Sid Meier's Civilization II
Windows 3.x - 1996
Description of Sid Meier's Civilization II
While Sid Meier's Civilization would not get a proper “sequel” until Alpha Centauri, the 1991 4X game spawned a genre-defining franchise of remakes. Civ II is NOT an incremental upgrade of its predecessor; instead it significantly expands on elements of the original while implementing new features and functionality that would eventually find their way into Alpha Centauri in a more polished state.
Civ II's improvements include a much larger tech tree, substantially more unit types, more city structures, support for larger maps, and rudimentary city-planning AI. Even better, though it may still be hard for “island” cultures, the “Earth” world map is not completely unplayable! Changes to how the “Senate” handles aggressive and treacherous diplomatic strategies make playing Republics and Democracies more interesting.
Available playable civilizations (including new ones, such as the Sioux and the Celts) are a strange mix, and many representative leaders chosen for the cultures range from poor to out-and-out head-scratchers, but that's no different from any Civ game.
The city-planning AI is relatively weak, and the priority of city improvements it uses makes it unuseful as a time-saver until late game; the more granular approach in Alpha Centauri is far better, but it has its roots here. The costume-wearing advisors, filmed in live action, add an element of cheesiness to the game not present in the original, but it's a fun touch (and the Foreign Minister is cute!)
Civ II is not just bigger on your disc; it is a much longer game—you won't knock out Civ II in an evening. Or even just a few evenings. Be ready to hunker down for several weeks as you bring your faction from the stone age to the stars!
Review By P. Alexander
Check out the civfanatics website for more infos, tips and strategy: http://www.civfanatics.com/civ2/.
Also, don't miss this reddit gem: I've been playing the same game of Civilization II for almost 10 years. This is the result.
Sid Meier's Civilization II has the following addons available: Sid Meier's Civilization II Scenarios: Conflicts in Civilization and Civilization II: Fantastic Worlds, don't miss them!
External links
How to play Sid Meier's Civilization II Windows 3.x
- Download the “sid-meier-s-civilization-ii_window-04r4.zip” and extract it where you can easily find it.
- Civ 2 uses an older .bin disk image. You may need to convert it to .iso. My recommended program for converting .bin to .iso is WinBin2Iso. It's free and does not have a maximum file-size for conversion. http://download.cnet.com/WinBin2Iso/3000-20432_4-75450182.html
- Once the .bin file has been converted, use VCDRom to mount the virtual disc. Instructions on how to setup window's Virtual CDRom Control Panel can be found here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-https://www.terabox.app/sharing/link?surl=qJg_nyNSx-1tCeWGdA6bUA"box">
Captures and Snapshots
Comments and reviews
anonymous 2024-02-16 0 point
Sorry @ JEZ but you need an IQ over room temperature to operate a computer. Try using otvdm or DXWnd.
jez 2023-06-20 0 point
be wary about a lot of the bin to iso downloads. They contain malware. After finally finding a legit one, I found the game wouldn't run. "This app can't run on your pc" message. Waste of time. I used original until cd got scratched and couldn't use any more. is my favorite game of all time.
memememe 2022-11-12 0 point
@guicho Have you installed windows 3.x? I think it will need that to play. There are several emulator programs that will enable you to do that. You can use DosBox-X or VirtualBox.
guicho 2022-10-12 -1 point
ive downloaded... but i cant install the game. Anybody tell how i do it?
classic player 2022-06-26 0 point
i like how it ads more units and techoligies then civ 1
but stil similir and classic
Shifty 2022-04-29 1 point
The instructions dont work. Even after I've done everything it still wont run, says windows cant run it. I guess the people doing this have an older operating system? Idk
Real shame though
Kevin 2022-02-15 2 points
I've played this game for over 20 years. I like the real historical events. This is why it's better than the newer the other civilization games.
Vintage 2021-11-05 0 point
Ok i remember playing this game years ago but It had Australia has one and some others that i can not remember. But can't seem to find it anywhere any help in finding that version of the game?
Australia was an Orange Civilization.
