I was about to start another Civ3 game (finally starting to get the hang of the game at Emperor) , when I saw a news item about SimGolf demo. The only reason I even bothered to download it was because it had Sid's name on it. Now, I should explain. I suck at golf, I find computer golf games boring, hell for me would be watching golf on TV. I have bought both "the Sims" and a couple of Sims games and found them interesting but really pointless. I actually flamed Firaxis when it was announced that Sid was working on SimGolf. Suffice to say that I was almost positive I'd play the demo for 30 minutes, and pat myself on for not being a sheep and wasting $40 to buy a game just cause Sid Meier's name was on it.
I have never been so happy to be completely wrong. I was hooked by the demo in the first 15 minutes. After playing SimGolf for 50 of the last 72 hours, it is obvious to me that most of Sid heart and soul was poured into making SimGolf and not Civ3.
Don't get me wrong I liked Civ 3; I'd give it an 8.5. I certainly
have got my money's worth but something always was missing for me about Civ3. Civ3 lacks soul, originality and while very addictive not a huge amount of fun. SimGolf has all the elements of a classic Sid Meier game, it is light hearted, elegant, ridiculously addictive, very accessible but surprisingly deep. But mostly SimGolf is just plain fun!
The most interesting thing to me is the Credits in the Manual
Civ3 lists Original Civilization Designed by Sid, but Civ3 was designed by Jeff Briggs and Soren Johnson. Programming, Art, Production is done by a small army
In contrast SimGolf was designed by Sid with one other guy, and the programming was also done by Sid with 2 other guys.
Now, I know Firaxis claims that Sid was heavily involved in Civ3, but somehow, I just find it hard to believe.
This is really a good news, bad news story. The good news is Sid still has the magic talent to make extraordinary games, the bad news is that he used it to make a Golf game (barf) instead of a strategy game about something like the advance of civilizations!
Check out simgolf.ea.com and find out what Sid was really working on this last year.
I have never been so happy to be completely wrong. I was hooked by the demo in the first 15 minutes. After playing SimGolf for 50 of the last 72 hours, it is obvious to me that most of Sid heart and soul was poured into making SimGolf and not Civ3.
Don't get me wrong I liked Civ 3; I'd give it an 8.5. I certainly
have got my money's worth but something always was missing for me about Civ3. Civ3 lacks soul, originality and while very addictive not a huge amount of fun. SimGolf has all the elements of a classic Sid Meier game, it is light hearted, elegant, ridiculously addictive, very accessible but surprisingly deep. But mostly SimGolf is just plain fun!
The most interesting thing to me is the Credits in the Manual
Civ3 lists Original Civilization Designed by Sid, but Civ3 was designed by Jeff Briggs and Soren Johnson. Programming, Art, Production is done by a small army
In contrast SimGolf was designed by Sid with one other guy, and the programming was also done by Sid with 2 other guys.
Now, I know Firaxis claims that Sid was heavily involved in Civ3, but somehow, I just find it hard to believe.
This is really a good news, bad news story. The good news is Sid still has the magic talent to make extraordinary games, the bad news is that he used it to make a Golf game (barf) instead of a strategy game about something like the advance of civilizations!
Check out simgolf.ea.com and find out what Sid was really working on this last year.