Civilization
- L'aricolo riguarda un gioco del 1991. Per la serie, visita Civilization II (96), Civilization III (01), e Civilization IV (05).
Il termine si può riferire a Galactic Civilizations o Galactic Civilizations 2, o a giochi a turni molto simili come Civilization: Call to Power o Call to Power II
| {{{nome gioco}}} videogioco | |
|---|---|
| Genere | Gioco a turni |
| Sviluppo | MicroProse |
| Pubblicazione | MicroProse |
Civilization, o Sid Meier's Civilization (che è il nome ufficiale del gioco) è un gioco per computer creato dal programmatore Sid Meier per Microprose in 1991. L'obiettivo del gioco è di sviluppare un grande impero partendo (quasi) dal nulla ("...to build a legacy that would stand the test of time"). Il gioco inizia nei tempi antichi e il giocatore deve provare a espandere e a sviluppare il propio impero attraverso le ere fino a raggiungere il presente e il futuro più prossimo. Esso è anche chiamato nelle abbreviazioni Civ o Civ I. Esso è generalmente riconosciuto per essere il fondatore del genere dei giochi di strategia a turni.
Nel 1996 il Computer Gaming World pose Civilization al primo posto nella sua lista di "I migliori giochi di tutti i tempi per PC.
Descrizione
Civilization è un gioco single-player (sebbene fosse poi nata una versione multiplayer a parte chiamata CivNet) e sia Civilization II che III sono versioni multiplayer; Civilization IV, rilasciato nel tardo 2005, ha un avanzato supporto per numerosi tipi di giochi multiplayer. Il giocatore prende le parti del sovrano di una civiltà partendo con nient'altro che un solo colono (qualche volta due). Il giocatore prova a costruire un impero in competizione con un certo numero di altre civiltà (da una a sette e fino a 31 nelle ultime versioni). Il gioco è rigorosamente basato a turni e possiede una schermata per la facile gestione delle risorse.
Oltre ad esplorare il mondo del gioco, partecipare alle guerre e intraprendere attività diplomatiche, il giocatore deve fare decisioni circa quali migliramenti o unità costruire in ogni città, dove costruire nuove città, e come trasformare i territori attorno alle città per trarne più benefici possibili. Da un turno all'altro le città possono essere molestate dai barbari, unità senza specifiche nazionalità o leader. Queste minacce scompaiono andando avanti col gioco quando non ci sono più zone libere disponibili che permettano ai barbari di insediarvisi.
Prima dell'inizio del gioco, il giocatore sceglie con quale civiltà storica giocare. Si possono scegliere anche le civiltà con cui scontrarsi o lasciare la scelta al programma. Ogni civiltà ha tratti caratteristici, gli Aztechi, per esempio, sono molto espansionisti: tra le altre civiltà ci sono gli Americani, i Mongoli, i Romani, ecc… Ogni civiltà è guidata da una figura storica, come Mohandas Gandhi per l’India, Joseph Stalin per la Russia e Giulio Cesare per i Romani.
Lo scopo del gioco è molto vario o comunque molto di più di quello degli altri videogames. Il gioco inizia nel 4000 AC, prima dell’Era del Bronzo, e può finire per il 2100 con le tecnologie dell’Era Spaziale. All’inizio del gioco il mondo è totalmente deserto, senza neppure una città: il giocatore controlla uno o due Coloni, che possono essere usati per fondare nuove città nei luoghi più adatti. Successivamente si possono addestrare delle unità ‘’lavoratore’’, se non sono già state fornite all’inizio del gioco, per alterare il territorio e costruire miglioramenti come le miniere, le strade e, successivamente, anche le ferrovie.
