News from Sid himself?

[Eagle Pursuit]

I enjoyed Starships, Ace Patrol, and Ace Patrol Pacific Skies. I only lament that they were too short and too shallow to have really legitimate replay value.

I wish they would make an Ace Patrol Mig Alley that covers Korea and Vietnam eras. I think there's a lot of potential there for new game play experiences in the series with Air to Air missiles and doing Wild Weasel missions against SAM sites.

 

[darko82]

They should call the new civ Sid Meier's Ed Beach's Civilization 6.

In early 2000s some games had the designer's name on the title, American McGee's Alice and John Romero's Daikatana come to mind.

I believe Creative Director has more power than Lead Designer. Though, Sid let those people take the reins because he lacked proper skills.

 

[m15a]

In early 2000s some games had the designer's name on the title, American McGee's Alice and John Romero's Daikatana come to mind.

Right. And in the 90s, we had "Sid Meier's Civilization". Since this is the sixth main title in the series, it is called "Sid Meier's Civilization VI".

 

[Sync]

I think he's too embarrassed and wants to associate as little as possible with what this franchise is becoming.

Might not be too far from the truth. Civ5 wasn't everyone's cup of tea, mine included.

Not as much, no. I did see one article that mentioned he designs prototype games on a one-of-a-kind engine of his own design. I'm not sure what it has to do with Civ VI. Ed Beach and Dennis Shirk are definitely leading the charge this time, possibly because they are quite popular with fans.

Shirk pushed Civ5 as being the most moddable Civ ever. I wouldn't trust him if he told me the sky was blue tbh. Either live up to your promises or explain why it wasn't possible and apologise. It's not hard. This isn't mindless criticism when it was the key factor in swinging my decision to pre-order.

I won't be all negative, a lot of what I see from Civ6 looks good. With Civ5 I had the impression early on that I wouldn't like it. I'm not getting that vibe this time. Here's to the future.

 

[Chinese American]

Civ Rev is a lot more fun than Civ 5. Bonus that you can play on DS. With the small scope and fast pace, each decision and each turn has greater importance. The unique abilities/traits of each civ has a huge effect on the game. The battles also gave a high sense of anticipation and consequences whether you win or lose. These emotions are sorely missing from 5.

 

[Acken]

Who cares ? The guy hasn't made anything ground breaking in years. The deification is non sense. As much as we are thankful for being the father of many franchises, what he does now is of little importance. Or please Sid prove me wrong and make a comeback.

Oh the blasphemy.

 

[DJ_Tanner]

I remember when 5 was released and announced and that Sid himself gave some interviews and seemed to have had some inpact in the game design. Anyone heard from him this time around?

I think he will come out a do a few more pressers with this being the 25 year anny and all, however, i doubt he will have much to say about the gameplay of 6. As others have mentioned, he isn't 'hands on' with the games anymore. He is very much a big picture kinda guy and has a team he put in place for a reason. And they have all done very well I might add.

 

[darko82]

Who cares ? The guy hasn't made anything ground breaking in years. The deification is non sense. As much as we are thankful for being the father of many franchises, what he does now is of little importance. Or please Sid prove me wrong and make a comeback.

Oh the blasphemy.

People who did not spend hundreds of hours on Civ I may not appreciate him. Remember, however, if it wasn't for him, we would not have been here today. This franchise and Ed Beach would not do what he does today.

 

[Thormodr]

Might not be too far from the truth. Civ5 wasn't everyone's cup of tea, mine included.



Shirk pushed Civ5 as being the most moddable Civ ever. I wouldn't trust him if he told me the sky was blue tbh. Either live up to your promises or explain why it wasn't possible and apologise. It's not hard. This isn't mindless criticism when it was the key factor in swinging my decision to pre-order.

I won't be all negative, a lot of what I see from Civ6 looks good. With Civ5 I had the impression early on that I wouldn't like it. I'm not getting that vibe this time. Here's to the future.

