Sid Meier on Civilization Revolution and his next plans
![[Civilization 1 and Civ Revolution]](http://www.gamersglobal.com/media/special/sid_meier/sid_meier_revolution.jpg "Civilization 1 and Civ Revolution")
While the original MS-DOS version of Civilization (1991) had only 16 colors, it had easily five times the game length of the to-be-released 2008 version Civilization Revolution.
GamersGlobal: You’re heading Firaxis Games together with Steve Martin, and you’re also Director of Creative Development. What’s your workday like?
Sid Meier: I am definitely on the game development side, and Steve is in charge of the studio and the business side and keeps everything going. He lets focus me on the game design, because that’s what I enjoy doing. So my workday is pretty much about doing games. I’ll talk to Steve, I’ll talk to our incredible publisher Take 2, they have all the details about selling the games and marketing them. I am very lucky: I get to write games and design them, that’s all I want to do.
GamersGlobal: You’ve mentioned MMO games as a new genre. You have invented several genres or sub genres yourself, for example submarine simulations with Silent Service, or the Civilization type of games. So what do you think about MMOs?
Sid Meier: I think someday I would like to try a game in that genre. It really benefits from creativity and new ideas, but we’re still in the very early stages of exploring the possibilities of it. I certainly would like to play around with a MMO concept in the future.
GamersGlobal: But while nearly all of your games have been emphasizing the solo mode, and your games were mostly easy to use but hard to master, MMOs are something entirely different. Graphics and specific rules aside, they seem to be more about the interactions and relations between players. Does this suit your way of creating games?
Sid Meier: There’s definitely a difference in MMO games, and that’s part of the interest for me: to try something a little different. But our games certainly have focused on the singleplayer side, although we try to make Civilization Revolution into a very playable multiplayer game, too. I enjoy the idea of doing something I haven’t done before, so a MMO would fit perfectly, but I really can’t say if that would be the next game we do or if it’s still a couple of games down the road before we come to that. Because I have new single player games I want to do, as well.
GamersGlobal: Let’s talk about Civilizaion Revolution. It’s supposed to take about three hours for one match in solo mode. That reminds me of those “executive summaries” style of books, where you get a strongly shorted version of a popular book on 20 pages -- so that people without time can still claim to have read recent books at Dinner parties.
This interview was done per telephone, the last time we met Sid in person was last August at GC, Leipzig.
Sid Meier: Well, Civilization Revolution is all the best parts of Civilization. Of course, we’re addressing a new audience, and we want to take the best advantage of the nextgen console hardware. We have a lot of animations, a lot of cool stuff going on on the screen. We want to take advantage of the network capabilities of Xbox Live and PlayStation Home. We really wanted to make games playable in a shorter amount of time. If you want to play a multiplayer game, not everybody has 10 or 15 hours to get a group of their friends together. So the game moves along at a nice, fast pace, and a lot of interesting things happen. The game still has got all the excitement of a Civilization game, like diplomacy, combat, economics, building, discovering, with a lot of new features added to it. There’s all the decision making which the fans love, you really get to be the king and lead your great civilization through thousands of years of history. But no, Revolution doesn’t have the micro management of hardcore strategy games.
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Interesting read, although I wish he'd told you more of his coming games. As much as I like Sid's old games, I am not sure he still can deliver something entirely new. Let's wait and see.
I love that game !
Lost s6e15
good interview. let sid continue to think about an mmo game. maybe he could produce a pirate´s online and in the same breath finally a good pirate online game. and a bit more complicated than the 2004 update, because that got boring way too fast
IMO Civ 1, and Civ 2 were the best... Civ IV was alright, and as for Civ 5 - BRING IT ON BABY@!
What about colonisation that was heaps of fun. A remake of that would be killer.
hell yeah Colonization it would be VERY nice to see remaked, hope Civ Revoliution would be chalenging has the other ones
all other civs are garpage compared to Civilization4, any 1 who disagrees has eather not played 4 (maybe because pc cant handle it) or not enough. Its the first civ where you actualy need a strategy to take AI down instead of spamming same troops to their capital over and over again. Multiplayer options are far away from civ3, and whats most important is that its fun and has the most varity of playing of all civilization games. Only bad thing is that the only way to win in MP match is to go for domination.
Why mention the brilliant Gettysburg if it's not talked about in the interview? IMHO, it's the best game Sid ever made, and it's a crime that it was so overlooked in Europe - that's our loss! It still plays better and smarter than any Total War title to date, albeit with stickmen. It'll be a bigger crime if Sid never updates this game for the noughties, even though it will probably be overlooked again...
Tobs, I 've included the Antietam screenshot for the exact reason that Europeans do not know about the two Civil War games too much -- also, Sid mentions the games as "Civil War" in the interview. And perhaps somebodys reads your comment and chooses to get the game, after all :-)
Thanks for the feedback! BTW, I've changed the beginning of the article into "This Spring", from "On April 28th", because 2K Games asked me to (they never gave me that precise date, instead the date was mentioned in several big online shops, and is still mentioned).
