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Sid Meier

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Sid Meier
Sid Meier at the GDC 2010
Born (1954-02-24) February 24, 1954 (age 70)
Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
Alma materUniversity of Michigan
Occupation(s)Game programmer, video game designer, video game producer
Years active1982–present
Employer2K Games
Known forMicroProse, Firaxis Games, Civilization series
SpouseSusan Meier
ChildrenRyan 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 in 2007

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

The star for Sid Meier at the Walk of Game in the Metreon, San Francisco
  • 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.

[28]

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

  1. ^ Firaxicon: An Evening with Sid Meier and Jake Solomon of Firaxis Games
  2. ^ a b c "Sid Meier: The Father of Civilization". Kotaku.com. Retrieved 2013-08-25.
  3. ^ "Sid Meier's Game Design Boot Camp at the University of Michigan". Eecs.umich.edu. Retrieved 2013-08-25.
  4. ^ "Game Boy". Joabj.com. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  5. ^ "Game Boy Magazine : Sid Meier article" (PDF). Joabj.com. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  6. ^ Plunkett, Luke (August 31, 2011). "Remembering The House That Civilization Built". Kotaku. Gawker Media.
  7. ^ "Another Great Simulation from Sid Meier - Author of F-15 Strike Eagle (advertisement)". Run. February 1986. p. 48. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
  8. ^ a b "How Sid Meier became one of the most recognizable names in gaming | News". PC Gamer. 2013-06-28. Retrieved 2013-08-25.
  9. ^ "CGW's Last Annual Game Poetry Contest". Computer Gaming World. 1 December 1992. p. 48. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  10. ^ "GameSpy: PC Games, Reviews, News, Previews, Demos, Mods & Patches". Archive.gamespy.com. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  11. ^ [1] Archived August 12, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ a b Rouse III, Richard (2005). Game Design: Theory & Practice Second Edition. Wordware Publishing. pp. 20-39. ISBN 1-55622-912-7.
  13. ^ 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. & Briggs, Jeffery L., "System for Real-Time Music Composition and Synthesis", issued 5 March 1996 
  14. ^ "75 Power Players". Next Generation (11). Imagine Media: 51. November 1995.
  15. ^ "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. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ "GameSpot". Web.archive.org. 2005-05-17. Archived from the original on August 12, 2013. Retrieved 2013-08-25. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ CGW 148: The 15 Most Influential Industry Players of All Time
  18. ^ CGW 159: The Most Influential People in Computer Gaming
  19. ^ "Special Awards - Sid Meier, Firaxis Games". Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
  20. ^ "Game Developer's Choice Online Awards – Sid Meier". Game Developers Conference. UBM TechWeb. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
  21. ^ "IGN - 2. Sid Meier". IGN. News Corporation. Retrieved August 27, 2011.
  22. ^ [2] Archived January 20, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  23. ^ ROM MAGAZINE 3 — December 1983/January 1984 p 12, Peter Ellison
  24. ^ «Sid Meier's First(?) Game and an Early Look at MicroProse» 30. juli, 2008 - Eric Kaltman
  25. ^ Gamers at Work: Stories Behind the Games People Play, by Morgan Ramsay, p 40
  26. ^ The History of Civilization, Benj Edwards, July 18th 2007
  27. ^ http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-wingman_5778.html
  28. ^ Matulef, Jeffrey (21 August 2015). "Grand Theft Auto series has shipped over 220m copies". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  29. ^ "CIVWORLD SHUTDOWN: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS". Support.2k.com. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  30. ^ "Sid Meier's Ace Patrol launches on Steam". Eurogamer.net. 27 August 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  31. ^ [3] Archived April 3, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
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