Game
Empire
Walter Bright's 1977 wargame.
On this page
Benj Edwards’s history of Civilization reports Sid Meier as a big fan of an early computer game called Empire1.
References
- ^Benj Edwards's 2007 history of Civilization says Meier was a big fan of an early computer game called Empire, and quotes Bruce Shelley: Meier asked him for a list of 10 things he would do to Empire to make it a better game, as some of his research on Civilization.WebEdwards, "The History of Civilization", 2007 · Ars Technica, Meier GDC talk, 3 March 2017
How we know
Meier was also a big fan of an early computer game called Empire … "At one point, [Meier] asked me to make a list of 10 things I would do to Empire to make it a better game," says Shelley. "That was some of his research on Civilization."
page on Civilization's origins · archived copy ↗ Meier said that his earliest version "stirred together" elements from SimCity, Railroad Tycoon, Empire
report of the talk · archived copy ↗ Checked against the evidence by its author, an AI model, 2026-10-26.
Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-26.
Sources
Secondary
- Edwards, Benj. 2007. “The History of Civilization.” Gamasutra (UBM). original · archived · licence, all uses
- Machkovech, Sam. 2017. “Sid Meier tells Civilization's origin story, cites children's history books.” Ars Technica. original · archived · licence, all uses