Sid Meier's Civilization

MicroProse

MicroProse

Senior Developer

Brian Reynolds ,
Douglas Caspian-Kaufman,
Jeffery L. Briggs

1996

Windows , Mac OS Classic , PlayStation

Game mode

Single player + multiplayer

Keyboard , mouse

system advantages
preconditions

Windows 3.11 / 95/98/2000 / ME / XP

1 CD

German

In 1996 the successor to the first part, Sid Meier's Civilization II, appeared . This was developed by Brian Reynolds , who had previously contributed significantly to Colonization , as well as Douglas Caspian-Kaufman and Jeffery L. Briggs. Sid Meier, on the other hand, only came up with the original idea, but was not involved in the development of the successor.

In addition to a more contemporary presentation - improved graphics, more music, videos - and a greatly improved user interface, the most important innovations were various detailed changes to the game principle. These included, for example, an expansion of the combat system to include hit points and firepower of the units, expanded diplomacy options, many new units, technologies and buildings as well as minor changes in almost all other areas. Civ 2 is the only part of the series in which actors act as advisors for the fields of military, science, trade, external relations and social well-being and give the player in clothing that is appropriate for the game, sometimes quite amusing tips.

Because of these adjustments, without damaging the classic gameplay, Civilization 2 is still considered the best part by many fans of the series. Experienced players, however, criticize a weakness in the economic system, the schematic exploitation of which allows easy victory even at the highest level of difficulty. Concentrating production on caravans enables the normally maintained balance between money income, research, building construction and satisfaction to be undermined, so that the player can push all areas up at the same time. The system of government, fundamentalism , also proved to be problematic , in which there are no dissatisfied citizens at all and which therefore favors a purely military solution.

Civilization II enhancements

Conflicts in Civilization

The first expansion, Conflicts in Civilization , added a variety of historical scenarios from the original developers, as well as a scenario scripting language.

Fantastic Worlds

The second expansion, Fantastic Worlds , was a huge step forward. For the first time it made it possible to rebuild the entire game, right down to units, progress and entire game mechanics. This even made space and fantasy scenarios possible, which are still very popular today.

Variants of Civilization II

Multiplayer

In addition, a multiplayer expansion appeared for the original game , as a replacement for the failed promise to equip Civilization II with a multiplayer mode from the start.

Test of Time

The last variant was a completely redesigned version called Test of Time (alluding to the subtitle of the first part) with technical extensions of the scripting options for creating scenarios and playing games on several levels.

Bundle packages

Then there was Civilization II in the form of various bundle packages ( Gold Edition including multiplayer mode and the two extensions Conflicts in Civilization and Fantastic Worlds ) Ultimate Edition (Civilization II and the extensions Conflicts in Civilization Scenarios , Fantastic Worlds ), Collector's Edition .

Freeciv

The open source version of the game called Freeciv aims to achieve the greatest possible compatibility with Civilization II rules. Freeciv has been ported to the platforms GNU / Linux , BSD , Unix , AmigaOS , macOS and Windows , among others .

C-evo

There is another freeware version of the game called C-evo . It is based on Sid Meier's Civilization and is being developed to correct design errors and AI weaknesses in Civilization II . The focus in this version should not be on multimedia innovations, but on timeless challenges. It only exists as a Windows version, but in numerous localizations.

Civilization III

Sid Meier's Civilization III

Jeffrey L. Briggs , Soren Johnson

2001

Windows , Mac OS Classic

Game mode

Single player + multiplayer

Keyboard , mouse

system advantages
preconditions

Windows 95/98 / ME / 2000 / XP; Pentium 300 MHz; 4 × CD-ROM drive; 32 MB RAM; 500 MB free hard disk space; DirectX 8.0 compatible graphics card with a minimum resolution of 1024 × 768 and 16 bit color depth; DirectX 8.0 compatible sound card; mouse

1 CD-ROM , download

language

German

Current version

Latest patch 1.29f
1. Addon: "Play The World" v1.27f
2. Addon: "Conquests" v1.22f

Age rating

USK

PEGI

information

Civ 3 Complete is approved by both the USK and the PEGI system from 12 years of age.

Civilization III was released by Firaxis Games in 2001 . As with its predecessor, Sid Meier only acted as namesake and influential advisor. This time the chief developer was Jeff Briggs , who had previously worked creatively on Civilization II , and Soren Johnson, who directed the fourth part of the series.

Compared to its direct predecessor Civilization II, there are a number of new features and changes. In addition to the obligatory graphics and technology update, some of the basic game mechanisms have been changed this time.

