Whom would you like to see as lead designer of civ 6: edited to add sulla to list

Whom would you like to have as lead designer of civ 6?

  • Total voters
    513
I initially pushed "Other". Now after reading Sullla's design idea I'm convinced he'd be the right man to design the game. Do note that a lead designer isn't necessarily required to be able to write code but to design the game's principles and ideas.
 
Deussu said:
I initially pushed "Other". Now after reading Sullla's design idea I'm convinced he'd be the right man to design the game. Do note that a lead designer isn't necessarily required to be able to write code but to design the game's principles and ideas.
Click to expand...

I have voted for "other" and I still stand with this.

Nevertheless, I agree that the lead designer does not (and maybe even *should* not) have to be a coder by himself.

This will only lead him into digging into minor problems, trying to solve technical issues where his main task is to develop the core ideas, ensure that they are working in combination and to ensure that the team as a whole follows the line of thoughts (which of course would have been developed and refined in a joint effort).
The lead designer *manages* the team from the point of view of how to implement the design.

A good coder isn't necessarily a good designer. And vice versa.
There are tasks for both of them.
 
As I have read only one design by one person I can only say that there is one person who I defnitely wouldn't want to be getting the job.

Can't say anything about any of the others as there is nothing to read but their previous work. But their past decisions don't necessarily dictate their future ones.
 
TheMeInTeam said:
New blood. I don't care who as long as they understand a few concepts:

1. Working UI.

...

2. Game balance.

...

3. Priority: 1. Game concept. 2. Controls 3. balanced, engaging gameplay 4. Graphics and new content. Any game that prioritizes graphics over controls/concept/balance instantly fails.

...

4. Someone with extensive experience with the efficient generation of code:
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I'm quoting from this old post from TMIT because I think it hits on one point that the whole question of choosing a lead designer and staffing up a "dream team" seems to miss. You don't just need a great concept, balanced gameplay, and eye-popping graphics, you need solid engineering. I can't speak to the software engineering skills of any of the individuals involved, but I've been writing software for over 20 years and it'd be pretty amazing if you happened to find a single individual who could juggle all these aspects. I know I couldn't.

There's a lot more to successful software development than finding people with raw talent. In fact, it's possible to have too much of a good thing there. You need good product management. You need good project management. You need a commitment to code quality. You need the right development process. If your corporate culture falls down in any significant respect it's going to show in your end product. A genius at the helm can't fix everything.
 
duckstab said:
I'm quoting from this old post from TMIT because I think it hits on one point that the whole question of choosing a lead designer and staffing up a "dream team" seems to miss. You don't just need a great concept, balanced gameplay, and eye-popping graphics, you need solid engineering. I can't speak to the software engineering skills of any of the individuals involved, but I've been writing software for over 20 years and it'd be pretty amazing if you happened to find a single individual who could juggle all these aspects. I know I couldn't.

There's a lot more to successful software development than finding people with raw talent. In fact, it's possible to have too much of a good thing there. You need good product management. You need good project management. You need a commitment to code quality. You need the right development process. If your corporate culture falls down in any significant respect it's going to show in your end product. A genius at the helm can't fix everything.
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Indeed. You need 2 geniuses: 1 at the helm, and 1 working on AI. You also need some civ experts to keep your ideas in line [just like Blizzard used Starcraft professionals to test Starcraft 2]. All other areas just need solid programmers with strict rules.
 
I voted Sid. If the general consensus really is that the series needs a reboot, I think the man himself should be calling the shots.
 
You need the lead designer to understand the code, since otherwise, they'll want things that are unreasonable. As I think Soren mentioned in one talk I saw online somewhere, having the lead designer write the AI makes a lot of sense, since so much of the game is based on the AI. Really, it's the meat of the code.

Stuff like buildings, tile yields, and so on. That really doesn't matter. UI doesn't matter. That's just fluff. You NEED someone who understands how to write a good AI, but to me, I want the person writing the UI to be the most complete opposite of the person who wrote the underlying code. Since if I write the base code, I will write the UI that works in my head, but it probably won't work for whoever's trying to use my stuff.

The lead designed needs to have a vision, and be able to create a computer game that manages and uses that vision. Great AI with lousy concepts sucks, since the game isn't fun. Bad AI with amazing concepts is also terrible, since it's annoying to play against a buggy AI. We need someone with that vision, and with the skill, to be able to manage a game on this size.
 
UWHabs said:
You need the lead designer to understand the code, since otherwise, they'll want things that are unreasonable. As I think Soren mentioned in one talk I saw online somewhere, having the lead designer write the AI makes a lot of sense, since so much of the game is based on the AI. Really, it's the meat of the code.
Click to expand...
<Homer Simpson>Hhhhrrrrrhhhhhhhh... meat!</Homer Simpson>

Sersiously though, Soren really knows what he's talking about. He's got good brains.
 
I would probably like to see Sid, Brian or Soren ( in spite of not being too fond of a lot of his decisions on civ III and IV ), but let's face it, neither of them will get back, especially the first two.

That leaves, of the list above, Sullla, Jon and Kael ... or other :D Well, with all due respect for Sullla, I think he is better finding the cracks in the hull than designing one :p Kael is both a good modder and a promissing good game designer ( given that FfH II for BtS is as much a diferent game from civ IV as it could be without messing with the stuff hidden in the exe, calling it a diferent game is not a strech ) and it is widely respected by the civ community, so it would be a good choice, but Elemental will surely keep him busy for quite a while .

Jon ... well, Jon IMHO was heavily burned by civ V, but not all of the problems came from him. Again IMHO Jon showed in civ V the exact same he showed in Final frontier in BtS ( his baby in BtS ): a good general idea, shoddy coding, virtually zero testing, no AI inside and heavy balance issues . To be honest, I think he would gain a lot from getting one or two more games under his belt as a junior partner before getting a lead designer job again ... where he is now is a good place for that.

That leaves me with other ;) My personal favourites would be friends inside the CFC, jdog5000, the coder of both BBAI and the latest unofficial patches fof BtS, and Bhruic. The problem is that they have zero experience in commercial lead designing, in spite of making a unofficial patch is surely as demanding in terms of balancing issues decisions as making a actual game...
 
Someone with at least 10 years industry experience that has been a huge Civ fan.

Off this list, Reynolds and Johnson might be up to it.

I do like many of Sullla's ideas but I don't know his/her experience.
 
Any Blizzard executive. Really. Can you name a game dev with their track record of excellence?

Hey, I suck at Starcraft II but I have immense respect for Blizzards self restraint to not release it early and have a "lets patch it later" attitude. Everything they make comes out highly polished and all of their games are fun to play.
 
Frozensky said:
I voted Sid. If the general consensus really is that the series needs a reboot, I think the man himself should be calling the shots.
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I agree with this too. Sid's name is plastered all over the box. Why shouldn't he have something to do with it?
 
Mark the Bold said:
Any Blizzard executive. Really. Can you name a game dev with their track record of excellence?
Click to expand...

Even if Civ 5 had been released in a bug free and polished form, it would still be a mediocre game.
 
Mark the Bold said:
Any Blizzard executive. Really. Can you name a game dev with their track record of excellence?

Hey, I suck at Starcraft II but I have immense respect for Blizzards self restraint to not release it early and have a "lets patch it later" attitude. Everything they make comes out highly polished and all of their games are fun to play.
Click to expand...

I heard units couldn't move while firing in StarCraft II.
If so the game is popular, but not necessarily good. (and definitely ugly)
 
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