Advanced Civilization
PACK AWAY THIS BOARDGAME, ONLY A PC IS REQUIRED
A Review of Advanced Civilization
Aaron Tarvin
Taking one look at the box of Advanced Civilization (AC), from Avalon Hill
might leave an uninformed gamer with the idea that this game is a clone of
another with a very similar title. But be warned, if anyone is copying anyone,
Sid Meyer’s Civilization would be standing trial. Long before this classic
strategy game (in the early 80’s), there was the board game, Advanced
Civilization. While Sid Meyer’s classic may have borrowed some ideas from
Avalon Hill’s board game, the computerized version is identical to its
cardboard counterpart. Like many of Avalon Hill’s games, AC is almost pure
strategy, relying more on the development of the empire as opposed to total
conquest. Military success means little if a player is determined to win the
game.
After choosing the game options, such as the number of human and computer
players, each player must select a civilization and starting location. You
start with a single unit, or token, which doubles at the beginning of each
turn. The token is the only unit (other than ships) that you will be dealing
with throughout the game. Spread the tokens across the land to expand your
empire. If more than one empire’s tokens reside within a territory at the end
of movement, a battle ensues.
A battle is controlled entirely by the computer
and consists merely of each empire losing a few tokens, so it is fairly obvious
that having more tokens in the territory than the enemy is very favorable. Some
battles may last through several turns, if the fighting empires continue to
send reinforcements.
When enough tokens are gathered within a territory
containing a city site (a red or yellow marker will be present), a city may be
constructed. Cities play a huge role, as they are the means by which you
receive goods and are difficult for the enemy to conquer. After a few turns,
most empires will wish to build ships to expand across the seas. However, ships
must be maintained if they are to be kept each turn, therefore ship
building is used infrequently in the early stages of the game. Depending on
the number of total players, each person has a maximum number of tokens,
ships and cities available at one time. Finding the correct balance
is one of the most challenging aspects of the game.
The name of the game is goods, so get your hands on them as quickly as you
can. Each city you hold enables you to draw a card which is hopefully a
‘good’ of some kind. Sometimes disasters are drawn, but crafty players can pawn
them off to an unsuspecting empire willing to trade. If you have the minimum
number of goods to be able to trade, you join the other empires in a round or
two of bartering.
This process can be confusing, and takes some practice
to acquire a profitable trade, especially since the computer players tend
to shy away from trading with a human opponent. Goods are more valuable in
quantity, since their value is multiplied by the number held. This makes
trading important for the simple reason that you can get rid of the single
commodities you own to build your stockpiles of others (thus increasing their
overall value). However, you don’t always know what you are getting. One of the
three goods you receive could be a bluff, being a good of lower value, or even
a disaster. The value of the goods are used to buy ‘advances’, referred to as
tools. These tools include items such as agriculture, medicine, literacy, etc.
Each tool obtained gives credit towards the purchase of future tools, and may
provide relief from one of the various disasters should one befall you. The
tools also provide points that are eventually required to win the game.
The interface is very easy to learn, involving simple pointing and clicking
with the mouse. Unfortunately, there are no keyboard equivalents to the
mouse clicks. So put that mouse in a comfortable position, and prepare to
click like you’ve never clicked before. If you think you made a mistake
moving your tokens during a turn, you can start your turn all over and move
again until you are satisfied. It would have been nice to be able to undo
a previous choice without having to redo everything, but at least you
aren’t stuck with an error.
AC takes place within the Mediterranean area, and the maps are superb. The
graphics are done in SVGA, but are very simplistic. A few video sequences are
shown in a small window for the various disasters, but they become quite
repetitive after a few hours of gameplay. Most of the music seems to be
some kind of Egyptian theme, playing quietly in the background as a strategy
game should. Sounds effects are non-existent, aside from the trading aspect
(which sounds like a crowded marketplace) so don’t expect to hear much.
A total of eight players, human or computer, can play at one time. The human
players can face off in hotseat mode, or make use of the play by e-mail
feature. Despite the lack of modem or network play, the e-mail option is
used heavily by those wishing to find worthy opponents. There is even a web
page where you can sign up to play others by e-mail at:
http://www.lava.net/~vanceb/ or the info can be found at the civilization page
at: http://www.liback.com/civilization/. The computer AI is fairly aggressive,
and defeating multiple computer empires can be difficult. Especially due to
their lack of willingness to trade goods with a human. The game runs
flawless except under Windows ‘95, for which a patch is available
(version 1.01). Documentation is excellent, but a short tutorial is
direly needed.
Gamers who have enjoyed the board game version of Advanced Civilization will
most assuredly enjoy the computer version. Those more used to the Sid Meyer
rendition may start to yawn after a few turns have passed. This game is all
about trading and acquiring goods, and the strategy to obtain them, not
global conquest. If after a couple hours you find yourself still sitting in
front of the computer, plotting to bluff a trade with your enemy, you are a
true strategy lover. The e-mail feature is nice, but most gamers have come
to expect the availability of more multiplayer options. The fact that the game
comes shipped on a CD-ROM means little to the gameplay. Even with minimal
installation, I never caught my CD drive active after the opening pictures.
Sid Meyer’s Civilization this game is not, but it wasn’t mean to be. Avalon
Hill has faithfully recreated their popular board game and in this they have
succeeded respectfully.
Gamer’s Zone Scorecard
| Product: | Advanced Civilization |
| Company: | Avalon Hill Game Company |
| Cost: | $45.00 |
System Requirements:
IBM PC, 486dx-33 or higher, DOS 5.0 or newer or Windows ‘95,
8 MB ram, SVGA video, CD, 4.2 MB hard drive space,
all major sound cards, mouse.
Breakdown:
Fun Factor 3
Graphics 3
Sound 2
Interface 3
Replayability 3
Overall Score:
(* 0 rating, 0 votes)
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