Civilization game series: the whole world is a game, and the people in it are numbers in statistics. Civilization game series: the whole world is a game, and the people in it are numbers in statistics Chronology of games in the series

Over the nearly twenty-year history of the Civilization series, the game has sold over nine million copies worldwide, making it the greatest grand strategy game of our time. The fifth incarnation of the legendary “Civilization” takes a new level of quality: the possibilities and development options have increased significantly, the opponents have become smarter, the network game is more interesting and varied, and the graphics are more beautiful. Lead your nation through the centuries - from primitive society to high-tech civilization, survive the golden age and stand at the origins of world religions, invent the wheel and the atomic reactor, build the Pyramids and the Statue of Liberty, meet the greatest political leaders, prove yourself as a diplomat or strategist - Sid Meier's Civilization V will make your dreams come true!

Game Features:
- More than just a strategy - Thanks to updated graphics, clear, harmonious sound and many different types of terrain, a unique living world is born on the monitor screen, which is so interesting to explore and conquer.
- Intuitive controls - A detailed tutorial mode will help newcomers get comfortable with Civilization V, and introduce series veterans to all the new features and capabilities. Experienced mentors will tell you how to behave in a given situation and support you in choosing the right decision.
- Impressive battles - Battles and military clashes in Civilization have never been so large-scale. The player is free to massively attack the enemy in different directions and support the main troops with bombing from the rear. And the variety of strategies opens up a wide field for experimentation.
- Living history - Civilization V is an opportunity to write your own history of the development of the Earth. At the beginning of each game, a new world is formed, and it is up to the players how further events will develop. The player can take one of eighteen nations under his wing and lead it through millennia - from the Stone Age to the Space Age - to world domination.
- Winning with words - Negotiations with the rulers of other countries can sometimes be more effective than overt aggression. To set the stage for a diplomatic victory, you will have to carefully monitor your actions, think through every decision and maintain friendly relations with the leaders of other nations. Diplomacy provides many opportunities - from trade and alliances to the exchange of territories.
- In-game communication - You can prove your superiority not only to computer politicians, but also to other players. Dictators and tyrants, democrats and spiritual leaders from all over the Earth can compete with each other via the Internet, share scenarios, compare results, boast about achievements, simply communicate and visit thematic sites without leaving the game.
- Your own game - Thanks to the extensive in-game tools, every player will be able to customize Civilization V the way they want.

Released: 2012
Genre: Strategy (Turn-based / Grand strategy) / 3D
Developer: Firaxis Games
Publisher: 2k Games / 1C
Interface language: Russian / English
Voice language: Russian / English
Medicine: Sewn in (Crackfix 3DM)

System requirements:
Operating system: Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7
Processor: Core 2 Duo - 1.8 GHz or Athlon X2 64 - 2.0 GHz / Quad Core - 1.8 GHz
RAM: 2048 MB / 4096 MB
Video card: GeForce 7900 or Radeon HD2600 XT, (256 MB) / GeForce 9800 or Radeon 4800, (512 MB)
Audio Device: DirectX® 9.0c Compatible
Hard disk space: 4427 MB

The name of game designer Sid Meier in the names of many parts of the Civilization franchise did not appear by chance. After all, in many ways it was the ideas of this modern genius that formed the basis of this series of games. And he did most of the rough work on the code for the first part of the game series himself - fortunately, in those days the games “weighed” much less than now.

The idea for Civilization was suggested to Sid by the board game of the same name, in which players had to develop their civilization from a small settlement to a great empire. A considerable part of the tabletop gameplay migrated to the PC (specifically, to computers running DOS) almost unchanged. Nevertheless, the time scale of tabletop Civilization was limited only by the achievement of the late Iron Age, so memetic battles of spearmen with tanks first appeared in a computer “civilization”. The PC version managed to become the first game in which you could take part in the history of mankind from the appearance of the first settlements to the conquest of space.

But the technology tree was also in the tabletop version of the game. However, now neither strategies nor even farmer simulators can do without a tech tree, but back then there was nothing like this in any computer game in principle. So here too, Civilization was marked by a historical achievement.

The concept of the game itself was quite innovative for those times. Back then, wargames, strategy and socio-economic simulations existed as separate genres and rarely overlapped within the same game. It was Civilization that became one of the first games where the player could control almost all aspects of the life of his state - from diplomacy and warfare to the level of taxes and infrastructure of individual cities.

