Audio Interview with Sid Meier

[Quaczar]

I'm thinking that this is to build a bigger fanbase for the Civilization series before a probable release of Civ5. I was attracted to civilization by a "dumbed down" version, CivRev. After I played that game and loved it I got civIII and civIV. Im not the greatest at civIV but I can beat Noble pretty much every time and Prince some of the time. This site has helped tremendously and I don't see how you guys are bashing something that might expand the civilization community.

 

[Soda7777777]

I'm thinking that this is to build a bigger fanbase for the Civilization series before a probable release of Civ5. I was attracted to civilization by a "dumbed down" version, CivRev. After I played that game and loved it I got civIII and civIV. Im not the greatest at civIV but I can beat Noble pretty much every time and Prince some of the time. This site has helped tremendously and I don't see how you guys are bashing something that might expand the civilization community.

Because we're better than the dumbed down versions. Frankly CivRev sucked to the majority of players who've played CivI-IV originally. It was really just a bad game. Firaxis deceived us with CivRev. I expected it to have a lot more detail than it did.

 

[jasonjay77]

Because we're better than the dumbed down versions. Frankly CivRev sucked to the majority of players who've played CivI-IV originally. It was really just a bad game. Firaxis deceived us with CivRev. I expected it to have a lot more detail than it did.

I agree!!!!!!!! I have been disappointed by the entire gaming community for years now. I love Civ IV but it needs to be refined and updated. I need a more in-depth diplomatic set up. I had such initial high hopes for Spore only to be f****d by Will Wright in the end. I can't even begin to tell you what a massive let down Spore was....and I will not even utter the name of Sid's last so called game.

Don't get me wrong......sid is talented.....Will Wright is talented.....most of the guys and girls in the industry have more talent in their little finger than I have but, what good is the talent if all they are willing to use it for is another yearly installment of Madden or NCAA!!!!! I know these company's are in business to create a substantial profit margin but, please don't p**s down my back and tell me it's raining.

 

[zellfaze]

I agree!!!!!!!! I have been disappointed by the entire gaming community for years now. I love Civ IV but it needs to be refined and updated. I need a more in-depth diplomatic set up. I had such initial high hopes for Spore only to be f****d by Will Wright in the end. I can't even begin to tell you what a massive let down Spore was....and I will not even utter the name of Sid's last so called game.

Don't get me wrong......sid is talented.....Will Wright is talented.....most of the guys and girls in the industry have more talent in their little finger than I have but, what good is the talent if all they are willing to use it for is another yearly installment of Madden or NCAA!!!!! I know these company's are in business to create a substantial profit margin but, please don't p**s down my back and tell me it's raining.

Well said my friend well said.

I personally got attracted to Civ because my Dad's boss played it. He eventually gave me his copies of Civ1 and 2.

I personally though see no problem with attempting to attract a larger audience. Facebook is good for marketing. Business wise it is a good decision. You have to keep in mind that in order to make games they need money and the only way to get money is to have an audience.

So long as Sid and his company dont get greedy you can expect More Profit to equal Better Games. Again, assuming they are in it to make games, and not just to make money.

 

[toft]

Well said my friend well said.

I personally got attracted to Civ because my Dad's boss played it. He eventually gave me his copies of Civ1 and 2.

I personally though see no problem with attempting to attract a larger audience. Facebook is good for marketing. Business wise it is a good decision. You have to keep in mind that in order to make games they need money and the only way to get money is to have an audience.

So long as Sid and his company dont get greedy you can expect More Profit to equal Better Games. Again, assuming they are in it to make games, and not just to make money.

I would not expect a gaming-company with outstanding finances, to make a game if the game could not hold it's own in regards to economy. In other words, no matter how much money a company has, it will always seek ways to make more.

I dont think civ5 will be better or worse if Firaxis has a ton of money - it might effect how soon we will get it though.

 

[Soda7777777]

I agree!!!!!!!! I have been disappointed by the entire gaming community for years now. I love Civ IV but it needs to be refined and updated. I need a more in-depth diplomatic set up. I had such initial high hopes for Spore only to be f****d by Will Wright in the end. I can't even begin to tell you what a massive let down Spore was....and I will not even utter the name of Sid's last so called game.

Don't get me wrong......sid is talented.....Will Wright is talented.....most of the guys and girls in the industry have more talent in their little finger than I have but, what good is the talent if all they are willing to use it for is another yearly installment of Madden or NCAA!!!!! I know these company's are in business to create a substantial profit margin but, please don't p**s down my back and tell me it's raining.

