The Gamer's Quarter

ApM · Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2005 7:13 pm Post subject:

Quick! Write an article with this as the premise! Go!

I will write a counterpoint entitled, "Will Wright Gets Me Laid, That's Why."

You know whose balls I'd like to see licked once and a while? Jeff Tunnell.

Mister Toups · Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2005 8:08 pm Post subject:

I would except I haven't really played any of his games. I played Simearth and Simcity and they both bored me to tears.

I like legos better.
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ApM · Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2005 8:11 pm Post subject:

Well. No one liked SimEarth.

Mr. Mechanical · Friendly Stranger Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 1276

I can't play Sim games because the Sim genre just doesn't interest me, however Spore looks quite interesting and I'm looking forward to playing with it. Because, you know, you don't play the Sim games, you play around with them and therein lies the appeal. Sim games don't look fun to play around with but Spore does. Go figure. I guess it's the difference in scales or something, on the level that each game is going for. Sim games seem to be more focused on the smaller scale things, like individual people and their reactions rather than their non-immediate surroundings and environments, while Spore seems to be on both scales at once. Large and small.

dark steve · . Joined: 17 Jun 2005 Posts: 1110

I sure liked Sim Tower.

I mean hot damn.

SuperWes · Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2005 8:38 pm Post subject:

Simcity in my memory came out during the hayday of computer games. This was also the NES days. Simcity, Lemmings, Prince of Persia, Maniac Mansion. This was when people actually took chances when making PC games and released games that weren't just "me too" versions of other PC games. As soon as they started making nothing but RTS Games, FPS Games, and RPG games, and started requiring everyone to upgrade their computers every two years to play the current games, computer gaming really took a nosedive.

Will Wright was a big part of this era. As was Jordan Mechner, Psychnosis, Tim Schaffer, Roberta Williams and most of the other game designer that actually took gaming in new directions. That's why everyone licks Will Wright's balls. Whereas the rest of these names don't really mean much anymore, Will Wright's does. The reason why? He never stopped taking gaming in new directions.

-Wes

EDIT: And I really want Sim Tower on the GBA to come out in the US.
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Scratchmonkey · . Joined: 02 Mar 2005 Posts: 1439

I liked Sim Earth.

dessgeega · Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2005 9:31 pm Post subject:

nICO · . Joined: 19 Feb 2005 Posts: 120 Location: WVUSA

Does anyone else prefer to play Sim City Classic (for Win 95) over the later versions? I genuinely do, but I never got into 3 much at all and haven't tried 4 yet so it might just be I haven't devoted enough time. I'm positive I like it better than 2000, though, which I played a lot back in the day.

The reason I ask is this. Would it be worth playing Sim City 4 in any depth, or am I better off sticking to the tried and true? Without going into any detail, I prefer the simplicity of the original to the more complex, heavy micromanaging later versions.
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Brauner: Damn you, humans... You selfishly start wars and despoil the earth. Perhaps justice wasn't on my side but I will never admit that it was on yours.

Walter · . Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Posts: 5

dark steve · . Joined: 17 Jun 2005 Posts: 1110

Besides Tower, of course, how may of those Sim games did Wright actually have a hand in? I was under the impression not very many. Also, Sim Earth was leagues above Sim Farm.

My favorite glib one line answer to the question at hand is "Another literacy to be acquired."

dessgeega · Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2005 2:47 am Post subject:

Mister Toups · Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2005 7:25 am Post subject:

Spore seems to be the same concept as Katamari Damacy but applied through a Western gameplay model. Which is okay I guess. It still doesn't grab me. I think it will ultimately be as vapid as Katamari Damacy and for more ore less the same reasons. This is not to say that vapid is bad; I love Katamari Damacy despite being vapid. But I don't think I'll love Spore because the constituent gameplay is basically the same thing as the other Sim games; the difference is that the actual content is procedurally generated. It's a formal excercise, and I guess it will be interesting as such, but I have a feeling that it will get old pretty quickly.
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Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

I remember enjoying Sim Ant. I also liked making disasters happen on Sim City. I never got into the games though. Spore looks interesting. The Sims was... horrible to say the least.

SuperWes · Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2005 8:12 am Post subject:

dessgeega · Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2005 8:22 am Post subject:

the exciting thing about spore is the cohesion. all the different levels of the game are structured and manipulated in similiar ways.
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dhex · Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2005 8:43 am Post subject:

huh. yeah, that kinda gives me a boner.

there were so many bad Sim[stuff] games. fucking maxis.
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nICO · . Joined: 19 Feb 2005 Posts: 120 Location: WVUSA

Spore looks really fun to play, but I do think it's most important aspect is its implementation of procedurally generated content. (I assume) It offers a way for bright but small teams to compete with huge studios without much compromise. I'm sure a lot of designers will be awakened by Spore and apply procedurally generative methods to other, far different games.

I mean, it's not the best thing ever or anything. It's just a nice alternative option.
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Brauner: Damn you, humans... You selfishly start wars and despoil the earth. Perhaps justice wasn't on my side but I will never admit that it was on yours.

Walter · . Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Posts: 5

But it's Western, and not Japanese. So it automatically sucks by default.

(Because the Japanese never make/do anything bad ever, are a singular coherent entity completely free of Western influences, and constitute the entirety of the non-West.)

ApM · Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2005 11:36 am Post subject:

There isn't enough French in the games industry today!

