Historical Problem Spaces Civilization V in the Study of History
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Historical Problem Spaces Civilization V in the Study of History Robert Blades Robert Blades 1 Introduction “In Civilization V, players strive to become Ruler of the World by establishing and leading a civilization from the dawn of man into the space age, waging war, conducting diplomacy, discovering new technologies, going head-to-head with some of history’s greatest leaders and building the most powerful empire the world has ever known” (Civilization 5). This synopsis from Sid Meier’s Civilization V spells out perfectly the game’s progression from a primitive society to, if successful, an expansive, hegemonic, and ultimately dominant global civilization. Civilization V (herein Civ) is a 4x (explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate), turn-based, strategy PC game in which the player assumes the role of a demi-god to create a successful civilization. The ultimate goal of the game is to dominate either militarily, culturally, scientifically, diplomatically, or end with the highest amount of points. This paper will discuss the impact of Civ on the understanding of history, as an interpretation, representation, and recreation of the past, through the cosmology/cosmogony and problem spaces, as well as the physical hardware needed and used to play the game. I will argue that these former considerations affect the way in which Civ handles history by sacrificing historical experience and validity1 to gamer immersiveness/experience, where the final product is a ludological gameplay: structured through the idea of progress but lacking a narrative ex ante. Software Civilization V, the most current installment of the expansive series, was created by Sid Meier and his team at the US based Firaxis and released in 2010. Meier’s team founded the company in 1996 and has since released the expansive Civilization series and Civ-like games (Moby Games). The company was bought by Take-Two Interactive in 2006, publisher of such games as the 1 In this paper, validity is defined in its logical etymology: in terms of Civ this does not mean factual historical accuracy that soundness entails. Rather, in this context, it means a direct divergence from focusing on history (in whatever methodology/understanding it could be) to the focus on the gamer’s experience. Robert Blades 2 Grand Theft Auto series and Red Dead Redemption, for cost-saving reasons (Gamespot, Moby Games). One might assume that this corporate reshuffling affected Firaxis’ post-2006 games yet there is little evidence to suggest any major changes occurred in the games or gameplay. In fact, Soren Johnson, a former lead programmer for the Civilization series who left Firaxis in 2007 for personal reasons, as development started on Civ, noted that Meier and his team have always been, and continue to remain, primarily focused on the user’s experience (Game Industry). Johnson noted further that he is “still following Sid's traditional Firaxis model” at his new job (Game Industry). This indicates that Meier and his team were more-or-less free to develop Civ as they saw fit and there is no evidence of any major deviation from the series’ path. Granted, Civ changed much more than the previous games in the series, in terms of aesthetics and accessibility (i.e. units are spread out more, the physical topography and movement are more visually pleasing and easier to understand, etc.), yet it is likely that Meier’s familiarity with developing and publishing PC games was not affected in any major way. In fact Civ changed to become more accessible because “developers want to make it easier to understand and manipulate the complexity within the game. Most of these are merely matters of convenience rather than cutting back” (IGN). Civ does not deviate from the previous games in order to simplify or ‘dumb down’ the experience, but to the contrary – the complexity of the game is made more accessible to the average player and gameplay is cleaned up to immerse the player further into a narrative of their own creation. It is also important to note the many expansion packs and mods that were developed since Civ’s release in 2010. The expansion packs made by Firaxis offer the ability to play with new civilizations, focus on different goals (i.e. religion), and in general expand the gameplay’s time, create new units, technologies, practice “enhanced diplomacy,” etc. (Civilization 5). Robert Blades 3 Players can also create their own mods – that is, a specific set of rules, resources, players, etc. – and upload them for other gamers to play. Though these mods are unofficial, they allow players to experience another’s creation and to share their own with the participating Civ community. Mods are rarely as intricate as expansion packs, yet they produce a democracy of gaming by which players can deviate from the direct Civ rules and cosmology. This, as I explore below, is of great importance to experimenting with many different historical frameworks and methodologies. The problem inherent to Civ, however, is its ultimate grounding in progress. Hardware Gameplay in Civ is also affected by the physical hardware (the computer and its components) which in turn affects and is affected by the problem spaces produced by the software. I run Civ on a Samsung RV511 laptop with 4gb of ram, 300gb free of hard drive, and dual Intel I3 processors. This is above the recommended settings for Civ and it runs smoothly aside from visuals because my graphics card is built in to the PC and of average quality. The Intel I3 processor, though default, runs most programs fine for my laptop (Intel). In fact the DirectX11 capability is optimal for Civ’s gameplay, though I play on DirectX9 to avoid overworking my computer. The problem I faced though was tracing the origins of the computer’s components, specifically the graphics card/processors. I ran ‘dxdiag’ first to find out basic information about my drivers and components, yet I was unable to trace specific components back expect to the designer/company (i.e. Intel processor). The problem, specifically with a laptop, is that the components are too generic and not easily accessible at all. Unlike a desktop computer, specifically one’s own build, the average laptop focuses on general accessibility over specialization. Though the best choice to play Civ is a gaming desktop PC, capable of the rigorous graphic demands and gameplay, I am still able to play consecutively for hours without Robert Blades 4 experiencing technical difficulties. Furthermore, the difference in graphics is quite insignificant for the average PC. Granted, there is probably a great difference on high end PCs in terms of visuals and speed, but the developers created Civ to adapt to the demands of a range of PCs, from a bare-bones laptop to a gaming supercomputer (Kotaku). Therefore gameplay is affected by hardware but on average, in this digital age, most computers are capable of handling the game. In terms of history, however, it is unclear as to whether this affects representation or not. Civ does not run initially or fully from your PC either. It is distributed online by Steam and you need a connection to download the game, gain achievements, create and upload mods, etc. Steam is an online digital game distributor that operates on Windows, Linux, or Mac – any PC, tablet, or other personal computing device capable of running Civ can play through Steam. Civ is available for hard-copy purchase but all that does is lead you to download Steam anyways. Once the game is downloaded you do not need an internet connection, yet you risk missing out on the mods, updates, patches, etc. Steam makes accessibility easier and allows the player to partake in a more social and expanded gameplay. Problem Spaces Problem spaces involve first an ultimate goal in mind, choices that are made to achieve that goal, and within that, affordances (cultural frameworks, psychological tendencies, etc.) or constraints in those choices as a result of the cosmology (origins, evolution, and fate; rules and framework) of that universe (Play the Past). Hardware The most obvious problem space in regards to Civ’s hardware is the fact that the game is only currently playable on a PC. Though Firaxis offers the game for most operating systems (i.e. Windows, Mac, and Linux), there is currently no version for specific gaming consoles like, for Robert Blades 5 example, Xbox or PlayStation. Though it is not available for other major gaming platforms, Civ’s turn-based nature and available modding capabilities is much more fitting for PCs. Although the major gaming consoles are not limited to first person shooters, role playing games, etc., a strategy game like Civ is not overly concerned about targeting those consoles. The very nature of Civ is to take your time, build, upload, and download mods through Steam, and use your mouse to direct the majority of the game’s actions, all on your computer. Although it is possible to create, say, a PlayStation version, it is not really worth the effort – most gamers interested in Civ-like games who own other consoles will most likely own a PC. Furthermore, Civ on a PlayStation would need a network like Steam to operate and while possible, may not be worth the effort or money on a corporate level. Secondly, and a necessary subjective focus, is the hardware from which I experienced the game and directs my research. As I noted above, gameplay is affected by the type of PC and its graphics card/processor. For myself, as well as many gamers, Civ will run fine on even the lowest-end laptops. Of course a gamer such as myself will not experience the full extent of Civ gameplay, specifically speed and aesthetics, but that is neither necessary to win the game nor does it subtract much away from my involvement.