Sid Meier
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Sid Meier | |
| Born | February 24, 1954 |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Game designer |
| Spouse(s) | Susan Meier |
| Children | Ryan Meier |
Sidney K. Meier (born February 24, 1954, in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada[1]) is a Canadian programmer and designer of several popular computer strategy games who has won accolades for his contributions to the computer games industry. Meier is a Director of Creative Development for computer game developer Firaxis Games, which he co-founded with Jeff Briggs and Brian Reynolds in 1996.
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[edit] Career
Sid Meier founded MicroProse together with Bill Stealey in 1982. At MicroProse, Meier developed the game series for which he is most widely recognized, Civilization, 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. Today Firaxis makes strategy games, many of which are follow-ups to Meier titles, such as Civilization IV and Pirates!. In 1996 he was awarded US Patent 5,496,962 for a "System for Real-Time Music Composition and Synthesis" used in a product called "CPU Bach".[2]
In 1999, Meier became the second person to be inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame. The first to receive that honor was Shigeru Miyamoto from Nintendo.
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 Civilization 2, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, and Sid Meier's Colonization,[3][4] while Jeff Briggs designed Civilization III and Soren Johnson led Sid Meier's Civilization IV. Currently Meier's role appears to be that of a creative director, simultaneously contributing to multiple projects.
Meier worked with a team on a dinosaur themed game starting early 2000, but announced in an online development diary on January 24, 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 August 2005, Meier 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."[5]
In January 2008, CMP Game Group announced that Meier would be receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2008 Game Developer's Conference.
Meier currently lives in Hunt Valley, Maryland with his wife, Susan, and son, Ryan. He met his wife at Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church in Cockeysville, where they both sing in the choir.[6]
[edit] References to Sid Meier in games
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- Sid Meier's likeness is used in Sid Meier's Civilization and Civilization III for the game's science advisor.
- The gameplay tutorial in Civilization IV is presented by a character modeled after and voiced by Sid Meier. In Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword he performs the narration for the six new technologies.
- In Civilization IV, Sid Meier is "leader" of the barbarians. This is only apparent if one sets Barbarian State to playable in the XML editor.
- The highest difficulty level available for Civilization III is listed as 'Sid'.
- There is a hidden faction named Firaxis in Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri and the leader is Sid Meier. This can be unlocked by opening a file with the faction editor.
- There is a hidden faction named Firaxians in Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire and the leader is Sid Meier or Brian Reynolds. This can be unlocked by opening a file with the faction editor.
- In the baseball video game Major League Baseball 2K7, there is a fielding coach named Sid Meier.
- In Sid Meier's Pirates!, he can be seen on some occasions instead of the mysterious trader in the corner of the tavern. The bartender also bears a striking resemblance to Sid Meier.
- In Sid Meier's Railroads!, Sid Meier is depicted as a smiling railroad baron on the back of the game box (PC version), wearing a top hat and holding a locomotive in his left hand. This image can also be seen at the game's official website. Meier also modeled for a 1990 advertisement for the game where he is wearing the presumed attire of a 19th Century tycoon; smoking a cigar. The ad was featured mainly in computer and gaming magazines.
[edit] Games
Games that have been developed by Meier span three decades. Some of the more notable titles are listed below in chronological order.
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[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Torsen, Tor (December 1, 2006). "Q&A: Sid Meier chronicles Civilization". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/news/6162633.html?q=Civilization. Retrieved on February 28 2007.
- "The Most Influential People in Video Gaming of All Time". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/features/15most/html/mi_01.html. Retrieved on 2007-06-09.
- ^ http://www.examiner.com/a-1518783~One_of_gaming_s_biggest_stars_shies_away_from_spotlight.html
- ^ Meier, Sidney K. & Jeffery L. Briggs, "System for Real-Time Music Composition and Synthesis", 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, issued 5 March 1996
- ^ Interview with Brian Reynolds from GameSpy
- ^ "The Sid Meier Legacy: Sid Meier's Colonization" from GameSpot
- ^ Firaxis Games: Community: Ask Sid from Firaxis' official website
- ^ "Game Boy" article about Meier from Baltimore magazine (Typeset version in PDF)
[edit] External links
| Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Sid Meier |

