Sid Meier
| Sid Meier | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Sid Meier at the GDC 2010 | |
| Born |
February 24, 1954 Sarnia, Ontario, Canada |
| Alma mater | University of Michigan |
| Occupation | Game programmer, video game designer, video game producer |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Employer | 2K Games |
| Known for | MicroProse, Firaxis Games, Civilization series |
| Spouse(s) | Susan Meier |
| Children | Ryan Meier |
Sidney K. "Sid" Meier (born February 24, 1954) is a Canadian programmer, designer, and producer of several popular strategy video games and simulation video games, most notably the Civilization series. Meier co-founded MicroProse in 1982 with Bill Stealey and is the Director of Creative Development of Firaxis Games, which he co-founded with Jeff Briggs and Brian Reynolds in 1996. He has won several prestigious accolades for his contributions to the video game industry.
Early life and education
Meier was born in the Canadian city of Sarnia to parents of Dutch and Swiss descent, giving him both Canadian and Swiss citizenship.[1] A few years later the family moved to Michigan where Sid Meier grew up and studied history and computer science, graduating with a degree in computer science[2] from the University of Michigan.[3] Meier lives in Hunt Valley, Maryland, with his wife, Susan. He met his wife at the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Faith Lutheran, in Cockeysville, where he plays the organ. Meier and his wife both sing in the church choir.[2][4][5]
Career
Meier founded MicroProse with Bill Stealey in 1982,[6] and by 1986 the company was using his name and face in advertisements for its games.[7] MicroProse at first developed mostly simulation video games, such as Silent Service and F-19 Stealth Fighter. In 1987, the company released Sid Meier's Pirates!, which also began a trend of placing Meier's name in the titles of his games. He later explained that the inclusion of his name was because of the dramatic departure in the design of Pirates! compared to the company's earlier titles. Stealey decided that it would improve the company's branding, believing that it would make those who purchased the flight simulators more likely to play the game. Stealey recalled: "We were at dinner at a Software Publishers Association meeting, and Robin Williams was there. And he kept us in stitches for two hours. And he turns to me and says 'Bill, you should put Sid's name on a couple of these boxes, and promote him as the star.' And that's how Sid's name got on Pirates, and Civilization."[8]
The idea was successful; by 1992 an entry in Computer Gaming World's poetry contest praised Meier's name as "a guarantee they got it right".[9] Meier is not always the main designer on titles that carry his name. For instance, Brian Reynolds has been credited as the primary designer behind Sid Meier's Civilization II, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, and Sid Meier's Colonization,[10][11] while Jeff Briggs designed Sid Meier's Civilization III, Soren Johnson led Sid Meier's Civilization IV, Jon Shafer led Sid Meier's Civilization V and Will Miller and David McDonough were the designers of Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth
After the release of F-19 Stealth Fighter, Meier focused on strategy games, later saying "Everything I thought was cool about a flight simulator had gone into that game."[12] Inspired by SimCity and Empire, he created Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon and later the game series for which he is most widely recognized, Sid Meier's Civilization,[12] although he designed only the first installment. Meier eventually left MicroProse and in 1996 founded Firaxis Games along with veteran designer and gaming executive Jeff Briggs. The company makes strategy games, many of which are follow-ups to Meier's titles, such as the new Civilization games and Sid Meier's Pirates! (2004). In 1996, he invented a "System for Real-Time Music Composition and Synthesis" used in C.P.U. Bach.[13] Next Generation listed him in their "75 Most Important People in the Games Industry of 1995", calling him "a prolific developer of some of the best games in [MicroProse]'s catalog."[14] In 2011, the people search company PeekYou claimed that Meier has the largest digital footprint of any video game designer.[15]
Awards
- In 1996, GameSpot put Meier at the top of their listing of the "Most Influential People in Computer Gaming of All Time", calling him "our Hitchcock, our Spielberg, our Ellington".[16]
- That same year, Computer Gaming World ranked him as eighth on the list of the "Most Influential Industry Players of All Time", noting that no game designer has had as many CGW Hall of Fame games as Sid Meier.[17]
- In 1997, Computer Gaming World ranked him as number one on the list of the "Most Influential People of All Time in Computer Gaming", for game design.[18]
- In 1999, he became the second person to be inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame.[19]
- In 2008, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2008 Game Developer's Conference.[20]
- In 2009, he came fifth in a Develop survey that asked some 9,000 game makers about their "ultimate development hero".[2]
- In 2009, he was ranked second in IGN's list of "Top Game Creators of All Time", and was called "the ideal role model for any aspiring game designer."[21]
Games
The games developed, co-developed and/or produced by Sid Meier:[22]
| Game | Release | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Formula 1 Racing | 1982 | The first commercial game by Sid Meier, published by Acorn Software Products Inc.[23][24] |
