Editing Imperialism 2

{{tocright}}<!-- we may get this infobox to work properly - in which case the toc can be elsewhere
{{Infobox VG
| title = Imperialism II: The Age of Exploration
| image = [[Image:Imperialism II - Age of Exploration Coverart.png]]
| caption = Cover art
| developer = [[Frog City Software]]
| publisher = [[Strategic Simulations, Inc.|SSI]]
| designer = [[Ben Polk]], [[Bill Spieth]] and [[Ted Spieth]]<ref>http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/imperialism-ii-the-age-of-exploration/credits</ref>
| series = ''Imperialism''
| engine =
| released = April 1, 1999<ref name="pc.ign.com">http://pc.ign.com/objects/011/011488.html</ref>
| genre = [[Turn-based strategy]]
| modes = [[Single-player video game|Single-player]],  [[multiplayer video game|multiplayer]]
| ratings = {{vgratings|ESRB=Everyone}}
| platforms = [[Mac OS]], [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]]
| media = [[CD-ROM]]
| requirements = [[Original Intel Pentium (P5 microarchitecture)|Pentium]] 133 [[megahertz|Mhz]] [[Central processing unit|CPU]], 16 [[megabyte|MB]] [[Random Access Memory|RAM]], 100 MB [[Hard disk]] space<ref name="pc.ign.com"/>
| input = [[Mouse (computing)|Mouse]] & [[Computer keyboard|Keyboard]]
}}
-->
'''''Imperialism II: Age of Exploration''''' is a [[turn-based strategy]] computer game developed by [[Frog City Software]] and published by [[Strategic Simulations, Inc.]] (SSI) in 1999.  It is the successor to the 1997 game [[Imperialism|''Imperialism'']]. In ''Imperialism II'', the player starts as ruler of a 16th century European country, and must build an empire so as to control more than half of the Old World.

Since 2001 [[Ubisoft]] has owned the rights to the ''Imperialism'' trademark, but it reportedly let them lapse around 2005.<ref>http://assignments.uspto.gov/assignments/q?db=tm&sno=75133506</ref>

== Gameplay ==
Imperialism II is a [[turn based]] [[4X game]], where you have to ''"eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate"'' in order to achieve victory. The game however focuses on the economic aspect<ref name="strategy-gaming.com">http://www.strategy-gaming.com/reviews/imperialism_2/index.shtml</ref> with concepts of variable [[worker]] [[productivity]], variable [[terrain]] productivity, [[labor]] allocation, [[resource]] allocation and [[logistics]].

===The economic aspect===
====Allocative dilemmas====
[[Image:Transportation - Imperialism II game.JPG|thumb|right|What should the Merchant Marine transport?|link=Special:FilePath/Transportation_-_Imperialism_II_game.JPG]]
The game presents the player with an [[economic problem]] that is composed of three allocative dilemmas plus the necessity to supply [[food]] for [[worker]]s and [[military unit]]s plus the necessity to finance scientific [[research]]. 
# - [[Transport]]ation dilemma: Where to allocate the limited transportation capacity of the [[merchant marine]]? The options can be to transport [[raw material]]s and [[precious material]]s from the New World, to import goods, or to transport fish from [[port]]s.
# - [[Labor]] allocation dilemma: Given the collected [[raw material]]s, how much of each semi-finished [[material]] should the workers produce? Secondly, how much of the limited supply of labor should be converted to merchant marine and military.
# - [[Resource]] allocation dilemma: Which use should be given to the semi-finished [[material]]s produced by the labor force?
[[Image:Labor - Imperialism II game.JPG|thumb|left|Which semi-finished material should the workers produce?|link=Special:FilePath/Labor_-_Imperialism_II_game.JPG]]
Raw materials which depend on terrain improvements to be extracted and on logistics to be transported have to be processed by workers into semi-finished materials. Those semi-finished materials can then be turned into units or workers, used to increase terrain productivity, or used to sustain workers at higher productivity. Logistics also depends on semi-finished materials for expansion through additions to the [[merchant marine]] and improvements to the [[road]] network.

In ''Imperialism II'' [[raw material]]s have to be transported first and then processed, access is not enough. In order to build a unit or an improvement, a specific quantity of specific raw materials needs to be transported and processed into semi-finished materials before it becomes possible to build a unit. An example, to build one [[Ship-of-the-line]] unit the following quantities of semi-finished materials are required:[[Image:Military units - Imperialism II game.JPG|thumb|right|Notice that creating military units and merchant ships consumes 1 worker and semi-finished materials.|link=Special:FilePath/Military_units_-_Imperialism_II_game.JPG]]

*14 [[lumber]] + 8 [[bronze]] + 4 [[fabric]] + 1 [[worker]]
This requirement represents in raw-material terms the following:
*28 [[timber]] + 8 [[tin]] + 8 [[copper]] + 12 ([[wool]] or [[cotton]])

