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Transcripts From Chat Event With Sid Meier - 2.12.02
maxisfetterman presents the speaker with question #21 from k_kay:
What is your favorite thing about SimGolf?
maxissid says, Gee, that's a tough one. Could it be building a course,
playing the course, or making my own wacky golfers...
maxissid says, I think I most enjoy tuning my holes and watching the golfers
play.
maxisfetterman presents the speaker with question #25 from number1golfpro:
What was the biggist challange for you in desingning this game?
maxissid says, I really took a while to figure out what the game was
about....
maxissid says, it started of as a game about course design, then as we
added...
maxissid says, the golfers we realized that it would be a lot of fun to
customize them,...
maxissid says, finally once you could build a cool course, we realized that
we had to let you play the...
maxissid says, course as well. So the game basically evolved as we kept
playing it.
maxisfetterman presents the speaker with question #37 from _wayc_:
Why did you chose to make a game about golfing?
maxissid says, I'm always looking for ideas or approaches that haven't
really been done...
maxissid says, before. I got the idea for golf course design out of a
magazine. What really convinced me...
maxissid says, to make the game was how mesmerizing it was to watch the
golfers play...
maxissid says, a course that I had designed, even in the first prototypes
this was fun.
maxisfetterman presents the speaker with question #29 from number1golfpro:
How is your feeling of the popularity of the game, do you think a lot of
people will discover and like the game?
maxissid says, That is hard to say. It's a pretty hard concept to explain
to someone who hasn't played the game. A lot...
maxissid says, of people have told me that they don't like golf but they
like SimGolf. Hopefully they will...
maxisfetterman presents the speaker with question #41 from ballade:
do you like golf?
maxissid says, tell their friends, and they will tell their friends, etc.
maxissid says, I play once in a while and I enjoy watching Tiger Woods on
TV. But I must say that...
maxissid says, golf can be a silly game as well as a fun game, I hope both
of those...
maxissid says, points of view come through in SimGolf.
maxisfetterman presents the speaker with question #46 from xyrix:
If you could change one thing about the game what is it?
maxissid says, We've been getting a lot of great ideas from the forums that
we are...
maxissid says, putting into the upcoming patch. There are a lot of new
ideas in SimGolf that...
maxissid says, we weren't quitesure how people would react to, especially
the sim vs. strategy question. I think...
maxissid says, I've learned that people get really get attached to their
courses and ...
maxissid says, don't want to quit after 50 years, or buy another property to
start over. Were making some changes to allow that in the patch.
maxisfetterman presents the speaker with question #57 from havoc933:
When do you think we will see the patch?
maxissid says, We're testing it right now, I posted a list of changes on the
BBS yesterday. I plan to have it available...
maxissid says, late this week or early next week.
maxisfetterman presents the speaker with question #52 from giggas2:
What were your influences as a kid? Also, what made you want to create
simulation games?
maxissid says, I played a lot of games when I was a kid, board games, card
games, war games. I also did a lot of...
maxissid says, reading. I think a lot of those kid interests show up in my
games: the Civil War, history,
maxissid says, pirates, railroads, etc. all to back to my childhood.
maxisfetterman presents the speaker with question #30 from xyrix:
What makes a sucessful game?
maxissid says, We focus on the first fifteen minutes and the last fifteen
minutes of game play when we design a game. The game should be easy..
maxissid says, to start playing and some cool stuff should happen in those
first fifteen minutes so that the player...
maxissid says, wants to 'see what happens next'. There should also be
enough depth in the game that each time you...
maxissid says, stop playing you are already thinking about what you are
going to do different the...
maxissid says, next time. I think these are two keys to a successful game.
maxisfetterman presents the speaker with question #61 from golfproadam:
When you play SimGolf, what's your favorite type of match? Practice,
Championship, VS, etc...
maxissid says, I'll start with a couple of practice matches go get my skills
up. I usually emphasize my...
maxissid says, fade, draw, and backspin skill because I require these shot a
lot in my...
maxissid says, hole designs. Then I'll play a couple of matches. Each of
the pros has a really different...
maxissid says, style so it's fun to play against them, head-to-head. If I'm
feeling lucky...
maxissid says, I'll start a tournament, but my favorite is probably one v.
one.
maxisfetterman presents the speaker with question #87 from hnvdb:
How long have you been working on Sim Golf?
maxissid says, We started working on SimGolf in 2000, after putting the ill
fated...
