The Value Foundation, a foundation dealing with history, video games, and education, has released a video where they discuss how various games have revolutionized game history. They talk about the concept of civilization, and how it appears in video games. Obviously they discuss our very favourite game, among others (e.g. Assassin’s Creed or Minecraft). They discuss that the concept itself is very unclear to scientists, but that Sid Meier planted down his own definition, which is often rather progressive. They further talk about how the game is, while educational, is in many ways also abstract, e.g. that you play an eternal leader, but never have a look at the history of average people. At the end, they note that Civ is revolutionary in a sense that it has spread the interest for history to many people, defined “Civilization” and let to many new games which picked up concepts from Civ.
Oh, and they’re also waiting for Civ7.
Watch the whole video here, follow the Value Foundation on Twitter and join us here to discuss this video.
Play the new Civilization 5 “Game Of The Month” #222
And also for June we got you a new Civ5 challenge! This “Game Of The Month” lets you play as Ramesses II of Egypt on a standard size pangaea map on quick speed. The difficulty is King level, and you need to achieve a culture victory, while preventing all other civs from achieving another victory too. You have time to build the pyramids as well as all other wonders until June 30. For all other information please check this thread.
New indygame release: Myriads: Renaissance (a fantasy 4X)
Today we got another release in the 4X hemisphere: Myriads: Renaissance.
This game is a turn-based 4X game, set in a fantasy rennaissance setting. You colonize floating islands, develop them, recruit armies and fight battles.
It also belongs to the more recent wave of smale-scale 4X games, with a single game taking roughly 4 hours to complete.
The game just got released today, and you can for the start get it with a 10% discount, 17.55 instead of 19.50. And there is also a free demo, in case you want to give it a try first!
You can download Myriads: Renaissance here, and come to the forum to discuss it with us here.
Old World update #109
Mohawk Games, the developers of Old World, have released the latest update for their game. This update includes, among other things like bugfixes and UI enhancements, an improved turn summary, the creating of minor cities has been easened, and you can now also win an alliance victory in single player mode . Discuss this update with us here (and read the full list of changes too).
Old World is currently available in the Epic Store, on GOG and Steam.
Civilization IV Hall Of Fame update
The Civ4 Hall Of Fame has again gotten an update! New players have been inaugurated in our everlasting Hall Of Civ Fame! You can find the whole overview in this thread!
Congratulations to nocho for the highest score of the update with a Tiny, Marathon, Noble, Space Colony game for 363,117 points.
nocho was the most active player during this update, submitting 4 games.
NickTrofimuk was the most active player during this update, submitting 4 games.
Only 2 players were brave enough to take on Deity this update:
Firmlife – 2050 AD, Large, Quick, Deity, Time game for 35,741 points.
Firmlife – 2050 AD, Large, Quick, Deity, Time game for 23,918 points.
Lcpl Jack Jones – 2050 AD, Large, Quick, Deity, Time game for 22,570 points.
New Number One Entries:
A number of players gained number one positions:
Firmlife with a 2050 AD, Large, Quick, Deity, Time game for 35,741 points.
ZPV with a 1260 AD, Tiny, Marathon, Prince, Space Colony game for 209,991 points.
nocho with a 1130 AD, Tiny, Marathon, Noble, Space Colony game for 363,117 points.
NickTrofimuk with a 1390 AD, Standard, Normal, Warlord, Espionage game for 46,710 points.
NickTrofimuk with a 1350 AD, Small, Normal, Warlord, Espionage game for 49,630 points.
NickTrofimuk with a 1500 AD, Large, Normal, Warlord, Espionage game for 88,717 points.
Gauntlet Updates
Congratulations to Firmlife and Lcpl Jack Jones for taking 1st and 2nd place respectively in G-Minor 270, an intriguing and challenging Deity Time game!
PolyCast 416: Let Us Trade Maps!
The four-hundred-and-sixteenth episode of PolyCast, “Let Us Trade Maps!“ is now available for streaming on ThePolyCast.net. This episode features regular co-hosts CanusAlbinus. Stephanie “Makahlua”, and Phil “TheMeInTeam”.. Topics for this episode include:
News
– 00h02m58s | Leader Pack 4: Rulers of the Sahara First Looks
Forum Talk
– 00h09m21s | Sequels in Strategy Gaming: Civilization II by Digital Antiquarian
– 00h15m41s | What Do Modern Forts Look Like?
Research Lab
– 00h21m43s | What Diplomacy Changes Do You Want in Civilization 7?
Senate
– 00h43m11s | Carriers, Spec Ops, and Other Situational Units.
Miscellaneous
– 00h53m55s | Nobody Wants Your Stupid Launcher, Part 4
NOTE: This Episode was recorded on February 11, 2023.
PolyCast is a bi-weekly audio production recording live every other Saturday at 12 Noon US Eastern Time throughout the year, in an ongoing effort to give the Civilization community an interactive voice.
Layoffs at Firaxis
The current struggle in the techology sector also does not spare the gaming industry. Today it got public that Firaxis is laying off 30 of their developers. It is in general suspected that the poor sales of Midnight Suns are to blame, despite the game being a success among critics. We do not know right now which of the teams is most affected by the layoffs, so we also don’t know if the future development of Civilization 7 will be affected by this. For background please read this article, and come over here to discuss with us.
Play the new Civ6 “Game Of The Month” #159
As every month, you get a new “Game Of The Month”!
This time you play as Nader Shah of Persia on a standard size continents map on deity level. For an additional challenge the disaster intensity is set to 2. You also need to go for a domination victory, and prevent all other civs from achieving one of the other victory options. You have until June 15 to not only conquer Greece, but also the rest of the world. For more information please see this thread here.