Andy 2021-09-28 0 point
Just FYI Patch v2.42 is in French, or at least it converts the game to French with no possibility of choosing English. That's fine for me but if you don't understand French then don't install the patch.
I found a workaround for the patch changing it to French. Delete all the .fre files then change all the English language files from .txt to .fre and it will be in English. The patched .exe file obviously points to the .fre files for some reason.
Hope this helps some people.
ahmed 2021-08-27 1 point
the videos don't work (wonders and the consultants) is there any solution? thanks
Teph87 2020-10-09 -4 points
Join this discord if you want to play civ 2 with some people
https://discord.gg/ZtnC2he
BullForce 2020-10-08 -1 point
It's an incredible game to lern teh sequences of culture and technology discovered. An useful game to school also
bink85 2020-05-08 2 points
I used to play Civilisation II all the time. The new ones are to refined.
Baschti 2020-04-17 2 points
Amazing! Bringing back really old, good memories. :-))
I am running CIV2 in Dosbox with Windows 3.1. Does anyone know how to get the music from the bin/cue running? I have mounted it with "IMGMOUNT d filename -t iso -fs iso"? Accessing the files OK, but no CD-music?
nzbrad 2020-03-28 -9 points
i tried to download this for my windows tablet but once i converted the bin file and then mounted the iso, and opened the setup file it told me that "the app can't run on this pc". any ideas?
Adam 2020-02-01 4 points
I can't figure out how to get all of this installed and everything. Makes me so mad. Need a step by step in more detail. :(
anskar alvarez 2020-01-30 -1 point
i love this game and been playing it for a long time. is one of the best ever
dondraper 2020-01-16 2 points
Currently playing this game on Linux Mint 19.3 using WINE flawlessly.
Unski Tunkio 2020-01-01 0 point
Does this version work? I had some problems with the program crashing (win10) and losing the maps...?!
Best game of the universe 2019-11-13 0 point
@PG ahah me too, after finish (over 100 time..) now i'm enjoy this game with scenario, and create new personal world's... xD
Ace 2019-11-05 -2 points
I am trying to download the driver for CD-ROM but i can’t do it and I don’t know what I’m doing wrong is there a video tutorial or something to help
pokedude104 2019-10-12 15 points
This was my first PC game ever. I would sit and watch my dad play it every day and I eventually figured out how to play just from watching. I loved it so much and played the absolute crap out of it for many many years and I've never really completely stopped playing it. I've still got the original thick manual and tech tree poster that came with the box that my dad thankfully held onto but sadly I lost the CD ages ago and after tearing the house apart more than once accepted it was gone. Thank you so much for uploading the vanilla version and not the MGE with that horrible AI aggression bug in it. I've been searching for this specific version since I lost the CD and I'll be burning one of my few remaining fresh CD-R's with this to replace it. You guys are godsends
Beler 2019-08-04 1 point
Possibly the best pc game. Maybe it had ports, but this is the best version.
Idea -Man ! 2019-04-18 6 points
I know its not the same but there is a Fantastic freeware version of civ2 called FreeCiv !
I have played it on my x64 i3-350 linux laptop...
it has more options than Civ does.
I kinda prefer it tho its non-identical.
Have fun....
Anonymouse 2018-03-14 3 points
Thanks for this game.
I am an old gamer/programmer and can not play much games anymore.
To complcated.
So thanx again
MikeyInTheD 2017-12-29 4 points
Game stopped working after I ran the latest Windows 10 update sometime in December 2017. So disappointed since I had it working on Windows 10 without a virtual machine previously.
Stevie the Roman, and his old game. 2017-09-06 35 points
I've been playing this game for 20 years now. It's still my favourate game!
The newer versions have gotten too complicated. I don't like them.
To get this 16 bit game working in Windows 10 64 bit, I had to do the following:
- install Oracle's Virtualbox x64. (free program)
- install Windows XP as a virtualbox client. (Just follow VirtualBox's help, very easy)
- update XP with SP3 (free from MS)
- install Civilization 2 :-) (you can install any app/game this way)
Works great in windowed, full screen or seamless mode, just like another Win 10 program.
mike 2017-08-27 -2 points
so what do i do after its been downloaded?
