Greetings, Civvies!
Welcome to our wonderful new community for Civitas!
The demo for Civitas is launching today and will continue to receive updates until our Early Access launch on March 15, 2022. Read on to discover what Civitas is all about, where it’s going, and how you can become a part of it!
Please feel free to reach out on our various social media channels to ask questions and leave comments, and we will make the effort to respond as timely and accurately as possible. In advance of a wave of questions, we have created an FAQ (Frequently Anticipated Questions) outlined below!
How can you reach us?
Discord: https://discord.gg/uWhSGEzwmt
Steam Community: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1783930
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Civitas_Game
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Civitas/
What makes Civitas unique compared to other historical builder games?
Think of Civitas as a mash-up of world-building apps (such as Inkarnate or Campaign Cartographer) with city-building games (such as Foundation or Cities: Skylines). First, you generate a world and then you build within that world.
Civitas is not focused on survival (like many other games in the genre), but enables you to plan and build a Utopia; from humble medieval hamlets to bustling Renaissance cities. Civitas strives to be innovative within the genre and has designed unique ‘Plot’ mechanics to parcel your landscape in any way desired. Assign these Plots a purpose to discover more upgrades and decorations that lead to unique creations.
Our choice in art direction draws inspiration from historic maps of the early modern period. We want the world to feel colourful and the game to be relaxing.
What are the plans for this demo?
It’s important to know that this demo is a small piece of the overall vision. We want to introduce new mechanics early. This will enable players to provide meaningful feedback, which will help direct and improve the game. The demo is designed to be a creative sandbox for players to experiment in and build with few restrictions.
We plan to update the demo in February and have already secured our spot for the Steam Next Fest from February 21st-28th! We will take feedback from the demo to improve the game for our early access launch in March.
What can players expect from the early access launch version of the game?
The first version of the game will launch on March 15th, 2022, and will evolve from the demo. Once again, the goal is to launch with a creative sandbox of the game, to test new mechanics and design according to player feedback.
How often will the game be updated while in early access?
We will deploy minor updates regularly, with larger updates in between early access release and full launch.
The first major update will introduce Resources, Patrons and Civvies into the game. This will bring Civitas alive, creating a sense of progression and purpose for your cities. Players will build and evolve interconnected communities across their world, from tiny hamlets to thriving metropolises.
The final update for the full launch of the game will further expand and polish content, enhance performance optimizations, including localization in several different languages and introduce mod support for the community to extend the game’s life through their own creative additions. We also have many ideas for DLC content that will extend the game for years to come! (for example, Indigenous peoples of the Americas; ancient civilizations including Egypt, Greece and Rome; the Norse; Middle Eastern civilizations; Chinese dynasties; Fantasy worlds; etc!)
Who is making this game and why?
Back in 2017, Andrew Spearin travelled to Amsterdam to help launch Day of Infamy. While at a local bookstore, he found a Taschen copy of Cities of the World, featuring the Renaissance-era maps of Braun and Hogenberg. Flipping through these pages ignited his imagination to visualize the people and ships moving, the colourful buildings being erected, and he wondered ‘Why is this not a game yet?’ Five years later, it has become a reality!
Sharp End Studio is the team behind Civitas, led by game director Andrew Spearin. During the pandemic lockdown of early 2021, Spearin began setting the design direction of a vision he has had for many years: to create an innovative city building game that introduces a new art style with accessible features. Civitas was born from a dream to create a fun, easy-to-play, yet hard-to-master city-builder, and a need to support our studio during an especially challenging time of the global pandemic.
Thank you for reading more about Civitas, and we sincerely hope you enjoy playing the demo! Remember to reach out to us on social media or the Civitas Steam forum if you have any questions or comments.