While it's not 100% the same, Freeciv is an actively developed and fairly faithful open-source clone of Civ2 that should run well on any OS. You can even play it in your browser if you want.
If worse comes to worst, give FreeCiv a try. It's basically an open-source clone of Civ2, and can be played in a browser or as a downloadable program.
Otherwise I'd recommend trying to set up a private LAN via Hamachi or Tunngle. These tools let you basically set up an internet connection with a group of people that acts like a LAN connection, so you don't have to worry about thing like port forwarding.
I think, for a lot of people, this would be an instabuy. But for some reason it's not happening, nor do I see it happen in the near future. Probably the current owner of the name does not want it.
Well, I guess there is always: http://www.freeciv.org/
If you can't find the original game for sale anywhere, which seems like it could be a problem, head over to the website for FreeCiv.
It's basically Civ II in open-source format. There are a few differences that arguably improve the gameplay without turning it into something that feels different to play.
It even supports browser play.
For the record, you can download FreeCiv for, well, free. It doesn't need DOSBox to run, and it has settings that make it behave essentially the same as Civ2 in game mechanics terms.
I found Civ 5 to be the closest to the originals for me. I certainly prefer the realistic graphics style over Civ 6 and its cartoony look, and the game plays pretty close to the original. There is even a mod you can get that puts the Throne Room back in.
If you are dead set on the 'old school' feel then there is FreeCiv It was specifically made to feel like Civ 1 and 2.
> Is freeciv an emulator? What version of civ does it emulate?
No, Freeciv isn't an emulator. Freeciv-Web is a version of Freeciv which is playable online in a browser. Freeciv doesn't emulate any particular version of civ, but is a open source game originally inspired by it, but definitely a separate game.
>What does HTML5 mean to me?
HTML5 means that you can play the Freeciv-Web game in your browser by using the technologies available from HTML5. It is the technology used to implement the game. In particular, Freeciv-Web uses the HTML5 canvas element, WebSockets and localstorage from HTML5. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML5 for more information.
>Is the game run on my computer or does it require an Internet connection? Does HTML5 mean it'll run on any operating system? Being able to run a civ version on my smartphone and tablet would be neat.
The game runs both on your web browser and on the server, in a client-server model like most webpages. The server holds the game-state, while the client handles rendering of the user-interface and graphics. It should also work on a smartphone and tablet supporting HTML5.
> How long has freeciv been around? Why should I trust that it's good enough to spend some time on it?
Freeciv has been around since 1996, while Freeciv-Web started development in 2008 I think.
If you've never played a CIV game you could always just try Freeciv for nothing: http://www.freeciv.org/
Civ 5 and 6 are pretty similar and honestly all the Civs feel the same once you've played one. The main differences are that Civ 6 matters more where you build your cities since districts have adjacency bonuses so where you build things really counts now. There's really two tech trees in Civ 6: The science tech and the civics tech. It gives you more paths to victory, really. Religion now has a victory condition.
Either game is good though, and I don't think they're overly demanding on your system.
Honestly though, if you've played one Civ you've played them all. It's a great game but it's the same general idea from title to title. Even if you don't manage to snag 6 free from Epic, you can download Freeciv and get the same general experience.
For me, I never saw too much point in playing new iterations of Civ because at the end of the day it's that same "one more turn" game, just with fancier graphics and more nuanced diplomacy in latter versions.
If you want to do it the legal open sourced way: http://www.freeciv.org/download.html
FreeCIV is a Civ2 clone made from scratch, it may have even been ported to Xbox and PS as far as I know as a homebrew game.
Every Civ game is different and worth playing on its own, so it doesn't really matter, in my opinion. Go for whatever is on sale for cheap.
Oh, and even though you seem to be looking at good graphics, FreeCiv can be fun too (just fyi, it exists), if you don't mind trying out the Civ I/II style (although it can even be set to use hex tiles like Civ 5 & 6).
I haven't played modern Civilizations but at least when I was smol, the first two Civs were superb. Arguably a middle aged man could be even more receptive to these kind of games. No real-time aspect at all.
Civ goes for like 50 buckazoids so maybe that's a reason not to go with that first, but FreeCiv is free and can even be played in a browser. If you're the right kind of person you might enjoy it a lot. I haven't played it for a while either, but it is more similar to the first Civs than the modern ones.
you should check out http://www.freeciv.org/
it's an open source "civilization building game". it's basicly a Civ 1 clone. it's not the best, but it is free so you can get the basic idea of how the game works. play it, see if you like and imagine the possibilities with modern tech. if feel like it's work the money investment(the base ps4 version is $60 and the dlc is pack another $40 i think) go for it.