It wants me to find an AP in the app store.
Cavebear 2017-08-14 0 point
I played games on Atari, then Commodore 64, then on Windows1. The first day I loaded Civ 2 was on a Friday Night. I played until I dropped on Sunday and called in sick the Monday. And kept playing when I woke up.
Now I can't play on Win10. I've tried some fixes but can't get them to work. Tried the Civ 2 Multiplayer fixes and no luck there either.
I think I'll see if the local PC store has any old boxes...
Other ideas?
Cerran 2017-03-01 -3 points
If it's the 16 bit version of the game, it won't run on a 64 bit system, period (thanks Microsoft). If the civ2xp64patcher file doesn't help, you have a 16 bit program. What you *might* want to do is see about getting the Civilization Chronicles pack that has the 32-bit versions of Civ2, MGE and ToT with it. Good luck.
Another workaround for the dreaded "Hit B to Try To Build A City, But Nuke Your Game Instead" bug is to build from the menu. I figured that one out the hard way. ;-)
alp 2017-02-07 -1 point
Dave 92
I doubt your tablet will play this...you cuold try it in DosBox (i run most of my games in it) or if its actually a Windows Game you could load Virtual Box on your PC and install windows 95 or 98 (ISO's are online I am sure....) Youtube should have plenty of virtual box and Dos Box videos to show how.
dave92 2016-11-06 1 point
Any recommendations to be able to play this on. My Surface tablet everything I have tried is failing, surely it can play such an old game
spartan 2016-07-11 2 points
I once spent two days solid playing civ 2 when it was first released. I missed a days work and only stopped playing when I fell asleep at the keyboard. I cannot wait to get back into the game on windows10. Better graphics on todays "steam games"but not a patch on civ 2 playability.
90's was the time of games 2016-07-04 0 point
i remember nana pulling the plug on the PC just to get me off this game and now using windows 10 i can play this again, oh how i miss original games like Civilization
NOR 2016-06-16 0 point
If the game crashes when you try to build a city ("b"), download "CIV2xp64patcher", by Masterx (google it:)). The game works on my Windows 10 system...
Echo 2016-04-30 3 points
This game does work on windows 8.1 but you need to run it in Compatibility Mode
scotty_f 2016-04-21 -13 points
I have a copy of Civ. II gold edition, Windows version, and can't seem to run it on a brand new 64-bit platform with Windows 10. Does the patch below fix this problem?
Blitzky 2016-04-12 -4 points
Is the Civilization 2 works on Windows 8.1 64bit please reply early as possible thank you.
The FACE 2015-11-14 -1 point
SHELBY - If CIV2 crashes when you try to build a city by using the 'b' key, then use the Menu options and select 'build city' option. Then use you cursor to click on the dialog boxes. This works on my old XP netbook that I use when traveling. Hope it works for y'all too.
furmichi 2015-11-05 -1 point
How can I get it to run properly? I've tried running in compatibility mode.
Drew 2015-10-18 2 points
The 28 mb download works great in my Xp virtualbox! I had Russian and French options on install, and French was really French but Russian was just English.
I have the real cd at home and so far the only difference I can see is it doesn't highlight the city radii. A minor point, this is great!
AS 2015-09-24 -31 points
Is there an 'easy' (not terribly techy) way to play this on Windows 10?
Playa 2015-07-29 1 point Windows 3.x version
On building cities--use the dropdown menu instead of pressing "b".
Shelby 2015-05-24 4 points Windows 3.x version
Game crashes any time I try to build a city. Suggestions?
Jenn 2015-05-17 0 point Windows 3.x version
Mine will only play in French. I didn't even INSTALL the french version. x.x
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Windows 3.x Version
28 MBGame Extras
Various files to help you run Sid Meier's Civilization II, apply patches, fixes, maps or miscellaneous utilities.
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