This is an overview comparing Multiplayer II to Multiplayer. (You can compare to Classic rules here.)
Multiplayer II is currently available to play on the web at freecivweb.org
Quick Jump: Summary of all changes
Introduction
The Multiplayer-Evolution ruleset ("MP2") is the newest ruleset in the Multiplayer-branch. It takes advantage of new features and improvements in Freeciv 3.0 server in order to create a radically improved and modernized completion to the MP ruleset branch. MP2 greatly improves: balance, strategic diversity, tactical depth, early-game Sea units, and late-game Air units. Over a two year period, many contributors vetted and balanced many other changes whose aim was to faithfully follow the principles in the MP2 Manifesto. The short version of those principles is: improve balance and increase playability, strategic diversity and depth, creativity, realism, fun, and overall richness. Enjoy!
Other MP2 Links:
- Game Manual: the complete MP2 game manual.
- Game Play Overview: what to expect when upgrading from Multiplayer 1.0
- Design Log: full details list of changes and balance effects
- Non-representative governments in MP2.
Summary of all changes:
- Important Note: Each item below links to the full details in the Design Log.
- You can click particular items to read verbose details of changes, reasons, and balance effects.
Tech
- Tech costs equalize pace of discovery for all game stages.
- Tech holes closed
- Darwin's Voyage is now similar to Colossus.
- No Philosophy bonus after Banking, Invention, Physics, or T85.
- Space Flight gives a Satellite Vision Bonus to cities and units.
- Space Race tuned as a viable game option
- Electricity removes Fog of War inside your own borders
- Horseback Riding before 2500 BC creates traveler's tales.
Governments
- Fundamentalism upgraded for better balance, viability, fitness, and distinctive character.
- Communism upgraded for better balance, viability, fitness, and distinctive character.
- Foreign nationals added. Foreign citizens are unhappy if you are at war with their home nation, but assimilate to your nationality over time.
Units
- Vision:Movement ratio fixed for 2x movement: starts at 1.4:2 then is 2:2 after Physics discovered.
- Restrictinfra server setting makes enemy rails act only like roads.
- Railroad move speed changed to 9x. MagLevs available with Superconductors for unlimited moves.
- Non-military Bribe cost fixed to work on all non-military units.
- Land units on mountains get +1 vision.
- Nuclear Missiles get 24 moves. They come with later tech (Space Flight), to replace the Atom Bomb.
- Knights defend at 3 against mounted units and do not kill city population.
- Legions can build fortresses; and they can build roads on non-domestic tiles.
- Archers can do a (limited) Range Attack.
- Armor: no penalty vs. Fort; 1.67x vs Fortress. Plastics upgrades to Armor II: Cost: 80. A16 D6 FP1. Moves:6; no penalty from Fort/Fortress, 2x defense against Missiles, never attack-blocked by unreachable units.
- No bribe/sabotage on Air and Missile units.
- “OneAttack” flag deprecated since version 2.3 onward had made it even more dysfunctional.
- Air Units make no ZoC over adjacent tiles. (2) Non-Fighter Air units do not protect units on the same tile.
- Para-drop for Paratroopers adjusted to 2x area coverage: 14 range.
- Marines now have realistic multipurpose role: can attack sea units & bypass air units. Improved vet status.
- Escort Fighters added. Cost: 80. A3 D5 FP2. Moves:18. Fuel: 2 turns.
- Medium Bombers added. Cost: 85. A6 D2 FP2. Moves:13. Fuel: 2 turns.
- Bomber renamed 'Heavy Bomber'. Cost: 120. A12 D3 FP2. Moves:16. Fuel: 2 turns. Strategic Bomber available with Rocketry. Cost: 135. A13 D4 FP2. Moves:16. Fuel: 3 turns.
- Anti-aircraft Artillery added. Cost: 50. A2 D2 HP20 FP2. Moves:2. 2x Anti-Air bonus.
- Mobile SAM added. Cost: 75. A2 D2 FP2 HP30. Moves: 6. 2x Anti-Air bonus.
- Air units can "air lift themselves".
- Balloon added. Cost: 25. A0 D0 M5 Fuel: 2 turns.
- Jet Fighter added. Cost: 70. A6 D5 FP2 M24. Requires: Space Flight.
- Jet Bomber added. Cost: 145. A15 D1 FP2 M19 Fuel: 3 turns. Can Pillage. Requires: Space Flight.
- Stealth Aircraft improved. Stealth Bomber gets +1 attack (A19), SAM Battery only 25% bonus against Stealth.
- Spies cost 35 (was 30.)
Project Poseidon: Glorifying the Ancient Seas
- Combat Rounds - Ancient ships have 15 combat rounds.
- River-worthy ships. Most ancient ships can travel on rivers.
(Many new units and adjustments to introduce real ancient navies. Click for full info.)
