Populous is a computer game developed by Bullfrog in 1989 and is regarded by many as being the seminal god game. In 1991, Populous won the Origins Award 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. It was the first game in the Populous series. It preceded Populous II and Populous: The Beginning. The Populous series is a series of video games developed by Bullfrog Productions and published by Electronic Arts. ... screenshot Amiga Populous, made myself. ... A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual) that creates video games. ... Bullfrog Productions was a UK computer game developer that was founded in 1987 by Les Edgar and Peter Molyneux, and was one of the entrepreneurs of video gaming. ... Electronic Arts (EA) (NASDAQ: ERTS) is an American developer, marketer, publisher, and distributor of computer and video games. ... A game designer is a person who designs games. ... Peter at the University of Southampton Peter Molyneux OBE (born 5 May 1959 in Guildford, Surrey, UK) is a computer game designer and game programmer, responsible for well known God games Populous and Black & White, among others, as well as Business Strategy games such as Theme Park and most recently... In computing, a platform describes some sort of framework, either in hardware or software, which allows software to run. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article is about the family of home computers. ... The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was commercially popular from 1985 to the early 1990s. ... Microsofts disk operating system, MS-DOS, was Microsofts implementation of DOS, which was the first popular operating system for the IBM PC, and until recently, was widely used on the PC compatible platform. ... The PC Engine was a video game console released by NEC, a Japanese company, in 1987. ... The TurboGrafx-16, known as PC Engine （PCエンジン） in Japan, is a video game console first released in Japan by the Nippon Electric Company on October 30, 1987. ... The Game Boy ) line is a line of battery-powered handheld game consoles sold by Nintendo. ... The NEC PC-9801 (or the PC-98 for short) is a Japanese microcomputer manufactured by NEC. It2 CPU, which could selectably run at a speed of either 5 or 8 MHz. ... The Super Nintendo Entertainment System or Super NES (also called SNES and Super Nintendo) was a 16-bit video game console released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia, and Brazil between 1990 and 1993. ... The Sega Mega Drive was a 16-bit video game console released by Sega in Japan (1988), Europe (1990) and most of the rest of the world. ... The Sega Master System ) or SMS for short (1986 - 2000), is an 8-bit cartridge-based video game console that was manufactured by Sega. ... The Sharp X68000, often referred to as the X68k, was a home computer released only in Japan by the Sharp Corporation. ... This article relates to both the original Classic Mac OS as well as Mac OS X, Apples more recent operating system. ... The Nintendo DS (sometimes abbreviated NDS or more commonly DS) is a handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. ... “PS3” redirects here. ... is the 156th day of the year (157th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1989 1989 in games 1988 in video gaming 1990 in video gaming Notable events of 1989 in video gaming. ... Further information: Game classification Video games are categorized into genres based on their gameplay interaction. ... A real-time strategy (RTS) video game is a strategic game that is distinctly not turn-based. ... This article is about the computer game genre. ... In computer games and video games, single-player refers to the variant of a particular game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. ... A multiplayer game is a video game in which more than one person can play the same game at the same time. ... A floppy disk is a data storage device that is composed of a disk of thin, flexible (floppy) magnetic storage medium encased in a square or rectangular plastic shell. ... Cartridge for the VIC 20 homecomputer In various types of electronic equipment, a cartridge can refer one method of adding different functionality or content (e. ... A 104-key PC US English QWERTY keyboard layout The Dvorak Simplified Keyboard layout A standard Hebrew keyboard showing both Hebrew and QWERTY. A computer keyboard is a peripheral partially modelled after the typewriter keyboard. ... Operating a mechanical 1: Pulling the mouse turns the ball. ... Computer and video games redirects here. ... Bullfrog Productions was a UK computer game developer that was founded in 1987 by Les Edgar and Peter Molyneux, and was one of the entrepreneurs of video gaming. ... 1989 1989 in games 1988 in video gaming 1990 in video gaming Notable events of 1989 in video gaming. ... This article is about the computer game genre. ... Notable events of 1991 in computer and video games. ... The Origins Awards, presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design, are presented at the Origins International Game Expo for outstanding work in the game industry. ... An example of the original artwork that went into covers of VG&CE VideoGames & Computer Entertainment (abbreviated as VG&CE) was an American magazine dedicated to covering video games on computers, home consoles and arcades. ... The Populous series is a series of video games developed by Bullfrog Productions and published by Electronic Arts. ... Populous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods is a computer game in the Populous series for the Amiga and Atari ST computers, developed by Bullfrog Productions. ... Populous: The Beginning - is the third of the PC strategy god games of the Populous series, developed by by Bullfrog Productions in 1998, and often considered the definitive version. ...

