History of the Sid Meier’s Civilization series. Batch 2: Colonization and Civilization II [Reboot]
So I have to start with one fun side fact, which is that I had never even heard of Sid until I was already working at MicroProse, and there was this one guy who seemed to work on all the cool projects. But he was always very friendly and even when I was a cocky 23 year old guy who had only been in the industry for about 2 months and was playing his Civ 1 prototypes, he was willing to sit and listen to all my random ideas for a very long time and was so friendly to everyone’s ideas
The popularity of Civilization in 1991 was incredible. It was clear to everyone at MicroProse: we need to build on our success. But the company’s management was not thinking about a sequel, but about a multiplayer version, which became a failure and unnecessary due to the release of a sequel, which. No, it was not developed in parallel.
Sid began to suffer from burnout. For various reasons.
Firstly, the obvious need for rest after continuous work on Covet Action and the strategy that laid many of the foundations for the entire genre.
Secondly, an equally obvious awareness of what kind of game he made, and what a burden of responsibility is placed on him. Especially when journalists, specialized publications and ordinary players constantly ask: “What project will Sid Meier take on now??».
And if the first was treated with a banal but well-deserved vacation, then the second required time. Based on the experience of Railroad Tycoon, the game designer decided to follow the beaten path: take his hobby and make a game out of it. However, in order to completely abstract from the successful success of the previous game, the game designer chose a hobby that, even if he wanted to, could not be presented in the form of a strategy.
Being a fan of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Meyer took on a simulator of creating baroque music in the style of Bach. Together with Jeff Briggs, he spent a lot of time writing algorithms, creating instrument sounds, and developing the general idea of creating music in the style of the great composer.
Who then took up the continuation of the series?? Bruce Shelley? Bill Steely ordered another team to take over development?
Sid Meier’s Colonization
We opened a window into the world for strategy games, and numerous ideas began to appear around this genre that we did not have time or did not think of using in our game. Among the most successful were the ideas of a young game designer named Brian Reynolds
Sid Meier
Contrary to logical reasoning, I would like to point out an important thing that some may not know about. For some of the games with the title "Sid Meier’s" at the beginning, Sid Meier participated in the development only as a consultant. So, in 1993 Pirates came out! Gold and Sid Meier’s Railroad Tycoon Deluxe, to which the eminent developer had nothing to do with, but allowed the company to use his name, t.To. was pleased with the end result. According to Sid, he would never put his name on a project that he himself would never approve of.
The directors of MicroProse were only too happy, because by this time “Sid Meier’s” was more than a marketing ploy. This was a real sign of quality, which made it clear to players that the game would not disappoint them and would provide hours of fun and thoughtful gameplay.
Brian Reynolds joined the company in 1992. He was hired to develop an adventure game (or quest, as you prefer) Rex Nebular and the cosmic gender bender, which is a kind of response to the series of adventure games from Sierra Entertainment – Leisure Suit Larry. The game received high ratings and good sales.
The bosses gave Brian a free hand, and he, gravitating with all his heart to the strategy genre, decided to confess his love to it (the genre) by making a prototype of the game Colonization, describing it as more narrowly focused Civilization.
Reynolds actively developed his prototype. Many in the studio expected that Sid would help his young colleague or even take the project away from him. But both game designers understood that the newcomer’s new game would be successful if it fully preserved the spirit of its main developer. Moreover, Meyer was studying music at that moment, being a devoted student of Bach in his exclusive on 3DO. All Sid did was advise the follower at the beginning and add small touches at the end of the 18-month development.
It was also fortunate that the company did not interfere in any way, and even helped a little. People and resources were immediately allocated for everything necessary (the budget was 250 thousand dollars), t.To. Brian showed himself to be a good employee who understands his business and knows how to create profitable things. Moreover, Colonization was the same as Civilization, which means it will bring a lot of money.
When the game was about to go gold, Meyer asked Brian directly what he thought about the fact that the title of the game would be "Sid Meier’s»? Isn’t he offended that a game created from his idea bears the name of a person who had almost no participation in its creation?? The young developer, surprisingly, supported this idea.
Brian noticed that I helped him a lot. He came to my office for advice so often that I lost count of how many such consultations we had during all this time.
Sid Meier
At the same time, Sid finally realized that his name in the title meant that he mentored the developers and personally approved the game.
And here she is in front of us. The first game created from scratch that was approved by a famous game designer.
