The world's first god simulation game

"A third-party studio wants to hire Activision as a publisher? Let David handle that himself; he has a pretty good eye."

As they walked, Will gave him a brief explanation of the situation.

Because Will and David had collaborated many times, Will would often go to Activision to offer guidance.

For example, the AI of regular characters.

On this occasion, a third-party studio came to our door to showcase their work.

Will was in high spirits, so he decided to check it out as well.

"I think that work is quite interesting, at least it suits my own taste."

He scratched his head, recalling the demo he had seen at Activision.

PC games?

Hearing him say that, Lin Lixin also became interested.

It's important to know that Will is a rather unique individual; his works and designs all possess a very strong and distinctive personal style.

Simply put, while it may not be a box office hit, those who like it will absolutely adore it.

Those who love them are head over heels in love, while those who aren't interested won't even bother to glance at them.

Will's tendency was even stronger than Sid's.

The disappointing initial sales of SimCity did not diminish its revered status among fans.

Even today, SimCity is still frequently mentioned when discussing groundbreaking and interesting works.

In other words, the fact that he described it as "very interesting" is enough to make it worthwhile to investigate further.

"Yes, the current plan is to release it on the Amiga from Commodore and the Atari ST, but since they all use Motorola's 68k Series processors, porting it shouldn't be too difficult."

Will went to his workstation and picked up a 3.5-inch floppy disk.

In the world of PCs, optical discs were still a rarity, and the Amiga, which could use floppy disks, was considered a relatively luxurious configuration for a dual-purpose machine.

The floppy disk was clearly a demo sample; it didn't even have a cover.

If Will hadn't specifically mentioned it, Lin Lixin would have thought it was an antique dug out of a warehouse.

To run this thing, they even had to go to the hardware department to find an Amiga.

After all, GAMENOVA usually uses either dedicated development machines or customized workstations for development.

"David told me that the other party first contacted our company, Ubisoft, and only after being introduced by Ubisoft did they travel all the way to California to join Activision."

o

"Ubisoft? Is the other party a studio in Europe?"

Lin Lixin was taken aback for a moment, then he began to understand.

No wonder.

The market environment in Europe is quite different from that in the United States, where talented small studios often emerge.

"Yes, it's from the United Kingdom. They said they were inspired by us to create this piece."

Upon hearing this, Lin Lixin's mind stirred, and a familiar name rose in his heart.

If it's a United Kingdom studio, the first one that comes to mind is that publisher and developer that remained active into the 2020s.

Team17, the studio behind Worms.

However, according to the original timeline, they would not have officially merged and debuted until 1990.

Could it be that the butterfly effect caused by Gamenova led to their early formation?

Regardless of Lin Lixin's speculations, Will obediently inserted the floppy disk into the drive and attempted to operate the Amiga0S.

Run it.

When Lin Lixin saw the pixelated title screen, limited by the PC's limited graphics capabilities, he realized that he might have been wrong.

In 1989, United Kingdom this land of outstanding people and resources, another studio destined for greatness was just embarking on its journey.

[POPULOUS]

This word means "densely populated," and is an adjective.

But here, it represents a different meaning.

Or rather, the famously translated title, "The Populous."

It is a pioneering work in the genre of God simulation games.

"Inspired by Game Nova—so that's how it is."

Lin Lixin then understood what the other person meant.

This statement might actually be referring to Will Smith's "SimCity," where he gained an early understanding of the God-like perspective.

In a sense, the fact that Will discovered this was truly a fateful encounter.

Just like the mutual admiration between Will and Sid, the studio behind "The Populous" also has a very ambiguous relationship with Will Wright.

In later generations, Will Wright, the Godfather of simulation games, once said, "The three game designers I admire most in my life are Shigeru Miyamoto, Sid Meier, and Peter Molyneux."

Shigeru Miyamoto needs no introduction; he's Nintendo's star producer and one of the top-tier creators.

And this developer, Peter Molyneux, commonly known as "Magic Bull," is the producer behind "The Populous."

Bullfrog Studio is a game studio founded two years ago in Guildford, United Kingdom.

He is also a key figure under EA.

Back in the day, Bullfrog was responsible for one-third of EA's game revenue.

But why has such a powerful game studio, with so many well-known IPs under its control, disappeared without a trace in later generations?