A new concept are national borders, which have a strong influence on the game and are based on the cultural development of the cities, which gives this an additional meaning. In addition, there is an expanded economic system with so-called strategic resources, which are seldom found and which are indispensable as the basis for the construction of strong units and important city extensions; Expansion and / or trade become much more important. The military option was also expanded through an expanded experience system and an army concept.

Spies and diplomats, whose skillful use in Civilization II could have a significant impact on the game, are, like trade caravans between individual cities, no longer individually creatable units. Trade is now a matter between the individual civilizations and depends on their respective resources, diplomacy and espionage are carried out via separate screens, individual measures require, for example, the building of an embassy in the capital of a foreign civilization.

Military units are no longer supported by their cities, but are paid for from the state treasury. Successful units can produce a commander who can lead an entire army, namely up to three units at a time. Using a commander is also the only way to speed up the construction of a wonder of the world.

Cities can now spontaneously migrate to another civilization without warning and with the loss of the units stationed in them. This is particularly the case in wars and, in turn, when the opponent is culturally superior, which makes a military conflict considerably more difficult.

"Civ 3" was a great success with critics and buyers, but part of the classic fan base resented the developers for some concessions to casual gamers, inconsistencies in the gameplay (including the unpredictable computer gamers) and, above all, the failure to adopt many innovations from the innovative Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (real terraforming, more flexible political system, ecology, etc.).

Injunction against unofficial translation

In November 2001, the publisher Infogrames stopped an unofficial translation project. A few weeks earlier, 15 members of the fan base had started to translate the game, which was only available in English at the time, on their own, partly because a German version was not announced until the following year. Infogrames obtained a copyright injunction when the project was well advanced; was criticized for this late reaction, however, because the project team had already informed the publisher about the project in advance.

Extensions to Civilization III

To Civilization III appeared two extensions . The expansion Play the World ( PTW ) released in 2002 includes the multiplayer functionality that was missing in the original version , new game modes such as regicide and a capture-the-flag variant as well as new races, wonders of the world, building options and diplomatic expansions. Critics and players, however, were mostly disappointed with the enlargement, as the centerpiece of the extension - the multiplayer functionality - Numerous bug had that were resolved only by subsequent patches in part.

The expansion Conquests ( C3C ), released in 2003, adds two new civilization properties, additional races, new terrains, units, wonders of the world, tourism and other content, as well as nine scenarios that allow individual time periods of history to be reenacted, each with their own Units, technology trees, rules of the game, etc. Conquests also contains all the core content of the first expansion.

In the following years, several bundles were published, including Civilization III Gold (base game with first expansion) and Civilization III Complete (English version) and Civilization III Deluxe (German version), each of which contains the base game and both expansions.

Due to the success of Civilization III , the computer game by Glenn Drover was turned into a Civilization board game that was released in 2002.

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

October 25, 2005

Windows , macOS

Game mode

Single player ; Multiplayer via GameSpy , TCP / IP , hot seat or email -based

Mouse , keyboard

system advantages
preconditions

CPU : 1.2 GHz; RAM : 256 MB; HDD : 1.7 GB; Graphics : 3D map, T&L , PS , 64 MB

1 DVD , download

language

German

Current version

Latest patch v1.74

Warlords: v2.13
Beyond the Sword: v3.19; Post-v3.19 Fan-Patch v1.6 (2009)

Colonization: Patch v1.01f.

SafeDisc 4.60.000

information

German version slightly censored; USK 12 refers to the expansion "Beyond the Sword" (including "Complete" and "Ultimate" Edition)

The fourth part was also developed under the direction of Sid Meier for his company "Firaxis" and offers the 3D graphics that were already announced for Civilization III , but were then rejected . The developers made some profound changes, for example the abandonment of "unpopular" game features and expansions of the game concept. The far-reaching changes include the introduction of role-playing elements for unit transport, a modular system of government (similar to social engineering in Alpha Centauri ), great personalities who are primarily used in researching new technologies, and the most profound innovation is the religious system: the player can select one of seven religions included in the game for your nation . This adds another component to the diplomacy portion of the game as nations with other religions are suspicious of the player for that reason alone.

Civilization IV for Windows - PC was announced on 4 November 2005 in Germany, but ahead of schedule on 25 October by publisher Take 2 published. In the opinion of many users, the translation was not very successful, but there is now an alternative German community translation that was created in cooperation with the developers. The Blue Marble Terrain, based on satellite images, is available as a graphic modification, which offers a more lifelike representation of the terrain. Other game changes, such as the artillery , which is used like infantry instead of ranged combat, caused controversy.

An outstanding feature is the complete modifiability of Civilization IV . All important parameters are stored in XML files that can be changed. It is therefore possible to have your own program routines and extensions as Python scripts. A few months after the publication, Firaxis also made a complete software development kit available, which allows changes and interventions in the AI , so numerous fan mods have already appeared.

