The challenge of adapting the open-source SimCity port, Micropolis, to a historic setting is that it’s a semi-realist game taking place in a generic modern setting; its purpose as a game is to model the behaviours and construction patterns of present day cities. My current work has been focused on playing the game, and through this conceptualizing the “surface level” mechanics into variants plausible for ancient Rome during its time as an empire.
Games situated in Ancient Rome tend be concentrated in the turn-based battle strategy game genre, but what if instead the game focused on the urbanity of this ancient Metropolis?
As a student studying computer science, I have many friends interested in various forums of current tech, which of course includes video games. Perhaps it’s the complexity of historical strategy and technology, or the fact that history is so different from what they usually study, but the overlap between computer scientists and a passion for history has been one of my most surprising discoveries in university.