Synopsis

In this game, first developed for the Amiga, Atari ST and PC, the player adopts the role of a deity and assumes the responsibility to shepherd people by direction, manipulation, and divine intervention. 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. This article is about the family of home computers. ... The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was commercially popular from 1985 to the early 1990s. ... 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, XT, or AT internal design, facilitated by various manufacturers... This article is about the term Deity in the context of mysticism and theology. ... For other uses, see Miracle (disambiguation). ...

As the game progresses, the player rules over a variety of different civilizations, including Prehistoric, Ancient, and Medieval.

Populous was possibly one of the first games to use a non-linear level progression: the score for each game was calculated from the game statistics, for example the number of towns, the number of successful battles etc. Depending on the score the player could progress to a different world or level and quite typically jump five to ten levels forward each time. This fact suggests that published lists (see in external links) with the entire codes for all levels were obtained by manipulation of the program rather than genuine playing.

Reception

Populous was extremely successful and spawned a number of sequels of increasing complexity. It was also released on the PC Engine (as both a HuCard and a CD-ROM), SNES, Nintendo Game Boy, the Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis, the Sega Master System, Sharp's X68000 computer and the Acorn Archimedes. An expansion pack 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. A world editor for Populous called Populous Graphics Editor for the Amiga developed by a third party was also made available.^[1] The PC Engine was a video game console released by NEC, a Japanese company, in 1987. ... A HuCard is a memory card developed by Hudson Soft with the size of a credit card and were used with the NEC PC Engine and SuperGrafx video game consoles. ... The Super Nintendo Entertainment System or Super NES (also called SNES and Super Nintendo) was a 16-bit video game console released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia, and Brazil between 1990 and 1993. ... For the entire Game Boy series of handheld consoles, see Game Boy line. ... The Sega Mega Drive was a 16-bit video game console released by Sega in Japan (1988), Europe (1990) and most of the rest of the world. ... The Sega Master System ) or SMS for short (1986 - 2000), is an 8-bit cartridge-based video game console that was manufactured by Sega. ... The Sharp X68000, often referred to as the X68k, was a home computer released only in Japan by the Sharp Corporation. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... An expansion pack is an addition to an existing game. ... Cover disks (also commonly called by the single word coverdisks) were floppy disks with pre-installed content sold with issues of home computer magazines. ... Cover of The One from 1989 The One was a video game magazine in the UK covering 16-bit home gaming during the late 1980s and early 1990s. ...

Development

Peter Molyneux 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 game Black & White, also led by Molyneux (but this time at his company Lionhead Studios), has been called the "spiritual descendant of Populous." Peter at the University of Southampton Peter Molyneux OBE (born 5 May 1959 in Guildford, Surrey, UK) is a computer game designer and game programmer, responsible for well known God games Populous and Black & White, among others, as well as Business Strategy games such as Theme Park and most recently... 2001 2001 in games 2000 in video gaming 2002 in video gaming Notable events of 2001 in video gaming. ... Black & White is a computer game developed by Lionhead Studios and published by Electronic Arts. ... Lionhead Studios is a United Kingdom-based computer game development company led by industry veteran Peter Molyneux, and acquired by Microsoft Game Studios in April 2006. ...

Peter Molyneux actually got motion sickness from the isometric view. At the time, he decided the isometric was necessary, but he could not play his own game. Bullfrog created a special cartridge for him to play top down only.^{[citation needed]}

Spin-offs

Bullfrog offered Powermonger, a combat-oriented game, based upon the Populous engine. Powermonger is a real-time strategy game developed by Bullfrog in 1990. ...

On September 20, 2007 it was confirmed that a version of the game is in development for the Nintendo DS.^[2] Very little has been revealed so far, except that it will allow 4 players to play over a wireless connection and that the release date in Japan is 31st December 2007.^[3] There is a Japanese web site for the game which includes some screenshots: [1] is the 263rd day of the year (264th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Nintendo DS (sometimes abbreviated NDS or more commonly DS) is a handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. ...

References

External links

• Populous at ChipRetro.com
• Populous at MobyGames
• Populous at Sega-16