Tweet
Civilization 2 Chat with Sid Meier
---
---
What follows is a raw log of the 02/07/97 Online Chat with Sid Meier. An HTML version will be produced shortly.
---
Fri Feb 7 20:04:07 1997: Paul says, "Welcome everybody!"
Fri Feb 7 20:04:30 1997: Paul says, "Allow me to introduce Sid Meier. A man I'm sure who requires little introduction to this crowd."
Fri Feb 7 20:04:32 1997: Paul says, ""
Fri Feb 7 20:04:40 1997: Paul says, "Welcome Sid."
Fri Feb 7 20:04:52 1997: Sid says, "Thanks, great to be here."
Fri Feb 7 20:05:35 1997: Paul says, "tell us what you are up to.
"
Fri Feb 7 20:06:08 1997: Sid says, "Well, since last May I've been working at Firaxis Software..."
Fri Feb 7 20:06:22 1997: Sid says, "we are working on a couple of cool new games...."
Fri Feb 7 20:06:50 1997: Sid says, "I'm also consulting part-time at MicroProse as we finish up..."
Fri Feb 7 20:07:06 1997: Sid says, "the Magic the Gathering game."
Fri Feb 7 20:08:13 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #7 from Lex: Do we really have to wait until X-mas for your new game?
Fri Feb 7 20:08:51 1997: Sid says, "If your talking about Magic, it should be out way before Christmas..."
Fri Feb 7 20:09:05 1997: Sid says, "our new games at Firaxis will take a little longer."
Fri Feb 7 20:09:18 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #4 from Taiko: What are your current projects?
Fri Feb 7 20:09:49 1997: Sid says, "We're not quite ready to talk about the actual titles that we..."
Fri Feb 7 20:10:07 1997: Sid says, "are working on, there's a small chance they could change..."
Fri Feb 7 20:10:30 1997: Sid says, "but the type and style of game should be familiar to you have..."
Fri Feb 7 20:10:54 1997: Sid says, "player our previous games: Civ, Railroad Tycoon, Colonization, etc..."
Fri Feb 7 20:11:28 1997: Sid says, "we call it 'Innovative Continuity': building on the past with new ideas."
Fri Feb 7 20:11:38 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #6 from Helgaorg: Will firaxis have thier own booth at E3, or will they be coupled with Origin/EA?
Fri Feb 7 20:12:04 1997: Sid says, "We will be at E3 as part of Origin/EA."
Fri Feb 7 20:12:11 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #9 from Guest13: when should we expect the first Firaxis release and what is most likely gonna look like?
Fri Feb 7 20:12:57 1997: Sid says, "We currently have a couple of playable prototypes under development..."
Fri Feb 7 20:13:23 1997: Sid says, "it's real hard to say when software will be done, so I won't try..."
Fri Feb 7 20:13:57 1997: Sid says, "but so far things are moving along very well."
Fri Feb 7 20:13:59 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #11 from Helgaorg: any hints as to what genre of games the Firaxis team is looking to develop?
Fri Feb 7 20:14:26 1997: Sid says, "Well, I think we'd be crazy not to acknowledge the popularity of..."
Fri Feb 7 20:14:42 1997: Sid says, "some of our previous games, at the same time we don't want..."
Fri Feb 7 20:14:59 1997: Sid says, "to do the same thing over and over. We'd like to combine the..."
Fri Feb 7 20:15:12 1997: Sid says, "best of our old ideas with some neat new stuff."
Fri Feb 7 20:15:16 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #10 from Rosa_l: a lot of civnet fans here sid. Is there any chance you or mp will eventually get around to an update on civnet
Fri Feb 7 20:15:46 1997: Sid says, "That question really needs to go to MicroProse, we do have a..."
Fri Feb 7 20:16:03 1997: Sid says, "very strong interest in multi-player and on-line games however."
Fri Feb 7 20:16:07 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #12 from Redtiger: Are you consulting for any Civilization related games at Microprose?
Fri Feb 7 20:16:37 1997: Sid says, "No. Magic is the last thing I'll be doing at MicroProse."
Fri Feb 7 20:16:41 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #15 from Lex: I love the micro-managing of Col. Brian told us it wasn't to populair. Do you the reason?
Fri Feb 7 20:17:21 1997: Sid says, "I think games need a mixture of 'micro-managing' and strategic..."
Fri Feb 7 20:18:00 1997: Sid says, "planning. Without a plan, 'micro-managing' is just WORK. But..."
Fri Feb 7 20:18:38 1997: Sid says, "as part of a plan, your accomplishment is more satisfying if you ..."
