MultiPlayerCiv2 (beta version)
(aka Megalomans, aka CivMatch, aka Take that Nuke and die ! aka Uncivilized)
By Guillaume JAY & Sylvain LABASSE


I Introduction :

	Civilization II (copyright 1996 Microprose) is a great game. I love it. Some of my friends 
(those who are not totally Quakerized) love it. My ex-girlfriend love it (and people wonder why I 
still missed her ..).
	But it has a big problem. You can only play it alone. That's stupid. And even worse, if you 
take a close look at some text files (for example, game.txt), you can see that it was planned to 
be multiplayer.
	And , even if as a amateur programmer I'm quite impressed by the IA of Civilization II, as 
a player, I'm often disappointed by it. Sometimes, there's nothing as good as an human brain.
	So, one day, after I crushed a friend at Warcraft II, and beat him at DN3D, we discussed 
a little about which game will be the most challenging to play, he versus me. Civilization II came 
to mind. As we are young, full of enthusiasm, and quite fond of programming, we loaded it, and 
took a close look at it, how it works, and things like that. The next day, Sylvain (my friend) 
phoned me : he has found a way. Two weeks and a half later,  MultiPlayerCiv2.exe was born, in 
a beta version.
	So here it comes :  a little program that permit you to play a multiplayer Civ2, on one 
computer, on a local arena network, or even on the Internet, with some nice features. For 
example, the diplomatic system (for now only available in hotseat mode) is better than the 
original one.

II How to play :

	First, this a beta version. It's not idiot-proof (far from it). I test it a little, and it seems to 
work, but like we say in France " Je n'en mettrais pas ma main au feu ". I mean, I know who 
made it.  It's me and Sylvain, and we're not perfect, far from it... So be careful. Use the autosave 
option. And tell me about the bugs, crashes, and things like that. That's why I release this 
version. But I can say that it won't crash your hard disk. At least, I will be very surprised if this 
happens  :-). But I won't assume any responsability. (In fact, I'm a bit too pessimistic, 
MultiPlayerCiv2 is quite stable and reliable).

	Okay, so you really want to try it. It's quite easy, since the play options are quite non-
existent for now. Installation is simple : there's nothing to do. Just put the executables 
somewhere, with MPCiv2.dll available (for example, in the same directory), and you're ready.  
MultiPlayerCiv2 will write in your registry, you can delete his entries easily  (just search for 
" MultiPlayerCiv2 " in the registry editor).

Hotseat : (two or more  players on only one computer)
Just launch MultiplayerCivII(MPCiv2Server.exe). Perhaps after giving MPCiv2 some 
information (like the Civilization II path), select a saved Civ2 Game. You should have 
created this saved game before, by starting a normal Civilization II game. Click on 
HotSeat (for TCP/IP see below). By clicking on "Configure game", you can choose 
configure the difficulty level, and the barbarian activity.
Then, choose which civilizations you want to play, and, if you want, edit some information 
about them (name of king , gold, sciences…). Doubleclick a civilization name to make it 
either human or computer controlled.
When you're done, Click on " Play ! ". MPCiv2 will launch Civ2.exe. Then, you can play 
normally, pressing enter when your turn is finished to let the others humans play.

TCP/IP : (several computers, linked by a local network, or Internet

	You need one creator. This creator should launch MPCiv2Server.exe, load a 
saved game, configure it (choose which civs are available for humans),edit science, 
civilization..) then click on TCP/IP, next click on " Create TCP/IP ". Now, all human 
players should launch on their computer MPCiv2Player.exe. They must configure this 
client software, especially the creator address. Then, and after the creator has clicked  
on " Create TCP/IP ", each player should click on " Next ", to access tothe following 
window. On his window, the creator can see the human player connect : the leader name 
for each connected civilization becomes the name entered by the player, and the last 
column read "Yes". When at least one human player is connected, the creator can 
choose to launch the game, by clicking on " Play ". Then, the game is sent to the first 
player, who can play normally, clicking on return when his turn is ended. Then, the game 
is sent to the next player, and so on. Civlization II will be loaded an unloaded 
automatically, don't be worrried.
	The creator is not a player. If you want to play on the same machine than the 
creator (id est : mpciv2Server.exe), then you must launch a player (mpciv2Player.exe).
	I advise you to play it on a LAN, rather than Internet. It has not been tested on the 
net, and it is not optimized. If you really want to try it on the net, please use small maps.
	Read the next paragraph. It's useful.