COME BACK ERIC CHAHI

COME BACK FREDERICK RAYNAL

WE MISS YOU

dessgeega · Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2005 11:40 am Post subject:

ajutla · Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2005 1:36 pm Post subject:

Will Wright, well. I demand Spore frothingly, despite that I usually find that his games don't really grab me.

Sim City 2000 was the exception; it always felt special. it had...something. The newspapers, maybe. The llamas. The cheat codes. The way that, if you put the crosshairs directly over a plane and clicked, it would crash. I fucking loved that game when I was eight or nine. I've absorbed it into my bloodstream by now.

The original Sim City just feels like the Super Mario Bros. to 2000's SMB3. 3000 feels more like an entirely unnecessary sequel. Sim City 4 feels half-finished and is actually almost unplayable in a literal sense, it's as though it was developed in six months. Knowing EA, it probably was.

Pretty much everything else Wright has done bores the hell out of me. The Sims included. I know it's an important game that does interesting things, and is also a hilariously accurate simulation of everything that is wrong with middle-class America, but I'd rather water plants for real, rather than pretend to do it, is all. I did enjoy the game's bizarre atmosphere for about a week, though!

The Sims 2 strikes me as a regression. The game is pretty obviously gutted of anything interesting, because interesting things need to go into the inevitable expansion packs. Again, that's probably not Wright's fault, either.

I guess I'm sayng that Will Wright is okay, and brilliant, even, so long as we're talking SC2000, and fucking EA had better not fuck up Spore or I'll fucking fuck those fucking fuckers up.
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Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

dhex · Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2005 4:00 pm Post subject:

i have fond memories of the original sim city in all its ega, 5 1/4 glory.
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extralife · . Joined: 22 Jun 2005 Posts: 233

dark steve · . Joined: 17 Jun 2005 Posts: 1110

Have you seen the man dress?

Perhaps you were expecting amebic pentameter?

nICO · . Joined: 19 Feb 2005 Posts: 120 Location: WVUSA

dessgeega · Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2005 9:22 am Post subject:

i will hug will wright. this i've decided. if i should ever meet him, i will hug him. for a long time i've considered him the most huggable of all high-profile game designers.

(shiggy's in the running, but there's a distance between him and i, these days.)
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Mister Toups · Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2005 9:52 am Post subject:

So let's break this down. You've got constituent gameplay resembling the following:
Pac-Man (minus walls/ghosts, which, you know, are more or less what makes Pac Man what it is, at the end of the day)
Diablo
Populous
SimCity
Civilization

These are all games that I either hate or am bored by. I am inclined to argue that Populous, SimCity, and Civilization all more or less have the same constituent gameplay anyway, and what distinguishes them is the overall structure and system. You could arguably throw Diablo in there, too.

And yeah. I understand that this gets some people's blood pumping. Just... not mine.

I am reminded of the Penny Arcade where he's like "Did you see the Doom 3 engine? It looks AMAZING!" and the other guy replies "Yeah. I can't wait till someone makes a game with it."
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IIOIOOIOO · . Joined: 25 May 2005 Posts: 7

STFU TOUPS

ajutla · Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2005 12:01 pm Post subject:

Walter · . Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Posts: 5

I get the impression that the stages are actually fairly discrete: you have to bring development in one stage to a certain, Spore-defined threshhold, at which point you're allowed to 'advance' to the next stage.

While I'm not super duper interested in Spore (though I think it's brilliant), one of the more interesting things for me is the (apparent) ability to go back and forth between stages. I wonder if you can take control of pre-existing creatures in mid-development, or alter the physiological structure of your already-developed species. If the latter, what would relations between the original and mutated species be like?

It's hardly Katamari Damacy applied to a "Western" model (as if any of the similarities they share were markedly "Japanese" to begin with). And anyway, Wright has had this game in mind for far longer than KD ever existed in the head of Takahashi.

ajutla · Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2005 3:57 pm Post subject:

extralife · . Joined: 22 Jun 2005 Posts: 233

Remember that discussion on "big" vs. "small?" Yeah. Someone like Will Wright should know better. Spore sounds like it's being developed by an overexcited twelve year old.

I mean, honestly--I had very similar ideas when I was twelve. And I'm no fucking genius designer.

Mister Toups · Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2005 4:35 pm Post subject:

Pootivic · . Joined: 18 Jun 2005 Posts: 15

I would argure that Tim schafer's name still means something. He las the last creative pc developer with Grim Fandango. Psychonauts was a blast to play also. Not revolutionary but it had such a polished feel in terms of art direction. mechanics and story.

Walter · . Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Posts: 5

dessgeega · Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2005 4:45 am Post subject:

katamari damashii is basically bubbles, which was published by williams in 1982.
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dhex · Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2005 11:11 am Post subject:

overexcited wank from mr. sim[noun] is still going to be pretty good.

i think you guys expect far too much from games, as a rule.
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TOLLMASTER · nippon ichi PR man Joined: 15 Feb 2005 Posts: 187

Mister Toups · Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2005 11:50 am Post subject:

MORE LIKE WILL WRONG AM I RIGHT
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DonMarco · . Joined: 02 Mar 2005 Posts: 349 Location: 33903

Walter · . Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Posts: 5

dessgeega · Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2005 5:22 pm Post subject:

Mister Toups · Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 5:51 am Post subject:

OH NO YOU DIDN'T.

So if Katamari Damacy is basically bubbles then Spore is basically a rip-off of a 20 year old arcade game.
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dessgeega · Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 2:02 pm Post subject:

i want the tower sp to be released in north america.
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SuperWes · Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 2:07 pm Post subject: