Talk:Populous (video game)

PC version
Populous was also available for the PC, though the Wikipedia entry seems not aware of it. I owned it. It ran off a single 5 1/4 floppy, and had head-to-head capability, which I would often play over my 1200 baud modem with a friend. It often locked up the computer often from line noise, which meant we rarely completed an entire game.

Populace was the first real-time-strategy game, in my opinion. The head-to-head play resembled Dune and C&C, which many people claim to be the first rts for the PC platform.


 * Yes, I had it too and used to play it (for fps reasons) in 4-color CGA mode. I also had the "Promised Lands" expansion disc, which allowed you to play some very strange races (IIRC, there were Atari vs. Commodore nations, French revolutionaries vs. Royalists, and some bizarre pulsating abstract alien things) Mmartins 07:33, 13 August 2005 (UTC)


 * In fact, I still have the discs. If I can find a way to install them I will add some PC screenshots Mmartins 07:47, 13 August 2005 (UTC)

Populous was a major reason that I purchased my first IBM compatible PC waaaay back in 1989. Lone Odessan 23:55, 16 November 2005 (UTC)

SNES version
Did the Super Nintendo version of Populous contain the same types of levels as the first expansion? I remember the French revolution style level in the SNES version and the video/maybe also computer game-software level. There was some type of alien level on the SNES version as well.The Tollan 01:40, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

Error
"Peter Molyneux of the Bullfrog development studio led development, and mentioned in an interview that the reason the player could manipulate terrain was that he was too lazy to program it."

Should that not be "the reason the player couldn't manipulate terrain..." ? 85.165.59.28 8 July 2005 13:57 (UTC)

No, the quote suggests that terrain editing was not introduced to enhance gameplay but to offload the task (of creating challenging/interesting landscapes) from Peter.
 * I reworded this as it didn't scan very well. Cpc464 12:01, 25 October 2005 (UTC)

Cheat codes...
Found on the 'net some really handy "cheat codes" for Populous, The Beginning, the PC game. They are as follows: '''Press Tab+F11, type "byrne", press Enter, then type these: Spells, ALL=Tab+F3,Buildings=Tab+F4,Mana=Tab+F5. This will get the player ALL of the buildings, ALL of the Spells, ALL of the Mana. To use the spells repeatedly, expecially the "Angel of Death" spell repeatedly, press Tab+F5 repeatedly. This is for the gamer if the gamer keeps getting defeated, eaten one time too many by the monster, shot up by the enemy tribes' firewarriors.''' Martial Law 06:32, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

On each level, you have to re-enter these three codes. Martial Law 06:33, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

I've used this in the 1st scenario onward, got 20 monsters and they quickly made short work of the enemy tribes. Martial Law 06:57, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

How to play
I was expecting to find here instructions about how to play Populous, as well as a good (and detailed) description of the gameplay. I never understood how Populous work, and I never really played it because of this.
 * Try the game's entry at gamefaqs by clicking here and selecting the appropriate version and platform for you here Elijya 08:07, 1 May 2006 (UTC)


 * Even after your suggestion, I think this article will be much more complete with some overview about gameplay, some rules, the icons descriptions... Currently this article does not have too much content as it can. --CrazyTerabyte 03:28, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

How To Play Objective: You activly continue to make alterations to the conditions that your opponents are underagainst, in an attempt to decrease thier numbers [thereby influencing the outcome of the final armmagedon]. Simultaneously, you aid your own people - worshippers by positive expressiosn of your miracles (as the God or Demon you play) to aid in increasing thier numbers of population.

This is repeated for a preset number of minutes through the use of 'miracles' Once the set number of minutes has passed 'Armageddon' takes palce, pitting each of the people against each other in a final fight to the end. If you have played effectively, your miralces have affected thier numbers sufficiently to sway the game toward your winning. IN other words, you may have wiped out enough of your opponenets worshippers using titleswaves, Earth Quakes and other various miracles, so that onces the armageddon does take place, you are assured a place as a final winner.These miracles are varied based on which 'God' or 'Demon' you're playing at a given moment and how much 'spirit' your worshippers have generated [ by your aid and generosity] to spend on those miracles.

You control the landscape (level ground) upon which your people (worshippers) are able to build upon. While they build and live in thier homes, they generate 'spirit' which is your 'fuel' for doing miracles. The more 'spirit' generated & saved by the peoples worshipping, the greater the miracles you can perform therefor the greater you affect the opponenets numbers and mortality therefor swaying the final armageddon. (are you getting it yet? These Directions [ to your worshippers and opponenets] we'll call miracles are indicated by buttons glowing blue. The more spirit power saved by the worshippers, the greater the miracles and greater miracles available.