Fri Feb 7 20:18:47 1997: Sid says, "manage the details yourself."
Fri Feb 7 20:18:50 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #13 from Nagus-nt: Will your games be tested / playable on NT like 'Diablo' is from Blizzard ?
Fri Feb 7 20:19:38 1997: Sid says, "It's a little too early to know that... we'll see what the most..."
Fri Feb 7 20:19:56 1997: Sid says, "popular platforms are at the time of release."
Fri Feb 7 20:19:59 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #16 from Gideon: Given your comment about Innovative Continuity...what was the inspiration for Civ...it was(and is) revolutionary from what I've seen in my gaming past.
Fri Feb 7 20:20:25 1997: Sid says, "There were a number of influences which came together in..."
Fri Feb 7 20:20:54 1997: Sid says, "Civilization. I felt RailRoad Tycoon explored some fun game play..."
Fri Feb 7 20:21:37 1997: Sid says, "ideas but they could be done better. The games Empire, SimCity, and"
Fri Feb 7 20:22:03 1997: Sid says, "the Civilization board game all helped to inspire the PC game."
Fri Feb 7 20:22:07 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #20 from Eric: Any chance for a redone Pirates!
Fri Feb 7 20:22:31 1997: Sid says, "Pirates is still one of my favorites, I've got some ideas about how..."
Fri Feb 7 20:22:41 1997: Sid says, "I could use that theme in the future."
Fri Feb 7 20:22:45 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #18 from Mqstout: will you be releasing demos/previews any time soon?
Fri Feb 7 20:23:31 1997: Sid says, "We'll definitely be demoing at E3 in June. We'll probably follow up..."
Fri Feb 7 20:23:40 1997: Sid says, "with online demos after that."
Fri Feb 7 20:23:56 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #25 from Viking: do you think it will be a civnet 2 or a civ 3
Fri Feb 7 20:24:45 1997: Sid says, "I really don't know."
Fri Feb 7 20:24:47 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #26 from Games_magazine: Are you going to add so-popular-nowdays real-time element in FIRAXIS's future projects?
Fri Feb 7 20:25:29 1997: Sid says, "I think real-time works great for some types of games, I wouldn't add..."
Fri Feb 7 20:25:55 1997: Sid says, "it to a Civ type game though. Some of our current ideas do involve..."
Fri Feb 7 20:26:08 1997: Sid says, "real-time game play."
Fri Feb 7 20:26:22 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #21 from Eric: WE NEED a Sid RPG!
Fri Feb 7 20:27:03 1997: Sid says, "Pirates was my idea of what an RPG should be like. There are also..."
Fri Feb 7 20:27:22 1997: Sid says, "role-playing aspects to the Magic The Gathering game."
Fri Feb 7 20:27:28 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #28 from Lex: Why doesn't any company pay attention to multi-player on one computer anymore?
Fri Feb 7 20:28:05 1997: Sid says, "I think software companies respond to the requests from their..."
Fri Feb 7 20:29:06 1997: Sid says, "customers. I play lots of games with my son on one computer... he"
Fri Feb 7 20:29:15 1997: Sid says, "does the easy stuff and I do the hard stuff."
Fri Feb 7 20:29:19 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #24 from Gideon: Are you new games going to continue to exploit new genres, rather than the old stomping grounds of fantasy & sf ?
Fri Feb 7 20:30:09 1997: Sid says, "I think that my previous games have covered a lot of different..."
Fri Feb 7 20:30:34 1997: Sid says, "genres and topics. I would hope to continue that in the future. I'd..."
Fri Feb 7 20:30:43 1997: Sid says, "get bored writing the same game over and over."
Fri Feb 7 20:30:55 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #27 from Redtiger: Is Warcraft still your favorite game?
Fri Feb 7 20:31:25 1997: Sid says, "Yes, I think it is great fun, easy to play but with lots of depth and..."
Fri Feb 7 20:32:03 1997: Sid says, "variety. After spending a lot of time writing/playing Civ, I;ve stopped..."
Fri Feb 7 20:32:11 1997: Sid says, "playing strategy games for a while."
Fri Feb 7 20:32:14 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #33 from Smn: Brian said you might make a CIV-like history game. Any Comments?
Fri Feb 7 20:32:49 1997: Sid says, "I kind of thought Civ WAS a Civ-like history game! There are quite..."
Fri Feb 7 20:33:16 1997: Sid says, "a few fascination periods of history that could be explored in more..."
Fri Feb 7 20:33:31 1997: Sid says, "detail using the Civ approach."
Fri Feb 7 20:33:35 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #39 from Helgaorg: What can you tell us about the elements you added to Microprose's Magic?
