A game I fondly remember playing again and again, burning the midnight oil and gaming the night away because of it, was Sid Meier’s Civilization, released by MicroProse Software in 1991.  This retro MS-DOS based game had it all: outstanding gameplay, a well-executed concept, and superb graphics (for its day), and was yet another hit from Sid Meier and his team.

Sid Meier's Civilization (1991) Box Cover

Players started with a single settler (a covered wagon) at the dawn of civilization, chose a location to found their first city, and from that built an empire as the game timeline progressed to the Space Age.  Sometimes you’d find another computer player right next door, and either had to keep the peace with non-stop diplomacy, or – more times than not – send in the troops to crush them like the insects they truly were.  Up to six other civilizations were out there to discover, and they all had to be dealt with, one way or another (either the Americans, Aztecs, Babylonians, Chinese, Egyptians, English, French, Germans, Greeks, Indians, Mongolians, Romans, Russians, or Zulus.)

Yet this wasn’t just yet another military simulation; players had to build their empires by monitoring the happiness of their citizenry, providing improvements that would encourage growth in their cities, establish trade routes, and pursue technology advancements through scientific research.  Neglect anything for too long and the consequences could be dire: fall behind in the technology and your troops might be like the Polish Cavalry facing the Blitzkrieg on horse with sabres.  Forget to keep your citizenry content and your cities begin revolting.  Overlook trading with other empires and find your city improvement budgets limited.  Limit your internal and external upgrades of your cities, and watch them spontaneously Neglect to build up your military might and watch as your cities fall to the armed might of your bitter enemies – or worse yet, random barbarians raging across the continent. A strong empire builder needed to be aware of all aspects of their empire!

Sid Meier's Civilization (1991) Screen Shot

But, wait, there’s more!  This was an incredibly deep game.  You start out as a Despot (where do I sign up?), but as the game progressed and new ideas developed as a result of technological improvements, other forms of government presented themselves.  Each had its advantages depending on your goals and current state of your empire, but each also had disadvantages.  It wasn’t a great idea to switch to Democracy in the middle of a military build-up or full-blown campaign, as your citizens tended to be on the pacifistic side.  On the other hand, if you wanted to push the envelope on scientific development, ruling over your cities with an iron fist as King wasn’t a winning strategy either.

You could also gain serious advantages over the other empires by building one of the many Wonders of the World.  These took a long time to build, using up many resources, but could be the difference-maker between victory or defeat.  These Wonders varied by game era, and could become obsolete with new technological advances.  Some had limited appeal and should only be looked at under a specific set of circumstances, however.

Sid Meier - Gaming god

This game has not only stood the test of time, it has spawned many sequels: Civilization II, III, and IV, CivNet (the first multiplayer Civilization), Civilization Gold, and Civilization Revolution, as well as many similarly-themed games, such as Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri, Civilization: Call to Power, Colonization, and Master of Magic.  And the franchise doesn’t appear to be running out of steam anytime soon.  If you love retro games and you haven’t played the original Civilization, what are you waiting for?

Schon wieder Sign o’the times: Sid Meier, Erfinder unzähliger Strategie und Simulationsspiele, kündigte in einer Nachricht auf dem Social Network an, dass der 4X-Klassiker Civilization in seiner aktuellen Ausgabe auf Facebook kommen wird. Wie das genau aussieht, wissen wir noch nicht, allerdings wird demnächst die Betatestphase beginnen, so dass man in Kürze mit ersten Infos rechnen kann.

Sowohl für Civ-Fans als auch für Facebook-Nutzer eine aufregende Nachricht, schliesslich ist Sid einer der ganz Grossen in der Spielebranche und weiss bekanntermassen genau, was er tut. Ich bin jedenfalls gespannt.

(fritz)

( via facebook)

]]> http://xollothnews.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/%cf%83%cf%8d%ce%bd%cf%84%ce%bf%ce%bc%ce%b1-%cf%83%cf%84%ce%bf-facebook-%cf%84%ce%bf-civilization/ Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:02:48 +0000 xollothnews http://xollothnews.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/%cf%83%cf%8d%ce%bd%cf%84%ce%bf%ce%bc%ce%b1-%cf%83%cf%84%ce%bf-facebook-%cf%84%ce%bf-civilization/

Σύντομα στο Facebook το Civilization | PC Magazine

Ο Sid Meier ανακοίνωσε πρόσφατα σε συντάκτες του ειδικού Τύπου την πρόθεσή του να δημιουργήσει μια online έκδοση του φημισμένου game Civilization που θα παίζεται μέσω του Facebook. Ο διάσημος game developer δήλωσε ότι το νέο παιχνίδι θα κάνει ντεμπούτο μέσα στο 2010 και η ομάδα ανάπτυξης θα αναζητήσει στο προσεχές μέλλον beta testers που θα διεξάγουν εκτεταμένες δοκιμές πριν την τελική κυκλοφορία.[next]

