Civilization's 30th birthday contest: Give Civ a present, get one back!

The_J

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Civilization's 30th birthday: Give Civ a present, get one back!

To celebrate the 30th birthday of Civilization, we are holding a contest: Give Civ a present, get one back!
How would you do this?
We are looking for any form of art, created for Civilization!
Have you ever drawn something inspired by Civ? Made a sculpture? A lego set? Made a civ-themed party? A civ-themed photo of yourself? You can also show us your civ-love with a custom made video, a song or a poem (as video/audio)! Anything which qualifies as creative and nice is welcome!

There are three ways to win!
  • The top three (3) "best entries" as determined by the CFC Moderators and Staff will each receive a 30€ Civ merchandise package and a copy of "Old World" sponsored by Mohawk Games (because Soren loves Civ as much as you do)
  • 1 poetry/prose prize for "Civilization in 200 words or less", copies of the Civilization 4 deluxe boxed set and Civilization Beyond the Sword expansion (for Windows) donated by one of our moderators (we even give up Civ for you!). To enter this part of the contest you need to submit something in writing and in English. Entries must be 200 words or less and can characterize any aspect of your Civ experience in any or all of the Civ games. Tell us a story, your story. Write prose, haiku, limerick or verse; write I or VI; make them long or even terse.
  • Once the Best Entry and poetry/prose prize winners have been chosen, all remaining entries will go into a random drawing and three (3) winners will each receive a recent copy of Civilization [winners may choose one game for themself; options are Civilization 4: Complete Edition, Civilization: Beyond Earth - The Collection, Civilization 5 (base game) or Civilization 6 (base game)]


Details for the contest:
- The entries must be submitted during Civ's 30th birthday, September 2021, and should not have been widely published before. We will accept any submissions which can reasonably be argued to be submitted during September 2021
- Entries must be submitted to this thread, or via Twitter to civfanatics. Entries from Twitter will be re-posted in this thread.
- To qualify for any merchandise package or the poetry/prose prize, we must be able to ship it to you via post
- To redeem the Old World copy, you must have an account at the Epic Games Store
- To redeem the Civilization copy, you must have a Steam account
- The judgement of best entry will be done by the Civfanatics moderators and Staff, and cannot be contested
- Only one prize per user.
- We reserve the right to disqualify any entries for any reason
- no purchase necessary
- Winners will be notified within 2 weeks of the close of the contest.

Details for this thread:
We do encourage discussions about the entries. If you want to comment on an entry, please quote the respective entry, because anything what is not a contest-entry will be moved to a separate discussion thread.
 
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One day, I discovered a game.
Civilization was its name.
I logged on, and soon I would learn,
All I could say was "one more turn."

I settled a city, a capital place,
I researched techs with remarkable pace.
Buildings in cities and units on hills,
Great People, Government, Culture, all thrills!

But then I found my neighbor.
He was this Montezuma guy.
Warring was his labor.
His real name was AI.

We fought a long war,
And as I was seated,
Through my cities he tore,
And I read...

YOU HAVE BEEN DEFEATED.

Just... One... More... Turn.
 
Golden Pyramids
To show the world my greatness.
Stopped : was not first.

Spoiler Other Senryus (added afterwards) :

My empire lost
Ravaged and seized by
A bloody doomstack

Scout was coming home
And had seen the whole world
Time for an upgrade

A solar arrow
Nuclear fire below
And Gandhi smiles

An endless conflict
Celts, Vikings, Americans
A ten years long game

Districts, on the coast
My Norwegian ship arrives
Free yields incoming

Immortal leader
Top hat in Middle Ages
Don't care anymore
 
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Congratulations to CIV! Here's my "entry", but I think of it more as a tribute.

