User talk:NorCalHistory/Archive1/archive C-evo

C-evo (standing for evolution) is a freeware game similar to Civilization II. The game was written in Delphi and the main programming is done by Steffen Gerlach.

Version 1.0.1 was published on 16 June 2006.

Gameplay


C-evo is an empire building game, dealing with the history of humans from antiquity into the future. This includes aspects of exploration and expansion, war and diplomacy, cultivation and pollution, industry and agriculture, research and administration. Players must constantly make decisions such as whether and where to build cities, roads, irrigation and fortresses, whether to form an alliance with a neighboring country or attack it, and whether to devote scarce resources to education/research, warfare, or the well-being of the populace. A successful player manages to find a balance among these choices. The game starts with the development of the wheel, and ends when the first player has successfully constructed a spaceship headed for a nearby planet outside the Solar System. As the game progresses, the player finds that the building of factories, for example, leads to increased pollution, which must be cleared up and can be eliminated through development of cleaner technologies.

The game can be played against computer-controlled players, human players, or a mixture of both.

Strategy and Tactics
Although there are a number of winning strategies, a typical approach may include the following.

Initial stage: Make sure that there are at least two irrigated squares (with roads) around each new city, and build a defender unit and a temple. As the cities grow, build marketplaces, libraries and exploring units. As the cities grow larger, build barracks, attacking units and "settler" units (to create additional cities, roads and irrigation). Try to gain a new technology about every seven turns (or sooner), including moving to a Monarchy form of government as soon as possible. Select the "Wonders" that best suit your strategy.

Second stage: As technology advances and more cities continue to grow, build aqueducts and theaters to allow further expansion. Establish contact with neighboring nations, and make decisions whether to attack neighbors or to form an alliance with them. If you decide to go to war, attacks work best if there is at least a three-to-one attacker-to-defender ratio. The "Great Wall" Wonder may be particularly useful. Form alliances with nations willing to trade or sell technologies.

Third stage: The arrival of the Industrial Revolution brings factories and pollution, as well as dramatically stronger military and cultivation units. The railroad speeds movement and development. Move to a Democracy form of government, and usually the first player to build the "Statue of Liberty" and "Eiffel Tower" Wonders will wind up as the game winner. Important strategic choices here include whether to attack your strongest opponent, attack weaker opponents, or build up resources and existing territory. Because of the rare "special resources" needed to build the spaceship, you will likely have to engage in some conquest of neighboring territory to find all the "special resources" you will need.

Final stage: In the post-industrial era, the emphasis is on controlling the squares which contain the three different types of "special resources" needed to build the game-winning spaceship. While one of the AI players may actually sell you spaceship modules, if you don't have access to all three types of "special resources" needed, you cannot win the game. Use of air power and naval power can be especially useful; for example, use air units to form a defensive shield around a newly captured city. Cities develop further with nuclear power plants and recycling facilities to reduce pollution, with a particular focus on those cities with the special resources.

Resources
On the C-evo webpage, the game and its source code, and player contributions such as additional nations and AI modules, are available.

The game has an open AI interface, which means the player can replace the standard AI contained in the package with other AI algorithms, either for all nations or for individual nations. The documentation of the AI's DLL-interface is available from the project homepage. There is also an AI development kit.

Comparison to Civilization II
Some notable differences between C-evo and Civilization II are:
 * C-evo is completely deterministic, unlike Civilization II.
 * C-evo AIs play by the same rules as humans and cannot cheat behind the scenes. The game does not distinguish between AI and human players
 * In C-evo, only a few advances immediately "unlock" unit designs (allowing construction of such units). All other unit designs are specially designed by the player with trade-offs allowed between qualities (for example, mobility vs. attack power). Scientific advancement generally allows for stronger units and more options.  Designing a unit costs research points, which must be channeled from general research into unit development.  In Civilization II, units are simply made available for construction when their required advances are made.
 * Building the spaceship requires scarce special resources. Without access to territory containing these resources, the game cannot be won.
 * Unlike Civilization II, the player can not immediately apply advances traded from other nations. Additional research is necessary to achieve the new technology.
 * Unlike Civilization II, irrigation does not require a nearby sea or river in C-evo.

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