Fri Feb 7 20:34:40 1997: Sid says, "We added an adventure/quest style game which revolves around the..."
Fri Feb 7 20:35:10 1997: Sid says, "idea of deck-building. MPS demoed this concept at the last E3"
Fri Feb 7 20:35:12 1997: Sid says, "I believe."
Fri Feb 7 20:35:16 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #41 from Games_magazine: What companies you consider to be your closest rivals?
Fri Feb 7 20:35:47 1997: Sid says, "Actually I think we need more good games, no mater what..."
Fri Feb 7 20:36:08 1997: Sid says, "company they come from. I don't think of good software companies..."
Fri Feb 7 20:36:33 1997: Sid says, "as rivals: good games make our industry grow. There has been..."
Fri Feb 7 20:36:54 1997: Sid says, "a real trend in the last couple of years towards smaller develpment..."
Fri Feb 7 20:37:22 1997: Sid says, "groups, witness ID, Bullfrog, etc. Firaxis is also one of these small..."
Fri Feb 7 20:37:29 1997: Sid says, "product focused groups."
Fri Feb 7 20:37:34 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #43 from Rosa_l: which game genre has been most played by women players: do you think there is a plausible theme for a strategy or fantasy game which would be of more interest to women players
Fri Feb 7 20:38:20 1997: Sid says, "From the feedback I've received, the most popular of my games..."
Fri Feb 7 20:38:47 1997: Sid says, "among women have been Pirates, Civilization, and Covert Action..."
Fri Feb 7 20:39:15 1997: Sid says, "I really don't know what makes a game 'appeal to women'. I think..."
Fri Feb 7 20:39:33 1997: Sid says, "women like a variety of different games in the same way men do."
Fri Feb 7 20:39:37 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #34 from Smn: What games do you use as role models for your games?
Fri Feb 7 20:40:06 1997: Sid says, "I try to play as many other games as I can to see what is going on..."
Fri Feb 7 20:40:28 1997: Sid says, "in the industry. Most of my game ideas however come from things..."
Fri Feb 7 20:40:55 1997: Sid says, "I like to do as a kid: RailRoads, airplanes, pirates, history. etc."
Fri Feb 7 20:41:01 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #42 from Guest13: Did they set-up the game developement courses at the University of Michigan in your wake
Fri Feb 7 20:41:41 1997: Sid says, "I don't think so. I wrote a tic-tac-toe game on the UofM mainframe..."
Fri Feb 7 20:41:59 1997: Sid says, "and they took away my account! I hope they've changed their..."
Fri Feb 7 20:42:04 1997: Sid says, "attitude by now."
Fri Feb 7 20:42:07 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #50 from Helgaorg: What are thoughts on massive multi-player games like Ultima Online?
Fri Feb 7 20:42:35 1997: Sid says, "I think there is a great deal of potential in those kinds of games..."
Fri Feb 7 20:46:48 1997: Paul says, "Ahem...Sid? Are you still with us or did I miss my cue?"
Fri Feb 7 20:47:38 1997: Sid says, "I think I was disconnected, is anyone there?"
Fri Feb 7 20:47:45 1997: Paul says, "Yep..we are still here."
Fri Feb 7 20:47:53 1997: Paul says, "I believe you were commenting on UO."
Fri Feb 7 20:48:11 1997: Sid says, "Oh, yeah..."
Fri Feb 7 20:48:35 1997: Sid says, "In the early days of computers we took board games..."
Fri Feb 7 20:48:54 1997: Sid says, "and put them on the computer, then we figured out there were..."
Fri Feb 7 20:49:15 1997: Sid says, "better games for computer. Now we're taking single-player games..."
Fri Feb 7 20:49:35 1997: Sid says, "and turning them into multi-player, but I think soon we'll find some..."
Fri Feb 7 20:49:56 1997: Sid says, "new types of games that use the real uniqueness of the milti-"
Fri Feb 7 20:50:13 1997: Sid says, "player fomat, UltimaOnline is a step in that direction."
Fri Feb 7 20:50:18 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #51 from Guest7: Could you comment on the the programming tools you are using to produce your games?
Fri Feb 7 20:50:59 1997: Sid says, "We are using MicroSoft C++ under Windows '95, we have created..."
Fri Feb 7 20:51:17 1997: Sid says, "our own graphics and sound libraries optimized for games."
Fri Feb 7 20:51:30 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #47 from Redbeard: Will there be any live action movie-games like Origin's Wing Commanders?
Fri Feb 7 20:51:47 1997: Sid says, "Not if I can help it."