That's naturally our investment genius, that damn EA has struck again.

Like Westwood Studios, PopCap Games, and Will's Mais Studio, which suffered a series of misfortunes, Bullfrog was also shut down in the early 2000s due to EA's strategic adjustments.

However, the game philosophies and ideas of Bullfrog Studio are still active in the gaming industry, bringing a large number of spiritual successors.

In the 1990s, some gamers referred to it as the "era of simulation games."

Mais and Bullfrog represent the two extremes in the simulation field, with their influence almost overwhelmingly surpassing that of other companies.

The game's controls aren't complicated, but it certainly has that hardcore Nerd style that Will loves.

However, despite this, the game is still very interesting at its core.

Its core idea is somewhat similar to the disaster system Will developed in SimCity, which allows for the creation of various disasters and observation of the city's reaction.

However, Bullfrog Studio further expanded upon this gameplay element and made it the main gameplay element.

In "Populous," players take on the role of a god who guides their followers to develop Civilization by shaping the terrain and creating disasters.

As the number of believers increases, the player's divine power will gradually strengthen.

The ultimate goal is to lead their followers to conquer hostile forces and rule the world through indirect or direct influence.

To be honest, for players who appreciate this kind of thing, this is definitely a top-notch game.

After actually playing with it, Lin Lixin understood why this thing had sold such a staggering 4 million units back then.

It even managed to top the Atari ST game charts for several months.

For a game with gameplay that isn't very Volkswagen, this achievement is absolutely phenomenal.

"The autonomous evolution of Civilization —no wonder it interests you."

Lin Lixin tried to clear a plot of land from the various territories and watched them start building houses.

This game concept aligns closely with the Urban Dynamics theory advocated by Will.

If this game has any drawbacks, they are its inconvenient controls and outdated graphics.

However, these are essentially shortcomings of the era, not shortcomings of the game itself.

It has indeed done its best within its capabilities.

As a demo, it's not very long, and only provides one basic level for players to experience.

Thanks to Lin Lixin's skills, the project was completed quickly without much hindrance.

"This kind of strategy gameplay, involving moving mountains and filling seas to change the terrain, is indeed very novel."

Lin Lixin released the mouse, stroked his chin, and pondered, having already made up his mind.

EA must be completely shut down; this has been without question from the beginning.

Poaching Bullfrog, EA's most powerful subsidiary in 1989, is undoubtedly another blow to EA, which is already walking on thin ice.

Trip probably doesn't even know what he missed.

"Right? I knew you'd be interested."

Having received Lin Lixin's approval, Will perked up and gestured to Lin Lixin, "Then let Activision handle its distribution? I'll go talk to David about it."

"No----"

Lin Lixin's lips curled into a smile. "GAMENOVA will be responsible for its distribution."

"Ah?"

This doesn't happen often.

Lin Lixin rarely allows GAMENOVA to act as the publisher in this way.

As the largest gaming giant in the US, and even globally, the name GAMENOVA speaks volumes.

To maintain its brand image, Lin Lixin almost never releases third-party works under the GAMENOVA name.

They mostly Activision's distribution channels.

The last time GAMENOVA officially made a statement was with its subsidiary Sega's "Sonic the Hedgehog".

The exact nature of this project is self-evident.

Lin Lixin personally supervised the project at AM8 for a week, and it's not much different from GAMENOVA's own production.

"Wouldn't that be inappropriate? After all, Bullfrog is still an independent studio."

According to Will's idea, the best option would be to use the Activision name and secure the distribution rights in the United States.

"They are now, but that might change in a few days."

Faced with Will's questioning, Lin Lixin patiently replied, "SimCity, wasn't that a game you released after joining GAMENOVA? I didn't contribute much to that project."

"Huh? Wait a minute, Lin, what exactly do you mean?"

Will suddenly felt that there was something more to Lin Lixin's words.

"What I mean is, GAMENOVA is tired of making arcade games and plans to try their hand at the PC market, and maybe even get some EA content while they're at it."

"How about we kill him?"

Seeing Will still in a daze, Lin Lixin laughed and patted him on the shoulder. "I'm giving you a task: contact Bullfrog Studio and ask them if they're interested in moving to the United States to work here, and if they're interested in becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gamenova."