maxissid says, Dinosaur project on the back burner. We had a prototype
going very quickly. From then on we just...
maxissid says, played and added features. The folks as Maxis and Bing
Gordon from EA gave us a lot of support.
maxisfetterman presents the speaker with question #89 from giggas2:
Will you post some of your created courses on the website? I can't speak
for anyone else, but I'd really like to play them!
maxismagaha kicks the ground angrily.
maxissid says, Yes, the exchange should be operational pretty soon and we
can start trading courses and...
maxissid says, trying to beat each other's low scores. I've already seen
some of the courses you all have created and they...
maxissid says, are pretty cool, although there is a lot of variety. I saw a
course today with four tees right...
maxissid says, next to each other, that was interesting. Some people are
really going crazy with...
maxissid says, the elevation tool! There's a lot of creativity out there.
maxisfetterman presents the speaker with question #54 from number1golfpro:
Do you play any other video games, If so, what game is you favorite?
maxissid says, Yes, I do play a lot of games. My son Ryan is 11 and we
enjoy playing together. My PC favorites..
maxissid says, are probably, Age of Empires, Diablo II, the Sims,
Rollercoaster Tycoon. On console I've really...
maxissid says, gotten in to Gran Turismo 3, Madden 2002, and recently
Baldur's Gate.
maxisfetterman presents the speaker with question #125 from k_kay:
If you hadn't gotten into computer game creating, what do you think you'd
be doing?
maxissid says, hobby is probably music, I enjoy playing the piano and
writing music (thank you to...
maxissid says, the three of you out there who bought C.P.U Bach!) So I hope
I'd be doing something to do with music. But, I really...
maxissid says, can't imagine doing anything more fun than designing and
programming computer games.
maxisfetterman presents the speaker with question #136 from xyrix:
What's your favorite part of making games?
maxissid says, I really enjoy the first couple of months the best. This is
the time when you get to...
maxissid says, try out all sorts of ideas and see what's fun and what's not.
Some games come together...
maxissid says, really easily and some are very stubborn. Civ and SimGolf
both were a lot of fun from the...
maxissid says, very beginning. Around the middle of the project there are
some cool moments when...
maxissid says, new art gets added and your game suddenly starts to look
good. The other fun...
maxissid says, part is after a game is released and you get to compare your
ideas about the...
maxissid says, game with all the people playing, it can be a real learning
experience!
maxisfetterman presents the speaker with question #84 from xyrix:
What game prototypes/ideas were you playing w/ when making SG
maxissid says, I think SimGolf owes a lot to the Sims and Rollercoaster
Tycoon, two games which...
maxissid says, I played a lot while developing SimGolf. The Sims broke some
interesting new...
maxissid says, ground in customization and community building -
Rollercoaster was just a lot...
maxissid says, of fun to play. I tried to learn as much as I could from
these games and then add...
maxissid says, some of my own ideas. I think this is how we evolve as an
industry, building upon...
maxissid says, the best ideas and implementations that have been created.
maxisfetterman presents the speaker with question #149 from reniusa:
Which game are you the most proud of and why?
maxissid says, Well, each game is kind of like one of your children, each
one is special and...
maxissid says, unique in some way. F15, F19, and Silent Service were games
that kind of showed...
maxissid says, that computer games could be interesting simulations and deal
with real-world...
maxissid says, event and ideas. Pirates is still a favorite of mine for
taking a fun topic and turning it into...
maxissid says, a really playable game - people still tell my how the enjoyed
the open-ended game play and...
maxissid says, sense of limitless adventuring in Pirates! Railroad Tycoon
was a place to try...
maxissid says, out a lot of the ideas that eventually turned into
Civilization: the idea of building instead of...
maxissid says, create an unpredictable situation. Civilization is of course
a favorite because it seemed to strike a chord with...
maxissid says, so many player and really made the world safe for "strategy"
games. Gettysburg was...
maxissid says, a dream of mine for a number of years until the technology
got to the point where I could...
maxissid says, really bring the battle to life on the computer screen. But
my favorite game of all time???...
maxissid says, got to be SimGolf! (today at least) I was a great deal of
fun to design, it's really the first...
maxissid says, game where I found myself laughing out loud at the screen
time after time. Even though I created the...
maxissid says, characters they still crack me up sometimes. Well, it's
time to get going, thanks...
maxissid says, for all the questions, thanks for playing SimGolf. Hope to
chat again soon. Mishuno!
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