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Civ3 IS Civ 2.5 but not what you think
D E S I G N E R S ’ N OT E S
The main inspiration for Civilization was the success and reception of Railroad Tycoon. We were very pleased with how Railroad Tycoon worked and began looking for a suitable topic to which we could apply some of its better concepts. Thinking back, we can’t recall now what triggered the idea of making the new game about the history of civilization, but once the topic arose, it quickly became obvious that it fit our specifications.
The central concept to Civilization was that it was to be a “god game,” casting the player as the hero and ruler of a civilization over the course of its history. In this role he would guide and build his civilization, watching it grow and expand, rise or fall. As play proceeded the player could see the results of his decisions unfold and success would hinge on his relative skill.
We also wanted Civilization to require the decision maker to juggle several balls at once. We found in Railroad Tycoon that this helped keep the challenge and interest high. As Sid sketched out the basic design, he evolved the various hats the player would wear.
Clearly he would be the military commander, moving his armies against rivals. A second role was that of economic planner. Wearing this hat, the player would plan the placement, growth, and production of cities. The player would have to decide between “guns or butter,” producing military hardware or economic enhancements for his civilization.
The player would also have to decide upon the direction of research for new knowledge. This again would often be a guns or butter decision, as some advances improved internal conditions and others made the military more potent. The player would have to judge which avenue of research was most useful at any one time, and be prepared to change if conditions warranted it.
As design work continued, additional player roles were added. He would have to conduct his own diplomacy. By keeping track of rivals through the reports of his advisors, the player would have to make judgments on whom to appease, whom to attack, whom to make friends, and whom to ignore. In addition, the management of each city was made more complex, forcing the player to spend more time to keep his cities efficient and stable.
With all of these duties falling to the player, we felt that we had come up with a mix of interesting decisions that would keep the player challenged, and result in a game that was fun and addictive.
Another major concept that we wanted to borrow from Railroad Tycoon was the variability of worlds that made every game different. This worked very well, as in the previous game, making the play fresh each time.
We also decided early on to include the hidden map. We found that this contributed significantly to the fun and interest of play. Another feature that Sid developed was the Civilopedia, the on-line encyclopedia of game concepts. We thought this would especially help new players.
Most of these game features were in place in a rough form by the end of the winter of 1990-1991. Thereafter work proceeded mainly by the trial and error process of coding, testing, reviewing, and re-coding. Through the spring and summer a new version appeared every day or so, and the design became more refined. We made adjustments in the list of technology advances, we juggled their relationships, we made changes in the types and values of military units, we adjusted the time length of turns, we curbed the danger presented by barbarians, and, most critically, we continually improved the artificial intelligence of the rival civilizations.
Among the interesting features that didn’t make the final cuts were ocean minefields that could be laid by Ironclads; alcoholic beverages (proposed by some as a major impetus for the first permanent settlements); Solar Power Plants; Fighter-Bombers 8-8-8(32); the Super Highways Wonder that speeded road building; Charlemagne, king of the Franks; and a much more detailed spaceship.
The most important feature that went in as the game neared completion was the concept of trade routes established by Caravans. This helped with the generation of knowledge and the establishment of strong economies. It also encouraged exploration and diplomacy.
Also important was the home city concept, especially under the Republic or Democracy. Originally, military units cost $2 maintenance each under these governments, then only $1 if they were fortified or on sentry duty. When military units caused unhappiness instead, this seemed to work more as one would expect. It became more difficult to wage war under these governments and provided an interesting trade-off for the improved economic performance.
The last major feature to be included was the Space Race. We had tossed around several ideas for ending the game but eventually returned to space, one of the earliest ideas. Reaching another planet with colonists from Earth made an excellent culmination for the history of humankind on our planet.
Like Railroad Tycoon, Civilization has been a great project to work on. In fact, important work has often been delayed because it was so much fun to play. Civilization has proven to be extraordinarily popular with our colleagues here at MPS Labs, and that’s a good sign. With so many cool features and interesting decisions, plus an endless supply of new worlds, we are certain that Civilization is the last game you’ll ever need. But, just in case you disagree, we’ll start on something new as soon as this one goes out the door.
Sid Meier
Bruce Shelley
September 11, 1991
The main inspiration for Civilization was the success and reception of Railroad Tycoon. We were very pleased with how Railroad Tycoon worked and began looking for a suitable topic to which we could apply some of its better concepts. Thinking back, we can’t recall now what triggered the idea of making the new game about the history of civilization, but once the topic arose, it quickly became obvious that it fit our specifications.
The central concept to Civilization was that it was to be a “god game,” casting the player as the hero and ruler of a civilization over the course of its history. In this role he would guide and build his civilization, watching it grow and expand, rise or fall. As play proceeded the player could see the results of his decisions unfold and success would hinge on his relative skill.
We also wanted Civilization to require the decision maker to juggle several balls at once. We found in Railroad Tycoon that this helped keep the challenge and interest high. As Sid sketched out the basic design, he evolved the various hats the player would wear.
Clearly he would be the military commander, moving his armies against rivals. A second role was that of economic planner. Wearing this hat, the player would plan the placement, growth, and production of cities. The player would have to decide between “guns or butter,” producing military hardware or economic enhancements for his civilization.