An Article at Eurogamer.de is linking to this article here.
Jörg, based on the people that comment regularly on GG it was my impression that the user base is still rather small here, but if other news-sites are starting to get their news here, and 2K Games are reading this, there might be a broader reader-base then I expected, do you have any stats to support that, or maybe an educated guess?
Hi starkiller, our "user base" (reading: people coming regularly) is still rather small; most people coming for a interview or special do not stick. Well, that's life, and we won't give up :-)
Of course you won't give up, no reason to, and I didn't have this much fun, since pancakes were invented.
Thx for the info.
nice article thanks for sharing it
nice post,
i love this blog
thanks for sharing it!
This article is on the CivFanatics's frontpage!
But shame that Sid didn't say anything about Civ5...
Someone tell me what "IP" stands for! I don't know and after reading this intverview I feel like blasting someones head open.
Thanks.
I believe that in this context, it means "Intellectual property", like a brand, a product, just not physical, just Intellectual.
"Star Trek" would be a good example, sure there is a lot of merchandise for Star Trek, and there is a lot of "Star Trek" you can buy on DVD, but before all, Star Trek is an idea, an "Intellectual property". I hope this helps.
CIV 5 MUST BE MADE!!!! AND SOON!!! Civ 4 is so much fun, even after all this time. The main thing that needs fixed is the online Gamespy doesn't work too well. I remember too many Sunday afternoons sitting in the lobby trying to join or host a game. The Civ Revolution is making me mad because only 4 players is lame. You need 3 v 3 or 4 v 4 team battle ground or inland sea for a good multiplayer match. I won't miss the stupid pollution and anarchy, but I will miss any dumbing down in any other aspects of the game. Civ 5 I hope will have more types of terrain, more map types, more resources, units, leaders, etc. When reworking the combat and putting new units in the game, Sid and the team needs to read a bunch of Tom Clancy novels.
I agree, Civilization V has to be made, and soon, ever since Civ I came out i'v bought everyone of them, and every expansion pack. I think a neat thing to put in the game would be the ability to build nuclear weapons even with the nuclear non-proliferation treaty in place, other nations could then use the new espionage feature in Civ IV to uncover this and bring a vote to declare war before the united nations security council. Also it would be nice if the nuclear pollution was dumbed downa little bit, I seem to launch 1 or 2 ICBMs and theres constant global warming. O yer, and wheres the stealth fighter gone?, there should be more types of different units ie, Challenger,M1Abraham Tanks, and F-16/F-15/Mig fighters.
"While the original Civilization (1991, here on Commodore 64) had only 16 colors"
Someone should do their homework. There is no c64 version of the game.
You are right. I personally played the Amiga version when it came out, but my memories turned that into "Commodore 64". I've changed the caption, thanks for pointing my error out!
yeah, i do agree with you dude, it's pretty interesting.
i agree with your opinion
BRING BACK THE CIVIL WAR GENERALS SERIES!
This game was FAR ahead of it's time IN EVERY ASPECT but became unplayable during the microsoft transition from W95 to W98 and XP
I can see why it wouldn't be a big "sell" in europe but the game mechanics themselves were UNLIMITED and HISTORICAL in theory, fact, and nature -
The "Campaigns" were INCREDIBLE down to the point of each battle such as Gettysburg being "won" by the south (instead of the north) the game would "create" the "next battle" based on historical reference and probability.
I hope he redos Alpha Centauri, it is superior to the Civ of equivalent age.
I would love to see a Civ MMO not sure how it would work but i have ideas! It would be the most engaging game ever infact can i make this instead of Sid?
Just one more turn would turn into just one more hour!
Actually i have a completely clear idea of how a Civ MMO would work -ask me
OK, I'll bite, how would it work?
Yeah, please elaborate on your crazy idea. I hate MMOs. So sell me on a good one.
Gettysburg obviously has very poor gx, but then it was a 1997 (?) game. However, the gameplay was immense, with more tactical consequences of every decision you made then the more recent Total War series.
RTW and MTW2 are OK, but involve very little tactics, when it comes down to it. It's just like bashing toy soldiers together until one side gives way.
By contrast, Getty was great, you got a real sense of your formation, use of terrain, use of arty, etc having an effect on the outcome of battles.
Me and my friends pray every day that Sid will make another Civil War game, with modern gx.
At the end of the day, if he did and it was a mega game (as I'm sure it would be) then I think it would sell well in Europe. There isn't much competition at all for such a game. Yeh, you have the History Channel games (no online play ?), but apart from them and Imperial Glory, I am not aware of any half decent 1800's combat battle simulation games.
A new Civil War game from Sid would be soooo awesome.
I want civ 5 right now Sid!
Looking forward to Civ 5 myself; please get Sid back in sometime later in the year to talk about it, like he said!
