Software:Civilization II: Test of Time

From HandWiki
Short description: 1999 video game
Civilization II: Test of Time
Developer(s)MicroProse Hunt Valley Studio
Publisher(s)Hasbro Interactive[lower-alpha 1]
Producer(s)Alessandro De Lucia
Designer(s)John Possidente
Mick Uhl
Programmer(s)Stephen L. Cox
Artist(s)Steve Martin
Frank Frazier
Composer(s)Roland J. Rizzo
SeriesCivilization
Platform(s)Windows
Release
Genre(s)Turn-based strategy
Mode(s)Single player, multiplayer

Civilization II: Test of Time is a turn-based strategy game developed by MicroProse's development studio in Hunt Valley, and published by Hasbro Interactive in 1999. It is a remake of the best-selling game Civilization II that was released to compete with Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. Test of Time's central innovation was the addition of multiple maps and the inclusion of two campaigns concerning science fiction and fantasy themes.

Development

While the Civilization series had little to no direct competitors, this changed in 1999 when Activision created Software:Civilization: Call to Power. Call to Power was a clone title, which also extended the concept to future space/ocean colonization. This led to a legal battle between Activision and Microprose, which was resolved with Activision able to make further Call to Power games as long as they did not use "Civilization" in the title. Microprose's response was to make a spin-off game entitled Civilization II: Test of Time which, like Call to Power, included themes such as the colonization of Alpha Centauri, science fiction, and fantasy. It would later inspire the open-source project Freeciv.[3] This version had its own mods. It was included in the Sid Meier's Civilization Chronicles pack.[4]Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag

Gameplay

A screenshot of the revamped graphics

The original and extended original campaigns

Test of Time included a version of the old Civilization II campaign, with only a few minor changes. Cosmetically, however, it looked quite different, with all-new art and animated units. Test of Time also offered the option to undertake the Extended Original campaign, which was identical to the Original except that the "pink" slot for a civilization was occupied by aliens on Alpha Centauri. When one built the Alpha Centauri spaceship, instead of ending the game, it unlocked a secondary tech tree and allowed the player to colonise Centaurus (a separate map) and battle the Centaurians.

However, on all versions, the "red" slot for a civilization is always occupied by the barbarians (religious fanatics, barbarians, and guerrillas).

The science-fiction campaign

The Science-Fiction campaign focuses around a mostly fictional planetary system in orbit around the real, nearby star of Lalande 21185. The setup is that the humans along with another species identified only as the "non-humans" both crashland on earthlike Funestis, the second planet. The two species eventually learn to talk with each other and expand to the three other maps, which include the orbital platforms around Funestis left there by the ancient Lalandians, a rocky world called Naumachia, and the center of ancient Lalandian culture, the gas giant Nona. Victory can be accomplished by sending a spaceship back to Earth, by building a quantum gate back to Earth, or by conquering the star system.

The fantasy campaign and Midgard

Test of Time also included a fantasy world modelled after Norse mythology. The four maps of the Fantasy Campaign are the Surface World, the Underground World, the Cloud World, and the Undersea World. The seven species included each started on a different level. The central difference between Midgard and the Fantasy Campaign are the scripted events and premade maps for Midgard.

The civilizations of the Fantasy Campaign consist of five fantasy races and two human civilizations:

  • The Elves
  • The Merfolk
  • The Goblins
  • The Stygians (Undead)
  • The Buteo (Bird people)
  • The Humans, a human civilization similar to Europeans in the Early Middle Ages
  • The Infidels, a human civilization similar to various nomadic Asiatic and Eastern European peoples

The Elves, Humans and Infidels are most suited to the Surface World, while the Merfolk are most suited to the Undersea World, the Stygians and Goblins to the Underground World, and the Buteo to the Cloud World. However, all civilizations initially have access to the Surface World, and, as the game progresses, acquire access to all of the Worlds.

There are three ways to win the Fantasy Campaign. A player may complete a Siege Engine that can conquer all evil, may discover the rainbow Bifrost (of true Norse myth) to seek the aid of the gods, or conquer the world.

Midgard scenario

The rules of the Fantasy Campaign were originally designed for the Midgard Scenario and then extrapolated into a non-preset environment. The Midgard Scenario is heavily focused on Norse, Slavic and Celtic mythology, with figures such as Baba Yaga and The Dagda and events such as Ragnarok making appearances.

The Midgard scenario centers around the impending escape of the evil wizard Volsang, who was sealed away many centuries prior to the scenario's opening. The seven civilizations have entirely forgotten about the existence of Volsang, and so the weakening of his bonds has gone unnoticed. At the opening of the scenario, Volsang's forces begin to multiply and threaten the civilizations: most immediately the nearby Infidels, but eventually all.

