JCalCGM
07-28-2006, 01:06 AM
FiringSquad chats with members of Tilted Mill about their upcoming historical city sim game Caesar IV. You can check out the interview right here (http://www.firingsquad.com/news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=11402). Here is a snip:
FiringSquad: Ancient Rome continues to be a popular subject for games. What is it about this time period that is a big attraction for games?
Chris Beatrice: I think for city building games specifically, Rome is unique. The Romans were, of course, expert city planners, builders and architects. Their “templates” for cities and towns were transplanted all across the world. This makes the ancient Roman setting pretty much perfect for a city building strategy game. Also, one of the challenges you face in designing games is making sure the content is accessible to the player. That is, he or she builds a certain building and it does what s/he expects it to do. Roman art and architecture has inspired or paved the way for many different kinds of structures around the world. For example, modern sports arenas have nothing on the coliseum! At the same time, we’re talking 2,000 years ago, so what you see is more interesting and visually compelling than perhaps a straight modern setting would be. So with Rome you’re dealing with all the notions of modern things like plumbing, roads, law enforcement, entertainment, worship, shopping, etc., but in a very colorful and compelling setting.
FiringSquad: Ancient Rome continues to be a popular subject for games. What is it about this time period that is a big attraction for games?
Chris Beatrice: I think for city building games specifically, Rome is unique. The Romans were, of course, expert city planners, builders and architects. Their “templates” for cities and towns were transplanted all across the world. This makes the ancient Roman setting pretty much perfect for a city building strategy game. Also, one of the challenges you face in designing games is making sure the content is accessible to the player. That is, he or she builds a certain building and it does what s/he expects it to do. Roman art and architecture has inspired or paved the way for many different kinds of structures around the world. For example, modern sports arenas have nothing on the coliseum! At the same time, we’re talking 2,000 years ago, so what you see is more interesting and visually compelling than perhaps a straight modern setting would be. So with Rome you’re dealing with all the notions of modern things like plumbing, roads, law enforcement, entertainment, worship, shopping, etc., but in a very colorful and compelling setting.