It is that interest with history and that connection with the Civilization franchise that drives me to learn all about how Civilization has affected modern strategy gaming and the reason why Civilization stands the test of time.įrancis Tresham was a board game designer working for Hartland Trefoil when he developed the original Civilization board game, unlike the game we know today Civilization was specifically played within Mesopotamia and the eastern Mediterranean. This interest then translated into an interest in ancient and medieval history that remains with me today. I would find myself spending more time reading the pedia than actually playing the game, wanting to know about the figures and empires in history Firaxis chose to represent then. It was that decision then that would reveal to me later in life my appreciation of global history and culture. It was after picking up Civilization III and giving it a go for the first time – first time playing a game of Civ, first time losing to the computer, and also the first time I looked at the Civilopedia. I’m actually very humbled to be given the opportunity to talk about the game and its history, the game itself has in fact influenced my own life in a way I simply could not have anticipated. This year marks the franchise’s 25th anniversary and to mark the occasion I’m composing a six-part documentary on the history of the franchise itself from its humble beginnings in MicroProse, developing into one of the staples of gaming in the 90’s, the uncertainty of the game as MicroProse became the target of a lawsuit, Civilization’s renaissance in Firaxis Studios, the experimentation period where the formula was tested beyond the computer, the recent history of Civilization V and the polarization of the community, leading up to a review of Civilization VI and commentary on CivilizationEDU and the future of the franchise. The Civilization game is the embodiment of history translated into a modern form of entertainment – a computer game. For me personally though the game is more than an empire simulator, it is perhaps very nearly the best modern method of both explaining and demonstrating the entirety of human history.
Civilization is at times a game of exploration, expansion, empire, management, espionage, diplomacy, government, culture, religion and conquest, and for the vast majority of us gamers and me as well it’s often times a combination of all of these at once. It’s difficult to imagine really a world without Civilization.
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