A civilization (commonly called a "civ" for short) is the "character" through which a player participates in the Civilization and Call to Power series. In the base game, a civilization represents a gestalt historical cultural group, nation-state, and/or pluralistic empire. In scenarios and mods with non-historical settings, civs may represent other social entities, such as political factions and corporations. The player's goal is to lead their civ to victory through military might, scientific achievement, cultural, economic, or religious hegemony, and/or diplomatic consensus.
A civilization features a variable roster of cosmetic attributes, such as city names, leaders, and architectural styles, and in games that feature them, specific mechanical advantages such as unique units. Even without tangible bonuses, civs usually have particular AI behaviors reflecting their historical influences and accomplishments.
Overview[]
Who Gets to Be a CIVILIZATION? - Between the Lines
Video essay by Kyle Kallgren exploring the ontology of "civilization" and its framing within the games.
A civilization comprises a number of attributes representing its cultural, economic, scientific, political, and military potential:
Cities and economy[]
As the name implies, a civilization represents a settled society, organized as cities on the map. Cities are the main engines of economic development, using the surrounding terrain to grow their population and supply manual labor. Cities' aggregate commercial activity provides the civilization with tax revenue that can be allocated toward different ends, including luxuries to improve citizens' wellbeing, and research to develop social insights and technologies. In addition to local improvements, cities provide sites for Wonders of the World, major architectural and/or social achievements that give their controlling civ special rewards.
In later games, cities also exert cultural influence for various effects, such as territorial claims and susceptibility to rival sedition. Beginning in Civilization III, cultural supremacy is a non-violent means of claiming victory.
A standard game normally begins with the player in control of a Settler which represents a nomadic tribe transitioning to sedentary society. Gameplay-wise, civs are fundamentally distinguished from barbarians by their urbanization: a civilization is typically defeated when it no longer controls any cities, although some games allow a civ to persist if at least one Settler remains in play.
Units[]
A civilization exerts influence beyond its cities through units, mobile map actors representing the standing armed forces, state-sponsored merchants, civilian engineers, and in later games, religious missionaries and corporate ambassadors. Military units defend the civ's territory and attacks its rivals, while workers modify the terrain to increase city resources, facilitate transit, and/or secure strategic locations with fortresses and airbases.
Society and government[]
A civilization's legal framework, political culture, and/or civic values are represented by its form of government, which influences gameplay aspects such as city production and corruption, maintenance and unit support, and diplomatic options when negotiating with other civs. In the original games, governments comprise a limited selection of archetypes representing broad historical paradigms; Civilization IV replaced this linear model with a dynamic Civics system that allows combinations of different policies across five discrete branches.[fn 1]
Government in Civilization V is represented by social policies, which are developed through 
Culture and are not mutually exclusive. The Brave New World expansion pack introduces Ideologies as a complementary component in the Industrial Era, which are organized into mutually exclusive groups similar to governments in previous games. Civilization VI uses policy cards that function similarly to Civilization V, but that can become obsolete as a civilization's civics advance.
Civilization IV also introduces religion as a game mechanic. In addition to passive per-faith culture bonuses, cities hosting particular faiths have access to unique buildings. Officially adopting a faith as a state religion enables additional bonuses through Civics and certain Wonders. In later games, religions are much more competitive: their founding civ can customize and develop their effects as the game progresses, but cities can only benefit from a single faith's bonuses at a time. In Civilization VI, religious hegemony is a non-violent means of achieving victory.
Diplomacy and espionage[]
Diplomacy encompasses interactions between civilizations, framed as direct negotiations by their respective leaders (or in Civilization II, their heralds). The original Civilization features extremely limited diplomatic choices of peace and war, with options to offer gifts or attempt to extort tribute. Civilization II introduces additional relations such as alliances, and implements persistent reputation scores that influence how willing AI civs are to deal with the player and/or each other. Successive games further diversify diplomatic options, some of which only become available with specific research. Beginning in Civilization III, The United Nations enables a non-violent victory through the election of a civilization as world leader.[fn 2]
Barbarians are uniquely hostile and will not engage in diplomacy. Unlike fighting other civs, they do not require a formal state of war to combat.
Espionage is a complementary mechanic, encompassing covert and clandestine actions that can be conducted irrespective of formal diplomatic relations as a means of avoiding direct military confrontation. In earlier games, it is performed by dedicated units; later games can involve a combination of units and other components, as in Civ IV and Civ V. Seditious activity can be exposed, however, potentially triggering open war with the aggrieved civilization.
Civ-specific attributes[]
The original Civilization features minor mechanical differences between civs, in the form of different AI behavior archetypes. Civilization II introduces additional cosmetic flavor, including separate male and female leaders, government titles, and city graphics.