But in order to build another unit, such as a ''[[Carbine Cavalry]]'' a different mix is needed:
*3 [[fabric]] + 6 [[steel]] + 5 [[horse]]s + 1 worker

In raw material terms this necessity would mean: 
*6 [[iron ore]] + 6 [[coal]] + 5 horses + 10 (wool or cotton)

====Labor productivity and food supply====
[[File:Productivity - Imperialism II game.JPG|thumb|right|Four different levels of worker productivity. Note that the population equals 248 and that the 64 workers produce 124 units of labor, instead of just 64.|link=Special:FilePath/Productivity_-_Imperialism_II_game.JPG]]
Every [[worker]], [[ship]], and [[army]] unit requires one unit of food ([[wheat]] or [[meat]], in equal proportions overall, with meat from either [[cattle]] or [[fish]]) every turn. Therefore, enlarging the [[labor]] force depends not only on providing two units of [[fabric]] to welcome each new citizen but also on the increase of the food supply. Increasing the food supply demands semi-finished [[material]]s in order to improve [[grain farm]]s and [[cattle ranch]]es or build [[port]]s and expand the [[road]] network for free land [[transport]] and/or the [[merchant marine]] for moving fish from [[port]]s.

Labor has four different levels of productivity. Each higher level of productivity (which has a particular [[technology]] as prerequisite) requires a unique type of [[luxury]] to maintain that productivity advantage each turn. This element of the game allows the player to increase total production without enlarging the labor force (which would require raising the food supply, which might or might not be an economic alternative). The luxuries are manufactured from resources found only in the [[New World]].

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center"
|+'''Levels of productivity'''
|-
|-
|style="background:#ffdead;" |'''Worker'''
|[[Peasant]]
|[[Apprentice]]
|[[Journeyman]]
|[[Master]]
|-
|Productivity
|1
|4
|6
|8
|-
|[[Luxury]] consumed
|None
|[[Refined sugar]]
|[[Cigar]]
|[[Fur hat]]
|}

==== The Treasury ====
Avoiding bankruptcy and keeping the Empire solvent is also a challenge. That's because the Empire's treasury finances scientific research, military invasions and the importing of goods. It also pays for the creation of ''[[civilian]] units'' and for the upgrade of the work force. In the Diplomatic arena the treasury finances [[grant]]s to foreign nations and trade [[subsidy|subsidies]].

The treasury has as sources of income the mining of precious material, the exporting of goods, and [[overseas profits]]. Overseas profits are income generated by the export of raw material collected from foreign lands bought by the Empire. 

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center"
|+'''Income from precious materials'''
|-
|-
|style="background:#ffdead;" |
|[[Spices]]
|[[Silver]]
|[[Gold]]
|[[Gems]]
|[[Diamonds]]
|-
|Income per unit every turn
|$50
|$100
|$200
|$300
|$400
|}

===Victory condition===
The game is won when any of the "great powers" ([[England]], [[France]], [[Holland]], [[Portugal]], [[Spain]] or [[Sweden]]) controls more than one-half of the Old World. Control over other countries can be achieved by conquest or by diplomatic means (influencing "minor nations" [[Denmark]], [[Germany]], [[Ireland]], [[Italy]], [[Scotland]], [[Switzerland]] and even the "great powers", so they would finally join the player's empire), or most often a combination of the two. Control of the New World is not relevant for the victory condition.

==Differences from ''Imperialism''==
{{main|Differences from Imperialism to Imp2}}
[[File:Imp2-France1538-showingOldWorld.jpg|thumb|400px|right|Status map after a couple of dozen turns, with a little of the New World revealed]]
The main novelty in ''Imperialism II'', compared to its predecessor, is the addition of the ''New World'', which is unknown and has to be explored.<ref name="pc.ign.com"/> Unlike in ''Imperialism I'', only part of the world is visible at the start: the [[Old World]]. The other half of the world is the [[New World]], which must be explored by [[ship]]s and [[explorer]]s. The ''New World'' has resources that don't exist in the ''Old World''; those resources are the ''precious materials'' ([[spices]], [[silver]], [[gold]], [[gems]] and [[diamonds]]) and the ''luxuries'' ([[sugar cane]], [[tobacco]] and [[fur]]). And you can attack a New World nation without declaring war.

Another difference between the games is that ''Imperialism II'' starts in the 16th Century during the [[Age of exploration]] whereas ''[[Imperialism]]'' starts in the 19th century during the [[Industrial Revolution]].<ref>http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/imperialism2theageoe/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;read-review</ref>

Building a [[ship]] takes one member of the population, but building a [[civilian]] does not.

Instead of [[arms]], military units are built with various amounts of materials such as [[lumber]], [[bronze]], and [[cast iron]].

