CivCity: Rome Q&A
Lead designer Simon Bradbury gives us an insight into the ancient city-builder
The Romans were responsible for some remarkable examples of architecture. Is it difficult trying to capture that architectural majesty on a computer?
That credit has to go to our artists and art director who have done an amazing job of capturing not only the splendour of Rome but also the details of daily life.
For the first time in a city-builder, players can look inside a building and see the detail of life inside: citizens drinking, eating, getting married, visiting a doctor...
What's the benefit to players of being able to look inside buildings?
Looking inside the houses can in fact provide you with information about how many goods that house has stored, but its main use is purely to bring the city to life.
I think part of the challenge in creating a city-builder is getting players to feel a sense of ownership or attachment to their city and helping them to see the city as something more than just an abstract idea really helps this process.
Above: The Romans loved their temples, so be prepared to make a few
How much will citizens behave like real Romans? Are they going to be a promiscuous bunch?
They will be as real as they can be, given an E rating! We have a really rich animation set, depicting many aspects of Roman life - from visiting arenas, baths and senatorial debates to sweeping the roads or just pulling water from the well.
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Is CivCity: Rome primarily aimed at seasoned city builders?
We have worked very hard with CivCity to make the game accessible and fun to as wide a range of players as possible. The difficulty settings make a real difference to the game's challenge. On easy, I think my grandmother could beat it while, on hard, where we introduce concepts such as city fires and riots (and are extremely tight with the cash), it will give a seasoned Civ player a run for their money.