In addition to the three methods of victory in the Fantasy Campaign, a player may also complete a set of ten quests that exist in-game. (This victory results in the immediate discovery of Bifrost, but is a different manner of victory than intense research.) However, due to bugs it is impossible to be able to have completed the 10 quests simultaneously to trigger this victory. [5]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
GameRankings66%[6]
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGameStarStarStar[7]
CGSPStarStarStar[9]
CGWStarStarStarStar[10]
Game Informer7.5/10[11]
GameSpot4.2/10[12]
IGN7.8/10[13]
Next GenerationStarStarStar[14]
PC Gamer (UK)79%[16]

According to Michael Klappenbach of About.com, "The game was generally panned and not well received by both critics and Civilization fans."[17] The game received average reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.[6]

Jonathan Sutyak of AllGame said the game was "for the most part, an improvement over the original."[7] John Lee of NextGen said of the game, "Maybe it's time to say, 'Okay, enough of a good thing. Bring on Civilization III.'"[14]

Joanna Maria of Techshout named it the third best Civilization game.[18]

Notes

  1. ↑ Released under the MicroProse label

References

  1. ↑ "3 Games in 1". PC Zone: 1. September 1999. https://archive.org/details/PC_Zone_80_September_1999/page/n1/mode/2up. Retrieved June 18, 2024. "In Store August 13th 1999". 
  2. ↑ Fudge, James (August 9, 1999). "Civilization II: Test Of Time Released". Strategy Plus, Inc.. http://www.cdmag.com/articles/021/196/civ2_tot.html. 
  3. ↑ Marks, Robert B. (August 11, 2016). "The most important PC games of all time: Civilization". Network N. https://www.pcgamesn.com/most-important-pc-games-civilization. 
  4. ↑ "2K Gets Set to Release Sid Meier's Civilization Chronicles Box Set". September 7, 2006. https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-128524985.html. 
  5. ↑ "TOT Midgard Woes". September 24, 2010. https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/tot-midgard-woes.382827/#post-9679186. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Civilization II: Test of Time for PC". CBS Interactive. https://www.gamerankings.com/pc/188899-civilization-ii-test-of-time/index.html. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Sutyak, Jonathan. "Civilization II: Test of Time - Review". All Media Network. http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=18821&tab=review. 
  8. ↑ Cirulis, Martin E. (August 17, 1999). "Civilization II: Test of Time". CNET. http://www.gamecenter.com/Reviews/Item/0%2C6%2C0-3072%2C00.html. 
  9. ↑ Chick, Tom (August 18, 1999). "Civilization II: Test of Time". Strategy Plus, Inc.. http://www.cdmag.com/articles/022/046/civ2_test_review.html. 
  10. ↑ Sylvester, Jasper (December 1999). "Civilization II: Test of Time". Computer Gaming World (Ziff Davis) (185): 161. https://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_185.pdf. Retrieved September 27, 2022. 
  11. ↑ Bergren, Paul (September 1999). "Civilization II: Test of Time". Game Informer (FuncoLand) (77). 
  12. ↑ Chin, Eliott (August 26, 1999). "Civilization II: Test of Time Review [date mislabeled as "May 1, 2000""]. Red Ventures. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/civilization-ii-test-of-time-review/1900-2538415/. 
  13. ↑ Butts, Steve (August 13, 1999). "Civilization II: Test of Time". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/1999/08/14/civilization-ii-test-of-time. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lee, John (November 1999). "Civilization II: Test of Time". NextGen (Imagine Media) (59): 123. https://archive.org/details/NextGen59Nov1999/page/n125/mode/2up. Retrieved September 27, 2022. 
  15. ↑ Morris, Daniel (October 1999). "Civilization II: Test of Time". PC Accelerator (Imagine Media) (14): 91. https://archive.org/details/PCXL14Oct1999/page/n89/mode/2up. Retrieved September 27, 2022. 
  16. ↑ Owen, Steve (October 1999). "Civilization II: Test of Time [Incomplete"]. PC Gamer UK (Future Publishing) (74). http://www.pcgamer.co.uk/games/gamefile_review_page.asp?item_id=1938. Retrieved September 27, 2022. 
  17. ↑ Klappenbach, Michael. "Civilization Series (Civilization II: Test of Time)". IAC. http://compactiongames.about.com/od/gameseries/ss/Civilization-PC-Game-Series.htm#step15. 
  18. ↑ Maria, Joanna (July 11, 2012). "6 Best Civilization Games". https://www.techshout.com/best-civilization-games/. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[18]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
  18. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628. 
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