| Hellcat Ace | 1982 | Sid Meier's first project for MicroProse according to Bill Stealey [25] |
| Chopper Rescue | 1982 | Sid Meier said in 2007 that this was his first project for MicroProse.[26] |
| Spitfire Ace | 1982 | |
| Floyd of the Jungle | 1982 | |
| NATO Commander | 1983 | |
| Wingman | 1983 | By MicroProse.[27] |
| Solo Flight | 1984 | |
| Kennedy Approach | 1985 | |
| F-15 Strike Eagle | 1985 | |
| Silent Service | 1985 | A World War II submarine simulation game, and Meier's first foray out of flight sims. |
| Crusade in Europe | 1985 | |
| Decision in the Desert | 1985 | |
| Conflict in Vietnam | 1986 | |
| Gunship | 1986 | |
| Sid Meier's Pirates! | 1987 | |
| Red Storm Rising | 1988 | Nuclear submarine simulation game, based on the novel by Tom Clancy. |
| F-19 Stealth Fighter | 1988 | |
| F-15 Strike Eagle II | 1989 | |
| Sword of the Samurai | 1989 | |
| Covert Action | 1990 | |
| Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon | 1990 | A business simulation game that paints the early development of railroads in the United States and Europe. With the release of Sid Meier's Railroads!, this series now has four installments. |
| Sid Meier's Civilization | 1991 | A vastly successful turn-based strategy game, that has now run to a franchise (see below). This is Meier's most successful game franchise to date, having sold over 31 million copies as of 2015. |
| Pirates! Gold | 1993 | |
| Sid Meier's Colonization | 1994 | A turn-based strategy game themed on the early European colonization of the New World. |
| Sid Meier's Civilization II | 1996 | Follow-up to Sid Meier's successful Civilization; Brian Reynolds was lead designer on the game. |
| Magic: The Gathering | 1997 | This would be the last game that Sid Meier worked on for MicroProse. |
| Sid Meier's Gettysburg! | 1997 | Sid Meier's first real-time tactical game. |
| Sid Meier's Antietam! | 1998 | Sid Meier's Gettysburg and Antietam are part of his Civil War set. |
| Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri | 1999 | Brian Reynolds was lead designer on this adaptation of Civilization to an outer space theme. |
| Sid Meier's Civilization III | 2001 | Jeff Briggs designed the third installment of the series, with more complex rules, graphics and gameplay. |
| Sid Meier's SimGolf | 2002 | A golfing simulation in which the player built their own golf course and played it against computer players, co-created by Maxis. (Not to be confused with Maxis' 1996 title SimGolf.) |
| Sid Meier's Pirates! | 2004 | Follow-up to the acclaimed Pirates! game from 1987, updating the graphics and featuring some entirely new gameplay elements. |
| Sid Meier's Civilization IV | 2005 | Designed by Soren Johnson. A full 3D engine replaces the isometric maps of Civilization II and III. |
| Sid Meier's Railroads! | 2006 | When Take 2 shut down PopTop Software and folded it into Firaxis, Meier once again became responsible for the Railroad Tycoon series, and this is billed as the sequel to Railroad Tycoon 3. |
| Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution | 2008 | A seventh generation console edition of Civilization. |
| Sid Meier's Pirates! Mobile | 2008 | The game was developed and published by Oasys Mobile and was led by one of the original programmers for Pirates! Gold. |
| Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon Mobile | Developed by Blue Heat and published by Oasys Mobile. This mobile version allows players to build their own transportation empire. | |
| Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization | 2008 | A 2008 remake of the 1994 Colonization, and a standalone game based on the Civilization IV engine. |
| Sid Meier's Civilization V | 2010 | Headed by Jon Shafer with new features. |
| Sid Meier's CivWorld | 2011 | A massively multiplayer online game released on Facebook. Game closed down on May 29, 2013.[29] |
| Sid Meier's Ace Patrol | 2013 | A World War I flight strategy game published by 2K Games.[30] |
| Sid Meier's Ace Patrol: Pacific Skies | 2013 | A World War II flight strategy game published by 2K Games. |
| Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution 2 | 2014 | A mobile exclusive sequel to Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution. |
| Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth | 2014 | A spiritual successor to Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri built atop the Civilization V engine |
| Sid Meier's Starships | 2015 | It follows on from Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth |
| Sid Meier's Civilization VI | 2016 |
According to PC Gamer, "Though his games are frequently about violent times and places, there is never any blood or gore shown. He designs and creates his games by playing them, over and over, until they are fun."[8] Meier worked with a team on a dinosaur-themed game starting in early 2000, but announced in an online development diary in 2001 that the game had been shelved. Despite trying various approaches, including turn-based and real-time gameplay, he said he found no way to make the concept fun enough. In 2005, he said, "We've been nonstop busy making other games over the past several years, so the dinosaur game remains on the shelf. However, I do love the idea of a dinosaur game and would like to revisit it when I have some time."[31]
References
- ↑ Firaxicon: An Evening with Sid Meier and Jake Solomon of Firaxis Games
- 1 2 3 "Sid Meier: The Father of Civilization". Kotaku.com. Retrieved 2013-08-25.
