Catfish's Cave - Resources For Civilization 2: Test of Time
1 Main
6 FAQ
6 Guides
5 War of the Ring
2 Units
(last modified
31/01/2007)
3 Terrain
(last modified
19/04/2006)
4 Miscellaneous Graphics
(last modified
19/01/2008)
7 Links

A Summary of Civilization 2 Versions

I've read all sorts of derogatory remarks about Test of Time, from it being a substandard version of Civ2: MGE to some kind of failed SMAC-Civ2 hybrid. What it really is, is the latest version of the Civilization 2 game engine. In an attempt to expunge a few myths, I've made a comparison table for three of the most popular versions of Civ2. I've excluded vanilla Civ2 (version 2.42 or less) from the mix, as it's not really a suitable platform for scenario design and that's mainly where my interest lies. In compiling the table I've tried to maintain objectivity (except for the last item ;)). Obvious differences are included, but also subtle ones which (from my own experience and reading Internet forums) affect playability, such as variances in the User Interface. The list is by no means exhaustive, but it should remove some misconceptions. I don't actually own a copy of MGE, so I hope all of the information about that product is correct. Which is the best game engine for scenario design? Of course there's no events scripting in Civ3.

Fantastic Worlds 2.78 Multiplayer Gold Edition 1.3 Test of Time 1.1
Colour depth 8-bit indexed palette1 8-bit indexed palette1 15-bit Highcolor2
Backwards compatibility Yes Yes3 No4
Multiplayer capability No5 Yes Yes
City management screen Standard Standard Standard or ToT version6
Status bar Vertical (RHS default) Vertical (RHS default) Vertical or Horizontal (Top default)7
Active unit indicator Blinking Unit Blinking Unit Blinking Tile Marker
Health bar and shield Large shield, position adjustable Large shield, position adjustable Small shield, position fixed8
AI diplomacy model Standard Aggressive Aggressive
Animated units No No Yes
Animated terrain No No Yes
Animated heralds Yes Yes No
Combat animation (icons.gif) Yes Yes No
High council Yes Yes No
Wonder movies Yes Yes No
Throne room Yes Yes No
Game editors Yes Yes No
Map editor Yes Yes No9
Expanded Civilopedia for scenarios No Yes Yes
Events space (kB) 2610 3410 104
Advanced macro language, including civ flags No No Yes
Number of unit slots 62 62 80
Secondary maps No No Up to 3
Supports gigamaps (ie, 10 923 - 32 767 tiles) No Yes Yes
Advanced scoring options No No Yes
Major objective cities (ie, x3) Yes No No
Advanced unit abilities (unbribable, invisible, etc) No No Yes
Technology restrictions for specific civs No No Yes
Impassable terrain No No Yes
Individual unit sounds Limited Limited Yes
Maximum size for unit icons (in pixels) 64 x 48 64 x 48 64 x 64
City graphics slots 6 6 7
Tile graphics per terrain slot 1 1 3
Customisable wonder/city improvement pictures No No Yes
Requires CD-ROM to play No Yes11 Yes11
Fugly default graphics ;) Debatable Debatable Absolutely
  1. A 256-colour palette, although only 192 of them can be used for game graphics.
  2. The last (16th) bit of the 2 bytes is used for mask layers.
  3. There are problems with x3 objective cities and the aggressive AI diplomacy model.
  4. Angelo Scotto's CivConverter utility can convert FW and MGE scenarios to the ToT format.
  5. With a hex edit of the SAV/SCN file you can play FW in hot seat mode. Carl Fritz's CivHot utility makes this a simple procedure.
  6. Use the City Layout toggle in the View menu.
  7. Use the Map Layout toggle in the View menu.
  8. Mercator has addressed this somewhat with his SpriteGen utility.
  9. Mercator has addressed this with his ToT Map Editor.
  10. Calculated using ToT's events debugger for equivalence.
  11. Get a No-CD crack. Simple. (I might as well host the ToT crack myself - it's only 15 kB. Works with versions 1.0 and 1.1)