Grain is again half of the food requirement, but [[meat]] (cattle or fish) makes up all of the other half; no fruit.

You do not need depots to collect resources from the surrounding terrain. All you need is roads connected to ports, but unlike {{i}} this game requires terrain to be developed before it produces anything (except for the fish in rivers and seas within the radius of a port). An ordinary road will allow only one unit per tile to be transported, no matter how much the terrain is developed, until you have researched [[Road Construction]], which allows more. Another related difference is that roads have infinite capacity, not needing freight cars; but sea transport all requires holds in ships.

==Reception==
''Imperialism II'' received favorable reviews from game critics. Most of the reviews were written in 1999; that means that unfortunately some of them are no longer available; included among the unavailable ones are the reviews from [[PC Gameworld]], [[Computer Games Magazine]], [[Computer Gaming World]] and [[PC Gamer]].
*[[Game Rankings]] - 84/100 score - Average based on 15 different reviews of the game.<ref>http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages4/188900.asp</ref>
*[[Gamespot]] - 8/10 score - The review wrote: ''" Imperialism II is a more refined and interesting use of the same system"'' and added: ''"Frog City has done an excellent job of it with Imperialism II."'' The food supply requirement was criticized and called "a bit tedious".<ref>[http://reviews.cnet.com/pc-games/imperialism-ii-the-age/4505-9696_7-30988482.html Imperialism II: The Age of Exploration (PC) PC Game reviews - CNET Reviews<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/imperialism2theageoe/review.html?tag=tabs;reviews</ref>
*[[IGN]] - 8.4/10 score - This review called the game ''"impressive"'' and said ''"It's complex as hell, but it's a lot of fun"''.<ref>[http://pc.ign.com/articles/161/161488p1.html IGN: Imperialism II: The Age of Exploration Review<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
*[[ZDNet]] - 5/5 score- ''"With deeper gameplay, tactical combat, and AI, the new game system is easier to learn and play than the original.''"<ref name="sidecarstudios.com">http://sidecarstudios.com/imp2-r.html</ref>
*[[GamePro]] - 4.5/5 score - "''A great update to a great strategy game.''"<ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20110607121903/http://www.gamepro.com/article/reviews/736/imperialism-ii/</ref>
*[[CNET]]'s Gamecenter.com - 8/10 score - ''"In the long term, Imperialism II: Age of Exploration provides epic strategic gaming with random maps and multiplayer support."''<ref name="sidecarstudios.com"/>
*[[Adrenaline Vault]] - 4/5 score -  ''"It’s a solid title that nicely combines some quality features into an attractive title. [T]hose of you who thirst for the thrill of constant combat might feel bogged down in some of the other elements."''<ref>http://www.avault.com/reviews/pc/imperialism-2-pc-review/3/</ref>
*[[Strategy Gaming Online]] - 8.6/10 score - ''"In every aspect, then, Imp2 is an improvement over Imp1, which should give some idea of really how good a game this is"''. This review however considered excessive the amount of importance given to the economic aspect of the game.<ref name="strategy-gaming.com"/>
*'''Tom vs. Bruce''' from the [[Games for Windows: The Official Magazine]] - Imperialism II was featured on their column in the March 2007 issue.<ref>http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2007/02/column_game_mag_weaseling_mag_15.php</ref> Although it wasn't a review [[Tom Chick]] wrote: "''Until Civilization IV came out, it [Imperialism II] was my favorite turn-based strategy game.''" [[Bruce Geryk]] also expressed his opinion: "''Imperialism II is probably my favorite game of the 1990s. Since it's my favorite, it kind of goes without saying that it must be the best.''"<ref>Games for Windows: The Official Magazine, March 2007 issue - pg. 85</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

==See also==
*[[Imperialism 2 guide from StrategyWiki]]
*[[/notes from demo/]]
*[[Technology (Imp2)]]