When you first start the game, it surprises you right away. New graphics, music, sounds and narrative. Now the player will build and develop his civilization within the framework of the Age of Great Geographical Discoveries. After the discovery of new continents, the leading powers of Europe sent ships to conquer new lands full of resources and living space. It falls to the player to found and develop colonies in a new world full of problems.
The gameplay is nothing special at first. Using a caravel, you need to find land, land troops and settlers who will build a colony/city. It is necessary to build buildings, monitor the mood of the townspeople, the growth of food and production. Soldiers explore new territories, find ruins of Indians, indigenous peoples and colonies of other countries. You can trade or fight with them.
And that’s all it looks like Civilization. Colonization goes by adding new mechanics to the gameplay skeleton of the previous game, thereby deepening the old mechanics.
For example, for a city to build anything, it needs tools. They, in turn, are automatically created by a specialist who must be assigned to this work, but to create he needs wood, which also must be obtained in the same way by assigning colonists to work.
Another example. The population in the city does not automatically grow, but it can be brought from the metropolis, from where people are fleeing for various reasons: someone is convicted, someone is facing religious persecution, others have learned about a new incredible discovery of your intelligence.
The whole game is filled with such cunning, logical chains, where everything is interconnected.
Gradually the colony grows, begins to trade with the metropolis, neighboring colonies and natives. At the same time, taxes from the homeland are rising. This increases revolutionary sentiment among residents. And when support for independence is greater than or equal to 50%, then it will be possible to prove your sovereignty by military means. If the result of the war is successful, you and your new people will prove your place in the political arena, and that’s how the game will end.
We can talk about the gameplay of the strategy for a long time. Just for him Colonization deserves every right to be called something more than a mod or reskin Civilization.
In addition to the new gameplay, the project is impressive visually. The graphics, on the one hand, remained the same, on the other hand, animation appeared, there was more variety, small details, and it’s simply pleasant to look at all this beauty. Particularly pleasing is the effort to convey the spirit and mood of the era through redrawn interface designs. It doesn’t seem to bring anything special to the game, but it immerses you in those distant centuries of gunpowder weapons, sailing ships and exploration of the unknown.
The audio part is no less pleasing. The music is time-appropriate and sounds clearer. For many events there is a separate.
And no matter how hard the new team tries, to get rid of all the problems Civilization they still failed.
Yes, we improved the visual and auditory components, deepened the gameplay. However, there were still problems with the combat system, which was not changed at all. And for me personally this is not critical, t. To. combat units are present within the same era, which means that horse riders no longer destroy tanks. Here the musketeers destroy the arquebusiers, between whom there is not the greatest technological difference, which means there are fewer questions about the outcome of the battles.
Mods and online play were still missing. Colonization did not apply for a big project, and no one expected the same level of sales as the progenitor, so no one thought about such things. And the very idea of game modifications was a taboo topic for the entire studio.
Although diplomacy has been supplemented, it is still poor in interesting diplomatic games. Thank you for at least adding more options for action.
The release of the strategy in 1993 turns out to be very successful. Receives a well-deserved 9/10 from all publishers, critics and players who have purchased more than 350 thousand copies of the game. Compared to Civilization seems modest, but for a novice game designer it’s more than a good indicator.
Everyone praised: updated graphics, good sound, excellent zoesbingocasino.uk gameplay, adding new mechanics, reworking old ones.
MPS Labs has borrowed heavily from classic hits of the past to create a surprisingly addictive game with its own flavor.
Next Generation Magazine, 1993
Dmitry Karnov was not stingy in his assessment, sharing his opinion under my old claim:
The combat system, which I already mentioned, was criticized.
Some were disappointed by the possibility of gaining independence only by military means, while in real history some of the countries of the New World achieved autonomy through peaceful means.
Players from Portugal and Brazil did not appreciate the absence of the former in the game. Portugal was no less a colonial power than other countries in that era.
There was also unrest and debate over the representation of Native Americans in the strategy, who could simply be destroyed and the lands taken away. I don’t care that this was the real story, and there are mechanics that allow you to coexist peacefully.
Despite the good reception, they decided not to port the game to a variety of platforms, stopping at DOS, Amiga, Macintosh and the first versions of Windows.
In 1997, the game was re-released as a set The Explorer along with Civilization.
In 2003, fans released an amateur remake FreeCol open source. This meant that anyone could add to the game as they wished. Added Russia, Portugal, Sweden. Redid the graphics, redesigned and added new music. Changed gameplay. In general, the strategy has become more convenient, but has lost some of the atmosphere. Development officially ended in 2023, but support is still ongoing.
