I may not play many of his games but I have huge respect for this man. He is one of the founders of an entire new kind of media. His story of how he got to where he is today is cool to, he started from the very bottom at the very start and became a legend. May he make games for a long time to come. | |
It's cool to see developers personally interacting with the community like this. Civ 4, I may add, is a great game, and I'm interested to see what's gonna be made in 48 hours. | |
I'm surprised by the difference in quality of games between Sid and the students. Especially considering there were 3 and it was only him. Sid's game is probably already at a decent enough quality to be released on XBLA! It was an enjoyable watch though. | |
Wow I knew a lot of famous or influential people went to the University of Michigan, but this is the first I've heard of a video game designer(?) being a former wolverine. As a side note Mr. Funk do you know if this contest is going on now? I didn't hear anything about it, which I find strange as I attend U of M, but then again I'm not in the engineering program. Edit: Thinking about it that was a really stupid question. How could there be a documentary about it if it's still going on. Never mind. | |
What a weird coincidence that there is a USM map from SC called "Escape from Zombie Hotel" | |
Hehe, yeah. Since this was the 7th annual it looks like a yearly event. They just probably don't have Sid Meier there every year to judge. The original civilization was the first game that I ever pulled an "all-nighter" playing. You would start the game and before you know it 4-5 hours are gone. Very cool to see some of his background. I love the "He must have a 'create game' button" comment. Heh. | |
if videogame developers had their own community, i'm sure this guy would be elected Meier. | |
Sid Meyer, You are my hero, now stop fiddling around and give me my civilization 5 already. | |
Now thats a great documentry. Sid meirs has always been one of my favourite in tenrs of strategy and such. <3 the Civilisation games. Great to seem him still getting aboutt! Cant wait for new Civ! | |
Sid Meyer is a genius. | |
That was a terrible pun. You should be ashamed. Sid Meier is indeed amazing, however. | |
Simply wonderful documetary. Thank you for posting. | |
Great Documentory. Really fun to watch. Loved the guy who made Mad Magician (The one with the curly hair) becuase of his quite funny remarks. | |
Wow before he was just Sid Meier that Civ dude but now its SID MEIER FOUNDER OF THE (gaming) UNIVERSE AS YOU KNOW IT! | |
That was great. Though I was kinda shocked at the first place winner. | |
Sid...where the hell is Pirates! 2? | |
That was entertaining to watch. Sort of makes me wish I was good at programming. And I also was surprised to hear how early on Meier was making games. You don't often see people who were founders of a field and continue to be successful in it for it's entire existence so far. | |
Ouch,my eyes. Having to comprehend is not something I do well when tired. On that note,I would of opted for more sleeping myself,a nights rest in a comfortible bed keeps me working efficiently. | |
hmm, sids son works at blizz (saw the logo on the shirt) didnt know that | |
I've always admired Sid and his games. Didn't watch the whole thing know, but surely will, later. And try to find out if those games will be avaible for playing. | |
That was amazing. The entire time, I was becoming more and more exciting about this contest as it seems like one that I would love to enter. Knowing my programming skill, my game would most likely be bugged and unfinished within that time. But I will become better at it and will hopefully become better. I also found it hysterical the different quality of the games between Sid and the students. The students I can at least relate to but Sid?!?!?!?!? He does have a function called "build game" | |
Man, Sid is amazing! I'm glad I watched this video, it was really interesting. I could never, ever aspire to become a video game creator. Sounds like it is too hard for my brain to compute. | |
Allow me to add my name to the official petition: I want to get my hands on Escape from Zombie Hotel!. Aesthetics go a long way for me, and even in this quickly-made, unpolished form, it looks like Sid took the concept and feel of a graphical Rogue-like and made it up for the modern day. I'd shell out $10 for that, easy. | |
I've played every Sid Meier's game thats been available over the years, I'll be playing Civ in one version or another for the rest of my life most likely. Hes shaped alot of what I feel a good game should be. I only wish today's designers would take more cues from how he approaches a game idea, to its total design. Sid Meier's is the legend of the gaming community. I just wish he could clone himself, and start making a bigger dent on the bloated mammoth EA. Many thanks for the video John! | |
Great video. I love Civilizations, so this man is a hero to me. | |
"I think the title of the game will be... Escape From Zombie Hotel!" Sid is the man. | |
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Gaming Legend Sid Meier and His 48-Hour Game
Sid Meier is known to some as the godfather of modern computer gaming, and it's a title he's certainly deserving of - as shown in a delightful mini-documentary where he enters a 48-hour game design challenge at his old alma mater.
Sid Meier is a man who certainly belongs in the pantheon of video game forefathers alongside other names like Shigeru Miyamoto, Will Wright, Nolan Bushnell and John Carmack. The father of Civilization and the Tycoon series, Meier's works have helped inspire hundreds if not thousands of would-be game designers - and that influence (and talent) is the subject of the mini-documentary you see above.
In the 23:37-long film, Meier returns to his old alma mater, the University of Michigan - where he was once almost kicked out of the computer science program for programming a Tic-Tac-Toe game on the giant punch-card-based mainframe - to enter the "7th Annual Wolverine Soft 48 Hour Game Design Contest."
Despite what the name may indicate, there are no mutants with a healing factor and metal claws involved. Instead, it's a two-day competition where aspiring coders and designers compete to make a game as quickly as possible, similar to the Worldwide Game Jam. Meier enters the contest both as a judge and honorary contestant - one of the students remarks how cool it is to have Sid Meier playing his game instead of the other way around - to test his skills, as he's never made a game in just two days before.
The documentary is directed by Juan Carlos Pineiro Escoriaza - the man behind the superb MMOG documentary Second Skin - which should give you a hint that it's well worth watching if you have half an hour to spare. Not only does Meier give us all a great look into the early days of the industry and what inspired him to make games, but it's just a really neat 48-hour story and worth a watch.
(Motherboard TV)
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