Okay, on a whim, I decided to see what would happen if on the huge civ2 map, I gave america all bonuses, a unit that moves 9 oper turn, builds cities, and costs a shield.
By 900 AD I had entered the industrial age.
By 950 AD ironclads were tearing through the iruqois galleys.
By 1200 AD I'd detonated a nuclear weapon over Babylon.
By 1492 I'd launched a starship to alpha centauri.
Well, i guess you found out what happens with that unit...
What would be interesting is to give only 1 opponent that particular advantage, and see just how fast they start influencing all the other civs...
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I'm building a wagon! On some other part of the internets, obviously (but not that other site).