In 2008 for the fourth numbered part Civilization an official addon is released, which is a remake Colonization on the engine of the fourth game in the series. The addition perfectly reworked the mechanics of the four, preserving the spirit of the strategy from 1993. More on this later.
Buy Colonization available today in the GOG digital store.
Did you leave it? Colonization leaving behind some legacy? Of course, it became an excellent platform and warm-up for many developers who, after its release, switched to creating Civilization 2 . I’ll say even more. The game is not outdated. The only inconvenience is the need to run on an emulator. The strategy looks, sounds, and most importantly, plays great. It doesn’t feel secondary and doesn’t feel like it’s just a big modification of the first Civilization. As I already said, Colonization deserves full right to be called a full-fledged game.
I highly recommend checking out this undeservedly forgotten game in the series. Best suited for this FreeCol. No installation, launch or compatibility problems. Incredibly convenient and fun to play. Even if it’s a little different.
For those who care about the atmosphere, it’s better to run the original. Works great, but not as playable as the fan remake.
Sid Meier’s Civilization II
Ironically, I think one of the reasons Civilization 2000 seemed like a good project to me was because Civilization was "already developed" and I wouldn’t have to keep track of it as much!
Brian Reynolds
After success Colonization in 1993, Brian received maximum trust from everyone. The company saw him as a good, efficient, and most importantly, profitable developer. Colleagues, including Meyer, respected him for his approach to work and good attitude towards the team. Fans fell in love with Reynolds for his past project, which gave them a new gaming experience similar to Civilization.
Brian took on Civilization 2 almost immediately after the release of the last project, taking composer Jeff Briggs as his partner. True, due to family circumstances he had to go to the UK for a while. There, through the English division of MicroProse, he contacted the main office in the USA.
Like last time, many expected Sid Meier to assist or take over the project towards the end of development. But, like last time, Sid completely trusted Brian.
Instead, the father of 4X strategy games was working on a new combat system that never made it into the game. According to Meyer, when two units clashed, they had to fight on a highly detailed field (I think it was something in the spirit of Master of Magic). He himself did not like the prototypes made, and, disappointed, he announced that he would have to leave the old system. He later admitted that it was the right decision, because. To. V Civilization you are the ruler, and such a system would make the player more of a marshal-commander.
Upon his return, Reynolds handed over the almost finished version to Sid. She impressed him.
A new level of difficulty, adjustable barbarian aggression, one and a half times more civilizations, and the game runs on the then new Windows 3.1! But then he discovered two things he didn’t like: the Cheat tab and the ability to mod the game.
Sid believed that cheats would lead to players becoming bored with the game. Finding an easy way to win is not fun, the game will quickly be forgotten. He viewed fashion as shirking from work. Suddenly players will complain that their work turned out to be bad? Or worse, more interesting than the original?
And if suddenly they manage to create something really worthwhile, then it turns out that we are taking our jobs away from us with our own hands. Anyway, I thought that having access to modding would practically guarantee that Civilization would never get a third part.
Sid Meier
Meyer, after playing the prototype, advised Reynolds. Most of all they worked on balance so that diplomacy and trade were an integral part of the game. It’s funny to find out, considering what happens to both points in the fifth and sixth parts.
Be that as it may, the creation of the game went without any problems. The parallel development of the failed CivNet, which I have already talked about twice. At first it was a higher priority. This, according to Brian, freed their hands. The bosses didn’t really keep track of what exactly his team was doing with the sequel, quietly spending about one million dollars on all expenses.
And as a result, the game comes out in March 1996. Sid is proud that the game bears his name, and Brian acknowledges with this gesture that without Meyer this game would never have existed.
Most of us understand that "more" is not always better for the concept of the game and sequels, after a series of new versions the game could be strangled by functionality. But Civilization II was the first sequel in the series, so there was still room for improvement.
Brian Reynolds
The sequel took the path of building on the best features of the original. The whole game feels like the first part, but more convenient, more informative and simply better. Therefore, it’s not possible to tell much about the game, so don’t judge strictly.
Party tuning has become richer. Added to the previous settings are the ability to select the aggressiveness of barbarians, the gender of the ruler, and the style of cities. The number of civilizations in one game remains unchanged. Nations are now twenty-one.