== External links ==
===Downloads===
*[http://adistantmirror.com.au/imperialism-downloads '''New in 2019''' site by dminoz with downloads of game, maps, etc]
*[http://adistantmirror.com.au/imp2/ Britain map - beta version in Feb 2019]
*[https://archive.org/details/ImperialismIiTheAgeOfExplorationDemo Free download of Demo] from Internet Archive, viewed Nov 2014
*[http://ia700801.us.archive.org/25/items/ImperialismIiTheAgeOfExplorationDemo/ Files related to archived version of Demo game] - first accessed March 2012, when it was probably the predecessor to the above link; now just a list of files, one of which has this:
::Imperialism II: Age of Exploration is a turn-based strategy game set in the time of the exploration and conquest of the New World. In this sequel to the critically acclaimed game Imperialism, you take on the role of one of the European Great Powers. Your goal is to dominate Europe, your tools are conquest and diplomacy.
::The riches and exotic resources of the New World are there to be discovered, the key is to exploit them effectively. You can become a great conqueror, in the tradition of Cortez. Or you can do business with the natives, and shield them from the other Great Powers.
::Whichever strategy you pursue, you will need to build a strong economy. Develop what you can internally, trade for the rest on the world market (but watch out for pirates). Build a good labor force. Try to get ahead in the technology race (get those spies out there). And don't forget a strong military, for only a mighty nation can unite Europe under one flag.
*[http://www.gameswin.biz/gameen.php?id=413 Download from GamesWin] - checked by a member of Imp list in July 2013, working on his "64-bit Win7 laptop"
*[http://www.download-full-games.com/cgi-bin/dlad.php?gid=14305 Almost free download from download-full-games.com] (accessed Feb 2012)
*[http://www.classic-pc-games.com/pc/strategy/imperialism_2:_the_age_of_exploration.html Almost free download from classic-pc-games.com] (accessed Feb 2012)
*[http://www.mediafire.com/?thifuxjimzm Download? - mediafire.com]

===Other===
* [http://s1.zetaboards.com/Imperilist/index/ Imperialist Forum], A forum dedicated to the imperialism series and currently the location of an imperialism remake (accessed Feb 2012)
* [http://thedailyimperialist.net/category/imp-2 The Daily Imperialist], featuring game editors and [[Mod (computer gaming)|mods]] (accessed Feb 2012); its "threads" page has very little that's still live; most are listed hereunder; see http://archive.kontek.net/dailyimperialist.strategyplanet.gamespy.com/imp2/index.htm for a version that may be archived; "The following addresses had permanent fatal errors ----- <imperialist@osiran.com> (reason: 550 Host unknown)"
* [http://www.ubi.com/US/Downloads/Info.aspx?dlId=30 Imperialism II support page at Ubisoft] (accessed Feb 2012)
* [http://au.faqs.ign.com/articles/427/427507p1.html Imperialism II guide by Tim "Sheepy99" Maurer] (accessed Feb 2012)
* [http://www.gamespot.com/imperialism-ii-the-age-of-exploration/images/platform/pc/ 6 screenshots of Imperialism II at GameSpot] (accessed Feb 2012 - no "answers" or forum or summary; no "hints and cheats" except a link to Tim Maurer's guide; link to detailed April 1999 review by Chet Thomas of Gamespot)
* [http://archive.kontek.net/dailyimperialist.strategyplanet.gamespy.com/imp2/strategy/riboflavin.htm Archived strategy guide by Kevin Allegood] (accessed Feb 2012)
*[http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic/browse_thread/thread/5f3276c69512005a/825a6547dbcacd39?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=imperialism%2BIII#825a6547dbcacd39 Thread from Google groups] (accessed October 2014 with note encouraging readers to come here)
*[http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic/browse_thread/thread/ac8ace28fdaf7f7/72ff3dc97bd848fd?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&q=portugal%2Bmontgomery%2Bimperialism#72ff3dc97bd848fd Thread from Google Groups about how to win with Portugal] (accessed March 2012)
*[https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic/LNlTIMnWQl4 Google Groups thread about how to win on level 400] - accessed Oct 2014; email was "[[UglyTrog]] AT hotmail.com" but that was 2004, not checked
*[http://www.gameswin.biz/gameen.php?id=413 Info; review (in Spanish); and ".rar" file to download] (accessed March 2012)
*[http://apolyton.net/showthread.php/90886-Imp2-France-AAR?s= Apolyton thread mostly about winning as France]
*[http://apolyton.net/showthread.php/170701-Imperialism-II-Couple-Of-Questions Long discussion on Apolyton starting in 2007, much more than a "Couple Of Questions"]
*[http://aymplaying.wordpress.com/2013/05/05/imperialism-ii-strategy-guide/ Ayman Fadel's Playing strategy guide] , with links to games at 200 or 400 level with saves at various points (accessed October 2013, the same month as it was updated) - https://app.box.com/s/37y80qp0zvi0vjkalfhh has the downloadable saved games
*[http://www.quartertothree.com/fp/2014/05/05/ten-reasons-imperialism-ii-greatest-strategy-game-ever-made/ Rave review, May 2014]

<!-- these Wikipedia links may be useful to someone; we could have copies here just for interest and SEO
[[es:Imperialism II: Age of Exploration]]
[[fr:Imperialism II: Age of Exploration]]
[[it:Imperialism II: Age of Exploration]]
[[zh:梦幻帝国2]] -->

{{wikipedia|Imperialism II: Age of Exploration}}
[[category:games]]
[[Category:Strategic Simulations, Inc. games]]
[[Category:Frog City Software games]]
[[Category:Windows games]]
[[Category:Mac OS games]]
[[category:Imperialism 2| <!--retain that space-->]]