Sid Speaks -- PolyCast Episode 50: "That's What The Tank Said to the Spearman"

[DanQ]

The Wonder, the Grandeur, the One. Firaxis Games Director of Creative Development Sid Meier joins Daniel "DanQ" Quick, Makahlua and Imran Siddiqui with Annalee "Cartimandua" Barney for the landmark fiftieth episode of PolyCast, an official podcast of Apolyton Civilization Site (ACS). Entitled "That's What The Tank Said to the Spearman", it runs for 44m59s. Meier is interviewed about the Civilization series, his games in general, the strategy gaming genre and finally a selection of miscellaneous questions. Firaxis' Online Marketing Manager Dennis Shirk assisted in recording Meier's audio.

PolyCast is a bi-weekly audio production of ACS is an ongoing effort to give the Civ community an interactive voice on game strategy; its sibling show ModCast focuses on Civ modding. To date, ACS is the only known community on the Web to produce its own Civ podcasts.

[DanQ]

- 03m06s | Civilization Series (Part 1)
Public reception to Civilization: Revolution to date as well as its very successful North American release and accolades for its game controls and interface. Future modding prospects in the series a la Civilization IV and playing on square vs. hex grids.
- 11m03s | Civilization Series (Part 2)
Possibilities of Civ having a Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) incarnation, Civ reflecting society, conducting historical research and Sid's Civ playstyle: warmonger, builder or in combination.
- 19m21s | Sid's Games
Pursuing original and revisiting existing Intellectual Property (IP), new IP hints, goals in designing Alpha Centauri and how hard it can be for game developers to sell their ideas to publishers.
- 26m00s | Strategy Gaming
Having Artificial Intelligence (AI) mimick human-like analysis 'in the moment', returning strategy to less complex and more streamlined gameplay.
- 31m24s | Miscellaneous
On controversy over violence in videogames, reactions of close family and friends to entering the gaming industry, feedback provided by Sid's wife and son into his games, three favourite PC games not from his company and if only able to take one by himself to an exotic island, and the question he always wanted to be asked but hadn't and its answer.

[Lancer]

I think Civ is massively multiplayer, its just not online. The real civ of this earth that is.

Hexes!

Thanks Sid for doing this show, and all the rest of you folks too.

[Grandpa Troll]

Originally posted by Lancer
I think Civ is massively multiplayer, its just not online. The real civ of this earth that is.

Hexes!

Thanks Sid for doing this show, and all the rest of you folks too.

Here Here

[DanQ]

Originally posted by Lancer
I think Civ is massively multiplayer, its just not online. The real civ of this earth that is.

Thanks Sid for doing this show, and all the rest of you folks too.

 

[Lancer]

I enjoyed Sid's comment that in SidRev they made the leaders annoying so that you want to kill them, or something like that. I suppose the state of being annoyed takes the place of a dictator's meglamania to the average Joe...

So Dan, how many times does this make that you have you chatted with the guy whose fault all this is?

[Nikolai]

So I'm listening to the podcast right now. I plan on listening to the whole thing, but that's in spite of what I've heard so far after a little less than three minutes of listening. So far, everybody has joked and laughed and chatted, all at the same time. It's hard to follow it. Nothing has really happened and I must admit that I'm growing a bit tired of listening. And can someone tell me how it was a great idea to fart really loudly in the single most important polycast to date? Is that how you plan to get Sid to come back?

[Solver]

It will get better in a couple of minutes. Yeah, the intro basically consists of the hosts joking and fooling around, but it will assume the form of an actual interview after that. Intros are usually heavy on banter, though this one is more so than usual.

[Maniac]

I guess they didn't have enough good material to fill a full 45 minutes. Sid was only available for an hour I think I read.

[Nikolai]

Well, it's got much better now. But someone should have tried to make some of the first questions shorter than half a page with one long sentence, if written.

[Grandpa Troll]

Originally posted by Solver
It will get better in a couple of minutes. Yeah, the intro basically consists of the hosts joking and fooling around, but it will assume the form of an actual interview after that. Intros are usually heavy on banter, though this one is more so than usual.

Makes me feel better, cant blame dissaray on old Gramps


It is very fun doing one though, putting interaction with names from a forum

[DanQ]

Originally posted by Lancer
I enjoyed Sid's comment that in SidRev...

SidRev?

So Dan, how many times does this make that you have you chatted with the guy whose fault all this is?

Three, though the first time was only for a few moments (during the Firaxis office tour Markos and I took in '06).

Originally posted by Nikolai
And can someone tell me how it was a great idea to fart really loudly in the single most important polycast to date? Is that how you plan to get Sid to come back?