Fri Feb 7 20:51:57 1997: Sid says, "Sorry..."
Fri Feb 7 20:51:59 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #46 from Smn: How about a real-time combat game from Firaxis?
Fri Feb 7 20:53:00 1997: Sid says, "It's been a while since I did a real time game, it might be time."
Fri Feb 7 20:53:07 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #49 from Eric: Why do you prefer Warcraft over Command and Conquer?
Fri Feb 7 20:53:56 1997: Sid says, "The Warcraft interface seems a little cleaner, the economic system..."
Fri Feb 7 20:54:18 1997: Sid says, "has a great balance between not taking over the game, but ..."
Fri Feb 7 20:54:48 1997: Sid says, "giving you a lot to think about. The graphics are real nice..."
Fri Feb 7 20:55:15 1997: Sid says, "we have had fun with C+C but it's a little too violent for my son..."
Fri Feb 7 20:55:16 1997: Sid says, "and I."
Fri Feb 7 20:55:24 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #52 from Guest13: Why did Firaxis sign on with EA? Certainly with your name an independant venture would have been more profitable.
Fri Feb 7 20:55:56 1997: Sid says, "I wanted to create an environment where we could focus on making..."
Fri Feb 7 20:56:16 1997: Sid says, "great games, and let someone else worry about Marketing and..."
Fri Feb 7 20:56:35 1997: Sid says, "selling the product. EA has a great worldwide Sales and Marketing..."
Fri Feb 7 20:57:00 1997: Sid says, "organization and they understood our need for creative freedom."
Fri Feb 7 20:57:03 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #56 from Games_magazine: What your own game you mostly like and enjoed creating?
Fri Feb 7 20:57:55 1997: Sid says, "Well Civilization was a lot of fun to write, once we found the right..."
Fri Feb 7 20:58:32 1997: Sid says, "approach it really came together very quickly. I still like Pirates and ..."
Fri Feb 7 20:58:39 1997: Sid says, "the original Silent Service."
Fri Feb 7 20:58:42 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #68 from Eric: Can you please give us a hint at what you are working on now? We won't tell anybody.
Fri Feb 7 20:59:13 1997: Sid says, "It's a combination of Doom and SimCity...."
Fri Feb 7 20:59:16 1997: Sid says, "just kidding."
Fri Feb 7 20:59:22 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #70 from Lex: I think the Firaxis-forum is great. I like Brian's input, why don't you join? (and make more advertisement for it). Anyway, it's Firaxis is listening!
Fri Feb 7 20:59:53 1997: Sid says, "We're still getting our act together as far as on-line is concerned..."
Fri Feb 7 21:00:04 1997: Sid says, "thanks for the encouragment."
Fri Feb 7 21:00:15 1997: Paul says, "I'm afraid we've only got enough time for one more...."
Fri Feb 7 21:00:19 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #69 from Guest13: How does it feel to be the creator of Civ?..the chess game of the late 20th century.
Fri Feb 7 21:00:53 1997: Sid says, "I'm really proud of Civ. It was a lot of fun to write and it has just about..."
Fri Feb 7 21:01:15 1997: Sid says, "all the qualities I like to see in a game. It's gratifying to see other..."
Fri Feb 7 21:01:42 1997: Sid says, "designers take the genre and put their own ideas into it. I really..."
Fri Feb 7 21:02:06 1997: Sid says, "enjoy writing games, and since Civ turned out well it means I can..."
Fri Feb 7 21:02:24 1997: Sid says, "keep on writing games for quite a while. Thanks to all the..."
Fri Feb 7 21:02:50 1997: Sid says, "MicroProse/Firaxis game fans out there, if you stay interested, we'll"
Fri Feb 7 21:02:57 1997: Sid says, "keep writing games!"
Fri Feb 7 21:03:07 1997: Paul says, "Thanks for taking the time to chat with us Sid."
Fri Feb 7 21:03:24 1997: Paul says, "A full transcript of tonight's chat will be posted on the website shortly for those of you who came late."
Fri Feb 7 21:03:42 1997: Sid says, "You're welcome, hope to 'chat' with you all again sometime."
---
"Why did you leave MicroProse?" (From the FIRAXIS, www.firaxis.com, FAQ)
Sid Meier: "MicroProse was a great place to work for many years, and we certainly accomplished a great deal there. Once we had wrapped up a number of projects we felt the timing was right to start something on our own. Smaller more focused development groups seem to be a trend in the industry. With newer more efficient development tools it no longer takes a cast of thousands to put a product out. Firaxis allows us to focus exclusively on creating fun games without spreading our talents too
thin in other areas."
