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Author Topic:   What's With All This Old Art?

Bad Explanation posted 05-07-99 05:48 AM ET
So, I've been looking around the fan sites, and I've noticed all this old art that looks... well... different. It shows a game with a different interface, with a way larger display of the base on the base production screen, and with slightly more colorful and "alien"-looking terrain (things like spiky crystals growing everywhere, etc). The interface is all organic-machine and whoooshy-shapes lookin'. It looks cool! Also, the fonts are all futuristic, with support beams taken out of all the capital 'A's.
Is this from the demo? I never played the demo, so I wouldn't know. Whatever it is, it looks cool! It must have been too slow or something.
Also, there are some screens of larger, more detailed art than is seen in the game.
Can anybody give me the scoop?
HeatherWst posted 05-07-99 01:09 PM ET
I was wondering the same thing!
Bell posted 05-07-99 01:17 PM ET
Back in the days of yore, those screen shots were what the game actually looked like. When the game was going to be released last October or so, that's what it was going to look like. Rumor has it that EA asked Firaxis to do a total interface redesign at the last minute, which not only got rid of all the old artwork but set the project back quite some time.
Personally, I like the look of the first interface better, but there must have been something EA didn't like . . .
Lloyd posted 05-07-99 06:37 PM ET
I'm not surprised to hear that the daring and interesting artwork was tanked by a larger organization. I imagine that EA's problem with the curvacious organo-mechanical interface wasn't any particular aesthetic problem (since, in general, it's NEVER about aesthetics when marketing is involved) but simply that every piece of SMAC that didn't remind people of CivII makes it harder for people to "recognize" the game and buy it. Not everyone knows who Sid Meier is, after all. From the consumer's point of view, that's a disappointing reason to make dramatic changes to what would probably have been a lovely interface. On the other hand, there were probably people at EA who were expected to pull the lever (cha-ching!) on a low-risk "sequel". If SMAC had bombed, they would have looked incompetent--and rightly so. I recently left a small company that delivers software to a large bovine-themed PC manufacturer you've probably heard of before. The OEM people hated the "cool" interface design and instead opted for the safe, cheesy one (they were from the Midwest, though, so I have to cut them some slack on taste). At the same time, they were vehemently opposed to introducing any Windows-like functionality (such as the "X" Close Window button) since we were making an "entertainment" and not a "productivity" app. As you might expect, the interface went from decent to terrible in no time. In my experience, design meddling from non-designers can have results far worse than what we've seen in SMAC.
Lloyd
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Author	Topic: What's With All This Old Art?
Bad Explanation	posted 05-07-99 05:48 AM ET So, I've been looking around the fan sites, and I've noticed all this old art that looks... well... different. It shows a game with a different interface, with a way larger display of the base on the base production screen, and with slightly more colorful and "alien"-looking terrain (things like spiky crystals growing everywhere, etc). The interface is all organic-machine and whoooshy-shapes lookin'. It looks cool! Also, the fonts are all futuristic, with support beams taken out of all the capital 'A's. Is this from the demo? I never played the demo, so I wouldn't know. Whatever it is, it looks cool! It must have been too slow or something. Also, there are some screens of larger, more detailed art than is seen in the game. Can anybody give me the scoop?
HeatherWst	posted 05-07-99 01:09 PM ET I was wondering the same thing!
Bell	posted 05-07-99 01:17 PM ET Back in the days of yore, those screen shots were what the game actually looked like. When the game was going to be released last October or so, that's what it was going to look like. Rumor has it that EA asked Firaxis to do a total interface redesign at the last minute, which not only got rid of all the old artwork but set the project back quite some time. Personally, I like the look of the first interface better, but there must have been something EA didn't like . . .
Lloyd	posted 05-07-99 06:37 PM ET I'm not surprised to hear that the daring and interesting artwork was tanked by a larger organization. I imagine that EA's problem with the curvacious organo-mechanical interface wasn't any particular aesthetic problem (since, in general, it's NEVER about aesthetics when marketing is involved) but simply that every piece of SMAC that didn't remind people of CivII makes it harder for people to "recognize" the game and buy it. Not everyone knows who Sid Meier is, after all. From the consumer's point of view, that's a disappointing reason to make dramatic changes to what would probably have been a lovely interface. On the other hand, there were probably people at EA who were expected to pull the lever (cha-ching!) on a low-risk "sequel". If SMAC had bombed, they would have looked incompetent--and rightly so. I recently left a small company that delivers software to a large bovine-themed PC manufacturer you've probably heard of before. The OEM people hated the "cool" interface design and instead opted for the safe, cheesy one (they were from the Midwest, though, so I have to cut them some slack on taste). At the same time, they were vehemently opposed to introducing any Windows-like functionality (such as the "X" Close Window button) since we were making an "entertainment" and not a "productivity" app. As you might expect, the interface went from decent to terrible in no time. In my experience, design meddling from non-designers can have results far worse than what we've seen in SMAC. Lloyd