Gameplay is the first part with additions. New types of resources have appeared that can be extracted and traded using a caravan. Trade has been slightly reworked. Now when sending traders you need to select the product that will be sold. Each city of each state needs certain resources to increase happiness, population growth and production.
There are more options for action in diplomacy. Several new buildings, wonders of the world and units have appeared. For example, a researcher (scout) who is fast in production.
What a realistic game)
The Council stopped simply giving tips on government management. Now these are full-fledged people with their own worldview, ready to defend it. They are voiced, expressively gesticulate, argue and support each other. It’s immediately clear that the developers enjoyed the process of creating the game. My favorite is the adviser to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He wears sunglasses and says, "Awwww" as he supports another advisor!
The game view has become isometric. Graphics have taken a confident step forward. The map, interface and models have become more detailed and prettier. Elements of 3D graphics and video inserts appeared. It’s clear that time and money were spent on the visual part. This gives the project solidity, the feeling that you are not playing a cheap craft, but a full-fledged video game.
The audio part doesn’t lag behind. Music and sounds switched from mono to stereo. Various instruments are heard in the compositions. Thanks to this, the game immerses itself even more, hypnotizing the user to stay in the strategy longer.
Adding cheats and modifications turned out to be a forward-thinking decision. Even after so many years, new modifications and scenarios are being released that change the gameplay and allow you to test your own strength in new gaming conditions.
How wrong I was on all these counts! The strength of the modding community is the main reason our franchise is still alive today.
Sid Meier
Despite all this, the old controversial combat system remains. No special innovations, just slightly changed balance. And this is the only serious flaw that I was able to find.
After its release, the strategy is surrounded by positive reviews. Who would doubt it.
Everyone highlighted improved diplomacy with trade and impeccable balance. Computer Gaming World awarded it the "Strategy Game of the Year" award. Civilization II was nominated by Computer Gaming World magazine as "best game of 1996", but lost to Tomb Raider. However, it won the magazine’s award for best turn-based strategy game of the year. It also won the Spotlight Award for Best PC/Mac Game. Next Generation gave the PlayStation 1 version five out of five stars.
In 2007, the game was ranked third on IGN’s list of the 100 Greatest Video Games of All Time, having previously been ranked 15th in 2003. In 2012, television network G4tv ranked it as the 62nd best video game of all time.
PC Gamer US named the strategy game of the year overall, calling it and its predecessor "arguably the best strategy games ever made". The magazine put the second part on the cover, devoting four pages to the game, and three to Sid.
Even after four years, no strategy game has come close to Civilization. And now she’s twice as good.
PC Gamer, March 1997
By the time the third part was released, more than three million copies had been sold. The strategy becomes the fifth bestseller of 1996 and one of the highest rated games of the same year. Millions of players again began to spend sleepless nights in front of their computer monitors, leading their people to victory. Many stories were told in the small worlds of each user.
Among them, the post that stands out is Lycerius, who played one game for 10 years. A dystopia has arrived in his world. For more than 17 centuries, Celts, Vikings and Americans have been fighting unsuccessfully for world domination. 90% of humanity is extinct, glaciers have melted, radioactive wastelands are everywhere. The population is doomed to endless war and life in terrible conditions. The editors helped the player finish the game, but his party’s universe became very popular. Several stories have been written based on it, telling about the world and the people living there. (Link to fan wiki)
An addition was released in 1997 Conflicts in Civilization. Contained twenty game scenarios. Twelve from the developers, eight were chosen from fan modifications. Includes both historical and fantasy stories. Implemented a map editor to create your own scenarios. Updated the technology tree, added new units and music.
A year later, the company releases its second addition. Fantastic Worlds filled with scenarios about fantasy, a little about space and other games from the studio, like X-COM Master of Orion, etc.d. The new editor allowed you to change the tree of technologies, units, the appearance of cities and create scripted scenes.
Then a re-release comes out on Windows 95 Civilization II: Multiplayer Gold Edition. Includes the original game with both expansion packs and multiplayer options.
The same year the game was ported to PlayStation 1. There’s not much to say about this version. Feels and plays like the console versions of the first Civilization, but with the features of the second part and is much more convenient, faster and more fun. Instead of simulating a cursor, the game selects it automatically, all switches and pop-up menus go quickly. I even got a little stuck while writing the gameplay. The graphics are excellent, the music is taken from the PS 1 version of Civilization 1.
It will be especially fun if you play with a pirated translation. Cheezy and his purple beard said that this version with translation is their favorite of the entire series.