Beginning in Civilization III, civs feature "unique units," customized versions of the game's normal arsenal that represent the civ's historical proficiency, mythology, and/or cultural legacy. Similarly, Civilization IV introduces "unique buildings" as complementary variations on city improvements. Civ III also added a roster of traits to diversify civilizations' play strategies;[fn 3] this was further developed in Civilization V as individual specializations.
Comparison tables[]
The following table lists the civilizations featured in the official Civilization and Call to Power series. They are organized based on their in-game adjective, meaning a particular culture may be represented by different names between titles, eg. the Celts in Civ2 are modeled on the Welsh, whereas in Civ3 they are based on the Gauls; "Ottoman" and "Turkish" are discrete, etc. Similarly, the Netherlands and Scandinavia are organized as Dutch and Viking, respectively.
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The following table lists the number of civilizations introduced in the official Civilization series titles, expansion packs, and/or downloadable content. Note that the column "Introduced to series" only includes civs that are playable "out of the box" and not unused or "spare", such as Civ1 Hittites or Civ3 Austrians.
| Game | Version | Civs added | Total civs | Introduced to series |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Civilization | Original | 14 | 14 | |
| Civilization II | Original | 21 | 21 | |
| Civilization III | Original | 16 | 31 | |
| Play The World | 8 | |||
| Conquests | 7 | |||
| Civilization IV | Original | 18 | 34 | |
| Warlords | 6 | |||
| Beyond the Sword | 10 | |||
| Civilization Revolution | Original | 16 | 16 | N/A |
| Civilization V | Original | 18 | 43 | |
| DLC | 7 | |||
| Gods & Kings | 9 | |||
| Brave New World | 9 | |||
| Civilization Revolution 2 | Original | 17 | 17 | N/A |
| Civilization VI | Original | 19 | 50 | |
| DLC | 7 | |||
| Rise & Fall | 8 | |||
| Gathering Storm | 8 | |||
| New Frontier Pass | 8 | |||
| Civilization VII | Original | 30 | 39 | |
| DLC | 9 |
The following tables list the playable civilizations (or their setting analogues) in spinoff titles and third-party games. It does not include non-playable or "hidden" civs enabled through modding.
Official spinoffs[]
| Title | Main article | Featured |
|---|---|---|
| Sid Meier's Colonization | Civilizations (Col) | |
| Civilization IV: Colonization | Civilizations (Civ4Col) | |
| Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri | Factions (SMAC) | |
| Alien Crossfire (expansion) |
||
| Civilization: Beyond Earth | Sponsors (CivBE) | |
| Rising Tide (expansion) |
||
| Sid Meier's Starships | Leaders (Starships) |
|
| Civilization World | Civilizations (CivWorld) |
Third-party titles[]
| Title | Main article | Featured |
|---|---|---|
| Freeciv | Civilizations (Freeciv) | See main article |
| FreeCol | Civilizations (FreeCol) |
|
| C-evo | Civilizations (C-evo) | |
| Imperialism | N/A |
|
Table notes[]
Added in the Gods & Kings expansion pack.
Added in the Brave New World expansion pack.
Added in the Rise and Fall expansion pack.
Added in the Gathering Storm expansion pack.- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Included in code, but unused without modding.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Play the World expansion pack
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Available as downloadable content for Civilization VII.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Available as downloadable content for Civilization VI.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 Conquests expansion pack
- ↑ Originally DLC awarded as a preorder bonus, the Aztecs were subsequently released for free 90 days after the game aired.[ref 1]
- ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 Beyond the Sword expansion pack
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 Available as downloadable content for Civilization V
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 Available with New Frontier Pass.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 Warlords expansion pack
- ↑ The Han, Ming, and Qing civilizations represent the Chinese in Civilization VII and its expansions.
- ↑ The British and Norman civilizations represent the English in Civilization VII and its expansions.
- ↑ The Chola, Mauryan, and Mughal civilizations represent the Indians in Civilization VII and its expansions.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Availability varies between PC and Super Nintendo versions: Japanese on the SNES, and Zulus on the PC.
Footnotes[]
- ↑ Modular civics first appear as Social Engineering in Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, but were not adopted in Civilization III.
- ↑ The Diplomatic Victory first appears in Alpha Centauri via the Planetary Council, which also features additional choices of global legislation, not seen again until Civilization IV.
- ↑ Civ traits first feature in Alpha Centauri factions, although these are coded as part of the faction itself, rather than as general templates.
References[]
- ↑ "Aztecs Now Available for All Civilization VI Players". store.steampowered.com. 19 January 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2023.