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THE EXTINCTION OF DINOSAURS
(24 January 2001, 16:21 | Dino) If you hadnt seen that coming... :) Sid Meier explained the situation on the last Dino diary on the Firaxis site
Hi everyone.
I know you've been waiting a while for an update on the Dinosaur game. I've spent recent months playing with some different ideas on Dinos, but a lot of my time, and just about everyone else's at Firaxis, has been devoted to assisting in the Civilization III design. Civ III is looking and playing great and we think you'll all be thrilled with the final product! Also, I've been working on a new prototype, but more on that in a minute.
So what's up with Dinosaurs? Well, we've tried various approaches to gameplay: There's been a "DinoCraft" style of game (real-time). There's been a "DinoPlanet" style game (turn-based). There's been a game where you are one dino. There's been a game where you are an entire dino tribe. There's even been a much more abstract game with a heavy online component (you get the idea). We took into account your ideas, suggestions and concerns on the game. So far though, we haven't found that magic combination of ingredients that makes it really fun. And if it ain't fun, it don't get done!
Then, a couple of months ago, I was inspired by a new idea on a completely different topic. I built a really fun prototype and well, what can I say - this new project took hold! So I have decided to set aside Dinos for a while to work on this new idea, as well as devoting my attention to CivIII.
I know this news may disappoint some of you, but I think you'll find the new projects we're working on at Firaxis very interesting and a lot of fun!
This is not a new situation for us. It took me many years and several different approaches to find a way of presenting the Civil War game the way I really wanted to, but ultimately I was very happy with the result, which became Gettysburg!. Also, the original Civilization began as a real-time game and had many stops and starts in the design process. Dinos may eventually come to fruition, but for the moment there are other cool things brewing at Firaxis and, of course, there's a game called Civ III to consider!
So, this will be the last Dino Diary, at least for now. Thanks for your patience and stay tuned for more info on Civ III and other projects in development.
You can comment about this on our Dinosaurs forum. I guess we are going to have one more categorization on our front page: after "current games", "games to come", "other sections" and "oldies", we must create a category titled "extinct"... - MarkG
WHY YOU WOUDLN`T BUY DINOSAURS
(24 January 2001, 16:11 | Dino) If it was ever done(see above news item in a minute). The results of our last Dinosaurs poll
| Dinos: What will make you not buy Dinosaurs? | | Option | Votes / Percentage | | I will buy ANYTHING that has the name Sid Meier on it |  23 / 15% | | I won't buy if it contains unrealistic elements | 17 / 11% | | I won't buy if it's an RTS game | 39 / 26% | | I won't buy if it's a TBS game | 2 / 1% | | I won't buy period, since I hate anything that involves dinos | 37 / 25% | | Dont know/Dont care | 28
/ 19% | Total Votes: 146 | View Comments
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- MarkG
NOT-BUYING ELEMENTS IN DINOSAURS
(31 October 2000, 16:58 | Dino) And here is the... most irrational :) poll we've ever had. The 5th Dinosaurs poll: What will make you not buy Dinosaurs? - MarkG
BIG GOALS SOUND GOOD
(31 October 2000, 13:24 | Dino)
| A head dino character, an alpha dino or King/Queen Dino | 42 / 11% | | Humanize the dinos(baby dinos) | 19 / 5% | | Emphasize the story of the dinos | 35 / 9% | | A vicious enemy(enviroment/enemy dino) | 30 / 8% | | A home(shaping an area to the player's liking) | 98 / 26% | | Expressive animation | 21 / 5% | | Big goals(something big to grasp for) | 128 / 34% |
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After a really long time, here are the results of our 4th Dinosaurs poll. For the numbers, it seems that the most interesting ideas is for the player to have "Big goals" to grasp for, and a "home" which he can shape to his liking....
Comments forum thread - MarkG
LONG TIME NO DIARY
(3 July 2000, 16:58 | Dino) Long time no diary. Today, Firaxis posted the long awaited Dino Diary #8.
To start things off, Mike Ely -- who wrote the previous installment -- talked about the crew going to see Disney's Dino movie at the end of May when it debuted on the big screen. In addition to talking about the visual effects, Ely gave the team's take on the talking dinosaurs, quote:
"We won't weigh in on the debate of whether Disney should have made the dinos talk or not, but we will promise no talking dinos in our game. And no Jar-Jar either".
And now, onto the game:
"The clearest path to fun with this dino game of ours is to have lots of dinos, lots of different combos, lovingly crafted and shaped by the player, battling it out for world domination".
You'll find more discussion on this in the Diary itself.
Finally, pages 5-8 dealt with a conversation Sid had with a "store person" in Atlanta in mid-May, while visiting the city for the annual E3 conference, and the aftermath in how he and his wife got to see Disney's aforementioned movie before its official release! - DanQ
WHICH IDEA DO YOU LIKE BEST?
(14 May 2000, 06:58 | Dino) Our 4th poll is about some of the ideas mentioned in the 6th Diary.
Here is the exact part of the diary
1. Create a head dino character, an "alpha" dino or King/Queen Dino. This would be a single dino around which the rest of the herd revolves. This 'HeroSaur' could have special traits
2. Humanize the dinos. An interesting solution. One easy way to do this is through the baby dinos. When a new dino hatches, it would actually come out as a baby, and would follow its mother around until it gets old enough to go out on its own.
3. Emphasize the story of these dinos so that players become invested in that story. A simple technique Sid is experimenting with is the DinoCam, a kind of window on special events in the game, such as births, battles, and deaths
4. A vicious enemy. Be it the terrible harshness of the environment or an enemy dino so huge and violent it makes the player's heart leap
5. A home. Allowing the dinos to influence the environment, through nesting, digging, "fertilizing," or otherwise shaping an area to the player's liking, would create a physical space into which the player has invested time and effort
6. Expressive animation. Giving the dinosaurs more character than the grim reptilian faces they probably possessed would engage the player and help them to project emotions into the dinosaurs.
7. Big goals. Give the dinos something to drive them forward to the endgame. Give the player something big to grasp for, such as evolving a dinosaur to stand the test of time. =)Comments forum thread - MarkG