III How to make MultiPlayerCivII bug or crash :

? go in " Games Options ", and disable " Always wait at end of turn ".
? pressing Enter on the main window, if your turn isn't finished (id est : you still have units to 
move ). (but you can press Enter to close other windows, for example the science advisor).  
Never press enter on the main window, except to close opened windows or to end turn 
(really, when End of Turn is writed in the bottom right). Don't use Enter/Return to open a 
town screen. It will confuse MPCiv2. For now, it's not too grave, but for network game, it is 
really dangerous. I'm thinking about it.
? Other tricky things I'm sure people will discovered.
If you use MPCIV2 and CIV2 normally, you shouldn't have any problems.

IV Tips and tricks :

a)	Creating a saved game :

Except for two points, explained below, to create a saved game, you just create a normal 
game, like you would do in a normal single player game. You can even begin a scenario, 
and then save.
	When creating a saved game for use with MPCiv2, I suggest you to always use as 
human the romans, russians, or celts. Why ? Because, if you choose another civilization, there is 
a risk that before you save the game for use with MPCiv2, some computer civilizations have 
already played. So, if a human player took the place of one of these civilizations, his first turn will 
be already finished. If you don't understand me (which won't surprise me. English is not my first 
language), just try create a game with a Sioux player, then assume another player as human in 
MPCiv2. Then, you'll see what I mean. 
	The second point is, when you create your game, to go in the Cheat menu, select " Edit 
scenario parameter ", then toggle the scenario flag so it reads " SCENARIO ", then save the 
game as a normal one. If you don't do this, when loading the game, MPCiv2 will warn you, and if 
you want, will make this modification automatically, by loading and controlling Civilization II.

b)	Miscellaneous :

Using the " Copy to " options, when editing sciences, allows you to balance the game. For 
example, for a 4000 BC start, using Copy Sciences to Humans Players will ensure that no 
human has more sciences than another one.
	
c)	the " Update every turn " option :
	(only available in Hotseat mode)
This option makes Civ2 save the game at each end of turn. Then MPCiv2 read and write to 
this saved game, and make Civ2 reread it again. For now, the only thing done is putting the 
map window centered on the first city of the next human player, so this player won't know 
where your civilization is located. 
By using these options, and by clicking on " Update Information ", you'll see the list of the 
damaged or destroyed units since your last turn.

d) Diplomacy :
	(only available in hotseat mode)
	When swapping an unit, this unit is placed in the capital of the player who gets it. The 
capital is his city  with a palace. If he has no palace, then its first city. This unit will be owned by 
this city.
	When swapping an city, all units owned by this city will be part of the deal, and placed In 
the swapped city.
For a treaty to be signed, both players must check the corresponding box(Peace, Alliance, 
Cease-Fire).
Even in TCP/IP mode, internal diplomacy (handled by Civilization II) between human-
controlled civilizations is forbidden, and is (in most of the case, please tell me about the 
others) automatically discarded by MPCiv2. This is because if this diplomatic request was 
processed as usual, one of the human side will be handled by the computer, which is not a 
good thing. In a test, the computer, answering for me, gives 50 gold to Sylvain, because it 
was scared. I wasn't scared...

V An internal look : What does MPCiv2 do ?