Sid Meier’s strategic classic, Civilization, is coming to Facebook according from the big man himself. Posting on a fan forum (via Eurogamer) Meier said “I wanted to let you know we’ll soon be looking for beta testers to help us develop a unique new way to play Civilization. Ever since we finished Civilization Revolution last year, I’ve been looking at ways of expanding the Civ gameplay experience to include solo, competitive and cooperative play to take advantage of the uniqueness of social networks. We’re calling this project Civilization Network and the full game will be available next year on Facebook.” Pretty cool for all you junkies of the social scene. It also looks as if the game will have an MMO style gameplay as gamers are able to join forces creating one almighty civilization. We’ll be able to share resources, form personal governments or work together to build those great wonders of the world (which I tend to ignore to be honest). Everything we expect from a Civ game will be present and most importantly, it will be free! The closed beta starts soon with the full game out next year by the Firaxis team. More information can be found on the Civ’s Facebook fanpage.

Despite what certain people argue, the Internet can be a wonderous tool—Bartering, critiquing, collaborating and writing the future trends of our world that will shape the minds of millions. But for the 95% of those not enlisted to such endeavors, the Web has evolved into the most efficient time killer ever created. Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Trailers on Apple.com, they all serve the omnipresent need to…do something, even when there’s nothing to do. When I’m not brushing up on my internet meme knowledge on 4-chan or perusing the latest article on Cracked, I admit to checking in with Facebook like some virtual chaperon. It was innocent at first, but I sense my vigil towards the site, which has degraded into spurts of notice by use of my iPhone app, has turned into a vice grip around my usual rounds about the internet neighborhood.

But long before rick-rolling my friends and multiplayer frag sessions on Counterstrike took up most of my afternoons, there was Civilization…oh god was there Civilization. For many fans of the game, the mere whisper of it’s title sends shockwaves of euphoria through their brains, reigniting memories of gradual world domination through the use of treaties and machine guns. It was my addiction, my Evercrack before Everquest. It was one of the few games I can admit to sinking literally thousands of hours into playing before Heroes of Might and Magic came along. While current iterations of Civ. seems a little more graphic-friendly to catch the eye of new generations of gamers, the premise remains the same: start a civilization of people from square one, and take over the world. Like Othello, it was easy to learn, but near impossible to master.

Sid Meier’s announcement of merging a new Civilization with Facebook to surpass the likes of Mafia Wars or Farmville came with a slight wince of pain, however. While it will simplify the act of playing Civilization to keep the attention of today’s microscopic attention-span youth, I don’t find the idea of an easier Civilization game to be appealing. The title itself bears a god-term resemblance that encompasses countless ideas and opinions. Can something so massive be ground down into a series of Facebook pokes, comments, likes and dislikes? Do I have to ally with my fourteen year-old brother even if he’s still stuck in the bronze age? Should I nuke my ex-girlfriend’s profile for making out with that dude at the foam party?…not a bad idea actually, but I digress.

And what will this merge do to the sanctity of the Civilization name? While Facebook provides an easy way to stay in touch with college buddies, the vast majority of the site is devoted to minute-long diversions. Civilization is a cultural phenomenon that taught me the basics of political interplay, social stability and technological evolution. It taught us, in a rough manner of speaking, how we came to be the people we are today—should we risk tarnishing that experience for the sake of convenience? There are both positives and negatives to the argument, including the thrill of playing the game again since I haven’t touched it in almost two years, but I never imagined it would be through the machinations of a social networking website. But I suppose if it fails to strike the right chords with me, I can always go back to playing the real thing. Thankfully I can pause it and check Facebook every hour or so.

See you in the next level,

Gray

Το Fable III θα υποστηρίζει το Natal – Gameover.gr

Ο Peter Molyneux -δημιουργός της σειράς Fable και του Project Milo για το περιφερειακό Natal της Microsoft- ανακοίνωσε σε ομιλία του στα BAFTA ότι το Fable III θα υποστηρίζει, με κάποιο τρόπο, το Natal.[next]

Το Civilization πάει…Facebook – Gameover.gr

To Civilization έρχεται στο Facebook με το Civilization Network, ένα καινούργιο web παιχνίδι που βρίσκεται υπό ανάπτυξη από τον Sid Meier και την ομάδα της Firaxis. “Το Civilization Network θα επιτρέπει σε εσάς και στους φίλους σας να δημιουργήσετε τον πιο ισχυρό, πλούσιο, έξυπνο και εντυπωσιακό πολιτισμό” δήλωσε ο δημιουργός της διάσημης σειράς.[next]

