Civilization is the most iconic turn-based series of all time, but Sid Meier considered making it an RTS: 'It could have easily gone in different directions'

The Near-Future of Civilization: A Turn-Based Giant Born from an RTS Dream

Civilization is the most iconic turn-based series of all time, but Sid Meier considered making it an RTS. The idea of a real-time strategy game was once on the table, and it could have easily gone in different directions. This revelation comes from a 2017 interview with Meier, who reflected on the early days of the franchise and the decisions that shaped it into the legendary series it is today.

The first Civilization game launched in 1991 and quickly became a cornerstone of the 4X genre. It wasn’t just a game—it was a cultural phenomenon. But the path to that success was anything but linear. Meier and Bruce Shelley had just enjoyed the success of Railroad Tycoon, and they were eager to try something new. Instead of managing a company, they wanted to let players manage a nation, eventually aiming to conquer the world. "We were young, and we had no fear," Meier recalled. However, the scope of their ambition worried them.

One of the key decisions that made Civilization more accessible was the shift from hex-based maps to simple squares. "One of the reasons we used squares for mapping was we thought hexes were too geeky," Meier explained. "We went with squares to make things accessible." This choice helped bring the game to a broader audience and remained in place until Civilization 5.

But the most significant decision came later. Meier and his team had considered making Civilization a real-time strategy game, similar to Age of Empires. However, during prototyping, they realized that the RTS model wouldn't give players the space to get to grips with the game’s complexity. "Development is a journey in itself," Meier said. "And it could have easily gone in different directions. There were a number of things we considered that we didn’t end up doing. Real-time is one of them."

In the end, the decision to make Civilization turn-based proved to be the right one. While Meier’s vision didn’t go the RTS route, it still influenced others. Six years after Civilization launched, Age of Empires arrived with Bruce Shelley as game director. The real-time strategy genre had a different focus, concentrating on the ancient world rather than the full sweep of human history.

The legacy of Meier’s early decisions is clear. While Civilization took a turn-based approach, it still inspired other games like Rise of Nations, which brought a similar grand vision to the RTS genre. In the end, the world got both versions of the dream: Civilization as a turn-based titan and Age of Empires as its real-time counterpart. It was a case of having our cake and eating it too.