- ↑ "Sid Meier's Game Design Boot Camp at the University of Michigan". Eecs.umich.edu. Retrieved 2013-08-25.
- ↑ "Game Boy". Joabj.com. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
- ↑ "Game Boy Magazine : Sid Meier article" (PDF). Joabj.com. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
- ↑ Plunkett, Luke (August 31, 2011). "Remembering The House That Civilization Built". Kotaku. Gawker Media.
- ↑ "Another Great Simulation from Sid Meier - Author of F-15 Strike Eagle (advertisement)". Run. February 1986. p. 48. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
- 1 2 "How Sid Meier became one of the most recognizable names in gaming | News". PC Gamer. 2013-06-28. Retrieved 2013-08-25.
- ↑ "CGW's Last Annual Game Poetry Contest". Computer Gaming World. 1 December 1992. p. 48. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
- ↑ "GameSpy: PC Games, Reviews, News, Previews, Demos, Mods & Patches". Archive.gamespy.com. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
- ↑ Archived August 12, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
- 1 2 Rouse III, Richard (2005). Game Design: Theory & Practice Second Edition. Wordware Publishing. pp. 20-39. ISBN 1-55622-912-7.
- ↑ US A system for automatically generating musical compositions on demand one after another without duplication ... in a variety of genres and forms so that concerts based on generated compositions will have a varied mix of pieces incorporated therein. 5496962, Meier, Sidney K. & Jeffery L. Briggs, "System for Real-Time Music Composition and Synthesis", issued 5 March 1996
- ↑ "75 Power Players". Next Generation. Imagine Media (11): 51. November 1995.
- ↑ "The PeekScores of the Biggest Names in the History of Video Games". PeekYou. Archived from the original on October 30, 2011. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
- ↑ "GameSpot". Web.archive.org. 2005-05-17. Archived from the original on August 12, 2013. Retrieved 2013-08-25.
- ↑ CGW 148: The 15 Most Influential Industry Players of All Time
- ↑ CGW 159: The Most Influential People in Computer Gaming
- ↑ "Special Awards - Sid Meier, Firaxis Games". Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
- ↑ "Game Developer's Choice Online Awards – Sid Meier". Game Developers Conference. UBM TechWeb. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
- ↑ "IGN - 2. Sid Meier". IGN. News Corporation. Retrieved August 27, 2011.
- ↑ Archived January 20, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ ROM MAGAZINE 3 — December 1983/January 1984 p 12, Peter Ellison
- ↑ «Sid Meier's First(?) Game and an Early Look at MicroProse» 30. juli, 2008 - Eric Kaltman
- ↑ Gamers at Work: Stories Behind the Games People Play, by Morgan Ramsay, p 40
- ↑ The History of Civilization, Benj Edwards, July 18th 2007
- ↑ http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-wingman_5778.html
- ↑ Matulef, Jeffrey (21 August 2015). "Grand Theft Auto series has shipped over 220m copies". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
- ↑ "CIVWORLD SHUTDOWN: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS". Support.2k.com. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
- ↑ "Sid Meier's Ace Patrol launches on Steam". Eurogamer.net. 27 August 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
- ↑ Archived April 3, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
External links
 |
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Sid Meier |
- Sid Meier's biography and games history at Firaxis.com
- Sid Meier at MobyGames
- Sid Meier at the Internet Movie Database
- Sid Meier's video interview with the french newspaper Le Point, in English after the 20-second-intro (February 25, 2015).
- BACH & Friends documentary