---
---
---
What follows is a raw log of the 02/07/97 Online Chat with Sid Meier. An HTML version will be produced shortly.
---
Fri Feb 7 20:04:07 1997: Paul says, "Welcome everybody!"
Fri Feb 7 20:04:30 1997: Paul says, "Allow me to introduce Sid Meier. A man I'm sure who requires little introduction to this crowd."
Fri Feb 7 20:04:32 1997: Paul says, ""
Fri Feb 7 20:04:40 1997: Paul says, "Welcome Sid."
Fri Feb 7 20:04:52 1997: Sid says, "Thanks, great to be here."
Fri Feb 7 20:05:35 1997: Paul says, "tell us what you are up to.
"Fri Feb 7 20:06:08 1997: Sid says, "Well, since last May I've been working at Firaxis Software..."
Fri Feb 7 20:06:22 1997: Sid says, "we are working on a couple of cool new games...."
Fri Feb 7 20:06:50 1997: Sid says, "I'm also consulting part-time at MicroProse as we finish up..."
Fri Feb 7 20:07:06 1997: Sid says, "the Magic the Gathering game."
Fri Feb 7 20:08:13 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #7 from Lex: Do we really have to wait until X-mas for your new game?
Fri Feb 7 20:08:51 1997: Sid says, "If your talking about Magic, it should be out way before Christmas..."
Fri Feb 7 20:09:05 1997: Sid says, "our new games at Firaxis will take a little longer."
Fri Feb 7 20:09:18 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #4 from Taiko: What are your current projects?
Fri Feb 7 20:09:49 1997: Sid says, "We're not quite ready to talk about the actual titles that we..."
Fri Feb 7 20:10:07 1997: Sid says, "are working on, there's a small chance they could change..."
Fri Feb 7 20:10:30 1997: Sid says, "but the type and style of game should be familiar to you have..."
Fri Feb 7 20:10:54 1997: Sid says, "player our previous games: Civ, Railroad Tycoon, Colonization, etc..."
Fri Feb 7 20:11:28 1997: Sid says, "we call it 'Innovative Continuity': building on the past with new ideas."
Fri Feb 7 20:11:38 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #6 from Helgaorg: Will firaxis have thier own booth at E3, or will they be coupled with Origin/EA?
Fri Feb 7 20:12:04 1997: Sid says, "We will be at E3 as part of Origin/EA."
Fri Feb 7 20:12:11 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #9 from Guest13: when should we expect the first Firaxis release and what is most likely gonna look like?
Fri Feb 7 20:12:57 1997: Sid says, "We currently have a couple of playable prototypes under development..."
Fri Feb 7 20:13:23 1997: Sid says, "it's real hard to say when software will be done, so I won't try..."
Fri Feb 7 20:13:57 1997: Sid says, "but so far things are moving along very well."
Fri Feb 7 20:13:59 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #11 from Helgaorg: any hints as to what genre of games the Firaxis team is looking to develop?
Fri Feb 7 20:14:26 1997: Sid says, "Well, I think we'd be crazy not to acknowledge the popularity of..."
Fri Feb 7 20:14:42 1997: Sid says, "some of our previous games, at the same time we don't want..."
Fri Feb 7 20:14:59 1997: Sid says, "to do the same thing over and over. We'd like to combine the..."
Fri Feb 7 20:15:12 1997: Sid says, "best of our old ideas with some neat new stuff."
Fri Feb 7 20:15:16 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #10 from Rosa_l: a lot of civnet fans here sid. Is there any chance you or mp will eventually get around to an update on civnet
Fri Feb 7 20:15:46 1997: Sid says, "That question really needs to go to MicroProse, we do have a..."
Fri Feb 7 20:16:03 1997: Sid says, "very strong interest in multi-player and on-line games however."
Fri Feb 7 20:16:07 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #12 from Redtiger: Are you consulting for any Civilization related games at Microprose?
Fri Feb 7 20:16:37 1997: Sid says, "No. Magic is the last thing I'll be doing at MicroProse."
Fri Feb 7 20:16:41 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #15 from Lex: I love the micro-managing of Col. Brian told us it wasn't to populair. Do you the reason?
Fri Feb 7 20:17:21 1997: Sid says, "I think games need a mixture of 'micro-managing' and strategic..."
Fri Feb 7 20:18:00 1997: Sid says, "planning. Without a plan, 'micro-managing' is just WORK. But..."
Fri Feb 7 20:18:38 1997: Sid says, "as part of a plan, your accomplishment is more satisfying if you ..."
Fri Feb 7 20:18:47 1997: Sid says, "manage the details yourself."