Con l’avanzare del tempo, vengono scoperte nuove tecnologie; queste sono il modo principale per cambiare e svilupparsi nel corso del gioco. Per avanzare i giocatori scelgono e quindi ricercano nuove tecnologie e partendo dalla ruota, matematica e anche l’alfabeto fino a raggiungere, verso la fine del gioco, la fissione nucleare e il volo spaziale. I giocatori guadagnano un largo vantaggio se la loro civiltà è la prima a scoprire una particolare tecnologia (come i segreti del volo). Molte scoperte danno accesso alla costruzione di nuove unità, di miglioramenti per la città o permettono di accedere alle tecnologie che derivano dalla loro scoperta; per esempio, l’unità “’’biga”’’ diviene disponibile solo dopo la scoperta della ruota, mentre il granaio è disponibile dopo la scoperta del vasellame. L’intero sistema delle scoperte dall’inizio alla fine è chiamato ‘’”Albero Tecnologico”’’, un concetto adottato anche da molti altri giochi strategici.
<--Since only one tech may be "researched" at any given time, the order in which technologies are chosen makes a considerable difference in the outcome of the game and generally reflects the player's preferred style of gameplay.
Players can also build Wonders of the world in all the epochs of the game, subject only to possession of the necessary knowledge. These wonders are often important human achievements of society, science, and culture in human history, ranging from the Pyramids and the Great Wall in the Ancient age, to Copernicus' Observatory and Magellan's Expedition in the middle period, up to the Apollo Program, the United Nations, and the Manhattan Project in the modern era. Each of these wonders can only be built by one civilization and takes up a lot of resources to build (far more than most other city upgrades or units). However, each of these wonders provides unique benefits that can be gained by no other methods. Wonders can also be made obsolete by technological advances. See also List of Wonders in Civilization
The game can be won either by destroying all other civilizations or by becoming the first civilization to succeed at space colonization, in this case reaching the star system of Alpha Centauri. In the later installments of the series, other ways to win have been added, including cultural victory (buildings like Temples and Libraries add culture points to a civilization) and diplomatic victory (being elected United Nations Secretary-General).-->
Legacy
This game has been one of the most popular strategy games of all time, and has a loyal following of fans. The degree of popularity may be discerned from the observation that in an industry where the lifespan of a product typically averages 6 months or less, this game, (by means of all its versions and updates), has endured for over a decade and a half, with product being offered for sale the entire time in retail stores. This high level of interest has spawned a number of free versions, such as Freeciv and C-evo, and inspired similar games by other commercial developers, as well.
- CivNet was released 1995 and was a remake of the original game with added multiplayer, improved graphics and sound, and Windows 95 support. Gameplay was almost identical to the original game. There were several methods of multiplayer, including LAN, primitive Internet play, hotseat, modem, and direct serial link.
- Civilization II was released in 1996 and eventually spawned two expansion packs. The original version was designed by Brian Reynolds. Two expansion packs, Fantastic Worlds and Conflicts in Civilization were released in 1997 and 1998, respectively. A Multiplayer Gold Edition was released in 1999 that added multiple multiplayer features and included all of the features and scenarios from the first two expansion packs.
- Civilization II: Test of Time was released in 1999. A remake of Civilization II, Test of Time added completely new animated graphics and several new scenarios, including the ability to play on multiple maps in a single game, adding a "three dimensional" element to the two dimensional game. This feature was not held over in succeeding versions of the game.
- Civilization III was released in 2001. The original version was designed by Jeff Briggs and Soren Johnson. Two expansion packs followed: Civilization III: Play the World, which added multiplayer, and Civilization III: Conquests. The latest version of Civ III is Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete, which was released in 2003.
- Civilization IV was produced by Firaxis and was released on October 24 2005. It was designed by Soren Johnson. This game is the first in the series which uses 3D graphics. An expansion for Civ4, Civilization IV: Warlords, has been announced. It is to be first released on July,2006.
In 1992, Civilization won the Origins Award for Best Military or Strategy Computer Game of 1991.
