your work computer?

[Josquius]

It is rather awesome how this 1984 scenario just naturally developed.

[Darth Wagtaros]

So basically, this guy sucks at Civ2?

Not necessarily.  I think this is an example of playing the game for the fun of playing it rather than using the standardized cookie cutter victory strategies.

[Barrister]

I think following that link gave me a trojan.

For the first time ever Government IT were helpful and quickly took care of the problem though.   

Not sure if serious..

Serious.  I was shocked - absolutely shocked.  They knew what they were talking about and cleaned up the problem within a few minutes.  Unheard of when asking for IT support within GOA.

Good for your IT department, but Reddit isn't infected. Maybe you shouldn't be downloading porn on your work computer?

I of course cannot be certain, but this reddit link is the only one I can recall looking at that was out of the ordinary for me.

[HisMajestyBOB]

I wish I still had the save file from one of my early Civ2 games. I was the Americans and had most of North America, but I never built many cities. Africa, Europe, and Asia were dominated by massive AI empires, one of which split twice due to the capital falling, with the Zulus taking over a good chunk of the Middle East and parts of Eurasia.

[Viking]

There was an article about this in the online version of the second largest newspaper in Norway (equivalent of the Daily Mirror).

I'm not sure what this says about both the durability of Civ as a cultural artifact or the quality of journalists.