Nobody farted loudly (and, as far as I am aware, not at all) during the recording of this. At what minute:second mark does this sound begin that you believe is flatulence?

Originally posted by Solver
Yeah, the intro basically consists of the hosts joking and fooling around, but it will assume the form of an actual interview after that. Intros are usually heavy on banter, though this one is more so than usual.

Yes, PolyCast intro and outros are typically more banter-concentrated than the rest of the show (and the same goes for ModCast).

Originally posted by Maniac
I guess they didn't have enough good material to fill a full 45 minutes. Sid was only available for an hour I think I read.

That's correct, Sid's availability was an hour. That said, with some of the technical difficulties we had that were beyond our control (my dropping from the conference due to a power failure as documented in the extended 'blooper reel' for instance), he in fact recorded with us for closer to 70 minutes.

Originally posted by Nikolai
But someone should have tried to make some of the first questions shorter than half a page with one long sentence, if written.

Most of the questions themselves aren't long, but the preface to them can be -- our aim was to (better) set context for them. Could some have been shorter in places? Certainly. One in particular comes to mind where Annalee makes a comment to that effect right after no less, but that's because two questions were ultimately combined for their similarity.

We were just trying to ensure we were being clear with what we were asking. Looking back, we could have had some of the prefaces shortened somewhat. On the whole I prefer the questions as is.

[Maniac]

Anyway, great PolyCast of course!

[DanQ]

Originally posted by Maniac
Anyway, great PolyCast of course!

Thank you kindly. I'm certain my fellow co-hosts will not mind my speaking on behalf of them as well when I say that it was a most enjoyable one to record.

[Grandpa Troll]

Originally posted by DanQ

Thank you kindly. I'm certain my fellow co-hosts will not mind my speaking on behalf of them as well when I say that it was a most enjoyable one to record.

As allways, a class act team

[Cartimandua]

This was a really fun episode to record, and Dan did a great job in editing

[Grandpa Troll]

Originally posted by Grandpa Troll


As allways, a class act team

Here's some Love, for all those involved

[DanQ]

Originally posted by Grandpa Troll
As allways, a class act team

Thanks, Bruce.

Originally posted by Cartimandua
This was a really fun episode to record, and Dan did a great job in editing

[Jaybe]

Entertaining, informative and well worth listening to again. Congratulations to the crew & to The Sid!

But what was the question re Soren & Spore? The audio was garbled enough for me to not understand it (I think Annalee asked it).

I have already been hexed with playing civ all the time these days. Might as well have hexes on the game map.

Regarding the challenge level of the single-player AI: I think it ought to be an option to have a player-level AI, development resources permitting. They ought to do it just to prove it CAN be done!

[DanQ]

Originally posted by Jaybe
Entertaining, informative and well worth listening to again. Congratulations to the crew & to The Sid!

Thank you kindly all around.

But what was the question re Soren & Spore? The audio was garbled enough for me to not understand it (I think Annalee asked it).

Yes, it was a question Annalee asked. Here it is:

In a recent interview with Gamasutra, Soren Johnson has spoken about how Spore will bring strategy back to the casual gamer. Do you share his concerns that the strategy genre is following the path of flight simulators with games being targeted more and more to hardcore users and that they're loosing much of their mainstream audience along the way? Is the more streamlined gameplay of CivRev the future of strategy gaming and the very complex and deep mechanics of games like CivIV on their way out?

I have already been hexed with playing civ all the time these days. Might as well have hexes on the game map.

While I still prefer squares myself, I ed at that nonetheless.

[Lancer]

Something has been bugging me about that interview and I've got it now. The discussion about not trying to make the AI as capable as a human. That if the AI were to be humanish and there were four players that the human would only win one time in four and that people wouldn't play.

Well.

I think that should be one of those things that the player can toggle on and off. I'm playing my game since that interview wondering if the AI civ that opposes me is playing in its own interests (which I had always assumed) or in mine, which puts me off my game a bit. Should I now do something in the AI's interests to balance things out?

No!

Each player whether its AI or human should play to its full ability and in its/his/her own interests. If there is a concern for people leaving the game because its too tough then that can be handled by difficulty levels...happy faces and whatnot.

I just don't want my enemy playing on my side to help me defeat it, doesn't seem right.

[Quintillus]

Good podcast! It's the first time I've ever actually taken the time to listen to one, and I might take a look at some of the previous ones now. What can you say, Sid is always good bait for a Civ player.