So true.

I really hated Spore. It seemed like a much better game when they first previewed it 3 or so years ago.

I think it's more so the publishers getting greedy, and making companies dumb down their games. Just look what EA games did to the Sims.

 

[phungus420]

The last few posters need to get their heads out of their collected asses.

First off try a mod if you're fiening so bad for an update. Legends of Revolution is a well polished processional quality mod, try it if you want an Expansion Pack experience. Also there are some other great mods that completely overhaul the game, providing a fresh new experience. Rise of Mankind expands the tech tree and available units by like a factor of 5, and is perfect for anyone looking for a mega modpack experience and doesn't mind the hit to performance such added content demands; Hundreds of thousands of Civ4 players enjoy this RoM. Nearly a million players have tried Fall from Heaven, firaxis messed up not selling this one actually, it's a great game in it's own right. Planetfall is as good of an SMAC sequal as anything firaxis could have come up with; people asking for a new SMAC really need to try it. And there is History of the Three Kingdoms for anyone interested in a fresh scenario based in feudal times. Basically anyone crying for a new civ update that hasn't checked out at least one of those mods is just wrong, and needs to get smacked upside the head.

As far as firaxis is concerned, the money is in streamlined MP based games like what they are looking into. Going for netbook and facebook applications is a smart business move, and could also be fun, further getting this working will help with innovation for the the upcoming Civ5 for the PC when it is finally developed. Right now though Civ5 isn't practical, for starters any new novel concepts need to firmly work in Multiplayer (wich the facebook civ construct will help with developing), and civ4 is still selling quite well, especially since it's sales are being partly driven by some great community produced content.

No, now's not the time for Civ5.

 

[toft]

The last few posters need to get their heads out of their collected asses.

First off try a mod if you're fiening so bad for an update. Legends of Revolution is a well polished processional quality mod, try it if you want an Expansion Pack experience. Also there are some other great mods that completely overhaul the game, providing a fresh new experience. Rise of Mankind expands the tech tree and available units by like a factor of 5, and is perfect for anyone looking for a mega modpack experience and doesn't mind the hit to performance such added content demands; Hundreds of thousands of Civ4 players enjoy this RoM. Nearly a million players have tried Fall from Heaven, firaxis messed up not selling this one actually, it's a great game in it's own right. Planetfall is as good of an SMAC sequal as anything firaxis could have come up with; people asking for a new SMAC really need to try it. And there is History of the Three Kingdoms for anyone interested in a fresh scenario based in feudal times. Basically anyone crying for a new civ update that hasn't checked out at least one of those mods is just wrong, and needs to get smacked upside the head.

As far as firaxis is concerned, the money is in streamlined MP based games like what they are looking into. Going for netbook and facebook applications is a smart business move, and could also be fun, further getting this working will help with innovation for the the upcoming Civ5 for the PC when it is finally developed. Right now though Civ5 isn't practical, for starters any new novel concepts need to firmly work in Multiplayer (wich the facebook civ construct will help with developing), and civ4 is still selling quite well, especially since it's sales are being partly driven by some great community produced content.

No, now's not the time for Civ5.

You lost all credibility in my book when you started advertising for your own "profecessional" mod. But to humor you, then yes I have tried a great deal of mods - more units/buildings/techs and so on, does not make it into another game - it is still civ4, the 5-year-old game.

 

[jasonjay77]

The last few posters need to get their heads out of their collected asses.

First off try a mod if you're fiening so bad for an update. Legends of Revolution is a well polished processional quality mod, try it if you want an Expansion Pack experience. Also there are some other great mods that completely overhaul the game, providing a fresh new experience. Rise of Mankind expands the tech tree and available units by like a factor of 5, and is perfect for anyone looking for a mega modpack experience and doesn't mind the hit to performance such added content demands; Hundreds of thousands of Civ4 players enjoy this RoM. Nearly a million players have tried Fall from Heaven, firaxis messed up not selling this one actually, it's a great game in it's own right. Planetfall is as good of an SMAC sequal as anything firaxis could have come up with; people asking for a new SMAC really need to try it. And there is History of the Three Kingdoms for anyone interested in a fresh scenario based in feudal times. Basically anyone crying for a new civ update that hasn't checked out at least one of those mods is just wrong, and needs to get smacked upside the head.