Spoiler :
A MICROPROSE PRESENTATION Designed by SID MEIER With Bruce SHELLEY Computer graphics by MICHAEL HAIRE HARRY TEASLY BARBARA BENTS TODD BRIZZI ERROLL ROBERTS CHRIS SOARES NICHOLAS RUSKO BERGER STACEY CLARK BRIAN MARTEL Original Music by JEFFERY L. BRIGGS Quality Assurance by AL ROIREAU MIKE CORCORAN TIM TRAIN MICHAEL REA CHRIS CLARK MICHAEL CRAIGHEAD NICK YURAN PAUL MURPHY Sid Meier's CIVILIZATION

In the beginning the earth was without form, and void. But the sun shone upon the sleeping earth and deep inside the brittle crust massive forces waited to be unleashed. The seas parted and great continents were formed. The continents shifted, mountains arose. Earthquakes spawned massive tidal waves. Volcanoes erupted and spewed forth fiery lava and charged the atmosphere with strange gasses. Into this swirling maelstrom of Fire and Air and Water the first stirrings of Life appeared: tiny organisms, cells and amoeba, clinging to tiny sheltered habitats. But the seeds of Life grew, and strengthened, and spread, and diversified, and prospered, and soon every continent and climate teemed with Life. And with Life came instinct, and specialization, natural selection, Reptiles, Dinosaurs and Mammals and finally there evolved a species known as Man and there appeared the first faint glimmers of Intelligence. The fruits of intelligence were many: fire, tools, and weapons, the hunt, farming, and the sharing of food, the family, the village, and the tribe. Now it required but one more ingredient: a great Leader to unite the quarreling tribes to harness the power of the land to build a legacy that would stand the test of time: A CIVILIZATION!

Obviously, its not my text, I just wanted to pay tribute to our roots. Happy 30th anniversary CIV!

Moderator Action: :hatsoff: very nice. I'm sure you are aware, but to let everyone else know, since this isn't originally from you (obviously), it doesn't qualify for the contest.
 
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Montezuma, Ghengis Khan,
attack me every time they can
I curse and scream, I kick, I fight
I lack iron, I'm dead alright,
they are hindu, I am not
are those their stacks? they have a lot.
it is not fair, that archery,
is free for them and not for me.
now why did I set difficulty,
to monstrous freaking deity,
raging barbs and more to come,
Isabellas in my bum.
she is christian, I am not,
I hate that she's a religious nut,
3v1 now what a game
to me it does seem rather lame.
but this civ here's a famous game,
made by Sid Meier, of most glorious fame.
 
I turn it on, I play a turn,
I play a turn, I play a turn,
I get some food and I reload,
I play a turn, I play a turn.

I walk the dog, I play a turn,
I do the work, I play two turns,
I go to sleep, I play a turn,
and then I wake and play a turn.

I've got two kids, I play my turns,
I meet old friends, I play my turns,
I say goodbye, I play my turns,
I say hello and I play my turns.

I've done a lot, I played my turns,
I switch lights off, I played my turns.
But in my head, I say once more:
Just one more turn, just one more turn.
 
A thousand years, the end of an age;

The dawn of Time, which direction must take?

Memories of you have imprinted in my mind…

Alone and standing await to repay in kind.


A thousand years, rivers have formed,

Stones laid bare, new stars appear-

The footprints I’ve left are marked in time,

The winds blown gently to show the signs.


An Age now gone, too quickly doth passed,

The Holy Fyre, extinguished at Last.

And what smokes and embers to leave a trace;

Are all the teachings we’ve embraced.


A millennium, uncounted years-

Unfathomable memories, a crimson tear.

Look there-You see? the light glowing yonder?

From ashes and ruin, silent sounds of the bomber.


Scattered before Me are those fearless fleas,

Like stones tossed and skipped by my Heavanly Steed.


A swing of the scythe and reap of harvest;

Return to the earth what you’ve digested.

Law and Order! The fist comes down-

Much worse than bombs or created things,

Prepare the way for the King of Kings.


Through time we cherish what it means to be kind-

Memories of you have imprinted my mind.

A thousand years….

A thousand years……


Crimson Tears.

Moderator Action: Moved contest entry to appropriate thread. ~ LK
 
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Here is a small cartoon I posted at CFC in 2007. The image was lost with the CFC transfer to the new provider. Despite it doesn´t fullfill the conditions for this contest, I repost it here.

Big units.JPG
 
If I had my wish, this letter would reach mister Sid Meiers.

I was always a curious child, always wanted to know more and learn more about the world around him. At first books were my way to learn but my collection of encyclopedias for kids were far from satisfying. As I grew a little in my early teens, there was a gap in my life in terms of content that really fired up my brain. Books for my generation were boring me and television was not what it is and true, pure knowledge channels didn't exist yet. And educational video games were so bad and so boring. Even as a 12 years old I knew how easy it would made to make interesting videogames that made you wanting to learn about the amazing things in our world. And one day, my mother decided to buy a video game for our brand new and powerful PC (for early '90s). I was disapointed to see her bring back another educational game but once I played I knew my prayers had been answered. It was everything I could have hoped for and so much more as a curious young man before the internet made access to knowledge trivial.

