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 What genre does CotN belong to?
What makes the game special?
What's up with the monkeys?
Where can I go to get more information?
What type of technology does CotN employ?
What are the system requirements for CotN?
What genre does CotN belong to? [^ TOP]
Children of the Nile is a genre-bending game, combining city-building, "life-simulation" and empire building. There are also some role-playing elements, as you take on the persona of the leader of the Egyptian people, becoming Pharaoh of Egypt, Pharaoh and living through several incarnations comprising your dynasty.
What makes the game special? [^ TOP]
Children of the Nile is one of those very rare games where a unique synergy of components produces an extraordinarily deep and meaningful experience on the part of the person playing it. As such it is difficult to convey by reduction to its constituent parts. At the risk of using old cliches, it is both evolutionary and revolutionary.
Children of the Nile is, at the same time, both the apex of evolution in city building, representing a massive leap forward in an otherwise shamefully stagnant genre, and, paradoxically, what this genre should have been all along. It is a game that operates on four levels: you design and build cities in which virtual people live and work; these people think for themselves, with real individual AI; eventually a society forms, which has no discreet or separate existence of its own, but which is the result of the interconnectedness of each and every person and thing in the city, and finally you direct this beautiful organic creation, your society, your people, to achieve works of wonder and build a unique and lasting empire, with you literally as its god-like personification.
The experience of trying to build something great, using real people as your primary resource has been described as "herding cats", but maybe it's more like raising kids. When someone else's kid graduates from university, big deal, yeah, nice job. But when it's your kid, "YYYEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!! woo hoo!!!!! We did it!!!!"
No other game, we feel, better capitalizes on the unique potential of the PC for entertainment.
What's up with the monkeys? [^ TOP]
Who doesn't love monkeys? The ancient Egyptians did, and they trained them to pick fruit, kept them as pets, and so on. Plus, project coordinator Mat Williams seems to have some kind of fetish.
Where can I go to get more information? [^ TOP]
Right here on this website. Check out the design insights, characters, gods, interviews and more. Also, there is a wealth of information in the forums.
What type of technology does CotN employ? [^ TOP]
We licensed the engine used for best-seller Empire Earth™, from Stainless Steel Studios. There really isn't any existing technology out there that closely matches what is needed for this game, but this engine has provided a solid foundation on which to build something new. It was initially developed several years ago, to perform well on a wide range of systems, so, despite our additions and enhancements it still performs remarkably well, which is crucial for the city building audience. Too many PC games suffer from being unplayable (or looking lousy) on all but the highest end systems. A game like Children of the Nile should be enjoyed by all users – those with great systems, and those with more modest ones.
What are the system requirements for CotN? [^ TOP]
Minimum:
- Pentium® III or Athlon® 800 MHz processor or higher
- Windows® 98/2000/ME/XP operating system
- 128 MB of RAM (256 MB required for Windows® XP)
- 1.1 GB uncompressed free hard drive space
A 100% Windows® 98/2000/ME/XP-compatible computer system including:
- DirectX® 9.0b
- 100% DirectX® 9-compliant true 16 bit sound card and drivers
- 100% DirectX® 9-compliant 32 MB video card and drivers
- 100% Windows® 98/2000/ME/XP -compatible mouse and drivers
- 100% Windows® 98/2000/ME/XP -compatible keyboard
- 100% Windows® 98/2000/ME/XP -compatible quad speed (600 K/sec sustained transfer rate) CD-ROM drive and drivers
Recommended:
- Pentium® 4 or Athlon® 2.0 GHz processor
- 512 MB of RAM
- 64 MB video card will full Direct 9.0 support
Pentium is the registered trademark and property of Intel Corporation. Athlon is the registered trademark and property of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Windows and DirectX are the registered trademarks and property of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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