For the title song Baba Yetu , composer Christopher Tin received a Grammy in 2011 in the category Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist (s) . It sounds in the main menu and is practically the musical theme of the game. The song is written in Swahili and reflects the Lord's Prayer .

In the game there is an allusion to the former Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri , as a map is available for the single player mode, which is a 1: 1 copy of the planet map from Alpha Centauri . In addition, 7 nations play here (see that in Alpha Centauri 7 groups play against each other).

Extensions to Civilization IV

Warlords

On July 31, 2006, the first official expansion entitled Warlords in Germany was published. In addition to some new heads of state, civilizations, world wonders, civilization-specific buildings and scenarios, it offers a vassal system. The vassal system allows nations to become dependent on another nation. The resulting vassal state largely loses its foreign policy power of attorney , he takes over from his hegemon automatically whose diplomatic agreements with other nations. A declaration of war on a vassal inevitably leads to war with his hegemon. Economically, however, vassal states remain largely independent.

Leonard Nimoy and Thomas Fritsch , among others, lent their voices for the voice output . They can be heard whenever a new technology is discovered or a new standard game is started.

Beyond the Sword

The second expansion, Beyond the Sword , was released on July 27, 2007 in Germany. As the name suggests, in contrast to warlords , this deals on the one hand with war in later ages and on the other hand with aspects outside of warfare. Many new units are now available for increased warfare in later ages. For aspects outside of warfare, for example, there is now the option to set up large corporations. These bring various advantages such as the production of raw materials that are not available in your own settlement area. A certain amount of maintenance is required for this. In addition, the espionage system was greatly expanded and new options were integrated into the vassal system. In addition, as usual, new civilizations and leaders, military units, wonders and some scenarios and numerous, sometimes very special, mods are included, such as: B. the Final Frontier set in space or the Afterworld, which is reminiscent of the X-COM series .

Colonization

In the autumn of 2008, Colonization was released as an offshoot that can be run alone and is a further development of the PC game Colonization from 1994. Multiplayer options and tools for modding are also included in this expansion.

The base game has to put up with the criticism that building an extensive empire with many cities is punished by the game mechanics. Only the very extensive modification "TAC - The Authentic Colonization" restored the feeling of play that was so popular with the "original" colonization.

Bundles

Two bundles were released for Civilization IV : In 2007 Civilization IV Complete was released , which includes the main program as well as the first two extensions. Civilization IV Ultimate , released in April 2009, also includes the standalone expansion Civilization IV: Colonization .

Civilization Revolution

Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution

June 13, 2008

Xbox 360 , PlayStation 3 , Nintendo DS , iOS , Windows Phone

Game mode

Xbox 360 controller, Sixaxis

DVD-ROM , Blu-ray Disc

German

Civilization Revolution was developed specifically and exclusively for consoles . Game scope and speed have been optimized for consoles. A full game can be won in two to three hours. To make it easier to get started, the scope of the game has been reduced compared to the previous games in the series. For example, there is no longer any religion that previously had an impact on production or diplomacy. The game is controlled with the gamepad , as is typical for the console . Spies, settlers and barbarians are key characters in the game. There are 16 civilizations available.

Versions of Civilization Revolution have also been released for the Apple iPhone , Apple iPad and Windows Phone 7 .

Civilization V

Sid Meier's Civilization V

September 24, 2010

Windows , macOS , Linux

Game mode

Mouse , keyboard

system advantages
preconditions

Intel Core2Duo 1.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 2.0 GHz
2 GB RAM
256 MB graphics card ( Nvidia 7900 GS / ATI 2600)
8 GB hard disk space
Windows XP SP3 / Windows Vista SP2 / Windows 7
DirectX 9.0c
Internet connection required

1 DVD , download

language

German

Current version

1.0.3.276 (October 27, 2014)

Age rating

USK

PEGI

information

Online activation required; German version uncensored; DLC available

On February 18, 2010, Civilization V was officially announced by Sid Meier. The game was released on September 24, 2010 in Germany. Additional material is available for all PC versions via Steam . In addition, a digital deluxe edition has been announced, which will be distributed exclusively via Steam. In addition, a special edition box with an art book, the soundtrack for the game on CD and tin miniatures, which represent units from the game, was released. Like its predecessor, Civilization V is completely modifiable. It contains the following innovations and changes:

