In the lobby of the Firaxis office, there rests an old leather chair alongside an outdated CRT monitor PC in classic white, reflecting the aesthetics of the 1980s and 90s. This is not merely an antique; it represents a significant piece of gaming history.
Over 30 years ago, Sid Meier, seated in this very chair before this very computer, crafted the original Civilization game, which was released in 1991. This machine is a Compaq Deskpro 386, which, according to Firaxis' training and development manager Pete Murray, cost $10,000 at the time of purchase. Adjusted for inflation, that’s about $23,000 today. Given the success of the classic strategy series, it was quite the investment.
Firaxis does not have a complete list of specifications, but some details are known. Murray explains that this machine features 16 MB of memory, likely due to an additional expansion. However, it's unclear how large the hard drive is.
The computer is also equipped with a Sound Blaster sound card (which lent its name to this class of computer hardware). With some parts sourced from eBay and a bit of "creative restoration," Firaxis' IT department was able to boot up the PC last year.
“The hard drive is nearing the end of its life, but if you fire it up, there’s a pre-release build of Civilization 1 that you can play on this machine,” Murray shares.
As for the leather chair, it was likely the idea of Sid Meier’s partner, Bill Stealey. The first Civilization was developed and published not by Firaxis, which did not yet exist, but by MicroProse, a company that Meier co-founded with Stealey in 1982.
Source: PC Gamer
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