GamesStrategyCivilization VIICiv 5 caused a commotion at a space agency its creative director used to work atWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesStrategyCivilization VIICiv 5 caused a commotion at a space agency its creative director used to work atWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Firaxis Games)
If you think of what a NASA employee would find exciting, your mind likely goes to shuttle launches and discovering new planets. As it turns out, having your work featured in aCivilizationgame is pretty high up on that list, asCiv 7’s creative director once discovered.
Ed Beach has been at Civ developer Firaxis Games for 17 years, working on Civ 5, 6, and now 7. But before helping to develop the legendary strategy franchise, he spent a decade as a contractor at NASA, working on, among other things, the Hubble Space Telescope. In an interview inEdgeissue 405, Beach discusses how this influenced his work on Civ 5 and the hoopla he inadvertently caused at NASA.
“When we got to Brave New World in Civilization 5, we needed a wonder that was going to help you towards the science victory”, Breach explains. “I was like ‘let’s put the Hubble Space Telescope in the game’.” Both the Firaxis studio and Telescope Space Institute, which operates Hubble, are located in Baltimore, Maryland, not too far from one another, making it an ideal local inclusion for the Civ 5 team.
In a rather predictable turn of events, there’s quite a big overlap between NASA employees and Civ players, with Breach later learning that the Telescope’s inclusion has proven especially popular. “We connected with them later and found out that the day that they saw that Hubble was going into Civilization, there was a roar across the building because so many of them play it.”
Sadly for them, the Hubble Space Telescope did not make its way into Civ 6. But with Civ 7 just over the horizon, there’s hope yet for NASA’s iconic bit of kit to reclaim its place among the game’s wonders.
While you wait for Civ 7, be sure to check out thebest strategy gamesaround.
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1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
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Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
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Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
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3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
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3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
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5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
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Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
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3Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
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5Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
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Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”