Another key thing for both the Civilization series of games and for the entire game development in general was the appearance in the game of the “Civilopedia” - essentially an interactive help that combined tips on the game with historical information about various units, states and wonders of the world. As a result, many schoolchildren of the early nineties learned almost more knowledge from sleepless nights in the “civilian” than from a school history course.

Finally, it was Civilization that gave the world a textbook example of a bug becoming a feature. Due to strict memory savings, the aggressiveness level in the game was stored in one byte and could take a value from 0 to 255. Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of gaming India, had an aggressiveness of 1. Adopting democracy for any AI reduced its aggressiveness by 2. Due to a game bug –1 eventually equated to 255, and super-aggressive India began carpet bombing all countries of the world with nuclear weapons.

This feature was so beloved by fans that in all subsequent parts of the series, the likelihood of a nuclear attack from India after the establishment of democracy was increased by default. The two ways to win this game have also been carried over into all subsequent parts: the complete destruction of all other civilizations or a spaceship built by the country reaching distant Alpha Centauri.

This amount of innovation has led the game to deserved success among both players and critics. Even the influential Time magazine included it in the hundred greatest games.

Nowadays, to play the legendary game, you will have to additionally download a utility like DOSBox, since modern operating systems do not contain native support for such old applications.

Civilization II (1996) – advance through the tech tree

Over the past 5 years, computer technology has taken a step forward, so MicroProse, which released the first “civilian”, decided to keep up with them. The second part (the only one on our list that does not have Sid Meier's name in the title, although not the only one on which he did not work) changed the projection from vertical to isometric, acquired much nicer graphics and was ported to the console for the first time (namely to Play Station).

From a gameplay point of view, the units have changed a lot - if previously their strength was a hidden parameter, and randomness ruled in the calculation of battles, now each of them has honestly displayed characteristics of combat power and health points. As a result, planning battles became much easier.

For the first time in the series, separate scenarios appeared (before that it was possible to play only on the Earth map or a randomly generated one), and it became possible to automate terrain improvements. At the same time, it has finally become possible to update outdated units to more progressive ones (in the first part, when tanks appeared, it was necessary to merge all sorts of cavalrymen with obviously stronger units, so as not to pay for their maintenance in vain).

Two addons were released for the game - Conflicts in Civilization and Civ II: Fantastic Worlds, which contained many unique scenarios. The success of the game was a little more modest than that of the first part, but it still brought profit and several awards to the studio.

Sid Meier's Civilization III (2001) – start a new game

Sid Meier's name is back in the title of this game. And although Sid personally did not participate in its development, it was created by the Firaxis Games studio he founded. The change of developer had a beneficial effect on the gameplay and interface of the game. The new part included improvements to many minor omissions from the first two parts.

For example, the borders of states were clearly present “in the mind” of the game and their dynamics could be observed in the final video with a quick replay of the game, but only in the third part it became possible to observe them with one’s own eyes. Moreover, if earlier the borders were built on the principle of “12 cells around any city,” now they expanded as the level of culture of the nearest settlement increased.

It became possible to enable or disable certain victory conditions for each scenario, and their number has increased significantly (victories by dominance, diplomacy and culture have appeared).

The concept of “peculiarities of the nation” appeared, which provided bonuses to various areas of the country’s life. Thanks to this, the difference between countries was no longer limited to just the names of cities and the color of units.

Another important innovation of the game was resources. If earlier there were various herds of horses, coal deposits, etc. gave only a bonus to food, trade or production, now they were additionally taken into account in the general statistics of the state and gave access to the production of various units. This greatly strengthened the strategic component of wars - now it became possible to cut off an opponent’s access to resources, depriving him of the opportunity to build strong troops.

Finally, the new developers have finally made a normal diplomacy screen, from which it is now clear what kind of relationship the player has with different countries and what influences this. At the same time, it became possible to conclude trade agreements, offering different resources to other countries.

Such changes had a beneficial effect on both sales and ratings of the game. The third part almost managed to repeat the success of the first.

For the third part of the series, 2 addons were released - Play the World and Conquests, which added a lot of content.

