Civilization - SpeedyLook encyclopedia

Civilization is a Video game conceived by Sid Meier and published by Microprose, initially on DOS in 1991. The player is the leading one of a Civilization which it will have to carry out of the Stone Age with the space conquest. He belongs to the series of plays Civilization .

Course of the play

The goal is to build and develop its Empire, in competition with several other civilizations directed by the computer. The play can be gained either by destroying all other civilizations, or while being the first civilization to reach Alpha Centauri .

the chart (of right-angled type: each box has eight neighbors) account of many types of ground, on ground as on sea. They bring resources (of three type: food, construction and trade) in the cities have proximity; technological advances make it possible to arrange them (road, irrigation, mines, etc), even in changing nature (" radically; terraformage" of a desert while laughing meadow); the shape of government also has its importance
the cities are the crucial factor of the play: it produce the richnesses and the units. The level of population of a city fixes the number of exploited boxes (with more the 20 boxes, but the population can be stronger). The productivity and the moral one of the citizens are improved by buildings, ordinary (whose influence limits itself to the city: library, aqueduct, bank, etc) or special (" merveilles" who affect all the country and are single). One can also directly assign a citizen to a task (research, taxes or luxury) rather than with the exploitation of a box. The production of a building or a unit takes time and resources, one can also buy it to gain one and the other.
the units have a whole a force (different attacks some and defense) and a capacity of displacement which is measured out of box by turn, but they can also have very varied special capacities. Most important of all is the colonist , able to set up installations of boxes and to found a new city (what consumes the colonist). The colonist is expensive, because it consumes a unit of population of its town of origin
technology is essential: each new knowledge makes possible a building, a unit, or a political regime; it makes also possible the search for knowledge more elaborate. One can develop it oneself or to acquire it other civilizations (diplomatically, militarily or by espionage)
the player also controls aggregate variables for its country: political regime, rates of taxes, etc
the neighbors are a real threat, and barbarians who appear by chance in the zones out of control of civilizations (including at sea) are a threat not to be neglected for the installation of boxes, that they destroy, and badly defended cities.

The play is complex (at the beginning some cities and units, but quickly of tens) and length (several hundreds of turns), also is it possible to automate certain tasks (at the price, unfortunately, of certain a loss of effectiveness)

The standard play starts with only one explorer and one (sometimes two) colonists. The creation of the chart can be modified, and of the alternatives (" scénarios") various way the parameters of plays change. Moreover, these parameters are controlled by files in format text, and to modify them is easy; to modify the icons of ground or unit is more delicate, but feasible: thus the play can it be entirely " customisé" , of the scenarios of players

The realism of the play is reinforced by the interactions between the players. A new civilization which one meeting in general starts by requiring a tribute with any chance. A refusal can involve the war, but also sometimes a change of strategy of their share and a proposal to establish a peace treaty . One will be able to respect this treaty thereafter or not (with its risks and dangers!), but that especially becomes increasingly difficult as the political structures evolve/move, when one comes to the bicameral Démocratie constitutional! Except deciding on a coup d'etat or a Révolution, which can also be done, always with its risks and dangers.

Civilizations can establish exchanges, and accept them or refuse them. Each attitude comprises its advantages and dangers. The experiment shows that at the age iron, a rich civilization having many and quarrelsome neighbors rather may find it beneficial to make small presents from time to time. Another example: with the Bronze Age, better is worth to avoid providing them the technology of iron opening the way to them towards rather military discoveries!

The discoveries cumulate and in their turn news allows some. Others become out-of-date and do not get any more an advantage. A culminating point of the play is the use of the atomic bomb (very beautiful special effect in version DOS), which it is to better avoid too often using if one does not want to be badly seen by other civilizations.

As in the real life, the empires often crumble by Economic crisis: a reverse which does not make it possible any more to maintain existing it, and the infernal process starts. One can always stop it, but at the price of a delay on the concurrent civilization, which can be fatal.

Development team

Range Design : Sid Meier, Bruce Shelley
Original IBM Programming : Sid Meier
Original IBM Computer Graphics : Michael Haire, Harry E. Teasley, Barbara D. Bents, Todd Brizzi, Stacey Clark, Brian Martel, Erroll Roberts, Nicholas J. Rusko-Shepherd, Chris Soares
Original IBM Music Compositions: Jeffery L. Briggs
Civilopedia: B.C. Milligan, Jeffery L. Briggs, Bruce Shelley,
Original IBM Sound Effects : Ken Lagace, Jim McConkey
Documentation: Bruce Shelley,
Editors : B.C. Milligan, Paul Murphy
Manual Design : Susan Ullrich, Iris Leigh Idokogi
Manual Layout : Terry Rund
Illustrations: Laurie Baker
Manual Graphics : Susan Ullrich

History of the versions

The original Civilization , baptized Sid Meier' S Civilization left in 1991 was a version for MS-DOS. It was then related to Amiga 500 and Atari ST in 1992 and Amiga 1200 and Super Nintendo in 1994. Versions for the operating systems Linux, Mac OS and Microsoft Windows were born. A version network was published later under the name CivNet in 1996.

Civilization II left in 1997 and Civilization III in 2001. Civilization IV unloaded in store at the end of October 2005. The last versions are characterized by the need for having certain natural resources on its grounds to benefit from a technological discovery. To have Salpêtre is for example necessary to create units of Mousquetaires when one discovered the Poudre. The administration of the trade was also automated. One can also note the arrival of the Religion in the relations between civilizations. The most obvious innovation of Civilization IV is visual since the play is from now on in 3D.

Sid Meier also created Alpha Centauri which took again the same concepts in a futuristic environment.

Civilization: Cal to Power (CivCTP) is a completely distinct frankness which was published by Activision in 1999 and was carried under GNU/linux by Loki entertainment software. Legal measures were taken by the holders of the royalties of Civilization against Activision and the use of the term “Civilization” in their series “Cal to Power”.

A free version and free called Freeciv was developed by fans as from 1996.

1991 : Sid Meier' S Civilization
1995: Sid Meier' S CivNet
1996: Sid Meier' S Civilization II Conflicts in Civilization (1996) - Fantastic Worlds (1997)
1996: FreeCiv
1998 : Civilization II: Multiplayer Gold Edition
1999: Civilization II: Test off Time
1999: Civilization: Cal To Power
2000: Cal To Power II
2002: Sid Meier' S Civilization III Conquests (2003) - Play the World (2003)
2005: Sid Meier' S Civilization IV Warlords (2006) - Beyond the Sword (2007)

See too

Internal bonds

External bonds

the official site of '' Civilization III ''
the site of the French-speaking players of '' Civilization IV ''
the official site of '' Civilization IV ''
the official site of Firaxis
C-evo, another clone of Civilization

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