The player would also have to decide upon the direction of research for new knowledge. This again would often be a guns or butter decision, as some advances improved internal conditions and others made the military more potent. The player would have to judge which avenue of research was most useful at any one time, and be prepared to change if conditions warranted it.
As design work continued, additional player roles were added. He would have to conduct his own diplomacy. By keeping track of rivals through the reports of his advisors, the player would have to make judgments on whom to appease, whom to attack, whom to make friends, and whom to ignore. In addition, the management of each city was made more complex, forcing the player to spend more time to keep his cities efficient and stable.
With all of these duties falling to the player, we felt that we had come up with a mix of interesting decisions that would keep the player challenged, and result in a game that was fun and addictive.
Another major concept that we wanted to borrow from Railroad Tycoon was the variability of worlds that made every game different. This worked very well, as in the previous game, making the play fresh each time.
We also decided early on to include the hidden map. We found that this contributed significantly to the fun and interest of play. Another feature that Sid developed was the Civilopedia, the on-line encyclopedia of game concepts. We thought this would especially help new players.
Most of these game features were in place in a rough form by the end of the winter of 1990-1991. Thereafter work proceeded mainly by the trial and error process of coding, testing, reviewing, and re-coding. Through the spring and summer a new version appeared every day or so, and the design became more refined. We made adjustments in the list of technology advances, we juggled their relationships, we made changes in the types and values of military units, we adjusted the time length of turns, we curbed the danger presented by barbarians, and, most critically, we continually improved the artificial intelligence of the rival civilizations.
Among the interesting features that didn’t make the final cuts were ocean minefields that could be laid by Ironclads; alcoholic beverages (proposed by some as a major impetus for the first permanent settlements); Solar Power Plants; Fighter-Bombers 8-8-8(32); the Super Highways Wonder that speeded road building; Charlemagne, king of the Franks; and a much more detailed spaceship.
The most important feature that went in as the game neared completion was the concept of trade routes established by Caravans. This helped with the generation of knowledge and the establishment of strong economies. It also encouraged exploration and diplomacy.
Also important was the home city concept, especially under the Republic or Democracy. Originally, military units cost $2 maintenance each under these governments, then only $1 if they were fortified or on sentry duty. When military units caused unhappiness instead, this seemed to work more as one would expect. It became more difficult to wage war under these governments and provided an interesting trade-off for the improved economic performance.
The last major feature to be included was the Space Race. We had tossed around several ideas for ending the game but eventually returned to space, one of the earliest ideas. Reaching another planet with colonists from Earth made an excellent culmination for the history of humankind on our planet.
Like Railroad Tycoon, Civilization has been a great project to work on. In fact, important work has often been delayed because it was so much fun to play. Civilization has proven to be extraordinarily popular with our colleagues here at MPS Labs, and that’s a good sign. With so many cool features and interesting decisions, plus an endless supply of new worlds, we are certain that Civilization is the last game you’ll ever need. But, just in case you disagree, we’ll start on something new as soon as this one goes out the door.
Sid Meier
Bruce Shelley
September 11, 1991
There are two ideas in particular that I remember that would have certainly made significant progress in making Civ3 more complex and realistic. The first of those is The Joker's very detailed idea of Social Interaction (SI) inspired by the discussion in the improved Social Engineering threads, and the second idea (that I cannot contribute to just one author because I’m going from memory alone) is the idea of a realistic resource and manufacturing system (not like what they implemented in Civ3 but something more like the system used in Imperialism, something truly complex, that every unit had a cost in steel beams/ concrete/ aluminum siding/ lumber/ man-hours for example). These two ideas if combined would have easily increased the complexity of Civ3 exponentially. Yet, I have no idea if they would have increased the fun of Civ3 any at all, much less exponentially. It is possible that they might have increased the fun in Civ3 far more than they did the complexity, we may never know, but the reason that most people (including me) wanted these ideas incorporated was to make Civ3 more realistic.
Now I am not saying that realism doesn't have a place in Civ3, instead what I am saying is that I think many of the fans got caught up in trying to realistically depict everything possible in human history, whereas firaxis has concentrated on boiling down everything to the most essential subsystems and trying to make each one of them as interesting as possible. Almost everyone would rather play a game that only lasted thirty minutes but all thirty minutes was fun; compared to a game that lasted two hours, but only thirty minutes was fun while the other hour and a half was just tedious.
I am optimistic for civ3 and I think it will be quite fun. I think that although firaxis has changed many things and has slimmed down some areas it will be for the best. I was very disappointed (for a long long time) at seeing SE was out of civ3, but now I see more in what direction they are going and until I play civ3 I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt. This is for everyone out there who is upset at having their favorite feature either not included, or cut out of the game, or reformulated with a smaller role. Civ3 is going to be fun, it might have been more fun in other ways, but Sid and firaxis are going to concentrate on making it as fun as they possibly can. Who knows, maybe civ3 might just be the last game we ever need.
For all of those who still want more depth in your game, please check out the Alternative Civ section here at Apolyton. There are a number of interesting games in various stages of development. These games have a number of different theories on how to make a great game and most likely, you'll find one that you like. If not come up for a game concept and test the waters with it here. If you find enough like-minded people then maybe your project will be the next big civ like game.
God forbid!!!
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