Fri Feb 7 20:18:50 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #13 from Nagus-nt: Will your games be tested / playable on NT like 'Diablo' is from Blizzard ?
Fri Feb 7 20:19:38 1997: Sid says, "It's a little too early to know that... we'll see what the most..."
Fri Feb 7 20:19:56 1997: Sid says, "popular platforms are at the time of release."
Fri Feb 7 20:19:59 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #16 from Gideon: Given your comment about Innovative Continuity...what was the inspiration for Civ...it was(and is) revolutionary from what I've seen in my gaming past.
Fri Feb 7 20:20:25 1997: Sid says, "There were a number of influences which came together in..."
Fri Feb 7 20:20:54 1997: Sid says, "Civilization. I felt RailRoad Tycoon explored some fun game play..."
Fri Feb 7 20:21:37 1997: Sid says, "ideas but they could be done better. The games Empire, SimCity, and"
Fri Feb 7 20:22:03 1997: Sid says, "the Civilization board game all helped to inspire the PC game."
Fri Feb 7 20:22:07 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #20 from Eric: Any chance for a redone Pirates!
Fri Feb 7 20:22:31 1997: Sid says, "Pirates is still one of my favorites, I've got some ideas about how..."
Fri Feb 7 20:22:41 1997: Sid says, "I could use that theme in the future."
Fri Feb 7 20:22:45 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #18 from Mqstout: will you be releasing demos/previews any time soon?
Fri Feb 7 20:23:31 1997: Sid says, "We'll definitely be demoing at E3 in June. We'll probably follow up..."
Fri Feb 7 20:23:40 1997: Sid says, "with online demos after that."
Fri Feb 7 20:23:56 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #25 from Viking: do you think it will be a civnet 2 or a civ 3
Fri Feb 7 20:24:45 1997: Sid says, "I really don't know."
Fri Feb 7 20:24:47 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #26 from Games_magazine: Are you going to add so-popular-nowdays real-time element in FIRAXIS's future projects?
Fri Feb 7 20:25:29 1997: Sid says, "I think real-time works great for some types of games, I wouldn't add..."
Fri Feb 7 20:25:55 1997: Sid says, "it to a Civ type game though. Some of our current ideas do involve..."
Fri Feb 7 20:26:08 1997: Sid says, "real-time game play."
Fri Feb 7 20:26:22 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #21 from Eric: WE NEED a Sid RPG!
Fri Feb 7 20:27:03 1997: Sid says, "Pirates was my idea of what an RPG should be like. There are also..."
Fri Feb 7 20:27:22 1997: Sid says, "role-playing aspects to the Magic The Gathering game."
Fri Feb 7 20:27:28 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #28 from Lex: Why doesn't any company pay attention to multi-player on one computer anymore?
Fri Feb 7 20:28:05 1997: Sid says, "I think software companies respond to the requests from their..."
Fri Feb 7 20:29:06 1997: Sid says, "customers. I play lots of games with my son on one computer... he"
Fri Feb 7 20:29:15 1997: Sid says, "does the easy stuff and I do the hard stuff."
Fri Feb 7 20:29:19 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #24 from Gideon: Are you new games going to continue to exploit new genres, rather than the old stomping grounds of fantasy & sf ?
Fri Feb 7 20:30:09 1997: Sid says, "I think that my previous games have covered a lot of different..."
Fri Feb 7 20:30:34 1997: Sid says, "genres and topics. I would hope to continue that in the future. I'd..."
Fri Feb 7 20:30:43 1997: Sid says, "get bored writing the same game over and over."
Fri Feb 7 20:30:55 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #27 from Redtiger: Is Warcraft still your favorite game?
Fri Feb 7 20:31:25 1997: Sid says, "Yes, I think it is great fun, easy to play but with lots of depth and..."
Fri Feb 7 20:32:03 1997: Sid says, "variety. After spending a lot of time writing/playing Civ, I;ve stopped..."
Fri Feb 7 20:32:11 1997: Sid says, "playing strategy games for a while."
Fri Feb 7 20:32:14 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #33 from Smn: Brian said you might make a CIV-like history game. Any Comments?
Fri Feb 7 20:32:49 1997: Sid says, "I kind of thought Civ WAS a Civ-like history game! There are quite..."
Fri Feb 7 20:33:16 1997: Sid says, "a few fascination periods of history that could be explored in more..."
Fri Feb 7 20:33:31 1997: Sid says, "detail using the Civ approach."
Fri Feb 7 20:33:35 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #39 from Helgaorg: What can you tell us about the elements you added to Microprose's Magic?