Demo του Painkiller: Resurrection – Gameover.gr

Η Homegrown Games έκανε διαθέσιμο ένα demo του Painkiller: Resurrection για PC, το οποίο έχει μέγεθος 1.3 GB και μπορείτε να το “κατεβάσετε” από εδώ. Στο νέο παιχνίδι της γνωστής FPS σειράς πρωταγωνιστεί ο William “Wild Bill” Sherman, ένας πρώην πράκτορας της CIA που έχει μπλεχτεί σε έναν πόλεμο μεταξύ Παραδείσου και Κόλασης.[next]

Μεγάλο update για το Killing Floor – Gameover.gr

Η Tripwire Interactive ανακοίνωσε τη διάθεση ενός μεγάλου, δωρεάν update για το co-op survival shooter, Killing Floor. Το update με την ονομασία “Level Up”, θα περιέχει τρεις νέους χάρτες, ένα νέο τέρας και επτά νέα όπλα.[next]

“Predator” η ονομασία του νέου Ghost Recon; – Gameover.gr

Αν και η Ubisoft δεν έχει ανακοινώσει επίσημα το επόμενο κεφάλαιο στο σειρά Ghost Recon, πριν από λίγους μήνες ανακοίνωσε την καθυστέρηση του Ghost Recon 4 για το επόμενο οικονομικό έτος, το οποίο αρχίζει τον Απρίλιο του 2010. Σύμφωνα με το Destructoid, το ολοκληρωμένο όνομα του νέου παιχνδιού θα είναι “Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Predator” και θα είναι μία multiplatform δημιουργία.[next]

DirectX 11 στο Alien Vs. Predator – Gameover.gr
Η Rebellion ανακοίνωσε ότι η έκδοση του Alien Vs Predator για PC θα υποστηρίζει το DirectX 11. Ο Chris Kingsley σχολίασε: “Το Direct X 11 δίνει δυνατότητες που δεν υπήρχαν ποτέ στα 3D γραφικά,[next]

Evin çöp eve dönüşmesini engelleme çalışmaları kapsamında tüm CD, DVD, kaset (!) ve bilimum storage zımbırtılarını düzenlemeye -aslında çöpe atmaya- başladım. (Tabii ki de eşimin ısrarı ile yapıyorum. Aklı başında hangi erkek bunları atar ki !) 80lerin sonunda TRT3′ten doldurduğum kasetleri dinleyecek bir teyp bulamamaktan ve 3.5 inch disketleri açamamaktan yakınırken, elime yıllar önce e-bay üzerinden bir PS2 oyunu alırken oyunu satan adamın “bir de elimde bu var kelepir” demesiyle aldığım Railroad Tycoon 3 geldi.

Hem zaman hem de mekan sorunu nedeniyle 3 sene önce almış olmama rağmen oyunu hiç oynayamamıştım. Oyunun çıkış tarihinin 2003 olduğunu düşünürsek aradan geçen 6 yıl var. Ben en son Railroad Tycoon 2 yi ise 1998 yılında oynamıştım yani tam 11 senedir trenlerle hiçbir alakam olmamıştı. Oyun çalışır mı çalışsa da ben oyunu oynar mıyım gibi sorularla install CD’si ile oyunu kurdum daha sonra play CD’sini kurarak oyunu oynamaya başladım. Tabii ki oyunun içinden çıkan 100 sayfalık kılavuzu her oyun sever gibi okumadım.

6 senelik bir oyunun incelemesini yazmayacağım ama uzun zamandır oyun oynamaktan bu kadar zevk aldığımı hatırlamıyorum. (Bu arada yanlış anlaşılmasın; 1980lerin başında spectrum ve atarilerden beri oyun oynayan, PS3, Wii, PSP gibi çeşitli platformlarda oyun oynayan ve oyun dünyasını sıkı bir oyuncu olarak yakından takip eden biriyim.) Ağaçların arasında naif grafiklerle trenin gitmesini izlemek, şehirleri birbirine bağlayıp çok zeki diyemeyeceğim bir AI ile yavaş yavaş oynamak oynamak bana çok iyi geldi. Bildim bileli zaten Tycoon türü oyunları hep sevmişimdir bu sevgim bu oyunda da devam etti.

Oyunu oynamak strese karşı bire bir. Sakinleştiriyor, mutlu ediyor ve dinlendiriyor. Başına oturdum ve başka hiçbir şey düşünmeden 3 saat nasıl geçti anlamadım. Uzun zamandır bir oyuna 3 saat gibi benim için lüks diyebileceğim bir zaman ayırmamıştım.

