Caesar II
Encyclopedia
Caesar II is a computer game of the Caesar computer game series that takes place in Ancient Rome
; when the game begins the Roman empire extends no further than Italy. Players have the opportunity to civilize adjacent barbarian
province
s, eventually reaching the entire Roman Empire at its height. When a province is civilized it unlocks the surrounding provinces. A computerized rival also completes missions both preventing the player from civilizing that province and allowing them to civilize the provinces adjacent to it (the computer has been known to civilize a province it could not have selected when it successfully civilized the last, meaning it is a randomized event, rather than AI). Unlike Caesar III, or Pharaoh, the province and city are separate spheres, as is the military. The player builds primary industry (such as mines or farms), trade facilities (such as roads or docks), and military facilities(such as forts and walls) on one map and builds their city houses, secondary industry (such as wineries or potters), and tertiary industry (such as fire stations, police stations, bath houses) on another (represented as four squares in the center of the provincial map). Also unlike later games walkers are not required to bring services to people, which is instead determined by one buildings distance from another. Invading Armies differ from later games as well, in that Barbarian towns exist within many provinces from which Barbarian armies can emanate. These are converted to Roman towns through invading them and defeating the inhabitants. Most missions require you to pacify a province and raise the citizens standard of living
to a certain level, while neither suffering a military loss, nor losing the emperor's favour, often within a certain time frame. Major factors in city and province building are housing values and types of housing, unemployment
/labour shortages, taxes, wages, deficits, food shortages, Military Readiness and morale
, and Imperial demands. The game is won when the player has conquered sufficient provinces to attain the rank of Caesar. The game is lost if your computerized rival becomes Caesar, if Caesar removes you from your post for running too large a deficit, for going beyond your time frame, for failing to follow Imperial demands, or having the city conquered.
It was released in 1995
and developed and designed by Impressions Games
and distributed by Sierra On-Line. Initial reception of the game was positive. Arinn Dembo
writing for Computer Gaming World
gave the game 4 stars.
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
; when the game begins the Roman empire extends no further than Italy. Players have the opportunity to civilize adjacent barbarian
Barbarian
Barbarian and savage are terms used to refer to a person who is perceived to be uncivilized. The word is often used either in a general reference to a member of a nation or ethnos, typically a tribal society as seen by an urban civilization either viewed as inferior, or admired as a noble savage...
province
Province
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...
s, eventually reaching the entire Roman Empire at its height. When a province is civilized it unlocks the surrounding provinces. A computerized rival also completes missions both preventing the player from civilizing that province and allowing them to civilize the provinces adjacent to it (the computer has been known to civilize a province it could not have selected when it successfully civilized the last, meaning it is a randomized event, rather than AI). Unlike Caesar III, or Pharaoh, the province and city are separate spheres, as is the military. The player builds primary industry (such as mines or farms), trade facilities (such as roads or docks), and military facilities(such as forts and walls) on one map and builds their city houses, secondary industry (such as wineries or potters), and tertiary industry (such as fire stations, police stations, bath houses) on another (represented as four squares in the center of the provincial map). Also unlike later games walkers are not required to bring services to people, which is instead determined by one buildings distance from another. Invading Armies differ from later games as well, in that Barbarian towns exist within many provinces from which Barbarian armies can emanate. These are converted to Roman towns through invading them and defeating the inhabitants. Most missions require you to pacify a province and raise the citizens standard of living
Standard of living
Standard of living is generally measured by standards such as real income per person and poverty rate. Other measures such as access and quality of health care, income growth inequality and educational standards are also used. Examples are access to certain goods , or measures of health such as...
to a certain level, while neither suffering a military loss, nor losing the emperor's favour, often within a certain time frame. Major factors in city and province building are housing values and types of housing, unemployment
Unemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
/labour shortages, taxes, wages, deficits, food shortages, Military Readiness and morale
Morale
Morale, also known as esprit de corps when discussing the morale of a group, is an intangible term used to describe the capacity of people to maintain belief in an institution or a goal, or even in oneself and others...
, and Imperial demands. The game is won when the player has conquered sufficient provinces to attain the rank of Caesar. The game is lost if your computerized rival becomes Caesar, if Caesar removes you from your post for running too large a deficit, for going beyond your time frame, for failing to follow Imperial demands, or having the city conquered.
It was released in 1995
1995 in video gaming
-Events:*May 11 – Introduction of trade magazine GameWeek *May 11-16 — The 1st annual Electronic Entertainment Expo is held in Los Angeles, California...
and developed and designed by Impressions Games
Impressions Games
Impressions Games was a video game developer founded by David Lester in the UK. He sold the company to Sierra Entertainment in 1995, who was then bought out by Cendant and eventually, Vivendi Universal ....
and distributed by Sierra On-Line. Initial reception of the game was positive. Arinn Dembo
Arinn Dembo
Arinn Dembo, born , is an American author currently living and writing in British Columbia, Canada. Dembo is best known for her work with Vancouver-based Kerberos Productions, where she is Lead Writer and has worked on the background fiction for the Sword of the Stars series and Fort Zombie...
writing for Computer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World was a computer game magazine founded in 1981 by Russell Sipe as a bimonthly publication. Early issues were typically 40-50 pages in length, written in a newsletter style, including submissions by game designers such as Joel Billings , Dan Bunten , and Chris Crawford...
gave the game 4 stars.