As far as firaxis is concerned, the money is in streamlined MP based games like what they are looking into. Going for netbook and facebook applications is a smart business move, and could also be fun, further getting this working will help with innovation for the the upcoming Civ5 for the PC when it is finally developed. Right now though Civ5 isn't practical, for starters any new novel concepts need to firmly work in Multiplayer (wich the facebook civ construct will help with developing), and civ4 is still selling quite well, especially since it's sales are being partly driven by some great community produced content.

No, now's not the time for Civ5.

Hey man if you wan't to buy into this junk then be my guest and go right ahead.

You need to get something straight however before you tell me to pull my head out of my ass though....... I have tried the mods that you mention!! I do love the content and and stability of Fall From Heaven however I found that it really needed more so I turned to Rise From Erebus however it frequently ends in app crashes!!! I also have downloaded and played Rise of Mankind and its add on mod A New Dawn however, it too is crashing at precisely the moment that things start to get interesting!!! I have also dowloaded and played Wolfshanze........ All of these mods I have downloaded and played.....I love them all in their own way and want them to be perfected so that they do not crash.......

In the meantime I would like a new Civilization based game that is more in-depth than what Civ IV offered. Civ IV is awesome and offered an order of magnitud greater quality when it came out however there has always been room for improvement.....a more in-depth diplomatic component, a more realistic depiction of military forces, a revamped and more realistic city model set up. Also, something has to be done about the lag.

If you are satisfied then the only thing I have to say to you is congratulations on finding perfection........as for me i'll keep looking thank you!

 

[Soda7777777]

Hey man if you wan't to buy into this junk then be my guest and go right ahead.

You need to get something straight however before you tell me to pull my head out of my ass though....... I have tried the mods that you mention!! I do love the content and and stability of Fall From Heaven however I found that it really needed more so I turned to Rise From Erebus however it frequently ends in app crashes!!! I also have downloaded and played Rise of Mankind and its add on mod A New Dawn however, it too is crashing at precisely the moment that things start to get interesting!!! I have also dowloaded and played Wolfshanze........ All of these mods I have downloaded and played.....I love them all in their own way and want them to be perfected so that they do not crash.......

In the meantime I would like a new Civilization based game that is more in-depth than what Civ IV offered. Civ IV is awesome and offered an order of magnitud greater quality when it came out however there has always been room for improvement.....a more in-depth diplomatic component, a more realistic depiction of military forces, a revamped and more realistic city model set up. Also, something has to be done about the lag.

If you are satisfied then the only thing I have to say to you is congratulations on finding perfection........as for me i'll keep looking thank you!

Agreed. CivV had better have way more detail than CivIV did. I really want them to do scenarios like they had in CivII: Test of Time. Those were so well done, and enjoyable. Even though I started out playing CivIII, TOT was still highly enjoyable.

 

[jasonjay77]

Agreed. CivV had better have way more detail than CivIV did. I really want them to do scenarios like they had in CivII: Test of Time. Those were so well done, and enjoyable. Even though I started out playing CivIII, TOT was still highly enjoyable.

Yeah I really enjoyed the scenarios myself however, for me my big thing has always been about the diplomacy and military aspects. I have always wanted more when it came to negotiating with my opponents. For instance....I have always wanted to be able to bring in multiple civ's at a time to negotiate thinks like free trade agreements and border disputes and grand alliances like Nato or the UN. For the military I have always wanted a more "Army" like model. That is to say that I have always wanted my military to appear as an army instead as a single unit or in Civ IV's cas three units. Thats just me and thats just two of my wishes.....now if I could only find my genie in a bottle......

 

[Fleur-de-Lis]

I'm confused as to what lag you are talking about. If you are talking about the lag in multiplay, that is not the game's fault but instead the fault of the players in the game who are alt-tabbing and downloading other programs. I do not realize any lag in single player.

But I do agree a new Civilization would be a nice change. However, I can see why they would want to appeal to a larger group first prior to releasing the next version.

 

[Soda7777777]

Yeah I really enjoyed the scenarios myself however, for me my big thing has always been about the diplomacy and military aspects. I have always wanted more when it came to negotiating with my opponents. For instance....I have always wanted to be able to bring in multiple civ's at a time to negotiate thinks like free trade agreements and border disputes and grand alliances like Nato or the UN. For the military I have always wanted a more "Army" like model. That is to say that I have always wanted my military to appear as an army instead as a single unit or in Civ IV's cas three units. Thats just me and thats just two of my wishes.....now if I could only find my genie in a bottle......