Siz de 6-7 yıl öncesinin sevdiğiniz türde bir oyunu alın oynayın, herşeye iyi gelecek…

From/De: Take-Two Interactive

Conquer the World in the Palm of Your Hand with Sid Meier’s Civilization^® Revolution^™ for iPhone^™ and iPod^®

2K Games and the gaming industry’s leading strategy developer, Firaxis Games, introduce the award-winning Civilization® franchise to iPhone and iPod touch gamers at a special introductory price

New York, NY – August 10, 2009 – 2K Games announced today that Sid Meier’s Civilization® Revolution™ is now available for the iPhone™ and iPod® touch. Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution for iPhone and iPod touch contains hundreds of hours of gameplay from veteran game developer Firaxis Games. As a special offer for fans, Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution is available for the introductory price of $4.99 for the first 48 hours before it moves to its standard price of $9.99.

“Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution was a big success for us last year on the consoles and handheld systems,” said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “Now, the iPhone platform gives us the opportunity to introduce an entirely new audience to the addictive gameplay of the Civilization® franchise.”

Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution for iPhone and iPod touch brings Civilization Revolution’s renowned gameplay, including 16 playable civilizations, multiple difficulty levels, an integrated tutorial and more to mobile users. The iPhone version features new graphics and an entirely new gesture-based interface that takes advantage of the power of the platform.

“We’re thrilled to deliver our signature strategy game on such an exciting and dynamic platform,” said Sid Meier, director of creative development at Firaxis Games, and lead designer on Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution. “We choose platforms based on where we feel consumers will have the best gameplay experience with our titles, and the iPhone allows us to introduce this gameplay to mobile consumers – new and old.”

As one of the most respected franchises in the gaming industry, the Civilization series has sold more than 9 million units worldwide. In 1991, Sid Meier put computer gaming on the map when he first delivered Civilization to the PC gaming world, launching the “God Game” genre and creating one of the most award-winning and addictive strategy series of all time. Built specifically for console and handheld systems, Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution features the franchise’s fastest pick-up-and-play action to date and still honors the most beloved elements from the core series: strategic global reign and encounters with history’s most intrepid leaders.

Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution for the iPhone and iPod touch is now available in North America via Apple’s App Store for $4.99 for the first 48 hours and $9.99 thereafter. iTunes® users can visit www.civilizationrevolution.com/iphone/buy to purchase this version of the game*. For more information, please visit www.civilizationrevolution.com/iphone.

2K Games is a division of 2K, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO).

*The iTunes application is required to link to the purchase website.

About Firaxis Games

Firaxis Games™ is one of the world’s premier game development studios, and home of legendary designer Sid Meier. Firaxis has developed some of the most successful and award-winning computer and video games on the market today including: 2005 PC Game of the Year – Sid Meier’s Civilization IV®, the expansions Civilization IV: Warlords®, and Civilization IV: Beyond The Sword™, the blockbuster Sid Meier’s Civilization® III series, Sid Meier’s Pirates!® (PC, Xbox® and PSP®), Sid Meier’s SimGolf™ and Sid Meier’s Railroads!™. Firaxis legacy titles include the Sid Meier’s Civil War Series!™ (Gettysburg!, Antietam!, and South Mountain), and the Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri® series. In 2005, Firaxis Games was acquired by Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., joining its 2K publishing label. The company recently released Sid Meier’s Civilization® Revolution™ for console and handheld platforms and Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Colonization™ for Windows PCs to great critical acclaim.

About Take-Two Interactive Software

Headquartered in New York City, Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is a global developer, marketer, distributor and publisher of interactive entertainment software games for the PC, PLAYSTATION®3 and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment systems, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Wii™ and Nintendo DS™. The Company publishes and develops products through its wholly owned labels Rockstar Games and 2K, which publishes its titles under 2K Games, 2K Sports and 2K Play. Take-Two also distributes software, hardware and accessories in North America through its Jack of All Games subsidiary. The Company’s common stock is publicly traded on NASDAQ under the symbol TTWO. For more corporate and product information please visit our website at www.take2games.com.

iPhone, iPod and iTunes are trademarks or registered trademarks of Apple Inc.

All trademarks and copyrights contained herein are the property of their respective holders.

Earlier this month, I bought some printer ink and got a free iTunes gift card.  I’ve checked out some cd’s from my local library to explore Renaissance music for a project I’m thinking of starting.  Wow.  Some of it is just breathtaking!  I am probably going to get this album just because a) it’s like, 30-40 songs for $11.99, and b) it’s gorgeous!!