Sid Meier’s Civilization IV (2005) – the appearance of the fifth X

This game was the first of the Civilizations in which the graphics were honest 3D, and the entire map was animated. But from a gameplay point of view, the fourth part of the series differed from the third part not as radically as the third from the previous two.

In addition to minor improvements, the Quartet boasts three major innovations. Firstly, it was in it that the concept of world religions appeared. If previously the player simply built temples that gave bonuses to morality, now the study of certain technologies made it possible to found a new religion, which quickly found followers in the cities of the world.

Secondly, great people appeared in the game - special units that were created in cities and allowed you to build some kind of building or receive an instant bonus, or give a small bonus by constantly being in some place.

Finally, for the first time in the series, an RPG element appeared - units gained experience in battles and increased their level, gaining new abilities (or simply increasing their strength). So we can say that to the four Xs in the fourth part, a fifth was added - eXperience.

Two addons were released for the game - Warlords and Beyond the Sword, which added a vassalage system and expanded espionage with sabotage.

Sid Meier's Civilization V (2010) – let's do it all over again

The long-awaited return of Sid Mair to the development team resulted in too many significant changes, not all of which were to the taste of fans of the series.

The game has become much closer to a wargame - the square grid of the map has become hexagonal, and it has become impossible to accumulate stacks of units in one cell; from now on the principle of “one hex - one unit” applies. This significantly influenced the tactics of battles and forced them to build front and rear lines instead of single large stacks.

It has become impossible to sell technologies, and resources have now become finite in quantity; the construction of units subtracts them from the country’s reserves.

Espionage and religion were also cut out in vanilla, but the first Gods & Kings addon brought them back. The second addon, Brave New World, added content to the game.

SidMeier'sCivilization:BeyondEarth (2014) – return to space

A list of Civilization games would be incomplete without mentioning this spin-off, released in the fall of 2014. From a gameplay point of view, the game is very reminiscent of the fifth part of the main series, but instead of the usual Earth, the action takes place in the Alpha Centauri system, to which in each of the “circles” a spaceship could be sent.

The place of historical nations in the game was taken by various groups and corporations with different bonuses. Instead of the usual barbarians, the success of the mission is threatened by the aggressive inhabitants of the planet, and the technology tree has given way to a “web of technologies”, which is unlikely to be fully opened even in the longest game. The main feature of the game is the presence of three philosophical paths, one of which can direct the development of your country.

Sid Meier’s Civilization VI (2016) – why aren’t we Swedes?

The main innovation of the “six” is clearly inspired by the games of another legendary studio – Paradox Interactive. Now, before the start of the war, it still needs to be justified by a suitable reason. Otherwise, the changes are less significant - city zoning has appeared, workers now disappear when the action limit is reached, different countries now have different AI priorities.

In February 2018, the Rise and Fall addon was released, expanding the mechanics of the “golden age” and “troubled times”.

Future technology 1

The Civilization series of games is rightfully considered one of the greatest in the history of game development. At the same time, unlike most other legends, its developers are still doing well with fresh ideas and finances.

In the development of games in the series, there is a clear pattern of “single - 2 add-ons - sequel”, so now we can already predict the appearance of another add-on for the sixth part in a couple of years, and then the appearance of a new numbered version, which will undoubtedly give us several more dozens of hours of educational entertainment .

Grandiose and rich, unique and unsurpassed – the Sid Meier’s Civilization line of games has been gaining an army of fans since the very beginning of the series back in 1991.

For the first time, striking players with a huge amount of content for its time and introducing a new type of playing field (a map divided into many cells), each new “Civilization” does not contradict the original concept of the game, but only adds more variety, possibilities and colorful graphics to the delight of the player.

Civilization

New to the video game industry Sid Meier managed to realize his passion for history in the company MicroProse subsequently continuing his activities in the studio Firaxis Games.

“Civilization” highlights the most striking and important moments in the formation of humanity: the founding of cities, the development of bronze, iron, gunpowder, great scientific discoveries and architectural structures. For all the richness of the series with historical and cultural heritage, it does not force the player to repeat history as in a textbook, but, on the contrary, provides complete freedom of action and the opportunity to rewrite the past in his own taste and way. Without being distracted from the gameplay itself, you can learn a lot about the world, human society and its entire history.

