ALAN EMRICH speaks

[MarkG]

Everyone,

Don't panic.

I've finally looked at these discussion board for the first time in five days and am getting back an image of a plethora of decapitated chickens imitating BattleBots. The world has not ended (if it had, I'd be collecting on my insurance policy which covers that ).

For those who are concerned about me, bless you. Since my return from a very enjoyable vacation in New York, things have been very busy. Now I'm in the midst of dealing with a major personal concern and the company has been very good about giving me the time I need to deal with the immediate and impending stuff relating to that. Rumors of my demise have been exaggerated. I'll let you know more when things get sorted out.

As for MOO3, holy cow! (I can't believe I just said that.) People, chill for a bit. I've been in 'the game biz' for over 25 years. I've learned a few things in that time, some of which I need to share with you right now. We've been giving you a lot of 'inside baseball' all along on this project, and now it's time to share the benefit of some insider wisdom that goes with the insider look at the making of a computer game that you're being presented via these forums.

First, I learned never to write in stone (I use MS-Word, myself). Changes ALWAYS happen, right up to the last possible moment. Every game, paper or electronic, that I've ever worked on or even HEARD worked on… that's just the way it is. Change is not your enemy, it is your destiny. In the immortal words of game designer James F. Dunnigan, "Games are never finished, only published." That is, you COULD dink around with a game forever, were it not for a real-world publishing deadline. MOO3 is no exception to that rule.

Second, just as no plan survives contact with the enemy (according to von Clauswitz), so no game design survives contact with playtesting. Beethoven could write a symphony without hearing it, Mozart could write reams of sheet music without making a single correction, but I've yet to see a game design go from concept to design to prototype to published in such a manner. In computer games in particular, you really never know what you got until it is 'built enough' to push the pieces around. That's where MOO3 is right now, we're pushing the pieces around and reconjiggering based upon what we discover. There's nothing mystical about any of this. That's what we're SUPPOSED to be doing. Don't go too far off the 'worried' end of the scale because the game morphs; that's what ITS supposed to be doing at this time.

Third, good designers can add and multiply features. Great designers can subtract and divide them. Now is the hour where all the pieces are on the table and you measure success and greatness in the product by how many things you can remove to still have a great game. In other words, the mission has changed now to pursue the ESSENCE of the game and focus in on it. We were fortunate to consider a great many novel things with the design of MOO3; it was a Colombus-like voyage of discovery. Now it's time to colonize the New World and make things practical and playable for the players – and that means discipline, focus, and a lot of tired engineers and artists .

Finally, this is a real-world process, not an intellectual exercise. The 'intellectual exercise' phase of this project is over and now the blueprint changes are being drawn. I've told all you wonderful critics out there who didn't like this or this feature which we sparred over during the 'intellectual exercise' stages that, if playtesting proves an idea on paper doesn't work in practice, out it goes. The only thing I'm married to, after all, is my wife. How can there be so much surprise out there when you find out such promises are actually being KEPT?

So, keep your tools cool, people. The Process REMAINS 'The Process,' and down that road leads to good (and finished) games. It's no time to bail out of a speeding vehicle just because there's a few bumps in the road ahead; better to focus on your driving and get to the end of the journey. Quicksilver has been going down this road (via The Process) for almost 20 years now. This time though, because you're getting a chance to ride along with us and see out the window, it seems to me that some of you are getting a case of motion sickness. I don't blame you if that's the case; in fact, I totally understand. But all I can say right now is 'grab a bag and hold on.' The winding part of the road lies ahead, so fasten your seat belts, people. This project is really starting to fly now.

Alan Emrich, MOO3 designer
Quicksilver Software, Inc.

[The diplomat]

I found the message somewhat reassuring.

It seems to me that what happened was simply that the design doc was way too ambitious. They put together a massive design doc with every single feature they could cream of and tried to put it all in the game. Now, they need to scale back because not every feature is possible or even desirable. The game in its dream phase is going to be very difficult from the real world. Now they are seeing what features are really workable and desirable in the practice.

However, I am saddened that IFP's are gone. The Ethos system would have been wonderful as well, but I am more dissapointed by the loss of the IFP. It would have made MOO3 a trully new TBS that would have added so much more strategy as well as atmosphere.

It is such a shame that they could not find a way to modify the system to make IFP's work. Now, it seems like we might be back to the traditional system of managing our empire but with "micromanagement tools" like AI governors to help us.

[Sarxis]

I am not too worried either at this point. I like lots of options and features in my games; but all the same, I like to have them playable and enjoyable too.


As long as MoO3 doesn't end up being as 'thin' as CivIII, I will be happy.

[Skanky Burns]

At this stage I'm thinking "We shall see"...

[Master Marcus]

Not surprised. The project is really ambitious.

[Spaced Cowboy]

As long as it is playable and has that one more turn feeling, I'll bite. Hopefully micromanagement will be minimal.
RPM

[PlacidDragon]

Of course, after that message, he hasnt posted anything, and another poster posting a thread called "Alan Emrich stops speaking" was ripped off the Delphi board by a moderator within minutes (i was already replying to it, but when i clicked "post", i got "you are not allowed to view this folder"). I guess they didnt delete it, and just moved it to a restricted folder. There was nothing in there that i could see that was insulting, rude, etc. Sure, it was sarcastic, but if THAT is a reason to remove the post, one could just as well ban half the board, including most, if not all of the moderators there. I imagine that he is very busy with getting the game on track with the new changes, but find his silence....a bit disturbing..

He also went so far out of his way to explain that everything was fine in his "Alan Emrich speaks" thread, that it looked somewhat forced to me. (thats just wild speculation on my part, the whole tone of the post didnt sit well with me) Outcry by the "fans" over his "banishment" from the board, the executive of QS suddenly running around doing damage control, then Alan's magical reappearance... in my wild conspiracy theories, this smells of something

[PlacidDragon]

I can also add that any mention of the thread "Emrich stops speaking", has the entire post being ripped off the board faster than you can imagine.. I posted a question to another Delphi poster and a link to this thread (which has never been a problem before, so that is definately not the reason), and had that post deleted within a minute of me posting it. There was nothing even close to sarcastic in that post, so they obviously have some very eager moderators over there. Adds yet another arguement to my "cover up" conspiracy theory, hehe

[tinmaddog]

placid,

I am not sure if it is a conspiracy or simply some over-reaction by somewhat naive management. Either way, the manner in which QS has reacted lately has been shameful.

tmd

[Swissy]

Originally posted by tinmaddog
...the manner in which QS has reacted lately has been shameful.

tmd

Looks like the long arm of Infogrammes strikes again

If the Clinton White House had such tight clamps on info, Clinton's stint as President would have been a real bore

Look what they did to Civ3 and be afraid, be very afraid