I think it's locked up in licensing issues and/or with a company who are either defunct or have no interest in patching it to be compatible with modern systems. I'm not sure the rules on this sub for posting a link, but as it's basically abandonware at this point, there's plenty of safe websites dedicated to archiving the iso. You might still have to use a virtual machine of an older version of Windows to get it running proper. PCGamingWiki/CivFanatics should be able to help if you find an iso. Alternatively, there's Freeciv that's heavily based on Civ II - http://www.freeciv.org/
As far as I understand, freeciv is a reasonable clone of civ and civ 2 but I haven't played it much. I hear the network games can get a little crazy since you can have 126 players in game.
FreeCiv -> http://www.freeciv.org/ Basically civ but free. :)
Settlers 2 but with modern client mod -> https://www.siedler25.org/
Or just go for Factorio...not really total 4X but still solid game in similar niche -> free demo there, the experimental version is stable , don't worry about warnings. More stable than 99% og games you ever played. https://factorio.com/download-demo/experimental Devs do care about community so once you get a game, you can go for portable version.
All those have linux builds as well if you would be limited by that. Other than that...yea, GOG or similar :)
Umm, if you can't beat any Civ game on the easiest setting, you must be trying to lose. You could roll a dice to make random choices and still win.
With that said, your best bet (to my knowledge) would be Civ 2. It's very old, the graphics are very dated, but it is the simplest 4X I can think of. No culture or religion. Just build cities and conquer cities.
Now finding it and running it will likely be a pain in the ass, so I am not sure how good an option this is. On the other hand, there is a clone called FreeCiv. I haven't played it since it was a wreck in beta, so I can't attest to its current quality. I assume by now they've cleared up most or all of the issues it had.
I think with those specs you should try Civ 5 and XCOM: Enemy Within. Im tempted to say Crusader Kings 2 but I'm not entirely sure as to how well it will run on your rig, but I'd reckon you could get 35-50 on low-med. As for something browser based, try www.freeciv.org which runs great on literally anything.
I'll assume a GMA 4500 variant, you're looking at around 9-11fps, maybe a little bit more, set to DX9 mode 1024x768 lowest settings. Depending on your driver, you may have some graphical anomalies as well. The info I've seen indicates that playing in strategic mode smooths out the play a bit, though it looks/plays like a board game (some prefer that). Personnally I'd either go back one and play IV or just grab a copy of FreeCiv.
Free Civ is an open source Civilization style game worth checking out. It even offers multiplayer with up to 300 people and can be played in browser.
Liberal Crime Squad was created by Tarn Adams of Bay 12 (Dwarf Fort) and got me through the tail end of high school. It's a text based political RPG that's wicked funny. There's a newer version floating around GitHub with bug fixes (I still have the 2013 version). I loved Dwarf Fortress as well.
Also obligatory Team Fortress 2 recommendation. I have spent almost 3k hours on that.
Freeciv ist immer kostenlos. Und zusätzlich "frei" wie in "Freiheit". Nicht nur eine kurze Zeit. :-)
Freeciv ist schon länger das am längsten aktiv weiterentwickelte Spiel.
You might know about it already, but just in case I recommend you bookmark FreeCiv as insurance against some evil fate that makes it impossible to play Civ II anymore. Not exactly the same, but close enough that it might as well be.
You can also play it in a browser, which has interesting workplace potential.
There are tons of browser-based emulators out there for classic games. I'll go with Oregon Trail just to pick a specific game.
I'll plug FreeCiv as well. Browser-based version of the original Civilization computer game.
You should check out Freeciv. It is regularly updated. The last update was in July.
There's also FreeCiv Web so you can play in your browser. It also has a cool feature where it shows you a satellite overlay (like Google Earth) and you zoom in (or out) and it will generate that map for you to play.
Open the directory, right click "Open in terminal", then write wine name_of_the_exe.exe (the one that you started using double click). Now you should see a lot of text but usually there is a line somewhere that tell you that something is missing. Keep in mind that winehq report are tested with a specific version of wine and a specific version of the game, it may not work with a crack.
Or play http://www.freeciv.org/ that is free if you just want a game of that kind and don't want to buy it.