Civilization

Сivilization® is a board game designed by Francis Tresham, published in Britain in 1980 by Hartland Trefoil (later by Gibson Games), and in the US in 1981 by Avalon Hill...

Cvilization’s history is a bit twisted and ironic. Civilization went from being a board game to a computer game and back to a board game based on the computer game.

Sid Meier was a fan of this game and developed a computer game containing many of its elements. He named his game Civilization also, but gave a nod to the board game upon which he based his work (he included a flyer advertising the board game in early printings of his game). Meier’s game was a huge success and gained a wide fan base.

In 1995 a new version of Meier’s Civilization was released along with a computer version of Avalon Hill’s board game. Avalon Hill released their game under the name Avalon Hill’s Advanced Civilization in an attempt to prevent confusion with the established computer game by Meier. Its multiplayer implementation was considered by many to be sub-par and it did not do well in the marketplace. Many players also felt that the trade sessions did not translate well to the computer.

Several computer sequels of Meier’s game were developed over the years. Though the titles included his name, most did not involve Meier at all as the brand name was bandied about various game publishers. With the development of Civilization III in 2001 however, Meier regained control of the brand and developed the game in his rather new company, Firaxis Games. About this time, Eagle Games released a board game version of Sid Meier’s computer game Civilization.

Though Avalon Hill was not involved in Meier’s Civilization games, it is clear that Civilization came full circle from board game to computer game and back to board game again. Though Avalon Hill’s game is no longer published, Meier’s board game version is still available.

Ха-ха-ха. Это действительно забавно. Sid Meier вовсе никакой не гений. Что только доказывает тот факт, что третья Цивилизация от первой совсем не далеко ушла. Просто сложно было придумать что-то новое. Ну, я утрирую, конечно. Но сама история действительно a bit twisted and ironic. Особенно ironic. Особенно для чувака по имени Francis Tresham, который изначально ее придумал.

Это я все почему пишу? Играли в настольную цивилизацию сегодня. Во вторую настольную, не оригинальную. Ну, скажу я вам — очень, очень добротно сделанная игрушка. Причем меня поначалу немного смущало, то, что они уж слишком удачно все сделали — та же идея торговли там не имеет компьютерного аналога, но работает идеально.

Ну а теперь я выяснил, что они многое просто позаимствовали — в частности, тот же принцип торговли они просто взяли из первой настольной цивилизации.

А знаете ли вы, кто такой Francis Tresham?

Sic transit gloria mundi.