- “CanEscape” for Air+Sea units. 50% chance to escape Killstack if defender has more moves than attacker.
- Major Naval Re-balance. Click link to see changes. Game Manual and in-game manual have all specifics.
- Warships from Ironclad onward can pillage buoys.
- Crew Repair Bonus, Minimum Speed Adjustment
Wonders
- Pyramids: Cost: 160. Added Classic effect of +25% food storage in every city to its existing effect.
- Copernicus' Observatory Cost: 100.
- Great Wall. Cost: 275. Obsolete by: Machine Tools.
- Great Library renamed Supreme Court -- still acts as an extra Courthouse in all cities. Cost: 200.
- Hanging Garden gains +2 luxury to the home city it's built in. Cost: 200.
- Colossus obsolete by Automobile, not Flight. Cost: 100.
- Lighthouse: Cost: 170. +2 moves, +1 vision, obsolete by Miniaturization.
- Adam Smith's Trading Company: now enables 3 new specialists: Laborer, Farmer, Merchant. Cost: 300.
- Michelangelo's Chapel: Same as before; but also adds a bonus effect of +1 happy +1 forced content to Cathedrals. -1 effect from Communist government (instead of Communism tech.)
- Ecclesiastical Palace added from Civ2civ3. Creates a second Palace and capital. Cost: 110.
- Temple of Artemis added. Cost 250. +1 gold,luxury,bulb,shield in all cities.
- Mausoleum of Mausolus added. Cost: 200. In each city, +1 content for each Courthouse or City Walls.
- Statue of Zeus added. Cost: 100. +1 content from military in each city, +1 happy/+4 upkeep in home city.
- Genghis Khan's Equestrian School Cost:150. +1mv to mounted units (not Cavalry). Obs.: Mobile Warfare.
- Tesla's Laboratory added. Cost: 200. 1 obsolete unit upgrades per turn. Does not go obsolete.
- Gibraltar Fortress added. Cost: 350. Coastal Defense in every city.
- Agōgē of Sparta added. Cost: 100. +⅓ move, all foot soldiers. (+1 if they begin their turn in the city with the Agōgē.) +50% attack to Phalanx, Pikemen.
Buildings
- Courthouse a. Cost 45. Balances the loss of half its Classic value (incite prevention.) b. Corruption reduction=60% (fixes bad rounding) c. 1 free unit upkeep (law and order bonus) d. Decreases hostile diplomatic odds by 20%. e. Nullifies tile penalties in Anarchy and Despotism.
- Granary Cost 35. Slight aid to non-rapture governments.
- Mass Transit: Cost 60, +2T. Recycling Center: 70 shields, +2P.
- Police Station. Cost 50, gains 10% bonus vs diplomatic combat and "Steal Tech". Prevents enemies from creating "hostile" embassy without first agreeing to cease-fire, armistice, or peace.
- Palace makes +1 happy citizen.
Miscellaneous
- Project Honeycomb: Traderoutes radically altered and brought back.
- Diplomacy Improved Cease-fire and Peace pacts allowed within x turns of meeting a player.
- Resource “Gold” set to 0/1/8. (Formerly it had the lowest F/P/T score of all resources.)
- Terrain return. Non-temperate terrain returns to the game with re-balanced resource values.
- Oasis is a water source for irrigation. b) "Nile Effect" gives +1 food on irrigated desert rivers.
- Illegal Action movement penalty removed.
- Swamp Transform to Ocean is now 12 worker-turns (was 36).
- Grassland Transform to Hills is now 15 worker-turns (was 12).
- The Well-digger is a "patch" unit for nations with no nearby water at game start.
- Engineering allows the Canal tile improvement. Its only effect is letting ships pass through.
- Caravans/Freight can build Foreign Wonders.
- Helicopters. Can use Fortresses to rest/repair. Clarification: not a field unit.
- Most military units are able to expel most foreign non-military units from your nation.
- Many military units are able to capture certain types of foreign units.
- Steal Map Fragments, a new Freeciv feature, is included for Diplomats and Spies.
- Maximum Granary Food Store capped at 70.
- Terrain Defense Exploits Adjusted. Forest/Swamp/River 1.33x defense. Can't make forest/hills in existing cityDesign Log.mp2#14. Fort added. Defense bonuses smoothed
- Fort added & bonuses adjusted. Fort requires Masonry: 1.33x against Land/Sea except Armor. Fortress requires an existing Fort. 2x against Land/Sea except Armor. 1.66x against Air/Helicopter/Missile/Armor.
- Naval Base added. 1.33x defense and +20% healing for Sea units. In all other respects, same as Fortress.
- Timeline changed. In-game year matches pace of the game.
- Incite cost changed. Goes from impossible to extremely high but theoretically possible.
- Huts re-balanced as a usable option. Goes from wild game-changing luck to a strategic early game resource.