Yep. Dennis "Civilization 5 is a big sloppy kiss to the hardcore fans" Shirk does not get the benefit of the doubt.

Civ VI does look promising, though, I agree.

 

[Thormodr]

People who did not spend hundreds of hours on Civ I may not appreciate him. Remember, however, if it wasn't for him, we would not have been here today. This franchise and Ed Beach would not do what he does today.

Indeed. I appreciate Sid for what he did and still do 25 years later. He started the beloved Civilization series and for that he'll always be the man.

 

[darko82]

Indeed. I appreciate Sid for what he did and still do 25 years later. He started the beloved Civilization series and for that he'll always be the man.

He has started and co-produced the rest of the games. To what extent, we do not really know. Creative Directors make key (important) decisions, generally.

 

[AriochIV]

Chris Knight: Well... I have advanced your project more than any three students on campus.
Jerry Hathaway: That was yesterday. What have you done for me today?

 

[darko82]

Chris Knight: Well... I have advanced your project more than any three students on campus.
Jerry Hathaway: That was yesterday. What have you done for me today?

Today I gave you the tools. Tomorrow I will check and (dis) approve your work.

 

[toft]

-----

 

[Ryika]

Good news, everyone! I managed to sneak into the Firaxis HQ to find out what Sid is doing these days, and I managed to take a photo of him in the middle of a conference:

Spoiler :

Looks like he's doing just fine (Although for whatever reason his head seems a little bigger than usual).

 

[MrRadar]

In the fresh German article that Stilgar08 posted (Interview with Lead Designer Ed Beach), the journalist ends the interview with a few questions about Sid.

Here is what is said in English (neither English, nor German are my mother tongue, sorry for possible mistakes):

PC Games Hardware: On 21 October, we will still see "Sid Meier's Civilization 6" on the box. Actually, how actively Sid is still involved in designing games? Is he kind of a wise scholar whom they present new ideas and ask for his opinion? Or does he himself still sit down at the computer to code a game?

Ed Beach: He doesn't do that. But each and every our Lead Designer is, like Sid, as much a designer as a programmer too. The advantage of this is that we can code in new ideas into a prototype ourselves, then the team can see them a couple of days later.

We, Lead Designers, meet regularly with Sid and present to him and to our colleagues the current state of our projects. Besides, every couple of weeks he gets an extra deep insight into Civilization 6 and then we discuss what could work well, and what could work not so well. Thus every game gets his seal, although he is not deeply involved in the coding.

PC Games Hardware: And for the rest of the time Sid is left with boring management tasks?

Ed Beach: No, absolutely not. He loves designing games and wouldn't be bothered with anything else. I cannot tell you what he is working on at the moment, but he loves to develop prototypes. And when he thinks of a new idea of a game concept, he builds it over a weekend so that he can show it to us on Monday.

It is still true what they say about him: he is a designer of an old school, who builds a game without many frills and tries it out to see, if it is fun.

PC Games Hardware: And he won't be retiring any time soon.

Ed Beach: Not that I know (laughs).

 

[darko82]

Sid should make a patch for Civ 1, fix the AI, and release a remake for Android or something. That would be old school.

 

[Acken]

People who did not spend hundreds of hours on Civ I may not appreciate him. Remember, however, if it wasn't for him, we would not have been here today. This franchise and Ed Beach would not do what he does today.

Which matters little as to what he does today. Im sorry but as it stands Im far happier to see ed beach make civ6 than sid.

I respect the guy for his past work but I no longer play his games so....

 

[darko82]

Which matters little as to what he does today. Im sorry but as it stands Im far happier to see ed beach make civ6 than sid.

I respect the guy for his past work but I no longer play his games so....

Yeah, but his name in the title is justified, I think. He was the creator of this franchise.

 

[SammyKhalifa]

Maybe he's working on Pirates! III.

I'd sign on to that.