In November 1996 Computer Gaming World's Anniversary Edition, Civilization was chosen the #1 of the 150 Best Games of All Time, and it was described as follows:
- While some games might be equally addictive, none have sustained quite the level of rich, satisfying gameplay quite like Sid Meier's magnum opus. The blend of exploration, economics, conquest and diplomacy is augmented by the quintessential research and development model, as you struggle to erect the Pyramids, discover gunpowder, and launch a colonization spacecraft to Alpha Centauri. For its day, Civ had the toughest computer opponents around - even taking into account the "cheats," that in most instances added rather than detracted from the game. Just when you think the game might bog down, you discover a new land, a new technology, another tough foe - and you tell yourself, "just one more game," even as the first rays of the new sun creep into your room...the most acute case of game-lock we've ever felt.
Inspiration
Meier admits to "borrowing" many of the technology tree ideas from a board game also called Civilization (published in the United Kingdom in 1980 by Hartland Trefoil (later by Gibson Games), and in the United States in 1981 by Avalon Hill). The early versions of the game even included a flier of information and ordering materials for the board game. In an ironic twist, there is now a board game based on the computer game version of Civilization.
Intellectual property status
Between Civilization II and III, Activision released a similar game Civilization: Call To Power. They acquired the rights to the name for a time and took advantage of it by releasing the game using the property in its title.
As of late 2004, Atari, the latest publisher of a Civilization game sold the intellectual property of the Civilization brand to Take 2 Interactive Software, who will distribute Civilization games under the 2K Games label. Take 2 went public with news of the sale on January 26 2005.
Similar games
In 1994 Meier produced a similar game called Colonization. Colonization, while being very similar to Civilization, never became quite as popular. It has also been criticized for leaving out slavery and other historically important features in the creation of many nations and empires. Civilization IV, however, recognized slavery in the game play.
The game Alpha Centauri is also by Meier and is in the same genre, but with a futuristic/space theme. Many of the interface and gameplay innovations in this game eventually made their way into Civilization III and IV.
In 1993 Microprose published Master of Magic, a similar game but embedded in a medieval-fantasy setting where instead of technologies the player (a powerful wizard) develops spells, among other things. The game also shared many things with the popular fantasy card-trading game Magic: The Gathering.
In 1994 Stardock released Galactic Civilizations, a similar turn-based strategy game for OS/2 which became one of the best-selling games for that platform. They released a reprogrammed Windows version in 2003, and a sequel in 2006.
Civilization's introduction
An introduction movie shows when a new game is started in Civilization. The movie was added to give players something to look at while the game world was being created. Later editions of Civilization no longer include such an introduction, presumably because world creation can be done almost instantaneously. The exception to this is Civilization IV, which contains an updated version of this introduction, narrated by Leonard Nimoy; the player can, however, skip this, as their world will be created in a fraction of the duration of the introduction. The following words form the actual introduction of Civilization:
In the beginning, the Earth was without form, and void.
But the Sun shone upon the sleeping Earth and deep inside the brittle crust massive forces waited to be unleashed.
The seas parted and great continents were formed. The continents shifted, mountains arose. Earthquakes spawned massive tidal waves. Volcanoes erupted and spewed forth fiery lava and charged the atmosphere with strange gases.
Into this swirling maelstrom of Fire and Air and Water the first stirrings of Life appeared: tiny organisms, cells, and amoeba, clinging to tiny sheltered habitats.
But the seeds of Life grew, and strengthened, and spread, and diversified, and prospered, and soon every continent and climate teemed with Life.
And with Life came instinct, and specialization, natural selection, Reptiles, Dinosaurs, and Mammals and finally there evolved a species known as Man and there appeared the first faint glimmers of Intelligence.
The fruits of intelligence were many: fire, tools, and weapons, the hunt, farming, and the sharing of food, the family, the village, and the tribe. Now it required but one more ingredient: a great Leader to unite the quarreling tribes to harness the power of the land to build a legacy that would stand the test of time:
a CIVILIZATION!
The game pulled the introductory text from a text file located in the game's computer directory, and it was possible to alter the text file to manipulate the game's introduction (sometimes to comedic effect).
