Hype: Sid Meier 
FROM LOVE TO GAMES 
“All my games are like children and every single one is somehow special. 
But my favorite child has always been Civilization”. Working on his already 
third game in the Civilization series, Sid Meier told us in Baltimore about his 
relationship to games, his past at MicroProse and of course the secrecy of the 
popularity of Civilization. 
Sid Meier who began his career in the early 80’s at the legendary MicroProse, 
is one of the few persons in the world who can sell games just with his/her name. 
When Meier was playing SimCity, he realized that it could be just as much fun to 
create and build, as just to destroy everything. This turning point in Meier’s career 
gave birth to Civilization. Even if there were battles in the game, it was much more 
rewarding to see how your own civilization made its way to victory. Meier also sees 
Avalon Hill's board game Advanced Civilizations and an oldie, the world conquering 
game Empire, as models for Civilization. In Civilization Meier wanted to place the 
player as a king instead of the king, to make decisions that a real king would do. 
Meier thinks that low level micro managing wasn't a task meant for the king. 
The goal was reached better than expected. 
Levels of civilization 
Sid Meier thinks that an exceptional balance between the different elements 
of the games was reached. Science, diplomacy, trade and warfare were all quite 
on the same line, forming a package that could be played in very different ways. 
“In the game there was exciting magic, which made the player always continue with 
one more turn to see what happens when you develop the next invention or make 
a peace treatment with the Chinese.” The rules of Civilization where so transparent and 
simple so that the player could figure out how the game really worked. 
Thanks to a working construction, the player didn't have to feel cheated. 
Civilization II was made with Brian Reynolds. The game was mainly expanded by fixing 
bugs of its forerunner and by adding better graphics and more units and inventions. 
For a long time, Meier and his colleagues thought that the subject was already 
completely torn and that there was no reason for a new Civilization. “The reason 
why we usually don't do so many additional parts is that we have already used all 
our ideas about railroads, pirates, Gettysburg or what ever, for the first part. 
We don't leave any ideas unused, just because we would have something for the 
next part.” The first Civilizations were made based on this. But during the years after 
the release of Civilization, the Meier’s team started to think on ideas of a new 
Civilization game and the unrealistic third Civilization turned up to be reality. 
“In the beginning we tried to use all kind of ideas and to make the game as 
complicated as possible. Then we realized that the simplicity made the original 
Civilization so working.” In the third part Meier wants to make sure that the player 
won't get drown in the information flood. New players have to get into the game, 
even if they wouldn't be familiar to the earlier Civilizations. The depth of the game 
will be hidden under the level of learning. In Civilization reality and fun always 
shake hands. Meier thinks that two game philosophical utter nesses don't exclude 
each other. “Reality makes sure, that when a player learns something, he doesn't 
only learn something about the game, but also about the world where he lives. 
Deep inside every thinking person loves to learn new things. And while playing the 
person doesn't learn as a passive receiver, but because of he's doing something 
by himself.” 
Game theory 
“I have always played games made by others, so that I could also find new ideas 
to be borrowed to my own creations”, Meier tells. “It's great to see how the same 
ideas develop to better in new games. In many ways we are playing much better 
games than ten years ago. The game makers had time learn from others mistakes”, 
he continues. Meier doesn't think Civilization: Call to Powers made by Activision with 
license isn't an exception from the rule, even if many think that they spoil the name of 
the well known game series. “It's actually more amusing that other game makers want 
to make their own versions of my games. The approach to the subject is different from 
my own in the Call to Powers, but not necessarily bad.” Even if Call to Power isn't 
necessarily one of his favorites, Sid still has his own favorite. He keeps a certain 
game studio in a high regard: “All Blizzard's games have been very well designed and 
fun to play”, Sid reveals. “I really admire their work.” Also Ensemble Studio that 
created Age of Empires receives support from Meier. In both studios’ games Sid clearly 
sees, that the developers have really put effort to polish and giving their creations 
a final touch. Even if the idea is fun, Meier doesn't want to make his own version 
of Diablo or StarCraft. You must be able bring something new and interesting, or 
the attempt will be doomed to fail. Meier has an interesting theory about the life of 
a game genre: “When the genre is new, the creativity is high, even if the graphics 
would be ugly. When the genre really flourishes, the content still develops, but at 
the same time there will be more effort on realizing the game. Finally there are no 
new ideas and genre ends up in a circle, if there will be added only new and new 
useless features.” Meier thinks that flight simulators have badly set back in this 
latest stage. Avionics can be modeled better time after time, but as games the 
simulators doesn't progress. That's the reason why Meier doesn't feel interested to 
go back to his old favorite theme. 
