In a weird
exchange of
contracts Activision got the rights to Sid Meier's
Civilization to produce Activision's
Civilization: Call to Power and
Sid Meier got the rights to Activision's
Mech Warrior to produce Sid Meier's
Mech Commander... I don't understand the whole thing, but Activision made quite a different gameplay for the
classic. It is better in some respects and far worse in others (like the loss of the ability to view your
cities and name them as you construct them).
Civilization: Call to Power 2 is now out. In both games you get 5 ages: Ancient, Rennaisance, Modern, Genetic and Diamond. You get some quite futuristric units, sating anyone's hunger for science fiction. You even get to employ nanites! The basic objectives and gameplay still remain, constructing the civilization's original settlement and building them into a modern, and now futuristic, empire. The Civ: CTP games are far more challenging than the originals, though they will sometimes leave you sadly recalling the melancholy days of Sid Meier's Civilization - especially if you have a slow computer.
Strangely enough Sid Meier somehow got the rights to create Test of Time: Civilization. Somehow it wasn't actually a civilization game. Sadly, the game was a complete flop, Activision's new improved version knocking it out in the first round.