Inside Civilisation: Revolution

Atomic explores the brave new world of Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution with Firaxis’ Barry Caudill.

Apparently, Civilization began in 1991.

Not actual civilisation, mind you. That would be silly. We know for a fact that the Romans would have a great deal to say on this assertion, if it were not for the fact that they’re all dead. Good thing for history books, then.

Not that any of this matters seeing as we’re talking about Sid Meier’s Civilization. Some might remember it fondly as the first PC turn-based strategy game to rip through their psyches like an addictive narcotic, forever compelling them to play similar titles to soothe the savage, time-consuming beast within. Others would recognise it as a monster of the genre, a game that spat in the face of the looming threat of real-time strategy and said “Just a moment, we’re not done yet, and oh, would you mind moving your car it’s blocking my driveway.”

Despite this rebellious streak, RTS games have grown in popularity, so much so they’re free to park their vehicles wherever the heck they please. Leave it then to Sid Meier to bring TBS back into the limelight with Civilization Revolution – and on consoles no less!

Yes, you read that right – consoles. Sid’s new game will feature on the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Nintendo DS. So how long exactly has this fiendish plan been in progress?

“Sid Meier created the prototype for the game about three years ago and we’ve been working on it ever since,” explains executive producer Barry Caudill at Firaxis Games, Meier’s development studio.

It’s scary to think that Firaxis has had the title under wraps since 2005. When you consider that the game won’t be out for another few months, you realise just how serious the developer is about moulding the title into something playable on a platform void of a keyboard and mouse.

“The main reasons we decided to bring Civ to the consoles now is that the current generation of hardware allows us to really push the presentation of the game to a new level, and we think console gamers are ready for a new game experience,” says Caudill.

“The maps are beautiful with naturally eroded mountains and coastlines, the leaders and advisors are highly detailed and very interactive, we’ve brought the camera in close so players can experience the thrill of combat and the level of detail in units and buildings – it’s really the best looking Civ game ever.”

For Firaxis, the most important feature of the next-gen consoles is their large pools of RAM – the PS3 is equipped with 256MB while the Xbox 360 boasts a tasty 512MB. Late game AI can be very demanding on these resources, but both systems are up to the challenge.

If hardcore turn-based gamers still aren’t convinced, then you’ll be surprised to learn that Civilization Revolution marks the return of Sid Meier getting his hand dirty in actual development. Not since the original Civ has this been the case. Caudill says that Meier’s not only been coding, but working with the artists, audio engineers and UI designers as well. If anything, Civilization Revolution may end up being the most complete and compelling Civ game ever.

“Bringing Civilization to the new generation of console and handheld gamers is a major step for the franchise and Firaxis, so Sid wanted to be the one to design and lead the effort,” explains Caudill. “Civ is obviously very close to our hearts and we’ve been thinking about how best to create the experience on new platforms for a long time. We’ve taken a lot of time to design the game so that it works well on the consoles and DS. We just didn’t want to leave that in anyone else’s hands.”