You actively increase the spirit amount by helping your worshippers attain larger dwellings (houses) by providing larger flat-lands. WHile you are helping your own people to prosper, you also use the negative expresssion of your Gods or Demons capabilities to 'slow-down' the very same obtainment by your opponenets at the same time.Again, after doing this for a set number of minutes, Armageddon takes place and the strong survive leaving only the winner.. the strong...... hopefully YOU.

This has been a very gneralized description of how to play Populous on the Nuntendo DS. See contained instructions for greater detail.

populous4.com
I've been removing the repeatedly added link to this site on the basis that essentially its only content is an (illegal?) download of the game, but I'm not getting close enough to my 3RR limit that I don't want to do any more without seeking the views of other editors. Anyone? (Note the link has also been repeatedly added to Populous II, Populous: The Beginning and Populous (series)).

Just throw them out. Someone has reputedly placed a virus on one or more of these links. It really makes a mess out of your computer. Martial Law 05:44, 12 March 2006 (UTC) :)


 * If you actually follow the other external links then you can find a download to the same file that populous4.com is offering, hosting on their server. Populous4.com was created simply to allow people to play a great game online (a game which is currently out of print and whose creators are out of business) with little fuss. I also find it horrific that you can even mention the word 'virus' in the same context as populous4, its an obvious attempt to diminutive populous4's reputation, which in my opinion is uncalled for. Allot of people are thankful for the creation of populous4.com because it ensures the survival of a small online community by encouraging newcomers.

What about the lego level? I remember playing with a lego-esque tileset, is that the one that came on the coverdisk? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.94.102.109 (talk) 14:38, 7 February 2008 (UTC)


 * I am sorry to say that i have no direct proof of the following, but i was there with the small community of people which helped continue Populous. We have asked one of the directors, (forget his name at the moment, could point it out if i saw it) and he gave us some of the code for the game, as well as permission to continue the game.
 * Sadly, they terminated their main website of populous, and it was continued and the major website being used now is hosted by Game Spy. Mnjiman (talk) 17:15, 13 February 2008 (UTC)

Playstation Network / PSP and PS3 versions
I removed the line that stated Populous was made available on the PlayStation Network for the PSP and PS3. I can find no evidence of this on-line anywhere or on the PSN itself through playstation.com. However, this may be because I am in North America and this was only released in another region such as Europe. If this is the case, please feel free to re-add the line but state which region(s) it is available in and link to something that backs this up. That said, of course the PS1 version (disc based) can be played on any PS3. Choccy (talk) 00:08, 8 September 2008 (UTC)

Development
The interview in question that was marked "needs citation" is in the "Rise of the VideoGame" series, disc #4. Not sure how to format that information so it meets wikipedia standard, so I'll just leave that for someone else I guess Eb1232 (talk) 18:06, 22 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Awesome development article for this game: --M ASEM  (t) 22:56, 8 May 2009 (UTC)

Populous: The Final Frontier
Where can "Populous: The Final Frontier" be obtained? 2fort5r (talk) 01:56, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Removed unsourced and incorrect information
--Jonathan Drain (talk) 23:52, 22 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Removed Nintendo DS from the list of platforms. Populous DS is a sequel in the Populous series. It's a distinct game from the original Populous.
 * Removed the line "As the game progresses, the player rules over a variety of different civilizations, including Prehistoric, Ancient, and Medieval." This isn't true of original Populous.
 * Removed the line claiming Molyneux had a top-down Populous cartridge made to combat motion sickness (fact challenged for two years now). I can't find a source for this, and Populous' original platforms all used floppy disks, not cartridges. Find a citation if you want to put this back.

I can't play promised land..
I've succesfully installed promised land over a working populous installation... but i can't load/start the new levels there's no batch file, no instruction, no in-game menu. can anyone please help me out?

thanks a lot! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.45.36.46 (talk • contribs)

Reprisal
Shouldn't there be reprisal in sequels... or just mentioned in text? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.160.85.177 (talk) 10:19, 14 September 2013 (UTC)

External links modified
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Source

 * https://web.archive.org/web/20160322223345/http://scans.roushimsx.com/PCGamer_1997_10_pg079.jpg

Release Date
The top summary says the release date is 5 June 1989. The Reception section beings with "Populous was released in March 1989 to almost universal critical acclaim." So which is it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.154.55.7 (talk) 16:32, 26 September 2020 (UTC)
 * I can see multiple sources confirming the June 5 date, but no March date, so I have removed the offending line. --M asem (t) 18:25, 26 September 2020 (UTC)

Reviews
207.229.139.154 (talk) 02:54, 27 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Jeux & Stratégie #60