Yes, well the tactical aspects of war always sort of sucked in civ. Not saying it's bad, but it could be improved so much. But the diplomacy also needs to improved like you said.

 

[Dale]

Yeah I really enjoyed the scenarios myself however, for me my big thing has always been about the diplomacy and military aspects. I have always wanted more when it came to negotiating with my opponents. For instance....I have always wanted to be able to bring in multiple civ's at a time to negotiate thinks like free trade agreements and border disputes and grand alliances like Nato or the UN. For the military I have always wanted a more "Army" like model. That is to say that I have always wanted my military to appear as an army instead as a single unit or in Civ IV's cas three units. Thats just me and thats just two of my wishes.....now if I could only find my genie in a bottle......

Go away and play Empire: Total War then.

 

[Nekator]

Go away and play Empire: Total War then.

Wow.. really helpful posting here..

 

[jasonjay77]

Go away and play Empire: Total War then.

LOL so, I guess i'll just say the obvious.......no.

 

[phungus420]

You lost all credibility in my book when you started advertising for your own "profecessional" mod. But to humor you, then yes I have tried a great deal of mods - more units/buildings/techs and so on, does not make it into another game - it is still civ4, the 5-year-old game.

LoR is very professionally done. It's stable and the only bugs in it are always in the initial release builds of a new version number, which get fixed within a week or two (as a hobby modder I don't have a beta test team, that's just how it is). There are no known bugs in LoR for single player games at this time. Find me a mod with the same depth that can make a similar claim. As far as more units/buildings/techs doesn't make a new game, Planetfall is not Civ4 with more stuff, neither is Fall From Heaven, nor History of the Three Kingdoms. It seems all you can do is talk out of your ass.

I don't care about your book. You've already demonstrated clearly that you don't consider reality important. As I stated before civ's new facebook approach, and it's last release of CivRev will help with the MP development; an important facet of the current stage in gaming. If civilization wants to produce a top quality game for civ5 it will need excellent MP and a total revamping of the combat mechanics, 1v1 unit fights, and the unwieldy dinosaur setup of the current MP system just wol't work.

Development of civ5 would be premature at this time. It's pointless, there are many great mods available for civ4, and sales are still strong for the game. Right now Firaxis is dong the right thing, it's better for them to experiment with new concepts, and come back to civ5 development in a couple of years.

 

[phungus420]

You need to get something straight however before you tell me to pull my head out of my ass though....... I have tried the mods that you mention!! I do love the content and and stability of Fall From Heaven however I found that it really needed more so I turned to Rise From Erebus however it frequently ends in app crashes!!! I also have downloaded and played Rise of Mankind and its add on mod A New Dawn however, it too is crashing at precisely the moment that things start to get interesting!!! I have also dowloaded and played Wolfshanze........ All of these mods I have downloaded and played.....I love them all in their own way and want them to be perfected so that they do not crash.......

Wolfshanze does not have any critical bugs in it. It can though cause MAF crashes, which are due to the high poly count models it uses, but on a high end systems this shouldn't happen, also such crashes are not reproduce-able, you can reload to play on (it's caused by the RAM/Vidoe Card getting overloaded). I'm not fan of Rise of Mankind, I think it's cluttered, and unwieldy, but if moar is what you want, it's for you. If you're experiencing a critical bug, ie a crash, report it to Afforess, Afforess is very inolved with the development of a New Dawn, and if you report any critical bugs I'm sure he'd get on it to fix them.

In the meantime I would like a new Civilization based game that is more in-depth than what Civ IV offered. Civ IV is awesome and offered an order of magnitud greater quality when it came out however there has always been room for improvement.....a more in-depth diplomatic component, a more realistic depiction of military forces, a revamped and more realistic city model set up. Also, something has to be done about the lag.

Here's the thing though: The average gamer isn't going to buy a product like Rise of Mankind. If Fall From Heaven doesn't have "enough stuff" in it for you, then you're never going to be satisfied by anything Firaxis makes. A firm interested in selling entertainment software, ie games, can't earn a profit selling software that's as complex as RoM or Rise of Erebus, those are mods for hardcore strategy players only. Not casual gamers. And casual gamers is where the money is.