Use of a hex grid instead of a rhombic grid; only one civil and one military unit can be moved onto the same space at the same time.
Revised combat system: u. a. Ranged fighters can now attack over two to three squares. The units have different ranges.
There is only one head of state per nation, of which there are 18 in the normal retail version. Each head of state has a special bonus and two special units or buildings.
An upgraded diplomacy system with full screen animated heads of state speaking a language related to their country. In order to improve diplomacy, the following game concepts have been removed from the normal retail version:
- Religion (included again with the 'Gods & Kings' extension )
- Espionage (included again with the 'Gods & Kings' expansion)
- Technology trade (instead research agreement)
Independent city-states to expand diplomacy
Introduction of natural wonders such as the Rock of Gibraltar , the Great Barrier Reef or the Old Faithful
Reintroduction of the consultants
Community hub; Ability to exchange user-created content in the Steam Workshop
The road and rail networks cost maintenance and no longer generate any additional trade income. However, the player receives a gold or production bonus for every city that is connected to the capital by road or railroad.
The extension of the borders no longer has to be done only through culture points, but terrain fields can be purchased.
The city management was revised. Many buildings now have an impact on civilization as a whole, others only on the respective city.
Revised Policy: There are 10 different social policies, each with five unlockable bonuses. The acquisition of social policies costs culture points.
Revised Technologies: There are a total of 74 technologies to research, from ancient times to the future.

Awards

From the British Academy of Film and Television Arts is Civilization V has been awarded as the best strategy game 2011th

reception

Michael Wieczorek from golem.de praises that "the new ideas in Civilization 5, from the natural wonders to the city-states, are convincing." However, he criticizes that the "religions with their missionaries ... the air pollution of industrial cities or spies" are missing. Gamestar rates the game with 86 out of 100 points and Christian Schmidt states that the developers “have shown the courage to radically simplify the gameplay of the series in some areas in order to give more meaning to fundamental decisions.” Nevertheless, it remains “a complex one Game, even more tactical than ever in the battles ”. Michael Graf also praises the “new combat system”, but criticizes the fact that he considers “many changes” to be “questionable”, such as the unchangeable social system and the city-states, which are “little more than extras”. He missed “the religious and health systems” and the depth that resulted from it. Graf is the fourth as the best series part of Civilization.

success

According to an investigation by Ars Technica , Civilization 5 is one of the most successful games on the Steam platform that does not come from Steam operator Valve . It is the most played non-valvegame and the fifth most played overall. In total, the game was registered 5.8 million times on Steam up to April 2014, and its users played an average of 127 hours with a median of 29 hours, which makes up 7th place in all Steam games in each of the three categories.

Extensions to Civilization V

After various smaller expansions that were only available as DLC and only contained single playable civilizations, scenarios or ready-made maps, the first major expansion Gods and Kings was published.

Gods and Kings

Gods & Kings was released by 2K on June 22nd, 2012. It contains the following content:

Religions
espionage
9 new civilizations, u. a. the Celts, the Carthaginians, the Dutch, the Maya and the Austrians
9 new wonders of the world, including Neuschwanstein Castle and the Hubble Space Telescope
27 new units
13 new buildings
4 new natural wonders such as Uluru and Mount Sinai
2 new types of city-states (religious and commercial)
revised combat system (e.g. hit points increased from 10 to 100)
3 new scenarios: "The Fall of Rome", "Into the Renaissance" and "Realm of the Smoking Skies"

Brave New World

On July 12, 2013, the second additional package Brave New World was published . In addition:

three ideology trees with three levels each for different victory variants
two social policies (exploration and aesthetics)
World Congress (later UN ) with worldwide resolutions
international trading system with automated trading routes
Cultural victory and cultural struggle based on cultural goods (masterpieces)
Tourism income type based on cultural assets (masterpieces)
nine new nations / heads ( Assyria , Brazil , Indonesia , Morocco , Poland , Portugal , Shoshone , Venice , Zulu )
eight new wonders of the world ( Borobudur , Broadway , Globe Theater , International Space Station , Parthenon , Prora , Red Fort , Uffizi Gallery )
new natural wonders, units, city and terrain facilities
two new scenarios (Colonial Era, American Civil War )
Computer AI with better "memory" and more understandable actions
improved multiplayer mode with new game types and "Pitboss"

Civilization: Beyond Earth

Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth

October 24, 2014

Windows , macOS , Linux

Game mode

German

On October 24, 2014, the game was released by 2K Games. It continues the Civilization series on a planet beyond Earth. The central point is the colonization of an alien planet, on which other life forms also settle, and thus represents a combination of the Civilization series and Alpha Centauri .

reception

The reviews in Germany were mostly positive, but they lagged slightly behind those of the predecessors at the time of publication.

On October 8, 2015, an expansion called Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth - Rising Tide was released .

Civilization VI

Sid Meier's Civilization VI

October 21, 2016

Windows , macOS , Linux , iOS , iPadOS , Nintendo Switch

Game mode