The return of the old times 
In Sid Meier’s career there's one black moment: the discussed dinosaur game, 
that in the end didn't become anything. “I had this fun game idea about dinosaurs, 
and I thought that you could get a good game out of it”, Meier recalls his failure. 
“I just didn't get the whole thing work. That's just the price you have to pay for 
trying new ideas.” Meier agrees that he had also troubles like that with some 
other game ideas earlier. With the dinosaurs, the mistake made was that the 
game was published too early. Meier says that Firaxis has luckily never been 
tied to any tight timetables. It's affordable to leave games undone. In the 80’s 
Sid Meier made on MicroProse very different kind of games: flight simulators, 
strategy, submarines. The pace was fast, at the best there were numerous games 
made per year. “That was great time”, Meier laughs. “We did everything that 
came up on our mind, but every time we did something that had never been seen 
before.” Meier sees Firaxis as some sort of a successor to the old MicroProse, 
a bunch of game designers, who make games so that they could play them by 
them selves. The high expectations of the modern players requires a few years long 
development period. “Of course it's great that we can make graphics with 
thousands of pixels to the games and employ symphony orchestras to play the music, 
but it doesn't make our work easier. As game makers we have to put more and 
more effort on fulfilling the minimum standards of today's games in 
graphics and sound.” But challenges haven't ever frightened Meier. 
  
CIVILIZATION III 
Six thousand years’ empire 
The ten years old Civilization is a concept, a real stereotype of the modern turn 
based strategy game. Firaxis tries to unite the best parts of the two predecessors in 
Civilization III, and to mix them with new ones. The game was introduced to me 
when I was as a guest at Firaxis. 
Lets recall the basics. In Civilization the player starts as a chief of a small nomad 
culture, with the task to get the nation from the Stone Age into the 21st. century. 
In the game you're trading, fighting wars, practicing science and building cities. 
The surrounding nations do the same. Diplomacy is always present. You can cope 
with the Aztecs, but can you really trust the Romans? Sounds complicated, but it isn't. 
Thanks to the excellent game design, anyone can learn to play and enjoy Civilization. 
Negotiations and barters 
Culture is one the most important measures of power in Civilization III. Culture 
indicates the borders of the empire and the influence on the other nations. 
Culture is created in the cities’ culture buildings. These are the libraries, temples and 
universities. The older the buildings are, the greater cultural value they have. 
A one thousand years old library produce two times more culture points than 
a new one. In the same way like a fulfilled granary adds one more citizen to the 
city, the city's borders expand with one step when the amount of culture scores 
reaches a certain limit. As the time passes, the city borders expand over each other and 
the culturally stronger city continues to expand, while the others melt into the 
stronger mainstream culture. A widely spread high culture can even reverend 
weaker enemy cities to change side. Diplomacy is negotiated like in Civilization II 
between state leaders as a dialog. The real wrestling is done on the new bartering table, 
where nations can freely propose each other combinations of demands and counteroffers. 
If the treatment document doesn't please, you can leave it or suggest your 
own changes to it. Your demands can be underlined by threatening with 
acts of war. It's also useful to have an advanced culture identity in the 
diplomacy table. A nation with a weaker culture identity tends to 
accept offers easier. 
Crouching science, hidden uranium deposit 
Playing Civilization III is much like in its predecessors. The game proceeds more 
flexible and it's made as a part of an interface. The settler familiar from the earlier 
Civs, has a new civil unit as a companion, the worker. The two citizens worth 
settler's task is to build new cities, but all the other infrastructure - roads, irrigation, 
mines - is built by the one citizen worth worker unit. It's actually mean that military 
units can capture the enemy's workers and settlers to free slave labor. Republics and 
democracies react always strongly negatively to nations that accept slavery. 
