Nuclear Gandhi has always been a quirky and beloved part of this genre's legacy, and even if it wasn't caused by a glitch, it's still a fun story and a delightfully baffling inclusion. The proud genre of 4X video games would be much, much different if it didn't have Sid Meier.
Meier and his Civilization series have left a legacy that endures to this day. It's almost disappointing to hear that the story isn't true, but the unknown reason why Meier and the rest of the development team intentionally made Mahatma Gandhi a murderous warlord makes for a very intriguing mystery in its own right.
The original story was a very funny anecdote about the perils of computer programming that resulted in a nonviolent activist giddily chucking nukes everywhere.
To quote the man himself, " it's one of those mysteries that it's almost fun to keep mysterious."įor years, fans thought they'd cracked the code behind Nuclear Gandhi. As for the real reason Gandhi is so bloodthirsty, Meier chose to remain enigmatic. He finds the premise amusing but ultimately false, and claims that Gandhi's behavior was a completely intentional design. As Bloomberg reports, Meier wrote in his memoir that there was never any sort of bug or glitch causing Gandhi's unnatural hunger for violence.
Related: Civilization 6: Best Mods For 2020 (& How To Install Them)īut according to Meier, this story is completely false. Most players believed that Gandhi's murderous intent was the result of an integer overflow glitch his base aggression score was so low that when it was lowered by the advent of democracy it wrapped around to a number far higher than any leader should be able to achieve, causing him to suddenly aspire to nuke the world. The apparent glitch became famous throughout the internet for turning the conception of such a peaceful figure on its head, and was immortalized in future games which consistently saw Gandhi as a nuclear warmonger. Mahatma Gandhi, famous in real life for leading a series of peaceful protests that eventually ended British occupation of India, would suddenly become the most aggressive leader in the game once he acquired nuclear weapons.
The first Civilization game released in 1991 and it included a feature that turned a lot of heads. Barbarian encampments provide a steady source of income (50G each) and quickly the map unveils. It’s pretty easy: If you’re not the warmonger you used to be, all civilizations will agree to Open Borders.
The strategy games put players in control of a nation competing to become a global superpower, making alliances, fighting wars, and developing technological breakthroughs along the way. Civilization 5 Scenario Rise of the Mongols Map. The Civilization franchise is perhaps Sid Meier's best-known creation. The legendary game developer is releasing his memoirs, titled Sid Meier's Memoir! and has taken the opportunity to reflect on his illustrious and eventful career. So, always support your Trebuchets with melee and ranged units to keep enemy units from getting too close.Īnother popular use for the Trebuchet (as with the earlier Catapult) is defending your own cities, as they can do a lot of damage to Longswordsmen.According to designer Sid Meier, the infamous Nuclear Gandhi glitch from the renowned Civilization series isn't a glitch at all. Still, the Trebuchet must expend 1 Movement Point to set up, it is too bulky to use natural defenses, and has limited vision. Advances in technology allow a much more efficient launch system, capable of delivering larger, more powerful projectiles that can more easily punch throughWalls and other defenses medieval cities use. These machines were generally not mobile and required a long process of assembly, limiting their effective use to protracted sieges.Ī Trebuchet is a medieval siege weapon, significantly more powerful than the earlier Catapult units. When released, the weight would come down and the arm would whip up into the air, hurling the missile a huge distance. The long arm was winched down, raising the heavy weight, and a missile was placed in the sling. It consisted of a very long wooden arm with a sling on one end and a heavy weight on the other, mounted on a heavy wooden framework. The Medieval European version of the trebuchet was a "counterweight" machine. First appearing in Europe in the 12 th century, the trebuchet could hurl a 300-lb missile into or over the enemy's walls at long distance. The trebuchet is a powerful Medieval siege weapon. The Trebuchet is a Siege unit available in the Medieval Era.