Get quick and convenient access to just the hints you need for Civilization II, without staying on our website. Just download a free trial
version of our UHS Reader software and
a copy of these hints. You will get the
same gradual hints you see here -- unlike ordinary cheats or a
walkthrough that can spoil your game.
You can also buy the full version of the UHS Reader
for Windows or macOS. For just $14.95, you get full access to hints for
hundreds of games and 1 year of free updates. You can also search, decode, or print an entire
game's worth of hints at once.
Ask the Author
If you have questions about a puzzle that aren't answered
anywhere in these hints,
you may contact the author.
Civilization II Hints
Advances
With eighty-nine different advances available in the game, it can be kind of confusing as to which ones to research. Whatever your intentions, it is important to not just blunder around choosing whatever looks the nicest at the time; research toward a goal.
If at any time it happens that none of the advances you need for your goal are available, then you may consider picking up something that would suit your current needs or get something which would help toward your next goal. I think that it is undisputable that the first target of your research should definitely be Monarchy. Despotism has just got to go as soon as possible and Monarchy is a better choice early in the game than Republic because it is initially easier to keep your population happy (martial law).
After you get Monarchy, I would work toward the advances which give you the ability to build the two best wonders in the game: Leonardo's Workshop and Michelangelo's Chapel. I usually go after Monotheism (Michelangelo's Chapel) first and then rush toward Invention (Leonardo's Workshop). Sometimes, however, I've found it better to head towards Invention and I can pick up the path to Monotheism on the way or trade for it. It is never a mistake to research Philosophy if you will be the first to discover it because it grants you one free civilization advance, leaving you no further behind your plans than if you had passed it over.
It is important to be the first to discover these advances so that you are sure to be able to build these key wonders for your civilization. There are ten dead-end advances (ones which are prerequisites for nothing) which you can discover in Civilization II. They are as follows:
Dead-End Advance Units Improvements Wonders Amphibious Warfare Marines Port Facility Combined Arms Helicopters Paratroopers Environmentalism Solar Plant Espionage Spy Fundamentalism Fanatics Genetic Engineering Cure for Cancer Labor Union Mech. Infantry Refrigeration Supermarket Stealth Stealth Bomber Stealth Fighter Theology J.S. Bach's Cathedral
Not all of these advances need be researched in any one game. Unless you need something that the advance will make available to you, don't research it. And if your need is not immediate, put it off as long as possible, maybe even until everything else is discovered. It is important to notice that the prerequisites for the Future Technologies are only Fusion Power and Recycling; you don't need to discover everything in order to go after these score-boosting techs.
If your research is stagnant, you will die. That's all there is to it, you have to keep up with everyone else and preferably be ahead. When you focus your research toward one specific goal, you often find yourself needing some of the advances that you miss on your path. If that is the case, and it surely will be, you may want to consider trading for the ones you need the most, and trying to steal the rest. After all, why share your knowledge with potential rivals unless you have to? If the time and resources are available, the Great Library wonder is probably the best way to pick up those advances that you missed along the way.
Ten of the twenty-eight Wonders of the World expire with the discovery of certain advances. This is obviously to your disadvantage if you have the Wonder, so you should put off cancelling your own wonders as long as possible. For example, if you have Leonardo's Workshop (which automatically upgrades obsolete units), try to put off the discovery of Automobile until you have used it as fully as possible to upgrade your units. The expiration of wonders can be to your advantage as well if a rival civilization has built a useful Wonder which you don't want them to get much use out of. If you want to stop a rival's Wonder, just discover the advance which cancels it. The following is a list of the wonders which expire and what causes them to expire.
(Veteran Civilization players, take note of the changes.)
Wonder of the World Expires With Colossus Flight Great Library Electricity Great Wall Metallurgy Hanging Gardens Railroad King Richard's Cursade Industrialization Leonardo's Workshop Automobile Lighthouse Magnetism Marco Polo's Embassy Communism Oracle Theology Sun Tzu's War Academy Mobile Warfare