Game process

The main task in any part of the game is complete military dominance, dominance by points at the end of the game, as well as equipping a spaceship to Alpha Centauri - these are unchanged conditions from the first part. You can limit the specific list of victory conditions yourself. The final score is formed according to the following criteria:

• Reached population (if there was a happiness factor in the game - taken into account as a coefficient)
• Built Wonders of the World
• Culture and Science Points
• Empire size (calculated by the number of cells occupied by the empire)
• Number of cities

At the start, the player always has 1 city or 1 settler at his disposal, who will have to found a great state. Economic development consists of building new cities, capturing game cells, their subsequent upgrades, developing trade relations and science.

Maintaining balance in all areas is one of the keys to success. Active growth of population and cities increases the required number of points for research, but allows you to maintain a huge army.

The combat component is closely related to the economic one: the level of development of civilization determines the potential and strength of units. The battles are simplified: the result of the battle is determined depending on the characteristics and parameters of the clashing troops. With the development of the series, an increasing variety was introduced not only of units and their types (for example: aviation, “great people”, satellites), but also the number of civilizations and rulers that you can play for.

Chronology of games in the series

• Civilization

The first game in the series developed by the company MicroProse and released in September 1991. Created for the platform DOS. Versions were then released for other platforms, including Windows, Macintosh, Amiga, Atari ST, PlayStation, Super Nintendo.

In Civilization, the player had to create his own state, develop technology and economy, and establish relations with neighboring states. The game has 6 different difficulty levels - leader, knight, prince, king, emperor and deity. They vary the speed of development of computer civilizations, the year the game ended, and the number of hints.

• Civilization II
  
  • Civilization II: Conflicts in Civilization (1996), first expansion
  • Civilization II: Fantastic Worlds (1997), second expansion

A sequel to Civilization, developed and published by MicroProse in 1996. Sid Meier And Bruce Shelley – the game designers who worked on the first Civilization did not take part in the development of the sequel. In 2002, Atari re-released the game for new operating systems ( Windows ME And Windows XP).

The changes compared to the previous game were minor: new units, civilizations, wonders of the world, technologies appeared, and the graphics took on an isometric appearance. Units now have life units. Were implemented scenarios(before this it was possible to play only on a randomly generated map or an Earth map). For the first time, it became possible to upgrade outdated units, but this required the presence of a wonder of the world Leonardo da Vinci's workshop.

• Civilization III (2001)
  • Civilization III: Play the World (2002), first expansion
  • Civilization III: Conquests (2003), second expansion

The third part of the turn-based strategy was developed by the company Firaxis Games. The game offered more varied gameplay compared to previous installments. The game design was developed Jeff Bridge And Soren Johnson.

• Civilization IV (2005)
  • Civilization IV: Warlords (2006), first expansion
  • Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword (2007), second expansion

In the fourth Civilization, the interface has undergone some innovations; the game map has become animated. Changes have also been made to the combat system.

Each combat unit now has a parameter experience. By participating in battles, a unit gains experience points and, as the level increases, can spend it on learning one upgrade. Some buildings (barracks, etc.) and paradigms also provide experience. It does not matter whether the unit was defending or attacking; in any case, upon victory, it is awarded experience points. However, experience is not given when an enemy unit retreats.

• Civilization V (2010)
  • Civilization V: Gods & Kings (2012), first expansion
  • Civilization V: Brave New World (2013), second expansion

Sid Meier's Civilization V

The fifth part of the turn-based strategy received a number of innovations: instead of a square map grid, hexagonal, some small civilizations replaced city-states, captured cities could continue to exist in the empire in the form of autonomous entities called satellites, technology tree were reduced, were removed disasters(fires, floods, epidemics, etc.).

• Civilization: Beyond Earth (2014)
  • Civilization: Beyond Earth: Rising Tide (2015) expansion pack

The game belongs to the "Civilization" series, but borrows a lot from "Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri" , since the action does not take place on Earth.

In previous games in the series, the player chose one of the empires led by historical figures, each of which had already established parameters and behavior. At the beginning of "Beyond Earth", the player makes certain decisions (which organization financed the expedition, which spaceship delivered the colonists to the planet, what they brought with them), which create a unique civilization and influence the further game.

