Problem with future games... Is my age?

[XarXo]

Well people, I'm quite old, and I've to admit something: From Civ II MGE there isn't any game that really impressed me by the addiction level that it caused. Looking in games that need months/years of development with amaizing graphics and them decay in a total abandoned thing at the end of the first week...

Is time to reflexion...

Please vote.

PS: SimCity 4 is quite good, at least one has some power

[Mr. President]

"The last games are quite crappy (including future like "Rise of Nations")"

"Game creators are in crisis, this si why they spend millions in graphics and zero in create something new."

Especially the second one. After what? Ten years? It's still "Move your units ahead one space. Place workers on tiles."

[DrSpike]

Partly is it games-makers getting more lazy, and for my part it is a growing dissatisfaction with AI, despite it being better than it was 5 years ago when civ2 came out. These days I play more MP.

[Nikolai]

It must be something with your age!(you asked for it...) I for one think it has been several games the last years that is good, and everal coming. My favourite game is Europa Universalis 2(a GREAT game!), that came for aproximately one year ago, and the coming game from Paradox(maker of EU2) and a russian game company named Snowball, that is to be called Crusader Kings looks really promising.

[Sandman]

When you slavishly follow a game from it's conception to release, it takes away some of the fun. A bit like how even the best trailer ruins films.

[Straybow]

I had lots of ideas how to improve Civ. Then Sid made Civ2 and it was wonderful. It had only a few of the things I thought I'd like to see, but it didn't matter much. I had lots of ideas how to improve Civ2. Then Firaxis made Civ3 and it stunk.

It had nothing to do with following it from conception to release. C'mon, culture flipping?!? Hacking trade out of the game, leaving a festering stump in its place?

[Trifna]

Your age makes you eat too much bananas, which gives you a surplus of potassium with the consequences: the world is terrorized and developpers get their companies bought by big guys like Microsoft and Electronic Arts that just build what's easy cash.

[badams52]

My guess is that all the great games have been created already and the new ones are just a rehash of old ideas.

[SCG]

Originally posted by badams52
My guess is that all the great games have been created already and the new ones are just a rehash of old ideas.

that sounds a bit like a rather famous quote -

Everything that can be invented, has been invented.

attributed to Charles Duell, Head of US Patent Office, 1899

I think its the same problem with games today that is with the entertainment industry in general. It is cheaper, and you are guaranteed a share of the market if you do sequels or remakes. So that is where the majority of the money goes, rather into something that could potentially be a whole lot better but could also flop.

[XarXo]

-JUST AN EXAMPLE-

I've never seen a ski resort building simulator.

I always enjoyed the idea of putting a black route in an important point only for see newbies crashing at the trees . Imagine a landscape of mountains, rivers, forests and small villages, with the possibility of winter olympic games, creating train or car routes, buying terrains to ol' farmers and having problems with tiny inhabitated but enormous area village mayors.

I feel interesting at this, but nobody done it before. SID MEIEEEEEERRRRR, WHAT ABOUT SID MEIER'S SIM SKI ?

Another cool feature could be DO de routes at human vision just for check near all.

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by XarXo
-JUST AN EXAMPLE-

I've never seen a ski resort building simulator.

Good god man, shut up before Maxis or Firaxis or someone equally irresponsible see this.

[TheStinger]

What about a insurance company simulator, where you have to build fax machines and photo copiers to ensur the fast movement of bits of paer round the office. you also have to build enough lawyers to defend against law suits

[DrSpike]

My first post on the page below again seems eerily appropriate:

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=52727&pagenumber=4

[badams52]

DrSpike, some of us don't have a page 4 to that thread yet

that's not exactly what I meant. By rehash, I mean taking a game idea and remaking it but changing the environment. i.e. taking a civ game and making it in space --> MoO, GalCiv, Spaceward Ho (one of my favs in this genre) or taking a sim game and making new instances of it simcity -> sim farm, sim ant (lame concept btw), sim circus, sim resort or dune 2--> comand and conquer.

In other words, the game has the same general strategies and motions to go through, but you're just tweaking names, units, tech trees, whatever new thing gets added later in the game cause you reached a certain level, etc.

edit: here's an analogy:

What my brother had told me (whether right or wrong) is that when you begin to read an author who carries a similar theme or style through multiple books, you will love the first on you read, whichever one in the series it is, best. A great example of this is Amy Tan by the way.

So in the world of gaming, my guess is when you come across a "new" title which is usually a rehash of one of many older titles, your love for it won't be as high as it was for the previous title you played to death unless the new title is by far the better game. Compare civ 1, 2, and 3 this way and I can see why many people dislike civ 3 having grown a loving fondness for civ 2. But I rarely hear anyone campaigning for civ 1 since civ 2 is very similar but by far a better game.

[XarXo]

Atlantis Underwater Tycoon...

What in the HELL is THAT? All this game could be included in Sim City 4 as an alone building!