For the dictators it doesn't matter. It's not longer necessary to study the surroundings 
square for square, instead you can climb to the top of mountain and see the whole 
surrounding area at the same time. Mountains also outline more far away, than the 
other unexplored terrain. The player doesn't see any hidden nature resources out in 
the terrain, before the technology for using them has been invented. The capital might 
bee in the middle of the world's richest uranium deposit, but you won't get a hint 
about that before the scientists have split their atoms. Nature resources can be 
accessed, when they have been connected to a city with a road. If the deposit is 
outside the city's limits, only a road isn't enough, but also a mining colony built by a 
worker, which will disappear after that, is needed. After this all cities linked to the 
same road network can use the deposit. In theory every nation needs only one deposit 
of every nature resource. Managing Civilization III’s thirty different nature resources 
is now much more important, than in the earlier parts of the game series. Nature resources 
don't only give bonuses, but they're also vital for producing units and buildings. 
Swordsmen need iron for their weapons and railroads coal. The missing material 
has to be bought from wealthier nations or taking it over by warfare. Destroying or 
surrounding a crucial trading route is a very powerful strategy. 
My battle 
The visible changes in the warfare are the nation specific units that are divided 
into very different time periods. For instance the Zulus get their mighty Imp warriors 
at an early stage, while the Americans have to wait for their F-15 fighters until the 
Industrial Age. Not that the national units are averagely better, but victory achieved 
with them raises the national spirit and starts a 25 turns long period of flourish. 
The experience system of the units has been expanded. Now there are four 
experience levels, from milky face to elite. Every won battle improves the strength 
of the unit by one score. A unit that has reached the elite level can become a warlord. 
Warlords has two functions: they can accomplish construction works in cities in one turn 
(wonders that have a significant value), and they can form armies with up to four units. 
The armies are lords of the battlefields. So that the enemy could destroy a unit within 
the army, first it has to beat every single unit of the army. Not like in the earlier 
Civilizations, in the third part an occupied city doesn't automatically show loyalty 
to the new leader. During the war, the cities resist the occupation until signing of a 
peace treatment between the fighting nations. After the peace treatment the city still 
keeps its national identity and might even turn up against the new occupants. 
The player can literally exercise ethnic segregation by bringing own people to the 
captured city and extraditing the original population as settlers to other cities’ minorities. 
A long going offensive war impacts negatively your own citizens: it increases unrest. 
On the other hand successfully defended enemy attacks lift the national spirit and 
decreases unrest. The computer doesn't fight wars anymore for its evilness, but instead 
the wars are based on some goal to be achieved by the computer leader. 
If the computer nation needs oil and the player isn't willing to trade that, this might 
start a war of valuable oil fields. Also fear for a strengthening nation can escalate 
a conflict. The state leaders own aggression has of course a great influence on 
how easily there will be wars. 
Six paths 
In Civilization III the computer’s AI has been developed so far that it doesn't 
have to cheat or break the rules for being able to win. So the computer nations 
also follow the same rules as the player. Only on the difficulties level, meant to be 
“impossible”, the computer gains special bonuses against the human player. 
Ending in year 2050 Civilization III offers six different paths to victory. 
Warlords can try to conquer the world and crushing all nations under the 
same power. Also military mightiness is enough for victory. In histographical 
victory the nation’s influence on the common world history is measured. 
For instance an ancient world power that has lately retarded has still possibilities 
when comparing the histographics. As a peaceful road to victory, the player can 
try to be the first one to send a spacecraft to Alpha Centauri or optionally making 
the capital a world center of culture. The cultural victory requires a city that has 
reached the sixth level. Achieving the goal is more difficult than it sounds, 
according to the game makers. Even if the release of Civilization III is in 
October-November, it's still not sure if multiplayer will be included. The developers’ 
opinion still is that multiplayer will be included, if they get it working proper enough. 
It looks like there won't be any struggles between the nations on the Internet 
when the game is released. A later released update or add-on might change 
the situation. The more you get into Civilization III, the more you start to like 
the changes. In the game there doesn't feel to be anything useless or too much, 
all the new stuff has been selected carefully. When the outlook is also nice, 
it's predictable that the game will be best member of the Civilization family and 
the new king of the turn based strategies. 
Tuomas Honkala 
Pelit (The Games) 9/01 
Translation by Rasbelin (a Apolyton CS forum member) 
For comments, feedback and questions, contact me via private messaging (through my ACS account) or send email to rasmus@sgic.fi.