I never stopped playing. I was never a rich person, always barely able to make rent, going from short time contract job to another for way too long and never able to get comfortable financially. But I always made it a point to end up getting a copy of Civilization and I can't say I was often disappointed (there's ONE revolution history could have lived without :lol:). Civ 2 was a hit during my college years and I had many friends who, like me, would play that game all night long in what was the first of way too many nights of "just one more turn". Civ 3 was the end of my college years and the birth of my son. I played many games while trying to get him to sleep. Civ 4 got me through my split from my ex girlfriend and mother of my child, something I didn't take exactly well. And Civ 5... was great. Nothing new in my life, it kept being hard to make ends meet but Civ 5 got me through so many sleepless nights.

Today however I am a slightly battered 41 year old man trying to work through depression. One of the things I was told to do was try to find something I enjoyed and do it. Well not only did I find your games back and purchased Civ 6, I found how much I was enjoying modding for your game. And while I am far from done with my depression I know I can still get myself to do some pretty sweet things I can be proud of and share with my now adult son who is barely discovering the game. And while I will never be a rich man, I know I will always end up having at least enough money one day to buy Civiliztion 7 on sale (not that you guys ever do big sales...) and I know I will play the hell out of it and hopefully still keep enjoying modding then.

To me Civ has been more than a game. It's been there for me at times I needed an intelligent game, a game to show me that you could be fun and knowledgeable. A game that saw that there was beauty in complex systems and in how we evolved as humans. A game that helps me keep my sanity when locked inside. A game to get me out of my darkest hour. To me Civ is all of this and so much more. I cannot thank you enough for all you were to me.

Happy 30th Civilization. And here's to 30 more years at the very least! May you never fade away.

And to Mr Meiers and everyone working on those games thank you for all your incredible work. You have a fan in me that will never forget you no matter what. All of you. Thank you.
 
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Here's my entry:

To spread religion to the world, one needs
A host of missionaries, but beware:
The proselytizers of competing creeds
Can strike them down with lightning from the air.
To sate the people’s thirst for luxuries
Requires shrewdness and some well-planned sales:
All bets are off, though, if your enemies
Control the world’s only source of Whales.
To build a wonder quickly, one may spend
Some gold or faith for a Great Engineer,
But all the work means nothing in the end
If someone beats you to it by a year.
Amazing how it is that one can learn
Good governance from taking one more turn!
 
Well I guess I've been playing Civ for nearly 30 years then. My first foray into the world was the original Civilization played on a Mac Colour Classic, and I've played most of the series since then. Here's a limerick:

Its has become quite a concern,
My eyeballs are starting to burn,
I should go to bed,
But I think instead,
I'll stay up for just one more turn.
 
View attachment 607907

Civilization's 30th birthday: Give Civ a present, get one back!

To celebrate the 30th birthday of Civilization, we are holding a contest: Give Civ a present, get one back!
How would you do this?
We are looking for any form of art, created for Civilization!


Are ideas/puzzles worth?

Sid, happy birthday!!! And all your team!!! Quicks and quacky!!!!
What strange phenomena could bring there clockworks backwards??
I could give you time, could you give it back to me upfront?
If you don't have an answer, try to look back.
Try not to make war with the trains.
Head up for the next passenger.
And good luck Yeo!
 
Didn't realize it needed to be under 200 words. Here's my entry then:


We met so long ago now. We were so young and innocent in a different world.
So much has changed over the years but one thing remained true, you were always there along with me for the ride.

It almost feels surreal to think you are still stroling the path of life with me.
30 years together, our pearl anniversary. It represents honesty, wisdom and purity

My affection for you is pure. I love your intellectual curiosity and how you make me want to be a more knowledgeable person.
You made me discover wonders I never knew existed and made me meet strange people that were always interesting and had stories to share.
You honestly always try your best to blend the best of both worlds even when it seems impossible.
And your wisdom, well, this is what made me fall in love in the first place.


So here’s to us, to another 30 years of happiness and joy, adventures and discoveries.

Happy 30th to the Civilization that has proven it can stand the test of time.
 
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