A Few Thoughts For Civ Experiance

[shnoogie]

#11930

I found this club at the right time. Tie Fighter and now Civilization, my favorite and most played games as a kid!

I just wanted to share a few thoughts on which version of civilization to play.

For the original Civilization experience there are 2 versions I suggest besides the DOS version. They’re almost the same game, graphics, loop, stats, etc. With additional features that enhance the experience.

First is Civilization for Windows (16 bit or 3.1 Windows). This is the one I recommend doing your main play through because it’s interface is easier to use and over all a better experience. (Still play the DOS version for a bit!)

For those who want the multiplayer experience there’s also a lesser known version called CivNet, which is Civilization 1 with multiplayer and also runs in Windows.

[Wesbat]

#11975

Hi @shnoogie, I would be very curious to learn more about multiplayer CivNet. Is this something you have experience with, and know how to get working?

As I understand CivNet is a 16-bit application and does not run on modern Windows.

It runs through WINE and its windows counterpart WineVDM — which is civfantaics.com’s recommended way to run the windows 3 version of Civ1 — however reports of CivNet’s operation over the network stack via WINE is shoddy at best.

I’ve seen more success reported running it through a VM, if you are willing to put up with the PITA to set up Windows 3/9x — good luck getting graphics drivers working — I’ve been down that road a few times, its possible, but tedious and a lot of trial-and-error.

Instead of spending all that effort, why not just use the modern FreeCiv client? It’s cross platform and includes the “civ1” ruleset out-of-the-box; just configure it to use the non-isometric “trident” tile set.

FreeCiv also supports play-by-email (passing the save file to the next person) — for us living in impossible time-zones

[butterburp]

#12013

Just a comment – I have found it easier to run Windows 3.1 in Dosbox rather than VM. You might have to set a fixed cycles count to keep the sound from stuttering. The proper cycle limit will depend on what physical CPU you have, as well as the video mode you choose in Win 3.1. As an example, on an older 4th gen i3, I think I was able to use 30000+ cycles without the sound stuttering in 256-color mode, but only about 20000 in tru-color mode. Either should be plenty for Civ.

[dr_st]

#12014

I agree. Win 3.x is really just a fancy GUI on top of DOS. DOSBox handles it mostly fine.