Platforms
Civilization was originally developed for DOS running on a PC. It has undergone numerous revisions for various platforms (including Microsoft Windows, Macintosh, Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, PlayStation and Super Nintendo) and now exists in several versions. Civilization III is available on Windows, Macintosh, and Linux. The latest version, Civilization IV, was released on October 25, 2005 by 2k Games. Civilization IV currently runs only on computers with Windows XP/Windows 2000 and video cards with hardware transform and lighting. A Macintosh version of Civilization IV is to be released in early 2006.
Points of controversy
While a lot less amenable to the same type of criticism as the sister-game Colonization, there are some elements of Civilization that are considered controversial because they lack neutrality: the choice of leaders of the civilizations (which have also been changed in the various versions), the fact that some civilizations are left out of the game altogether, and the choices for Wonder of the World (e.g. replacing Hoover Dam with Three Gorges Dam in Civilization IV).
In Civilization IV, the unique unit for the Indian people is known as the "fast worker", which is described by the game's own documentation as follows:
"The Indian people are remarkably sturdy and hardworking. Their compact, wiry frames can stand up to some of the most difficult labor in some of the world's most difficult climates..."
Another topic of critique is the trivialization of historically important, but sensitive, topics such as religion and slavery. The games have managed to handle these aspects in a relatively generic manner.
The assignment of 'traits' to particular leaders has been a source of some criticism. Some have questioned whether the game is simply trying to re-create history instead of allowing a player to imprint their own traits onto the developing game. Others have considered such trait assignments racist, since some of these traits are perceived to be applied to a general group of people instead of specific leaders.
There is also considerable discussion over the AI used in the game. In order to compensate for its limitations and provide a decent challenge to the human player, it is known that computer players (often referred to collectively as the 'AI') are favored with an in-game set of advantages. In particularly glaring undocumented occurrences of these advantages being revealed, players often find themselves in the odd position of playing a game where they don't know the rules.
With the most recent addition to the series, Civilization IV, some concern has arisen that the game has acquired some qualities of bloatware and creeping featurism, for example emphasizing high detail graphics instead of concentrating on memory management or the intracies of game balance.
The most contentious aspect of the game occurs in combat when a modern unit is fighting an obsolete or ancient unit. That ancient unit can sometimes win what most players consider to be an impossible battle. The most notorious of this is the infamous "spearman defeats tank" phenomena. However, in Civilization IV, the most recent iteration of the game, this has been made a lot less likely.
Criticism
The historian and anthropologist Matthew Kapell has published an essay critical of the Civilization series. It suggests that the game uses unique American myths of progress and the frontier in culturally elitist fashion. It can be found here: “Civilization and its Discontents: American Monomythic Structure as Historical Simulacrum.” Popular Culture Review Vol. XIII, No. 2 (Summer): 129-136.
Trivia
- Sid Meier was the third major designer to plan a computer version of Civilization, but the first to actually carry out that plan.
- Danielle Bunten Berry planned to start work on the game in 1985, after completing The Seven Cities of Gold at Electronic Arts. The success of Seven Cities, however, led Bunten and producer Joe Ybarra to instead opt for a sequel, Heart of Africa. Bunten never returned to the idea of Civilization. Ironically, Meier's designs of Pirates and Colonization both contain elements of Bunten's The Seven Cities of Gold.
- Don Daglow, designer of Utopia, the first sim game, began work programming a version of Civilization in 1987. He dropped the project, however, when he was offered an executive position at Broderbund, and never returned to the game.
- While it can be difficult to obtain a copy of the original game, one can download a demo here.
External links
- Template:Moby game
- The Official Take2 Civilization IV website
- The Official Firaxis Civilization III website
- Apolyton: site about most games in the Civilization genre
- Civfanatics: site covering Civ I, Civ II, Civ III, and Civ IV.
- Planet Civilization
- CivGuide: Strategy and more for Civilization IV'
- civ.org.pl: a bilingual site (English and Polish) covering the majority of civilization-style games
- Civilization FAQ
FREE Civilization clones
| La serie di Civilization |
| Civilization| Civilization II | Civilization II: Test of Time Civilization: Call to Power | Call to Power II | Civilization III | Civilization IV Altri giochi simili o di Sid Meier: |