Populous
Encyclopedia
Bullfrog Productions
Bullfrog Productions was a UK computer game developer that was founded in 1987 by Les Edgar and Peter Molyneux. The company achieved recognition in 1989 for their third release, Populous....
in 1989
1989 in video gaming
-Notable releases:* October 3, Brøderbund releases the Prince of Persia game, the first in a series of games, noted for its advancements in animation....
and is regarded by many as the first PC God game
God game
A god game is an artificial life game that casts the player in the position of controlling the game on a large scale, as an entity with divine/supernatural powers, as a great leader, or with no specified character , and places them in charge of a game setting containing autonomous characters to...
. In 1991
1991 in video gaming
-Notable releases:*Microprose creates Civilization, Sid Meier's most successful game .*Electronic Arts releases James Pond 2 and Road Rash for Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, starting a series of games that were popular in the 1990s....
, Populous won the Origins Award
Origins Award
The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins.The Origins Award is commonly...
for Best Military or Strategy Computer Game of 1990 as well as 1990 Computer Game of the Year in American video game magazine Video Games & Computer Entertainment
Video Games & Computer Entertainment
VideoGames & Computer Entertainment was an American magazine dedicated to covering video games on computers, home consoles and arcades...
. It was the first game in the Populous series
Populous (series)
The Populous series is a series of video games developed by Bullfrog Productions and published by Electronic Arts. The first game in the series – Populous was released in 1989...
, preceding Populous II
Populous II
Populous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods is a computer game in the Populous series for the Amiga, Atari ST and DOS-based computers, developed by Bullfrog Productions....
and Populous: The Beginning
Populous: The Beginning
Populous: The Beginning is a strategy and god-style video game. It is the third entry in the Populous video game series, developed by Bullfrog Productions in 1998. The PC version of the game was released November 30, 1998 and a PlayStation version was later developed and released on April 2, 1999...
.
Synopsis
In this game, first developed for the AmigaAmiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
, Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
and PC
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
, the player adopts the role of a deity
Deity
A deity is a recognized preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....
and assumes the responsibility to shepherd people by direction, manipulation, and divine intervention
Miracle
A miracle often denotes an event attributed to divine intervention. Alternatively, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature. Others suggest that a god may work with the laws...
. The player has the ability to shape the landscape and grow their civilization with the overall aim of having it conquer an enemy force, which is led by an opposing deity.
Expansion packs
An expansion packExpansion pack
An expansion pack, expansion set, or supplement is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game or video game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, and/or an extended storyline to a complete and already released game...
called Populous: The Promised Lands was made available, which added five new types of landscape. In addition, another expansion disk called Populous: The Final Frontier added a single new landscape-type and was released as a cover disk for The One
The One (magazine)
The One was a video game magazine in the United Kingdom which covered 16-bit home gaming during the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was first published by EMAP in October 1988 and initially covered computer games aimed at the Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, and IBM PC markets.Like many similar magazines,...
.
Reception
Populous was extremely successful and spawned a number of sequels of increasing complexity.The game was reviewed in 1989 in Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#150 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars.
Populous: The Promised Lands was reviewed in 1990 in Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#156 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars.
Biff Kritzen of Computer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World was a computer game magazine founded in 1981 by Russell Sipe as a bimonthly publication. Early issues were typically 40-50 pages in length, written in a newsletter style, including submissions by game designers such as Joel Billings , Dan Bunten , and Chris Crawford...
gave the game a positive review, noting, "as heavy-handed as the premise sounds, it really is a rather light-hearted game." The simple design and layout were praised, as were the game's colorful graphics.
Development
Peter MolyneuxPeter Molyneux
Peter Douglas Molyneux OBE is an English computer game designer and game programmer. He created the God games Dungeon Keeper, Populous, and Black & White, among others, as well as business simulation games such as Theme Park and more recently, the RPG series Fable.Despite the success of his games,...
led development and mentioned in an interview that the reason the player could manipulate terrain was that he was too lazy to design the many pre-defined maps that would have otherwise been required. The 2001
2001 in video gaming
-Events:* Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts the 4th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts John Carmack of id Software to the AIAS Hall of Fame...
game Black & White, also led by Molyneux (but this time at his company Lionhead Studios
Lionhead Studios
Lionhead Studios is a British computer game development company led by industry veteran Peter Molyneux, and acquired by Microsoft Game Studios in April 2006. Lionhead started as a breakaway from the developer Bullfrog, which was also founded by Molyneux. Lionhead's first game was Black & White, a...
), has been called the "spiritual descendant of Populous."
Bullfrog prototyped the game-play as a board game using Lego, over the course of a few days.
Spin-offs
Bullfrog offered PowermongerPowermonger
Powermonger is a real-time strategy game developed by Bullfrog in 1990, derived from the Populous engine but presented using a 3-dimensional game map...
, a combat-oriented game with similar mechanics to Populous.
Populous DS
Populous DS
is a real-time strategy developed by Genki. It was published in Japan by Electronic Arts on February 21, 2008, in North America by Xseed Games on November 10, 2008, and in Europe by Rising Star Games on February 27, 2009 for the Nintendo DS.-Trivia:...
, a new version of the game (published by Xseed Games
XSEED Games
XSEED redirects here. For the proposed supertall structure see X-Seed 4000.Xseed Games is a video game publisher and distributor founded by former members of Square Enix USA. Their goal is to bring high-quality interactive entertainment to the North American market...
in America and Rising Star Games
Rising Star Games
Rising Star Games is a video games publisher formed as a joint business venture between Scandinavian distributor Bergsala and Japanese video game publisher and content developer Intergrow....
in Europe), was developed by Genki
Genki (company)
Genki is a Japanese developer of computer and video games. It was founded in October 1990 by Hiroshi Hamagaki and Tomo Kimura, who left Sega to form the company. Genki is best known for its racing game titles.-History:...
for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
and released November 11, 2008. The game allows the user to shape the in-game landscape using the DS's stylus
Stylus
A stylus is a writing utensil, or a small tool for some other form of marking or shaping, for example in pottery. The word is also used for a computer accessory . It usually refers to a narrow elongated staff, similar to a modern ballpoint pen. Many styli are heavily curved to be held more easily...
. It also features a multiplayer mode allowing 4 players to play over a wireless connection.