Sid Meier on Civilization Revolution and his next plans
GamersGlobal: Other companies have tried to bring their strategy franchises to the console, but not many have succeeded. What are you doing better than those other companies?
Sid Meier: It’s a turn based game that works very well with console controllers; you don’t try to be everywhere on the map at the same time because you’ll lose when you’re too slow. We’ve seen that turn based works on console with Advance Wars and other games. Also, Civilization has proven to be a really interesting, big gaming IP. So we have an approach with turn based that works very well and an idea that appeals to people. We can’t guarantee that it will be successful, but we’re very optimistic about it.
GamersGlobal: Do you think something has changed in the last ten years in the industry, that there are no longer as many original game ideas?
Sid Meier: I don’t agree with that. In the last few years, we have seen games like Guitar Hero, we’ve seen the Wii come out. We’ve seen Rockstar do a table tennis game! There is a willingness to try new things, I know publishers are encouraging developers to come up with new IPs. But also, gamers want the next Halo, they want the next GTA – so I think publishers do their best to come with new things but also give the fans new versions of what they already like.
GamersGlobal: So you don’t think that there are less original games coming out?
Sid Meier: I think there are quite a few of new games. We’re definitely seeing the budgets of games going to be millions and millions of dollars, and that probably means that there not as much new games being made as in the early days. But when you look at some of the new platforms like the DS or the Wii, there is a smaller development cost there. So there might be opportunities for small studios and small budget games. Xbox Live is another place for that.
GamersGlobal: What do you think about PC games versus console games?
Did you know? Sid Meier's very first game, Spitfire Ace (1982), was one of five Flight Simulators he programmed.
Sid Meier: The PC will be around for a long time, it is certainly a big part of our future plans. A number of the ideas we’re currently looking at internally are both PC and console. The nextgen consoles have the power to rival a PC in terms of graphics and processing. So it makes sense to build them both on the PC and the consoles. 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. Blizzard has certainly done a great job of keeping the PC upfront as a gaming system. And it continues to get better and better with new graphics cards and so on. Right now, we see this rich set of platforms, from the DS through the consoles to the PC, so we’re able to just say: This idea, where will it fit best?
GamersGlobal: I have been told by your colleagues that Civilization Revolution will be highly portable because there’s a core gameplay engine, and the rest is eye candy and interface. It is as easy as that?
Sid Meier: It actually is! We’re doing a DS version, and the gameplay is exactly the same as on the 360 and PS3. We do not like the idea of ports or outsourcing different versions to other developers. We want to safeguard our gameplay, we want to make sure that, with all the work we put into the gameplay, it carries over to the different platforms. So we have a game core that has all the game rules and the AI and everything. And that’s the same on all the systems. It’s just the graphics and the buttons that are different.
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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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I'll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again soon.
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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.
As a newbie, this article was really helpful, thanks for sharing!
good blog, this could be the best blog. This article was really interesting to read. thanks
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.
As a newbie, this article was really helpful, thanks for sharing!
Absolutely awesome, thanks so much for this!
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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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