Fri Feb 7 20:34:40 1997: Sid says, "We added an adventure/quest style game which revolves around the..."
Fri Feb 7 20:35:10 1997: Sid says, "idea of deck-building. MPS demoed this concept at the last E3"
Fri Feb 7 20:35:12 1997: Sid says, "I believe."
Fri Feb 7 20:35:16 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #41 from Games_magazine: What companies you consider to be your closest rivals?
Fri Feb 7 20:35:47 1997: Sid says, "Actually I think we need more good games, no mater what..."
Fri Feb 7 20:36:08 1997: Sid says, "company they come from. I don't think of good software companies..."
Fri Feb 7 20:36:33 1997: Sid says, "as rivals: good games make our industry grow. There has been..."
Fri Feb 7 20:36:54 1997: Sid says, "a real trend in the last couple of years towards smaller develpment..."
Fri Feb 7 20:37:22 1997: Sid says, "groups, witness ID, Bullfrog, etc. Firaxis is also one of these small..."
Fri Feb 7 20:37:29 1997: Sid says, "product focused groups."
Fri Feb 7 20:37:34 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #43 from Rosa_l: which game genre has been most played by women players: do you think there is a plausible theme for a strategy or fantasy game which would be of more interest to women players
Fri Feb 7 20:38:20 1997: Sid says, "From the feedback I've received, the most popular of my games..."
Fri Feb 7 20:38:47 1997: Sid says, "among women have been Pirates, Civilization, and Covert Action..."
Fri Feb 7 20:39:15 1997: Sid says, "I really don't know what makes a game 'appeal to women'. I think..."
Fri Feb 7 20:39:33 1997: Sid says, "women like a variety of different games in the same way men do."
Fri Feb 7 20:39:37 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #34 from Smn: What games do you use as role models for your games?
Fri Feb 7 20:40:06 1997: Sid says, "I try to play as many other games as I can to see what is going on..."
Fri Feb 7 20:40:28 1997: Sid says, "in the industry. Most of my game ideas however come from things..."
Fri Feb 7 20:40:55 1997: Sid says, "I like to do as a kid: RailRoads, airplanes, pirates, history. etc."
Fri Feb 7 20:41:01 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #42 from Guest13: Did they set-up the game developement courses at the University of Michigan in your wake
Fri Feb 7 20:41:41 1997: Sid says, "I don't think so. I wrote a tic-tac-toe game on the UofM mainframe..."
Fri Feb 7 20:41:59 1997: Sid says, "and they took away my account! I hope they've changed their..."
Fri Feb 7 20:42:04 1997: Sid says, "attitude by now."
Fri Feb 7 20:42:07 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #50 from Helgaorg: What are thoughts on massive multi-player games like Ultima Online?
Fri Feb 7 20:42:35 1997: Sid says, "I think there is a great deal of potential in those kinds of games..."
Fri Feb 7 20:46:48 1997: Paul says, "Ahem...Sid? Are you still with us or did I miss my cue?"
Fri Feb 7 20:47:38 1997: Sid says, "I think I was disconnected, is anyone there?"
Fri Feb 7 20:47:45 1997: Paul says, "Yep..we are still here."
Fri Feb 7 20:47:53 1997: Paul says, "I believe you were commenting on UO."
Fri Feb 7 20:48:11 1997: Sid says, "Oh, yeah..."
Fri Feb 7 20:48:35 1997: Sid says, "In the early days of computers we took board games..."
Fri Feb 7 20:48:54 1997: Sid says, "and put them on the computer, then we figured out there were..."
Fri Feb 7 20:49:15 1997: Sid says, "better games for computer. Now we're taking single-player games..."
Fri Feb 7 20:49:35 1997: Sid says, "and turning them into multi-player, but I think soon we'll find some..."
Fri Feb 7 20:49:56 1997: Sid says, "new types of games that use the real uniqueness of the milti-"
Fri Feb 7 20:50:13 1997: Sid says, "player fomat, UltimaOnline is a step in that direction."
Fri Feb 7 20:50:18 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #51 from Guest7: Could you comment on the the programming tools you are using to produce your games?
Fri Feb 7 20:50:59 1997: Sid says, "We are using MicroSoft C++ under Windows '95, we have created..."
Fri Feb 7 20:51:17 1997: Sid says, "our own graphics and sound libraries optimized for games."
Fri Feb 7 20:51:30 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #47 from Redbeard: Will there be any live action movie-games like Origin's Wing Commanders?
Fri Feb 7 20:51:47 1997: Sid says, "Not if I can help it."
Fri Feb 7 20:51:57 1997: Sid says, "Sorry..."
