Setup a LAN game

This text is written by Ted Wolfe. Text in italics added by Guillaume Jay.

To play MPCiv2 1.2 in TCP/IP mode, you'll need... (Some information given here are interesting for all modes).

  • A LAN (i.e. 3Com cards, patch cords, a hub, plus a neighborhood Guru to help you.)
    If you want to fly solo, we found Bob Cerelli's Win95 networking page was very helpful. Especially the installation and configuration section:     http://www.halcyon.com/cerelli/
  • Recent Windows 95 upgrade CD. We needed this to get our older PC (originally installed with the floppy disk version of Windows 95) to work. (Only needed if you haven't already installed the network components.)
  • DirectX drivers from Microsoft Download. Download the big 3 Mb DirectX 5.0 file (Took me a half hour via dialup). (You can use DirectX 3, too). Also get the 5.0a direct play patch just in case. Not sure if it makes a difference. http://www.microsoft.com/directx/download.asp
  • Civilization II version 2.42. We needed to reinstall Civilization II from the CD to remove some patches added over the last year. Get back to pure version 2.42. Just reinstalled from the Civilization II CD. If you need to use the 2.42 patch because your CD is pre 2.42, check the Civilization II web sites on Yahoo, many carry the patch. Couldn't find it on Microprose, tho' expect it is there somewhere. (You'll be able to add this patches later. In fact, MPCiv2 is now perhaps reliable enough to be installed on a patched copy of Civ2, but...)
  • Set up everthing to run standard. Civ2.exe is found in C:\MPS\Civ2\ on all machines on our home TCP/IP net. Game file used to load into MPCiv2 is found in C:\MPS\Civ2\ on our fastest PC and that PC is used to "create" the game. All the players "Civ2 path" is C:\MPS\Civ2\. All the players "saved game path" points to the SAME FILE on the fastest PC. I clicked on Network Neighborhood in MPCiv2's browse then clicked to C:\MPS\Civ2\ on that fastest PC. Turned off all the Civ2 graphic options (Heralds, Wonder Movies,etc). Turned off music. (The graphics options will be disactivated by MPCiv2, and you're not forced in theory to have such a centralization. Each computer can have his local game directory.)
  • Create a saved game. Try to follow instructions in Guillaume's Multiplayer Civ2 1.2 instructions. (Edited version below)
    To create a saved game, you just create a normal single player game with you as a "White tribe". You must select a "White" tribe (romans, russians, or celts) because Multiplayer needs to have the first play and whites always play first! As soon as your game starts, don't move your settler! Instead, go into the Cheat menu, select " Edit scenario parameter ", then toggle the scenario flag so it reads "SCENARIO", then save the game as a normal one. Remember the name and save it on that C:\MPS\Civ2 directory on your fastest PC.
  • Other thoughts: Not sure if it matters but we had the fastest PC as the "white" player and I was the Egyptians (A couple tribes down). (No, It shouldn't matter.) Then Fire up MPCiv2.exe and create the game. Players fire up copies of MPCiv2.exe loaded on their PC's and join the game.  Oh yea, for TCP/IP addresses, we set up our lan as 1.1.1.1 and 1.1.1.2 with a mask of 255.255.255.0.

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MultiPlayerCiv2 is copyright JAY Guillaume & LABASSE Sylvain 1997-1998, and freely distributable according to a few conditions, written in the documentation files. Civilization II is copyright Microprose 1996.

These pages were created by Martin Sjöstrand, one of the fans to MultiPlayerCiv2.