Did Gandhi Really Go Nuclear in Civ 7?

The legend of “Nuclear Gandhi” from the original Civilization is one of the gaming community’s most well-known myths, but how did it originate, and was there any truth to it? Dive in to uncover the fascinating history behind the Nuclear Gandhi phenomenon.

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Civ 7 Won't Have Gandhi to Go Nuclear, But Did He Ever?

Every gaming community has its own set of legends and myths that are passed down through generations of players. While names like Herobrine and Ben Drowned are synonymous with today's gaming lore, in the early days of video games, the myth of Nuclear Gandhi captivated players. This tale transformed the peaceful leader of India in the original Civilization game into an unexpected nuclear threat. But was there any reality to this story, or was it simply a product of the community's vivid imagination? Let's delve into the legend and its roots.

The Legend of Nuclear Gandhi as It Was First Known

The story begins with the original Civilization game for MS-DOS, where leaders had an aggression parameter controlled by the AI, ranging from 1 to 10 or 1 to 12. Gandhi, known for his pacifism, was set to the lowest aggression level of 1. However, the legend claims that when he adopted Democracy, his aggression level would supposedly drop by 2, resulting in a negative value.

The crux of the myth lies in the supposed integer overflow. Allegedly, Gandhi's aggression level, stored as an 8-bit unsigned integer, would flip to 255 upon going negative, making him the most aggressive leader in the game. With nuclear weapons becoming available around the same time, this supposedly turned Gandhi into a nuclear warlord, hence the moniker "Nuclear Gandhi."

Nuclear Spreads Through the Whole Community

The legend of Nuclear Gandhi didn't gain widespread attention until the mid-2010s, long after the original Civilization's 1991 release. By this time, Civilization V was out, and verifying the myth was challenging due to the age of the original game. The myth was widely accepted as a result of potential coding errors, but the truth was different.

Sid Meier Confirms That Nuclear Gandhi Was Impossible

In 2020, Sid Meier, the creator of the Civilization series, debunked the myth. He explained that integer variables in the game were signed, preventing any overflow from a negative value. Moreover, government types did not affect aggression levels, so Gandhi's behavior remained consistent throughout the game.

Brian Reynolds, lead designer of Civilization II, further clarified that the original game only had three aggression levels, and Gandhi was not unique in his setting. There was no unsigned variable or coding to make leaders act more aggressively beyond their set parameters, confirming that the Nuclear Gandhi myth was indeed just a myth.

How Nuclear Gandhi Came to Be (Twice)

Despite being debunked, the Nuclear Gandhi myth persisted, likely due to its humorous irony. The myth didn't exist before 2012, when it was first mentioned on TV Tropes. It spread rapidly after being picked up by gaming publications.

Interestingly, while the original Civilization didn't feature Nuclear Gandhi, Civilization V did. Jon Shafer, the game's lead designer, deliberately coded Gandhi to have a high preference for nuclear weapons, giving the myth a surprising basis in reality.

Civilization VI also embraced the legend by giving Gandhi a 70% chance of having the "Nuke Happy" hidden agenda. However, in Civilization VII, Gandhi is absent from the roster, possibly putting the legend to rest. Yet, as history shows, some myths are hard to kill.

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