Fri Feb 7 20:51:59 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #46 from Smn: How about a real-time combat game from Firaxis?
Fri Feb 7 20:53:00 1997: Sid says, "It's been a while since I did a real time game, it might be time."
Fri Feb 7 20:53:07 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #49 from Eric: Why do you prefer Warcraft over Command and Conquer?
Fri Feb 7 20:53:56 1997: Sid says, "The Warcraft interface seems a little cleaner, the economic system..."
Fri Feb 7 20:54:18 1997: Sid says, "has a great balance between not taking over the game, but ..."
Fri Feb 7 20:54:48 1997: Sid says, "giving you a lot to think about. The graphics are real nice..."
Fri Feb 7 20:55:15 1997: Sid says, "we have had fun with C+C but it's a little too violent for my son..."
Fri Feb 7 20:55:16 1997: Sid says, "and I."
Fri Feb 7 20:55:24 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #52 from Guest13: Why did Firaxis sign on with EA? Certainly with your name an independant venture would have been more profitable.
Fri Feb 7 20:55:56 1997: Sid says, "I wanted to create an environment where we could focus on making..."
Fri Feb 7 20:56:16 1997: Sid says, "great games, and let someone else worry about Marketing and..."
Fri Feb 7 20:56:35 1997: Sid says, "selling the product. EA has a great worldwide Sales and Marketing..."
Fri Feb 7 20:57:00 1997: Sid says, "organization and they understood our need for creative freedom."
Fri Feb 7 20:57:03 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #56 from Games_magazine: What your own game you mostly like and enjoed creating?
Fri Feb 7 20:57:55 1997: Sid says, "Well Civilization was a lot of fun to write, once we found the right..."
Fri Feb 7 20:58:32 1997: Sid says, "approach it really came together very quickly. I still like Pirates and ..."
Fri Feb 7 20:58:39 1997: Sid says, "the original Silent Service."
Fri Feb 7 20:58:42 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #68 from Eric: Can you please give us a hint at what you are working on now? We won't tell anybody.
Fri Feb 7 20:59:13 1997: Sid says, "It's a combination of Doom and SimCity...."
Fri Feb 7 20:59:16 1997: Sid says, "just kidding."
Fri Feb 7 20:59:22 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #70 from Lex: I think the Firaxis-forum is great. I like Brian's input, why don't you join? (and make more advertisement for it). Anyway, it's Firaxis is listening!
Fri Feb 7 20:59:53 1997: Sid says, "We're still getting our act together as far as on-line is concerned..."
Fri Feb 7 21:00:04 1997: Sid says, "thanks for the encouragment."
Fri Feb 7 21:00:15 1997: Paul says, "I'm afraid we've only got enough time for one more...."
Fri Feb 7 21:00:19 1997: Paul presents the speakers with question #69 from Guest13: How does it feel to be the creator of Civ?..the chess game of the late 20th century.
Fri Feb 7 21:00:53 1997: Sid says, "I'm really proud of Civ. It was a lot of fun to write and it has just about..."
Fri Feb 7 21:01:15 1997: Sid says, "all the qualities I like to see in a game. It's gratifying to see other..."
Fri Feb 7 21:01:42 1997: Sid says, "designers take the genre and put their own ideas into it. I really..."
Fri Feb 7 21:02:06 1997: Sid says, "enjoy writing games, and since Civ turned out well it means I can..."
Fri Feb 7 21:02:24 1997: Sid says, "keep on writing games for quite a while. Thanks to all the..."
Fri Feb 7 21:02:50 1997: Sid says, "MicroProse/Firaxis game fans out there, if you stay interested, we'll"
Fri Feb 7 21:02:57 1997: Sid says, "keep writing games!"
Fri Feb 7 21:03:07 1997: Paul says, "Thanks for taking the time to chat with us Sid."
Fri Feb 7 21:03:24 1997: Paul says, "A full transcript of tonight's chat will be posted on the website shortly for those of you who came late."
Fri Feb 7 21:03:42 1997: Sid says, "You're welcome, hope to 'chat' with you all again sometime."
---
"Why did you leave MicroProse?" (From the FIRAXIS, www.firaxis.com, FAQ)
Sid Meier: "MicroProse was a great place to work for many years, and we certainly accomplished a great deal there. Once we had wrapped up a number of projects we felt the timing was right to start something on our own. Smaller more focused development groups seem to be a trend in the industry. With newer more efficient development tools it no longer takes a cast of thousands to put a product out. Firaxis allows us to focus exclusively on creating fun games without spreading our talents too
thin in other areas."
---
---