No, it’s not okay)
In 1999 MicroProse releases an improved version with all the additions Civilization II: Test of Time. And this is a very ambiguous thing, as for me. Meyer left the company at that time and never approved of this re-release, believing that its creators had greatly departed from the essence of Civilization, with which I partially agree.
New graphics, new music, animation of sprites moving on the map has appeared, the interface has been redone. Added companies and content from both add-ons. On the one hand, it’s convenient that all previously released content is now collected in one game, and even with cosmetic improvements. On the other hand, the mood and atmosphere of the game became gloomy and depressing. The visuals are darker than the original, the music is suspenseful. I was nervous to play this. Add to this some kind of abnormal aggression of computer rulers and you experience hopelessness, decay and depression. It’s still a great edition, many still play it and consider it the best in the entire series, but it’s not the same Civilization, who I know and love.
Reissued in 2006 Civilization II: Multiplayer Gold Edition included in the kit Civilization Chronicles, where the main parts of the series were collected at that time.
You can’t buy the second part anywhere today.
Sid Meier’s Civilization II – this is the peak of the ideas of the first part and Colonization, as evidenced by the previously mentioned reviews and legacy. However, this is not the peak of ideas, human enthusiasm, creativity and freedom of thought. The following parts will follow the path of experimentation and creation of a new formula for the development of each subsequent game in the series.
It’s worth playing Civilization 2 today. This is a great improvement on the original game in a new wrapper. I just ran into a lot of problems. The original second part crashes consistently in 100 AD.uh., no matter what compatibility and screen resolution I set. Perhaps these problems will not occur on a virtual machine with Windows XP, however, after trying several VMs, I still could not play. I couldn’t transfer the game to the built-in Hyper-V and set up the Internet. Other virtual machines either did not start or froze on the Windows installation.
Civilization II: Test of Time crashed after creating the party. Installing an amateur patch helped. And I suspect that this is the only and best way to try out this game, unfortunately. I already wrote above that this edition is very different in atmosphere from the original, this does not make it terrible or unplayable. On the contrary, I’m glad to have the opportunity to play two. It’s just a pity that a little more and we will forever lose an important part of the history of the game series.
Also a good option would be the version for PlayStation 1. Especially with a pirated translation.
Finally, it’s worth telling a little about what happened inside MicroProse.
In the last part, I mentioned that at the beginning of the development of Civilization, Sid sold his shares to Bill Steely and became a hired developer. He did this because of the new management. Even then, the company began to focus on gaming arcade machines, believing that their popularity would return. However this did not happen. MicroProse found itself on the verge of bankruptcy even after the success of Civilization, because the studio decided to buy Vektor Grafix and found two subsidiary studios. Bill had no choice but to sell himself to Spectrum HoloByte. Thus ended the company’s era as an independent developer and publisher.
Styles had a good relationship with the owner of Spectrum HoloByte and was able to persuade him to invest money in the dying studio. The UK division had to be closed, and Bill himself left MicroProse in 1994 forever, founding another company.
MicroProse continued to exist as a division, developing and publishing games, mainly on PC due to lack of money. The galaxy of projects included X-COM and its sequels, Transport Tycoon, Colonization, the second Civilization, flight simulators and several projects of lesser significance.
Sid, Brian and Jeff were fed up with constant budget shortfalls, licensed games and little creative freedom. Therefore, in 1997, they and several guys of lesser importance left the once great company and founded Firaxis Games, where they agreed to create only those games that were interesting to them.
I just wanted to make interesting games. Bill and I may have had different views on what was considered interesting, but at least we always agreed that we wanted to make special products and understood the value of the creative process. I suspect that, unbeknownst to us, Bill was repeatedly forced to undergo difficult trials for the sake of the development team. Now that Bill has left, there is even less support from management than before. At the same time, Bruce Shelley left for Chicago after his wife received a unique job offer there; Andy Holis moved to EA to make a series of flight simulators for them; Arnold Hendrick joined Bill’s new firm; and many of my former colleagues also left MicroProse.
And I felt it was time for me to follow their example.Sid Meier
Just that our brave and independent guys, that MicroProse, that fans and journalists did not even suspect that at the turn of the millennium, three radically different companies would have to fight hard for the rights to Sid Meier’s Civilization. And for what kind of game will be proudly called Sid Meier’s Civilization III .
Which is what I’ll talk about next week, I hope I’ll have time to do it. And that’s all I have for now. Thank you all for your attention and good luck to everyone.
