Editing Populous (video game) (section)

==Development==
[[File:Populous_Lego_Model.png|left|thumb|Lego model of Populous]]
[[Peter Molyneux]] led development, inspired by Bullfrog's artist [[Glenn Corpes]] having drawn isometric blocks after playing [[David Braben]]'s [[Zarch|Virus]].<ref name="PeterMolyneuxInterview"/><ref name="EdgeOnline">{{cite web | url=http://www.edge-online.com/features/making-populous/ |title=The Making Of: Populous|year=2012 |website=Edge|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120710085757/http://www.edge-online.com/features/making-populous |archive-date=10 July 2012 |url-status=unfit|author=Edge Staff|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The game's budget was £20,000.<ref>{{cite web|first=Michael|last=Foster|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99178270/the-observer/|title=Britain faces game drain|newspaper=[[The Observer]]|page=38|date=March 5, 1995|accessdate=April 6, 2022|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

Initially Molyneux developed an isometric landscape, then populated it with little people that he called "peeps", but there was no game; all that happened was that the peeps wandered around the landscape until they reached a barrier such as water. He developed the raise/lower terrain gameplay mechanic simply as a way of helping the peeps to move around. Then, as a way of reducing the number of peeps on the screen, he decided that if a peep encountered a piece of blank, flat land, it would build a house, and that a larger area of land would enable a peep to build a larger house. Thus the core mechanics – god-like intervention and the desire for peeps to expand – were created.<ref name="PeterMolyneuxInterview"/><ref name="EdgeOnline"/>

The endgame – of creating a final battle to force the two sides to enter a final conflict – developed as a result of the developmental games going on for hours and having no firm end.<ref name="PeterMolyneuxInterview"/><ref name="EdgeOnline"/>

Bullfrog attempted to prototype the gameplay via a board game they invented using [[Lego]], and Molyneux admits that whilst it didn't help the developers to balance the game at all, it provided a useful media angle to help publicise the game.<ref name="PeterMolyneuxInterview"/><ref name=CGW62/> One curious incident related in media coverage involved an attempt by Molyneux to investigate the displacement of water when adding blocks to the world model, this being frustrated by Lego not being watertight and thus causing a "flood" that "dissuaded further experimentation".<ref name="ace198903_populous">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/ACEIssue18Mar89/ACE_Issue_18_Mar_89/page/n17/mode/2up | title=And Frog Created Man | magazine=Advanced Computer Entertainment | date=March 1989 | access-date=8 August 2022 | issue=18 | last1=Wade | first1=Bob | pages=18–19 }}</ref>

During the test phase the testers requested a [[Cheating in video games|cheat code]] to skip to the end of the game, as there was insufficient time to play through all 500 levels, and it was only at this point that Bullfrog realised that they had not included any kind of ending to the game. The team quickly repurposed an interstitial page from between levels and used it as the final screen.<ref name="PeterMolyneuxInterview"/>

After demoing the game to over a dozen publishers, Bullfrog eventually gained the interest of [[Electronic Arts]], who had a gap in their spring release schedule and was willing to take a chance on the game. Bullfrog accepted their offer, although Molyneux later described the contract as "pretty atrocious:" 10% royalties on units sold, rising to 12% after one million units sold, with only a small up-front payment.<ref name="PeterMolyneuxInterview"/>

Peter Molyneux presented a post-mortem of the game's development and work in progress on a related personal project at Game Developers Conference in 2011.<ref name="GDC11"/>

After the 1990 Amiga release, the game was released to [[Sega Genesis]] in 1990-1991.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://segadoes.com/2017/12/20/populous/ | title=Populous (GEN/MS, 1990-91) | date=20 December 2017 }}</ref>