The Folly of Civilization.
My first week of summer break is almost completed. I had forgotten how easy it is to fall into complete dissolution. I was able to get a few chores accomplished, but by and large I have been way too self-indulgent. It's not that I'm going out every night, but rather that the things I am doing at home are mostly serving no evident purpose. As I approach the reprieve from work, I always have in mind all the great things I will be able to accomplish with free time. I intend to get art projects done and do some traveling. However this year is different in that I didn't identify anywhere specific that I wanted to visit. By this time I usually have done some research into potential destinations, but I was too involved with other things to do that this past spring. So I have nothing to aim for.
A lot of my time has been wasted in front of the computer. I've wasted hours surfing the net. But the most useless activity I've been occupying myself with has been playing a computer game called Civilization 3. If you're not familiar with it- it's a turn-based strategy game in which you are tasked with building a society from virtually nothing. You select a civilization from the past or present (Rome, Greece, Iroquois, Russia, the United States, etc) and you compete with others to eventually attain dominance of a fictional world-map. Your opponents are controlled by the artificial intelligence of the computer. They are after the same thing you are, so you have to outwit them to meet your objective. Once one civilization conquers the world, achieves diplomatic hegemony, occupies a certain proportion of the map, or launches a spaceship in search of new horizons... then the game is over. It takes hours and hours to win, and there are six skill levels (only half of which I have ever been able to beat).
This is not a first-person shoot-em-up like Grand Theft Auto or the myriads of other hyper-violent games available to numb your mind. In Civilzation 3, there are so many components to the challenge that playing it can be mentally exhausting. There is no "right" strategy- it all depends on the location from which you start and the resources available. With as many variables that are introduced, the game is never the same twice. The trick is in finding some kind of balance that allows you to stay one step ahead of everyone else. You decide whether to focus on hoarding wealth, direct resources toward scientific and technological advancements, build a military, concentrate on trade, or just make sure all your people are happy. To succeed, you have to so a bit of everything.
Civ 3 really is the mother af all strategy games. It does require complex analytical skills. If you have any understanding of logarithms, then you automatically have an advantage over an ordinary player. Yet one single game requires such an investment of time, that it's important to know when to cut your losses. You can easily spend a couple of hours setting up the basics of your civilization, only to find out that you have no hope of winning. Believe me- it is spirit-crushing when you realize, after several hours, that it was all in vain. In simple terms of scale and scope, it has the potential of being more frustrating than chess.
Even when I win, victory feels a bit hollow. I get so immersed in the experience that I fool myself into believing that I have actually accomplished something. I have built a complex and efficient model that has stood up to a series of grueling tests. Yet I can't see any clear connection between the skills it takes to master Civilization 3 and the requirements for success in real life. Perhaps I am making intellectual strides that I am not aware of. Maybe I am becoming an adept at resource management. But most likely, all I've managed to do is to turn myself into a big, fat NERD.
A lot of my time has been wasted in front of the computer. I've wasted hours surfing the net. But the most useless activity I've been occupying myself with has been playing a computer game called Civilization 3. If you're not familiar with it- it's a turn-based strategy game in which you are tasked with building a society from virtually nothing. You select a civilization from the past or present (Rome, Greece, Iroquois, Russia, the United States, etc) and you compete with others to eventually attain dominance of a fictional world-map. Your opponents are controlled by the artificial intelligence of the computer. They are after the same thing you are, so you have to outwit them to meet your objective. Once one civilization conquers the world, achieves diplomatic hegemony, occupies a certain proportion of the map, or launches a spaceship in search of new horizons... then the game is over. It takes hours and hours to win, and there are six skill levels (only half of which I have ever been able to beat).
This is not a first-person shoot-em-up like Grand Theft Auto or the myriads of other hyper-violent games available to numb your mind. In Civilzation 3, there are so many components to the challenge that playing it can be mentally exhausting. There is no "right" strategy- it all depends on the location from which you start and the resources available. With as many variables that are introduced, the game is never the same twice. The trick is in finding some kind of balance that allows you to stay one step ahead of everyone else. You decide whether to focus on hoarding wealth, direct resources toward scientific and technological advancements, build a military, concentrate on trade, or just make sure all your people are happy. To succeed, you have to so a bit of everything.
Civ 3 really is the mother af all strategy games. It does require complex analytical skills. If you have any understanding of logarithms, then you automatically have an advantage over an ordinary player. Yet one single game requires such an investment of time, that it's important to know when to cut your losses. You can easily spend a couple of hours setting up the basics of your civilization, only to find out that you have no hope of winning. Believe me- it is spirit-crushing when you realize, after several hours, that it was all in vain. In simple terms of scale and scope, it has the potential of being more frustrating than chess.
Even when I win, victory feels a bit hollow. I get so immersed in the experience that I fool myself into believing that I have actually accomplished something. I have built a complex and efficient model that has stood up to a series of grueling tests. Yet I can't see any clear connection between the skills it takes to master Civilization 3 and the requirements for success in real life. Perhaps I am making intellectual strides that I am not aware of. Maybe I am becoming an adept at resource management. But most likely, all I've managed to do is to turn myself into a big, fat NERD.
Labels: Civilization 3, Slackerdom
posted by Merge Divide at 4:29 PM
2 Comments:
Civ III is one of the best games of all-time. I spent hundreds of hours on the Civilization series. Civ IV is a worthwhile upgrade, but all my games are in storage while waiting for the new house to be completed.
It is certainly addictive. Every once in awhile I'll have a look at the current price of CIV 4. I'm already hesitant about making the time commitment that it's going to require, but the $40 price is definitely the main deal-breaker.
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