Populous
Populous is a God Sim, scratch that; Populus is the God Sim. Designed in 1989 by Bullfrog (developers who also brought us Theme Park, Theme Hospital and Dungeon Keeper) under the leadership of a young Peter Molyneux (who later brought us Black and White). It saw the player taking the role of a deity that helped a primitive tribe of people into a powerful enemy to defeat the rival gods.
There are currently four main games, plus a few expansions :
- Populous (1989)
- Populous: The Promised Lands (1989)
- Populous: The Final Frontier (1989)
- Populous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods (1991)
- Populous II: The Challenge Games ?
- Populous: The Beginning (1998)
- Populous: The Beginning - Undiscovered Worlds (1999)
- Populous DS (2007)
Bullfrog was taken over by EA in 2007, in the era where EA had made a reputation for the Borg-like assimilation of studios they bought out, so it's highly unlikely another sequel will be made.
This game series contains examples of the following tropes :
- Bonus Stage: Complete the third game and you can take part in an over the top straight out battle called Armageddon.
- Clap Your Hands If You Believe: Provided one of your followers is left on the map you'll still survive. Just don't expect to survive for long.
- Hide Your Children: They pop out of huts fully grown.
- Terrain Sculpting: One of the TropeMakers for Video Games.