So, on a side note, Sid Meier’s Pirates is also set in the 17th c., although it’s in the Caribbean while Monteverdi (I believe), was an Italian.  Please call me on this if I’m wrong here.  End of off day blues, maybe.  I beat the game.  Now what?  It’s odd how addictive songs can be.  The Sprint commercial with the Joanna Gikas song, “Doorway”, is actually by the band IO Echo.  I considered downloading it just to hear the whole song.  It’s really quite simple lyrics.  Not sure that I like it any.  I’m also contemplating “Wake Up” by Arcade Fire.  For those of you who DON’T recognize the song title/band, you might be familiar with it if you’ve seen the trailer for Where the Wild Things Are.

I really need to work on tagging my blog entries.  I wish I could send my fondest greetings from my cat who is currently sitting almost on top of my keyboard here but eh, he couldn’t care less about what I’m writing or to whom.  Cats are like that.  Are you a cat person?  People shouldn’t be restricted by canine vs. feline.  I’m a cat AND a dog person.  I also like chipmunks, wild turkeys, deer, bunny rabbits, squirrels, doves, beavers and what-whats.

Wolves I don’t like.  Prokofiev’s take on them though, that’s a story of its own.  Check out “Carnival of the Animals: Aquarium” from Peter and the Wolf.  It’s a sickening-cool sort of broken sound like it belongs in some kind of Tim Burton/Danny Elfman film.  Maybe.  Or it could just be me.  See ya later!

Currently listening to:

• Doorway (IO Echo)
• Funeral (Arcade Fire)
• Monteverdi: Fourth and Fifth Books of Madrigals (Anthony Rooley & the Consort of Musicke).
• Peter and the Wolf (Prokofiev).

Portada del juego

Hacia mucho tiempo que quería volver a deleitar mi disco duro con un juego de estrategia y recordé que bien me lo pasaba con el Civilization (el primero) así que conseguí la última versión y me lié a jugarlo.

Es un juego de estrategia por turnos, no tendremos que preocuparnos por la velocidad con la que movamos nuestras unidades, el estar atentos al más mínimo movimiento enemigo, etc… En cada turno podemos tomarnos nuestro tiempo, echar un vistazo a los vecinos (aunque con la niebla de guerra no veremos gran cosa), elegir por donde mover nuestras unidades,  planear que queremos construir a continuación, irnos a tomar algo, refrescarnos en la piscina… Vamos, lo que quieras. Las partidas estándar comienzan en el año 4000 a.C. y terminan en el 2050 d.C. Así que dispondrás de 6000 años para superar a tus contrincantes.

El objetivo del juego es ganar (obvio), la cosa es que puedes ganar de muchas maneras, no necesitas aniquilar a todos tus enemigos, puedes ganar cuando conquistas el espacio (lo que se llama la carrera espacial), si controlas la mayor parte del mundo, o bien si se acaba el tiempo y tu civilización es la primera del ranking. De modo que podrás terminar la partida tras haberte dedicado a la diplomacia o bien tras haber ensartado cabezas en estacas, pero lo importante es un correcto equilibrio entre la guerra y la diplomacia ya que tendrás múltiples enemigos en una partida normal, y estar en guerra contra todos no es una buena idea.

Las posibilidades de gestión de tu imperio son muy amplias. Para la obtención de unidades y recursos deberás crear ciudades y mejorar sus alrededores usando trabajadores. Según fundes una ciudad nueva, verás alrededor suyo una linea fronteriza que se irá expandiendo con el tiempo, según crezca la ciudad. No todos los nuevos asentamientos son igual de productivos, dependerá de los recursos naturales que posean alrededor suyo y de si están mejorados o no. Por eso la elección de un buen lugar es muy importante a la hora de expandir el imperio. Seguramente a lo largo de la partida, asistiremos al fenómeno bastante común del “choque de fronteras”, en este momento podemos elegir la vía diplomática y abrir las fronteras a nuestros aliados/enemigos o elegir la guerra y anexionarnos sus ciudades.

La eterna lucha por el territorio

La banda sonora del título es magnífica, hay que decirlo, se lo han currado. Pocos juegos de estrategia tienen un acabado musical de tanta calidad. Sid Meier sigue dejando el listón alto. Según corren los años en el juego la música de fondo cambia acorde con la época que vivamos.

El apartado gráfico es el adecuado para este tipo de juegos de estrategia, a mi parecer es muy acertado. Habrá numerosas unidades en movimiento y el mundo es completamente tridimensional (es una esfera y todo) así que comprendo que no hayan incluido muchos efectos. De todas formas el acabado es muy vistoso y atractivo. También hay que considerar que el juego tiene sus añitos.

