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Sid Meier and the meaning of ‘Civilization’

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Re: Sid Meier and the meaning of ‘Civilization’

#51

Post by barbasosi »

billfruit wrote: post #36

Any one remember the Global Warming mechanic, which was removed in some of the subsequent games if I'm remembering correctly?.

Neat, I did not know civ2 had implemented the global warming mechanic.

Anyone who wants a game thats in the same vein, i can somewhat recommend Humankind. But it doesn't really have climate change mechanics, more like 'IPCC naming and shaming' since factions will hate on factions that pollute, even in the medieval era..

I would have appreciated that global warming was a thing that needs to be researched, since the phenomenon has only been discovered relatively late (in terms of the entire span of human civilization).

Re: Sid Meier and the meaning of ‘Civilization’

#54

Post by markedathome »

clydethefrog wrote: post #42
blindluke wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He coded those games single-handedly AND in x86 assembly. Yep, that's a good example of a genius, right there.

Has there been any interviews or analysis how he managed to do this and where he is now? He just seems to be disappeared.

Noclip did a documentary[1] on RCT and successor games, and tried to interview Chris. The response passed through his representative is stated in the 2nd to last segment (The Legacy of RCT at 30m55) in the video.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ts4BD8AqD9g

Re: Sid Meier and the meaning of ‘Civilization’

#55

Post by Bobylonian »

genocidicbunny wrote: post #39
billfruit wrote: post #36

Any one remember the Global Warming mechanic, which was removed in some of the subsequent games if I'm remembering correctly?.

The second expansion for Civ 6 -- Gathering Storm, has a global warming mechanic built in. Civ 5 did not have it, but Civ 4, 3 and 2 definitely did in one form or another. I don't remember if it was a thing in Civ 1.

It was: https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Global_warming_(Civ1)

Re: Sid Meier and the meaning of ‘Civilization’

#56

Post by kergonath »

barbasosi wrote: post #51
billfruit wrote: post #36

Any one remember the Global Warming mechanic, which was removed in some of the subsequent games if I'm remembering correctly?.

Neat, I did not know civ2 had implemented the global warming mechanic. Anyone who wants a game thats in the same vein, i can somewhat recommend Humankind. But it doesn't really have climate change mechanics, more like 'IPCC naming and shaming' since factions will hate on factions that pollute, even in the medieval era.. I would have appreciated that global warming was a thing that needs to be researched, since the ph…

> I would have appreciated that global warming was a thing that needs to be researched, since the phenomenon has only been discovered relatively late (in terms of the entire span of human civilization).

In terms of the entire span of human civilization, yes. But in terms of the age of our modern, industrial societies not so much. It was discussed by Fourier in the 1820, the greenhouse effect was well described by Tyndall in the 1860s (he knew about the effect of methane, carbon dioxide, and water vapour), and its increase due to human activity was explored by Arrhenius in the 1890s.

Just a reminder that we did know about global warming. We've been knowing for a long time.

Re: Sid Meier and the meaning of ‘Civilization’

#57

Post by simonh »

Check out this great GDC talk by Sid and Bruce on the history of the development of the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ-auWfJTts&t=3s

They mention Empire as an influence, and there's a really nice modern implementation of Empire available for Windows and iOS.

http://www.windowsgames.co.uk/mother.html

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/mother-of-all-battles/id425160...

Re: Sid Meier and the meaning of ‘Civilization’

#58

Post by [deleted] »

Bobylonian wrote: post #24
prvc wrote: post #4

>A growing pile of video-game histories [...] suggest that the medium has always had collective effort at its heart, from its academic beginnings to its ascent into everyday life. In Meier’s memoir, we discover that he was a good game-maker when he fought this essential fact, but that he became great when he learned to embrace it. >The strength of the modding community is, instead, the very reason the series survived…

Claims that Alpha Centauri or Civilization II were best games are over exaggerated - I have never understood why people had to make such controversial claims and why they have to continue to do so. IMO, they were unappealing games slapped on top of a very simple concept of first Civilization, that had unique component among all the strategy games - digital encyclopedia - long long time before wikipedia. That was one…

[deleted]

Re: Sid Meier and the meaning of ‘Civilization’

#59

Post by pjc50 »

barbasosi wrote: post #51
billfruit wrote: post #36

Any one remember the Global Warming mechanic, which was removed in some of the subsequent games if I'm remembering correctly?.

Neat, I did not know civ2 had implemented the global warming mechanic. Anyone who wants a game thats in the same vein, i can somewhat recommend Humankind. But it doesn't really have climate change mechanics, more like 'IPCC naming and shaming' since factions will hate on factions that pollute, even in the medieval era.. I would have appreciated that global warming was a thing that needs to be researched, since the ph…

It's only really possible to move the needle on global warming with an industrial-scale society. The medieval era could just about manage deforestation, but to achieve climate change the sheer volume of coal to move is huge.

Re: Sid Meier and the meaning of ‘Civilization’

#60

Post by sprafa »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #37
toyg wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that's just like the fact that John Lennon did his best work in The Beatles, or that George Lucas's best films are the ones where he was challenged by collaborators. Once art requires a certain amount of diverse techniques in order to be produced, the chances that a single individual will excel in all of them fall dramatically.

Makes me think about Gene Roddenberry, too. The more I learn about history of Star Trek, the more it seems that Roddenberry was a bit over-the-top with his ideas. If he got his way with everything, the show would be quite cheesy (the way Andromeda is). Star Trek's golden era (TNG/DS9/VOY/ENT) is the result of other producers pushing back on Roddenberry's influence, and after his death, increasingly subverting some of…

Basically it seems like having a strong inventor with a good original idea, then mixing it with other peoples influences even AGAISNT that original inventor’s intent, is a good way to get cool stuff.
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