![civ iv tech tree civ iv tech tree](https://www.macgamestore.com/images_screenshots/sid-meiers-civilization-iv-21830.jpg)
It has been hailed as both an educational tool for schools (Squire & Barab, 2004) and a model for building educational historical games, such as Muzzy Lane’s MAKING HISTORY (2007 see McMichael, 2007). By March of 2008, the most recent version, Civilization IV, had sold more than three million copies (Green, 2008).
![civ iv tech tree civ iv tech tree](https://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/15/14429/Guilds_Civilopedia.png)
Most video game critics will include one version in their top 10. The four major releases of the game, and its many expansions and spinoffs, have been best sellers since the original game was released 18 years ago. In Civilization, Sid Meier has created one of the world’s most successful game franchises. First, it is important to explain the game, modding, and modders and to name key historical issues present in Civilization. Game theorists, players, scholars, and those interested in the history, sociology, and philosophy of science will be interested in how Civilization has cultivated a community of modders that reimagines how science and technology function within the game. This study examines how communities of game modifiers-commonly called “modders”-reevaluate the models of scientific and technological advance in the game Civilization III (2003), and explores their possible impact on outreach efforts in public science. Civilization, Mods, and Historical Counterfactuals However, it happened in an online forum, among members of a group of modders (video game players who alter game code) discussing a new model for science and technology in the game Civilization. This discussion could have occurred in any university classroom. As the group grapples with definitions of science and technology, another citizen suggests that medicine should be understood broadly to include non-Western health practices. Another posits separate processes for technological development and scientific development.
![civ iv tech tree civ iv tech tree](https://i.imgur.com/VjvQo73.jpg)
![civ iv tech tree civ iv tech tree](https://i.imgur.com/wEhBsCo.jpg)
One citizen proposes that the history of scientific thought suggests that technological and scientific development provides the context for individual discoveries. Keywords: civil consensus building, Civilization, discourse analysis, discursive practices, historical authenticity, historical models, historical thinking, history, history of science, modding, possibility spaces, public understanding of science, simulations, strategy gamesĪ group of citizens convenes to discuss the relationship between technical and scientific knowledge and the role that knowledge plays in discovery and innovation. Game theorists, players, and scholars, as well as those interested in modeling the history, sociology, and philosophy of science, will be interested to see the ways in which Civilization III cultivates an audience of modders who spend their time reimagining how science and technology could work in the game. Community members value a form of historical authenticity, they prize subtlety and nuance in models for science in the game, and they communicate through civil consensus building. The study offers initial findings that Civilization modders value a variety of positive discursive practices for developing historical models. Through text analysis of modder discussion, this article explores the assumed values and tone of the community’s discourse. This article explores the complex issues involved in interpreting a game through analysis of the ways modders (gamers who modify the game) have approached the history of science, technology, and knowledge embodied in the game. Sid Meier’s Civilization has been promoted as an educational tool, used as a platform for building educational simulations, and maligned as promoting Eurocentrism, bioimperialism, and racial superiority. Unofficial copy of DOI: 10.1177/1046878110366277 published in Simulation & Gaming 2010 Copyright: Sage Publications Abstract