Sid Meier's Sim Golf?

April 30, 2001, 20:15

saw the news item in the misc section?

Apocalypse · April 30, 2001, 23:31

I don't want to comment either

connorkimbro · May 1, 2001, 01:26

Golf? Blah. Whoopty doo. I enjoy golfing once in a while, but i can't see enjoying a golfing computer game. Im sure it will be great, as far as golfing games go, but it's just not my thing.

Zanzin · May 1, 2001, 03:54

What's more unbelievable is Sid DOING a golf game!! Doesn't make much sense does it?

Apocalypse · May 1, 2001, 23:06

He did CPU Bach and few saw that coming...

Urban Ranger · May 1, 2001, 23:13

Yikes, a golf game.

Bring out the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch!

Grumbold · May 2, 2001, 09:02

Well I would never normally buy a Golf game, so perhaps if Sid can weave some magic into the genre it just might attract a lot of new buyers into a small but solid niche market. I was struggling to think what on earth he could do to improve gameplay but the latest news makes more sense if he is helping to make the Sim Golfcourse Manager aspects fun, playable and challenging. A management sim sounds far more his kind of sphere.

Buck Birdseed · May 2, 2001, 18:02

I always was sucker for Course Design games...

Urban Ranger · May 2, 2001, 22:50

What kind of courses? Basket Weaving 101 perhaps?

BTW, are you tired of entering big long handles?

tniem · May 4, 2001, 17:20

I just don't understand exactly why this game makes sense in terms of the economics of it.

The big movers and shakers in sports games all are either from EA or have a major athlete behind them (or in the case of N64 Mario). A game designer doesn't seem to be one to have a draw for a sports game. I may be wrong but the Sid name probably won't sell to many copies for a sports game so the game will have to be fantastic to find a spot in an already crowded market. Just doesn't seem to make sense (shakes head in disbelief).

Imran Siddiqui · May 4, 2001, 18:07

Well, I was talking about this a few months ago, and the one game Sid HASN'T done is sports. Perhaps this is to complete all the genres?

Sid Meier and Will Wright can get some bucks for the game though. We'll see (I'll buy it

).

Kautilya · May 6, 2001, 14:45

Well remember this is more a golf management game/sim rather than a golf sports game per se.

I don't know how many strategic aspects there would be in making and running a golf course but I suspect that Sid Meier will find something interesting to model.

I probably won't buy it but I think the trend of making sims covering a wider range of topics is a good one even if I don't like every single subject. A top-class golf management game will probably induce some older, more educated types to play computer games for the first time. Then they might get interested in strategy games in general and enlarge the market for high quality strategy games. That's a good thing ,right?

Darkknight · May 6, 2001, 19:18

I did like all those ancient golf games but the ones nowadays are too complicated I just want to get out there and hit the bloody ball.

I don't see how sid can improve on the golf game, I'm a bit skeptical as to the reliance of the news. And yes more players is better.(at least for us game-makers

Shane

------------------
" Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few "

Buck Birdseed · May 8, 2001, 11:43

Think Rollercoaster Tycoon but instead of good rollercoasters and theme parks you have to design good golf courses and country clubs. Add a golf sim and you could have a great seller on your hands.

It's a pretty obvious idea. I have asked myself before why no-one has made one....

tniem · May 8, 2001, 16:17

quote:

Originally posted by Snapcase on 05-08-2001 11:43 AM
Think Rollercoaster Tycoon but instead of good rollercoasters and theme parks you have to design good golf courses and country clubs. Add a golf sim and you could have a great seller on your hands.

It's a pretty obvious idea. I have asked myself before why no-one has made one....

That makes sense and definitely a top seller. Disappointing though that when two of the top game creators of all time get together they can't come up with anything more inovative than a simulation of running a golf course. Oh well...

May 8, 2001, 19:12

quote:

Originally posted by tniem on 05-08-2001 04:17 PM

That makes sense and definitely a top seller. Disappointing though that when two of the top game creators of all time get together they can't come up with anything more inovative than a simulation of running a golf course. Oh well...

it seems that you wont just design and run the courses, you'll play against your sims afterwards

lord of the mark · May 9, 2001, 13:56

quote:

Originally posted by MarkG on 05-08-2001 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by tniem on 05-08-2001 04:17 PM

That makes sense and definitely a top seller. Disappointing though that when two of the top game creators of all time get together they can't come up with anything more inovative than a simulation of running a golf course. Oh well...

it seems that you wont just design and run the courses, you'll play against your sims afterwards

theres my dream -

you can just build "mass transit" al a civ2, or you can drill down and build a subway, like in simcity. You can manage city happiness, then go down and see the impact on your sims of more "luxuries"

IIUC Zeus tried to link civ style intercitycombat with simcity/caeaser3 style city builing.

Simville will somehow link up to sim city or down to the sims, or maybe both?

These would be ideal sid/will wright projects. simsociety.