I found Sid's answer to the questions about complexity interesting. I'm quite a complexity fan when it comes to Civ - I complained quite a bit about ways I thought Civ4 was simpler (and thus less fun) than Civ3 - but Sid is right, a balance does need to be made. I'm fine with complexity with strategy now (having a whole week to read Civ3's manual before I got a computer that could play it helped), but does complexity keep me away from some other games? Definitely, role playing games being a prime example. And I've seen other people shy away from complex games, too. Just tonight my friends and I decided not to try a new board game because it was too complex. And sure enough, it had a hex grid!

But it seems Sid understands the need to have complex games along with simpler ones from time to time. Which allays fears that Civ might keep getting simpler and simpler.

Interesting points, Lancer. It isn't fun to think of the AI as intentionally not playing in its own interests. Thinking of it that way, it makes sense that it should play as well as possible. But it does make it unfun if it always plays in its best interests and is really good at knowing what those best interests are. Of course that's where difficulty levels come in - at lower difficulties it makes mistakes, and more crucial ones, more often. Not that Civ has been great with this - as far as I can tell, and at least in Civ3, the AI is the same at each level and just gets bonuses - but it would be interesting if the AI could get advanced enough that it did noticeable smarter things at higher difficulty levels.

Once again great podcast. Always looking forward to seeing what's new with Civ, be it something new from Firaxis or new mods and forum developments .

[Lancer]

Hex based board games can be alot of fun and there are varying levels of complexity in different games. Look up the Grognards site, they'll help with selecting what works for you.

http://grognard.com/

In Civ III I noticed that AI civs seem to avoid certain wonders...Grt Library, Hoover Dam...makes me worry if they are leaving them for me because I might lose if they had them. Trying to think what other ways the AI might be pulling its punches...

[Dale]

Good Podcast!

[DanQ]

Originally posted by Quintillus
Good podcast!

It's the first time I've ever actually taken the time to listen to one, and I might take a look at some of the previous ones now. What can you say, Sid is always good bait for a Civ player.

Once again great podcast.

Always looking forward to seeing what's new with Civ, be it something new from Firaxis or new mods and forum developments .

QFT.

[vyeh]

First, I want to thank DanQ for including my question, linking to it in post #2 of this thread and giving me a 4 month Apolyton Plus subscription.

I listened to the whole cast, but I carefully listened to the portion about Alpha Centauri numerous times so I could provide an accurate rendition of Sid's answer for the Alpha Centauri community.

I believe Makahlua credited the question to Sophia. Maybe this happened when she jumped ahead to grab the AC question. Not that I really care. I only wanted the question asked and the AC community is really fortunate that Sid answered the question.

I was interested that Sid use the words "experiment" and "stretch" in his answer.

I'd say AC was a great success under both of those terms.

In that regard, AC was the Civ Revolution of its day, an attempt to bring the Civ franchise into a different area and "stretch Civ in some new and interesting ways while keeping, hopefully, the one more turn going."

Of course, Civ Rev sales are a lot better!

By the way, is there a place on this site that explains the benefits of Apolyton Plus?

[Grandpa Troll]

Originally posted by vyeh

By the way, is there a place on this site that explains the benefits of Apolyton Plus?

vyeh, my pleasure to assist on PLUS BENEFITS

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[DanQ]

Originally posted by vyeh
First, I want to thank DanQ for including my question, linking to it in post #2 of this thread and giving me a 4 month Apolyton Plus subscription.

Welcome.

I listened to the whole cast...

Did you enjoy it overall?

... but I carefully listened to the portion about Alpha Centauri numerous times... I believe Makahlua credited the question to Sophia. Maybe this happened when she jumped ahead to grab the AC question. Not that I really care.

Curious, I went back and re-listened to Maki asking this question minutes ago.

The way she pronounces your username it does sound like she's saying Sophia to me too, but it didn't strike me until you noted it. I believe that may be the result of the speed in which she asked that question for, as you already pointed out, she jumped ahead of me to ask the question. Tisk, tisk. (In all honesty, I'm glad she thought to do so despite the alternating order... of all of us on the panel she was the one best suited to ask it.)

Originally posted by AAHZ
that must have been quite frustrating, all things considering!

Fortunately, I lost power for only a few minutes and my Internet connection was reestablished within a minute of the power coming back on.

Otherwise, this was a fantastic show, Dan, i hope all the major game magazines and websites listen to this as well

Thanks, Ian.

[Solver]

Fortunately, I lost power for only a few minutes and my Internet connection was reestablished within a minute of the power coming back on.

Does Sid agree with the "fortunately" part of that?

[DanQ]

Originally posted by Solver
Does Sid agree with the "fortunately" part of that?

Fortunately yes.