SimGolf vs Civ3

[strollen]

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.

 

[Cerryl]

---
Now, I know Firaxis claims that Sid was heavily involved in Civ3, but somehow, I just find it hard to believe.
---

A conspiracy to put his name on a game he didn't have much of a hand in?

*boggle*

Simgolf rocks, and Civ III was like 4 years in the making.

 

[Ironikinit]

I heard SimGolf really is quite good. It's not your typical golf game (been a while since I got into a video golf game, but I used to like them) but more of a design/management game, right?

I'll maybe check it out sometime. I don't really care how heavily involved Sid Meiers was with Civ 3. I didn't get it because it had his name on the box, although I've enjoyed several of his games, all the way back to Covert Action and Pirates!

Anyway, I don't have time to play SimGolf, I'm kinda busy playing Civ 3 for the time being.

 

[Gargantua]

Simgolf is really nothing but "make more different holes" . I really do not understand why people like it, boring meaningless game

 

[strollen]

"Simgolf is really nothing but "make more different holes" . I really do not understand why people like it, boring meaningless game"

Meaningless, I agree since golf is meaningless , boring far far from it.

Making great golf course requires making great holes, that is no small challenge. However to make a great golf course in SimGolf requires the extraordinary resource management of land, money, and to a lesser extent time. It is really difficult to make a golf course, which is fun for the average golfer to play (which is how you make money) and yet challenging enough for professional to want to hold a Grand Slam tournament at your course.

The golfing in SimGolf is purely strategic in nature:should I go for the risky shot to try for a birdie or take the safe shot and go for par, no hand and I coordination required.



Here is quote from the infamous Civ expert Yin26 of Apolyton.

"I tried SimGolf because of Sid's proven reputation. NO other reason. I hate all Sim stuff and I hate golf. Could you imagine a worse title for me to try? And yet --numerous graphical glitches and other niggles aside-- SimGolf has just taken two marathon gaming days from me as I just finished crafting my first Championship Course. =)

Sid (if you read this): While I can't say this game will stay with me for years on end, I will say it's the best money I've spent on a game for a long while (including, sadly, Civ3). The game is just cruel at sucking hour after hour from you...and that has always been your goal. "



And Here is what Andrew Park managing editor of Gamespot says.


<b> Everybody Should Play SimGolf </b>
...
If you're simply looking for a good game to play, I'd recommend it--you can find out exactly why in the full review. But it's also a rather important game in its own right, since it was so intelligently designed and has so much going for it. If you play computer games, or even if you don't, you should play SimGolf. If you develop, publish, or market computer games, you should play SimGolf. Here's why.

http://gamespot.com/gamespot/features/all/gamespotting/020802/p3_01.html



It is a tribute to Sid's genius that he could take such an inherently boring subject to many people (golf course design) and get us to love a game on it.

 

[Dan Magaha FIRAXIS]

I'd just like to point out that people also thought Sid was crazy for making a game about trains.


Dan

 

[strollen]

Actually I thought that trains were inherently a cool subject, same thing with dinosaurs (I loved dinos as a kid).

I also thought that games about pirates, F15s, submarines, stealth fighters, WWII campaigns and building civilization (AH's Civilization was one of my favorite board games) were all great subjects.

I wasn't sure about Gettysburg, I thought a game about Bach was strange (is that available on anything other than a 3DO machine), but golf I was positive I'd hate. Did I miss any Sid game subjects?

Right now I am anxiously awaiting Sid Meier's Tic Tac Toe but he really has to be passionate about the subject

 

[Supercilious]

Originally posted by Cerryl
---
Now, I know Firaxis claims that Sid was heavily involved in Civ3, but somehow, I just find it hard to believe.
---

A conspiracy to put his name on a game he didn't have much of a hand in?

*boggle*

Simgolf rocks, and Civ III was like 4 years in the making.

If so, Civ III should have been a lot better.

As for Sid, looks like he's renting out his name for cash. For shame.

 

[Lt.Col. Kilgore]

There's a game called "Sid Meier's SimTrain"? Why? That doesn't sound like fun at all unless you have to stop the train from getting robbed by train theives or stop homeless people from living in your train. Or homeless theives that want to steal your train to live in!