• Civilization VI (2016)

Sid Meier's Civilization VI

The developer of the sixth part of the series was still the Firaxis Games studio. The game was developed on a new engine, and the visual component and design of various interface elements were inspired by the Age of Great Geographical Discovery.

An innovation in game mechanics was districts: unlike previous games in the series , buildings are not concentrated in the city center, but are distributed among districts. There are a total of 12 types of districts in the game: holy place, campus, military camp, harbor, commercial center, entertainment complex, theater square, industrial area, aqueduct, suburb, airfield, spaceport. In each city, you can build no more than one district of each type, with the exception of suburbs - their number in one city is not limited.

Civilization VI received high marks for the game's resources. On Metacritic– 89 points out of 100. You can also read our review of the sixth part of the series.

Civilization V is a turn-based strategy game where you have the opportunity to create a great empire, either militarily or peacefully. Despite the fact that the game is very popular and has a lot of fans, each of us sometimes wants to try something new. I searched all the resources for great games similar to Civilization 5, but settled on the following 20 strategies.

Some games really have similarities, others only partially, but, in any case, you should like them. If you have recommendations for games that are not on our list, please write them below in the comments.

19.Warlock

Warlock Master of the Arcane- turn-based strategy in the Fantasy genre. Like Civilization 5, you take on the role of a warlord seeking undisputed power. Build an empire, get rid of your enemies and dominate all of Ardania.

18. Age of Wonders

A strategy that combines the Adventure and RPG genres. Classic graphics, beloved gameplay and the ability to play in multiplayer mode make the game unforgettable. Use magic, gain beneficial allies, find artifacts and build your empire.

17.Beyond Earth

Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth- sci-fi game. Go with your people on a journey to one of the planets to create your own colony. Explore new territories, create armies and make decisions to develop your state.

16. Rise of Nations

Real-time strategy covering the entire historical period. Start the game with a small ancient city, build wonders of the world and make your empire dominant among 18 countries. Conquer the world, defeat your enemies with bombers and tanks, create an armed force the likes of which humanity has never known.

15. Warcraft 3

Warcraft III- a luxurious real-time strategy game in the Fantasy genre. There will be 4 races to choose from: (humans, orcs, night elves and zombies). Learn to defend yourself from other races, collect resources, attack enemies and train your units to explore the area. There are many tasks in the game, we have listed only a few of them.

14. Galactic Civilizations III

Space strategy to the bitter end in the galactic expanses where no man has ever set foot. Go into space and colonize a new planet, waging wars and developing intelligent technologies. Advance trade and discover new horizons as you play as alien civilizations.

13. Endless Legend

Another turn-based strategy similar to Civilization V. Endless Legend you control every issue in the state. To survive, use magic, develop the territory, engage in farming and other crafts. Protect your people and take care of their well-being. This game is constantly mentioned in comparison with Civilization V, and, in most cases, has a higher rating among players.

12. Anno

Anno 2070 is a fantasy city building game in which you found your own colony and build the city of the future. Create megacities with huge populations, pay attention to resources, build robots and don’t forget about trade. Show off your best management skills in this future city simulator.

11. The Settlers

Create, build and rule your own kingdom thanks to The Settlers 7.Your game will have its own story (which city building simulators don't have). Fight your enemies while playing on a beautifully designed map. The scope for construction is enormous, including the possibility of developing a transport system.

Stand at the head of a small tribe and create a powerful civilization out of it. This is the main task of the presented game. You can download Civilization 5 for free in the Russian version and appreciate how much the cult series of strategy games “Sid Meier’s Civilization” has changed. Here are just some of the innovations that have appeared in the game. If previously a grid with square cells was used, now the cells are hexagonal. In this case, only one unit can be placed on a cell.

Earlier versions featured small nations and civilizations, now replaced by city-states. It became possible to attack the enemy at a long distance (partially this function was implemented in Civilization 3). The developers have noticeably shortened the technology development tree, although they have increased the number of moves required to make discoveries. And a lot of other innovations. A complete list of them can be found if you download the game Civilization 5 from a torrent. Well, in general, here is the same attention-grabbing strategy that you can play for days on end. Don't believe me? Then he can verify this.

Screenshots of the game Sid Meiers Civilization 5

Video review Civilization 5

Sid Meiers Civilization 5 - 4.6 out of 5 based on 40 votes