After a bit of research on the subject of Civ 5, one could conclude this is turning into another KotOR III fiasco. The rumors swell of a soon-to-be released game(according to someone's insider cousin to obsidian/bio-ware) and time passes, yet no game. The rumors persist and yet no game. I am getting to the age where all my favorite titles won't be out until I'm too old to see the screen anymore. Even with wet wiring. Argh!!! Well at least I know Zelda will always release a new one within a year or so. I have that. LOL
"Firaxis plans to publish Civilization Revolution – which is the first Civilization for consoles and which could be the first original Firaxis title in a long time".
Thats is not true there is a PS one version of Civ 2.
Hi, I didn't know that! Do you have any link to a packshot or screenshot, maybe?
Amazon.com
Wikipedia also states that it came for the PSone.
i cant join multiplayer period. it just keeps saying cannot connect to network. then tried to host its stays on for a few seconds and says disconected from network. wtf
this is on ps3
yes, it´s in ps3
dont rush the guy i would prefer to see his products come out complete not waiting on patches to fix all the stuff ups and definately not the disaater railroads is it crashes all the time and no one cares i for one will not be buying anymore sid games i just dont beleive the quality control is there anymore
It is later in the year now - how about getting Sid back and asking him about Civ 5?
If you're new to Civ's turn-based world, the abundance of information at the beginning of a game can be daunting — and even more so for your chosen civilization's different opening gambits. Revolution does a great job of appropriate hand-holding, with its array of cartoon advisers and "Civilopedia," which contains a wealth of strategic and operational knowledge, accessible at any time. So, when your first Settler unit establishes the capital city in the opening turns, you'll be in good shape for the Manifest Destiny that's to follow.
Like Rob said, let's get Sid back and ask him about plans for Civ V
This is the next generation strategy game it has all the high quality features to make it work.I am playing this game with great appreciation.I recommend it to every one.You wont find a better game in some really long time.
Grande post
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very interesting post
thanks
Great blog, this could be the best blog I ever visited this month. Never stop to write something useful dude!
Someone tell me what "IP" stands for! I don't know and after reading this intverview I feel like blasting someones head open.
Thanks.
nice revolution
nice revolution
in europe but the game mechanics themselves were UNLIMITED and HISTORICAL in theory, fact, and nature -
The "Campaigns" were INCREDIBLE down to the point of each battle such as Gettysburg being "won" by the south (instead of the north) the game would
And we’re seeing that with a number of games. PC is still the best place to play a MMO. It has unlimited internet access, so downloadable games are still strong on the PC.
I have started devloping a Dark Ages CIV style MMO! Please email me for screenshots and beta test program!
publish Civilization Revolution – which is the first Civilization for consoles and which could be the first original Firaxis title in a long time".
Thats is not true there is a PS one version of Civ 2.
I love all the war scenarios, I am a big WW 2 buff and by 1955 I had all of England and would be on my way to New York.
But it only showed 2 citied, NY & DC. The Civil war scenario {I know very little about that war} I would take Philly
first. But a game where you could change history, like the Japanese, Italians and Germans siding with Russia to where
the US had her east, west and northern borders to protect would be killer. I would always go to the Fascist patch site
to get a Fascist gov. because I hate being over ruled by the Senate to go to war and I did not like Communism very much.
The Fascist gov. rules if you are more into war..Please add ALL gov. and allow players to choose. Thanks for all the
fun, you rock!!!!!!Married to a civ. widow!!!
Dudes in civ 5 u gotta make it so knights or lowngbows, cannot shoot down a chopper, dudes thats sooooo lame.
Its easier to make money from a game that is based on existing technology than to re invent the technology and start from scratch with a
new game and if the public are still purchasing them then surely they are doing something right. Will be good to see the new game though.
This is the next generation strategy game it has all the high quality features to make it work.I am playing this game with great appreciation.I recommend it to every one.You wont find a better game in some really long time.
rpg strategy game is still the speciality for Maier..
Gamer Global still the best..
Absolutely awesome, thanks so much for this!
publish Civilization Revolution – which is the first Civilization for consoles and which could be the first original Firaxis title in a long time".
Thats is not true there is a PS one version of Civ 2.
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I agree with Sid Meier's answer regarding learning new things because of the generous contribution of technology in our lives. There are always new changes waiting to happen.
He is one of the most intelligent and incredible gentleman I have seen in my life. He always thinks about something new, fresh and probably better ideaas everyday.
This man is a genius! Imagine creating huge number of games which most of us are playing at present. You can have this game played in your Mac with the use of the right software.
You are such a cool guy, how I wish my father could play video games with me. He is such a busy person and forgets about being a kid for sometime.
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It's an interesting approach. I commonly see unexceptional views on the subject but yours it's written in a pretty unusual fashion. Surely, I will revisit your website for additional info.
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Amazing, unfortunately I have not tried any of those games yet. Somehow I enjoyed reading the entire post!
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