Sid Meier isn’t sure gamers today have the patience for old-school Civilization. In fact, the legendary game designer isn’t even sure he could push through the time investment. In a new interview, Meier says that Civ 1 was perfect for its time and place, but that’s “not where most gamers are” today.
“I don’t think I could make Civilization today,” Meier tells The Independent. “I’m not sure even I would play it. It wouldn’t fit in the zeitgeist. It asks a lot of the player, and takes a while to work it out. You have to play it once in order to understand what’s going on. You have to be willing to spend time with it, and that’s not where most gamers are these days.
“Civ came out at the perfect time. The PC had got beefy enough for us to make it, but weren’t inundated with so many possibilities. If it had been created two years earlier we’d only have had four colours and it would have been much shallower.”
Meier is currently promoting his new memoir, which he says is happening now for the generation that’s “grown up knowing games their entire life.” Meier says “for those of us who go back far enough to remember a time without games, it’s our origin story. A time when there was no internet, when everything wasn’t available instantly online. I wanted to put down those memories before they fade into the mists.”
Sid Meier’s Memoir! is out now. You can follow that link to read an exclusive excerpt from the book. For more on strategy games, you know where to click.