LOTM

Apocalypse · May 9, 2001, 20:28

Sid & Co have finally announced that it is Sim Golf so I guess I can say some things, but unfortunantly almost all of what I know is mentioned in the Gamespot preview.

Also, Imran, you doubted that I really knew about this ahead of time. Look at the number of pieces of advanced info I gave you - four. Guess what golfers say when teeing off

. I couldn't say anything specific so I just put that thing in there so I could show you afterwards that I did indeed know about this ahead of time. The e-mail actually originally included 7 other things but they were even more vague and would not give you more assurance than just having four.

May 10, 2001, 08:43

http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories...717147,00.html

Buck Birdseed · May 10, 2001, 10:44

Cool.

tniem · May 10, 2001, 20:02

Sounds interesting.

Quick question is Firaxis going to post anything on their site or is everything going to be at Maxis/EA?

tniem · May 10, 2001, 20:05

quote:

Originally posted by tniem on 05-10-2001 08:02 PM
Sounds interesting.

Quick question is Firaxis going to post anything on their site or is everything going to be at Maxis/EA?

My fault just went to the Firaxis site and found the stuff...

Lord_Davinator · May 10, 2001, 21:59

I don't damn care how good it is I ain't gona buy a computer game based on the worlds most crappy game.
whats next sid? sid mier's dollhouse??

shesh!

tniem · May 10, 2001, 22:03

quote:

Originally posted by Lord_Davinator on 05-10-2001 09:59 PM
I don't damn care how good it is I ain't gona buy a computer game based on the worlds most crappy game.
whats next sid? sid mier's dollhouse??

shesh!

Golf, the world's crappiest game? You obviously haven't seen the olympics in a number of years nor the former XFL.

And as for Sid Meier's Dollhouse, he should have come up with that a year or two ago before the Sims. It would have been just as successful and worth lots of money.

tniem · May 10, 2001, 22:09

What I think everyone is missing, including myself is the contract that Firaxis has with EA. The companies agreed to three games. The first being Sid Meier's Gettysburg!, the second being SMAC, and the third most people expected to be the dino game.

When the dino game fell through, Firaxis was in a bit of a pickle. They needed to satisfy EA with a third game before EA would let Firaxis finish a game for a rival publishing house. So, EA talked with Sid and Jeff and they probably worked on a solution.

At first this would be the company making another game with hired help. But then Sid got this great idea and talked with EA. They were thrilled with a simulation golf title - after all they make a killing off of the simulation genre and sports games and now the two are going to be combined by a man whose name immediately sells thousands of copies. My guess is EA immediately bought on to the project and sent Sid to talk with Maxis and Will Wright. They hit it off and the project just devoloped.

Now everyone is happy. EA gets their third title that is destined to sell lots because of the above reasons. Maxis brings in money with the Sim name but has to do little of the work. Firaxis is out of the contractual bind they are in before Civ III comes out. And Sid, well Sid gets to work on a new game, a new project, something that he prefered to do then make the same game new.

So its a win-win solution for everyone both in terms of money and happiness. Now the question is whether both Civ III and Sim Golf will be worth buying and if so, then I guess its a win-win solution for us gamers, too.

The Rusty Gamer · May 11, 2001, 02:44

There's already another similar game called Golf Resort Tycoon coming out in about a week. Check out http://www.golfresorttycoon.com/. At a glance the graphics look nicer.

tniem · May 12, 2001, 00:59

Ok, I have looked at the stuff on this golf tycoon game coming out from Activision and must say that I am not terribly impressed. Very few things about it. Not a single mention on the major gaming sites. In the end it just doesn't seem like it will be that popular or hurt what Sid and Will are trying to do. Now that doesn't mean Sim Golf will not be a flop, just that will this Golf Course Tycoon isn't that phenomenal.

The Rusty Gamer · May 14, 2001, 00:04

Here's an idea for Sid's golf game. Part of managing the course would be to stomp out those predators that keep ruining the green. I mean all those pesky dinosaurs that keep running around that you often see on any old everyday golf course. Thus Sid effectively kills two games with one microchip and adds a real touch of realism to the game.
[This message has been edited by Russell (edited May 14, 2001).]

Dienstag · May 14, 2001, 13:18

I just told my girlfriend that Sid Meier, the guy behind the Civilization games, is going to make a game called SimGolf. Her response: "Ummm . . . no. Maybe if they had Civil War reenactments on the green, but . . ." She was not aware of Sid Meier's Gettysburg! or Antietam! She also thinks it would be neat if Meier's first name were Ad. She's cool.

SerapisIV · May 14, 2001, 13:45

All SimGolf is is SimCountry Club with Sid Meier doing some playtesting and early design work, and then his name added for increased sales. It's a Maxis game with Sid getting his name attached for thinking of the game. Besides as the Gamespot preview said, its a small little game, not a huge concept like Civ of the Sims. It's a game just begging to be bargain-binned after the initial release period where people who will buy anything with Sid Meier or Sim in the title run out and buy it.