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Call to Power II(CTP2) is a PCturn-based strategy game released by Activision as a sequel toCivilization: Call to Power, which was, in turn, a gamesimilar to the Civilization computer game by Sid Meier. The game couldnot have 'Civilization' in its title because the word is trademarked by the makersof the original Civilization series.^[1] InOctober 2003, Activision released the source code, enabling the Apolyton gaming community todebug, improve, and add new features.

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Differences fromCivilization: Call to Power

Call to Power II (CTP2) had a number of differencesfrom the previous Civilization: Call to Power (CTP). Manyreviewers and players criticised CTP for its interface, whichprompted a complete redesign of the user interface in CTP2. Overall, theCTP2 interface is largely considered cleaner and easier to use,although not without its shortcomings, many of which were caused byprogramming bugs.

CTP2 also included several gameplay differences. Maximum armysize was increased, some balance adjustments were made to avoid thebalance problems from the original CTP (for example, Ships of theLine were so powerful in CTP that getting them first could meanwinning the game), and the economic system in CTP2 was reworked sothat controlling good terrain became more profitable. Anotherdifference in CTP2 is that the player can receive bonuses forcertain achievements, if s/he is the first to do the action(recapturing a city, sailing around the world, etc).

The diplomacy modelin CTP2 is a major improvement over CTP diplomacy, with moreagreements available for negotiation. Players could, for example,ask the AI controlled civilizations to stop researching sometechnology, or to reduce their nuclear weaponsarsenal.

Space colonization and the space layer were removed from CTP2,along with the 'Alien Life Project' victory condition. Anothervictory condition was introduced, which required the player tocover most of the planet's territory with Gaia sensorsand build the Gaia controller wonder, winning the game.

Problems

After CTP2 was released, it became evident that the game had anumber of very serious bugs and shortcomings. For example, therewas no option of PBEM play, which had become popularamong CTP players, and was also expected to be in CTP2. Later, oneof the developers posted modifications to one of the game filesthat would allow access to PBEM mode, but it worked poorly,basically to the point of being unplayable. The conventionalmultiplayer mode was also buggy and almost unplayable.

The computer player A.I. in CTP2 was commonlyconsidered weaker than in its predecessor, having trouble movingits units around its own bigger unit stacks, being unable to defendcaptured land (leaving cities it captures undefended on the nextturn), and often ignoring defense of its own lands almostcompletely (it was quite possible for the human players to conquera large portion of an AI empire with just one or two units).

CtP2 also had some other bugs, related to scenario editing,in-game diplomacy and other elements of the game.

To address these issues, Activision released a patch for CTP2. Thepatch did add some new functionality to SLIC (see below) and fixedsome of the worst bugs in CTP2, but unfortunately, it still did notfix the AI problems and did not add PBEM support either.Conventional multiplayer became playable, although some bugs thatcould be used as cheats remained.

Not long after the patch was released, Activision officiallyannounced that they were ending all support for the Call to Powerseries, and there would be no further sequels, expansion packs orpatches. The developer team that worked on CTP2 leftActivision.

Mods

One significant feature of CTP2 is its support for mods. A large number of gamerules are stored in text files, along with many AI scripts. Evenmore importantly, CTP2 had a fully documented scripting languagecalled SLIC, with a C-like syntax, through whichmany things about the game could be tweaked. The sole releasedpatch for CTP2 enhanced the functionality of SLIC, allowingcreation of mods that change the gameplay significantly. The CTP2community created many mods, with the primary goals of fixing theAI and balance issues that were in the original game. Later, newgameplay features were incorporated through mods as well. Thesemods allowed the CTP2 community to enjoy the game much more, asthey fixed at least some of the worst problems in CTP2.

Source coderelease

After Activision ceased to support CTP2, the Apolyton Civilization Sitebecame the de-facto support center for CTP2, being the only activeonline community of this game and offering help with technicalproblems. That site is also largely where the modding efforts forCTP2 occurred.

At one point, the members of the Apolyton site contactedActivision and asked them to release the source code to CTP2. After several monthsof negotiation, Activision agreed and the source code was releasedin October 2003 exclusively to the Apolyton Civilization Site^[2]. Therewere limitations to how the source code might be used; for example,no commercial use of anything created with the source base wasallowed.

Source codeaccess

Currently, the source code project is accessible through a Subversion server. Initially, setup by user 'kaan' another apolyton member 'DarkDust' has provided ahome for the code. Through Apolyton, those wishing to view thesource code or wish to modify the code can find the SVN serverforum at the Apolyton link below for more information.

TheApolyton Edition

Since then, continued work to improve CTP2 has made manyimprovements to general gameplay and the AI, fixed most known bugs,and added new features. The multiplayer modes are still only in asemi-working state, but the single player part of the game worksmuch better with code modifications than it did in the originalgame. Work on the source code continues with a team of volunteerswith several playtest versions available at the Apolyton website'splaytest thread.

The latest Call to Power II -Apolyton Edition (May 17, 2009) is available at Apolyton. Download adobe premiere pro cs6 32 bit portable ice maker. Theplaytest is a fan created 'patch' with more stability andadditional features. A website dedicated to these features and howto implement them can be found at Bureaubert's CtP2page.

In October 2007, in celebration to the 4th anniversary of thesource code's release, the Playtest Revision 812 waspublished. Since October 2003 over 800 changes have been made tothe game.^[3]

References

1. ^Geryk, Bruce (2000-11-20). 'Call to Power II for PCReview'. GameSpotPC Games p. 1. CNET Networks. http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/calltopower2/review.html?sid=2656251. Retrieved2007-03-01.
2. ^Apolyton CTP2 NewsArchieve
3. ^Apolyton Civilization Site:CTP2 Source Code Project News, Page 1

Externallinks

• Latest Call to Power II -Apolyton Edition Playtest (17-May-2009)
• Call to Power IIat MobyGames