	When you load a saved game, this game is analyzed, and a copy is made, for exemple 
civ.sav is copied to civ.mpc. This .mpc file will be the file used by MPCiv2, so civ.sav will not be 
modified. (Except for transforming it in a scenario, as explained in IV a).
If you load a mpc file, there won't be any backup copy.
	When you clicked Play, MPCiv2 makes some change to the .mpc saved game. The ones 
you should know about is :
? clearing the " Cheat " flag.
? Disactivate in Game Options :  " Show Enemy Moves " (since only the first human player will 
see them), " Tutorial Help ".
? Activate in Game Options : " Wait for end of turn " (Really important), and " No Pause after  
Enemy Moves ".
? Disactivate a few graphics options (throne room, council, diplomatic emissary).
You should NEVER disable "Wait for end of turn". And you should never  activate " Tutorial 
Help ".
The graphics options can perhaps be reactivated. Test it, and tell me. But they won't work for all 
players, especially the throne room.

VI Bugs and compatibility :

You can make it bug easily. I told you above how.
A few bugs, or possibility of bugs :
?  cease-fire between human players are perhaps not correctly handled by Civ2.
Three things are prone to be buggy : Update information, Diplomacy, AND TCP/IP version.

	If you report a bug, please tell me which version of Civ2 and Mpciv2 you're using. (to 
know the civ2 version, launch a game, and read the title of the game options windows). If a 
message box appears about an error, please tell me exactly what it says.
	Check before reporting that Civ2  has no problem alone. Don't hesitate to email me a 
saved game file (zip it, please).
	I tested MPCiv2 v0.65 in hotseat mode with Civ2 v1.0, v2.42, english, french, and 
deutch, without the original CD (Because it is lost in my bedroom, and I'm fed up with looking for 
it.) and with the " Update every turn " option checked, without problem, at least for starting a 
multiplayer game. 
Next versions are less thoroughly tested.
	MPCiv2 0.70 in TCP/IP mode was tested on a LAN, formed by a 200 (overclocked to 
250Mhz)MMX/ 32 Mo and a Pentium 133 / 32 Mo, both with Civ2 2.42 installed.
	MPCiv2 works only under Windows95, and perhaps NT. 
	If your computer is too slow, there can be problems (But I'm not sure of this). Most 
notably, if Civ2, when launched by MPCiv2 get stuck on the CD-Check window, it is surely a 
problem of computer speed. We've got this error on a 486 DX2-66 / 8Mo. I rewrote the code, 
and it seems to be far more able to cope with this problem.

VII Future :

	Things to do :
? better network support . (Lots of thing to do : adding diplomacy, gaining speed…)
? More security features.
? French, deutch and  spanish versions.
? Better interface.
? Rewrite this documentation.
? Other things YOU'll want to have.
? At the beginning of a human turn, automatically display the destroyed units.

VIII Past :