Now civ4 has fantastic strategic depth, and I'm confident civ5 will. I never got civRev because I knew what it was, Firaxis was pretty clear it was a streamlined and simplified version of civ. Civ5 wol't be simplified, at least I hope not. But in order to get the innovation to make it a successful product, right now it makes sense to work on streamlined versions, like the previous civRev and the upcoming facebook version. This allows Firaxis to work out the kinks in MP and hopefully the combat mechanics, the two main drawbacks in Civilization.

 

[jasonjay77]

Wolfshanze does not have any critical bugs in it. It can though cause MAF crashes, which are due to the high poly count models it uses, but on a high end systems this shouldn't happen, also such crashes are not reproduce-able, you can reload to play on (it's caused by the RAM/Vidoe Card getting overloaded). I'm not fan of Rise of Mankind, I think it's cluttered, and unwieldy, but if moar is what you want, it's for you. If you're experiencing a critical bug, ie a crash, report it to Afforess, Afforess is very inolved with the development of a New Dawn, and if you report any critical bugs I'm sure he'd get on it to fix them.

Here's the thing though: The average gamer isn't going to buy a product like Rise of Mankind. If Fall From Heaven doesn't have "enough stuff" in it for you, then you're never going to be satisfied by anything Firaxis makes. A firm interested in selling entertainment software, ie games, can't earn a profit selling software that's as complex as RoM or Rise of Erebus, those are mods for hardcore strategy players only. Not casual gamers. And casual gamers is where the money is.

Now civ4 has fantastic strategic depth, and I'm confident civ5 will. I never got civRev because I knew what it was, Firaxis was pretty clear it was a streamlined and simplified version of civ. Civ5 wol't be simplified, at least I hope not. But in order to get the innovation to make it a successful product, right now it makes sense to work on streamlined versions, like the previous civRev and the upcoming facebook version. This allows Firaxis to work out the kinks in MP and hopefully the combat mechanics, the two main drawbacks in Civilization.

If your trying to make a game for "casual gamers" then Civilization will never be it. Casual gamers only exist for consoles. The people that play Civilization are not the same people that spend their idle time playing facebook games....if they were then they probably wouldn't be playing Civilization IV because of the time you have to invest just to get it going.

As for the belief that you have to develop these facebook games to get the MP in a state of perfection......I just think that thats not the correct way to look at it. MP is not something that is ideal for a Civilization game anyway. Turned based games and MP are just unwieldy behemoths that are only there for those hardy spirits that have more patience than Job. RTS is where MP is ideally suited. As for the development of combat mechanics....well, yeah they will have to develop something there but they can do that the same way they do it for other games.

Here is the deal......you simply decide to make a product and then you set out to make it. You don't have to make 3 or 4 different products to get to the one you really wanted...you just invest the time and effort in the product you really want. If I want a peanutbutter and jelly sandwich I don't set out making myself a BLT and Bananna Sandwich in order to get the proper technique down for my PB&J. Besides they have already done that......we are at Civilization IV not Civilization I.


I don't simply want more stuff ( althought I do like stuff )....I also want depth. BTW thanks for more than just a cursory write-off.

 

[Asthix]

Because we're better than the dumbed down versions. Frankly CivRev sucked to the majority of players who've played CivI-IV originally. It was really just a bad game. Firaxis deceived us with CivRev. I expected it to have a lot more detail than it did.

I agree!!!!!!!! I have been disappointed by the entire gaming community for years now. I love Civ IV but it needs to be refined and updated. I need a more in-depth diplomatic set up. I had such initial high hopes for Spore only to be f****d by Will Wright in the end. I can't even begin to tell you what a massive let down Spore was....and I will not even utter the name of Sid's last so called game.

I know these company's are in business to create a substantial profit margin but, please don't p**s down my back and tell me it's raining.

I would like a new Civilization based game that is more in-depth than what Civ IV offered. Civ IV is awesome and offered an order of magnitud greater quality when it came out

These are your opinions as hardcore gamers. Just by being on this site, by being willing to click 'end turn' we are all hardcore gamers as far as the industry is concerned. Your dumbed down is someone else's challenging. Spore is a good example. It 'failed' because not enough ppl got their race to space travel and interacted together on a galactic stage. Yet there are still ppl out there who think spore is the greatest. (and are probably on the sporefanatics site complaining about why there isn't talk of Spore2 for their tiny niche market) its all a matter of opinion. I do think your desire for more complexity is the reason civ5 may never get made.

That said, c'mon Sid! (You know you want to)

Math nerds of the world, Unite!