CivCity: Rome
I actually think I’m starting to get the hang of CivCity: Rome, which combines playing aspects from the Caesar and Civilization series. I’ve played a few sessions now and am slowly making my way through the campaign missions (there’s also a freeplay ‘sandbox’ side to the game). I’ve just been promoted to overseeing the development of my third town.
The most challenging aspect of this economic strategy game is ensuring that all the resources needed for civilisation development are within a certain distance of your residential areas. As in real life, people are only prepared to walk so far for employment, food, etc. An in-game example: a shack will only become a hovel if its residents have access to a well, while a small hovel will only evolve into a large hovel if its residents can buy meat and linen nearby. And so on.
Obviously this can become quite a juggling act when you’re trying to squeeze in shops, temples and assorted other buildings all into one small area.
CivCity: Rome demands constant balancing on the part of the player. Mostly you’ll be keeping an eye on the City Happiness indicator on the top right of the screen. If your citizens are unhappy, they’ll leave and your economic production will slow. If they’re happy, more migrants will arrive, expecting housing and employment, but also growing your city. As a player you have to meet these needs, but also have control over inhabitants’ working hours and rations. If you find food is running low in the granary, you might be forced to reduce rations, and weather the discontent. If inhabitants are specifically unhappy about the town’s appearance, dot the landscape with trees and gardens.
Obviously as you advance through the game, new aspects come into play, like purchasable technology upgrades. Your citizens will demand a well-rounded existence, so they’ll need entertainment in the form of chariot racing and gladiatorial games. You’ll have to train these entertainers in the appropriate academy. You’ll also need to have an army in place to defend your city – although apparently later on you can completely sidestep combat and choose to play purely economic missions with more challenging goals. As you advance through Roman high society, you’ll also encounter famous historical figures like Julius Caesar, who will present you with new missions.
Graphically, the game isn’t overwhelming but it’s not terrible either. There’s a nice attention to detail, particularly when you zoom in to observe the actions of your citizens. Later on, you can peel back the roofs of bigger buildings to watch the goings-on of inhabitants. You can even, if you want, follow the fortunes of a single family as they sprout new branches on their generational tree. It’s Sims-like, in this regard, with a credible Ancient World flavour.
The only real negatives are that some of the economic building models look quite similar, making it difficult to locate them easily from a zoomed out perspective, particularly once your towns and cities grow more crowded. Speaking of crowded towns, sometimes selecting individual people and buildings is inexplicably difficult.
And personally I’ve found the tutorial only minimally helpful. It’s a little video screen that runs independently of anything you’re doing at that point in the game. You can still be completing the very first task and the tutorial is advising about advanced activities like trade and warfare with rival cities. For a beginner, it’s probably best to watch the first 5 or so screens of the tutorial, and always read the Tips that come with each mission briefing. This approach seems far more helpful.
These gripes aside, I’m actually enjoying CivCity: Rome as a thoughtful and engaging change from hack-and-slash action. With my fondness for the Age of Empires series, I’ve found this game a lot more accessible than other strategic management titles, like Sid Meier’s Railroads, which either bored or overwhelmed me. I must be enjoying CivCity: Rome – it actually caused me to miss an episode of Heroes!
The official sites:
2K Games - CivCity: Rome
Firefly Studios - CivCity: Rome
South Africans can buy the game online for R65-R69 here or here.
The most challenging aspect of this economic strategy game is ensuring that all the resources needed for civilisation development are within a certain distance of your residential areas. As in real life, people are only prepared to walk so far for employment, food, etc. An in-game example: a shack will only become a hovel if its residents have access to a well, while a small hovel will only evolve into a large hovel if its residents can buy meat and linen nearby. And so on.
Obviously this can become quite a juggling act when you’re trying to squeeze in shops, temples and assorted other buildings all into one small area.
CivCity: Rome demands constant balancing on the part of the player. Mostly you’ll be keeping an eye on the City Happiness indicator on the top right of the screen. If your citizens are unhappy, they’ll leave and your economic production will slow. If they’re happy, more migrants will arrive, expecting housing and employment, but also growing your city. As a player you have to meet these needs, but also have control over inhabitants’ working hours and rations. If you find food is running low in the granary, you might be forced to reduce rations, and weather the discontent. If inhabitants are specifically unhappy about the town’s appearance, dot the landscape with trees and gardens.
Obviously as you advance through the game, new aspects come into play, like purchasable technology upgrades. Your citizens will demand a well-rounded existence, so they’ll need entertainment in the form of chariot racing and gladiatorial games. You’ll have to train these entertainers in the appropriate academy. You’ll also need to have an army in place to defend your city – although apparently later on you can completely sidestep combat and choose to play purely economic missions with more challenging goals. As you advance through Roman high society, you’ll also encounter famous historical figures like Julius Caesar, who will present you with new missions.
Graphically, the game isn’t overwhelming but it’s not terrible either. There’s a nice attention to detail, particularly when you zoom in to observe the actions of your citizens. Later on, you can peel back the roofs of bigger buildings to watch the goings-on of inhabitants. You can even, if you want, follow the fortunes of a single family as they sprout new branches on their generational tree. It’s Sims-like, in this regard, with a credible Ancient World flavour.
The only real negatives are that some of the economic building models look quite similar, making it difficult to locate them easily from a zoomed out perspective, particularly once your towns and cities grow more crowded. Speaking of crowded towns, sometimes selecting individual people and buildings is inexplicably difficult.
And personally I’ve found the tutorial only minimally helpful. It’s a little video screen that runs independently of anything you’re doing at that point in the game. You can still be completing the very first task and the tutorial is advising about advanced activities like trade and warfare with rival cities. For a beginner, it’s probably best to watch the first 5 or so screens of the tutorial, and always read the Tips that come with each mission briefing. This approach seems far more helpful.
These gripes aside, I’m actually enjoying CivCity: Rome as a thoughtful and engaging change from hack-and-slash action. With my fondness for the Age of Empires series, I’ve found this game a lot more accessible than other strategic management titles, like Sid Meier’s Railroads, which either bored or overwhelmed me. I must be enjoying CivCity: Rome – it actually caused me to miss an episode of Heroes!
The official sites:
2K Games - CivCity: Rome
Firefly Studios - CivCity: Rome
South Africans can buy the game online for R65-R69 here or here.
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