	V0.50 : (April, 13, 1997) First released version.
	V0.60 : (April, 20, 1997) 
? Interface changes.
? Possibility to choose the human civilizations.
? More secure, and easier to use.
? Better documentation.
? More based on saved game.
V0.61 : (April, 27, 1997)
? you can now edit some facts about the civilizations.
? Even easier to use.
? Better documentation. 
V0.62 : (April, 29,1997)
? made a paragraph about how to make MPCiv2 change the civs name.
? Suppressing some diplomacy messages.
? Possibility to load and save  a .mpc game.
? Runs smoother.
V0.63 : (May 21,1997)
? Correcting a few bugs.
? Name change to MpCiv2Server.
? You can now edit game difficulty and barbarian activity level.
V0.64 : (May 27,1997)
	- a few bugs corrected, especially when launching Civ2.
 V0.64a : (June, 3, 1997)
? a bug corrected, which make mpciv2 crash when launched on a computer 
without TCP/IP support.
? A few minor bugs corrected.
V0.65 : (August, 17, 1997)
? more information available (units, cities).
? Better display.
? each turn beginning, the view is centered on the first city of the human player, 
or on an unit of this player.
? Civ2 is hidden between human turn (by an awful window, which will include a 
lot of information).
V0.66 : (August, 24, 1997)
? bugs corrected.
? More information available.
? Diplomatic system.
V0.67 : (September, 6, 1997)
? bugs corrected.
? You can now see the list of units damaged or destroyed between your turns.
V0.68 : (September, 9,1997)
? Bugs corrected in Diplomacy.
? Bugs corrected in Edit Civilization (more exactly, better understanding of the 
Microprose logic :-( )
V0.68a : (September, 11, 1997)
? Bugs corrected in " Update informations "
? The " hiding window " now display the previous and the next human players.
V0.68b : (September, 21, 1997)
? Bugs corrected in " Update Informations ".
? Science progress reduced to 0 after a diplomatic exchange.
Bugs corrected in diplomacy :
	Update map view.
	Swap cities and units correctly.
	When swapping units, reset wrongs flags (like building a mine etc…)
	V0.70 : (October, 12 ,1997)
? Bug corrected when counting science in a scenario type game.
? Bug corrected when converting from normal save game to scenario save 
game.
? More accurate reading of Civ2 text files. Now MPCiv2 try to read files like 
rules.txt first in the saved game directory.
? Minor rewriting of the documentation.
? TCP/IP support.
? Minor rewriting of the MPCiv2.dll

v0.70a: (October, 15 ,1997)
? Bug appeared in 0.70 corrected in HotSeat mode.
? Turn of Last contact between human is always current turn. Should remove 
some diplomatic windows.

	v0.70b: (Octover, 21, 1997)
? Minor bugs correctd in hotseat mode.
? Should not fail anymore to close the "Civ2 CDrom not in drive" window.

IX Thanks, Acknowledgements, Rights of distributions, and Last Warnings :

	First, I'll thank Sylvain LABASSE, for all the help he gave me. And for all the work he has 
done. Even if sometimes (like at one am, after five hours of TCP/IP mode debugging), I get a 
little nervous, and quick to anger, it doesn't matter, nor affect the friendship I have for him.
	Then, I'll thank Microprose, for this most excellent game.
	And all the net-people who get in touch with  me : everybody who emails me, and 
especially these persons :
- Jørn "Innocence" Gaarde, "Pulsar" for help supplied.
- Casper Lageweg, Brian Foo, john king, Adrian Swinoga for bugs report.
- Arve Haugland, Fredrik Angsmark, Christof Luda,"Mike", bendcorp, Mattias Bergander, Dave 
O'Neill, joel sira, Xxl3oozxX (sic), Pete Bennett for having wrote some nice things, or suggering 
ideas..
(I've got more  names to add but  I forgot them. See in next documentation version..)

	MPCiv2 is freely distributable, as long as you distribute the original archive, containing :
? MPCiv2Server.exe 	: the executable for hotseat game, and for creating TCP/IP Game.
? MPCiv2Player.exe	: the player's executable for TCP/IP game
? MPCiv2.DLL		: a needed DLL.
? MPCiv2.txt, MPCiv2.rtf, fileid.diz : various documentation files.
AND, if you choose to distribute MPCiv2 on a web page, on a CD-Rom with a magazine, or 
all other ways of reaching a lot of people, ask me the permission before. I'll give it to you, be 
sure, but I just want to know before.
According to these conditions, this beta version is freeware. 

As I already say, this is a beta version. If I choose to make it available now, it's because it 
seems  playable now, and because I want YOU to tell me about what doesn't work, and what 
you'd like to be able to do . Don't hesitate to criticize or suggest (even my english..)

	Email 	: jay@mail.dotcom.fr
	www 	: http://www.citeweb.net/gjay/mpciv2.html

	Snailmail : Guillaume Jay, 47700 Beauziac,	France

	" Mostly we just argue about the rules we make up ! That's the part I like ! "
		Hobbes, in Calvin& Hobbes, by Bill Waterson.
