One man has been playing a single game of Civilization II for almost ten years – and the world is now a horrifying, irradiated wasteland due to perpetual nuclear war between three global superpowers. But you – yes you! – can take a shot at bringing about peace and salvaging civilisation.
Reddit user Lycerius (the player in question) posted a thread detailing his game world: the year is 3991 AD, and there are only three nations left, each competing for the small amount of accessible resources left on the planet. Dozens of nuclear wars between these three powers have left huge swathes of land irradiated and uninhabitable, while melting ice caps have turned all low-lying areas into swampland, which is useless for farming.
Since its peak 2,000 years ago, 90 percent of the world’s population has died from war or famine. Large cities no longer exist, as all three nations are pouring all their available resources into military production rather than attempting to rebuild there economies through farming and industry.
Any peace between the three nations – Lycerius’ Celts, the Vikings and the Americans – is short-lived, as one will launch a surprise attack on the others the turn after a new treaty is signed. All three nations are governed by totalitarian regimes, with Lycerius noting, “I was forced to do away with democracy roughly 1,000 years ago because it was endangering my empire”. His communist nation is now subject to regular, massive guerilla uprisings.
In short, the world is a total hellhole: pretty much what George Orwell predicted in “1984″, only 2,000 years later. Lycerius is trying to break the stalemate, end the cycle of constant war and rebuild civilisation – and you can have a go at it too: at some point this evening, he has promised to share his savegame on the new subreddit “The Eternal War”. Grab it, assuming you own a copy of Civ II, and see if you can save the world from a nightmare. And let us know how you get on in the comments below.
[via Reddit/gaming]
