In this blog post, we will look at the background and game mechanics behind why Gandhi declaring war in Civilization 5 is humorous and surprising.
“If you give up the gold willingly, there will be no bloodshed.”
“If you give me diamonds, I will give you corn in return!”
A long time ago, the above humor was popular on the internet. These are all lines from the game Civilization V, and the fact that Gandhi, known as a pacifist, says such things was unexpected and caused laughter. Gandhi is well known as a symbol of peace and nonviolence, but in this game, he is portrayed as inciting war, revealing a surprising side to his character. This setting is what made it humorous.
What is interesting about this game is that historical figures are portrayed differently from their original images. For example, Cleopatra, who is known as an extremely cold and strategic figure, is portrayed in the game as a master of diplomacy and economics. These diverse interpretations of historical figures and humorous elements provide players with a unique experience and increase the immersiveness of the game.
The Civilization series was often referred to as a “time machine” because once you started playing, it was difficult to stop. In fact, this game was considered one of the most addictive games in the world, and once you started playing, you would lose track of time. In this blog post, we will briefly introduce Civilization V, which was once a hot topic.
Civilization 5 is a turn-based simulation game in which players take turns performing various actions, followed by the computer AI taking its turn. The actions that players can take on their turn are broadly divided into internal affairs (developing and advancing their own cities), combat (attacking other civilizations), and diplomacy (establishing trade and relationships with other countries).
When the game begins, players take on the role of leaders of specific civilizations and build and develop their civilizations throughout history. Each civilization has its own unique characteristics and abilities, which players must use to grow their civilizations. In the process, players must build cities, manage resources, research technologies, and coordinate relationships with other civilizations.
Let’s take a look at domestic affairs first. Domestic affairs can be broadly divided into two categories: land development and civilization. Land development involves developing the tiles surrounding the city, each of which has characteristics such as food, gold, hammers, and resources. However, these tiles cannot be used on their own. By placing the city’s population on each tile, the city can use the resources on that tile. In other words, tiles without a population are equivalent to not existing.
Let’s learn more about food, gold, hammers, and resources below. Food is a factor that affects the population growth of a city. A city can maintain its population based on the amount of food available on the tiles it occupies, and the more food there is, the faster the population will grow. Therefore, if you want to grow your city significantly, you should build it in a location with abundant food, such as near a river or on a plain.
Food is a very important resource because even if there are abundant resources in the surrounding area, they are useless if there is no population to harvest them.
Gold plays a role in developing the city’s commerce, increasing the player’s gold income each turn. This gold can be used to improve relations with other countries through diplomacy, and even to produce units and buildings by consuming the accumulated gold.
Hammers are an indicator of how much a city can produce. Cities can produce units and buildings, and the number of hammers required for this is fixed.
The more hammers a city uses, the faster it can produce units and buildings. Hammers are often found on tiles with ore resources such as gold and silver, or on tiles with hills, so areas with many hills are likely to grow into cities with high productivity. Resources are not found on all tiles, but only on specific tiles, so they are rare.
Resources include food resources such as wheat, sheep, and deer; strategic resources such as iron, copper, and horses; and luxury resources such as diamonds, gold, and silk. In order to use these resources in your city, you must build facilities that are appropriate for the resource using workers. For example, to use wheat, you must build a farm on a wheat tile, and to use deer, you must build a ranch.
Strategic resources become even more important in the middle and late stages of the game. Strategic resources such as iron, copper, and horses allow you to produce special combat units. For example, civilizations without horses cannot produce cavalry units such as knights and mounted archers, and civilizations without iron cannot produce units such as long swordsmen. Therefore, securing these strategic resources is very important, and fierce battles often break out over them.
In domestic affairs, civilization refers to technological research and the development of the political system. Technological research is an indicator of how advanced a civilization is in terms of technology. For example, there is a big difference in technological capabilities between a civilization that is currently researching gunpowder and one that is still researching casting technology. Technological research is determined by an item called “beakers” produced in cities.
Beakers are not produced by placing population on tiles, but can be added by placing population in buildings such as universities and libraries within cities. There are 10 political systems to choose from, but you cannot choose an unlimited number of them, as each system requires a certain amount of “culture” points. Culture is also produced in cities, but it is not produced by placing population, but rather by buildings such as monuments.
You can choose a political system such as fascism, democracy, communism, or slavery by collecting culture, and each system provides various bonuses to your civilization. Choosing a political system that suits the current situation is a key factor in accelerating the growth of your civilization.
Next, let’s learn about combat. The most important thing in combat is that victory or defeat is determined by the difference in combat strength. All units have a combat strength, and the side with the higher combat strength wins. However, various factors such as compatibility and terrain also come into play. For example, if two archers with the same combat power of 3 are one below a hill and the other on top of a hill, the archer on top of the hill will receive a +25% bonus to combat power, giving them an advantage in battle. These terrain factors are reflected similarly to reality, and when attacking across a river, a penalty is applied to combat power. It is important to plan your battles carefully, taking these factors into consideration.
Once you have conquered an enemy city through battle, you have three options. The first is to completely destroy the enemy city. If you choose this option, the city will disappear from the map and you will receive a small amount of gold. You may choose this option if the city is not strategically important. Second, you can turn your opponent’s city into a puppet city-state. This is useful when the city is too expensive to maintain or when it is located in a strategic location. This method can be used as a buffer zone between your civilization and your opponent’s civilization. Third, you can integrate your opponent’s city into your own civilization. This method allows you to expand your city, but it increases city maintenance costs and decreases the happiness of all citizens.
Here, “happiness points” are an important indicator of the stability and prosperity of the entire civilization. Low happiness points have a negative effect on city growth and performance in war. For example, if happiness points fall below 0, the population growth rate slows down, and units receive penalties to their combat strength during war. Therefore, when integrating cities, you must make careful decisions considering happiness points.
Finally, let’s take a look at diplomacy. Players can establish diplomatic relations with the leaders of computer AI civilizations. These relations take various forms, including simple trade and peace agreements, as well as the establishment of vassal states and demands for tribute. If the player has few troops and the AI notices this, the AI will demand tribute from the player or propose unfavorable trade terms. If the player refuses, the AI will send troops to conquer the player’s city.
In diplomacy, it is interesting to note that the leaders of each civilization reflect personalities similar to those in actual history. There are warlike leaders and peaceful leaders, and how they behave greatly affects the player’s strategy. For example, the Japanese leader Oda Nobunaga is a combative character, and if his civilization is adjacent to yours, you will have to endure constant military threats. In addition, players with weak military forces may be asked to pay tribute or cede cities.
That’s a brief introduction to Civilization 5. The game may seem complicated, but once you start playing, you’ll find that the intuitive system makes it easy to pick up. Civilization 5 is a game that will keep you hooked for hours. When you’re bored, why not forget about reality for a while and jump into another world?
