Sid Meier answers Slashdot

[ml_4da3]

Another thing that irritates me is that while freeciv follows the same gameconcept and has similar rules to Civ II, it does not break any firaxis/take2 copyrights. *Ideas* is not protected by copyright, but implementations of them (for example an image). Freeciv has not taken either images, sounds or code from the original games...

When I hear him implying that freeciv might infringe some of their IP somehow, I am reminded of SCOs flimsy ideas of IP in the SCO vs. IBM case. Also I think of when blizzard closed down freecraft.

Its really bad that companies/individuals does those things. In fact it is so bad that I am considering not buying civ4 just because what he said in that interview.

It would have been ok for him to say what he did if it was about some other company that would have taken a copy of civ IV and start *selling* it under their own brand - but when some people code a program from scratch, that does the same thing as someone elses, it is horribly wrong to try to stop it.

Especially if those people are working for free and releasing the work for free.

[volcanohead]

Well, look at it this way. Maybe if Sid was a solo artist with independent funding he wouldn't give a toss about the IP. But Civ4 had probably a pretty big team of people working to produce it, all being paid a salary, and all of whom were personally known by Sid. And if you lose the IP, there's a pretty good chance that those guys will not have a job, because some other guys are producing it for free... And so if you own the IP to something valuable, you may personally feel OK about other people copying it, but if you see that that copying threatens the people around you, your probably get very protective about it.

So I wouldn't let his comments stop you buying the game, and helping to keep the quality of the Civ games at the highest possible level...

[Darsnan]

Interesting. Sid says this during the interview:

My whole approach to making games revolves around first creating a solid prototype and then playing and improving the game over the course of the 2-3 year development cycle...until we think it's ready for prime time.

In a previous interview at Gamespy Sid says this:


GameSpy: What are you working on next?
Sid Meier: (smiles) You know I can't tell you. I will say that I'm working on two things, though. If everything goes right, you should see them in '06 and '07.

So since the development cycle for a full game is "2-3 years", then it looks as though we're getting 2 X-Packs over the next two years.


D

[yin26]

All in all, I don't expect to see anything close to true human intelligence any time soon, as long as games continue to get more complex.

Frankly, this is the only real source of worry for me at this point: Has the increased complexity of the game kept the AI on a flat or only slightly rising power curve?

[MarkG]

Originally posted by yin26
Frankly, this is the only real source of worry for me at this point: Has the increased complexity of the game kept the AI on a flat or only slightly rising power curve?

actually, the common agreement in the beta testers group is that the civ4 AI would kick civ3 AI's #@$@ on round 1

[yin26]

If that's true, can we raise money to send Soren a case of beer?

[GeoModder]

No, but a crate of wine would be appreciated. [/Soren]

[yin26]

No way Soren is a wine drinker! He has that high-browed European brew about him, doesn't he? I figure him for an Amstel man. Maybe Smithwicks.

[GeoModder]

Hey, its holiday time! [/Soren]

[volcanohead]

I would imagine that with the (almost certain) success of Civ4 under his belt he'll be quaffing champagne for quite a while...

[Fried-Psitalon]

Originally posted by MarkG
actually, the common agreement in the beta testers group is that the civ4 AI would kick civ3 AI's #@$@ on round 1

Absolutely. Much improved. Godlike? Human-esque? No. Very much improved? Unquestionably.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Darsnan
GameSpy: What are you working on next?
Sid Meier: (smiles) You know I can't tell you. I will say that I'm working on two things, though. If everything goes right, you should see them in '06 and '07.

So since the development cycle for a full game is "2-3 years", then it looks as though we're getting 2 X-Packs over the next two years.

That is assuming he isn't playing and testing the games for the past year+. They could be working on more than one thing, of course .

[Harrier UK]

Originally posted by Fried-Psitalon
Many artists protect their works, for reasons other than money. I don't blame Sid for being protective of that franchise which made him famous one bit. Were I he, I'd protect it strictly for sentimental reasons.

Could not agree more.

Good point - consider CIv games to be like the old 'Paint by numbers' you could by 30 years ago. (You may still be able to buy them - I do not know.)

My point is you are given the framework and the tools -it is up to you how you use them.

If Firaxis were to worried about clones - why would they make this one of the most modifiable games of its age.

Originally posted by ml_4da3
lots of people do work all the time without profit in their minds. Just look at all the free software thats out there. Me myself has also done lots of things without earning money on it.

So the answer to your question; "If you had invested time and money in X would you not act the same" is no. In my experience really good artists also tend to be more intrested in that what they do is good and that people enjoy their works; money is less important. Therefor I expected that sid, beeing more like an artist, would be less egotistical, but I was wrong and I am dissapointed.

Yes - just consider all the time spent producing mods, unit/terrain graphics etc for previous civs. Years

With no thought to financial gain - just personel enjoyment and pride in a job well done.

[vee4473]

Originally posted by yin26


Frankly, this is the only real source of worry for me at this point: Has the increased complexity of the game kept the AI on a flat or only slightly rising power curve?

I am going to voice an opinion on this that is probably in the minority.

Sid's quote: "All in all, I don`t expect to see anything close to true human intelligence any time soon, as long as games continue to get more complex.", seems odd to me.

My first reaction was that AI should improve the more complex a game gets. I may be wrong.

But, it seems that the more variables that you throw into a decision making process, the harder it gets to make the correct decision, for most humans.

On the other hand, aren't computers much more adept at crunching large variables, odds etc... to produce the best course of action as compared to a human?

I understand that AI can't get a "feel" for what to do, but given a world where winning depends on very set rules, I would think that the AI would be able to crunch to victory all the time, barring bad luck. And the more rules and variables thrown at the human player would make the game fall more in favor of the AI.

Given the fact that the AI in previous games can't win without gross advantages, I may be wrong, but it seems odd to me.

I don't know...

[Harrier UK]

Originally posted by yin26
Frankly, this is the only real source of worry for me at this point: Has the increased complexity of the game kept the AI on a flat or only slightly rising power curve?

Look at the statement for what it says - do not look for hidden meanings.

As games get more complex - it is even more difficult to program an efficient AI. As you hinted at, but also consider that the AI has been written from scratch - learning from the mistakes of previous versions. Not just trying to patch in improvements to the older unstable version.

So the AI won't be flat or even slightly better - it should be vastly better.