Sid Meier at the 48 hour game contest.
Icrontians have a rich appreciation for gaming classics. Few developers have created more enduring classics than Sid Meier. In this video, Sid shows his true colors as a down-to-earth guy, but still a sharp game developer. He visits the University of Michigan, his alma mater, to serve as a judge in a 48-hour game development competition.
Of course, since he’s spending the 48 hours on campus anyway, why not develop a game? Sid creates a game in 48 hours that not only looks really fun, but also shows that he still has what it takes to beat the young guys every time. Clearly this old dog is constantly teaching himself new tricks.
I was personally more interested in Sid’s story than the development competition, but what struck me most was that Sid is still very much involved in the coding of the games Firaxis releases. I had always assumed that after perhaps the Civ II days, Sid was only the conceptual designer and then others took over the coding. This video shows that not only does Sid still have a hand in the coding, but he still does it really well.
Escape from Zombie Hotel
Sid draws a parallel between the early days of game development and the modern indie games movement. He doesn’t come right out and say it, but there’s a pretty strong implication that modern big studio game development stifles the creativity of game developers by shoehorning every new game into an old box.
From the story of Sid’s college game development “when it was illegal” to the creation of Escape from Zombie Hotel, this mini-documentary is worth watching every one of its 23 minutes. I definitely respected Sid Meier before, but after watching this short film, I can definitely say that my respect for him has only increased.
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