En definitiva ya tengo otro juego al que viciarme, me encanta, me puedo pasar horas sin darme cuenta. Si te gusta la estrategia es un título que no puedes dejar de tener. Aunque no te guste la estrategia por turnos seguro que Civilization IV te enganchará.

FreeCiv es un “clon” del Civilization de Sid Meier gratuito y de código abierto.

Al igual que el original de Sid Meier, se trata de un juego de estrategia por turnos en el que el objetivo es construir una civilización desde cero basándose en la historia de la humanidad. Me lo he descargado y lo probaré para comparar y rememorar tiempos lejanos.
La memoria me la han refrescado en Bitelia.

Every blog should have a theme, No? What is mine gonna be? The foremost thing i hate about writing blogs is i think i have to be funny all the time; funny lines funnier post titles. If i was that funny i would be writing for Conan O’ Brien.

So onto themes then- What theme? Umm. A discover blog. I report weird tings from far and wide. Sure. Then i want to do a little bit of commentary on things germane to life in general, & my life in particular. There’s the business ventures too.

What about stories? Would they be ok? Why not. It’s my blog and my writ shall run large. Ok here is a story idea. Am too lazy to expand on it for the time being.

The premise is this.

Dec 16, 2042

Over the last few decades Mexico has progressed at a faster clip than the United States. The Government of General Carlos Ramirez Sanchez, won the war against the drug cartels almost three decades ago. Thereafter, the Government decided that production & distribution of a cash earner such as cocaine could not be left to thugs. Government legalized the business and opened the sector to entrepreneurs. Drug monies helped fuel Mexico’s infrastructure. With manufacturing becoming more and more economically nonviable in the US; the state only got richer. Mexico started beefing up their military machine and reinforced the wide long borders with the United States. The United States never perceived Mexico as a clear and present danger. Hence, the powers that be gladly supplied all the military hardware that Mexico wanted

Dec 16, 1942; Ottawa, Canada

After the steep price shocks in oil in 2008-09 and President Barrack Obama’s ascension to power in US; the US president challenged the American industry and entrepreneurial people to come up with alternatives for fossil fuels. What scientists in MIT & UCLA could not achieve a team of scientists at McGill University, Montreal managed to achieve- Synthesize a clean and eco friendly petroleum alternative from maple syrup. The ground breaking discovery was welcomed by all except the American oil companies. Exxon’s stock hit the lower circuit breaker in NYSE faster than you could say Chandan Mohanty. The american economy slowly tottering towards revival after the meltdown in financial markets and the housing crisis could take no more and collapsed under the weight of its profligacy. The canadians milked the patent income to improve upon and build a stronger economy.

The detoriating state of the US economy sent Japan & China into shock spirals. To this day China still sports a million half completed infrastructure projects. States like Michigan; Ohio and others in the mid west were hit the hardest. Entire towns were deserted by people fleeing to get some job, any job where ever they were in the US or outside of it. With no one to fund America’s deficit it was time for the new order to take charge.

03:03 a.m. EST,16th December, 2042

Mexican forces spilled from their bases and moved into California, Tijuana, San Diego, El Paso. The Homeland security agents and border patrol were dealt with outmost ease.

At precisely the same time the Canadians also struck. The superior fighting forces of Canada blitzed through the weak border defense and almost six hours later Canadian tanks were blockading the Brooklyn bridge. Their forces had captured Seattle, Washington and made deep inroads in Maine, Ohio & Vermont. Some reports even suggested that they were welcomed as liberators in the industrial ghettoes in Michigan & Ohio. The once famed American military command & control structure suffering from budget and equipment neglect could not believe what was happening. This was no scenario that they had war gamed. This was not happening. It was all a nightmare. If only they could all wake up.

17 Decmber, 2042, Bhubaneswar, India.

Abhishek Kar was a second year student at IIT BBSR. A very bright chap. Goes without saying. You have to be bright to crack the famed IITs. You have to be even brighter to be a computer science major at that place. His one passion apart from designing data routing algorithms & designing virtual multiversees was Civilization 24. He could play the game for weeks. With the latest release, Sid Meier games had improved the scenario builder drastically. Social and economic factors now played a far more important role in the development of a nation state.

On this Saturday afternoon as he lazed around in the student lounge of the Kalinga hostel; his friend Siddharth suddenly appeared in the common room. Looking very excited from under his Singularity headset (a portable information access device inspired by Ray Kurzweil’s singularity theory in that can stream live news; video and play 3D MMORPGs viz. Civ 24) he broke the news of the Mexican & Canadian joint military offfensive against the US.

Abhishek switched on his headset to humor his friend not believing a word of what Sid had just told him. He listened mouth agape as media & news agencies from around the world brought back news of the fighting.

Incredulous, he switched to the Civ 24 scenario he had painfully saved and released only yesterday to the Civ servers. Opening his world he was amazed to find a world very different to the one he had designed. US was still the big dog. China, India, Russia were snapping at its heels but they had a lot of ground to cover yet. This was NOT the world he had painstakingly modeled. He had modeled his Civ world on the North American continent and introduced such complex variables as government control of drug money; and the alternative energy scenario into his Civ world. Switching back to the news channels he realized with a chill that the real world was mirroring characteristics of his Civ world.

It was at this time that CNN broke the story of the first major American response to this onslaught; a couple of Lafayette Class & Vanguard class subs let loose their lethal scorn on several Canadian and Mexican cities. All the missiles were neutralised by the Canadian & Mexican energy shields. One rouge Posiedon missile slipped through the dragnet and hit the Mexican city of Juarez. The Posiedon SLBM flattened the city and its neighbouring areas. CNN was now displaying live images of the expanding mushroom.

Whilst watching all this, Abhishek was still trying to figure out the how?

Maybe I can help. Remember Abhishek was a genius at designing data routing algorithms. His algorithm was so efficient that it made its way to the SOURCE mainframes. I cannot figure out what went wrong in there but from my limited knowledge of computer networks I would guess that the North American Civ map that Abhishek had designed replaced the real world data map in the SOURCE mainframes.

Of course Ahishek was not aware of the SOURCE. This would get him started on the search but not yet. Mentally Abhishek was deciding on his next CIV map to try and reverse the effects. But he had an assignment in Discrete Math on Combinatorics to submit in a couple of days later and Mr. Ghosh was a stickler for deadlines.

I am so glad it is over. What started out as a story idea has become a story.

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I initially bought the PS3 version of Civilization Revolution last summer. I played this game all the damn time when I got it. Fall came and I got buried under a bunch of awesome games (Fallout 3 in particular). Instead of playing my still unfinished Metal Gear Solid 4, I’ve been playing Civilization Revolution on the PS3 again. Even worse, I bought the DS version as well so I can play on the train. It’s the same damn game…yet I can’t get enough. Here’s why:

• The pace is exactly my speed. I do like RTS games, but there is something to be said for doing something putting the controller down and checking TSN.ca and picking the controller back up to play without pausing. I get to play at the pace I want to play, if I want fast the game will be quick, if I want to go slow that’s fine too.
• It’s complex just enough. So I hear the criticism “Civ Rev is for babies, and Civ 4 is so much better, yada yada yada”. Thing is, if this game were a touch more complicated, I would be much more put off by it. That’s probably why I’m intimidated by Civ 4 (even though I’m sure it’s excellent).
• The fight animations reminds me of old school Battle Chess!! But with a much more random element. I love Battle Chess, anything to do with BattleChess gets a bonus from me.

Ultimately, I enjoy Civ Rev so much that even after a year of playing the PS3 version of the game, I still play it now (a lot) and just bought the DS version of it to keep playing. Sid Meier, you have created a monster…

In the summer of 2006, I went to a conference at the University of Florida that was based on the academic study of video games.  I had been playing one, the old computer game Colonization, so I put together an abstract, and went to the conference to deliver my paper, mostly out of curiosity; I’m not really interested in the academic study of video games, but I was interested in delivering a paper at a conference for the first time, and thought this one would be relatively low-intensity.

My paper was an attempt to feel out the implications of a computer game like Colonization, which depicts the colonization of the New World by Europeans, replete with the slaughter of Native Americans.

Most of the time, when I do something, no matter where I do it, I never hear about it again.  But in the case of this conference paper, the good people in Florida posted my paper on their web site for the world to see:

http://www.gameology.org/node/1096#comment-2236

Three years later, people are still reading the paper, mistaking its  inquiry for an argument – which, I admit, is what it should probably be – and posting unfriendly comments at the end.  I check the site about three times a year, and every time I do I get angry and regret looking at it.

