User Guide

As time passes, you are confronted with increasingly difficult decisions. First, you must

think tactically. Where is the optimum location for another city? When should you produce

specific military units and city improvements? How rapidly should you explore the

surrounding land? Soon, circumstances demand that you formulate strategic plans. Should

you pursue war or peace with neighbors? When should you explore and expand overseas?

Is it advantageous to change your type of government? Where should you focus

technological research?

The success of the civilization that you build depends on your decisions. As ruler, you

manage the economy, diplomacy, exploration, research, and the war machine of your

civilization. Your policies must be flexible to fit an evolving world. Military units inevitably

become obsolete and need replacement as you gain more advanced technologies. The

balance of power among your rivals shifts often. You might have to modify your economic and

governmental policies, lest you fall behind in a critical area. The empires of Alexander the

Great, the Hittites, Napoleon, and Genghis Khan (to name just a few) all held pride of place

on the world’s stage at one time. All eventually collapsed. In Civilization II, the challenge

is to build an empire that stands the test of time. You might succeed where great

predecessors have failed. If you locate cities properly, build them soundly, defend them

aggressively, and neutralize the danger from potential enemies, the descendants of your

first tiny tribe might not only survive, but lead the colonization of space.

FOUR IMPULSES OF CIVILIZATION

There is no single driving force behind the urge toward civilization, no one goal toward

which every culture strives. There is, instead, a web of forces and objectives that impel and

beckon, shaping cultures as they grow. In Civilization II, there are four basic impulses

that seem to be of the greatest importance to the health and flexibility of your

fledgling society.

EXPLORATION

An early focus in Civilization II is exploration. You begin the game knowing almost

nothing about your surroundings. Most of the map is dark. Your units move into this

darkness of unexplored territory and discover new terrain; mountains, rivers, grasslands,

and forests are just some of the features they might reveal. The areas they explore might

be occupied by minor tribes or another culture’s units. In either case, a chance meeting

provokes a variety of encounters. As your units “map” the unknown by revealing terrain

squares that once were black, they also lessen the likelihood that you will be surprised by

random barbarian attacks.

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