Reply With QuoteI think they'll be going for Interactive Fiction.Strikes me that they could do anything.
So Firaxis licensed the NetImmerse engine.
What are they going to do with it? Strikes me that they could do anything. It's the engine powering Freedom Force, Dark Age of Camelot and Star Trek Bridge Commander.
http://www.gamespydaily.com/news/fullstory.asp?id=3629
I think they'll be going for Interactive Fiction.Strikes me that they could do anything.
Something immersive, that much is sure.Originally Posted by Matthew Gallant
As well as Morrowind, Munch's Oddysee, and Kohan 2...so I wouldn't read into this too much as far as what they might be doing with it. :D
I've heard a rumor from another gamer, so take it for what you will, that they may be working on an X-COM game.
Wouldn't that take the cake. The Gollops started with NetImmerse for Dreamland Chronicles didn't they? So now they hand the license for X-Com to Sid and what engine do they choose...
--Dave
Yep. I followed the websites for that game until it petered out. It is a shame, too. I do not think UFO - Aftermath, or whatever the hell Altar is calling it today, is going to be what I had hoped for Dreamland. Fully destructible environment with lots of crap flying all over the screen and body parts remaining all over the place.
Will the PS2 ever get a good strategy title? Will we ever have a true upgraded PC sequel to X-Com?
I have heard the same thing. I guess the thing to say is, all together now, "If anyone can make a faithful and engaging sequel to X-Com, Sid is the one to do it."
Well, it may not have gibbets of flesh flying, destructible environments or aliens but RoTK VII is a pretty good strategy game, IMHO, if you're looking for strategy that is.
Do you promise, Brian? I have been leering at it in the stores and cannot seem to pull the trigger. I have looked at the scant and luke-warm coverage it has gotten and am in a deeper quandry. After reading the "reviews" thread and thinking the subject over for years, I guess I should be basing my purchases more on msg. board discussions anyway.Well, it may not have gibbets of flesh flying, destructible environments or aliens but RoTK VII is a pretty good strategy game, IMHO, if you're looking for strategy that is.
I remember one of the early RoTKs on the NES was one of the first strategy games I ever played and played it endlessly.
I really do not need the carnage and destruction which was promised in Dreamland, but I sure was looking forward to it.
I will p/u RoTK VII on your recommendation and then hold you personally responsible if I do not enjoy it. :wink: If I go to EB and say Brian Rucker sent me, do I get a $5.00 mail-in rebate?
I at one point tried to get an answer out of Firaxis PR about the X-Com license rumor, but never got a response. :( Maybe I need to bug them again...
- Alan
Of course.
Mark, it would be cool if they were making an X-COM style game. The only thing i'm concerned about is that they won't stay true to the original series. For example, I really loved MOO (and even MOO2), but MOO 3 seems like its going to be so far removed from the original series. I'm sure MOO3 will be a great game, but I have my doubts that its going to have the same "feel to it" as the original. The way SimTex handled the interface in the first game was great because it was so simplistic. Very few screens and all the important stuff right at your fingertips. I know Quicksilver is working towards that, but I have some serious doubts that it won't be a major chore to play...
Uncomplicated gameplay is underrated these days. Oops! went off on a tangent..
Sid Meier isn't a throw-in-the-kitchen-sink kind of designer. He's always focused on playability. I don't think he'd overcomplicate X-COM.
Of course Sid hasn't exactly been burning up the track lately. The last three games he personally focused on were the Golf game (ok, but a slight effort), Gettysburg, and Magic: the Gathering.
You forgot about the failed Sid Meier's Dinosaurs!
--Dave
Well, Mark, the press release doesn't state that *SID* will be leading up a NetImmerse project, though I admit it's likely... Sounds like they're planning several games with it and there's been no news on Sid's next game. As far as his track record, SimGolf is an example of exactly the sort of uncomplicated game you're talking about. In many ways it, and Gettysburg I'd say, harken back to the sort of development environment that Sid first made his name in.
Gettysburg was a fantastic game and still one of the most innovative and different RTS games ever made. And Long, please, Sid canceling his own game because it isn't working up to his high Sid standards... well, that hardly sounds like a "failure" to me. Sounds like a good policy. ;-)
And I still play SimGolf. Best sim game since RCTycoon.
Last time I checked, when you put a whole lot of time and energy into creating something and have to bag it because it isn't working out, you failed to create it. Bub. 8)
Mark was talking about what he personally focused on... he personally focused on Dinosaurs!
--Dave
"As far as his track record, SimGolf is an example of exactly the sort of uncomplicated game you're talking about. In many ways it, and Gettysburg I'd say, harken back to the sort of development environment that Sid first made his name in."
SimGolf is easy to play. I like that aspect of it. I enjoyed it for a few hours and finished one course. I had no desire to play it again after that. I wouldn't rank it as one of his best efforts or even one of the better games of the year so far.
It hasn't sold well either -- not that that's a necessary indicator of quality.
Should've been a GBA game.
I'd actually put SimsGolf as my most dissapointing game purchase this year (though not a bad game). I played it a couple days and shelved it... it just feels too simple in its mechanics...the same problem I had with Tropico a year before (though not a bad game). Imo.
With Sid making an Xcom game with Netimmerse... and make it play somewhat like Freedom Force?!? .... That would truly be cool.
etc
From what he said at the D.I.C.E summit, Sid used very little of other people's time building prototypes, and had the good sense to move to another project when his Dinosaur prototypes didn't seem fun. He also said that he hadn't cancelled Dinosaurs -- only stopped work on it because he found something else that seemed a lot more promising (SimGolf). Moreover, the art resources used to prototype versions of Dinosaurs will hardly have been wasted if (as was suggested) those assets find their way into the Civ III expansion. Given that some of the Dinosaurs prototypes were built using Civ technology as an underpinning, this seems relatively easy to do, and has many people very excited.
So I guess you're backing up my assertion then. Sid personally focused on Dinosaurs!
--Dave
"He also said that he hadn't cancelled Dinosaurs -- only stopped work on it because he found something else that seemed a lot more promising (SimGolf)."
Wasn't SimGolf done in about a year? Didn't the whole thing smack of a developer rushing a smallish game out to meet some contractual obligation? That's what it seemed like to me.
That sounds right. I just wanted to make the point that Dinosaurs was probably a minimal resource drain, and that some of the work is being used elsewhere. I think that all of us would like to see more developers and publishers do exploratory work, and then cancel or postpone projects that don't look like fun.
I'd be surprised to see Sid Meir take on an established computer franchise. He's done his own take on board games like Railroad Tycoon and Civ(loosely), Sim Golf was more of a spinoff. Most designers of his stature seem like the want to stick with their own ideas.
True Jason, Sid didn't lead Civ2 and Civ3 for pretty much that reason. If they do XCom or whatever, it'll be Briggs or someone else in charge I think.
Would they call it Sid Meier's X-Com, I wonder?
I'm sure it will have his name on top for marketing purposes even if his involvment isn't that much.
Sid Meier's is becoming very similar to Stan Lee in the comic industry. Like how in Marvel comics, every issue says "Stan Lee Presents" even though he had nothing to do with the book.
Problem with that is after a while you automatically discount it. "Sid Meier's" doesn't have much oomph for me any more, especially after Civ3 (blech).
Yeah, once you know it's just a brand slapped on a box instead of an effort, you can't take it seriously anymore.Problem with that is after a while you automatically discount it. "Sid Meier's" doesn't have much oomph for me any more, especially after Civ3 (blech).
In an interview I did for Daily Radar Brian Reynolds called it: "a seal of approval".
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