Ja, ich bekenne mich schuldig, ich bin seit je her ein Junkie in Sachen TBS (Turn-based Strategy) und trotzdem werden sie mir nie langweilig und leider sind sie ein absoluter Zeitfresser, der je nach Stimmung kaum Platz für andere Spiele lässt. Das folgt vor allem dazu, dass ich einfach mal Aufgaben im Haushalt oder wichtige Termin völlig vergesse. Meine neueste Errungenschaft auf diesem Sektor ist Civilization Revolution für die Xbox360, hat zwar nicht so viel Tiefgang wie sein großer Bruder, aber es ist ja auch ein Konsolengame, da muss man alles ein bisschen Abstriche machen. Kaufgrund für mich war vorrangig: Civilization IV war einfach nicht mehr bei mir zu Hause auffindbar, aber ich finde dass es durchaus gut spielbar ist. Die selbsternannten „Puristen“ unter den Konsoleros werden nun sowas sagen wie: actionreich ist was anderes und man muss auch keinen besonderen „Skill“ oder schnelle Reflexe haben. TBS sind definitiv nichts für die typische Halo-Generation, aber ich kann es jedem wärmstens empfehlen, auch wenn die Anleitung unglaublich dünn und schlecht ausgefallen ist, aber kommen wir lieber zum Spielablauf. Für die historisch Interessierten will ich morgen auch kurz ein paar klassische und aktuelle Pflichttitel vorstellen. Grafische Schönheiten sind alle nicht, aber dafür füllen sie hunderte Stunden, und wer einmal angefangen hat, hört so schnell nicht aus.

Bei Civilization-Spielen läuft es immer ähnlich ab, ich gehe aber konkret auf die Einfach-Regeln von Revolution ein. Jede Partie beginnt mit der Wahl der Zivilisation, die man zur Weltherschaft führt. Hiervon gibt es 16 zur Wahl alle mit ziemlichen Unterschieden im Spielstil. Dann wird man erfreulich schnell ins Jahr 4000 v. Chr. katapultiert und man sieht viel Kriegsnebel und eine oder auch zwei Einheiten von denen besonders der Siedler wichtig ist. Dieser gründet die Hauptstadt eurer Kultur mitsamt drei Kriegern, von hieraus wird das Geschick im weiteren gelenkt. Drei mal drei Krieger lassen sich als Armee formieren, die besonders schlagkräftig ist. Ausschlaggebend für die Stadtgründung sind die Versorgung mit 4 von 5 essenziellen Rohstoffen: Produktion, Nahrung, Wissenschaft und Gold. Der fünfte Rohstoff ist Kultur, wird aber nicht von der Landschaft produziert. Man kann die Siedler bewegen oder direkt eine Stadt gründen, egal wie man sich entscheidet ist die Runde vorbei und 100 Jahre vergehen, Dieser Abstand wird nach und nach verringert, später sind nur 2 Jahre eine Runde. Die Produktion wird in den Aufbau von Einheiten, Gebäuden oder Wundern gesteckt, Wissenschaft erlaubt Forschung neuer Technologien und Regierungsformen, Gold sorgt für Straßenbau zu anderen selbstgegründeten, eingenommenen oder bekehrten Städte und schnellere Fertigstellung von Bauprojekten, Nahrung ist nötig damit die Stadt wächst und gedeiht und Kultur zieht Große Persönlichkeiten an und erweitert die eigenen Einflussgebiete.

Man ist natürlich nicht ganz alleine auf der Welt, auch Gegner wollen gerne ein großes Stück vom Kuchen abbekommen, doch gerade bei den ersten Gehversuchen zeigt sich das Spiel ungewöhnlich fair und man gewinnt quasi im Schlaf. Apropos gewinnen: das kann man auf 4 verschiedene Weisen erreichen: alle Hauptstädte der kleinen Welt kriegerisch einnehmen, ein Raumschiff von Wissenschaftlern konstruieren lassen und die Welt Alpha Centauri (mit dem passenden Spiel von 1999) besiedeln, 20.000 Gold ansammeln und eine Weltbank errichten oder durch viel Kultur die Vereinten Nationen. Man muss sich also entscheiden, worauf man im Aufbau besonderen Wert legt und welche Technologien man erforscht. Bei der Forschung kann es durchaus vorkommen, dass man den Meilenstein Mittelalter, und damit einen weiteren Zivilisationsvorteil, schon vor dem Jahre 0 erreicht. Wer etwas als erstes erforscht oder ein Wunder baut bekommt als Schmankerl noch Rohstoffe oder eine neue militärische Einheit. Wer zum Beispiel das Manhattan-Projekt erbaut, erhält eine Atombombe mit 40 Feldern Flugweite, wer Leonardos Werkstatt erbaut bekommt Einheitenupgrades. Technologien erlauben den Zugriff zu nicht-essenziellen Ressourcen wie Rohöl, aber gerade im niedrigen Schwierigkeitsgrad sind sie nicht so wichtig wie im großen PC-Bruder.

Als Abschluss hab noch ein kleines Flashgame, natürlich passend zur Thematik. Sehr stark abgekupfert haben die Entwickler schon bei der Advance Wars-Serie, aber trotzdem macht es Spaß seine Einheiten bei Battalion: Nemesis durch die Gegend zu scheuchen.